Ronald Darby To Sign With Redskins

The Redskins and veteran cornerback Ronald Darby are in agreement on a one-year, $4MM deal, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Darby has spent the last three seasons with the division-rival Eagles, though all three of those seasons have been marred to some degree by injury. He played in only eight games in 2017, nine in 2018, and 11 in 2019. The 2018 season was cut short by an ACL tear, but he was at least playing at an above-average level prior to the injury. The same cannot be said for his 2019 effort, as Darby never seemed to get into a rhythm even when he was on the field.

Indeed, despite the league-wide need for corners, we had not heard of any interest in Darby before he agreed to terms with Washington. He will, however, have a good opportunity to rebuild his value in 2020. The ‘Skins signed fellow CB Kendall Fuller to a lucrative free agent pact earlier this month, but aside from the middling Fabian Moreau, there is not much depth behind Fuller.

A 2015 second-round pick of the Bills, Darby quickly established himself as a starting-caliber CB in Buffalo before being traded to Philadelphia in exchange for a third-round pick and wide receiver Jordan Matthews. He generated a fair amount of free agent interest last offseason before agreeing to return to Philadelphia on a one-year, $8.5MM pact. He will now help to fill the void left by Quinton Dunbar, whom Washington recently traded to Seattle.

In his career, the Florida State product has started 56 of a possible 57 games and has picked off eight passes. He also captured a Super Bowl ring in his first season with the Eagles.

View Comments (15)