Commanders 2025 Free Agency Predictions: Dan Quinn lands the ultimate chess piece on defense and more
Free agency is here, can't you smell it in the air?In all seriousness, Monday is the "soft start" of the most exciting week of the offseason. Once 12 p.m. ET hits, players are allowed to begin negotiating with other teams in hopes of landing a nice payday. There will be plenty of action, despite what […]
Free agency is here, can't you smell it in the air?
In all seriousness, Monday is the "soft start" of the most exciting week of the offseason. Once 12 p.m. ET hits, players are allowed to begin negotiating with other teams in hopes of landing a nice payday. There will be plenty of action, despite what has been dubbed a "mediocre" free agent class.
The Washington Commanders have already re-signed a few impending free agents of their own and there is still plenty of work to do, along with bringing in new faces from the outside. As it stands, they have over $68 million in effective cap space, so there's plenty to work with.
So, with that being said, let's waste no more time and dive into some predictions for this free agency cycle.
1. The Commanders land Dayo Odeyingbo, a pass rusher just waiting to break out
I don't expect the Commanders to make a bunch of splashy moves, but I do think they'll make one and that'll come in the form of the soon-to-be former Indianapolis Colts pass rusher.
Odeyingbo has just 16.5 sacks over the first four years of his career and nearly half of them (8.0) came in 2023. However, you can see the flashes of brilliance on tape when evaluating the 6-foot-6, 286-pound defensive lineman and he's entering his prime at just 25-years-old.
As noted above, the dude can move for his size and he has outstanding length. The traits allow Odeyingbo to play up and down the defensive line, which is huge for a defense like the one Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. like to run.
He'd be an instant, and large, upgrade over Clelin Ferrell and would help Dante Fowler Jr. maintain the success he had in 2024, where he racked up 10.5 sacks during the regular season. Odeyingbo won't be cheap, as he's expected to command about $20 million per year. For a player with his potential and at his age – that's totally worth it.
And speaking of Fowler…
2. Dante Fowler Jr., Jeremy Chinn, Marcus Mariota, Noah Igbinoghene, and Olamide Zaccheaus are all back in 2025
All five of the above guys were essential to 2024's success and they are all 100% bought in when it comes to the Commanders' vision for both the present and the future.
It would be lame to make each one a separate prediction, so I'm lumping them all in together, here. Fowler Jr. and Chinn will resume their roles as starters and expect the latter to ink a pretty solid deal considering he's only 27 and just had the best year of his career. It remains to be seen if Igbinoghene holds onto his starting slot role, only because Mike Sainristil could get moved back inside over the offseason. Regardless, he'd provide excellent depth if that does end up happening.
Quinn and Jayden Daniels both made it very clear how much they value Mariota's presence and how much he's helped the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year. It'll likely require a raise to get him to stay, but the Commanders should be more than willing to make it work. As for OZ, he is a very solid rotational piece at wide receiver that also plays special teams.
It'd be a surprise if any of these guys are wearing anything other than burgundy and gold when it's all said and done.
3. The Commanders don't trade for Trey Hendrickson or any other big-name player on defense
It's just not feasible, especially Hendrickson. The Bengals simply want too much in terms of draft compensation and the Commanders don't have any tradable players of interest to help bring the price down. On top of that, you're going to have give him a new deal that's extremely likely to be in the $30+ million range. Hendrickson is an excellent player and would immediately boost the defense in a big way, but he's just too costly.
The Commanders also don't really have a good enough slate of draft picks to go after a big name, either. They pick at Nos. 29, 61, and 79 and then they don't have a selection until No. 206 in the sixth round. If anything, I expect them to trade back and get more picks.
Regardless, unless a team is just willing to ship a big name off for a very low price (which won't happen), don't expect the Commanders to stretch for anything, here.
4. The Commanders sign CB Charvarius Ward to boost the secondary
Ward is a very good man-to-man corner and can also play zone effectively. He's the perfect player to plug into Quinn's secondary and Adam Peters is familiar with him thanks to their two seasons together in San Francisco.
Ward is coming off a very rough season after an All-Pro finish in 2023. He lost his one-year-old daughter last year, which obviously affected his play. He seems to be in a good spot, however, as he expressed on X/Twitter not too long ago:
The Commanders acquired Marshon Lattimore last season, but it's safe to say that hasn't worked out as planned, so far. He'll be back in 2025, but the Commanders still need a guy on the outside, even if Sainristil held up pretty well on the perimeter in 2024.
Sainristil's best at nickel, however, and signing Ward would move him back inside. Even with Lattimore's struggles, this trio would be a very effective one that should help shore up a lot of the pass defense's deficiencies from last year.
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