The Washington Redskins landed a safety at the NFL Trade Deadline in Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, which vastly improves their secondary
The 2018 NFL Trade Deadline ended up exciting us all after all. After a rather quiet start, things got rolling and by the 4:00 p.m. EST deadline, the Green Bay Packers had made two moves. The second one came less than 15 minutes prior to the deadline as they sent safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Washington Redskins.
The move was reported by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, although he did not have the terms of the agreement when he announced the deal. Later, Tom Pelissero of the same network claimed the move included the Redskins sending a fourth-round pick to the Packers.
It’s a fair compensation for Washington, who gets themselves a former first-round pick to pair with D.J. Swearinger in the back end of their secondary. The two SEC products will make a formidable duo.
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More importantly, it gives Washington a well-rounded secondary overall when you factor in they also have a strong cornerback in Josh Norman.
Washington also becomes much better at stopping the pass, which makes their top-five defense even more imposing. To date, the Redskins are allowing just 19.1 points per game and 322.4 total yards. That has been led by the charge of their impressive defensive front.
This unit is allowing 80.1 yards per game — second in the NFL — and have held stars like Ezekiel Elliott, Christian McCaffrey, and Saquon Barkley all in check. If there was any flaw on defense, it was their pass defense.
Washington had been allowing 242.3 yards per game through the air, which landed them at No. 13 in the NFL. While this was respectable, adding a ball hawk safety like Clinton-Dix eliminates nearly all holes on this side of the ball.
Clinton-Dix, who is no slouch in run support, excels in coverage. He has 14 interceptions in his five-year career, including three this season.
The reason Green Bay seemed willing to move on was Clinton-Dix needing a new contract. Washington seems like they would be willing to give him a fair deal, otherwise, they likely don’t make this trade.
This trade came after Green Bay had already sent running back Ty Montgomery to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for a seventh-round pick.