Commanders' blockbuster free agency trade gives Jayden Daniels exactly what he needs to take the next step forward
We are breezing through the first day of the NFL's legal tampering period ahead of the official start of free agency and the Washington Commanders have been active, as expected.Their latest move comes in the form of a blockbuster trade. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Commanders are trading for Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil. […]
We are breezing through the first day of the NFL's legal tampering period ahead of the official start of free agency and the Washington Commanders have been active, as expected.
Their latest move comes in the form of a blockbuster trade. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Commanders are trading for Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Commanders are sending next year's second- and fourth-rounders, plus this year's third-rounder and one of the seventh-rounders. In return, they'll get Tunsil and the Texans' fourth-round pick in this year's draft.
It's honestly a very good deal for Washington, who are clearly in win-now mode after last year's incredible run.
Washington will also take on Tunsil's $20.950 million base salary and his $400k in game/workout bonuses. In all, his 2025 cap hit should come out to $21.350 million when it's all said and done.
This is a huge get for the Commanders, as Tunsil is one of the game's best left tackles. He'll allow Brandon Coleman to shift over to right tackle and potentially compete with Andrew Wylie for the starting gig on that side. There's still a chance the Commanders release Wylie and save $7.75 million in cap room.
A better idea, however, may be to give Coleman the starting right tackle job and let Wylie man the swing tackle position, since he's played both left and right tackle over the course of his career. A $10.4+ million cap hit is a lot of money for a swing tackle, but that would be valuable depth and the Commanders have the cap space to afford the luxury.
But most importantly, this is a huge move for Jayden Daniels. Not only does he have a new, major weapon in Deebo Samuel, he now has a top-5 left tackle protecting his blindside. This should only mean good things for Daniels' development in both 2025 and 2026, as Tunsil's deal runs out after next year.
The downsides to the deal are Tunsil's age (31) and the fact he dealt with so many penalty issues last year. He committed a league-high 17 penalties that included 12 false starts. Refs are going to throw flags, at the end of the day, but the one set of penalties a player doesn't want to commit are pre-snap penalties, as they're completely within a player's control. It shows a lack of focus and concentration – something I'm sure the Commanders are hoping Tunsil can shake out of over the offseason. In all, Tunsil led the league in pre-snap penalties with 15.
However, if those two factors are the downsides, then things should work out just fine in the long run.
