For any NFL team that is currently closer to No. 32 in the power rankings than they are to the top spot, the offseason is a pivotal time for the franchise as a whole. It offers a chance to regroup, figure out what went wrong, and map out what you can do to fix it.
Sometimes that means getting a new coach, sometimes that means trying to remake your team through free agency, and sometimes that means putting all of your chips into the NFL Draft looking to build a young and solid core. For the Washington Redskins, it will likely be all three of those things.
It may be hard to see the forest through the trees at times, but what happens over the next two or three months for the Redskins is likely to shape the franchise for many years to come. With a new regime in place throughout the front office and coaching staff, a new tone will hopefully be set at the very core as a once-historic team looks to get back to their winning ways.
On top of just cultural changes, the Redskins have a litany of personnel decisions to make in the imminent future. In the wake of cornerback Quinton Dunbar’s request to be traded or released, the team is now responsible for trying to repair relationships with both him and left tackle Trent Williams, hopefully convincing them to return to the team ahead of 2020. The Redskins also needs to make decisions on free agent lineman Brandon Scherff and Ereck Flowers, as well as coming up with a solution for EDGE Ryan Kerrigan’s contract — there’s no way they’re content to pay him $11.7 million this year.
On top of all of those roster decisions that could potentially shape the starting lineup, you have the NFL Draft. The Redskins have the No. 2 overall pick, and a stark majority of the fanbase and sports media has been clamoring for them to select Ohio State defensive end Chase Young with that pick. While that is still the most likely outcome, the Redskins could still choose to trade away the top pick — and potentially the next pick as well — in order to increase their draft capital and help to fill out their roster with young players who have a lot of upsides. We’ve seen Kyle Smith, the VP of Player Personnel and orchestrator of the Redskins’ draft, come away with two highly-successful drafts in the past two years, and it’s not crazy to think he could do it again in 2020.
This isn’t an article that is predicting what the Redskins will do, or even trying to sway them to lean one way or the other. Rather, it is a piece that wants to underline the magnitude of the decisions that will be made over the next couple of months inside the organization. These are potentially franchise-changing decisions that will go a long way in determining what the future looks like in Washington. It could be a return to greatness for a win-deprived fanbase, or it could be continued mediocrity in the Nation’s Capital.
No pressure.
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