Commanders general manager gives thoughts on star defensive tackle's trade request

The NFL Scouting Combine kicked off this week and the Commanders will be looking to evaluate a slew of NFL prospects coming up from the college ranks before the NFL Draft in late April. While much of the focus is on the kids this week, news broke that a veteran of the Washington franchise could be headed out.

That player is standout defensive tackle Jonathan Allen who has requested a trade from the team with just one year remaining on his contract. Allen, who has been with Washington since being drafted in the first round out of Alabama eight seasons ago, has been a force for the team through some of their toughest days and could look to find a new home where he can continue to wreak havoc on opposing offensive lines.

When speaking to the media on the opening day of the Scouting Combine, Commanders' general manager Adam Peters gave his thoughts when he heard that Allen wanted to seek a trade.

"I think they're always tough. These kinds of decisions and things you have to come up with are always tough, right? And with Jon, who's been a great player as a Commander, as a Football Teamer and a Redskin, he's been a great person for this franchise for a long time," said Peters. "So, you have to weigh in everything, and we looked at internally and, 'Okay, what decision do we want to make that we think is best for the team?' But also, you want to do what's best for that player. So, those are tough conversations to have, but you always want to have him civilly and we have, and his agent's been really good with us and look forward to coming to a resolution."

This past season the two-time Pro Bowler suffered a partially torn pectoral muscle that required surgery against the Ravens but was able to come back right before the Commanders' playoff run. While his output this season didn't quite match up to the usual stats we are used to seeing from Allen, if he had played the entire season there wouldn't have been much dropoff, if any at all. This proves that Allen still has plenty left in the tank if the Commanders can find a suitable suitor for him.

While it may hurt the organization initially as he has been a valuable member of the franchise for quite some time now, it could end up benefitting them later down the road considering they have some depth at the position and the ability to spend this offseason with one of the higher salary caps in the league and not having to pay the $15 million that Allen is owed in the final season of his contract.

It seems as if the Commanders are fielding trade offers as they look to work alongside Allen and his camp, but the price must be right for them to make a trade of one of the NFL's more disruptive interior players.

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