3 free agent signings from NFC East rivals that left Cowboys fans laughing

2. Jacoby Brissett, QB, Washington

It’s not ‘Pick on the Washington Commanders Day’ today — just kidding, every day is ‘Pick on the Washington Commanders Day’.

Once again, they headed into the offseason looking for a new direction under center. One year after convincing themselves Carson Wentz could turn back the clock five years, they decided they were going to be fine with Sam Howell. The reasoning was that Howell won his only start, which was against Dallas.

Howell deserves his credit because he was poised and did his job but he was far from dominant. He was actually just 11-of-19 for 169 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Sure, he gets the win but that was a case of the Cowboys looking past their opponent since they had nothing to play for.

In an effort to protect themselves should Howell not be the answer, Washington went out and signed Jacoby Brissett, who is coming off what many are calling his best season as a pro. That “best season” consisted of leading the Cleveland Browns to a 4-7 record, in which they lost five one-score games — in large part due to Brissett’s inability to score when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter.

Statistically, he was just average as well. He completed a career-high 64 percent of his passes for 2,608 yards with 12 touchdowns and six picks. Again, nothing terrible but nothing great — yet it was still the best he has done in seven seasons.

The reason for his improvement falls on the shoulders of Kevin Stefanski, who used a lot of smoke and mirrors to get the best out of Brissett. Kind of like the Minnesota Vikings did in 2017 with Case Keenum, who had Stefanski as his quarterback coach.

Two years after that season, Washington ended up with Keeenum as well. He didn’t pan out and it’s hard to see Brissett working for them either.