Jahan Dotson has two years and about $9.4 million left on his fully guaranteed rookie deal, so unless he REALLY depresses the Commanders to the point where they’d take almost that whole sum on as dead cap this year by cutting him, chances are he’s going to be a Commander this season.
But given that he played 32 snaps on Saturday compared to less than a dozen for the others he’s now in a confirmed WR2 competition with, and Martavis Bryant was added this week, it’s clear the staff is looking for something from him in some capacity to prove he belongs in his spot.
All of the chatter on possible Commanders WR deals have been on Brandon Aiyuk’s name this summer, but the Junkies wondered if maybe Dotson should be on that line?
“It jumped out at a lot of people that he got more snaps, and played almost a half,” JP said, with Bish saying that “he’s no dummy, he knows why he’s out there, and that has to piss him off.”
There’s wonder about his physicality or commitment or whatever, and as EB noted, Adam Peters and Dan Quinn come from teams that have physical receivers – something Dotson hasn’t seemed to be.
On the latest Take Command podcast, Logan Paulsen said Dotson runs good routes but needs to get stronger, and Craig Hoffman speculated that if somebody offered trade capital for Johan Dotson, maybe they would do it?
“I don't know that I would trade him right now for a draft pick, but what are you gonna get for him?” EB said. “I would trade him for another receiver, maybe.”
“He’s not going to get much more than a fourth-rounder,” Bish said. “He’s not going higher than that.”
“I’m gonna go with no,” was JP’s take. “He's a first-round pick, which means somebody could’ve botched it, but he's a first-round talent, so I’m not giving up on him in year three after he flashed in year one.”
To EB’s point, Bish noted the WR depth is thin, so if they deal Dotson and something happens to Terry McLaurin, ‘they’d really be in trouble.’
“They may be in trouble now; that’s why, in my opinion, they bring in Martavis Bryant, because they're not satisfied and they shouldn't be,” JP said. “That’s why fans were so excited about the possibility of Brandon Aiyuk, because nobody's really confident in the wide receivers. You can be optimistic with Ben Sinnott and Zach Ertz and tight ends, but not there. I’m against trading him, but I am open to the possibility that he is a bust, if this year is more like last year than his rookie year.”
EB looked through the 2022 Draft to see if they passed on a receiver who will make them regret it (i.e. Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson, ‘sup Philly?), and yeah, they dealt the pick New Orleans used to take Chris Olave to move back – although they did get the picks that brought Sam Howell and Brian Robinson – and Jameson Williams was selected No. 12 between Olave at 11 and Dotson at 16, but the rest of the class looks like George Pickens and a bunch of WR3 types so far.
So maybe Robinson and one season of Howell is worth it, but still, EB ‘didn’t see Jahan being this much under the microscope’ this season, and he 'can't believe we're here with people mentally giving up on Dotson.'
Listen to the whole discussion above!