The Washington Commanders will have 28 unrestricted free agents when free agency begins next month. That’s a crazy number of free agents, but it was expected when general manager Adam Peters signed numerous veterans to one-year deals last offseason after several years of bad drafting from the previous regime.
Some of the veterans Washington signed to one-year deals, such as Bobby Wagner, Zach Ertz, and Jeremy Chinn, had excellent seasons for the Commanders. Wagner and Ertz, both 34, have expressed their desire to return, while Chinn (soon to be 27) enjoyed the best season of his five-year NFL career.
Peters will be busy over the next month determining which players to bring back and at what cost while continuing to improve a roster that surprised everyone by reaching the NFC championship game.
NFL.com recently previewed six teams that are expected to be hardest hit by free agency. The Commanders weren’t one of them, but they were right outside the six.
The Commanders have an absurd 28 unrestricted free agents heading into March, per Over The Cap, including strong defensive contributors like Bobby Wagner, Jeremy Chinn, Benjamin St-Juste, Noah Igbinoghene and Dante Fowler Jr., tight end Zach Ertz and essentially every WR outside of Terry McLaurin. It will be extremely tough to bring the whole band back. However, Washington has the advantage of a rookie-contract QB and a whopping $78.1 million in cap space (third-most in the league). Even if the team looks much different in 2025, it should be just as competitive if not better with the right offseason moves.
It’s already been reported that Washington will be aggressive this offseason. The Commanders have close to $80 million in salary cap room and have ways to create more. Tough decisions will need to be made, but Peters and head coach Dan Quinn understand the balance of improving the roster while maintaining the locker room they so carefully built.