3 worst moves of the Commanders’ offseason thus far

The Washington Commanders entered the offseason flush with cap space, but that changed quickly following the trade for Carson Wentz, whose $28 million cap hit altered the entire complexion of the team’s free agency plans.

In trading for Wentz, the Commanders were forced into making some tough decisions, including releasing Landon Collins, Ereck Flowers and Matt Ioannidis. Despite the money they salvaged from those moves, they haven’t done much spending outside of re-signing their own free agents.

While there’s something to be said for promoting roster continuity and maintaining a culture Ron Rivera has worked so hard to cultivate, the front office has missed out on some prime opportunities to bolster the roster in the process.

With that in mind, let’s shed light on some of Washington’s worst offseason moves, or lack thereof, to date. That’s not to say these “errors’ can’t be fixed. As of this writing, though, they come off as questionable decisions.

3 worst moves of Commanders offseason thus far

3. Losing Defensive Line Depth

Are the Commanders deep enough to get by without Matt Ioannidis and Tim Settle? Obviously. Jonathan Allen, Chase Young, Daron Payne and Montez Sweat form one of the most fearsome defensive fronts in the league.

Having said that, we saw how the unit performed without Young and Sweat last season, when they combined to miss 15 games due to injury.

While Jack Del Rio got creative with stunts and other looks, there was too big of a burden on Allen and Payne to generate pressure. We understand the logic behind releasing Ioannidis and letting Settle leave in free agency (he was never going to start), but there’s not much depth behind them in the trenches.

Are James Smith-Williams and Efe Obada capable of kicking inside? Yes, but you and I both know they’re more comfortable lined up as edge rushers. Of Obada’s 238 snaps last season, he lined up on the edge for 172 of them. Of Smith-Williams’ 386 snaps, he lined up on the edge for 379 (!) of them, or 98 percent.

As of this writing, Daniel Wise is Washington’s only experienced defensive tackle on the roster behind Allen and Payne … and he saw his first NFL action last year. Behind him, they have former UDFA Tyler Clark who was signed to a reserve/futures contract in January and has yet to log a defensive snap in the NFL.

We love what Smith-Williams and Obada offer as far as pass rush depth, but we’re struggling to wrap out minds around why the Commanders haven’t signed at least one replacement for Ioannidis or Settle. Don’t be surprised if they circle back to free agency if the draft doesn’t fall in their favor in regard to DTs.