The Washington Football Team may not be done adding quarterbacks to the roster this offseason, and the team may be looking to add a passer they can develop over the long-term.
After four quarterbacks saw game time during Ron Rivera's first year as head coach, the team may have as many as five in training camp for 2021, ensuring the QB carousel may continue to spin in Washington.
Here's the situation now: Dwayne Haskins and Alex Smith have been removed from the ride, Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen have been allowed to stay, and veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick has been invited aboard. (There's also practice squad passer Steven Montez on the fringes still waiting to make his NFL debut.)
And ESPN's John Keim says there may be yet another quarterback to join the fun in Washington this offseason.
"From the time they signed Fitzpatrick, that's been the case," Keim told Kevin Sheehan Thursday, before adding it is a "definite possibility" the team drafts another QB.
"It could be anywhere [in the draft]. It could be the first round. But if I had to bet, I'd say Day 2 [rounds 2 and 3], but I wouldn't rule out anything," Keim said. "Then it depends in the first round, I think you look and say, well, it could be that all these [first-round projected] guys go in the Top 10. And if that's the case, then, well, no. If somebody falls that they like and it's within striking distance maybe they move up, I don't know for sure. But I do know that they have a desire to add somebody that they can develop long-term."
Listen to the full conversation between ESPN's John Keim and Kevin Sheehan here:
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Keim's assessment gels with what USA Today's Mike Jones said before free agency, when he said, "I think that the expectation all along has been that they will probably wind up drafting somebody and acquiring another veteran quarterback as well."
"But I will be shocked if they came out of the draft without having used an early pick on a quarterback," Jones said in early March.
When asked to give his gut-feeling on Washington drafting a quarterback, Keim pointed to the second and third-round range, with Sheehan adding potential picks like Kyle Trask, Kellen Mond, Jamie Newman, and Davis Mills.
Who would likely be the odd-man out in Washington? The salary cap numbers would say Kyle Allen, who is owed $850,000 for the 2021 season and releasing him would not cost the team anything against the cap.
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But that decision will likely be made after camp and focused on another quarterback. "First, you bring them to camp and you see if Taylor Heinicke, is he different than you thought he was from two years ago?" Keim told The Team 980. "Because remember, this [coaching staff and front office] group cut him two years ago and he's played one full game since then.
"Now, it was a good game, but there are other guys who played really good games and they don't go anywhere beyond that. So, I think, you want to see what's the progression from him."
Heinicke, who signed a two-year extension earlier this offseason and said he was expecting an opportunity to compete for the starting job, carries a $1.5 million dead cap if Washington released him.
If at training camp Allen and Heinicke are indistinguishable, Washington may choose to save money and keep Heinicke. But, of course, Allen is younger and, when healthy, has always been higher in the pecking order in the eyes of Rivera's coaching staff.
Of course, Washington may not draft a quarterback at all.
"I definitely wouldn't be surprised [if they drafted a QB early]", Keim said, "and I wouldn't be shocked if nothing happens because, again, the guy you want has to be there. I don't think it's a thousand percent lock that they're sitting there saying, 'We're taking a quarterback no matter who it is,' just to get a guy. I don't think you have to just get a guy."
"[Washington's] main concern, what I keep hearing, is 'build the roster right,'" Keim added. "And if you don't have this guy, then you gotta keep building the roster. So you can't take a quarterback that you don't believe in and pass up a tight end that you think could be good for you. You have to take the guy you believe in."
Follow @BenKrimmel for the latest.
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