You can't say that the Commanders trading Jahan Dotson was that big of a shocker. Perhaps the team the wide receiver was dealt to – Washington's NFC East rival the Philadelphia Eagles – was a bit of a surprise. But "something just didn't click and wasn't clicking between Dotson and the new coaching staff and they clearly had no issue in moving on from him," Kevin Sheehan said the day after the deal.
The deal that sent Washington's first-round pick from the 2022 NFL Draft (No. 16 overall) plus a 2025 fifth-round pick to Philadelphia for a 2025 third-round pick and two seventh-round picks.
Sheehan's first reaction to the deal was that Adam Peters "did pretty well" in getting something back from the wide receiver.
"I thought, essentially netting out a third-round pick, was pretty good for a guy who really had not produced as a first-round pick for two years," he said. "And the team clearly wanted to move him because he was not in their top three. And he was a guy that for whatever reason – and I think there was probably a lot of reasons and they're more dealing with personality than actual talent – they didn't want him as a part of the wide receiver room. To get a third-rounder back was pretty good."
Sheehan added: "I think they did fine with the trade. At the same time, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that Jahan Dotson can't have a resurrection of his very early brief career in Philadelphia with a different coordinator, with a different locker room, with a different quarterback, etc. Cause it's possible. He's got a lot of talent. He can really fly, he's got excellent route-running ability, for his size he's got excellent catch radius. We've seen some of it here and there. But [Washington's new regime] didn't want it."
ESPN graded the deal as an A-minus for Washington and a B-minus for Philly.
The reasoning that, while it is "soured a bit by a wasted first-round pick" but getting back a "third-round selection from Philadelphia for a player who was not a big part of your future plans is, objectively, a win."
Sheehan recalls the memories of the franchise being snookered by the Eagles in the past when they traded Donovan McNabb in April 2010 for the No. 37 overall pick and a conditional pick that ended up being the No. 104 pick (Round 4).
Now that goes both ways. Sheehan wonders if anyone in Philadelphia is now wondering why "Peters would trade a receiver who was a first-round pick two years ago within the division for a third-round pick."
Of course, it is very possible that even Peters, head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury believe that Dotson has a lot of talent and that he might end up flourishing somewhere else.
"But they didn't feel it was gonna work here, from what they wanted from their wide receivers, from what they want from their wide receiver room," Sheehan said. "But it is very possible that ... that player can, in a completely different environment, thrive.... and that's ok. If it's not gonna work for you, and you don't think it will ever work for you, then you move on. And you move on at the best price that you can move on from."
Listen to the full break down of the Dotson trade from The Kevin Sheehan Show – including where this leaves the Commanders' wide receiver room for rookie starting quarterback Jayden Daniels – on the audio player above!