Quinton Dunbar is now a Seattle Seahawk after the Washington Redskins traded the talented but oft-injured cornerback for a fifth-round pick last month.
Dunbar wanted out of Washington and a meeting, he described as “great” with new head coach Ron Rivera didn’t change his mind. Tuesday, Dunbar talked to Bruce Murray and Brady Quinn of SirusXM NFL Radio, explaining a lack of respect made him want out of Washington.
Dunbar was entering the final year of a three-year deal. He was due a non-guaranteed $3.25 million in base salary. However, he sought more form of security.
“They told me what type of player they feel I was and things like that, and they felt like I was a great player,” Dunbar said. “Everyone has their weaknesses, but they felt like there was way more positives than negatives. Me being on the last year of my deal with no guarantee, I’m like, ‘If you feel like this about me as a player, why not give me some form of security?’ Whether it was a restructure on this year, or a guarantee on this year. … This is the NFL, anything can happen.”
h/t Scott Allen/ Washington Post
It’s interesting to hear Dunbar say that he wanted a restructure on this year or a guarantee on this year. While it’s unclear what he meant by restructure or if he was willing to take the same $3.25 million pay for a guarantee.
Dunbar did comment something similar to the notion when he called out the Redskins on Instagram following the signing of Ronald Darby. Darby signed a one-year $4 million deal, very close to what Dunbar was set to be paid.
Coming off a 2018 in which he missed nine games due to a leg injury, Dunbar had a breakout season in 2019. He was rated the No. 2 cornerback in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. He was only second to All-Pro Richard Sherman — a player he was recently compared to by former Redskins defensive backs coach Ray Horton.
Yet, Dunbar did miss five games last season. Added with the previous season, Dunbar has missed 14 games over the past two seasons. That along with him playing on a non-guaranteed season is why he balked at the request of the Redskins for him to attend OTAs.
“Last year I saw Reuben Foster tore his whole leg up on the first day of OTAs, so my thing is, if you feel like I’m this type of player that you tell me I am, why not show me that? I don’t have no history, never been to jail, never been in trouble, never failed a drug test, so at that point I felt like it was just time to go.”
Dunbar added that when he was traded Rivera called and expressed he “really didn’t want” to trade him. Yet, Dunbar was “ecstatic” to be traded to the Seahawks, who he believes contends for the Super Bowl every year.
With the NFL postponing offseason programs indefinitely, it is interesting to see how Dunbar and the Redskins situation could have played out differently in hindsight. Now, the Redskins have moved on, and Dunbar is happy to be in Seattle. A place where he stated he is not worried about his contract status.
