Washington Football Team: What to make of Dwayne Haskins signing with Steelers

Less than a month after being cut by the Washington Football Team, Dwayne Haskins has found a new home, agreeing to a one-year reserve/futures contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Haskins went 1-5 in his six starts for Washington during the 2020 season. Early in the season, Haskins was benched after a 31-17 Week 4 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, after which he was reportedly “stat bragging”.

He got another chance to return to the field late in the season, coming in for the second half of a Week 14 win against the 49ers after Alex Smith hurt his calf.

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Haskins would go on to start Washington’s next two games against the Seahawks and a potential playoff-clinching match-up against the Panthers, in which he was benched for Taylor Heinicke. Washington would go on to lose both games.

He also faced controversy off the field,  as he was seen partying maskless with strippers after the Seahawks loss, breaking COVID-19 protocols. This was his second COVID-19 violation, and he was fined $40,000 for the incident and lost his captaincy.

With limited improvement shown throughout the season, the Washington coaching staff had seen enough and released Haskins the Monday after the Panthers game. With his in-season release, Haskins became the only first-round quarterback since 2000 to be released before the completion of his second full season.

What to make of Dwayne Haskins signing with the Steelers

Signing with the Steelers gives Haskins a chance to extend his NFL career and allows Pittsburgh to have a low-cost, high-reward option that could potentially become the long-term replacement for Ben Roethlisberger.

It doesn’t hurt that Haskins shares an agent with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, which could have factored into the signing.

Roethlisberger and current back-up Mason Rudolph both only have one year remaining on their contracts. Haskins will most likely be competing with Rudolph for the back-up role, with an opportunity for a larger role down the road.

Thus far in their career, both Haskins and Rudolph have fairly similar stats, with neither standing out as a potential future starter.

However, with additional time and coaching, this could be an opportunity for Haskins to show growth. He will now have an opportunity to learn from a similar big-bodied quarterback in Roethlisberger, after learning behind Alex Smith with Washington.

Although it seems like ages ago, many forget that just two years ago Haskins led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl victory, winning MVP in both games. In those two games combined, Haskins went 59-of-78 for 750 yards, eight touchdowns, and one interception.

Being only 23 years old with a big-body and big-arm, Haskins has the potential to stick around the league for years to come, if he can work on his maturity.

Working against Haskins is the fact that he will be learning his third NFL offense in three years. However, having a coaching staff that believes in him may make all the difference.

Yes, it isn’t promising that the team that drafted him cut Haskins after less than two seasons, but he isn’t the first quarterback to have early struggles in his career.

It took Alex Smith 12 starts to get to his fourth win, 13 for Jared Goff, 14 for Matthew Stafford, 17 for Peyton Manning, 21 for Steve Young, and 22 for Troy Aikman.

Haskins currently has a 3-10 career record. Will he be able to get that elusive fourth-win and go on to have an illustrious career with the Steelers or will he flail out of the league like far too many first-round quarterbacks before him? This might be his final opportunity to answer that question.