Posted by Ryan Wilson

We mentioned in Tuesday's Hot Routes that Albert Haynesworth had a suitor. New Eagles defensive line coach Jim Washburn was Haynesworth's position coach in Tennessee and, according to a Yahoo source, Washburn's "convinced he can get the most out of Haynesworth," and that "he wants him badly."

Now, via the Philadelphia Sports Daily's Tim McManus, the feeling's mutual: Haynesworth reportedly wants to come to Philly.

"It would be his greatest chance to rise amongst the elite a final time," McManus wrote Wednesday. "The 6-6, 335-pound tackle would be reunited with defensive line coach Jim Washburn and have a chance to play the type of ball that got him the seven-year, $100 million contract with the Redskins in the first place. Haynesworth is interested in attacking the quarterback; Washburn wants his linemen to do just that. Their final year together in Tennessee, such harmony resulted in 8½ sacks and three forced fumbles."

And then Haynesworth signed with the Redskins, where careers go to die. That's not to say he's without blame; in fact, you could make the case that the circumstances Haynesworth finds himself are mostly his doing. Still, that doesn't change anything; Washington got virtually nothing for their eight-figure investment, and even though it's clear the two sides would be better off without each other, that might not happen anytime soon, at least not without the Redskins getting something for their trouble.

A source tells McManus that “They are not going to cut [Haynesworth]. If the Eagles or anyone else wants him it is going to have to be by trade. Because if they cut him, that’s giving him his way.”

We wrote last month that the Redskins front office suffers from the sunk cost fallacy, an economic theory that says that GMs and coaches are unwilling to cut their losses with underperforming or overpriced players because they're the ones most attached to the investment (which is now a sunk cost). AdvancedNFLStats.com took it a step further: "New managers are not beholden to their predecessors’ sunk costs, and are freer to make rational decisions."

Which led us to write at the time: "Unfortunately for the Redskins, Allen -- who inherited Haynesworth from Vinny Cerrato -- hasn't followed that advice. Presumably because in the back of Allen's mind is the fear that if he cuts Haynesworth, not only does that mean tens of millions of dollars down the drain (sunk cost!), there's the chance that another team will sign him, and worse, he will play well."

NFL Network's Jason La Canfora said weeks ago that the 'Skins "should have taken a fifth for him last offseason and ended the circus then.”

Of course, this is the same outfit that not only traded within the division for Donovan McNabb and gave him a contract extension during the 2010 season, but benched him nine weeks later for Rex Grossman. As it stands, Washington will be lucky to get a fifth-rounder for McNabb.

The lesson: Don't spend lavishly on players who don't fit your system (this should be obvious, we know). And if you do, you can't be afraid to unload them to the highest bidder, even if it's less than market value. (The very same market, ironically, you inflated by overpaying for said players in the first place.)

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