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Washington Redskins: The Mismanagement of Trent Williams

By Damien Bartonek

LANDOVER, MD - JANUARY 10: Tackle Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins covers his face with a towel against the Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at FedExField on January 10, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - JANUARY 10: Tackle Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins covers his face with a towel against the Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at FedExField on January 10, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 26: Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins walks off the field at the end of the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles on December 26, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 26: Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins walks off the field at the end of the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles on December 26, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

What the Redskins should have done

I’ll give the Redskins credit. The Redskins are confirmed to have asked Trent Williams essentially “Who do we need to get rid of?”, as it pertains to the medical staff. That’s a great first step.

After they did that, though, they utterly failed. After Williams showed more than just reluctance to come back to this team, the Redskins should have looked to trade him just weeks into the offseason.

No. 71 is a proven asset, not only for the Redskins, but an undoubtedly elite player. That means he holds a ton of value. After seeing what the Dolphins got in return for Laremy Tunsil, the Redskins could’ve gotten close to that return.

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By the Redskins not trading him, the Redskins bombarded themselves and held Trent hostage, killing his value as an asset. The Redskins did not returning calls or entertain any sort of offer. They essentially bought into the theory of making Williams wait it out, attempting to fine him, and believed their “damn good culture” would bring him back, which is beyond hysterical and idiotic.

The Redskins will be lucky to get a couple of mid-round picks for the Pro Bowler, who will become a year older, having not played for an entire season. Not only was their approach in trade talks and management of the trade beyond abysmal, but Washington’s overall desire for a trade shows that the front office will once again fall flat on their faces.

Williams, due to him not playing all season, has a lower value than initially thought. His value was never higher than in May and June, but if Washington went about the situation properly, having starting, middle, endpoints in all sorts of trade negotiations, they wouldn’t have their hands tied like this. Instead, they outplayed their leverage, and got nothing.

The Redskins, having made their mind up on their approach and how they’d deal with this situation since it was initially reported, should’ve attacked it head-on and either been all-in on trying to make sure Williams stays, or all-out on Williams and looked to move him immediately. As expected, they weren’t ready, or proactive.

The Redskins should’ve exercised every amount of good faith, due diligence, anything you want to call it, to keep Williams in the building. They clearly did not. If you want a good example of what teams should do with disgruntled talent, look at the San Antonio Spurs.

Back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017, the Spurs dealt with disgruntled stars on their teams. LaMarcus Aldridge wanted out. Pop talks him out of it, and they offer an extension. Now, he’s never been happier.

Kawhi Leonard, medical issue, doesn’t want to hear from the Spurs, hides from the Spurs, doesn’t respond to the Spurs, players hold a “Players Only” meeting, in which Leonard is unresponsive. Everything seems like Kawhi pushed them away. All that added, the Spurs still went above and beyond their way to take care of their own, whether they felt they were right or wrong, and did every single thing they could do to fix that fractured relationship.

Leonard didn’t want to be there. Sometimes it’s that simple. Do you know what the Spurs did? Three weeks into the offseason, they traded Leonard and got solid compensation for their super-star talent, something you very rarely see. In the NFL, you typically get an arsenal of draft compensation, something a rebuilding team like Washington could use.

Washington’s front office should’ve done their absolute best to take care of their own. They didn’t. They let this process drag on, continue unnecessarily, and ultimately shot themselves in the foot.

Now, you have Trent Williams reporting to the Redskins with his agent, with no intent to play. You waited until the last hour to even begin talks on a trade, which you ultimately wanted ridiculous, befuddling compensation for after having not even a smidge of negotiations taking place earlier in the season.

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Once again, Washington mismanaged a situation with their talent. What is such a common thing, still irks you to this day. It’s mind-blowing to see such consistent inferiority along all lines of these business operations. The Redskins got problems, and they could have solved one by 4:00 PM this past Tuesday.

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