Odafe Oweh’s contract extension details
It’s clear that the Washington Commanders are betting heavily on recently signed free agent edge rusher Odafe Oweh to produce at a very high level in 2026 and subsequent seasons, and they have put their literal money where their metaphorical mouth is with a 4-year, $96m contract that has $68 million guaranteed, of which $50.6 million is fully guaranteed at signing.
While the general structure of this contract is very similar to the Sam Cosmi extension — Adam Peters’ first big contract in Washington — inked in 2024, Oweh’s deal offers more money, more guarantees, and a bigger percentage of guaranteed money to the player. In fact, Oweh’s contract may be the most aggressively player-friendly contract I’ve seen from Washington since the Alex Smith extension in March of 2018, and this newer contract actually offers more security to Oweh, in my opinion, than the Smith contract offered to the then-franchise quarterback. At the same time, the structure of Oweh’s new deal offers some advantages to the Washington in the latter years — especially if Oweh is playing and producing at a high level.
Here’s what Odafe Oweh will earn per season if he is cut or the contract expires:
This details how much the team has to pay Oweh if they cut him at the end of any of the first three seasons, or if he plays to the end of his contract:
Cut after 2026: $51.3m for one season
Cut after 2027: $69.4m ($34.7m per season)
Cut after 2028: $74m ($24.66m per season)
Contract terminates at end of 2029: $96m ($24m per season)
This details how much the player will receive each year of the contract if he is not cut:
It would be completely impractical for Washington to cut Oweh after the ‘26 season as they would end up paying him $51.3m.
While the Commanders could possibly cut Oweh after just 2 seasons, the edge rusher would walk away with nearly $35m per season for two seasons — a lot to pay for a guy who wasn’t good enough to stick with the roster for a third season.
Washington’s earliest practical exit ramp comes at the end of the ‘28 season, when the Commanders would have paid him a bit less than $25m per year for 3 years; however, given the flat cap hit from 2028 to 2029, it seems verey likely that, as long as he is playing well, the team won’t be motivated by contract structure to part ways with him before the contract runs its full course.
No significant backloading
While the Commanders have tucked a cap hit of $5.2m into a void year (2030), if you look at Oweh’s cash flows and base salaries, you’ll see that he will receive cash payments of $22m per year for the final 3 years of his deal, and his base salary basically also stays flat (if you include the $1m roster bonus in ‘29) at $21.3m per season. In this respect, it is very similar to the structure of Sam Cosmi’s extension, the first significant contract given out in Washington by Adam Peters, signed just two years ago.
This structure matters because — absent any contract restructures along the way — Oweh’s flat annual cash cost ($22m) and salary cap hits ($27.2m) from 2027 to 2029 will make him seem more affordable each year as the league salary cap rises, making it less likely that the team will be motivated to cut him or trade him ahead of the 2029 season. Again, Cosmi’s deal has the same feature.
This is one of the rare NFL multi-year contracts in which it appears (right now) as if the player has a good chance of actually playing out all 4 seasons.