Ereck Flowers' tumultuous NFL career appears to have achieved some stability, and he's heading back to where he first found it.
The Miami Dolphins have agreed to trade Flowers to the Washington Football Team in a deal involving a swap of late round draft picks, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. Washington will now pick No. 258 overall, while Miami holds pick No. 244.
The agreed-upon trade sends Flowers back to the place where he initially transitioned from tackle to guard and finally developed into a player who could be counted on to block reliably. Flowers was reportedly delighted by the move, as he'll get a chance to reunite with the staff that turned his career around.
"I'm very excited and anxious to get back up there because I love the O-line room and I already had a good relationship with coach John Matsko as well," Flowers told reporter Josina Anderson. "This is best for me."
A former first-round pick of the Giants in 2015, Flowers never lived up to the expectation of becoming a franchise tackle while in New York. He struggled mightily at left tackle, becoming a (disappointingly) dependable source for ugly clips of him getting beaten soundly by opposing rushers, so much so that on at least one occasion, he kicked a foot out in a vain attempt to try to trip a defender. The signing of Nate Solder kicked Flowers over to right tackle in 2018, where Flowers didn't fare any better, losing his job to Chad Wheeler.
With New York having already declined his fifth-year option, Flowers' days were numbered, and he was officially released in early October of 2018.
So began his journey through the NFL, signing with Jacksonville and playing left tackle there for the rest of the season before moving on to Washington, where the Football Team's staff recognized the former ninth-overall pick might actually be an effective guard. He started all of the 2019 season, playing well enough to earn a three-year, $30 million deal from Miami in 2020.
That same deal still exists, and helps explain why Washington is able to get a starting guard for just a swap of late-round picks. Flowers' cap hit is $10 million in 2021 and increases to $11 million in 2022, a number Washington can afford. Miami, meanwhile, clears a decent chunk of cap space ahead of the draft.
Flowers will reunite with his former offensive line coach and give Washington options at guard between him and Wes Schweitzer, who stepped into the void left by Flowers' departure (and also filled in for Brandon Scherff) in 2020.
