The release of Steven Montez on Monday drew up the debate if Washington should bring him back as the practice squad quarterback. Even reporters covering the team differed in opinion.
When the Washington Football Team announced the signing of 15 players to their practice squad, Montez’s name was glaringly missing. Instead, the QB opted to sign and join the Detroit Lions practice squad.
It’s unclear if Montez preferred a change of scenery or if Washington was looking in another direction.
Montez joined Washington last year after going undrafted out of Colorado. With the struggles and injuries to last year’s group of quarterbacks, Montez prematurely worked his way up the depth chart. At one point becoming the QB2 following the demise of Dwayne Haskins and injuries to Alex Smith and Kyle Allen.
However, his level of development seemed clear when head coach Ron Rivera opted to bump Taylor Heinicke, who Washington signed in December off the streets, ahead of Steven Montez on the depth chart. Washington had four starting quarterbacks last season, Montez was not one of them.
Entering this year’s training camp, he was a distant fourth behind Week 1 starter Ryan Fitzpatrick and the returning Heinicke and Allen. Once Allen proved to be healthy enough to man the QB3, Montez was relegated to either sitting in Washington’s system for another year with no real chance of developing beyond QB4 or finding an opportunity elsewhere. He chose the latter.
Now, Washington is on the search for a new QB project. Will Grier, who Rivera helped draft in 2019 while in Carolina, seemed like a logical possibility. However, the former West Virginia QB was claimed off waivers Wednesday by the Dallas Cowboys.
The open opportunity gives Washington a chance to really comb through the market. The team is not necessarily locked on getting a system fit rather than finding an unseasoned QB with upside.
