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.
