Adam Peters says what every Commanders fan wants to hear at the Combine but it comes with a caveat that makes sense
With more than $75 million in effective salary cap space and a star quarterback on a rookie contract, just about everyone is expecting the Washington Commanders to be big players in the NFL's upcoming free agency period.There's also another factor to consider, however, and it's the reality that Washington also has 28 unrestricted, in-house free […]
With more than $75 million in effective salary cap space and a star quarterback on a rookie contract, just about everyone is expecting the Washington Commanders to be big players in the NFL's upcoming free agency period.
There's also another factor to consider, however, and it's the reality that Washington also has 28 unrestricted, in-house free agents it has to weed through before making any decisions on guys from the outside.
Nearly half of them were contributors from last year, as well. Guys like Dante Fowler Jr., Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, Jeremy Chinn, and others signed one-year deals, last year, as Adam Peters and Dan Quinn built the roster in their vision.
A lot of them had good years in 2024, too. Good enough to where it's warranted in bringing them back for another run in 2025 and beyond. Peters talked about it as much on Tuesday when he spoke with reporters at the NFL Combine. Yes, the Commanders will be active in free agency, but it could easily lean more on the side of re-signing their own guys instead of bringing in a bunch of outsiders.
"We always want to build through the draft and continue to do that, but [we're] in a situation where we have 28 free agents," said Peters. "So, we have a lot of holes on the roster in terms of players that played really well for us last year. So we'll be active in free agency, because we have to be, just to help the team."
While that might not be a splashy strategy, it's a sound one. For starters, the Commanders prioritize culture fit and personal character before anything else. They don't bend to that, either. A big reason the above names, as well as others, were brought in last year was to help instill the culture that Peters and Quinn feel is paramount to winning games at a consistently high level. An added bonus was they all contributed in some sort of positive fashion and it helped fuel the team's wildly successful season.
The players even recognized that themselves and they've bought into the philosophy, just further demonstrating that Peters and Quinn are doing this the right way.
"I think what's really cool is, in our exit interviews this year, we talked to a lot of players, and one of the biggest things that they hit on was they liked all the people we brought in," said Peters. "Don't lose sight of that – we heard that from our players. We felt it ourselves. So that's always going to be at the core of what we do."
The best part is none of the top in-house free agents are going to break the bank. They're all affordable veterans who fit the system well and can provide quality snaps on a pretty consistent basis. Sure, the Commanders definitely need to upgrade some areas, but there's little reason to think the key in-house guys can't continue to help the team succeed in 2025.
So, while the Commanders might be active in free agency in a way that not many people were thinking about – they're still doing it the right way and that should keep the train rolling as they look to build off an incredible 2024 season.
