The Washington Commanders received what is easily the worst news of the 2026 season when it was revealed stud left tackle Laremy Tunsil suffered an injury that was later evaluated as a torn triceps.

There’s a chance the injury forces Tunsil to miss the entire regular season, as well.

The Commanders have some in-house options available: veteran Andrew Wylie, former third-rounder Brandon Coleman, and even 2025 first rounder Josh Conerly make sense.

But there’s an outsider who is not only a better option than those guys – he’s a good fit and is what the team wants at the position as well.

His name is former Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker. A former Pro Bowler, Decker was one of the league’s top tackles during his time in Detroit.

There are two reasons why he’s a fit: A) he played in Ben Johnson’s offense and with David Blough and B) Commanders assistant general manager Lance Newmark knows him very, very well. As we know, Blough is incorporating elements of Johnson’s offense into his own, so Decker will come in with some sort of familiarity.

Newmark was the Lions’ director of college scouting when the Lions drafted Decker in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He personally scouted Decker.

From there, he was the Lions’ director of player personnel for eight years before heading to the Commanders. He’s been around Decker pretty much his entire career.

Adding Taylor Decker keeps the Commanders from having to shuffle the offensive line around

Could the Commanders get buy with their in-house options? Probably so. However, Wylie’s ceiling isn’t the best and at this point, you don’t really want to have to shuffle the offensive line around. The Commanders have had a plan for the front five and while adaptation is necessary in the NFL, you want to avoid switching out pieces if you can.

Especially when it comes to a position like offensive line. They always say an offensive line is as good as its worst player. Adding Decker allows the Commanders to keep the best front five on the field instead of having to plug holes and hope for the best.

Don’t forget, this team is dealing with injury at center, too, even if it’s temporary with Nick Allegretti. Still, that, along with the battle at left guard and now the Laremy Tunsil injury, it’s easy to see why things are starting to get a bit dire up front for the Commanders.

Decker can still play. His exit from the Lions was contract-related, as they wanted him to take a pay cut. Decker did not want to do that, therefore, the two parties went their separate ways.

Now, he won’t be cheap and the Commanders will immediately slot him in as the starting left tackle if he does end up joining the team. He was set to make around $18 million in cash in 2026, which will likely be his number when considering he didn’t want to take a pay cut.

That’s totally fine, though, as it helps keep both the line and the depth intact. The Commanders have the cap space, as well.

The good news is there’s still time, although the Commanders are on limited time. Meaning, they need to get something figured out sooner rather than later when it comes to bringing in an outsider to vie for the left tackle job.