3 free agent edge rusher targets if Commanders trade Montez Sweat

If there’s one thing Ron Rivera has made clear since the offseason started, it’s that the Washington Commanders will do their due-diligence on every available star quarterback and aren’t afraid to trade a core player to make a deal work.

For a while, it’s felt like one of Montez Sweat or Daron Payne would be the player asset involved in any blockbuster trade. However, the vultures circled around Sweat after Rivera disclosed the team’s intention to initiate extension negotiations with Payne during this week’s NFL Combine.

Nobody knows if an agreement will be reached, but that comment alone leaves Sweat on the periphery of Washington’s long-term plans.

Yes, they plan on exercising his fifth-year option, but that’s a no-brainer given his talent and it lessens the risk of him leaving next offseason.

Given the Commanders are very much in the mix for a star QB, let’s play devil’s advocate and pretend Sweat gets traded. With Chase Young likely to be eased in at the start of next season following ACL surgery, trading Sweat would leave Washington with a huge pass-rushing hole.

Should a Sweat trade come to fruition, here are three free agent edge rushers the team could target this offseason.

3 DEs Commanders could target if Montez Sweat gets traded

3. Dante Fowler

Dante Fowler’s inclusion might cause a fuss amongst Commanders fans given his underwhelming output with the Falcons, but hear us out.

As a former third overall pick, his rookie campaign was wiped out due to a torn ACL. He rebounded with eight sacks in his third year, but that wasn’t enough for Jacksonville to even exercise his fifth-year option and they traded him to the Rams in exchange for two draft picks in the middle of the 2018 season.

Fowler showed enough in a half-season with Los Angeles to merit an extension, and he enjoyed a career year in 2019, posting 11.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 16 QB hits and six passes defended for good measure. He parlayed that breakout into a big contract with the Falcons, who just released him after a lackluster two years.

While Fowler’s drop-off is concerning, it’s worth noting that the Falcons’ front seven has been a mess for several years now. They were foolish to think a promising 1.5-season stretch on the Rams’ stacked defense was suddenly going to morph Fowler into a one-man wrecking crew.

Bottom line is Fowler CAN be a stud if surrounded by talent.

In Washington, he’d have the luxury of playing on the same front as Jonathan Allen, Chase Young and Daron Payne. Still just 27 years old, the former Florida Gator would be worth a one-year contract if Sweat gets traded.