The Commanders have struck right as the NFL’s legal tampering period opened: per reports, the team is signing former Jets and Niners DT Javon Kinlaw to a three-year deal worth up to $45 million, with $30 million guaranteed.
Kinlaw, 27, was the Niners’ first-round pick in 2020, so he knows Adam Peters, but a torn ACL and further knee issues cost him 24 of 34 games in 2021-22, and after his fifth-year option was declined, he finished with just five sacks, one interception, and 110 combined tackles (12 for loss) in four seasons.
He signed a one-year deal with the Jets last season and started all 17 games, recording 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and 40 total tackles.
Kinlaw’s deal eats up most of the $16.3 million in cap space the Commanders saved by cutting Jonathan Allen last week, and he now replaces Allen in a DT group that will likely still see some depth needed behind him, fellow former first-round pick Daron Payne, and 2024 second-rounder Johnny Newton.