Ryan Kerrigan says goodbye to Washington

The Washington Football Team has been loading up their defensive line with 1st round picks over the last few years. They added Montez Sweat in 2019 and Chase Young in 2020 and the pair were starters last year. This put veteran OLB/DE Ryan Kerrigan in a new role, backup. He was entering his 10th season in Washington, and also the final year on his contract. Kerrigan took on the role of veteran reliever and mentor to his replacements. He reportedly requested a trade, but the team kept him until he was a free agent. Kerrigan played his lowest amount of snaps on defense(38%) and his highest amount of special teams snaps(22%). He ended his final season in Washington with 5.5 sacks and 17 tackles.

HBK has been the most reliable player on Washington’s since being drafted with the 16th overall pick in the 2011 draft. He started 139 straight games until the streak ended during the 2019 season. Kerrigan broke the franchise sack record in the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles last season, and now holds the record with 95.5. He also has 3 INTS(all returned for TDs), 25 passes defended, 26 forced fumbles, 454 tackles, and 147 QB hits. That’s one hell of a career, and he still has something left in the tank for another team.

Ryan Kerrigan said his official goodbye to Washington and it’s fans late last night in an instagram post.

He added this comment:

I’ll never be able to sum up what these past 10 years have meant to me in an Instagram post, but what I can say is that they have been some of the best of my life. I hope you had as much fun watching me as I did playing for you. Thank you, Washington, for everything.

-HBK

There hasn’t been a lot of news on Kerrigan’s free agency options. He had a visit with the Bengals in late March. The draft has come and gone and most teams with a big need at DE/OLB have filled them. After last season he indicated that he still thinks he can start in this league, but his options are limited for now. One team that reportedly still has interest is the Minnesota Vikings. The team that finally signs Ryan Kerrigan will be getting a true professional and a player that can still get it done.

Thanks for everything HBK!