Why the Washington Football Team should trade up for Justin Fields
This piece is part of the Riggo’s Rag Roundtable quarterback debate. For more Washington Football Team QB options, click here.
The Washington Football Team is still chasing its white whale – the franchise quarterback. Trading up for Justin Fields can solve that problem.
At the beginning of the offseason, a Matthew Stafford trade to the Los Angeles Rams seemed to set the table for a lot of quarterback movement. Only one other quarterback has been moved since: Carson Wentz.
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With free agency fast approaching, Deshaun Watson seems like he is staying in Houston, for now, and Washington won’t have near enough compensation to acquire him. Dak Prescott, at the very least will be tagged and traded. That means Prescott is out of the equation for Washington. And Derek Carr won’t be made available unless Vegas can acquire a quarterback better than Carr, which is unlikely.
So, that leaves the veteran quarterback market rather dry for the Washington Football Team. If they wanted to dig into that barrel, it would have to be a reclamation project, like Sam Darnold or Marcus Mariota, or a stop-gap, like Ryan Fitzpatrick or Cam Newton.
While it probably is wise to bring in another option, that frankly is a boring proposition. So, I present the option of trading up for a quarterback. In this case, Justin Fields.
Many of you reading this will see an Ohio State quarterback. But what I see is a very talented quarterback on a rookie contract with sky-high potential.
Why the Washington Football should trade up for Justin Fields
The No. 1 reason is his contract. The first-round rookie quarterback contract gives the team five years of cheap, roster control for a (hopefully) game-changing player. Justin Fields’s contract will give the team flexibility to re-sign their key defensive pieces and add crucial weapons to the offense.
Justin Fields also has immense talent. He has a rocket arm with accuracy in all areas of the field. He also has elite long speed, agility and elusiveness. He runs powerful too, having a similar running style to Cam Newton, someone Ron Rivera knows very well.
Fields displayed growing pains in 2020 as he took more control of the offense. Chief among them was locking onto his first target for too long or being affected by pressure. With that said, these are very fixable flaws that don’t take away from his potential.
What separates Fields from other former Buckeye quarterbacks like Dwayne Haskins is his leadership and work ethic. By all accounts, Fields has worked extremely hard. He’s the first one in, last one out. He also was the clear leader of the Buckeyes, evidenced by Ryan Day opening up the offense more for Fields.
Fields is not anything like his predecessors both as a player and as a leader.
Fields fits the bill perfectly for what Ron Rivera wants in a quarterback. A quarterback that can make throws to all areas of the field with great athleticism and a relentless work-ethic to boot. Combine that with a cheap contract and it’s nearly a perfect match.
To trade up for Fields, it will probably take something similar to what Kansas City did to acquire Mahomes (2020, 2021 first and a third). And maybe a little more, given the amount of QB needy teams.
With that said, the Washington Football Team should not hesitate to trade up for Fields. Getting the franchise quarterback cannot come with half measures. Trading up for Justin Fields certainly is not a half measure.
Next. More Riggo's Rag Roundtable QB picks. dark
Click the links below to read about each QB option.