Dwayne Haskins Goes Unclaimed On Waivers

Despite Dwayne Haskins going off the 2019 draft board at No. 15 overall, he is a free agent barely 18 months later. The second-year quarterback went unclaimed on waivers Tuesday, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

Washington waived Haskins less than 24 hours after starting him in Week 16 against the Panthers. The former one-year Ohio State sensation is no longer attached to his four-year rookie contract.

While Haskins went unclaimed, Washington still owes him the balance of that fully guaranteed rookie deal. In addition to dead money coming from Haskins’ signing bonus, his $1.8MM (2021) and $2.46MM (2022) base salaries will be on Washington’s payroll.

The team took a quarterback in Round 1 for the first time since Robert Griffin III in 2012 — a move influenced by Daniel Snyder and endorsed by then-team president Bruce Allen, but opposed by then-HC Jay Gruden — but Haskins will be seeking to start over already. Poor play and two COVID-19 protocol violations led to his Washington dismissal. The now-Ron Rivera-run team was willing to trade Haskins prior to this year’s deadline and only reinserted him into its starting lineup because of Alex Smith‘s calf injury. Smith’s 2018 injury led to Washington drafting Haskins barely a year after trading for Smith and handing him a four-year extension.

Washington will turn to either Smith or former UDFA Taylor Heinicke in a do-or-die Week 17 game in Philadelphia. Rivera said Smith was close to returning last week, boding well for his prospects to lift Washington to its first playoff berth since 2015.

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