Washington Football Team will regret not having Dwayne Haskins vs. Buccaneers

The Washington Football Team could have used Dwayne Haskins on Saturday night.

While it makes total sense for the Washington Football Team to have parted ways with former first-round pick Dwayne Haskins when they did, his former employer is in dire straits at the quarterback position on Wild Card Weekend.

Because starting quarterback Alex Smith is unable to play due to a calf injury, that means Taylor Heinicke will be getting the start for Washington. Though Heinicke was an excellent college quarterback for the Old Dominion Monarchs, this is the NFL, and this is an NFL playoff game vs. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not having Hawkins for this game could be something the club regrets if they are one-and-done in the playoffs.

Have we seen the last of Alex Smith in an NFL uniform?

Maturity issues and on-field inconsistencies were why Haskins was demoted from Week 1 starter to third-stringer to off the freaking team before the end of his second season out of Ohio State. A franchise quarterback cannot be photographed maskless partying with strippers after a loss after having his captaincy revoked and play for a first-year head coach who is battling lymphoma.

So maybe Washington would rather lose in dignity than even give it a second thought about giving Haskins an umpteenth chance to get it together? Then again, do you really think Heinicke will be the one to beat the G.O.A.T. in primetime? We know an 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff is past Brady’s bedtime, but Heinicke is not even a poor man’s Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. Tampa Bay should roll.

As for Smith, the lock to win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award and hopefully have the award named after him, he may have played his final down of professional football. He should not even have a leg anymore, yet he persevered and found a way to quarterback a nameless football team into the playoffs with a Jeff Fisher 7-9 B.S. record. You cannot make these things up.

Overall, this is a business and this business is about winning football games. Surely, owner Daniel Snyder would welcome back Haskins with open arms, as 2019 NFL Draft bust and the maligned Washington owner’s kids went to the same high school. However, this is Ron Rivera‘s team now, and the Washington head coach is not about to deal with any more perpetual nonsense.

If Washington gets blown out by Tampa Bay, they may wish things could have been different.