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Five trades the Redskins could explore making before the NFL season

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - JANUARY 10: Tight end Jordan Reed #86 of the Washington Redskins celebrates with teammate tackle Trent Williams #71 after scoring a second-quarter touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at FedExField on January 10, 2016 in Landover, Maryland.(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - JANUARY 10: Tight end Jordan Reed #86 of the Washington Redskins celebrates with teammate tackle Trent Williams #71 after scoring a second-quarter touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at FedExField on January 10, 2016 in Landover, Maryland.(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 22: Vernon Davis #85 of the Washington Redskins warms up prior to an NFL preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 22, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 22: Vernon Davis #85 of the Washington Redskins warms up prior to an NFL preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 22, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /

TE Vernon Davis to New England Patriots for OT Dan Skipper and conditional seventh-round pick

This is it. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. A trade that involves a player-for-player swap.

On the surface, this move may not make much sense for the Redskins. Davis has been a more-than-solid backup for the squad, and Jordan Reed has been injured constantly during his Redskins career. In fact, Reed is currently dealing with a concussion right now, the seventh of his career, and his status for the season opener is unknown.

So, the question becomes, why would the Redskins willingly trade one of their top backups when that very player could start the season as a starter? The answer is simple.

Davis is in the twilight of his career. At this point, it doesn’t seem likely that he will factor into any plans that Washington has beyond this season. The 35-year-old is in the final year of his contract and if the Redskins aren’t going anywhere (which seems likely) it would make sense to give Davis a chance to play on a contender. And it just so happens that the Patriots could use some depth at tight end.

Currently, the Patriots have a glut of players at tight end with little to no proven track record. Ben Watson is the lone player to have significant starting experience, but he is suspended for the first four games of the season. Matt LaCosse figures to be the top option while he’s out with Ryan Izzo, Lance Kendricks (also suspended one game), Stephen Anderson, and Eric Saubert (recently acquired via trade) all vying for roles behind him.

While Izzo has been decent in the preseason, relying on the former seventh-round pick and LaCosse to fill the void of Rob Gronkowski may not be palatable for the Patriots. If they could get Davis as a rental for relatively little cost, perhaps they could do it.

If the Redskins are willing to part with Davis, he could net the team a conditional late-round pick. But in this trade, I also have the Patriots giving up Dan Skipper. The 6-foot-10 Skipper has been a journeyman so far in his career, but he has had a nice offseason with the Patriots and could have the upside of a solid swing tackle. He’s only 24, but he is on the roster fringe for the Patriots, as the team may go light on the O-Line, especially thanks to the recent solid play of 2018 first-round pick Isaiah Wynn.

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The Redskins could scoop Skipper up in a trade, have him shore up the tackle depth, and challenge Geron Christian for the swing tackle job. It would be a nice, high upside move and if he develops well, perhaps he could help to fix some of the depth issues that the team has had at the tackle position in the absence of Williams.

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