John Sullivan Officially Leaves Washington Redskins, Signs With Los Angeles Rams

The Washington Redskins picked up center John Sullivan early in the 2016 campaign and got solid performance from him as a backup. Now, he will move on to the Los Angeles Rams in free agency.

This offseason has been a tumultuous one for the centers on the Washington Redskins roster. Longtime starter Kory Lichtensteiger elected to retire after an underwhelming season in which he dealt with injuries. Spencer Long is still on the roster, and he had a solid season as the starter for the team. However, there were some questions about the depth behind him, as John Sullivan was a free agent. Now, Sullivan is gone, as he signed with the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. That will leave a void at the backup center position for the team.

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Sullivan only made one start for the Redskins in 2016, but he was strong in that performance. He made sure that the line did not miss a beat as Long dealt with a concussion, and some even clamored for him to take over as starter with Long moving to left guard. This would have displaced the ineffective Shawn Lauvao and could have upgraded the team’s offensive line further.

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However, it was always likely that the Redskins were going to part ways with Sullivan in the offseason. The team needed to focus on upgrading the defense, and they could ill afford to spend too much money on a backup center who would be 32 before the start of the 2017 season. Besides, the Redskins have 10 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. They can select a high upside lineman with one of them, and perhaps Forrest Lamp or Jon Toth will be on their radars.

For Sullivan, leaving the Redskins makes a lot of sense. He is a talented player, and he could still be an above average starter for some of the teams across the league. The Rams are one of them. They parted ways with former starting center Tim Barnes, and they needed to find an upgrade to help out Jared Goff in his second year. Sullivan is a perfect stopgap option and should fit in well.

Of course, it helps that former Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay is now the coach with the Rams. McVay worked with Sullivan last year, and he had to be impressed by his ability. Because of the familiarity the duo has with each other, and the familiarity Sullivan has with McVay’s scheme, there should be little learning curve getting to know the Rams offense. The fit seems like a strong one overall.

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At the end of the day, this move will not significantly hurt the Redskins. They just have to find some depth to ensure that any injury to long would not cause major problems for the offensive line. Expect them to draft a versatile offensive lineman at some point during the draft to fill the void left behind by Sullivan’s departure.

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