If JP Finlay isn’t plugged in when big Commanders news is breaking (a rare moment), he knows where to go to get the info – and that’s what he did Thursday with WaPo’s Nicki Jhabvala, who reported Wednesday that there has been a firm offer made to the Commanders to trade Montez Sweat.
“As of yesterday morning, I was told there was one offer on the table for Montez at that point. There have been calls on both guys obviously, but no offers at this point for for chase, and I think a lot of it is his injury history,” Nicki said. “When you trade for a player like that at a premium position who is about to hit free agency, you usually want a guy you can sign to a longer-term deal, and there could be some hesitancy. He looks great out there now, but just some hesitance on longer-term health and kind of where he's at with all of that.”
The timing of the deadline plays into that, as teams would be giving up assets for 10 games or so with no guarantee he’ll stay or stay healthy, but Sweat has more of a history – and while Nicki wouldn’t reveal the team, and said the details in full were unclear anyway, there’s plenty of time still.
And, to be fair, many teams could use a strong pass rusher, but salary could be a concern.
“Not many teams are equipped to take on a player like Montez; you bring him on at this point, you're probably looking at about $7 million remaining on his salary for this year, and factoring in what you have to give up to get him and whether you can sign him long-term,” she said. “It’s not as straight-forward as one may think.”
There are other players who could be of interest – Cleveland media is pushing for the Browns to re-acquire Jacoby Brissett, for example – but Sweat and Young look to be the two primary trade chips being discussed at all.
Then again…
“That seems a little risky, but if they’re offered a really high round pick for Jacoby, then maybe that changes the discussion,” Nicki laughed. “I have trouble seeing it, but you know, if the price is right?
Wait – if Brissett is dealt, which means it’s Howell or bust (injury be damned), would that be a move from above Ron Rivera and co. to signal a rebuild?
“I don’t know if I would go so far to say that that's coming from above Ron – if the value is there, I think he’s smart enough to know that you have to consider it and think of the long term, whether or not he's here or not,” Nicki said. “But that is sort of the tough balance of what they're doing here: trying to get value for guys they know they can't keep, while also trying to keep together for the season, because while they've had two really bad losses, you know, a couple wins and you're sort of back in it. So how do you look ahead while trying to keep your team together and not sending the message that you basically quit on them in the middle of the season? That's a tough balance at this point.”
So, then, if she had to speculate on the chances Young or Sweat get dealt?
“I’m going with 65 percent on Sweat,” Nicki said. “I look at it this way: it makes sense, and the reality is you have four first-round picks on the defensive line, and you've already re-signed two of them. You can’t keep all four, and Montez is the one right now getting the most value in return. So, are you gonna let him walk and get nothing in three months?”
That said, if you move Sweat, you keep Young and maybe franchise tag him in her mind, which buys you another year to see what the future holds for both him and the team direction.
“In a year, things can change dramatically in this team, if they make significant changes in coaching staff or elsewhere, so you have a better idea of who they are and what they’re looking for,” Nicki said. “And, in a year, you start to have outs in a lot of these veteran contracts. Maybe they rethink next year where things are with Jon Allen? I'm not saying they will by any means, but these are deals where they have outs, so to speak, and not take on a massive cap charge, so they can kind of rethink how they want to build this team right now. A lot of money is tied to that defensive line, and if they wanna go out and get a quarterback, someone’s going to have to go.”
Take a listen to Nicki’s entire call-in above, which has some further speculation about the future of the Commanders’ defensive line, the player she thinks is the most valuable trade candidate beyond Sweat and Young, and more!
