Commanders players are pumped JD McKissic spurned Bills in free agency

The Washington Commanders‘ have lost a lot of talent since the start of the new league year got underway on Wednesday.

Between Brandon Scherff signing with the Jaguars, Tim Settle bolting for Buffalo, Landon Collins being designated as a post-June 1 cut, the surprise release of Ereck Flowers and Matt Ioannidis getting cut, there’s no arguing that the Commanders are less-talented than they were when free agency started.

That’s what makes retaining JD McKissic so imperative. After verbally agreeing to a two-year contract with the Bills, the veteran third down back backpedaled and re-signed with Washington after they matched Buffalo’s offer.

Really makes you wonder why the Commanders didn’t just extend McKissic an offer to begin with, but that luckily means nothing now. What matters is McKissic is back and his teammates are jubilant he had a last-minute change of heart.

Take a look at the comments on this Instagram post. Taylor Heinicke, Jeremy Reaves and Bobby McCain, who re-signed with Washington on a two-year deal, all conveyed their excitement after McKissic spurned the AFC East champs.

JD McKissic’s teammates are pumped he left Buffalo at the altar to return to the Commanders on a two-year deal.

Say what you will about third-down running backs growing on trees. These comments from McKissic’s teammates prove how respected he is in that locker room. Maybe the “McKissic isn’t that important” crowd, which conveniently came to life after he agreed to join Buffalo, will pipe down after this?

Just a thought.

That’s not to say the Commanders shouldn’t spend a mid-round draft pick on a running back. The incoming class is loaded and McKissic is entering his age-29 season and is coming off a neck injury that ended his 2021 season. But come on. Let’s not pretend he’s just some run-of-the mill RB all of a sudden.

The Bills, maybe the Super Bowl favorite for next season as things stand, have been one of the most aggressive teams in free agency and viewed McKissic as a safety valve for Josh Allen. That’s pretty telling, don’t you think?

Whatever the case, you can add Jaret Patterson to the list of Commanders teammates who love that McKissic is back in Ashburn. The 2021 undrafted free agent took to Instagram to share a photo of the team’s RB unit.

Patterson didn’t include a caption, but he didn’t need to. The photo painted a clear picture of the message he was trying to relay to his followers.

The boys are indeed back in town.

Again, Patterson’s reaction just further hammers home the notion that re-signing McKissic was a must for Washington. As someone who would’ve been in line for more work had McKissic left, the Buffalo product (ironic, right) seemingly couldn’t care that he’s been bumped back to third in the RB pecking order.

Bottom line? McKissic’s return is a huge for the Commanders. Don’t let Twitter and the “RBs don’t matter” clan trick you into thinking otherwise.