3 laughable offseason moves from Commanders’ NFC East rivals

The Washington Commanders haven’t made any earth-shattering moves this offseason, but they’ve done a nice job filling roster holes by re-signing certain free agents and getting good value from their few outside additions.

In playing it safe, the Commanders have managed to avoid embarrassing themselves. That should never be the ultimate goal of any front office, but we see nothing wrong with being conservative and promoting roster continuity — especially when the Carson Wentz trade zapped almost all of the team’s cap space.

Even better for Washington? Their division rivals have been unable to avoid disaster this offseason.

Whether it be overpaying for a free agent, making a questionable release/trade, or not moving the needle enough to upgrade their respective rosters, the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles have made their fair share of missteps since the offseason started.

Here are three such moves that are laugh-out-loud worthy.

3 laughable offseason moves from the Commanders’ rivals

3. Giants cutting defensive captain Logan Ryan

We have to admit it’s pretty strange not chastising every single one of the Giants’ offseason moves. That became the norm under former general manager Dave Gettleman, who stepped down (the polite way of saying he was fired) after the 2021 season and was replaced by former Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen.

It’s early days for Schoen, but the newly-minted head of football operations already has the trust of Giants fans given he’s added a competent backup behind Daniel Jones and is making a concerted effort to revamp the offensive line.

If there’s one Schoen move that warrants criticism, though, it’s the release of defensive captain Logan Ryan. In a perfect world, the Giants’ GM wouldn’t have cut ties with the two-time Super Bowl champ, but Gettleman’s reign of terror put the franchise in cap hell entering the 2022 offseason.

While it’s duly noted that every penny matters, cutting Ryan saved the Giants less than $800,000 against the cap. At that point, shouldn’t they have just kept him? Not only is Ryan as versatile and consistent as they come among DBs, but he’s also been a locker room leader at every stop in the NFL.

In a worse look for Schoen and the Giants, Ryan turned around and signed with the Buccaneers just days after getting released. In doing so, the 31-year-old will reunite with former Patriots teammate Tom Brady and pursue a third championship on arguably the current favorites to come out of the NFC.

Not a great piece of business by Schoen.