Miscellaneous
Round these parts, there is some healthy skepticism about what can and cannot be accomplished between the first week of the season and the last. While “Winning Off The Field” became synonymous with losing on it, the Washington Football Team under the new leadership of Ron Rivera and Jason Wright, gets their first full crack at improving a squad that saw their most successful season in years, and act quickly they did. On this edition of the Cult Of Colt, we dive into the first few days of free agency and first and foremost offer our thoughts on the Ryan Fitzpatrick signing. While we agree it’s not a “sexy” pick, we can acknowledge that the opportunity cost was right on the money. For all the “what ifs” and “well they could’s” ultimately Fitzpatrick represents a relatively low-dollar, veteran, stop-gap solution who, and let’s not forget this: can still win games. Given that the market has been set early with the Rams-Lions QB swap, the price to upgrade via trade was too rich for our blood (and clearly for the team’s) and the next cut of tradable quarterbacks (Sam Darnold, Marcus Mariota) could certainly not have been that much better (if better at all) than Fitzpatrick. The other thing that has gotten lost in the fray in all of this is Ryan Fitzpatrick is fun! He’s a great interview, he’s a cool guy, and while there is unquestionably a sense of danger when he drops back to pass, the thrill of it all immediately makes WFT games more exciting by a fair measure. Not to mention for anyone who is still calling for Taylor Heineke, this move also represents the best opportunity for him to earn the starting job at some point, and perhaps some point relatively soon. Quarterback wasn’t the only position that’s been seemingly settled with an upgrade. The addition of Curtis Samuel to play opposite Terry McLaurin cannot be understated in terms of giving some much-needed breathing room to Washington’s star wideout. No longer can teams double him exclusively with safety help over the top, and while McLaurin is clearly excited to reunite with his former OSU teammate, he should be more excited at the opportunities to get open that this move will present. We also took some time to look elsewhere around the league: the Patriots have left to stone unturned and no tight end roster-less, Dak got paid, and bless the Bears and their fans as... they got their man. Trent Williams finally got what he was looking for here in D.C., not just “the bag” but the contract to support his belief that he’s the best in the game at his position. Finally, we take a moment to show some love to Nick Sundberg, the longest-tenured member of the team and perhaps one of the most reliable. His contributions didn’t go unnoticed, which is to say bless up to him for us never having to give a second thought to whether or not he could get the job done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices