Do Washington Commanders Have Assets to Make Trade Deadline Moves?

With the team sitting at 1-4-1 but still in the hunt for the NFC East, the Washington Commanders find themselves in a peculiar spot approaching the end of the bye week.

General manager Adam Peters has made moves at the trade deadline before, even if the Marshon Lattimore experiment ended in disappointment. Yet two years later and with officially less than one month until the trade deadline, do the Washington Commanders have any potential trade candidates along the roster?

DT Daron Payne

The list starts with the biggest name through the offseason: defensive lineman Daron Payne.

The veteran stepped into a contract season for the second time in his tenure with the organization, providing a chance to prove his fit and versatility in defensive coordinator Daronte Jones' new scheme. And still, there's a lot to be desired from Payne after amassing just eight total tackles through the first four games, while PFF also credited him with 12 pressures during that span.

That also includes being spotted for lackluster effort in the season opening loss against the Philadelphia Eagles, which comes after three straight seasons of inconsistent play while on a four year, $90 million contract.

After holding off on an extension in the offseason, whether Payne has done even close enough to enough to position himself for a third deal with the organization, allowing Peters a chance to capitalize on his value with a potential early day three pick. The question for Washington will be whether they're comfortable with the current interior line depth with Javon Kinlaw and Tim Settle spearheading the unit while Charles Omenihu joins Johnny Newton as sidelined.

CB Mike Sainristil

The other may be the more obvious candidate with cornerback Mike Sainristil on the outside looking in of the rotation -- even prior to the return of Trey Amos. The third-year cornerback had an opportunity to prove himself after a disappointing year two under Joe Whitt Jr., but how he fit in the secondary was as big a question as was how he would fare.

It could not have started much worse after Sainristil fell out of the rotation just three games in, replaced by Fabian Moreau, while struggling both as an outside cornerback and nickel, even with head coach Dan Quinn pointing to the nickel as his best fit.

Whether a conditional day three pick could be enough for the Commanders to pull the trigger on a move is a question for general manager Adam Peters to evaluate even as it has become increasingly apparent he's no longer a fit in Washington.