Brandon McManus was released from the Washington Commanders after signing with them in this off-season. A past case of McManus allegedly sexually harassing two flight attendants during his trip to London resurfaced, and the Commanders were forced to cut him from the roster. This was a lesson for Dan Quinn and his team, who signed the kicker for $3.6 million.

The Commanders Head Coach addressed the media at the end of the OTAs and confessed that the team had some takeaways from the debacle but couldn’t comment much because the matter was still under investigation.

“I think most things, not necessarily related to this but, as a lesson, let’s make sure you always let somebody know and tell. There’s usually a whole bunch of people that want to be a part of the solution,” said Quinn, while talking to reporters.

DQ further added, “And so, when you have that, whether that’s for this team or any team or a parent, that kind of communication allows you to come up with solutions. So, like I said, not specific to this but it was just a good lesson to always have that conversation. It’s usually much more difficult in your head than it is really having an actual conversation.”

Quinn mentioned that the team found out about the incident on May 27 and released McManus on June 3. According to him, the Commanders had no knowledge of the incident before May 27. The team made a statement saying that they “take allegations of this nature very seriously.”

Earlier, the previous owner of the team, Dan Snyder, sold the team after it was concluded that he sexually harassed an employee and held back the revenue he should have shared with other NFL teams. He later sold the Commanders to Josh Harris for $6.05 billion.

Now, the Commanders are looking for a new kicker while McManus faces backlash from the NFL, the fans, and the media.

Dan Quinn is resilient about finding a replacement for Brandon McManus

Adam Peters has always come through for teams he’s worked with and, per Quinn, the duo is looking for another placekicker to fill McManus’ place. “We’re going to compete at every spot,” Quinn said. “It’s one of the cool parts about Adam and his staff: We’re going to dig forever. And not just at kicker — at every spot. And so that’s what our whole program is based on, the competition. … But it’s also moments like this that guys get their opportunity. And when they do, a lot of times people have been waiting for that shot, that moment. And we’ll take it from there.”

Right now, the Commanders have Ramiz Ahmed as their placekicker, who last played with the Green Bay Packers in 2022. However, he just played one game and has no stats to show. There is no record of Ahmed playing in the 2023 season, so his involvement in the Commanders’ upcoming season seems unlikely. This means the team might use another one of their special team members to fill the gap that Brandon McManus left.

As for the accused, his lawyer thinks that McManus is innocent and is working on clearing his name. “We intend to aggressively defend Brandon’s rights and integrity and clear his name by showing what these claims truly are – an extortion attempt,” said Brett R Gallaway of McLaughlin & Stern, admitting to the Associated Press.

What to you think about the situation? Let us know in the comments.