Chris Paul will be back with the Commanders for a fifth season.
The team announced that they have re-signed the guard on Thursday morning. The team did not announce any of the terms of the deal.
Paul was a seventh-round pick in 2022 and he started eight games over his first three seasons. He moved into a full-time role with the first team as the left guard last year and could be in line to start again in 2026.
The move means the Commanders have all of their primary offensive line starters back for the 2026 season. They’ve also re-signed reserves Andrew Wylie and Trent Scott.
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Fox is bringing out the big guns for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic.
On Monday, Fox announced that Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen will call the action. They previously formed the No. 1 NFL team on Fox, until Fox threw $37.5 million per year at Tom Brady and demoted Olsen, who is widely regarded as a better game analyst than Brady.
Brady isn’t available this time around, because he’s one of the players.
The three-team tournament is scheduled to be televised from 4:00 p.m. ET until 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 21. It will be competing directly with the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Two teams of current NFL players, former NFL players, and random celebrities will compete against the U.S. men’s national flag football team. Tom Brady and Jalen Hurts will captain one team (coached by Sean Payton), and Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels will captain the other (coached by Kyle Shanahan).
Teams will be selected from the pool of said current NFL players, former NFL players, and random celebrities.
The game had originally been scheduled for Saudi Arabia. It was moved after war broke out in the Middle East.
Cornerback Nahshon Wright’s play with the Bears during the 2025 season landed him a contract with the Jets and it earned him the most performance-based pay in the league for last year as well.
The NFL announced that Wright earned more than $1.44 million in performance-based pay. The bonus more than doubles Wright’s base salary for the season.
Wright signed with the Bears after being released by the Vikings last April. He was named to the Pro Bowl after recording 80 tackles, five interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during the regular season.
The performance-based pay fund is part of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement to compensate all players based on a formula encompassing their playing time and salary. It paid out more than $542 million for the 2025 season.
Browns safety Ronnie Hickman earned over $1.293 million for second place and tackle Elijah Wilkinson earned over $1.272 million for his work with the Falcons. Wilkinson has since signed with the Cardinals.
Panthers safety Nick Scott, former Commanders guard Chris Paul, Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees, Vikings defensive end Jalen Redmond, Steelers guard Mason McCormick, Chiefs defensive back Chamarri Conner, and Patriots safety Craig Woodson make up the rest of the top 10 recipients of performance-based pay for 2025.
Jeremy McNichols is returning to the Commanders.
The running back has agreed to a one-year deal with Washington, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
McNichols, 30, has been with Washington for the last two seasons. In 2025, he rushed for 221 yards with one touchdown while catching 25 passes for 196 yards. He was on the field for 32 percent of offensive snaps and 14 percent of special teams snaps.
A fifth-round pick in the 2017 draft, McNichols has appeared in 71 games for the 49ers, Colts, Jaguars, Titans, and Commanders.
The first big wave of free agency has ended. The second wave has, too.
As the dollars settle on last week’s spending spree, plenty of big names are still on the board.
Receiver Stefon Diggs had a very good year in his first season back from a torn ACL, notching his seventh 1,000-yard season. The Patriots opted not to continue his contract, which added him to the group of available players. He remains on the market.
So does receiver Jauan Jennings, who landed at No. 23 on the PFT Top 100 list of free agents. He failed to parlay an unexpectedly productive 2024 into an extension with the 49ers. The fact that he didn’t sign quickly after free agency opened suggests that he wanted more than the market will bear.
Receiver Deebo Samuel, No. 29 on the PFT list, also waits for his next team. There was no land rush for a player whose lone Pro Bowl and All-Pro season is now five years in the rear-view mirror. He hit free agency for the first time. He remains available.
Other receivers who are free and clear include Tyreek Hill (who’s recovering from a serious knee injury), Christian Kirk, DeAndre Hopkins, and Keenan Allen.
As running backs go, the best options are gone. Veterans who are available include Joe Mixon, Nick Chubb, Brian Robinson, A.J. Dillon, Raheem Mostert, Najee Harris, and Austin Ekeler.
Edge rusher Joey Bosa, who’s No. 35, was essentially replaced in Buffalo by Bradley Chubb. Bosa is waiting for his next stop; his mother apparently envisions the Bosa brothers teaming up in San Francisco.
Other big-name defenders remain. Future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner is unsigned. As is edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, the first overall pick in the 2014 draft. Veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan is a free agent. Linebacker Lavonte David, a fixture in Tampa Bay since 2012, is unsigned, too.
Then there are the quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Jimmy Garoppolo, Joe Flacco, and Tyrod Taylor are the headliners. Currently, only the Cardinals and Steelers are presumably in the market for a QB1.
More signings will surely happen. But, for the most part, the big-money pipeline has sealed shut. The budgets have been busted. Quickly, the spending spree ends and the pre-draft process resumes.
The Seahawks have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, Michael-Shawn Dugar of TheAthletic.com reports.
Noah, 26, spent the past two seasons in Washington.
In 2025, he totaled 35 tackles, one sack and five pass breakups in 15 games with two starts. He played 373 defensive snaps and 72 on special teams.
He played all 17 games in 2024, with 10 starts, and saw action on 76 percent of the defensive snaps.
The Dolphins made Igbinoghene a first-round pick in 2020, and he played two years in Miami and one in Dallas before landing in Washington.
In his career, Igbinoghene has recorded 119 tackles, one interception, 17 pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
The well-traveled Josh Johnson is traveling back to Cincinnati.
The Bengals announced on Saturday that Johnson has signed a one-year deal.
Johnson, who turns 40 in May, was a fifth-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2008. He has spent time with the Bucs, 49ers, Sacramento Mountain Lions of the original UFL, Browns, Bengals, 49ers (second stint), Bengals (second stint), Jets, Colts, Bills, Ravens, Giants, Texans, Raiders, San Diego Fleet of the AAF, Washington, Lions, L.A. Wildcats of the XFL, 49ers (third stint), Jets (second stint), Ravens (second stint), Broncos, 49ers (fourth stint), Ravens (third stint), Commanders (second stint), and now the Bengals for a third time.
He has appeared in 50 regular-season games with 11 starts. His starts have happened with only three teams: the Buccaneers, Commanders, and Ravens. His two most recent starts came in Weeks 17 and 18 of the 2025 season, for Washington.
Johnson also has appeared in one playoff game — the 2023 NFC Championship, after 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy made an early exit with an elbow injury. Johnson completed seven of 13 passes before suffering a concussion.
Johnson joins Joe Burrow and Sean Clifford on Cincinnati’s roster. Joe Flacco arrived via trade in 2025, appearing in nine games with six starts. He’s currently a free agent.
The Commanders have made another addition at running back.
NFL Media reports that they have agreed to terms with Jerome Ford. It will be a one-year deal for Ford in Washington.
Ford was a Browns fifth-round pick in 2022 and he’s spent his entire NFL career in Cleveland. He started 18 games for the Browns over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but only carried the ball 24 times for 73 yards in his final season with the team.
Ford had 340 carries for 1,463 yards and seven touchdowns over his entire time with the team.
The Commanders also signed Rachaad White as a free agent this week and 2025 seventh-round pick Jacory Croskey-Merritt is also due to return for the 2026 season.
The Commanders added two veteran wide receivers to their roster on Friday.
Dyami Brown has agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $3 million, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports, while Van Jefferson also will sign a one-year contract.
Brown, 26, entered the NFL as a third-round pick of the Commanders in 2021. He spent his first four seasons in Washington before signing a one-year, $10 million deal with the Jaguars, with $9.5 million guaranteed, a year ago.
He caught 20 passes for 227 yards and one touchdown in 14 games with the Jaguars, playing 356 offensive snaps.
In four seasons with the Commanders, Brown played 63 games and caught 59 passes for 784 yards and four touchdowns.
Jefferson, 29, spent last season with the Titans after signing a one-year, $1.67 million deal. He caught 29 passes for 350 yards and a touchdown.
He also has played for the Rams, Falcons and Steelers and has 166 receptions for 2,226 yards and 13 touchdowns in six seasons.
The relocated flag football tournament, which has moved from Saudi Arabia to L.A. due to the war in the Middle East, has added more participants.
Via Sports Business Journal, Fanatics announced the full roster of players earlier this week.
In addition to the active NFL players previously named (Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley), more current pro football players will take part: Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith, Saints running back Alvin Kamara, Rams receiver Davante Adams, 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, Chargers safety Derwin James Jr., and Steelers safety Jalen Ramsey.
Several current free agents also will play: Von Miller, DeAndre Hopkins, Deebo Samuel, and Stefon Diggs.
The recent pivot to the inclusion of the U.S. men’s national flag football team as one of the three teams in the tournament likely will make the tournament more competitive. The flag players will hope to show they are better suited to represent the United States in the Olympics in 2028.
That will do nothing to reduce the risk of injury associated with the event. If the free agents haven’t signed by March 21, any sort of injury could complicate their effort to find a new NFL team.
And, yes, the risk of injury is lower than the risk they assume when suiting up and playing full-contact tackle football. There’s still risk, as promising young NFL running back Robert Edwards once learned the very hard way.
The two teams of current and former NFL players and various non-football players will be picked from the pool of players on March 19.
Tom Brady is the ringleader of the tournament. And, as one team executive recently opined, there’s no way Tom Brady would be playing in a flag football tournament if he was still playing in the NFL.
Regardless, the flag football tournament, which will be televised by Fox, could be interesting extra-screen viewing during the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
