Since it was announced that the Washington Commanders would play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 back in May, it appeared that Washington would be facing a familiar foe to kick off the season. With franchise quarterback Kyler Murray out to begin the season with a knee injury, former Washington QB Colt McCoy was expected to start under center for the Cardinals.
Not anymore.
In one of the bigger surprises ahead of NFL cutdown day, the Cardinals released McCoy on Monday. That means the Commanders will either face Joshua Dobbs or rookie fifth-round pick Clayton Tune in Week 1.
The immediate thought of NFL fans on social media were the Cardinals trying to tank, with the hope of selecting USC quarterback Caleb Williams in 2024? That’s a bit too far down the road to make that assumption, but regardless, no quarterback gave the Cardinals a better chance to win than McCoy. He had played well in relief of Murray over the last two seasons.
New Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said it was about the full body of work when releasing McCoy.
“Just like with every decision…we look at the body of work…felt like it was in the best interest of the team.”
Jonathan Gannon speaks on the Cardinals decision to release Colt McCoy.#BirdGang pic.twitter.com/RYH0rYLMbm
— PHNX Cardinals (@PHNX_Cardinals) August 28, 2023
What does this mean for the Commanders come Week 1? Considering many already projected Arizona to be the worst team in 2023, Washington’s defensive line could feast on whoever lines up under center in less than two weeks.
As for McCoy, he should have no trouble finding work as a reliable backup. He spent six seasons in Washington [2014-2019], appearing in 12 games with seven starts. The most memorable performance of his time in Washington was a Monday night win he engineered in 2014.
