3 takeaways from Commanders GM Martin Mayhew’s press conference

1. Willing to let free agents test market

The Commanders have been outspoken about wanting to retain pending free agents Bobby McCain and JD McKissic. Just a few days ago, head coach Ron Rivera added fourth- (fifth?) string wide receiver Cam Sims to that group.

Most fans assumed that entailed not even letting them test free agency and negotiate with potential suitors. We’d personally be content with McCain and Sims evaluating their respective markets, but we were admittedly shocked to discover Mayhew has similar plans for the invaluable McKissic

"We want to get a sense for where they are contractually. We want to explain to them that we aren’t ready to make an offer right now, but we do want them back and they have the opportunity to go out (and negotiate). And when the negotiation period begins in a week or so, they’ll have the opportunity to go out and talk to other teams and we want them to keep us informed as to where they are contractually and what kind of offers they’re looking at. That’s what our purpose here is, to express that we want those guys back, there’s no offers going back and forth, but they know of our interests and know how important those guys are to us, who one express that to their agents personally."

Again, no one will bat an eyelash that McCain and Sims have permission to go out and negotiate with other teams. But McKissic? In an age where pass-catching running backs are growing in importance, you have to think the 28-year-old will draw interest from teams like the Chiefs, Cardinals and Titans, among others.

It’s not like the Commanders are short on money. McKissic likely won’t sign for more than $5 million annually and the team has $30 million at its disposal. To make Mayhew’s comments even more maddening, McKissic has been outspoken about wanting to stay in Washington. Make it make sense!

We’d like to give Washington the benefit of the doubt here, but it sounds suboptimal to let one of your most important players test free agency when he wants to re-sign and would hardly put a dent in the offseason spending budget.