Free agent running back Austin Ekeler is medically cleared for all football activities, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports.
Ekeler, who turns 31 next week, plans to play in 2026.
The nine-year veteran tore his Achilles in Week 2 last season. He had 19 touches for 81 yards in his second season in Washington after seven seasons with the Chargers.
Ekeler appeared in 12 games for Washington in 2024, rushing for 367 yards and four touchdowns on 77 carries, catching 35 passes for 366 yards and averaging 31.3 yards on 19 kickoff returns.
In his career, Ekeler has 1,561 touches for 9,053 yards and 73 touchdowns.
Commanders Clips
The Washington Commanders announced the death of three-time Super Bowl champ Monte Coleman at 68 on Sunday.
Coleman was an 11th-round pick by the franchise in 1979 and spent his entire 16-year career as a linebacker with the team. Coleman was part of all three championship teams during the Joe Gibbs era and is in the franchise’s Ring of Fame.
“Monte Coleman was one of the greatest players in Washington history,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said in a statement. “He was one of the pillars of our championship defenses having played for all three Super Bowl-winning teams. His durability and leadership set the standard for what it meant to suit up for the Burgundy & Gold.”
Coleman became the head coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff after retiring as a player and went 40-71 over 10 seasons in that job.
The NFL draft has set a new attendance record.
The official number for the Pittsburgh road show was 805,000. That breaks the record set by Detroit in 2024, which had 775,000 in attendance.
The total attendance always merits some context, even if the NFL would like to create the impression that 805,000 different people made the pilgrimage to Pittsburgh for the draft. For starters, plenty of people who attended on Thursday attended on Friday. Plenty who attended on Friday attended on Saturday.
Also, each time a person enters the perimeter of the draft area, they’re counted again. Coming and going (which surely happens during the Saturday marathon) pumps up the final number with the same person being counted multiple times the same day.
It’s still an impressive showing. But the official number overstates it. (And it’s OK to point that out, because it’s true.)
The NFL has no reason to not seize on the biggest figure. It creates the impression that the draft is something worth attending, and that anyone who doesn’t is missing out. Which gets more people to decide that, next year, they’d better not miss it again.
The three-day breakdown in Pittsburgh was 320,000, 280,000, and 205,000. If not for rain during the early hours of Saturday’s session, the number surely would have been higher.
The record may not stand for long. The method that leads to the same person being counted multiple times could lead to a million or more next year, when the draft is held on the National Mall in D.C. If there are multiple points of entry and exit, folks who stream in and out throughout the three rounds will keep driving the official tally higher and higher.
The Commanders have added a fourth player to their quatrerback room in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL draft.
With the 223rd overall pick, Washington selected Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis.
The Commanders have their franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels and their veteran backup in Marcus Mariota, so Kaliakmanis will likely compete with Sam Hartman for the third-string job.
Kalkiakmanis spent five years in the Big Ten. He started 17 games for Minnesota before transferring to Rutgers in 2024 and starting every game for the Scarlet Knights in 2024 and 2025. He finished his college career with unimpressive statistics -- 55.8 percent completion rate with 55 touchdowns and 27 interceptions -- but he showed flashes of talent, and the Commanders thought he showed enough to be worth a seventh-round pick, and worth a look this offseason to see if he can earn a third-string job.
49ers General Manager John Lynch said before the draft that he’s had discussions with teams about a potential trade involving wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and that he believes there’s “a chance” that a deal comes together.
The Commanders reportedly hope that’s not the case. Lynch said after the season that it was safe to say Aiyuk has played his final snap for the Niners and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Commanders have “significant interest” in signing Aiyuk if the 49ers release him.
The 49ers are less likely to do that as long as they think the Commanders might pivot to making an offer and they voided the remaining guarantees on Aiyuk’s contract, so there’s no particular time pressure for them to make a move at this point in the calendar.
Washington has frequently been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Aiyuk. He and quarterback Jayden Daniels were teammates at Arizona State and the team has space for a complement to Terry McLaurin in their receiving corps. They drafted wideout Antonio Williams in the third round on Friday and also have Treylon Burks, Luke McCaffrey, Dyami Brown, Van Jefferson, and Jaylin Lane at the moment.
Another Ohio State defensive player was draft. And another member of the Styles family.
With pick No. 172 in round five, the Saints selected defensive back Lorenzo Styles Jr. He’s the brother of Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles.
Sonny was picked seventh overall by the Commanders.
Lorenzo Jr., who spent two years at Notre Dame before transferring to Ohio State in 2023, is the older of the two, at 23. Sonny is 21.
Their father, Lorenzo, split the difference as a third-round pick (77th overall) in 1995. He spent two years with the Falcons and three with the Rams. In St. Louis, Lorenzo Sr. was a member of the Super Bowl XXXIV championship team.
The Commanders went from a run to the NFC Championship Game in to a 5-12 record in 2025 and they used the seventh overall pick on a player they hope can help them turn things back around.
Linebacker Sonny Styles is that choice. Styles became the third Ohio State product to go in the last four picks as his college teammates Carnell Tate and Arvell Reese went at No. 4 and No. 5.
It’s the first time that the school has had three of the first seven picks in a draft.
Styles was a star at the Scouting Combine by running the fastest 40, highest vertical leap and longest broad jump of any linebacker in the draft class. That came after Styles spent three years as a starter for the Buckeyes and led the team in tackles during his final collegiate season.
The Commanders do not have a second-round pick, so their next scheduled selection is at No. 71.
Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said this week that he expects a lot of trades in the first round of next week’s draft, but any dealing may not include the Commanders.
Washington has the No. 7 pick and their GM Adam Peters discussed the possibility of making a deal that would change that spot during his own press conference on Thursday. Peters said he believes there are a number of defensive players that “can help impact us in a real positive way” and that he expects to be selecting someone rather than making a trade in any direction.
“I would say more likely than not that would happen,” Peters said, via the team’s website. “You never know. It’ll depend on who’s on the board.”
One reason to make a trade down would be to add to the six picks that the Commanders currently have at their disposal, but adding a high-end player with an early pick is the one silver lining of a rough season and it sounds like that may be too tempting for Peters to pass up.
The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
The Commanders unveiled new uniforms that evoke the franchise’s history on Wednesday.
The team’s primary uniforms will feature burgundy and white jerseys that harken back to what the team wore while winning three Super Bowls under Joe Gibbs in the 1980s and 1990s. Both of those jerseys can be paired with gold, burgundy or white pants. The “Super Bowl era” look came back as an alternate uniform last year.
An all-black alternate look was also revealed. The new set of uniforms comes with a black helmet that features a spear running through the “W” logo of the regular helmets. The franchise had a helmet with a spear on it from 1965-1968.
“The spear is just such a great device,” team president Mark Clouse said, via John Keim of ESPN.com. “That was part [of] the heritage of the team and also can live in this ecosystem that we’ve been building around defining a Commander.”
Clouse added that the team knows some fans will be “looking for a full reversal” to uniforms of the past, but said that’s not the path the franchise will follow as they work “to bring back the celebration and integration of our heritage while continuing to move forward to build the Commander brand.”
