The big question for the Pats the past few seasons has been the defensive line, which had not seemed to recover from the loss of Richard Seymour. The 6'6" 310 pound Seymour was constantly doubled and opened up the entire defensive line for bigger opportunities, particularly in the pass rush. They have found a potential answer to that huge void in 6'6" 335 pound Albert Haynesworth III. There isnt a huge risk here, they are only giving up a 5th round pick and the majority of Haynesworth's $100 million contract with the Redskins has been paid out (the Pats will be paying more in the line of $5 million for his services this season).
He has had his issues on and off the field, but thats the epitome of the risk/reward situation. Were his two seasons/20 games in Washington aberrations from an otherwise productive career or an indication of where things are heading? That has yet to be determined. But one thing we have seen is that Mike Shannahan has not had too many happy players under his regime there and there is a firesale surrounding very talented athletes on their roster.
| Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Tackles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Sk | PD | FF | FR | Tkl | Ast | Sfty | AV |
| 2002 | 21 | TEN | 91 | 16 | 3 | 1.0 | 3 | 21 | 9 | 3 | ||||
| 2003 | 22 | TEN | RDT | 92 | 12 | 11 | 2.5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 10 | 6 | |
| 2004 | 23 | TEN | RDT | 92 | 10 | 10 | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 11 | 4 | |
| 2005 | 24 | TEN | RDT | 92 | 14 | 14 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 16 | 5 | |
| 2006 | 25 | TEN | RDT | 92 | 11 | 10 | 2.0 | 2 | 23 | 7 | 4 | |||
| 2007*+ | 26 | TEN | RDT | 92 | 13 | 12 | 6.0 | 4 | 32 | 8 | 14 | |||
| 2008*+ | 27 | TEN | RDT | 92 | 14 | 14 | 8.5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 41 | 10 | 19 | |
| 2009 | 28 | WAS | RDT | 92 | 12 | 12 | 4.0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 8 | 6 | |
| 2010 | 29 | WAS | 92 | 8 | 0 | 2.5 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Career | 110 | 86 | 30.5 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 243 | 82 | 62 | |||||
| 7 yrs | TEN | 90 | 74 | 24.0 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 200 | 71 | 55 | ||||
| 2 yrs | WAS | 20 | 12 | 6.5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 11 | 7 | ||||
The Pats seem to have a precedent set with some other success stories and really dont have much to lose in this scenario.
2004 - Corey Dillon:
Dillon bristled at his lack of carries and told reporters he wanted out. After a loss to Cleveland left the Bengals 8-8 and ended their season, Dillon threw his helmet, shoulder pads and cleats into the stands at Paul Brown Stadium, convinced he would be traded with two years left on his contract.
"They don't need me," Dillon said afterward. "They've been winning, quote unquote, without me."
The Bengals of course have not manufactured malcontent after malcontent, right? And they have done so much in the years since Dillon, like creating a sitution where their "franchise" QB has told the team he will retire before playing another game for them. For the Pats, Dillon set a Franchise record with 1,635 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 2004 and helped lead them to their 3rd Superbowl.
2007 -Randy Moss:
That said, adding Moss, who will be playing for his third different team in four seasons and who now has been traded twice in three years, clearly involves some risk. Belichick and New England officials apparently have been candid in apprising Moss that there will be a zero-tolerance approach, and that the kind of behavior he has manifested at times in the past will not be acceptable.
Moss, 30, had not participated in any of the offseason conditioning sessions conducted by first-year Oakland head coach Lane Kiffin and the suspicion was that he would not show up for the start of training camp. Hoping to keep any distractions for his young head coach to a minimum, Raiders' owner Al Davis decided that Moss had to go.
The Raiders of course had a franchise QB that they did not want tarnished by Moss' attitude! For the 2007 Pats, Moss not only set a franchise record, he broke the Jerry Rice's NFL record with 23 TD catches.
