The New England Patriots, with only one quarterback under contract for the 2021 season, explore all avenues to climb a pin before next season.
But are they desperate enough to take a wheel over Dwayne Haskins, which the Washington team launched Monday after a disastrous week for the young quarterback?
In short: Haskins started and lost the WFT Week 15 game to the Seattle Seahawks, and was then fined $40,000 through his team after photos of the quarterback were unmasked attending his girlfriend’s birthday party. He began the WFT week 16 loss to the Carolina Panthers and sat on the bench in the final quarter to replace Quarterback (and former Patriots practitioner Taylor Heinicke in the last quarter.
Haskins, the fifteenth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, had exhausted his welcome in Washington with new head coach Ron Rivera. He finished 58. 6% of his passes for 1365 yards with seven landings and seven interceptions while going 2-5 to Washington in 2019, he completed 61. 4% of his passes for 1,439 yards with five landings and seven interceptions, while going 1-5 to Washington in 2020. The football team went 5-4 (4-1 with Alex Smith and 1-3 with Kyle Allen) in games Haskins has not done this season. Haskins also ran 40 times for 147 yards with a landing in his career.
If a team claims Haskins, it owes him $1. 8 million in 2021 and $2. 5 million in 2022. That’s not much cash for a quarterback deemed worthy of a first-round selection less than two years ago. It’s too much.
However, if Haskins is claimed, he may be worthy of a flyer with a minimum contract, an addition to an educational team, or a long-term signature. While not particularly impressive, it still has a merit in the box as a recent first-round selection. The Patriots would have the off-season to see if Haskins is an out-of-the-box setting. And if Array, you could leave at any time without additional risk.
Haskins prospered with Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, who is close to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in 2018. A quick call to Meyer might be enough for Belichick if he even sought to have trouble with Haskins.
It is incredibly unlikely that Haskins will emerge as a long-term beginner quarterback two years after his career, but the Patriots only have Jarrett Stidham under contract for the 2021 NFL season, with Cam Newton and Brian Hoyer in the loose position and Jake Dolegala on the practice team (but most likely head to a long-term signing).
Collecting quarterbacks to compete in 2021 is a forward-looking plan for the Patriots, and if they select or point to a better option at any point in the off-season, they can free Haskins seamlessly.
Claiming Haskins turns out to be a no. But there are worse concepts than signing it if it hits the open market.