As the furor over Albert Haynesworth's holdout starts to reach a new crescendo, many pundits have already started to suggest different avenues for the Washington Redskins to pursue when dealing with the disgruntled defensive tackle. Matt Bowen of National Football Post believes that the best recourse for the Redskins to take is not to trade Haynesworth, but fine him until he returns to work:
The solution here is simple: fine him—repeatedly. Fine him for skipping this weekend (which is over $9,000 for the camp) and then fine him for every single day he skips out on training camp, which can get expensive at a rate around $16,000 per day. You want to get the attention of a player? It’s simple, go to his wallet.
Bowen goes on to point out that Haynesworth lacks the one thing that all successful holdouts have: leverage.
That (fining) is the professional way for Shanahan to go about this, and what I expect him to do. Haynesworth is under contract. This isn’t a holdout, but more so a demand. And, the ‘Skins don’t have to settle for anything. Fine him until he shows, and when he does drag himself over to training camp, sit him—for a while. Show him that he has to earn his job.
The Redskins will most likely start fining Haynesworth after all other options have been exhausted. However, on a team that has been notoriously lax on discipline, it will be interesting to see whether a precedent is set under Shanahan's management of the team.