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The Washington Commanders’ fall from rising contender built to win now to cautionary tale was as precipitous as it was sudden.
Just 13 months ago, the Commanders took the field in Philadelphia in the NFC Championship game with Jayden Daniels the envy of every quarterback-needy franchise across the league and a roster that seemed to effortlessly bond homegrown talent plucked by rising general manager Adam Peters and high priced veterans with the kind of big-game experience that could be the backbone of multiple bites at the Super Bowl apple.
Yet, the Commanders were long an afterthought when the 2025 NFL Playoffs began, after a coaching staff recklessly mismanaged Daniels after a pair of significant injuries, one of the oldest rosters assembled fell piece by piece by the wayside, succumbing to their own injuries and ailments, including offensive glue, tight end Zach Ertz, tearing his ACL in Week 13.
Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was scapegoated for Daniels’ regression, when the coaching staff probably would have been far wiser to just shut the wunderkind hope of the franchise down after a gruesome arm injury in Week 9.
Head coach Dan Quinn also tossed defensive coordinator Joe Whitt overboard.
Peters and the front office brain trust remain one of the brightest collections of evaluators in the league, with a track record of success across multiple buildings.
But, it certainly seems like this offseason requires a stark pivot in philosophy, leaning on young talent, a strong draft class, and real care to Daniels’ development ahead of his third NFl season if the Commanders are going to rebound.
Here’s a look at how the Commanders must approach this offseason:
Fortunately for Peters and the Commanders, Washington is once again flush with cap space.
Ahead of free agency getting underway, there are only four teams with more spending flexibility than the Commanders’ $76.8 million in cap space.
This is where the Commanders arrive at a fork in the road.
Daniels is the piece that is going to make this a contending team almost by default, but instead of searching for microwave fixes built to maximize winning this season, Peters and the Commanders need to take a longer-form view of free agency and target the ascendant young players who can become pieces of building towards long-term stability.
Peters and Co. would be wise to lock cornerback Marshon Lattimore into a long-term extension, and the biggest pressure point of all might be deciding whether it’s worth bringing Deebo Samuel back after a 2025 campaign that, for the first time, made it look like he might be stepping onto the back-nine.
However, after how last season played out, there’s no shame in admitting Austin Ekeler, Bobby Wagner, Von Miller, and Ertz’s best football is behind them and spending the months ahead shopping for younger —ideally more affordable players to replace them.
The Commanders find themselves picking inside the top-10, well within reach of a blue-chip wide receiver to drop opposite Terry McLaurin, or alongside McLaurin and Samuel in Daniels’ arsenal, or a defensive back to anchor a secondary that must survive the NFC’s Who’s Who of Elite Receiving Corps.
Daniels’ presence all but ensures the Commanders don’t need a full-fledged rebuild and also that opportunities to pick this high in the draft won’t be coming around all that often, unless something else goes catastrophically wrong.
That backdrop, against last season’s debacle, makes this a pivotal draft for Peters and the front office. It just might define how lofty the ceiling can actually become in their young franchise quarterback era.
First Round, Pick No. 7 overall
Third Round, No. 71 overall
Fifth Round, No. 145 overall
Sixth Round, No. 185 overall
Sixth Round, No. 196 overall
Seventh Round, No. 223 overall
Break the bank to sign tight end Dallas Goedert
The last time Washington tapped the [indirect] Philadelphia to D.C. Tight End Pipeline, it worked out extremely well, with Ertz rejuvenating the final act of his career and blossoming into Daniels’ favorite and most prolific target, especially in the red zone.
Peters and the Commanders have the resources to strike a direct blow to their division rival and significantly upgrade a position that became pivotal in Daniels’ progression as a quarterback and high in his progressions on each route.
Goedert, 31, is set to become a free agent and it’s unclear at best if the Eagles have any designs on paying the premium it is going to take to bring him back to Philadelphia for another season just one year after convincing the at the time defending Super Bowl champion to return for one more season, one more ring chase.
This past season, Goedert caught 60 passes for 591 yards and 11 touchdowns in 15 games, while hauling in 10 of quarterback Jalen Hurts’ 16 red-zone touchdowns.
A dynamic weapon in the passing game, especially deep in the red zone, Goedert is the kind of weapon who could absolutely feast on the receiving end of passes from Daniels and raise the ceiling for the rest of the offense, overall.
Sign CB Jamel Dean in free agency
Carlton Davis showed the impact that a marquee free agent cornerback signing can make on a defense, as a stabilizing force opposite Christian Gonzalez in the New England Patriots’ secondary.
Washington should Xerox the blueprint.
Dean is a human eraser and true ballhawk, who, according to Pro Football Focus, held opposing quarterbacks to a meager 46.9 passer rating this past season. Imagine Hurts or Dak Prescott or Jaxson Dart having both boundaries blanketed by Dean and Lattimore in 2026. That’s as sturdy a foundation as you can build in a defensive backfield.
This past season, Dean produced 38 total tackles, logged the first sack of his career, and intercepted a career-high three interceptions.
At 29, Dean still has plenty of high-end football ahead of him and is a consummate leader, as well.
Draft EDGE Rueben Bain Jr.
There might not be a bigger hole or glaring deficiency across this roster, or one that could instantly alter the trajectory of the entire defense than at edge rusher.
Sure, if Carnell Tate slips past the New York Giants or Cleveland Browns, the Commanders should sprint the draft card up to add another weapon for Daniels’ arsenal, but short of the Buckeyes’ all-world receiver slipping, this pick needs to be the most disruptive edge rusher on the board.
Bain is a downhill menace, posting 20.5 sacks over the past three seasons, who bullies his way into opposing backfields similarly to how we saw the Seahawks’ defensive line pile drive Patriots linemen into Drake Maye’s lap in the Super Bowl.
In addition to his 9.5 sacks last season, Bain posted 15.5 tackles for loss, underscoring his ability to be a disruptive force up front.
For a franchise that has spent too much time watching opposing quarterbacks operate from a clean pocket, drafting a pass rusher like Bain isn’t just a luxury; it’s an immediate, much-needed injection of ‘savage’ for a defense that desperately needs to rediscover its teeth. Quickly.
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