It was quite obvious that Dwayne Haskins' time with his hometown Washington Football Team was up after he embarrassed the organization recently with a bad off-field decision by breaking COVID-19 protocols for a second time and then playing horrific football Sunday as Washington was dominated at home by Carolina. Haskins was benched in-game for relative unknown Taylor Heinicke, and while it was presumed at that point Haskins was a goner it was still fairly shocking the 2019 first-round pick was simply waived Monday. SportsLine offers odds on which team Haskins will be playing for next season.
Haskins, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2019 draft, becomes the sixth first-round quarterback pick over the past decade to not even make it to a third year with the team that drafted him. The others: Tim Tebow with Denver (2010 pick), Brandon Weeden with Cleveland (2012 pick), Johnny Manziel with Cleveland (2014 pick), Paxton Lynch with Denver (2016 pick) and Josh Rosen with Arizona (2018 pick).
Any team could pick Haskins up on waivers on Tuesday, but it would have to pay him $68,000 for this week's salary plus around $4.3 million fully guaranteed over the next two seasons. Thus, it's likely that Haskins goes unclaimed (update: he was not claimed). That said, someone is going to take a chance at some point on a guy who finished third in the 2018 Heisman Trophy at Ohio State and beat out Joe Burrow for the starting job with the Buckeyes.
"My time with the WFT has unfortunately come to an end. I thank the team and fans for the opportunity to play for the team I grew up rooting for. I take full responsibility for not meeting the standards of [an] NFL QB, and I will become a better man and player because of this experience," Haskins said on Twitter after his release.
It does seem rather unlikely that the 23-year-old will land on a team where he would start Week 1 of the 2021 season but more likely a stable franchise where he can learn behind a veteran quarterback. Tampa Bay, New Orleans and Pittsburgh all would fit the bill.
Tom Brady has just next year left on his contract with the Bucs, and what better guy to learn a good work ethic behind? Ditto Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, presuming he doesn't retire. Neither the Bucs (who recently lost Rosen off their practice squad) nor Steelers have their long-term future at QB on the current roster and neither will pick high enough in the 2021 NFL Draft to probably get one. Pittsburgh is about the most stable organization in sports.
Drew Brees is expected to retire this offseason, but there's no better coach for a quarterback than Sean Payton with the Saints. Payton does love Taysom Hill and perhaps wants to keep Jameis Winston around, though.
The Los Angeles Rams also have a terrific offensive coach in Sean McVay and no proven answer behind Jared Goff. L.A.'s offensive coordinator is Kevin O'Connell, who was Washington's offensive coordinator during Haskins' rookie season. It's not impossible to see Haskins beating out the inconsistent Goff eventually.
Indianapolis has major quarterback questions after this season with the contracts of both Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett expiring. Coach Frank Reich might be more interested in a reunion with Carson Wentz.
One can never rule out Bill Belichick taking a flier on an intriguing prospect. He clearly doesn't believe Jarrett Stidham will be the answer, and the Cam Newton one-year tryout didn't work.
Denver has been looking for an answer at quarterback since Peyton Manning retired, and it's apparently not Drew Lock.
Finally, if the Atlanta Falcons opt to bring back Matt Ryan and not take a quarterback with their very high first-round pick, they could sign Haskins to sit and learn behind Ryan in 2021 and then potentially take over the following season.
Via SportsLine NFL oddsmakers: Which team's roster will Dwayne Haskins be on Week 1 of the 2021 season?
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