For the second straight season, the Washington Commanders went through an overhaul on their roster. After reaching success in 2024 under first-year head coach Dan Quinn and Rookie of the Year quarterback Jayden Daniels, Washington entered this offseason as one of the teams with the most to do since they owned one of the most free-agent-heavy rosters.
There were plenty of departures from last season's NFC Championship appearance, but the Commanders were able to retool their roster heavily through free agency and the NFL draft.
Two of the Commanders' biggest moves to try and contend for a Super Bowl came via trade. Washington was looking for more protection for their young, star QB and they got that in offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Houston Texans. They also wanted to maximize Daniels' talents, going out and trading with the San Francisco 49ers for star wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
The trades were some of the biggest moves made this offseason by any team, and according to CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr, they were two out of the top ten trades made when looking at situational fit.
No. 9 WR Deebo Samuel
"The Commanders bought low to add Samuel as a playmaker to complement Terry McLaurin on offense, and it will be intriguing to see how offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury utilizes him. The key question regarding Samuel? Is he still the Swiss Army knife, game-changing player he was in San Francisco?" wrote Kerr. "Samuel had a career low in scrimmage yards per game (53.7) and yards per touch (8.7) last season. The fresh start in Washington may get Samuel back to the 2019-2023 version (11.6 yards per touch), as he needs to showcase he's still the yards-after-catch merchant he was with the 49ers."
Samuel became frustrated in his last season with the 49ers. Another man's trash is another man's treasure as they say. The Commanders knew they had an opportunity and jumped at it, getting Samuel a new start in Washington.
Samuel has seemed reinvigorated this offseason as he prepares for this next chapter of his career. As mentioned by Kerr, Samuel will play a pivotal role as McLaurin's sidekick in the Commanders' offense, and his acquisition should help Daniels be able to create more.
It will be interesting to see how Kingsbury will want to use Samuel in his offense, but all signs point towards him still doing a bit of what we saw in San Fran with him taking more snaps as a prototypical wide receiver than he was before.
Overall the fit seems like a good one for both sides. The Commanders get a new weapon to elevate the offense, while Samuel gets a fresh start without the pressure of having to be featured as the number one wide receiver.
No. 2 OT Laremy Tunsil
"The Commanders badly needed an upgrade at left tackle after getting blown out in the NFC Championship last season. They were able to get one of the better ones in football with Tunsil, a five-time Pro Bowler at the position who is still in his prime at age 30," wrote Kerr. "The goal is to protect Jayden Daniels and keep him upright, and the Commanders found that with Tunsil. He solidifies the left side of the offensive line."
It goes without saying, the Commanders needed more along their offensive line last season to protect Jayden Daniels. While it wasn't glaring to most thanks to Daniels' elite escapability from the pocket, his taking off, getting out of the pocket, and even running the ball happened too much for the liking.
Daniels is elite in the pocket and outside of it, but in order to protect their future asset it was wise for the Commanders to get one of the better tackles in the league to help keep him in the pocket a bit longer. If Daniels can stay in longer to deliver a pass, that will protect him from taking unnecessary hits that could lead to injury.
With more time in a clean pocket, Daniels will also have the luxury of having time for wide receivers' routes to develop rather than having to cut them off to find space in the defense for their quarterback to throw to outside of the pocket.
