Of all the quarterbacks on this list, Jacoby Brissett would be the most cost-effective. He would also carry the biggest risk.
Brissett got a good amount of experience over the course of his first two NFL seasons, starting 17 games between stints with the Patriots and the Colts. In 2017, he was the primary starter at quarterback with Andrew Luck out in Indianapolis. Brissett held his own, completing 58.8 percent of his passes for 3,098 yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven picks despite playing behind a weak offensive line (Brissett was sacked a league-high 52 times).
Last year with Luck healthy, Brissett didn’t see the field. Still, it’s fair to assume that he has grown off the field and may be ready to take on a starting role. The Redskins would afford him an opportunity to do that.
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Brissett is still on his rookie deal, and he is only slated to count a little over $2 million towards the cap this season. The Redskins could easily afford to add him at that rate, and he would be the perfect candidate to push McCoy for the starting job. Plus, Brissett would figure to be a good fit in Gruden’s offense.
However, the concerns with Brissett are two-fold. First, the Colts don’t appear to be ready to part with him. They liked what he did as a starter, and they may want to hold onto him in case Luck’s shoulder acts up again. Additionally, because of Brissett’s upside, the cost to acquire him may be high, and it’s possible that the asking price could be a second-round pick. That would be fair, but that brings us to our second issue.
Brissett is only under contract for the 2019 season. Because he was a third-round pick, there is no fifth-year option on his deal. He will be an unrestricted free agent. Brissett will have a limited sample size of performance under his belt and if he does well, the Redskins would have to make a decision about whether or not to keep him.
Does that sound familiar? Because it should. That’s basically what happened when Kirk Cousins stepped in as the team’s starter. He proved he was solid, but the team didn’t want to invest in him long-term after just one season of success. The same thing could happen with Brissett, and then the franchise tag game would commence once again.
Brissett has a lot of upside and could end up being a good starter. He certainly would add talent to the Redskins’ quarterback room. But, considering the questions about his long-term availability, trading for him would be a risky move. And handing a lucrative extension to an unproven player who hasn’t played in significant NFL action since 2017 would be an even riskier one. Unless the cost via trade was lower than expected or the Redskins and Brissett agreed to a mutually beneficial extension, this seems unlikely to happen.