Washington Football Team: Exploring every potential quarterback trade target
In recent offseasons, NFL quarterbacks have changed teams like crazy.
Last offseason, veterans Tom Brady and Philip Rivers headed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts after spending their entire careers with the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers respectively.
Early draft picks at the quarterback spot are no longer guaranteed multi-year chances to prove themselves. Josh Rosen has bounced around the league since the Arizona Cardinals made him a top-10 pick in 2018. And as Washington Football Team fans know all too well, Dwayne Haskins, a first-round pick in 2019, is now on the open market after being cut.
The lack of patience at the quarterback spot is due to a couple of things. First off, coaches and GMs only have so much time to prove themselves before their seats get hot. That can lead to difficult decisions when quarterbacks aren’t playing at a winning level.
Second, there has been an influx of good, young passers entering the league in recent years while some of the longest-tenured veterans are inching closer to retirement. As such, teams heading for a rebuild or owning a top pick are more likely to ditch a veteran and select a player that could be their quarterback of the future.
This offseason is shaping up to be another one with many quarterback moves. The 2021 NFL Draft is loaded with first-round talents at the quarterback position, there are some notable free agents that will be available this year, and the trade market is flush with potential options to pursue.
They may not necessarily be traded, but plenty of players will at least have their names mentioned in trade rumors.
Washington Football Team quarterback trade targets
The Washington Football Team is going to have to sort through all the quarterbacks available and see if any of them fit as an upgrade for their team. With Washington ahead of schedule in their rebuild, they may be a quarterback away from having a chance to win a playoff game, or go on a postseason run. And Ron Rivera has expressed the importance of finding a starting quarterback this offseason.
Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, and Steven Montez may well get their chances to prove themselves during the offseason. But Rivera and new GM Marty Hurney will certainly be looking to see if the team can find a top-notch quarterback to add talent to the room, as that would improve their outlook in what looks like a wide-open NFC East.
With that said, here’s a look at some of the trade options that Washington could look at this offseason. Again, not all of these players are guaranteed to be available, but these 10 candidates could be. We’ll dive right into this alphabetically-sorted list with a face familiar to Washington’s new GM, Marty Hurney.