Washington Football Team: A wish list of free agent linebackers

Lower-priced linebacker options

There will be lower-priced options available should bidding wars get out of hand for the bigger names.

Arizona’s Tanner Vallejo has kicked around the league in his four-year career, including a brief stint with Washington in 2019. His final game for Arizona this past season featured 12 tackles (nine of them solo) and a sack against the playoff-bound Rams. After several years as a back-up and special teamer, his late-season surge is very reminiscent of what Pierre-Louis did in Chicago in 2019, which resulted in his contract with Washington.

And the Raiders Nicholas Morrow is a genuine diamond in the rough. The first NFL player to come from Greenville University (Illinois), Morrow has been a quality player on a bad defense for the past four years. His first NFL head coach, who kept the longshot linebacker on his 53-man roster as a rookie, was Washington’s current defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.

Morrow, like Vallejo, will be just 26 in the 2021 season, and both players fit the profile of the free agents that Washington brought in during Ron Rivera’s first season.

I expect Washington to pursue Jayon Brown, but I think it might be more likely to see them add the likes of Davis and Morrow to address both areas of concern in the linebacking corps. They may not be able to afford more than one of these players, but any of them would help bolster the defense.

Washington offers one thing to a linebacker that few other teams can match. Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Montez Sweat. Playing behind that front four is a dream for any linebacker. Especially for a young player like Jarrad Davis, playing in this system sets a linebacker up for success, which in turn translates to bigger money down the road.

Next up, we conclude our free-agent wish lists with a look at the safety position.