Though the day was late, the Washington Football Team mananged to sneak a free-agent signing in just before the buzzer, agreeing to a 1-year, $10 million contract with former Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
He may not be the franchise player that everyone wanted, but Fitzpatrick has absolutely shown an ability to step up to the plate and wow fans in the past.
In his career, Fitz has a 59-86-1 QB record with 223 touchdowns and 169 interceptions. The longevity of his career has been impressive if the winning hasn’t.
So how does it deal grade out for Washington? We’re willing to give it a B-.
As the weeks went on this offseason, it became clear that a top-end QB wasn’t going to fall in the lap of Ron Rivera. It seemed unlikely that they trade for a Deshaun Watson or a Russell Wilson, and rumors about guys like Sam Darnold never really sparked. With the 19th pick in the NFL draft, it was unlikely that they’d be able to take that route as well.
So in the end, why not grab a proven stop-gap veteran and throw him into a QB competition? That’s exactly what Rivera did, and now Fitzpatrick, who battled Tua Tagovailoa for the starting QB spot in Miami last season, will go up against both Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen this summer in D.C.
Who will come out on top? That’s a question that we absolutely don’t have the answer to. What we can hope for, though, is a solid competition where the winner is able to stay healthy throughout the season and provide some stability to the team. It may not be the Super-Bowl contending year that we all hoped for, but Washington can definitely make some noise, and kick the QB-problem can down the road until we get to do this all again next offseason.
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