It was fun when the NFC East was just a war between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cowboys. The Commanders and the Giants were farting around in their own dysfunctional worlds and could never consistently compete.
Now, the Commanders have themselves a quarterback in Jayden Daniels, and for the first time in forever, it looks like they’re ready to step with the big dogs. Unfortunately for them, the biggest dog is in their division. This offseason, the Commanders made some expensive moves to help win next season … while almost completely ignoring the future.
The Commanders are trying to make Jayden Daniels’ life easier...
Jayden Daniels had the best rookie season a quarterback has ever had; that’s pretty undeniable. That being said, C.J. Stroud had a pretty incredible rookie season in 2023, and he turned into a dud in 2024.
Hopefully, Daniels follows in Stroud's footsteps, but the Commanders spent their offseason trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. To be fair, that’s a smart move because that team is only as good as Jayden Daniels is.
When they beat the Eagles in Week 16, Daniels was playing out of his mind. He rushed for 81 yards and threw for 258 yards and five touchdowns. On top of that, he only got sacked one time for just three yards.
In the NFC Championship game, he played like a putz. He only rushed for 48 yards and threw for 255 yards (a lot of it came when they were already cooked). He was also sacked three time for 27 yards.
He couldn't get anything going because of the pressure, and he could only connect with Zach Ertz. The Commanders don't stand a chance against the Eagles if Jayden Daniels is constantly getting lit up and his only pass catcher is a tight end.
The ‘big’ move the Commanders made in the offseason was to trade for wide receiver Deebo Samuel. They’re clearly hoping that his terrible 2024 season was an anomaly, and that he’s not completely washed up from six years of a heavy workload with the 49ers.
It was probably a bad idea to trade a fifth-round pick for a 29-year-old, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the other trade that they made.
...But they got older by doing that
On the first day of free agency, they traded their 2025 third and seventh-round draft picks, and their 2026 second and fourth-round draft picks to the Houston Texans for left tackle Laremy Tunsil.
The problem is that Tunsil is going to be 31 years old by the start of the season, and the Commanders traded four picks for him. Will he be good this year? Probably, but every year after that, you have to start questioning it.
So, if you look at that trade in the very short term, it’s probably a good idea: Protect your quarterback with a player that you know is good. Don’t risk your quarterback's cheap years behind a young, unknown, and inexperienced offensive line.
On top of that, the Commanders’ front office is relatively new to their situation. Adam Peters has only been the general manager for two years; if he wants to be safe and build his team by using draft capital to trade for veterans, then so be it. It seems like a bad idea to me, but I’m not a general manager.
The Commanders also spent a buttload of money ($15 million per year) on Javon Kinlaw, a very mediocre defensive tackle. On one hand, they kind of had to do something there since they lost Jonathan Allen in free agency, but they overpaid for Kinlaw big time.
On the other hand, it’d be wildly irresponsible and flat-out stupid for them to run back a defensive line that allowed Saquon Barkley to rush for 414 yards (138 yards per game) last season. Daniel Snyder probably would’ve tried to just run it back.
The draft is the part where everything the Commanders did in the early offseason came to a head. Before the 2024 trade deadline, they had 11 picks in the 2025 draft. But because of all of their trades for Marshawn Lattimore, Samuel, and Tunsil, they ended up making just five draft picks.
Most teams would rather not have a super old roster; the Commanders are not most teams.
The Commanders put short-term gains over long-term prospects
Now, they did make a good decision in the first round of the draft when they picked Josh Conerly Jr., the offensive lineman from Oregon. He’s not the biggest dude in the world, but he’s super athletic and he can play anywhere on the line. He’ll probably start at right tackle, and when the Eagles eventually play the Commanders in Week 16, he will probably have developed into a good player.
All in all, the Commanders made good decisions for this season. They did their best (and overpaid) for an offensive line that can keep Jayden Daniels safe, and they got him a few new toys to throw the ball to… It’s just that those toys are used and worn down. Toys like that aren’t going to work against the Eagles' super young and super good defensive backs.
Oh, and they also voted to ban the Brotherly Shove after getting completely embarrassed by it in the NFC Championship game. That didn’t work.