When you talk about repairing player relationships inside the Washington Redskins organization, Trent Williams is the first person to come to mind, and rightfully so. Quinton Dunbar is next on that list, and he arguably is as big of a factor in the Redskins near future as any other player on the team.
Earlier this month, Dunbar went public with his request to be traded or released from the team, which might have come to a shock to many fans. Dunbar is unhappy with his contract, and a stall in negotiations with the new front office forced him to play his hand and ask to be let go. Since then, it was reported that Dunbar walked back his request to be released, but it’s difficult to find anyone who is sure of what’s going on with the matter.
Until now.
When Redskins coach Ron Rivera met with the media on Wednesday at the 2020 NFL Combine, he declared that he had met with the cornerback since all of this went down and that the two had had a great talk. Rivera left those conversations with the impression that Dunbar would show up to OTAs ready to go this spring.
“I know what he has said, and we won’t know until April 6, but the hope is that he’ll come in ready to roll,” Rivera said, via NBC Sports Washington. “He is under contract.”
While Rivera hopes to see Dunbar with the team this offseason, he also understands where Dunbar is coming from, entering the last year of his contract with no guaranteed money. For Rivera, he simply wants a chance to see what the players can do before committing to them long-term.
“The thing is that I hope everyone understands, I don’t know this group of guys,” Rivera said. “I really don’t. You’ve got to be able to go out there and assess the talent. Whether they fit what you want to fit. At the end of the day, I think everyone has to understand that, come together and show everybody whether you fit or not.”
Now we’ll have to wait and see if Dunbar is willing to show Rivera that he’s a fit with the team still.
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