Commanders tried to trade DL before he joined initial 53, then traded him anyway

The Ron Rivera era just keeps on filtering out for the Washington Commanders .

After the surprise trade of a former first-round pick , general manager Adam Peters and new head coach Dan Quinn cast aside other former Rivera-era draft picks and claims around final cuts and the waiver wire.

Perhaps the most prominent example? Trading defensive lineman John Ridgeway to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a sixth-round pick, with Washington adding a seventh-rounder to sweeten the deal.

As it turns out, the Commanders attempted to trade Ridgeway (and tight end Cole Turner, another Rivera draft pick cut this week) before final cuts, too, then elected to sign him to the initial 53-man roster before turning around and shipping him away, anyway.

Ridgeway was initially a fifth-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 before joining the Commanders via the waiver wire, making it blatantly clear how Rivera and Co. felt about him during that year’s draft. He then played all 17 games games last season.

The three-day span upended a chunk of the Rivera era from Washington early, with Ridgeway just an exclamation point. Quinn and Co. also cut draft picks from last year, including third-round guard Ricky Stromberg, fourth-round offensive tackle Braeden Daniels, fifth-round edge K.J. Henry and seventh-round defensive lineman Andre Jones Jr., with the last name re-joining the practice squad.

Even under a big regime change, it’s a little uncanny to see so many draft picks from a single season ago dismissed. But it speaks to the overhaul the Commanders are willing to undergo around Jayden Daniels, effectively rebuilding the entire program.

Perhaps wildest of all, there’s more than a week left before Week 1, so perhaps the Commanders have more moves in mind.

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