Despite holding a 2-5 record this season, the Washington Football Team is only a half-game out of first place in the awful NFC East. The team is on a bye this week, but don’t be expect things to be quiet for the front office. Washington can be either buyers or sellers for next week’s trade deadline, depending on their goals this season.
While they currently hold a top 10 draft slot, they could also win the division. However, if they make the playoffs, they are likely to lose in the first round to the top wild card seed. That said, Washing should focus on their young core and build up their assets for the future rather than make a meaningless playoff push. With that in mind, here are three hypothetical trades Washington should make.
Trade #1: Dwayne Haskins and a 2022 sixth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for James Washington
When Ron Rivera benched Haskins for Kyle Allen, it meant the end of Haskins in Washington. He has been inactive in every game since being benched. Furthermore, Haskins has more headlines for having a stomach bug than anything else since the benching. Rivera will want to select “his guy” in April’s draft with Allen or Alex Smith serving as the bridge gap quarterback. While Haskins’ value is low now, it isn’t likely to improve as the season goes on. In exchange for moving the former first-round pick, Washington can add the speedy Washington to pair with star wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
The Steelers are the only undefeated team left in the league and are Super Bowl contenders. However, Ben Roethlisberger is 38 years old, and Mason Rudolph isn’t his replacement. Haskins’ career so far has been rocky, but a fresh start behind a future Hall of Famer would do a lot of good for his development. The Steelers have a great young trio of wide receivers in JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and the rookie Chase Claypool. Because of the trio, Washington is playing limited snaps when all three are healthy. Moving Washington to Washington for their potential replacement for Big Ben is a long term move the Steelers should make.
Trade #2: Ryan Kerrigan to the Seattle Seahawks for Ugo Amadi and a 2021 fourth-round pick
As great as Kerrigan has been for the Washington franchise, it’s time to move on. Kerrigan will be a free agent after the season, and he has taken a backseat to Chase Young and Montez Sweat. Furthermore, with the team looking towards the future, Kerrigan would be better off playing on a Super Bowl contender for the rest of this season. Even before Landon Collins tore his Achilles, Washington needed help in the secondary. Amadi isn’t getting much playing time given the Seahawks’ depth at safety, but he could start in Washington. He has a similar skill set as Kendall Fuller, a hybrid nickel cornerback and free safety, but that would give Washington more options and versatility in the secondary.
Even after stealing Carlos Dunlap from the Cincinnati Bengals for pennies on the dollar value, the Seahawks still could use some pass rush help. The Seahawks are averaging only 1.5 sacks per game this season, bottom five in the league. Furthermore, Jamal Adams, who has missed half of the games this season with a groin injury, is tied for the team lead with two sacks. By comparison, Kerrigan has four sacks this season, despite playing under 52 percent of the snaps in all but one game this season. At the price of a backup safety and a fourth-round pick, the Seahawks could add Kerrigan and his 94 career sacks to their defense.
Trade #3: J.D. McKissic to the Tennessee Titans for a 2021 sixth-round pick
All aboard the Antonio Gibson hype train! The rookie running back has been impressive this season, averaging 4.4 yards per carry and four rushing touchdowns behind a shaky offensive line. However, he has been limited in the passing game, seeing only 23 targets in seven games. The reason why is McKissic’s presence on the roster. McKissic has 33 targets and has played at least 44 percent of the snaps in every game this season. If Washington is looking towards the future, they should be playing Gibson as many snaps as he can physically take. To do that, they need to move McKissic for a late day three draft pick.
For the Titans, they don’t have much depth at running back behind Derrick Henry and limited options in the passing game out of the backfield. Darrynton Evans has little to show so far in his rookie season while Jeremy McNichols has been solid in limited snaps. Furthermore, when the Titans go into their two minute or hurry-up offense, Henry leaves the field due to his limited skills in the passing game. McKissic is a former wide receiver and one of the better receiving backs in the league. At the cost of a late sixth-round pick, the Titans would be wise to the veteran pass-catching back.
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