[SC Skins Fan]

There is not much to say to defend the Jason Taylor decisions (both the trade and the release). As you say, it was a panic move prompted by not making long-term plans at DE and lacking proper depth at that postion/not having confidence in your depth (Demetric Evans) who probably could have done the job. Then you cut Taylor and lose any potential for reaping some reward for the high price that you paid for the guy. Now if you can use that money to fill in some holes, specifically then maybe it works out alright.

The money for Haynesworth, on the other hand, is far less significant. Most people who know think the the NFL will go uncapped in 2010 and will probably not come back after that. So you spend the big money on the best player (by far) in the 2009 class anticipating 1) no cap in future years 2) the uncapped rules will significantly water down the 2010 free agent class ... it might be one of the worst ever with the extra tags and extended time to UFA. Plus, Haynesworth is a game changer in both the run and pass games, a dominant line player that the Redskins have not had since ... Plus, the cap hit on Haynesworth this year is only $7 million. That really is not inhibiting the Skins ability to make moves and they got the very best player available in UFA while he is still in the prime of his career. Don't buy all the $100 million hype, this was a good move. At the outset of free agency I probably would have said that I'd rather get Canty at a lower price, but having Haynesworth at an average cap hit of $9.7 million/year over the next four years is not that bad a price and it's not like Canty was coming here for chump change. So basically I think the FO did have a plan with Haynesworth ... Taylor, not so much. If we could do more Haynesworth deals and get rid of those Taylor-type trades (i.e. giving away picks) then we'd really be doing something.