Washington Football Team signs left tackle Charles Leno to team-friendly deal

The Washington Football Tam finally has their Trent Williams replacement at left tackle in Charles Leno.

Following the NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears made the quick decision to release left tackle Charles Leno from his contract, freeing up around $9 million in cap space for the upcoming season. After a week on the open market, Leno has made his decision on where to play in 2021.

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the Washington Football Team has signed Leno to a one-year, $5 million contract on Wednesday. Leno visited the team this past Monday.

Washington Football Team, Charles Leno signs on team-friendly deal

For Washington, left tackle was never an issue when they had Trent Williams. But once Williams’ relationship with the team soured and ended with him being traded to the San Francisco 49ers, the Football Team needed to replace him. Luckily for them, Leno was available to them.

Leno has played for the Bears since he was drafted in the seventh-round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Boise State. The Bears opted to move on from Leno after the team traded up in the second-round of the NFL Draft for Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins. It was one of the best value picks of the draft, considering Jenkins was viewed as a first-round talent. With Leno’s release, it proved that the team believed in Jenkins protecting Andy Dalton’s or Justin Fields’ blindside in 2021.

The veteran has never missed a game as Chicago’s left tackle since the 2015 season. Last year, Leno allowed five sacks and committed six penalties in 1,066 offensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus.

With Leno now in the fold, head coach Ron Rivera now has an experienced option to start on the left side of the offensive line. That will allow second-round draft pick Sam Cosmi time to develop before taking over the role in the near future.