Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles, the seventh overall pick in the draft, most recently wore No. 0 at Ohio State. With cornerback Mike Sainristil wearing that number in Washington, Styles needed something new.
He explained his decision to embrace No. 52 in a Friday session with reporters.
“I’m not really a big number guy,” Styles said. “Like, I wasn’t really big into single digits. I like zero. Mikey has zero. So then, like, I was telling [linebackers] coach [Ken Norton] like when I look in the room [with] London on the wall, London Fletcher, LaVar [Arrington]. I think it was Ken Harvey and Monte Coleman. It was all like 50 numbers. And I was like, ‘Shoot, I’m gonna pick a 50 number.’ And I was thinking about it. You know, I remember growing up watching like Patrick Willis, Ray Lewis. So like, hey, 52 would be cool. And then my dad was like, ‘Hey, five plus two is seven, so that’s your draft pick.’ So I was like, man, that’s cool. It seems pretty cool. So that’s really how I landed on it.”
Given the proximity to Baltimore, Commanders fans will be hoping that Styles performs like Ray Lewis did in his Hall of Fame career with the Ravens.
The NFL will announce the full 2026 schedule on Thursday, May 14, but the league’s international slate of games will be revealed earlier than the domestic ones.
The matchups for this year’s international games will be announced on NFL Network at 9 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday.
Nine international games are on the docket this year, but the matchups for two of them have already been announced. The 49ers and Rams will meet up in Melbourne in Week 1 and the Cowboys will face the Ravens in Rio in Week 3.
One team in each of the other seven games is already known. The Jaguars will play in London twice and the Commanders will be involved in the city’s third game. The 49ers will be in Mexico City, the Falcons will be in Madrid, the Lions will be in Munich and the Saints will take part in the NFL’s first game in Paris.
The Commanders announced they’d signed first-round pick Sonny Styles earlier on Friday.
The club has not gotten the rest of its 2026 draft class under contract.
Washington announced third-round receiver, Antonio Williams, fifth-round defensive end Joshua Josephs, sixth-round running back Kaytron Allen, center Matt Gulbin, and seventh-round quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis have all signed their four-year rookie contracts.
The Commanders also announced they’ve signed nine undrafted free agents: receiver Jaden Bradley, guard Tanoa Togiai, defensive tackle Jeffrey M’Ba, safety Malik Spencer, running back Robert Henry Jr., tight end Quentin Moore, receiver Chris Hilton Jr., cornerback Fred Davis, and kicker Drew Stevens.
The Commanders have signed their top pick in the 2026 draft.
Linebacker Sonny Styles has signed a fully guaranteed four-year deal with the team worth $37.2 million. The Commanders also have an option for a fifth season on the deal.
Styles was the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft and one of four Ohio State players to come off the board in the first 11 picks. He had 244 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, an interception, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery during his time with the Buckeyes.
The Commanders made six selections in the draft this year and they’ll likely have more of them signed before the end of this weekend’s rookie minicamp.
Former NFL quarterback Taylor Heinicke announced his retirement from football.
“For 25 years, I had the pleasure to play this great sport of football,” Heinicke wrote on Instagram. “It has taught me a lot, not only about myself but about life as well. Many ups and downs throughout the years, but the ups outweigh the downs tenfold. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would’ve been able to live this life.
“Thank you to all who have supported me in this journey. Thank you all who have believed in me. And thank you to those who gave me the opportunity to live out my childhood dream. Excited for this next chapter of my life!”
Heinicke, 33, last played in the NFL in 2024 with the Chargers, who released him out of the preseason in 2025.
Heinicke went undrafted out of Old Dominion in 2015, signing with the Vikings. He also spent time with the Patriots, Texans and Panthers in the NFL and the St. Louis BattleHawks of the United Football League.
He played 42 games with 29 starts and completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 6,663 yards with 39 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.
His biggest moment came in a wild-card playoff loss with Washington against the Buccaneers in 2020. He threw for 306 yards with a touchdown and an interception and ran for another 46 yards and a touchdown.
