NFL combine provides opportunity for Commanders to get deals done

This week’s NFL combine won’t only be an opportunity for the Washington Commanders to evaluate top quarterback prospects in person. Sure, that will likely happen. But for the Commanders — and the rest of the league’s 31 teams — the league’s annual pre-draft spectacle will also be a chance to meet with other team personnel in person. 

That’s how rumors — and deals — get started. 

The nearly weeklong scouting combine, which begins Tuesday in Indianapolis, returns after the league shelved the event last year because of the pandemic. In the past, the combine has been a feeding ground for gossip. Remember the buzz going into the 2020 combine over whether Washington would be willing to trade the No. 2 pick? OK, so that didn’t turn out to be true — but on occasion, the combine does pave the way for deals to get done. Just look at Washington’s history.

Four years ago, word leaked out at the combine that the then-Redskins and the Denver Broncos had discussions centered around disgruntled safety Su’a Cravens. Former coach Jay Gruden denied the rumors, but Washington ended up trading Cravens to Denver a month later. In 2019, the Broncos and Washington finalized a deal centered around quarterback Case Keenum just three days after the combine ended. 

The Commanders, of course, have a different regime now in place, but coach Ron Rivera has expressed his willingness to trade for a veteran quarterback this offseason. The combine provides an opportunity for talks to heat up.

“I like our team,” Rivera said earlier this month. “I like where we are. You know, we’ve got the No. 6 ranked offensive line, so we have a chance to protect the guy. We’ve got a 1,000-yard rusher, we have a 1,000-yard receiver. I can go down the list. But I do think that this is something that we most certainly can use as we start going through the whole thing (to find a quarterback).”

Be careful in putting stock into every rumor. As much buzz comes out of the combine, a lot of the noise doesn’t end up coming true. In 2019, Josh Rosen was a hot name often connected to Washington — the Miami Dolphins traded for the first-rounder instead. A year later, Washington created a stir when it met with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — Young was still the pick come draft night. 

If Washington is going to trade for a veteran quarterback, one has to wonder if a deal will get done sooner than later.  Teams can begin negotiating with other teams’ free agents, after all, on March 14. With that date only weeks away, it’s logical to think that the  Commanders would like to have its quarterback situation settled by then so they know how they can go about attacking free agency. 

Should the Commanders pass on acquiring a veteran on the trade market, then a rookie quarterback will likely be seen as in play. Even if Washington signs a bridge quarterback — say Buffalo’s Mitchell Trubisky — there’s a possibility the team could still draft a signal-caller with the 11th overall pick. 

But for now, some are skeptical that Washington would entertain using its first-round pick on a rookie signal-caller — particularly as no quarterback in this year’s class is regarded as a sure-fire hit. The NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has Washington taking Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green at No. 11, for instance, in his latest mock draft.  

“I just think about Ron Rivera, where he’s at in his career, and look at some of the pieces on this roster and I’m just wondering if they end up trying to go the veteran route,” Jeremiah said Friday on a conference call. “It’s going to be fascinating to see who kind of blinks when it comes to these quarterbacks.

“I don’t have one with a top 10 grade, but I also don’t have a dying need for the position personally in the Jeremiah household. I’m curious to see who the first team is to say, OK, yeah, we’re all in on one of these guys.”