Commanders should try to extend star defensive linemen, not trade them

Selling off productive players in any sport is a risk that usually isn't justified by the potential reward. It's even more risky in football, due to the unpredictable success rate of draft picks. You can draft a Pro Bowler in the seventh round just as easily as you can draft a first-rounder who is out of the league by the end of their rookie contract.

Washington should know this risk all too well. Remember the Trent Williams trade? The picks he was traded for became Keith Ismael (no longer on the Commanders) and Benjamin St-Juste (a role-playing defensive back).

The Commanders have two players in Young and Sweat who are playing very good football this season. They are the team's two leaders in sacks (Sweat has 5.5, Young has 5.0) and integral building blocks in its strongest unit, the defensive line.

It would be more understandable for the Commanders to sell at the deadline if the team had no clear direction, which has been the case in recent seasons. However, this is a team that now has a young quarterback in Sam Howell who it wants to build around. Trading Young and/or Sweat is not going to make Howell's life – which is already much more difficult than it should be – any easier.

The Commanders are by no means out of playoff contention. They still have 10 games to turn things around and even if they can't, they need to do whatever they can to maximize Howell's production by filling holes in their roster (read: the offensive line). The last thing they need to do is create new ones. 

A roster firesale would all-but wave the white flag on this era of the Commanders. It would signal that Rivera and co. have given up and it would instill a commitment to losing in a locker room that is sick and tired of it.

Not only should Washington keep Young and Sweat, but the team needs to pony up the cash to extend at least one of them.