What's Washington Risk In Look at First-Round CB DeAndre Baker?

ASHBURN, Va. - Is the NFC East giving away free first-round cornerbacks? Where does the Washington Football Team line up?

Cornerback DeAndre Baker is on the street, and maybe the 2019 NFL first-round pick is too much trouble to sign.

But he's not too much trouble to explore. WFT, please get to exploring.

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The New York Giants drafted Baker in the first-round (30th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft, and the 5-11, 190-pound former Georgia standout and college All-America appeared in 15 games for New York.

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But the Giants released him in September following an offseason overflowing with legal trouble. The trouble that he was cleared off this week when a district attorney's office in Florida dropped charges against Baker, who was being prosecuted on four counts of robbery with a firearm and faced a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted.

The Giants remain uninterested. Maybe they already know he's not the "great locker-room guy'' he claims to be.

Per reports on Tuesday night, Baker appears headed to the Chiefs but only on their practice squad.

The #Chiefs are expected to sign former #Giants CB DeAndre Baker to their practice squad in the coming days, source says. The 2019 first-round pick is headed there for a visit, as @NYPost_Schwartz noted. That’s the only planned visit and, barring a snag, he’ll be a Chief.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 18, 2020

This would still be an opportunity for other NFL teams to swoop in now or later.

“I can be a great guy in any locker room they put me in,” Baker told the New York Daily News. “I never had a record in my life. I was never in any trouble in my life and still to this day I haven’t been in any trouble, up until this event. I don’t think I’m a risk to any team. I feel like I’m a benefit to any team right now.”

In the case of the WFT, what exactly would be the "risk,'' anyway? Washington is struggling at 2-7 and while the problems at cornerback are not the top problem in the secondary, it should be pointed out that Ronald Darby is only on a one-year deal and Kendall Fuller struggled significantly in Detroit.

Jimmy Moreland and Fabian Moreau appear to be inconsistent at best.

Signing Baker at some point this season would give Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio a chance to evaluate his talent, fit and future.

Can Baker, 23, play at a level that made him the Jim Thorpe winner in college? Can he play at the level that will remind the NFL that he is just 19 months removed from being the 30th overall pick? Can he play at a level that can help Washington?

There is one way to find out, but it appears the Chiefs could find out first.