Redskins trade for Allen, sign Brantley, make cuts, trade Dunbar

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March 23, 2020

by Steve Thomas

UPDATED, 7:10 pm ET:

The Redskins’ flurry of Monday activity continues, as the Redskins have reportedly agreed to trade disgruntled corner Quinton Dunbar to the Seattle Seahawks:

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the compensation from Seattle is a 5th round pick:

Dunbar was highly valued by the fanbase and was certainly the Redskins’ top corner when he was on the field; however, he missed 14 games in the last two years and was not a true elite player who could be counted on to reliably provide man coverage against the NFL’s top receivers.   The fifth round pick compensation makes up for the pick sent to Carolina earlier today in the Kyle Allen trade.

With this trade, head coach Ron Rivera has shown that he has little interest in beginning his Redskins career with disgruntled players on the field, signaling that Trent Williams‘ days in DC are likely to come to an end as well.  The defensive backfield position group is now a crisis situation, though, that the team will need to address in both free agency and the draft.

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UPDATED, 4:15 pm ET:

The Redskins announced the following cuts this afternoon:

CB Breon Borders

CB Dee Delaney

S Montae Nicholson

CB Coty Sensabaugh

CB Kayvon Webster

The surprise of this group is Nicholson, who has been the team’s starting free safety for most of the last two years, but last week’s addition of Sean Davis apparently made him expendable.

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According to ESPN Insider Jordan Schultz, the Redskins have traded for Carolina Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen:

ESPN’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Redskins are sending their 5th round pick to the Panthers:

Allen signed a one year, $675K contract with no guaranteed money with Carolina on March 10, so this trade does not obligate the Redskins to significant cap space.  It could also be viewed as keeping open a small window for the unlikely return of the injured Alex Smith since Allen does not represent a significant expense.

Allen, 6’3″ and 210 pounds, was signed by Carolina in 2018 as an undrafted free agent from the University of Houston.  He rose to prominence in 2019 when he started 12 games for the Panthers in relief of the injured Cam Newton.  In total, Allen has played in 15 games, starting 13, and has 323 completions in 520 attempts for 3,588 yards, a 62.1% completion percentage, 19 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions, which includes 2 games and 1 start in 2018.

Allen’s obvious familiarity with the offensive system run by new head coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner should allow him to blend seemlessly into the team and provide a reliable backup to second year player Dwayne Haskins.  Rivera clearly has trust in Allen and his abilities, which will be a benefit to the team even if he never sees the field.

With the team now lacking a fifth round pick in addition to the second round pick traded last year to move up and select defensive end Montez Sweat, it appears increasingly likely that the Redskins will look to make one or more moves to recoup the lost draft capital.

In other news, the Redskins announced today the signing of defensive tackle Caleb Brantley, who was the 6th round pick out of Florida by the Cleveland Browns in 2017.  Brantley, 6’2″ and 305 pounds, was originally signed by Washington prior to the 2018 season but spent all but one game of 2019 season on injured reserve.  In total, in three seasons, Brantley has played in 20 games, starting one, with 19 tackles, including 13 solo tackles, and 2 sacks.  He represents additional depth in an already crowded defensive line group.