Amidst a slew of league trades, is Redskins Bruce Allen right to stay put?

In the week leading up to the start of the new league year, the NFL is bustling. But the Washington Redskins are strangely and uncharacteristically quiet.

The past few days have been peppered with trades grabbing the attention of the nation. Yesterday, three trades occurred in just hours, with the Eagles acquiring Michael Bennett, the Rams, headed by former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay, snatching up veteran cornerback Aqib Talib, and the Giants making a move for Alec Ogletree.

Now earlier today, another trade occurred, this time a player swap between the Eagles and the Panthers. Per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, he Eagles shipped off free-agent-to-be Torrey Smith, and in return, they received Darryl Worley, a young, burgeoning cornerback to bolster their secondary.

Howie Roseman has been active and aggressive for the Eagles. The actions of the Washington Redskins‘ bitter nemesis has sparked an outcry amongst the fanbase. An outcry for change, and coinciding action. However, should Bruce Allen and the Washington Redskins be as open with their resources?

The Philadelphia Eagles have depth at almost every position. The Washington Redskins do not. The Eagles can afford to offload resources in exchange for players and picks that they feel bring greater value. The Redskins, however, are far less flexible. A tempting case can be made that Su’a Cravens needs to be traded (a case that I agree with), but aside from that, anyone on the Washington Redskins’ roster that is worth a trade needs to be kept.

You could have made a case for Jordan Reed earlier in the year, but with a new quarterback coming in, and the offense looking seemingly devoid of game-changing talent, it makes sense for the Washington Redskins to give Reed another chance, though injuries could very well render him inert yet again.

At the same time, the Washington Redskins, because of their lack of depth, need to keep all the draft picks they have, and if they can acquire another draft pick through Su’a Cravens, or Jordan Reed, if he draws little confidence from the staff, then they must.

Ultimately, however, the amount of possible moves the Washington Redskins can make is astronomically lower than the production possibility of the Philadelphia Eagles. And lest we not forget that Bruce Allen did make a rather high-profile move back in January, trading for Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Alex Smith.

Allen ended the Kirk Cousins saga with a promising epilogue, and although the team gave up a third rounder and a talented young cornerback, they were proactive, and they gained a bridge to take them into the next era.

Now, things have settled in D.C. But is inaction truly a lack of achievement? Are the pleas for Bruce Allen to do ‘something’, to do ‘anything at all’, based on solid ground?

There are moves the Washington Redskins could, in theory, make. But no one knows how much value Su’a Cravens is demanding on the market. There were rumors that the Broncos were engaging in talks with the Redskins, and something could come out of those discussions. But such things take time. And in the silence that lingers in-between every inevitable peak, while other teams refurbish their rosters entirely, one must be careful not to make unequal comparisons.

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The Washington Redskins are not as well-equipped as the Philadelphia Eagles. There is only so much they can do. And if the Washington Redskins end up entering free agency without having made another trade, one must consider the hand dealt before passing judgement.