Washington Redskins: Keeping Breeland is better than signing a free agent

The departure of Bashaud Breeland from the Washington Redskins seemed to be a foregone conclusion at the turn of the new year. But the trade of Kendall Fuller changes things.

With Kendall Fuller gone, the Washington Redskins don’t just have a need at slot cornerback. Now, cornerback in general is a concern. The team has a pair of solid starters in Josh Norman and Quinton Dunbar, but behind those two, the unit is unproven and unequipped for a grueling, sixteen-game season. Fabian Moreau and Joshua Holsey could thrive in greater roles. But despite their respective potential, the unit is on the thin side.

Good thing the book isn’t closed on Bashaud Breeland.

Throughout the season, it was believed that Breeland would leave the Washington Redskins no matter what. He’s a valuable player who can contribute in both pass coverage and run defense, and he provides an attitude to the unit that few players can match.

Still, despite his above-average play, Breeland was the source of enough errors over his career to justify a looming breakup between him and the team. That is, with Kendall Fuller still around. With Fuller now gone, that changes. And keeping Breeland appears to be the best move.

Spotrac.com has Bashaud Breeland’s market value at around $7 million, but there’s reason to believe that number could linger closer to $10 million. That’s not a cheap price, but Breeland is better and younger than most of the options on the open market.

Per the same website, Breeland’s predicted value in almost equal to Patrick Robinson’s, who turns 31 later this year, compared to Breeland, who just turned 26. Aaron Colvin is another option that sounds good at first, but he’s the same age as Breeland, and he had lots of help in the Jaguars defense. He may be cheaper, but why would you pay for him when he might not succeed in D.C., and when you can have continuity with Breeland?

I won’t make up your mind for you, and if you want to learn more about top free agent cornerback options, you can check out a great article by my colleague, Jacob Camenker, here. But the fact of the matter is, Breeland has sustained a high level of play in Washington’s defense over the past few years, and at 26 years old, he still has a few more peak years left.

I’m not saying the Washington Redskins should re-sign Breeland. They very well could sign a cheap depth player and pick a cornerback early in the NFL Draft. But with the extra money acquired from the Alex Smith trade, and with quite a bit of cap space, there are far worse moves the Washington Redskins could make. Such moves include bringing an older, more expensive free agent to learn a new system.

Next: The ten most important returning Redskins in 2018

At the end of the day, the best option may be filling in the position with a talented first-round cornerback on his rookie deal, like Denzel Ward or Josh Jackson. But if the team favors taking a defensive tackle, or maybe a running back with the No. 13 pick, then re-signing Bashaud Breeland is the next best option. Why change something when you don’t have to change a thing?