3 best moves of the Commanders offseason thus far
By Jerry Trotta
The Washington Commanders entered the offseason flush with cap space, but that was deceiving given their expected efforts to pursue a quarterback.
Short of acquiring a cost-effective free agent, their sum of cap room was always going to come crashing down once they zeroed in on a new signal-caller. So when they traded for Carson Wentz, the complexion of their offseason changed.
In trading for Wentz, the Commanders agreed to absorb his $28 million cap hit for next season. That’s just a small price to pay for the player having no guaranteed money left on his deal after 2022, don’t you think?
Wherever you stand on the matter, Washington has made the most of this offseason despite being ultra conservative with their cap room. Not every move has resonated with fans, but that’s never the case. At the end of the day, the Commanders got better and should improve on their seven-win total from last year.
With that in mind, what are Washington’s three-best offseason moves to date?
3 best moves of the Commanders offseason to date
3. Reshuffling the Offensive Line
The Commanders offensive line was always going to be in for major changes this offseason. Brandon Scherff’s departure was inevitable and Ereck Flowers was long viewed as a cut candidate given the team’s reluctance to restructure contracts to make the left guards’ $10 million salary more manageable.
To Washington’s credit, though, Flowers’ release is now a distant memory as the front office signed veteran Andrew Norwell, a former All-Pro with Ron Rivera in Carolina who’s started 111 games in his career, to start at left guard.
From there, the Commanders re-signed Cornelius Lucas, who might be the league’s best-kept secret as a backup swing tackle. Lucas has made 15 starts over the last two years while making 29 total appearances. During that span, he’s committed just two penalties and allowed five sacks over 1,123 offensive snaps.
And finally, Washington quelled concerns about the RG position by agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with veteran Trai Turner, who made five consecutive Pro Bowls with Rivera’s Panthers spanning 2015-2019. If our math is correct, that’s two Pro Bowl lineman signed for a combined $5.78 million in guarantees.
If we had a mic to drop, it’d be on the ground.