Washington Football Team Releases Dwayne Haskins After COVID-19 Violations

The Washington Football Team released quarterback Dwayne Haskins on Monday, just one day after he was benched in the team’s loss to the Carolina Panthers. Haskins will count $8.5 million in dead-salary cap space next year.

In a statement, Washington head coach Ron Rivera explained that he met with Haskins on Monday to let him that he was being released.

“I told him that I believe it benefits both parties that we go our separate ways. We want to thank Dwayne for his contributions these last two seasons and wish him well moving forward,” said Rivera.

Rivera told Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder that he wanted to let go of Haskins and Snyder gave him the go-ahead to make the move.

That same morning, via video conference, Rivera told the media that Washington would start Taylor Heinicke if Alex Smith was unable to play Sunday’s game due to his ongoing calf injury. A victory in Sunday’s season finale game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia could give Washington the NFC East.

In a tweet, Haskins said: “I take full responsibility for not meeting the standards of an NFL QB & will become a better man & player because of this experience.”

The release was led up to by events that took place earlier in the season. Last week, a maskless Haskins was photographed at his girlfriend’s birthday party in a hotel with strippers just hours after the team’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. 

Haskins was violating COVID-19 protocol, so he was fined $40,000 and was stripped of his captaincy. Haskins was also fined earlier in the season for making a reservation for a family friend at the team hotel the night before the team played and lost to the New York Giants.

Haskins started Washington’s first four games of the season but was benched after a 30-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Washington’s coaches did not like how Haskins was preparing during the week, saying he fell short of NFL’s quarterback standards. In that game, Haskins had his first 300-yard passing game and, after celebrating in the locker room, was benched the next day.

Haskins was the third-string quarterback behind Kyle Allen and Smith for the following four games. However, when Smith fell to a calf injury, Haskins became the primary backup. While his preparation has been said to improve, it wasn’t up to the desired level of the team, leading to his release.