The NFL trade deadline is only hours away. What will the Washington Commanders do? At 2-5-1, Washington’s season is slipping away as it heads into Thursday night’s game against the New York Giants. A loss to the Giants would all but eliminate the Commanders from realistic playoff contention, even with eight games remaining.
While the Commanders don’t have any players they’d trade who’d earn a first- or second-round pick in return, they have multiple players who could help contenders and bring back Day 3 picks. Washington general manager Adam Peters could use the extra picks, regardless of the round.
Defensive tackle Daron Payne was perhaps the most likely Commander to move, but he fractured his foot two days before the Week 8 game against the Philadelphia
Eagles.
Below, we’ll track the latest news and rumors around the Commanders at the trade deadline:
Mike Sainristil sticking around?
It would make sense for the Commanders to trade cornerback Mike Sainristil. The former second-round pick has struggled for two years now and has played one defensive snap combined over the last two games. Last week, there was reported interest in Sainristil, but ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says the Commanders want to stick with Sainristil.
Washington's Mike Sainristil is a name that has circulated this week, though I don't get the sense the Commanders plan to trade him.
The Bears and Lions were among the teams with at least some interest in Sainristil.
Albert Breer on Sainristil
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said he heard that Sainristil "could be available," but he didn’t think the Commanders were sellers. Keep in mind, his report came out before Sunday’s loss to the Rams. But would that game change GM Adam Peters’ mind? The game that likely determines if Washington has any chance of competing for the NFC East is Thursday’s game against the Giants — which is after the trade deadline.
Regardless, here is Breer’s report.
I don’t think the Commanders are sellers yet—they’re actually still just two games back of the Giants in the NFC East. But they’ve gotten calls about guys. And one player I’ve heard that could be available is 2024 second-round corner Mike Sainristil. After playing over 80% of the team’s defensive snaps in Washington’s first two games, he’s played less than half every week since. On Sunday against Philadelphia, he played only on special teams.
Sainristil could have a market with teams that liked him coming out of the draft, and it’s worth mentioning that Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was with him at Michigan, and Jesse Minter was the coach in Ann Arbor who converted him from receiver to defense. Also, ex-Commanders DC Joe Whitt Jr., who had Sainristil the past two years, is now the Steelers’ secondary coach.
Minter and Macdonald make some sense. Whitt does not. Sainristil regressed under Whitt’s watch. Not sure he’d recommend Sainristil to his bosses.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders trade deadline tracker: Latest rumors, news and buzz
