Washington Football Team: Players team could trade away before deadline

LB Jon Bostic/LB Kevin Pierre-Louis

The linebacker play for the Washington Football Team has been solid at times this year. But they still have one big weakness that is holding the unit back a bit.

Jon Bostic and Kevin Pierre-Louis have played well against the run, but the team’s unit has struggled in coverage. That’s been a problem for the squad for a handful of years. The team needs to find a way to succeed in coverage at the position or tight ends are going to continue to do well against them.

This likely means that Washington is going to invest some draft capital in a potential three-down linebacker in the 2021 NFL Draft. Or they could give Cole Holcomb and Shaun Dion Hamilton more opportunities to prove themselves down the stretch. That would be a sensible way to evaluate the team and Washington could opt to move one of their veteran linebackers to open up more opportunities.

Bostic would probably draw more interest on the trade market given his wealth of starting experience and the fact that he is on pace for a 123-tackle season. Bostic has looked quicker this year than he did last year, too, so that would be a plus.

It’s also worth noting that Bostic has had some of his best seasons in a 3-4 defense, so he is scheme-versatile. A team like the Steelers, who Bostic played for in 2018, could have an interest in acquiring him after losing Devin Bush to a torn ACL, as Bostic would be a great two-down option for the Steelers who could add depth and experience to their linebacker room.

Meanwhile, Pierre-Louis is a similar player to Bostic, but he’s a little bit better in coverage. However, he is only a full-time starter as of this year and while his ceiling in that role is high — he had 16 tackles in Week 2 against the Cardinals — his lack of experience as a starter could make teams view him as more of a potential spot starter and depth option.

Pierre-Louis, 29, still has value. He’s a good special teams player and should be viewed as a solid role player, bare minimum. He could fetch a late-round pick in a trade as could Bostic. The value wouldn’t be that high and it would make sense for Washington to unload one of them if they want to jumpstart their rebuild a bit.

If I was running the team, I would prefer to trade Bostic and keep Pierre-Louis because he should fetch a bit more than KPL since he’s on a cheap two-year deal. Either way, if Washington wants to trade one of the veterans to accumulate more draft capital, it would be a sensible move, but they would only (likely) trade one of these players if possible.