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With only one week left in the regular season, it would have been easy for Washington to take quarterback Dwayne Haskins to the off-season, hoping a trade market would develop, and later make a decision about his future. Washington had rather decided to admit a mistake and move on now.
In the first place, the decision provoked widespread criticism of the decision to draft Haskins. However, Haskins was widely regarded as a prospect in the first round. If Washington does not put him on no. 15, someone else would have picked him before the end of the round, even if it meant he would trade from second round to get Haskins and the maximum five-year contract associated with a first-round choice.
It’s easier to not keep Washington waiting for a few months, especially given the possibility that Urban Meyer, who recruited Haskins to Ohio State and coached him there, will take one of the vacant NFL positions. . Washington could have bought Haskins to Meyer. Even a late-choice would have been more than nothing, especially since a trade would wipe Haskins’ remaining $ 4.2 million salary from the books without any legal battle.
Without knowing what happened to coach Ron Rivera’s sudden decision to cut Haskins (and, surely, something happened Sunday night or Monday morning), it’s reasonable to judge Rivera’s judgment. From the violation of COVID-19 after the Week 15 loss to not doing very well in the Week 16 loss, to the attempt to skip the mandatory media commitments after the game to everything we may not yet know, Rivera ( barely had a coach with a short fuse) enough. And Rivera was able to convince Haskins’ indoor champion – owner Daniel Snyder – that enough was enough.
It was a bad situation for everyone involved. Washington chose to admit its mistake instead of putting it together. Quite possibly, Rivera thought he should also send a clear message to the locker room if other players got discouraged with Haskins.
That does not mean that Haskins’ career is over. He’s just 23. He’s getting another chance, somewhere. And the wake-up call he received when he was cut could be exactly the spark his career needs.
But it depends on him to show that his multiple excuses are not just hollow words, and that he is capable of being smarter, more mature, and not behaving with the sense of justice that comes from ‘ a four-year contract.
In 2011, the NFL wanted to dramatically reduce the money given to beginners in the first round. Certain players have become invulnerable due to their contracts, and therefore unreachable by their coaches and teammates. The decision to cut Haskins after only two of four seasons shows that the contract will no longer save a player who fails and / or refuses to do what he has to do.
The next question becomes when and where he gets the chance to do what he needs to do to turn around his young career.