Jan. 26, 2026, 2:44 a.m. ET

Super Bowl LX is set. The New England Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks on February 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. And for the other 30 NFL teams that didn’t make it, there’s a lesson: spend money in free agency.

The NFL draft remains the best way to build a team, but spending wisely in free agency is necessary, especially for teams that are more than one move away. The Washington Commanders fit in this category. Two years ago, the Commanders were active in free agency, turning over half the roster and signing many players to one-year deals to build depth and be competitive in 2024.

After a surprising run to the NFC Championship Game, the Commanders had a chance to spend big in free agency and surround franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels with more help. Instead, GM Adam Peters played it safe, trading for some veterans, re-signing some of those veterans who were on one-year deals and largely avoiding expensive additions in free agency.

The result was a 5-12 season. Sure, a lack of free-agent spending wasn’t the only reason why the Commanders took a major step back, but they certainly didn’t do enough to help Daniels in his second season.

Back to the Super Bowl LX participants: The Patriots were 4-13 in 2024, while the Seahawks were 10-7. While Seattle won 10 games, it missed the playoffs. In 2025, the Seahawks were the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed, while the Patriots were the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

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New England quarterback Drake Maye was picked one spot behind Daniels in the 2024 NFL Draft. Maye had his ups and downs as a rookie, but showed promise. He played like an NFL MVP in 2025. Meanwhile, the Seahawks signed Sam Darnold after a breakout season with the Vikings.

Darnold was a part of Seattle’s offseason spending. The Seahawks handed out over $200 million in free-agent contracts in 2025, including re-signing some of their own. In addition to Darnold, Seattle signed Cooper Kupp, DeMarcus Lawrence and Ernest Jones to multi-year deals. All played significant roles in the Seahawks’ path to the Super Bowl.

No NFL team spent more than the Patriots in free agency. New England was accused of overpaying last March. Here are some of New England’s offseason moves:

DT Milton Williams: 4 years, $104 millionOT Morgan Moses: 3 years, $24 millionWR Stefon Diggs: 3 years, $69 millionEDGE K’Lavon Chaisson: 1 year, $5 millionEDGE Harold Landry: 3 years, $43.5 millionLB Robert Spillane: 3 years, $37 millionCB Carlton Davis: 3 years, $60 million

Those were the most significant moves. Just the players above: that’s over $340 million in contracts. And each player played a significant role in New England’s turnaround.

The Patriots or Seahawks didn’t de-emphasize the NFL draft. No, they both had big hits there, too, but instead used free agency as it was intended. New England needed a lot more than Seattle, but both used it perfectly.

Are you listening, Adam Peters?

All because New England and Seattle had that type of success in 2025, doesn’t mean the big spenders in 2026 will experience similar success. In fact, history suggests that big free-agent spenders often regret it. This is something Washington fans know all too well from the early years of Dan Snyder’s ownership.

Jayden Daniels has two years remaining on his rookie deal, plus a fifth-year option. Peters lacks draft picks, meaning he must be aggressive in free agency. That’s where he must trust his scouting department to identify the best fits for the Commanders. Washington has plenty of cap space in 2026, with the ability to create more by releasing players such as Marshon Lattimore and extending others, like Laremy Tunsil and Tyler Biadasz.

No one is telling Peters to hand out almost $400 million in contracts this season, but he better be aggressive. Last season, Peters was aggressive in pursuing trades for Tunsil and Deebo Samuel, but didn’t do enough to fix an already bad defense.

This year, Peters should pay close attention to the two Super Bowl participants and how they built their rosters. If he makes the right moves, he can point to the 2025 season as an outlier. If he doesn’t, it’s the 2024 season that will look more like the real outlier.