The third year will bring a third approach by the Washington Commanders to their offseason program of obtaining their next quarterback.
Following the 2020 season, the Commanders liked what they had seen from Taylor Heinicke in the playoff game loss to Tampa Bay, so the Commanders signed Heinicke to a two-year contract to be the veteran backup. They also went out and signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick to be the starter.
However, when Fitzpatrick could not make it through one half of one game during the 2021 season, Heinicke started 15 games, and Washington went shopping again in the offseason. Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew informed all of the league they would be calling to see if there was a quarterback available for the Commanders.
The Colts wanted to rid themselves of Carson Wentz, and the Commanders were more than happy to take Wentz off the Colts’ hands, offering to swap down five spots in the 2022 NFL draft’s second round and unload two third-round choices that could become second-round choices based upon performance.
However, the Carson Wentz experiment did not go well for Washington. He was injured in the sixth game at Chicago. Heinicke then started 9 games as the Commanders went 5-1-1 in his first seven games. However, an 0-2-1 stretch resulted in Heinicke being benched against the 49ers and Rivera turning back to Wentz against the Browns.
Sam Howell started the last game though it had been leaked that week that Rivera and the coaching staff did not believe Howell was ready. Yet, Howell performed well enough that Rivera suddenly did a 180, announcing Howell would be the starter going into the offseason programs.
Thus, Wednesday, Rivera let it be known the Commanders will not be shopping this offseason, looking to spend big bucks for a starting quarterback. They are really going to give Howell every opportunity to win the job.
Will Taylor Heinicke be re-signed to a veteran backup-role contract? Will the Commanders draft for a backup on day two or three of the draft? Will the Commanders look for a veteran on the cheap who can mentor Howell and be on-call if needed?
Perhaps this year, what they are going after is not a quarterback but an offensive coordinator who will require a big salary?