Trade
Trent Williams? Those words would have been unthinkable 6 months ago. Trent has been one of the team’s cornerstones since being drafted in the first round in 2010. Seven-time Pro Bowler, mentor, bulwark of the offensive line. Most of us hoped that after his current contract was up, after the 2020 season, he would either retire a Redskin, or be signed to a short term extension and eventually do so. Alas, things have taken a dark turn....
The reality was always that we were very close to needing to think about Trent’s future replacement....
In 2018, the Redskins drafted Geron Christian in the 3rd round, leading to speculation by some that he might be Trent’s eventual replacement...
Two more years on Trent’s contract appeared to give us time to continue to groom Christian and/or draft an additional replacement in 2020 or 2021. That horizon has been prematurely shortened...
The Redskins currently have
Donald Penn, formerly of the
Oakland Raiders, in camp for a work out.
Penn is a three time Pro Bowler - most recently in 2017 - when he was also
the tackle with the second best run block percentage in the league, but was moved to right tackle in 2018, and suffered a season ending groin injury four games into the year. There’s also been speculation that
Penn wasn’t completely comfortable at RT and would much prefer to play LT...
Trent’s pay has slipped relative to his peers, but renegotiating the terms of his contract - beyond perhaps guaranteeing the last two remaining years - would set a miserable precedent for the team, and lay the foundation for
similar moves by other top players.