The Commanders entered the offseason wanting to get Jayden Daniels another wide receiver alongside Terry McLaurin. That’s still on the list of priorities.
The first choice was apparently Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce, who re-signed with Indianapolis just before it became legal for teams to negotiate with free agents. According to John Keim of ESPN, a source said Pierce “absolutely” would have signed with the Commanders if he had reached free agency.
Realistically, however, if the Commanders were going to out-bid the Colts for Pierce, they would have made sure Pierce’s agent knew that before he re-signed with the Colts. Teams and agents talk all the time, and Pierce wouldn’t have signed with the Colts just before the start of the negotiating window unless he had a very good idea of what other offers would be out there once the window officially opened. So while the Commanders may have wanted Pierce, that doesn’t mean they would have gotten him, even if Pierce had waited long enough to let them make him an official offer.
With the Commanders still needing a No. 2 receiver to complement McLaurin, 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk would be an obvious choice. Daniels and Aiyuk are close friends and were teammates at Arizona State, and they’d love to play together again. Aiyuk is still under contract to the 49ers, but they have said they’ll move on from him this offseason. When the 49ers officially move him, Aiyuk would make a lot of sense in Washington.
The Commanders could also draft a wide receiver, and there are still veterans available in free agency Jauan Jennings, DeAndre Hopkins and Keenan Allen. It’s a position where the Commanders would still like to fill a need, even as free agency slows down.
Commanders Clips
Wide receiver Dyami Brown is back in Washington, but he thinks he’s a different player than he was in his last stint with the team.
Brown signed a one-year deal to join the Jaguars in free agency last March after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Commanders and returned to his previous team on a one-year deal that was officially announced on Thursday. During a press conference that followed the announcement, Brown was asked how he feels he’s grown over the last 12 months.
“Really just mentally,” Brown said. “I understand the game a little bit more than what I have in the past. I took the steps to learn from other people like Jakobi Meyers, [Brian Thomas Jr.] out there. I had some people that helped me around — even the quarterback [Trevor], just learning from him — that took the game into another level and different viewpoint for me.”
Brown didn’t light up the box score — 20 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown — in his 14 games with the Jaguars, but he closed out the 2024 season with 14 catches for 229 yards and a touchdown in Washington’s three playoff games. That came with Jayden Daniels throwing the passes and the Commanders would love to see Brown pick up where he left off with the quarterback.
The Commanders are keeping one of their key contributors around.
Washington announced on Thursday that the club has extended safety Jeremy Reaves’ contract through the 2027 season.
Reaves, 29, has effectively spent his entire career with Washington. While he entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Eagles in 2018, he was waived by the organization during roster cuts and landed with Washington’s practice squad.
Since then, Reaves has appeared in 81 games with 19 starts for Washington over the last eight seasons. In 2025, Reaves appeared in all 17 games with eight starts, tallying 91 total tackles with five tackles for loss, seven passes defensed, and an interception.
Reaves was on the field for 62 percent of Washington’s defensive snaps and 55 percent of special teams snaps in 2025.
Reaves was a first-team All-Pro and was selected to the Pro Bowl as a special teams player in 2022.
If, like me, you have little interest in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament (West Virginia didn’t make it, again), there’s something else on TV during round two.
On Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET, Fox will televise the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, which has been relocated from Saudi Arabia to Los Angeles.
The format changed, too. In lieu of three teams full of current and former NFL players and random celebrities, one of the three teams will be the U.S. men’s national flag football team.
The rosters for the other two teams were sent on Wednesday, in a draft conducted by the Founders (led by Tom Brady and Jalen Hurts) and the Wildcats (led by Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow).
Joining Brady and Hurts on the Founders will be: Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, Saints running back Alvin Kamara, former Patriots and Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski, Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr., Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith, free-agent receiver Stefon Diggs, free-agent pass rusher Von Miller, free-agent safety Damar Hamlin, former NFL defensive back Patrick Peterson, and boxer Terence Crawford.
Beyond Daniels and Burrow on the Wildcats are: Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Rams receiver Davante Adams, free-agent receiver DeAndre Hopkins, Chargers safety Derwin James Jr., Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly, Steelers safety Jalen Ramsey, Logan Paul, and someone who goes by the name iShowSpeed.
The rosters don’t include Browns defensive end Myles Garrett or free-agent receiver Deebo Samuel, who had previously been announced as participants in the game.
The U.S. men’s flag football team is led by Darrell “Housh” Doucette III, who made waves after the Olympics added flag football by declaring that he’s a better option for the assignment than Patrick Mahomes.
More recently, Doucette said he hopes flag players will have a fair shot to represent the country in the Olympics. They’re sort of getting it this weekend, and they’ll surely be taking it seriously.
If the NFL players don’t, the end result could be a realization that maybe the guys who know the rules and realities and strategies of flag football may be better suited to being on the Olympic team.
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.
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.
