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Commanders Free Agent Fits: Running Back
[A]s the Commanders only currently have one back on the roster, running back becomes a need. Regular readers of mine will know that I’m not necessarily one for spending a lot of resources on the running back position. I won’t argue that running backs are worthless because I think they can have great value, but I think it has become a position where it’s better off being a final piece of the offense rather than a foundational piece.
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When you look at the top backs in the NFL, guys like Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey, they were drafted in the top 10 to bad teams and while they were productive early in their careers, they weren’t difference makers because their respective teams were bad. But as soon as they joined good teams, they put them over the top. McCaffrey has helped the 49ers be one of the best offenses in the NFL while Barkley led the Eagles to a Super Bowl in 2024.
I’m not sure the Commanders as a team are there yet for a running back to put them over the top. Perhaps the offense is close to being a very powerful unit, but the defense needs an overhaul. So personally, I’d rather stick with cheaper backs that have been productive than spend big on a free agent back. However, the team could obviously view things differently and if they wanted to make a big splash in free agency, there’s a strong group of running backs available to pick from.
Commanders Roundtable
Five Commanders ranked among top 100 free agents in 2026 offseason
[F]ive impending free agents were named among the top 100 free agents this offseason by CBS Sports.
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No. 42 LB Bobby Wagner
One of the most controversial free agents for the Commanders, the veteran linebacker made history in what could be his final game with the team after notching his 2,000th career tackle to become the third player in NFL history to achieve the feat. It speaks volumes to the career for the future first ballot Hall of Fame linebacker, who was also named the Walter Payton Man of the Year earlier this month. But all signs have pointed to Wagner likely headed back to the West Coast, maybe even a reunion with the Seattle Seahawks.
No. 51 WR Deebo Samuel
The most debated free agent for Washington this offseason, a divorce may be most likely after the Commanders’ front office traded for the veteran wide receiver. Both Los Angeles teams – Chargers and Rams – have been viewed as potential suitors for Samuel in a reunion on the West Coast, similar to Wagner. ESPN’s John Keim pointed to Samuel’s price tag as reason why he could find himself in a different uniform this offseason. It’s also notable that the wide receiver market is already thin even before franchise tag decisions for both Dallas and George Pickens, along with the Colts and Alec Pierce. Samuel could be in position to cash in this offseason.
No. 65 LB Von Miller
After repeatedly being transparent about his interest in returning to Washington toward the end of the 2025 season, Miller drastically changed his tune once the offseason hit, taking to his podcast to express his interest in returning to the Denver Broncos. Miller quietly finished the 2025 season with a team-high nine sacks, but with a need to get younger in the room this offseason, Miller’s updated wish to land elsewhere could materialize.
No. 93 DE Jacob Martin
Maybe the biggest question mark of them all, Martin stepped into an injury-ridden defensive line for the Commanders to finish with 39 tackles, 5.5 sacks, one fumble, one pass deflection in 2025.
No. 96 QB Marcus Mariota
The biggest question for Mariota will be whether a starting role emerges this offseason, but if not, there shouldn’t be much debate for a third season to serve as the backup to Jayden Daniels. Mariota proved to be serviceable after Daniels struggled with injuries through 2025, while there’s familiarity in the room having worked with former assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough over the last two seasons. No one will have clear familiarity within the new-look Commanders offense, expected to feature much more under center than the Kliff Kingsbury system, but Mariota would add stability to the room.
A to Z Sports
Commanders need to retain own key free agents before spending top-5 cap space in ‘26 free agency
Jacob Martin, EDGE
Jacob Martin was a sneaky free agent signing last offseason, who came in and produced where the Commanders needed it the most. The Commanders lacked a pass rush, but Martin filled in, especially when Dorance Armstrong went down for the season. Martin finished with 5.5 sacks and 45 pressures in 2025, and is for sure worth bringing back as a rotational pass rusher while the Commanders look to land a big starter.
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The Commanders have some underrated EDGE free agents to target, and of course, they have a high chance of drafting one with the No. 7 overall pick, depending on how the board falls. Having a veteran who can produce is important to have when the room gets much younger. Martin is predicted to make $3 million this offseason, which will be easy for the Commanders to do.
A to Z Sports
Commanders’ top free agent targets may not even be available until teams start releasing ‘cap casualty’ players
Michael Pittman Jr, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Yes, cutting Michael Pittman Jr. would be insane, but the Colts may have no choice with Alec Pierce expected to either get a massive contract or a very pricey franchise tag soon. The Colts also have a very expensive cloud over their heads with QB Daniel Jones, who is also recovering from an Achilles injury.
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Pittman is rumored to be the odd man out at just 28 years old, but carries a $29 million salary cap hit next season. Releasing Pittman Jr. would save the Colts almost $24 million in salary cap space in 2026. He would instantly be the Commanders’ top target as a younger, big-bodied target for Jayden Daniels, and an offseason miracle for Washington.
Rashan Gary, EDGE, Green Bay Packers
Rashan Gary is another player at a premium position who could be an unexpected addition this offseason. The Commanders have said that they will add an EDGE rusher this offseason, and they should honestly add one before and during the 2026 NFL Draft.
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The Packers traded for Micah Parsons and still have Lukas Van Ness, so Gary could be out with a $28 million cap hit in 2026. Gary might not be worth his current contract, but he had 7.5 sacks and 54 pressures in 2025, and could be the next starter for the Commanders as a sure run-stopper as well.
Commanders.com
Blough wants to elevate personnel in first year as play caller
Blough has seen, and participated in, several of the league’s top offenses over the last five years — it’s one of the main reasons why he got promoted in the first place — but this will be his first crack at trying to blend them all into something unique. While he doesn’t need to start completely from scratch, he’s tasked with improving a group that dropped in production from 2024 to 2025. His solution: be collaborative and take all insight into account to craft something that will maximize the talent on the roster.
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Much of Blough’s NFL experience as a player was split between stints with Kevin O’Connell, who runs a version of the West Coast scheme with the Minnesota Vikings, and Ben Johnson’s Erhardt-Perkins style with the Detroit Lions. While West Coast schemes emphasize creating yards after the catch using complex, scripted plays, the Erhardt-Perkins is a more adaptable, quarterback-centric scheme that uses simpler terminology to encourage quicker play calls.
Over the last two seasons, Blough has been helping quarterback Jayden Daniels adapt to Kliff Kingsbury’s Air Raid system, which operated almost exclusively out of the shotgun or pistol formation with no huddles. It was highly effective in 2024, when the Commanders had one of the best and most high-scoring offenses in the league. Last year was a different story, however, as Daniels and other players suffered injuries throughout the season. Teams also took advantage of the Commanders’ no-huddle style with late substitutions to slow the unit down.
A potential blend of all three schemes could be potent if executed correctly, but Blough hasn’t revealed much about how that marriage could work. Instead, he has shifted focus to the player and making sure they are put in the best spots to succeed, no matter what the philosophy might be.
“We get to kind of build it up from the studs around what Jayden and Terry [McLaurin] and Laremy [Tunsil] and all these guys do really well to put them in the best position to be successful,” Blough said. “Being able to pull the collective so that we can all collaborate together and make this the best possible thing is what’s really stimulating right now.”
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Cowboys waive LB Logan Wilson, save $6.5M in salary cap space
Acquired at the trade deadline with the hope of shoring up the linebacker spot, veteran Logan Wilson was waived by the Cowboys on Friday.
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The move saves the Cowboys $6.5 million in salary cap space.
In seven games, Williams was credited with 28 tackles and a forced fumble, but he started just once. Despite the struggles at the position and the defense in general, the Cowboys kept Kenneth Murray Jr. as the starter over Wilson. In the Christmas Day win against the Washington Commanders, he did not play a snap, which was called a coaches’ error in the days after the game.
The Cowboys gave up a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals for Wilson. In Cincinnati, where he was voted a captain in 2025, Wilson was benched in favor of rookie Barrett Carter and led to the trade.
Big Blue View
It might take the richest contract ever given to a center to bring Linderbaum to New York. Is he worth it?
“Everybody” wants Linderbaum, according to NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
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“I love my job, but if I could switch jobs for just the next couple months I’d want to be Tyler Linderbaum’s agent,” Jeremiah said Thursday on a pre-NFL Scouting Combine call with media. ‘Everybody that I talk to seems to be in on Tyler Linderbaum. It sounds like he’s going to have a robust market.“
Linderbaum, of course, was the center for Giants coach John Harbaugh with the Baltimore Ravens for the past four years. The 25th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Linderbaum was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his last three seasons.
Entering his age 26 season, Linderbaum is about to be a very rich young man. Creed Humphrey of the Kansas City Chiefs is the league’s highest-paid center. He signed a four-year, $72 million contract, an average of $18 million per year.
Linderbaum’s contract, especially with a “robust market,” figures to equal or exceed that figure.
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Pittsburgh at NFL combine: QB reset in store for Steelers?
Another NFL season, another massive quarterback question looms for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement in 2022, the lack of stability at the position has become a frustrating tradition for the organization that hasn’t won a playoff game in a decade.
This time around, there’s an extra layer of déjà vu as the Steelers once again await a decision from Aaron Rodgers about his future.
The Steelers’ quarterback plan for 2026 isn’t quite Rodgers or bust, but coach Mike McCarthy’s old friend from Green Bay appears to be the Steelers’ best option if the team continues to be set on contending next season.
McCarthy was clear in his opening news conference: He’d like to have Rodgers back if Rodgers is amenable to returning.
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Rodgers isn’t a long-term solution, but he could be yet another bridge as the Steelers look for their next franchise quarterback — a search that has persisted since Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season.
If Rodgers doesn’t return, the Steelers’ realistic options to finding a franchise-elevating signal-caller for 2026 are slim.
Operating under a scenario in which Rodgers doesn’t return, the Steelers will need to bring in at least one quarterback in either the draft or free agency. With the combine in Indianapolis this coming week officially kicking off draft season, let’s focus on this draft class and which prospects can help Pittsburgh.
In his latest mock draft, ESPN’s Field Yates has the Steelers using their No. 21 pick on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. The Steelers have closely watched Simpson, who threw for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions in his lone season as a full-time starter for the Crimson Tide.
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But while there is an upside to Simpson, he also struggled with decision-making late in the season. He completed a season-low 49% of pass attempts in the SEC championship loss to Georgia, and four of his five interceptions came in the final six games.
Pro Football Talk
The NFLPA, the CBA and the 18-game season
The NFL Players Association is keeping very quiet regarding its plans to replace former executive director Lloyd Howell. It’s believed that the union will emerge from next month’s annual meetings with a new director.
Whenever it happens, here’s a safe bet: The NFL will contact the next executive director sooner rather than later regarding the possibility of working out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
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Here’s the basic reality, which the league will likely explain to the next executive director (and it could indeed be White) in no uncertain terms. The NFL will get another game, if it wants it.
Come 2031, the owners will do what they did in 2011. They’ll lock the players out until the players accept the NFL’s non-negotiable terms.
Eighteen regular-season games per year. Sixteen international games per season. And, possibly, a reconstruction of the salary cap formula that gives the players fixed cap figures each and every year in lieu of a roughly 50-50 revenue split.
Whoever gets the job will be in the same position that DeMaurice Smith was, both in 2011 and 2020. If the players aren’t prepared to miss regular-season games, the players eventually will accept whatever they have to accept to return to work.
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The best evidence of a plan to move quickly comes from the fact that Super Bowl LXII still doesn’t have a date. Until it does, the NFL will be keeping the door open for a new CBA that expands the regular season to 18 games in 2027.
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ESPN
Ranking deepest, thinnest positions in NFL free agency, draft
1. Edge rusher
Good year to need … any sort of edge rusher at all
Bad year to need … a truly elite dude (unless you’d like to send two first-rounders for Maxx Crosby)
If your favorite team’s general manager can’t find a good fit at edge rusher this offseason, tell him to take a hike. Putting aside the Crosby trade rumors for now, here’s a list of expected free agent edge rushers: Trey Hendrickson (Bengals), Odafe Oweh (Chargers), Jaelan Phillips (Eagles), Khalil Mack (Chargers), K’Lavon Chaisson (Patriots), Boye Mafe (Seahawks), Joey Bosa (Bills) and Jadeveon Clowney (Cowboys).
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The main thing that impresses me is the variety.
In the draft, I think it’s fair to have eight-plus-sack projections in mind for David Bailey (Texas Tech) and Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami). Bain is a tricky one. Apparently some teams view him as an undersized 3-tech instead of a big base end, but I’ve watched him win too many outside rushes too quickly to knock him inside just yet. The real wild card is Ohio State’s Arvell Reese, an on-ball/off-ball linebacker hybrid whom the league reportedly prefers as an edge rusher. He has a chance to be a high-value player as a movement piece, but those guys don’t tend to hit in Year 1.
3. Cornerback
Good year to need … a slot corner
Bad year to need … an outside corner with size
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Great players don’t really hit free agency at cornerback, as the position has been in desperate need of the market-setting contracts it finally got when Pat Surtain II, Derek Stingley Jr., Jaycee Horn and Sauce Gardner all signed their extensions. Last year’s group was actually a fairly competitive bunch: Byron Murphy Jr. didn’t get out of Minnesota, but Charvarius Ward, Carlton Davis III, Paulson Adebo and D.J. Reed all signed deals with new teams.
This year’s group isn’t as good. The outside-only guys are Riq Woolen (Seahawks), Jaylen Watson (Chiefs) and Jamel Dean (Buccaneers). Alontae Taylor (Saints) has inside-outside versatility, but he has always played his best ball from the slot. Similarly, Greg Newsome II played outside for the Jaguars but could return to some slot play with a new squad. (He was always more productive there.) One of the wild cards of this group is ex-Steeler Asante Samuel Jr., now more than a season removed from his spinal surgery. He is another inside-outside guy with a history of solid play.
Woolen is a particularly tricky one to calibrate. He fell out of favor with Mike Macdonald’s defensive staff multiple times in the past two seasons, getting benched for stretches. Yet he also led all cornerbacks in yards per coverage snap allowed (0.6) last season.
The draft class looks strong for cornerback overall, but even the best players are lacking in size.
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5. Safety
Good year to need … a deep safety
Bad year to need … a box safety
If you are looking for the next Nick Emmanwori, who was of course, the next Kyle Hamilton … look elsewhere. Maybe stop looking altogether. The thing about unicorns is there’s only one (or two) of them, and efforts to replicate them too often involve pinning toy horns on unknowing horses.
There are a couple of big safeties in the draft and free agent classes that might, at first brush, look like potential hybrid linebackers like Emmanwori and Hamilton. Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds, and Kansas City’s Bryan Cook (a highly underrated player in the market right now) is 6-foot-1, 206 pounds in his own right. But both are better as deep coverage players than box players, with range and hitting power over edge-setting strength.
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The overall strength of this safety class is in its deep players. That’s where Jaylinn Hawkins spent almost all of his time on a one-year deal with the Patriots, and he has played himself into a solid second contract. It’s where Reed Blankenship has primarily been with the Eagles; he’s due for a middle-tier veteran contract as an average starter. It’s where Coby Bryant, one of the unheralded contributors to the Seahawks’ Super Bowl defense, has played in the past two seasons in Mike Macdonald’s system. (Bryant even has a CB background from his days in college.) Kam Curl and Kevin Byard III are other options further down the list.
6. Linebacker
Good year to need … a difference-maker
Bad year to need … a difference-maker and not have a top-10 pick
It is a total rock star year at the linebacker position. Three huge names are entering the fray. Two are rookies from Ohio State: Sonny Styles and the previously mentioned Arvell Reese. One is a free agent out of Jacksonville: Devin Lloyd.
I’ll start with just a dash of cold water. Lloyd is probably not a top-five linebacker in football; I’d say he’s more LB10 or LB12. But he’s almost certainly about to get paid like it. Last year was an enormous offseason for linebacker contracts, as four of the six biggest deals currently in the market were signed by Fred Warner, Zack Baun, Jamien Sherwood and Nick Bolton — and Lloyd comfortably outperformed the latter two last season. I’d argue he outplayed Baun, as well. Lloyd is going to clear $15 million per year, and at that price tag, I’d likely pass if I was a general manager. With that said, Lloyd is still an impactful player. He’s great on blitzes and made a huge step forward in coverage last season.
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Styles is one of the best linebacker prospects of recent memory. He’s 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, rangy with great acceleration and deceleration, smart in play recognition against both the run and the pass, good at slipping blocks and reading a quarterback’s eyes, reliable as a tackler and thunderous into contact. He’s all that and a bag of chips. Styles is the first linebacker prospect I’ve seen since Roquan Smith in 2018 who makes me think, “Oh, this dude can change the face of a defense.”
11. Quarterback
Good year to need … Fernando Mendoza
Bad year to need … anyone else
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