Category: 2021 Offseason

Former Washington tight end Jeremy Sprinkle has a new home

The Washington Football Team needs help at tight end. Outside of starter Logan Thomas, Washington’s three backup tight ends combined for

The Washington Football Team needs help at tight end. Outside of starter Logan Thomas, Washington’s three backup tight ends combined for three receptions and 18 yards in 2020.

On Wednesday, Washington lost its backup tight end when Jeremy Sprinkle signed with the Dallas Cowboys.

Sprinkle was a fifth-round draft pick out of Arkansas in 2017 and finished his career in Washington with 34 receptions for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Sprinkle caught just one pass for six yards in 2020.

Fans won’t remember Sprinkle’s time in D.C. too fondly. The Football Team has battled age and injuries at the position in recent years until Thomas stabilized the position last season.

Before 2019, Sprinkle had several opportunities to seize playing time and generally ended up dropping wide-open passes or stumbling on a key block. After playing out the final year of his rookie contract in 2020, Washington was clearly planning to move on from Sprinkle.

Meanwhile, Washington will look to the 2021 NFL draft for help behind Thomas, where everyone outside of Florida star Kyle Pitts is a viable option.

Washington Football Team makes another significant hire

The Washington Football Team made another historic hire on Wednesday when the team announced it had hired Natalia Dorantes as the

The Washington Football Team made another historic hire on Wednesday when the team announced it had hired Natalia Dorantes as the coordinator of football programs.

Dorantes will report directly to head coach Ron Rivera and work with the coaching staff and the front office in a chief-of-staff role.

Dorantes originally connected with Rivera in February when she messaged him during the annual NFL’s annual women’s forum to introduce herself and thank him for his support of women in the NFL.

The 26-year-old worked with Texas A&M before coming to Washington as a director of recruiting. Rivera said he spoke with Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher and NFL senior director Sam Rapaport before hiring Dorantes.

“This is kind of new ground for us because I’ve never had a ‘chief of staff,'” Rivera said, per Washington’s official website. “So I needed a person that’s gonna be able to interact with coaches, with coordinators and may have to say, quite honestly, ‘No, I don’t think Coach wants that,’ or ‘No, Coach doesn’t want that,’ you know what I mean?”

Before going to Texas A&M, Dorantes worked for the NFL.

Dorantes is the first Latina in NFL history to serve in this capacity. In her new role, she will handle several roles from scheduling practices to personnel meetings, among other things.

Curtis Samuel named Washington’s worst free-agent signing

The Washington Football Team had a desperate need for a wide receiver opposite Terry McLaurin entering the 2021 offseason. 

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The Washington Football Team had a desperate need for a wide receiver opposite Terry McLaurin entering the 2021 offseason.

One player who seemed like a natural fit for Washington was Carolina Panthers wide receiver, Curtis Samuel.

After all, the general manager and head coach who picked Samuel with the Panthers are now in Washington.

While the market for wide receivers was slow to develop early, it didn’t take long for Samuel and Washington to strike a deal. The Football Team signed the former Ohio State star to a three-year contract worth up to $34.5 million.

The deal was universally praised as Washington signed a young player who is just 24, fast, versatile and coming off his best season as a pro. Also, he comes to a team where the coaching staff knows him better than anyone.

What’s not to like?

Well, not everyone likes the deal for Washington.

Bleacher Report recently named the worst signing for every NFL team in the 2021 offseason. Samuel was the choice for Washington.

According to Bleacher Report, Samuel’s talent isn’t the issue. In his three previous seasons under former Carolina coach — and current Washington coach — Ron Rivera, Samuel wasn’t used properly.

His previous career-high was 54 receptions in 2019, Rivera’s final season in Carolina. He also had a career-high 19 rushing attempts that season.

In 2020, under new offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Samuel recorded 77 receptions for 851 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball 41 times for  200 yards and two more scores.

It’s possible that Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner has plans to employ Samuel similarly to his final season in Carolina.

It is worth noting that Samuel has improved in every statistical category in each of his four NFL seasons, meaning perhaps Rivera and his Carolina coaching staff recognized Samuel was on the verge of a breakout season before he was fired late in the 2019 season.

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Alex Smith could find a landing spot with the Houston Texans

Former Washington QB Alex Smith could potentially find a home with the Houston Texans this offseason.

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If there is one team in the NFL that has been in the news for a lot of the wrong reasons this offseason, it’s the Houston Texans. While they continue to try and find the answer at the quarterback position with Deshaun Watson demanding a trade before all of his off-the-field drama came to light, the Texans continue to seemingly get in their own way and have a tough time pleasing a lot of fans.

In many ways, they sound a lot like the Washington Football Team, which has been continually in the news for less than ideal reasons over the years and is still searching for a franchise QB.

Now there is another way that the two teams can be alike, with former Washington quarterback Alex Smith potentially landing with the Texans.

Houston makes sense for Smith, especially if he desires to continue playing or starting. The Texans signed Tyrod Taylor this offseason, and with the future of Watson anything but certain, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Smith come in and work to secure a starting spot.

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Ryan Fitzpatrick named QB1, but a competition is still looming

Ron Rivera said that Ryan Fitzpatrick is the current QB1, but they are still hoping to have a competition in training camp this year.

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One thing that has been consistent under Ron Rivera’s leadership in Washington is his desire to have a competition at the quarterback position, allowing the handful of players to bring out the best in each other and letting the cream rise to the top.

We were expecting that to happen once again heading into this offseason, with Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen on the roster, but then the signing of veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick seemed to knock the other two down a rung, giving him the starting job and letting the other two battle it out for QB2.

On Thursday, Rivera admitted that Fitzpatrick is the proverbial starting QB as of now, but he still expects there to be a competition in OTA’s and training camp this summer.

What could become very interesting is if Washington decides to add another QB to the roster in the NFL Draft this year. They don’t need to, but if there is a guy that they like that falls to them in the mid-rounds, like Kellen Mond or Kyle Trask, it would benefit them to grab him and allow him to acclimate to the NFL lifestyle for a year while Fitzpatrick holds the starting reins.

If that’s the case though, you’d have to expect that one of the current QBs gets cut, as 4 is too many to carry on the roster. Going based solely on contracts, it would seem that Allen lifts out the easiest, since he is owed the least amount of money, and the team locked Heinicke down for a couple of years already.

Whoever is on the roster entering training camp, though, it seems that they will likely be battling it out for second place, with Fitzpatrick holding court. That is, of course, unless someone comes in and completely knocks Rivera’s socks off. Then things get very interesting.

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Ryan Fitzpatrick named QB1, but a competition is still looming

Ron Rivera said that Ryan Fitzpatrick is the current QB1, but they are still hoping to have a competition in training camp this year.

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One thing that has been consistent under Ron Rivera’s leadership in Washington is his desire to have a competition at the quarterback position, allowing the handful of players to bring out the best in each other and letting the cream rise to the top.

We were expecting that to happen once again heading into this offseason, with Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen on the roster, but then the signing of veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick seemed to knock the other two down a rung, giving him the starting job and letting the other two battle it out for QB2.

On Thursday, Rivera admitted that Fitzpatrick is the proverbial starting QB as of now, but he still expects there to be a competition in OTA’s and training camp this summer.

What could become very interesting is if Washington decides to add another QB to the roster in the NFL Draft this year. They don’t need to, but if there is a guy that they like that falls to them in the mid-rounds, like Kellen Mond or Kyle Trask, it would benefit them to grab him and allow him to acclimate to the NFL lifestyle for a year while Fitzpatrick holds the starting reins.

If that’s the case though, you’d have to expect that one of the current QBs gets cut, as 4 is too many to carry on the roster. Going based solely on contracts, it would seem that Allen lifts out the easiest, since he is owed the least amount of money, and the team locked Heinicke down for a couple of years already.

Whoever is on the roster entering training camp, though, it seems that they will likely be battling it out for second place, with Fitzpatrick holding court. That is, of course, unless someone comes in and completely knocks Rivera’s socks off. Then things get very interesting.

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Washington signs receiver and kick returner DeAndre Carter to one-year deal

Washington signed kick-returner DeAndre Carter to a one-year deal on Thursday, adding some value to their special teams unit.

The Washington Football Team made a free agent move on Thursday afternoon that has the chance to bring some major value to the roster, adding wide receiver and kick returner DeAndre Carter to the roster on a one-year deal.

Carter has been in the league since 2018 where he has played with multiple teams, the most recent of which was the Houston Texans.

In his career, Carter has 983 kick return yards on 45 attempts, with an average of 21.8 yards per attempt. Washington has been looking for a new return man, both in the kicking and punting game, and it appears that they might have found one on a low-cost deal in Carter.

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Washington has had no further contract talks with Brandon Scherff

Ron Rivera said that the team has had zero contract talks with Scherff since the franchise tag was signed, which leads to speculation.

Last month, the Washington Football Team signed All-Pro right guard Brandon Scherff to his second-consecutive franchise tag, securing him on the roster for the 2021 NFL season, but leaving his future in the balance. He will play this season on a contract that will pay him approximately $18 million, but he becomes an unrestricted free agent next offseason, without the ability to be franchised again.

There are a lot of questions about what Ron Rivera and the team might do about this situation, with a long-term deal still being a possibility before the season starts, but according to Rivera, the two sides have not had any conversations about a new contract since the franchise tag was signed.

We don’t want to read too far into things, but it seems like things are starting to lean towards Scherff playing for a new team in 2022. Not only will it be harder for Washington to re-sign him next year now that he has another, more expensive year on his tires, but they also would receive a valuable comp-pick if he were to leave, likely in the third round.

We will see how things play out, but for the first time in a while, it seems very possible that Scherff will finish his career somewhere other than Washington.

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NFL owners unanimously approve Dan Snyder’s buy-out of Washington co-owners

With a unanimous 32-0 vote, Daniel Snyder was approved to buy out the remaining shares of the Washington Football Team and take total control.

The news came out last week that not only was Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder refusing to sell the team, as so many fans wished he would, but rather he was making a move to buy-out the co-owners of the team and taking a 100% controlling stake.

After a number of co-owners reported were looking to sell their shares of the team, which amounted to approximately 40% of the franchise, Snyder sent a request to the NFL for a $450 million debt waiver so that he could purchase the remaining shares and take full control of the franchise.

On Wednesday at the NFL Owner’s Meetings, that request was unanimously approved with a vote of 32-0.

‘A dream come true’; LT Christian Darrisaw talks about desire to play for hometown team

As a native of the Washington D.C. area, LT Christian Darrisaw says that playing in the burgundy and gold would be a ‘dream come true.’

One of the few players who has routinely been mocked to be selected by the Washington Football Team with the No. 19 pick in the 2021 NFL draft is Virginia Tech left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who is considered one of the top-tier offensive linemen in this draft. With a hole at left tackle, Washington is undoubtedly considering him with their top pick.

Darrisaw, who grew up about 10 minutes away from FedEx Field, said the prospect of playing for Washington and being able to put on the burgundy and gold every week would be a dream come true.

After a successful free-agency haul that landed them a new quarterback, wide receiver and cornerback, Washington is now at liberty to use their draft capital to focus on other positions of need, with left tackle being the main piece, as well as linebacker, free safety, running back and cornerback. There is a chance that Washington brings in Darrisaw in the first round if he is still available, which at this point seems like something that would make everyone happy.

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