Laremy

Tunsil

Tunsil suffered a torn triceps on Saturday and is at risk of missing most or all of the regular season. Quinn said the team hopes to have a better sense of his recovery timeline after his surgery, but for now, the Commanders are set to move forward with third-year lineman Brandon Coleman as their starting left tackle. Coleman has spent all of camp competing with Chris Paul for the starting left guard spot, but started 12 games at left tackle for the Commanders in 2024.

Fresh off becoming one of the highest paid offensive linemen in the history of the league, Tunsil suffered the injury in Saturday’s practice. He is expected to undergo surgery, and his absence will be measured in months, probably a minimum of 3-4 of them. It’s possible he misses the entire campaign. It appears the initial plan is for last season’s swing tackle, Andrew Wylie, to step in on the blindside, leaving 2025 first-rounder Josh Conerly to remain on the right. Brandon Coleman is another less-than-great in-house option. We wouldn’t be surprised if Conerly eventually kicks left, however. Whatever happens, it’s a monumental downgrade, one that will have Washington scouring the remains of the free agent market and perhaps angling for a trade to add some depth. It’s not the news Jayden Daniels needed as he himself looks to stay healthy after an injury-cursed year.

The news was first reported by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Tunsil will be evaluated and tested for injury, but Garafolo says he’s not sensing huge panic about the injury. Still, Garafolo also said he wouldn’t be surprised if Tunsil has to miss some time. Stay tuned as the tests will ultimately show the severity of Tunsil’s injury.

Tunsil had one year remaining on his previous deal but will now remain under contract through the 2028 season. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Tunsil will receive $61.5 million in guaranteed money, which includes a record $32.5 million signing bonus for an offensive lineman. In his first season with the Commanders, Tunsil appeared on 802 snaps while allowing just 15 QB pressures and two sacks, per PFF. He’ll protect Jayden Daniels’ blindside for the foreseeable future and should continue to play at a high level throughout the duration of this deal.

There’s no deadline and Peters “feels good about the direction.” It was an open secret that Tunsil wanting a new extension helped guide him to Washington in trade last offseason, and he enters 2026 on the final year of his contract. With as great a year as Tunsil had for the Commanders last year — a career-best 84.7 PFF grade — we’d be surprised if this wasn’t eventually done. That said, the Commanders haven’t exactly worked fast to extend their own players, as the Terry McLaurin saga taught us in 2025.

Tunsil ends the year with a career-best 84.7 PFF offensive grade in 802 snaps. The trade for Tunsil was largely successful for the Commanders — it’s just that one man is not a whole offensive line and Jayden Daniels got hurt anyway. He enters the final year of his contract in 2026 and, given that extension concerns were what sent him to Washington in the first place, probably will have some work done on his deal this offseason. This oblique injury is not expected to linger.

Tunsil suffered a strained oblique in Week 15 and hasn’t practiced or played since. Josh Johnson will make his first start of the year without his left tackle. Our hopes for the Washington offense are not high this week.

The Commanders will be without both starting offensive tackles in a game started by backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, potentially opening the door for defensive dominance from a relentless Eagles defense. Expect a reliance on the ground game to start while getting back Chris Rodriguez from a one-game absence, but that stance could quickly shift should the Commanders fall behind early.

Tunsil strained his oblique in Week 15. Now Marcus Mariota will draw another start, this time without his left tackle. Brandon Coleman took over for him mid-game last week and will likely keep that gig into Week 16.

Tunsil suffered an oblique injury in Week 15 and his status for Week 16 is in flux. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn on Monday that Tunsil will play “if he can”, but the left tackle starts out the week not practicing. Practice reports later in the week will tell if Tunsil is good to go for Saturday against the Eagles.