Report: Washington quarterback just signed 3 years contract with Steelers
Previous Washington QB Haskins signs bargain with Steelers
Previous Washington QB Haskins signs bargain with Steelers
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dwayne Haskins will endeavor to kick-start his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers marked the previous Washington quarterback to a prospects contract on Thursday, giving the 23-year-old a moment chance after he blazed out within the nation’s capital in less than two seasons.
Haskins celebrated the marking by tweeting a photoshopped picture of him wearing a No. 3 Steelers shirt along side the comment “3 within the Book of scriptures stands for rebuilding and interminable life. Let’s work.”
Work is something Haskins battled with after Washington chosen him with the 15th overall pick within the 2019 draft. What was gathered to be a homecoming for somebody who grew up within the city’s rural areas rapidly turned into a forgettable chapter for both Haskins and a establishment in a appearing persistent explore for steadiness beneath center.
Haskins put together an uneven rookie season in 2019 after taking over the beginning work around the halfway point. He moved to the beat of the profundity chart in 2020 beneath modern head coach Ron Rivera, but kept it as it were four recreations some time recently being benched in favor of Kyle Allen. Wounds to both Allen and Alex Smith pushed Haskins back into the lineup, but he played ineffectively in his last three appearances and was benched within the center of a misfortune to Carolina on Dec. 27 after turning it over three times.
His issues, in any case, were not constrained to what happened on the field. He was fined $40,000 and misplaced his captaincy for breaking COVID-19 rules by partying with a few individuals without a cover taking after a misfortune to Seattle on Dec. 20. Fair over a week afterward, he found himself trying to find work after Washington discharged him in favor of apprentice Taylor Heinicke.
Haskins met with Carolina prior this month at that point gone to the Steelers on Thursday and cleared out the building with a contract. What precisely it implies over both the brief term and the long term is dubious.
Pittsburgh went 12-4 this season but shriveled taking after an 11-0 begin, dropping five of its last six diversions, a slide that begun with a misfortune to Washington on Dec. 7 in which Haskins did not play. The swoon finished with a 48-37 defeat at domestic by Cleveland within the to begin with circular of the playoffs, a slide that taken a toll hostile facilitator Randy Fichtner and hostile line coach Shaun Sarrett their occupations.
The greatest address heading into 2021 is whether two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returns for an 18th season. Coach Mike Tomlin said final week there’s a chance Roethlisberger — who includes a contract that carries a compensation cap hit of more than $41 million following year — seem return. On the off chance that he does, it means Haskins will likely conclusion up beginning as the third-stringer behind Roethlisberger and reinforcement Artisan Rudolph.
The Steelers have once in a while taken flyers on players some time recently. They re-signed experienced wide recipient Plaxico Burress close the conclusion of his career in 2012 and brought in quarterback Michael Vick as a reinforcement to Roethlisberger in 2015.
Haskins is at a different point in his career than either of those players, and will join a quarterback room in the midst of a change. Quarterbacks coach Matt Canada is likely to be promoted to replace Fichtner after just one season in Pittsburgh. Backup Josh Dobbs is a free agent and Devlin “Duck” Hodges — a fan favorite after he went from rookie free agent signee to improbable starter in 2019 — saw his contract expire earlier this week.
Rudolph played well while Roethlisberger sat in the regular-season finale against the Browns and figures to get the first chance at replacing Roethlisberger if Roethlisberger does not return.
Still, Haskins moves from a franchise where instability is a constant to one that’s among the most stable in all of professional sports. He will be given every opportunity to try and rediscover some of the form that he displayed during his final year at Ohio State in 2018, when he threw for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns against just eight interceptions.
The going was far tougher in Washington. Haskins went 3-10 as a starter across two seasons, completed just 60% of his passes and had 12 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.
That, however, came with the pressure of trying to be a franchise quarterback. The stakes are far lower with the Steelers, where Haskins will simply try to prove he belongs in the league and that his maturity problems are behind him.
