Marcus Peters will be a Los Angeles Ram when the NFL’s league year officially starts on Mar. 14. The Chiefs agreed to trade the talented cornerback for a package of draft picks.
It’s been reported that the San Francisco 49ers challenged the Rams towards the end before Chiefs settled on a 2018 fourth-round pick and 2019 second-round pick. A steal to say the least for such a defensive back of his stature, one that Emmanuel Sanders recently said was one of the five-best cornerbacks he has faced in his NFL career. However, there were not many teams jumping to land the former University of Washington standout.
According to Peter King of MMQB, the Chiefs offered Peters to all 31 other teams in the league. However, only three budged — the Rams, 49ers, and a mystery team that offered a mid-round pick for his services. King speculates that the team was either the Cleveland Browns or Indianapolis Colts.
The Chiefs called all 31 other teams about Marcus Peters. 28 took a hard pass or offered nothing of value. @SI_PeterKing on why Kansas City moved on from its star cornerback:https://t.co/M7F9v4rRWJ pic.twitter.com/m2vscCzEsh
— The MMQB (@theMMQB) February 27, 2018
None of those teams were the Washington Redskins, who just recently traded the talented 22-year old cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick to the same Chiefs in exchange for quarterback Alex Smith. It would have been nice to replace such a promising cornerback with another, right?
Certainly the lack of interest in Peters has a lot to do concerns of his character. Keep in mind, there were concerns of him being a risky pick coming out of college after he was suspended one game as a junior and later dismissed from the team. Still, the Chiefs selected him in the first round of the 2015 draft with the 18th pick overall. He has fought to debunk his reputation with standout play, being named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2015, and a two-time All-Pro, including first-team in 2016.
However, despite his top-tier talent he has struggled keep his cool and avoid annoying the Chiefs organization. Last season, he was suspended one game by the team after walking off the field in a Week 13 game against the New York Jets. There are reports that he clashed with coaches. Multiple reports suggest the Chiefs front office grew tiresome of Peters antics, as evident by the team calling every other team in the league.
That’s a headache neither Washington nor many other teams wanted, even if there is a need at the position. If all things were equaled the Redskins among other teams would have been throwing around the idea of acquiring Peters even with him being in the last year of his rookie contract and there being a large crop of good defensive back talent in the upcoming draft.
The headaches behind Peters weren’t worth it for the Chiefs and 28 other teams. For the Redskins, Fuller’s departure does leave a huge void in the slot. Quinton Dunbar is expected to man the No. 2 cornerback position on the outside opposite of Josh Norman. But with Bashaud Breeland testing free agency and quite possibly out of the Redskins’ desired price range, Washington will either look to in-house options Fabian Moreau and Joshua Hosley — both were drafted in 2017 or the draft.
Peters brings a whirl of talent, but he also bring major concerns with his attitude. The Redskins under head coach Jay Gruden have been in the stage of rebuilding the culture in the locker room. With the Redskins ready to part with a similar passionate demeanor in Breeland, there may have been no second-thoughts to idea of bringing in Peters.
