Dwayne Haskins Is Done in Washington
Dwayne Haskins was supposed to be the future of the Washington Football Team when the franchise selected him with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Less than two years later, he's likely done in Washington.
Haskins was stripped of his captainship on Wednesday after he was photographed maskless at a party on Sunday. That was just hours after he started for Washington against the Seattle Seahawks. The egregious COVID-19 violation forced the team's hand and they removed his designation as a team leader. The fact that Haskins' team is in first-place in the NFC East and currently holds a playoff spot makes this worse. It was yet another disappointment in two seasons full of them.
Source: Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins’ captainship was taken away following his COVID-19 violation that included being photographed at a strip club without a mask. His teammates had voted him a captain in camp. This is part of the internal punishment for Haskins.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 23, 2020
Haskins claims it was his girlfriend's birthday party. It is the second time he's been caught violating COVID protocols this season. He apologized via Twitter on Tuesday (before deleting his account) and again in a press conference on Wednesday:
Dwayne Haskins apologies for his actions at his girlfriend's birthday. Said that he completely understands the consequences of his actions and the decision to take away his captaincy
— Rhiannon Walker (@InstantRHIplay) December 23, 2020
As a rookie in 2019, Haskins battled Case Keenum for the starting quarterback spot. He wound up playing in nine games and completed 58.6 percent of his passes for 1,365 yards with seven touchdowns, seven interceptions and a passer rating of 76.1. He hasn't been any better this year. In six contests he's completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 1,285 yards with five touchdowns, five interceptions and a passer rating of 77.7.
This season, Haskins has battled Kyle Allen and a recovering Alex Smith for playing time. And, frankly, they've outplayed him. That's a rough look for the 23-year-old Ohio State product, who was the third quarterback taken in the 2019 draft. He was drafted to play for Jay Gruden, who was fired midway through his rookie year. Now Ron Rivera is running things and made it clear he wanted to reevaluate his options -- which is why he imported Allen from the Carolina Panthers.
Given Haskins' lack of production and now wanton disregard of COVID regulations, it's fair to assume he's done in Washington. If he isn't cut or traded this offseason, the Football Team will likely just bury him on the bench. He's given the franchise no reason to trust him. As a quarterback he's supposed to lead by example and be the adult in the room. Instead, he's acting like an irresponsible college kid.
If Washington cut Haskins this offseason it would face $8.5 million in dead cap, and all things considered that's not a huge hit. It might be worth it to move on and start fresh at the quarterback position.
Haskins may play over the next few weeks, but that will be out of necessity. There's no way the franchise will trust him moving forward. He's done in Washington.