Former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was named head coach of the Washington Commanders. While there is a path to success in the future with him and quarterback Jayden Daniels at the helm, Washington is expected to be much worse than Dallas in the 2024 season.
Quinn is trying his best to purge the team of the Ron Rivera era in the best way possible, parting ways with some of the failed draft picks of yesteryear. Former first-round pick Jahan Dotson, who was having a very poor camp as he struggled to fit into Kliff Kingsbury's offense, was sent packing.
In traditional Washington fashion, however, they just couldn't make things easy for Dallas. Trading Dotson would not normally move the needle one iota in the NFC East, but the Commanders decided to stick it to Dallas by trading him to, of all teams, the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles acquired Dotson and a 2025 fifth-round pick in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and two seventh-round choices. The only team who could have acquired Dotson and made life noticeably for difficult for the Cowboys was the Eagles, and Quinn helped that unfortunate reality come to fruition.
AJ Brown and Devonta Smith make up one of the best 1-2 punches in the league, but Philly's wide receiver depth behind those players was fairly suspect. Sixth-round pick Johnny Wilson was getting a good chunk of important reps, and second-round bust Parris Campbell was also featured prominently.
With the Giants floundering under the weight of Daniel Jones' contract and Washington in a rebuild, Philadelphia and Dallas will likely duke it out for the NFC East crown. Just a few days before the start of the season, the Eagles got a potentially big upgrade at a position of need.
While Dotson only managed 518 yards last season, he did catch 11 touchdowns in two seasons despite rancid quarterback play. Going to Jalen Hurts could help fix that. The Cowboys, meanwhile, will find their secondary stretched even thinner when they have to play a division-altering game against the Eagles.
If the Eagles get Dotson to play like the star he was at Penn State, all without surrendering more than a third-round pick, Quinn may have inadvertently prevented his old team from becoming the top dog in the division.
