It is not a question of when, but who.

The Washington Football Team entered the 2021 offseason with a big question mark at the quarterback position. In March, the Football Team found a strong, albeit temporary, solution under center in journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. But because Fitzpatrick is not a part of Washington’s long-term plan, he has not impacted the Football Team’s offseason moves.

Typically, teams build around their quarterbacks. For example, when Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown shortly followed. There were roughly only 10 QB’s locked into starting jobs for the 2021 season when the offseason began, leading to an unprecedented amount of quarterback movement. Additionally, the eight quarterbacks selected in the first three rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft were the most in draft history, per NFL Research. Many teams are trying to find their best “fit” under center.

Washington was not one of those teams. With Dwayne Haskins Jr. long gone and Alex Smith retired, quarterback was a position of need. But Washington did not let that need define the entire team. The Football Team pursued Matthew Stafford back in March but excused themselves from the QB search shortly after when the Rams offered a better deal. Instead of spending big on a quarterback in free agency and crippling their salary cap, or sacrificing a significant amount of draft capital to trade for a rookie QB, Washington directed its focus elsewhere in order to build a foundation that can win moving forward.

“One of the positions we relied on so heavily was quarterback in Carolina in terms of our entire offense,” Rivera said Tuesday. “Here, we do not have to rely on the quarterback. We have a lot of good weapons around our QB position. This will be a little different as I study and look at and watch our guys...We improved at receiver, tight end, running back. One of the goals you talk about as an offense is protecting your quarterback and you have playmakers around them. I feel that we have a different group of guys this year, but we are in a better position than we were last season.”

Rivera appears to be trying to learn from past mistakes in Carolina. Between 2014 and 2016, the Panthers missed out on some key draft selections. In that three-year stretch, they passed on first-round picks Kelvin Benjamin (wide receiver) and Vernon Butler (defensive tackle), and on second-round choice Kony Ealy (pass-rusher).

Perhaps Rivera’s 11 years of coaching in the NFL have also taught him the importance of patience. Washington’s need for a quarterback did not line up with the available options this offseason. The Football Team therefore elected to wait.

This is a strategy that teams have used in the past: taking the time to build and develop a roster before making a move on the right player. The Kansas City Chiefs traded up from the No. 27 pick to No. 10 in the 2017 NFL Draft to select Patrick Mahomes. The San Francisco 49ers moved up nine spots this year to take Trey Lance at No. 3 overall. In free agency, the Rams offered the Lions two future first-round picks, a third-rounder and Jared Goff to acquire Matthew Stafford.

It would not be surprising for Washington to make a similar move in the coming years. But the Football Team recently went “all-in” to select Dwayne Haskins Jr. in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. It makes sense that the organization is not ready to take that plunge again just yet.

"We just felt looking at where we are right now with what we're doing to be patient to sit and wait to see what happens, we felt strong about that,” Rivera said following the first day of the draft. “This isn't just about one piece, we have a chance to put pieces into place and we felt that a better direction, at least I felt that's a better direction for us right now."

Washington’s decision not to prioritize the quarterback position allowed it to make offensive and defensive moves that have strengthened the team overall. This offseason, the Football Team has improved on both sides of the ball. In free agency, they added receivers Adam Humphries and Curtis Samuel and defensive back William Jackson III. The team selected linebacker Jamin Davis in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and added an offensive lineman in Samuel Cosmi in the second round. Washington signed guard Ereck Flowers from the Miami Dolphins before the draft and then they added tackle Charles Leno from the Chicago Bears.

Fitzpatrick’s wealth of NFL experience makes him the perfect QB to find and embrace the strengths of Washington’s new and old players. If Fitzpatrick continues to play as well as he has over the past two seasons when he posted the NFL’s seventh-best total QBR at 71.5, he could stay longer than one year. Regardless of how long he is on the team though, Fitzpatrick will likely only make the young players around him better. That improvement could have a lasting impact long after he is gone.

“What I found over the years, the more that you show confidence in a guy, all of a sudden, his level of play is going to rise up,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday. “I really enjoy watching some of these guys that maybe have not had the confidence in the NFL that they have had in college. All of a sudden, helping them blossom just through giving them opportunities and watching them completely transform as players.”

Fitzpatrick will mold himself to fit Washington. And right now, that is exactly what the Football Team needs from its signal caller.