Veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has reached an agreement with the Washington football team on a one-year deal worth $ 10 million, which could increase to $ 12 million with incentives, a source said Monday to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Fitzpatrick expects to leave the camp as a starter, the source said, with the competition of Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen.
Washington knew it would struggle to add a long-term solution to this off-season defender, but it also knows it can fight for another NFC East title. Fitzpatrick provides the team with someone who can play at a solid level for a less expensive contract, allowing WFT to build the rest of its offensive list.
Washington needs to add more help to the receiver – one of its main goals this off-season – and especially wanted to add more speed to the position.
Fitzpatrick would be the organization’s 32nd starting quarterback since winning the Super Bowl after the 1991 season. Washington started three defenders last season: Allen, Dwayne Haskins and Alex Smith. He released Haskins before the end of the season and earlier this month gave up on Smith.
Fitzpatrick, 38, is entering the 17th season of the NFL. He is the only defender in NFL history to start and throw touchdowns with eight different teams. Now he will have the chance to do it for the ninth.
Fitzpatrick is the best traveler and likes the role – especially in the last two seasons, when he was the bridge owner for the Miami Dolphins. Although he is year after year at this point in his career, Fitzpatrick told ESPN in February that it was a “very easy” decision to return to the game in 2021.
He played a huge role in guiding the Dolphins from a rebuilding team to one of the NFL’s best stories in 2020, as Miami made a five-win jump to a 10-6 record. In 2019, Fitzpatrick defeated Josh Rosen in an open competition to become the starter of the Dolphins for a 5-11 season, in which many considered that the team would take place early. In 2020, Fitzpatrick started the season again as a starter as a self-proclaimed “placeholder” and mentor for debutant Tua Tagovailoa.
Fitzpatrick started seven games in 2020, completing 68.5% of his passes and throwing for 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also had a 76.9 QBR and was the undisputed leader of the Dolphins.
In true Fitzpatrick style, his last Dolphins moment came off the bench and led the team to a comeback victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. He tested positive for COVID-19 just a few days later, making him ineligible for the end-of-season loss to Buffalo Bills.
Fitzpatrick is on the 10th place among the active defenders, with 34,977 meters of passage, throwing 223 touchdowns with 169 interceptions in his career.
Information from ESPN’s John Keim and Cameron Wolfe was used in this report.