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Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu.
The Washington Commanders haven’t shown the ability to conduct trades in a productive manner the last few years.
Instead, they’ve been giving away trade assets in return for starters well past their prime and getting little production or value in return — and it hasn’t resulted in wins.
The trade for cornerback Marshon Lattimore, done when the Commanders were still contenders in 2024, was an abject disaster.
Before the 2025 season, the Commanders made blockbuster deals for wide receiver Deebo Samuel and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. That resulted in a 5-12 regular season one year after making the NFC Championship Game.
That’s why it seems pretty on brand that the Commanders would trade away players they actually might need in 2026, with Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine labeling NFL All-Pro linebacker Frankie Luvu as the team’s “Top Trade Asset” this offseason.
Luvu could be an attractive trade target for a contender as he’s not only still one of the NFL’s most versatile linebackers, he’s also in the final season of a 3-year, $31 million contract in 2026.
“Frankie Luvu’s ability to play off-ball linebacker and edge is nice,” Ballentine wrote. “But he’s 29 years old and in need of an extension after this season. It might be best to trade him off after seeing his sacks go from eight in 2024 to three in 2025.”
Luvu’s drop off in production was hardly his fault.
Commanders Made Bizarre Defensive Decision
If you want to know one of the big reasons why the Commanders fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. after the 2025 season, we can confidently point to a change in Luvu’s usage from 2024.
In his first season with the Commanders in 2024, Luvu, 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, filled up the stat sheet with 99 tackles, 8.0 sacks, 14 QB hits, 12 TFL, 7 pass deflections, 2 fumble recoveries and 1 forced fumble.
In 2025, Whitt made the genius decision to essentially stop having Luvu rush the passer and his numbers went in the tank. Just like Washington’s season.
Luvu Evaded Serious Punishment From NFL
One thing that won’t change if Luvu is traded or not is his well-earned reputation as a dirty player. Luvu, who broke into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets in 2018, has been fined 6 times over the last 4 seasons for a variety of violations, including fighting, unsportsmanlike conduct, roughing the passer and hip-drop tackles.
On November 4, Luvu found out his 1-game suspension for repeated violations of the league’s ban on hip-drop tackles had been turned into a $100,000 fine after Luvu’s appeal.
Luvu’s violation that led to his suspension came in a 38-14 loss to the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in Week 9 — his third time getting dinged for hip-drop tackles in 2025. This time, the tackle in question was on Seahawks star wide receiver and NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxson Smith-Njigba.
The suspension would have been the first in NFL history for hip-drop tackles, which were banned by the NFL before the 2024 season.
From NFL.com: “In advance of the 2024 season, NFL clubs have voted unanimously to remove the hip-drop tackle from the game. A hip-drop tackle occurs when a defender wraps up a ball carrier and rotates or swivels his hips, unweighting himself and dropping onto ball carrier’s legs during the tackle.”
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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