Left guard Chris Paul is returning to the Washington Commanders.
Early Friday evening, Jordan Schultz first reported that the Commanders had re-signed Paul to a one-year deal. This means that in the last two weeks, GM Adam Peters has re-signed LT Laremy Tunsil, C/G Nick Allegretti, G/T Andrew Wiley, and now the starting left guard, Paul.
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This reveals Peters wanted these same four offensive linemen to return to the Commanders to protect Jayden Daniels during the 2026 season. Isn’t it strange, therefore, that Peters did in fact also release starting center Tyler Biadasz two weeks ago? Not a criticism now, merely a statement of the stark contrast.
Back to Paul: he had been the subject of not merely a few reports prior to free agency, stating he would receive a much higher pay raise upon hitting the market and that the Commanders would thus lose him early to another team. What came as a surprise was that four days had passed and Paul had not been signed by another team.
It’s now revealed that Peters did want Paul back next season. Secondly, it also reveals that Peters had an assessed value on Paul that the “NFL insiders” did not possess. Their expected contract value for Paul was much, much higher. Peters, on the other hand, rather than panicking and chasing after Paul on Monday or Tuesday, wisely waited out the process and retained Paul at a much better cap value for the team.
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The other side of the coin is that 2025 was a successful season for Paul. A reserve, he won the starting left guard job, now gets a nice pay raise, and still can test the market next year, if he again shows improvement during this season. Thus, this is a win for both Peters and Paul. That means it’s definitely a win for the cap accountant, the player, the offensive line, and Jayden Daniels.
Now, isn’t that good news?
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders re-sign LG Chris Paul to one-year deal