QB Dwayne Haskins released by Washington Football Team, Davante Adams makes strong case for NFL’s best WR vs. Titans, and more sports news

Dwayne Haskins’ tenure in Washington is over. The Washington Football Team released its former first-round pick Monday after two seasons.

Haskins was the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He quickly declared, “the league done messed up” after he fell to the 15th pick. In the end, it was Washington who may be regretting its decision.

A combination of problems on and off the field reached a peak this season. Haskins is 3-10 in his career as a starter with 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Washington is 5-4 in games not started by Haskins this season.

Earlier this year, Haskins was fined for violating COVID protocols when he paid for a family member to stay at the team hotel. A week ago, Haskins was in the spotlight again when pictures of him without a mask at a strip club after a football game surfaced on the internet. Washington fined Haskins $40,000 and stripped him of his captainship that teammates voted on before the season.

It’s still too early for the verdict on the 23-year-old Haskins’ career. Haskins is only in his second season. He will more than likely get another opportunity to grow and mature, but things weren’t working out in Washington. Haskins’ numbers to date aren’t good, but he’ll likely sit behind a starter at his next destination. From there, we’ll see if the league messed up by letting the record-setting Ohio State product fall to the 15th pick.

Davante Adams had already proved he’s a touchdown machine with the most receiving TDs in the NFL over the previous four seasons. Now the full arsenal is on display, and Adams looks like one of the best receivers in the NFL.

Sunday night against the Titans, Adams showed off his quick releases at the line of scrimmage and turned short passes into big gainers. He also showed his ability to make contested catches on deep balls and intermediate routes.

Adams leads the NFL with 17 touchdown receptions. He joined Randy Moss and Cris Carter as the only receivers in NFL history with 100 catches and 16 or more touchdowns in a season. Mind you, Adams missed two games and exited the first quarter of another. Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins is posting his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season, Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill is having a dominant campaign, and injuries are the reason Michael Thomas’ name hasn’t been brought up much of late.

This isn’t a one-hit-wonder campaign. Adams and Aaron Rodgers have become the most lethal duo in Green Bay history, and there have been a few good quarterbacks and receivers over there. The duo passed Brett Favre and Donald Driver on Sunday for the most receptions as a tandem in Packers history.

It’s time to give Adams his credit. The most impressive part of it all is that Green Bay doesn’t have a dependable second receiver. Adams was targeted on 12 of Rodgers’ 25 pass attempts. No other player had more than three targets.

Everyone knows the ball is going Adams’ way, and few teams have stopped it.

The Brooklyn Nets’ depth has been one of their impressive features through three games, but that took a massive hit Sunday. Spencer Dinwiddie left the game against the Hornets with a knee injury that was confirmed as a torn ACL on Monday. He’s expected to be out for the season.

Dinwiddie started all three Nets game, finding his new role this season. He averaged 20.6 points last season, but he’s a third option in the lineup with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

This season, depth will be as important as ever with more back-to-backs scheduled and the potential of COVID-19 impacting player availability. In addition to Durant and Irving, the Nets had two players, Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert, who could score 20 points on any given night.

Brooklyn is competing for an Eastern Conference championship. This hurts their chances and puts a bigger emphasis on Durant, Irving and LeVert being healthy. And as a side note, Dinwiddie’s injury probably hurts Brooklyn’s chances of landing James Harden in a trade.

The San Diego Padres’ aggressiveness to improve their roster didn’t stop at the trade deadline. They are tired of being the Los Angeles Dodgers’ little brother, and they made another move to show that.

The Padres acquired Rays ace and former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. Snell won the Cy Young Award in 2018 and posted a dominant season in 2020. Now his last memory as a Ray will be his controversial removal in Game 6 of the World Series.

The Rays received four players in return, notably third-ranked Padres prospect Luis Patino.

The organization’s aggressiveness carried over from the regular season, when the Padres made nine deals at the trade deadline. Among those was acquiring Mike Clevinger, who was expected to be a top-of-the-rotation arm. He’ll miss next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Adding Snell to Dinelson Lamet, Zach Davies and Chris Paddack is troublesome for opponents, especially with an offense that coined the phrase “Slam Diego” in 2020.

The Dodgers have won the NL West eight straight seasons, but the Padres will give them a good run next season.