Philadelphia Eagles: Free agent options from the NFC East

Washington Football Team: Ryan Anderson, DE/OLB

The defensive line for the Washington Football Team is one of the best in the NFL. There’s not much debate of how dominant they were this year.

Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, DaRon Payne, Montez Sweat, Matthew Ioannidis. This group is absolutely loaded. So loaded, there might not be enough snaps for everyone to take.

One of the odd men out of this group is Ryan Anderson, a former second-round pick who might have seen his days end in Washington. After missing half of the season with an injury, Anderson finished his rookie contract with the team with six sacks in four years, with his best year being in 2019 with four sacks and five forced fumbles.

Anderson is an interesting player, as he can be both a defensive end and an outside linebacker, depending on the scheme, of course. If it’s a 3-4 scheme, he could see himself as a rusher in the outside linebacker position. In a 4-3, he would still be on the outside as a defensive end. Either way, his best way to produce would be as a rusher getting after the quarterback.

With potential extensions coming to players on the Washington defensive line, Anderson might not see another deal with the team. We know that Howie Roseman’s philosophy is always to build in the trenches, whether that is on offense or defense. It’s never a bad thing to have too much depth on either side of the line, considering the injuries the team has faced through the years. With the future uncertain for guys like Derek Barnett and Brandon Graham, and Josh Sweat also on the last year of his deal, bringing in Ryan Anderson as a rotational piece could be a good move, possibly leading to a larger future with the team.