It has been a tidal wave across the Washington Commanders locker room, and that’s a good thing.
Maybe Washington hasn’t signed a major star to a mega-deal, but then who needs another Albert Haynesworth, Dana Stubblefield or Mark Carrier sucking up cap space while sucking in general?
The draft is the key to great teams, not free agency. Former Washington owner Dan Snyder proved that with the NFL’s first $100 million roster that failed. Free agency is supposed to fill gaps. Thank goodness new general manager Adam Peters understands that.
Peters is a draft first, free agency second exec. It doesn’t matter whether he spends all of the Commanders’ $90 million cap space. It’s not like unused funds cause lower beer prices at games. It’s not fan money being spent, so move on from that.
Peters elected to largely find young veterans leaving their first contracts who can peak over the next few seasons. There’s probably not a Pro Football Hall of Famer among the first dozen signings, but there won’t be colossal cap failures, either.
That’s why Peters gets a solid B-plus for early free agency. All that’s left is bargain hunting and reserves. Washington has rebuilt its pass rush from zero, bolstered an interior offensive line, found a couple needed special teamers, and even nabbed a safety, linebacker and backup quarterback.
Not a bad haul.
The most interesting part so far is not retaining any of its two dozen free agents. Antonio Gibson and Jacoby Brissett joined New England, Saahdiq Charles is a Titan, and Kam Curl has gone unsigned along with Curtis Samuel, Casey Toohill, and Kendall Fuller, among others.
Translation: A 4-13 team doesn’t have many irreplaceable players. Sure, many will find new homes around the NFL, but opponents rarely raid rosters of losing teams.
Peters found some nice additions. Carolina linebacker Frankie Luvu likes to knock the snot out of people, which is perfectly aligned with incoming defensive coordinator Joe Whitt’s philosophy. Carolina safety Jeremy Chinn is an upgrade over Curl. Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler aren’t Montez Sweat and Chase Young, but then the Commanders pass rush never got going with the latter, either.
The theme of the roster reshuffling was to improve the lines and scattershot the board for help. And, it worked without overspending. This team is a couple years away from contending if lucky, so rolling over cap space into 2025 is needed.
Now Peters can focus on the draft, where a quarterback is surely taken with the second overall pick. A left tackle can be found in the second round if Washington doesn’t package picks to move back into the first round for a position that seems deep.
Whether Peters trades quarterback Sam Howell is debatable. There’s not much value right now and Howell is still on a cheap rookie deal. Signing Marcus Mariota for $6 million along with another rookie drafted, even second overall, means Washington has the cap room to carry three passers. Howell’s value may increase come preseason when injuries elsewhere create demand.
For once, Washington seems to be truly winning the offseason that can carry over into the regular season.