The Washington Football Team released quarterback Dwayne Haskins the day after he had a horrible performance against the Carolina Panthers. He’s cleared waivers and is now a free agent. Haskins of course had been in trouble prior to Sunday’s game, being stripped of his captain status after his second violation of the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols this season. His performance against Carolina sealed his fate, though.
Haskins threw two interceptions – including one to the league’s worst coverage linebacker – and finished the afternoon with an almost-impossible 4.1 QBR when he was benched in favor of Taylor Heinicke of all people. Despite all the issues Haskins has had on and off the field this year, some teams are showing interest – and the Panthers are apparently one of them, according to Ian Rapoport at NFL Network.
While free agent QB Dwayne Haskins is unlikely to sign before the season, he is receiving interest from several teams, source said. One of those is the Carolina Panthers, but there are others intrigued by Haskins.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2020
Haskins is not a good pro quarterback at this point, but he is young and showed flashes last season. That said, it’s hard to envision Haskins developing into a long-term starter at this level given what we have seen from him so far. If the Panthers’ reported interest is true, it says a lot more about their current situation at quarterback than Haskins’ potential.
While Teddy Bridgewater finally got his first win since Week 5, he didn’t play much better than Haskins. Bridgewater displayed poor ball security again and was responsible for all four of the sacks he took, including one on fourth down to end the Panthers’ first possession.
Given the structure of his contract, Bridgewater will still be on the roster in 2021. If they’re really interested in Haskins, that suggests Bridgewater won’t be around much longer after that.
