By the time Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels returns from his latest serious elbow injury, will Dan Quinn still be his head coach?
That’s the question being whispered in NFL front offices as a season many executives and coaches feared could doom Quinn has gone about as badly as possible. The Commanders should have probably upset the Eagles in Week 1, but dubious decisions by a coaching staff that was torn apart around Quinn and reconstructed short on experience in some critical areas cost them dearly.
In Week 2, they played the Cowboys tough and were gaining momentum before a bizarre sequence at the end of the half resulted in Daniels leaving with a dislocated elbow as time expired with them down 17-10 deep in Dallas territory without ever attempting a field goal or a pass to the end zone in a game they went on to lose.
The clock is ticking on Dan Quinn after Jayden Daniels' injury
In what was setting up a make-or-break year for Quinn, and with general manager Adam Peters probably sitting pretty with ownership, this is a doomsday scenario for him. And if they continue to lose games and if backup quarterback Marcus Mariota hits the wall in a few weeks as older QBs tend to do, then it stands to reason this team may already be playing for 2027 by the time Daniels is back, and whether they will already be positioned for a head coaching search.
Quinn and the Commanders were unwilling to shed any light on the specifics of Daniels’s situation on Wednesday, with the star still seeking other opinions on how to move forward. No one is pretending this isn’t serious, and that a recovery time of some significance isn’t forthcoming. And with how important this young man is to this franchise ever becoming a consistent contender again, there may be some variance in the treatment paths suggested.
“As far as a timeline, or what, or who else to add, we’ll wait on that,” Quinn told the media Wednesday.
With the Commanders looking at a Week 7 bye, and a fairly brutal schedule into November — Seattle, San Francisco, the Rams, the Eagles again — it stands to reason that the playoffs might already be looking bleak even if this is, say, a two-month hiatus. Daniels is a transformational power, and while Mariota has proven to be an expert backup for this franchise, this becomes an infinitely less complicated team to defend without him.
“This is a nightmare for Dan Quinn,” one GM told me this week. “It’s not his fault this quarterback got hurt again, but he’ll end up paying for it.”
One longtime NFL personnel exec told me: “I can’t help but wonder if that was the last time Dan coaches him.”
Jayden Daniels' potential to get paid is as murky as ever
Daniels played in just seven games in 2025, following a truly historic rookie campaign that lifted decades of angst under former owner Dan Snyder, and he is obviously about to miss many more. He is eligible for a new contact when this season ends, and with quarterback contracts always soaring and this organization never really having a longtime franchise QB — Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls with three QBs — the allure of securing him no matter what will be strong.
Houston’s CJ Stroud is betting on himself and turned down over $50M a year: Baker Mayfield might be having a meltdown season for Tampa after just landing $55M a season before Week 1. The temptation to lock into Daniels is going to be great even if questions about durability persist. Ravens two-time MVP Lamar Jackson is essentially acting like a free agent in 2027 given how his contract is structured; he’s likely headed to at least $70M a season, and it was just a few years ago that Dak Prescott, coming off a season-ending surgery, became the game’s first $60M man in Dallas.
“Man, that’s a tough one,” the exec said. “What do you do with this kid after the season? … You know how I operate, I’d want to make him play it out and see if he can stay healthy (in 2027). But this will go down the way the owner wants. Jayden Daniels sells a lot of jerseys.”
Indeed. He’s probably going to get paid no matter what. Hopefully he’s able to play enough football this season to help his own cause, and that of whomever is stewarding the sidelines by then.
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