A report in February indicated that tight end Zach Ertz wants to play in 2026 and Ertz has confirmed that his plan is to return for a 14th NFL season.
Ertz tore his ACL while playing for the Commanders in the 13th game of his 13th season, so there was good reason to wonder if he’s played his final NFL snap. The free agent is rehabbing with an eye on being able to get on the field in training camp because he doesn’t want the injury to be the final chapter of his playing career.
“I don’t want it to be the last play that I have,” Ertz said, via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Even talking to people now, and they do it out of the goodness of their heart, and [they say], ‘Man, that injury was tough.’ When people think of my career and that last play, I don’t want that to be the conversation starter. And so, for me, it’s just doing everything I can to get back to my best because I felt like I was playing really good football before I got hurt.”
Ertz will need to find a team that believes he can get back to that level of football and said he has “eyes wide open” to the realities of needing to prove he is both healthy and productive. Given his history on both fronts, it seems like a good bet that someone will take a chance on adding Ertz to their offense in the coming months.
The Commanders signed outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson to a one-year, $11 million deal this offseason. He was one of the top edge rushers on the free agent market after a breakout 2025 season.
“It’s huge, man. It’s huge,” Chaisson told Bryan Colbert, via the team’s YouTube channel. “Obviously coming off a phenomenal year, man. Didn’t get a chance to seal the deal like I wanted to, but a lot of things have been moving in the right trajectory of my career. Getting a chance to be a part of this, and continue the rebuilding phase, but honestly, I’d say put the final touches on something that has already been progressing.
“I want to continue to be that guy, to be that missing piece that can send us in the right trajectory. . . . I think it’s everything and more for my career and for this team for sure.”
Chaisson, 26, played a career-high 639 snaps, a career-high 10 starts, a career-high 7.5 sacks and a career-high 18 quarterback hits.
“You’ve got to decide to block me all four quarters, and that’s my favorite part about it,” Chaisson said. “I’m willing to take it to a fifth quarter if it has to go there. I like that part about it. I never quit; I can go all day long. The mindset and the energy that I play with, it’s now or never for me.”
Gabe Taylor was six when his brother, Sean, died at 24. Now 24, Gabe Taylor is a day away from playing his first home game as a member of the D.C. Defenders.
Via Todd Archer of ESPN, the younger brother of Washington great Sean Taylor plays defensive back for the local UFL team. Like Sean did, Gabe Taylor wears No. 21.
Gabe didn’t play football until his senior year in high school. He had 11 interceptions and six pick-sixes in his only season at Gulliver Prep in Miami, where the field is now named for Sean Taylor.
After playing college football at Rice, Gabe Taylor wasn’t drafted in 2025. He had a tryout at the Commanders’ rookie minicamp, but there were no NFL offers.
Enter the UFL.
“I’ll tell you this, if he was two inches taller, he wouldn’t be playing in our league right now, for sure,” Defenders coach Shannon Harris told Archer. “He’d definitely be playing in the NFL. But Gabe, man, the kid is very smart. You can see the football pedigree there. He’s another guy that flies around. He’s sticky in coverage. He does a great job getting his hands on the ball, lot of pass deflections.”
Last week, Gabe Taylor sealed a win over the Columbus Aviators with an interception.
“This is everything to me,” Gabe Taylor told Archer. “It’s definitely a reminder, especially with the Taylor name on the top. I can’t just half-ass everything. So it’s definitely a reminder, I have to put my best foot forward because I can mess up and people be like, ‘Oh, you suck,’ just like that. I can make everybody smile by making plays and then give it one play and it’s like, ‘Oh, this kid can’t play.’ So it’s like, this means everything. The legacy I feel like I have to carry, but it’s definitely a reminder, it’s bigger than football.”
And, frankly, this is the kind of story the UFL needs, if it hopes to become bigger than it currently is. For D.C. fans on Saturday, the home debut of Sean Taylor’s brother will make it a very big game at Audi Field.
Defensive end Charles Omenihu signed with the Commanders as a free agent this offseason, but he spent the last three seasons with the Chiefs and that gave him experience in trying to stop two of the league’s top quarterbacks.
Omenihu was asked to weigh in on facing Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. He didn’t hesitate before saying he thought Allen would win a Super Bowl first if the two players switched teams and that Allen’s habit of turning the ball over isn’t enough of a drawback to make up for the book that defenses have put together on stopping Jackson.
“I don’t think the league has truly figured [Allen] out,” Omenihu said on the Speakeasy podcast. “With Lamar, honestly, you bring a five-man rush on him and collapse that pocket, he’s drifting backwards and, unfortunately, he might make a play that isn’t going to be the best play for the Ravens. With Josh, he’s going to drift backwards, run around, and he’s so hard to tackle. He’s a large human being, hard to get down, he can make every throw. Every throw from no matter where he’s at. His arm strength is unbelievable. I don’t think Lamar has that big amount of arm strength like Josh does. Like I said, I think you’ve figured out Lamar. You come after him, you close all the lanes, you five-man rush him and you cover his guys, and I think you get it done. It’s been shown.”
Neither Alllen nor Jackson has made it to the Super Bowl yet, but the Bills and Ravens are currently the betting favorites to be the AFC Champion so that could change at the end of the 2026 season. If it does, the quarterback left standing will have a big leg up in the legacy building battle.
The Commanders have a meeting set with one of the top wide receivers in this year’s draft.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that former Indiana wideout Omar Cooper will visit with the team. Cooper has also spent time with a number of teams, including the Panthers and Cowboys, and is expected to meet with a handful of others before the widow for pre-draft visits comes to an end.
Cooper had 69 catches for 937 yards and 13 touchdowns during the Hoosiers’ national championship run.
With Zach Ertz and Deebo Samuel still unsigned for 2026, Terry McLaurin is the top returning receiver in Washington. They signed Van Jefferson and Dyami Brown to go with Treylon Burks, Luke McCaffrey, and Jaylin Lane.
