3 harsh realities for Washington fans before offseason heats up

2. Montez Sweat or Daron Payne could get traded

When asked in his end-of-season presser whether Washington needs to find a new quarterback this offseason, Ron Rivera said, “That’s an understatement.” The veteran head coach was also very clear that the team is better positioned to make a splash compared to last offseason, when Matthew Stafford was available.

"“It’s not just about the reluctance to do it, but are we in position to do it? I think we’ve put ourselves in pretty good position,” Rivera said. “As we look at all avenues and we sit down and we talk about trading, whether it’s trading for a player or trading up in the draft — what will it take? — we can have an earnest conversation where we may say, ‘It’s going to take not just draft picks, but it may take a core player or two.’ With the depth we have at certain positions, we might be.”"

“It might take a core player or two.” Assuming the likes of Terry McLaurin, Jonathan Allen and Chase Young (and a few others) are all untouchable, that leaves Montez Seat and Daron Payne as potential expendables.

The worst part about having a collection of homegrown talent? It’s nearly impossible to keep everyone under the NFL’s salary cap. There’s only so much to go around and Washington signing both Sweat and Payne to extensions seems unlikely with Charles Leno locked up and McLaurin hopefully following suit.

Roster depth is paramount in the NFL, so Washington has to choose between extending Sweat and/or Payne or gutting the roster. If they choose the former, nearly all of the depth they have on the offensive and defensive lines would go bye bye.

Let’s also remember that Young, Kam Curl, Cole Holcomb and Antonio Gibson will all be due for extensions in the near future, too. If having four DL (Allen, Young, Sweat and Payne) making top-of-the-market money or something close to it was possible, don’t you think every team would be doing it?

This is where general managers make their money: Deciding which players fit into a team’s future and making cutthroat decisions. If a star QB becomes available, don’t be shocked if one of Sweat or Payne are floated as trade chips.