Welcome to Boston.com’s Sports Q, our daily conversation, initiated by you and moderated by Chad Finn, about a compelling topic in Boston sports. Here’s how it works: You submit questions to Chad through Twitter, Facebook, and email. He’ll pick one each weekday to answer, then we’ll take the discussion to the comments. Chad will stop by several times per day to navigate. But you drive the conversation.
Should the Patriots claim Dwayne Haskins? He was a first-round pick not that long ago, and he does have more touchdown passes than Cam Newton this year. Seems like a chance to get a talented reclamation project for nothing. – Michael B.
It wouldn’t totally surprise me if the Patriots claimed him. It would cost them a little over $4 million over the next two years, and it’s not like the Patriots have their solution at quarterback on the roster right now. It might be tempting to take a look. He once beat out Joe Burrow at Ohio State, and Bill Belichick should be able to get decent intel on him from Urban Meyer (not that Meyer’s intel on his own players has been especially beneficial to the Patriots through the years). It would make even more sense to wait to see if he gets through waivers.
That said, I don’t think he’s going to amount to much. He’s made one knuckleheaded decision after another in his two seasons with the Washington Football Team, on the field and off. He was benched Sunday after committing three turnovers in the Team’s loss to the Panthers. He was replaced by former Patriots practice squadder Taylor Heinicke. Haskins got the start in that game despite violating COVID-19 protocols – not for the first time this season – and getting stripped of his captain status and fined $40,000 for being caught attending his girlfriend’s birthday party without wearing a mask.
Haskins, the 15th pick in the 2019 draft, isn’t a bust on the historical level of JaMarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf, but he’s in that next group with the likes of Akili Smith, Cade McNown and Todd Marinovich. He seems like someone Jon Gruden would snap up with the Raiders, not someone the Patriots should spend any money on. He’ll get other opportunities because of where he was drafted, but the reality is that he never should have been drafted in that spot in the first place. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Patriots took a look, but this isn’t something that will pay off. They ought to pass.
But what does everyone else think? Should the Patriots claim Dwayne Haskins? I’ll hear you in the comments.
