Last Tuesday it was reported that the New England Patriots had struck a deal with the Washington Redskins, trading center Bryan Stork (above, left) to Washington in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick. However, that appears not to be the case.
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What will happen to Stork when he returns to New England remains to be seen, but it’s odd to read that a player who was vying for a starting job on one team failed a physical on another. Washington will receive it’s draft pick back.
-Before the trade becomes official, Stork hints at retirement, rather than play (Stork has a concussion history). Especially since he will be owed over $800,000 if he is still on the roster. At least as a third stringer.
But Stork failed Washington’s physical Monday morning, sending him back to the Patriots.
Doubts over whether Stork would ever suit up for the Redskins first surfaced shortly after they completed their trade with the Patriots on Wednesday. It just will not be with New England.
Stork, 25, tweeted Saturday night that he was looking forward to joining the Redskins and thanked New England for his time there. He suffered four reported concussions which limited him to 21 games over those two seasons. Third-year lineman Spencer Long, who is competing for the starting left guard spot with Shawn Lauvao, has learned the center position in the offseason and is now Lichtensteiger’s backup. The coach also views Lichtensteiger – an eighth-year veteran – as a strong leader and mentor to younger linemen.
The Redskins will need to move on to other options as they try to get more depth for their offensive line.
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“Before we got (Stark), I thought we were doing pretty well at center”, Gruden said. Josh LeRibeus played a lot of center for us a year ago, and then Austin has had a very good camp.
