Redskins: Tre Boston is becoming the new Johnathan Hankins

A talented free agent at a position of need always sounds good on paper. Washington Redskins fans like the idea of signing Tre Boston, and it’s starting to sound a lot like the Johnathan Hankins chatter of old.

We’re deep into May, and there are still a handful of quality free agents left on the NFL market. Each offseason, there tends to be a few guys that go off the board later than expected, but needless to say, it’s surprising that Tre Boston is still on the market.

Boston spent last season with the Arizona Cardinals and put forth another strong season. The fifth-year safety was able to log three interceptions, nine pass defenses, and produced 79 tackles for the second consecutive season. He was good in coverage and has proven to be a well-rounded player.

However, for yet another offseason, Boston, 27 in June, has remained on the market late in the year. He has signed one-year pacts in each of the past two seasons and has been on three different teams in three seasons. It’s unclear if it’s related to his demands or if there are other underlying issues, but it’s strange to see a relatively young player with proven production still on the market.

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That said, we have seen this recently with a player that the Washington Redskins were tied to. That’s Johnathan Hankins. Hankins was on the free agent market late in consecutive offseasons, and some wanted the ‘Skins, who had a hole at nose tackle, to sign the big-bodied run stuffer. That never came to fruition and they ultimately landed Daron Payne to be the long-term option at nose tackle.

For Redskins fans, Boston is essentially becoming Johnathan Hankins 2.0. He’s a talented free agent who has lingered on the market, so there’s some excitement about him. He certainly could help to fill a big need but for some reason, teams just aren’t willing to sign him. The Redskins may end up having an interest at the right price, but if they haven’t jumped by now, it’s fair to wonder if they ever will.

While Boston could help at safety, the ‘Skins seem content to roll with Landon Collins and Montae Nicholson as their starting duo. Collins was a big free agent acquisition and is a great downhill playmaker, but Nicholson is a little less proven. Still, the 23-year-old won’t turn 24 until December and had a good rookie season back in 2017. If he can regain that form, he could be a good complement to Collins.

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If the Redskins don’t sign Boston and Nicholson flops, the team will probably target a new safety in the 2020 NFL Draft. Grant Delpit, perhaps? It’s far too early to tell, so we’ll first see what happens in 2019. For the moment, it doesn’t seem like they’ll go after Boston, but we’ll see if anything changes in the coming weeks.

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