Titans Finally Claim That Redskins Tampered With Haynesworth

After pussyfooting around the situation for nearly a month, the Tennessee Titans finally have claimed that the Washington Redskins tampered with defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Sort of. The report from Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean characterizes the development as the Titans merely asking that the league look into the situation. But that’s not how it works. A team either claims that another team violated the anti-tampering policy, or it doesn’t. There’s no middle ground. No passive-aggressive, “Excuse me, sir, but I think it could be possible that you might have inadvertently slept with my wife while I was in a coma.” In our view, the Titans are trying to get in the gutter while creating the appearance that they’re taking the high road. Anyway, Wyatt reports that the Titans recently submitted to the league evidence that the Redskins had contact with Haynesworth and/or agent Chad Speck before the free agency period opened at midnight February 27. The Titans declined comment, and NFL spokesman Greg Aiello was tight-lipped. “There are issues of tampering that come up from time to time and if we need to take some action then of course we announce that,” Aiello said. “Until then we don’t comment on it.’' Tampering is one of the league’s dirtiest little secrets. Prior to free agency, most if not all teams have contact with the agents for players who will soon officially be on the market. This year, agent Harold Lewis implied that the Rams had tampered with center Jason Brown when Lewis hinted that the Eagles were too late to the party because they waited for the clock to strike twelve. The league currently is exploring the possibility of revising the tampering rules to create a period prior to the start of free agency during which negotiations could occur between players due to hit the market and other teams. It would be a wise move, since it would remedy a situation in which most if not all teams cheat from time-to-time. And since it would remedy a situation in which tampering occurs rampantly, with only a periodic example being made of a franchise that flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami.