Days after the Bears released Charles Leno, the veteran left tackle will have an opportunity to catch on elsewhere. The Washington Football Team will host Leno on a visit Monday, John Keim of ESPN.com tweets.
In transition at left tackle for the past two years, with Trent Williams skipping the 2019 season and Washington trading the Pro Bowler away in 2020, the WFT did invest highly in this position in the draft. Washington chose Texas tackle Samuel Cosmi in Round 2, but the team appears to be in the market for a stopgap starter.
The Bears cut Leno earlier this week, doing so after they made a second-round tackle investment — Teven Jenkins — at the position. Washington passed on a tackle in the first round, selecting linebacker Jamin Davis instead. Cosmi may well profile as Williams’ true long-term successor, after the team shuffled a few players here over the past two seasons. But the Leno visit could signal Washington will view the ex-Longhorn as not being ready to step in to start the season.
Despite being a seventh-round pick, Leno has been a left tackle starter for the past six seasons. Chicago gave the former long-shot prospect an extension in 2017, and he served as the team’s blindside protector from 2015-20. Pro Football Focus graded Leno as a top-25 tackle in three of the past four years, including the 2020 season. Leno, 29, has not missed a game since his rookie season.
The Bears, however, have cut both their longtime bookends — Leno and Bobby Massie — and are starting over at the position. Jenkins may well be expected to start in Week 1; Cosmi may play a second-string role to begin his career. Washington has longtime right tackle Morgan Moses in place, but the team will see about pairing him with an experienced left tackle.
Team did well with some stopgap guys last season. Worth a try again til Cosmi & Charles are settled in.
I suppose my perspective is different from yours because I still view the Washington OL as a turnstile. Relying on stop gap guys won’t keep them atop the division. I don’t think Ereck Flowers will be much of an upgrade and Leno is only marginally better. Of course it costs nothing to kick the tires on these types of players but Rivera needs to get some real talent up front.
Flowers was signed to either play guard or back-up G and T, not to be a starting tackle. He played guard well for them in 2019. Speculation among the fan base is that he might have been re-signed in part to pressure Brandon Scherff into finally signing a long-term deal, as in “we have a replacement we like if you won’t play ball.”
They drafted Cosmi in the 2nd as their eventual LTOTF. Leno would be insurance in case Cornelius Lucas doesn’t play as well as he did last year.