Commanders' tough free agency loss actually opens the door for a better opportunity to upgrade the defense
The Washington Commanders aren't going to win every bidding war it enters in free agency, nor will it be able to keep all the players it wants to keep and that proved true on Monday.Safety Jeremy Chinn, a key contributor on last year's team, is moving on with the Las Vegas Raiders. He agreed to […]
The Washington Commanders aren't going to win every bidding war it enters in free agency, nor will it be able to keep all the players it wants to keep and that proved true on Monday.
Safety Jeremy Chinn, a key contributor on last year's team, is moving on with the Las Vegas Raiders. He agreed to a two-year, $18 million deal after the best season of his career that saw him record the best numbers he's ever put on a stat sheet. At 27-years-old, it makes sense for him to find the best deal he can and that's obviously the case with the Raiders.
It's a pretty solid blow to the Commanders defense. Chinn provided a physical tone and was pretty good in run support and a solid tackler. He was also very versatile, logging over 300 snaps at each position of linebacker, slot corner, and safety. He also provided 40 snaps at outside corner and 106 on the edge. That's key for a Dan Quinn/Joe Whitt Jr. defense that loves to move guys around and have them take on different responsibilities.
But even with Chinn's solid play, the Commanders could stand an upgrade at the position and now, they have a prime opportunity to bring him in: Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid.
Reid is simultaneously one of the NFL's best, yet underrated, safeties. His game is as complete and as solid as it comes. He can cover, he can defend the run, he can tackle, and he can rush the passer when asked to do so. Like Chinn, he's extremely versatile and can line up all over the defensive front and in the secondary.
The dude can even fill in at placekicker and attempt field goals from a certain length. He literally can do just about everything and he just turned 28, meaning, he still has several years of good football left in the tank.
Per Pro Football Focus, Reid graded out as the ninth-best safety in terms of his overall defensive grade (77.4) during the 2024 regular season. That's among the 33 qualifying safeties with at least 964 snaps on the year. He tied Derwin James for the fifth-most defensive stops (32) and finished with the ninth-lowest missed tackle rate at 8.6%, which was just a notch above Chinn's 8.7%. He picked off two passes, bumping his career total to 10, and broke up three passes. He also allowed four touchdown passes on a 64.7% completion rate, which was the seventh-lowest rate among the aforementioned qualifiers.
Reid also sets a physical tone and can absolutely lay the wood on opposing offenses. He's also a great leader and teammate, which is huge when it comes to the guys the Commanders like to bring in.
The only thing is he's not going to come cheap. Reid will likely be looking for, and earn, a deal that amounts to an average annual value of at least $16 million per year. He just completed a three-year, $31.5 million deal with the Chiefs in which he not only outperformed the contract, but showed up for 49 of a possible 51 games and both "absences" stem from Andy Reid's decision to bench starters in the 2023 and 2024 season finales against the Chargers and Broncos.
So, the big question here is simply, "If Reid's so good, why would the Chiefs let him walk?" and that's always a legit one. The answer lies in simple math and the salary cap. The Chiefs have to decide who they want to keep and who they have to let go in the process, even if they don't want to let a player go. That seems to be the case with Reid, here, who's likely only returning unless he gives his team a discount.
Either way, there's a great opportunity for the Commanders to turn a loss into a win and it'll be very interesting to see if they do just that as "free agency" rolls on.
Commanders need to get ready to kiss one of their top free agents goodbye after his teammate leaves for another team
On Sunday evening, Washington Commanders pass rusher Dante Fowler Jr. tweeted "The disrespect… I can't take it anymore". His teammate, wideout Dyami Brown, subsequently retweeted it with an exclamation point emoji. Less than 24 hours later, Brown agreed to a one-year deal worth $10 million with the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, it's all but certain that […]
