Potential Cowboys cut could beef up Commanders’ DL rotation

The Washington Commanders‘ defensive line was just ranked the second-best in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. Only the world-champion Rams ranked higher, and that’s largely due to the presence of superstar Aaron Donald, who’s finished in the top five of Defensive Player of the Year voting for six years running.

While the Commanders’ DL fell short of expectations last campaign, that can be attributed to the injuries to Chase Young and Montez Sweat, who missed a combine 15 games. As a result, the pass rush was woefully inconsistent and interior forces Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne were asked to do too much.

When healthy, the starting foursome of Young, Sweat, Allen and Payne is as vaunted as any defensive front in the league. The Commanders have invested in their DL more so than any team (all four are first-round picks) and they’ll need them to produce as advertised if they want to return to the playoffs.

After all, the depth behind them leaves a lot to be desired following the offseason departures of Matt Ioannidis and Tim Settle. While Phidarian Mathis should step in and produce as a rookie, the team’s interior depth is lacking.

With that in mind, could potential Cowboys cut candidate Trysten Hill pique the Commanders’ interest? We don’t see why not.

Should the Commanders take a chance on Trysten Hill if he’s cut by the Cowboys this offseason?

A former second-round pick in 2019, Hill has been a colossal bust for the Cowboys. Between injuries limiting him to 18 games in three years, not getting along with former defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and getting suspended one game last year for throwing a punch at Raiders offensive lineman John Simpson on Thanksgiving, Hill would likely welcome a change of scenery at this point.

Still just 24 years old, Hill has plenty of time to salvage his career.

It hasn’t Hill helped that the Cowboys haven’t been great developing interior defenders. Sure, defensive and nose tackles don’t get nearly as much love as edge rushers, but when was the last time you remember Dallas having a difference-maker on the interior of its defensive line?

With the position as deep as its been in years with Neville Gallimore, Osa Odighizuwa, Carlos Watkins, John Ridgeway and Quinton Bohanna, Hill could make for an intriguing reclamation project for the Commanders if he’s cut.

At the very least, Hill would provide experience to a DT rotation whose backup options behind Mathis — David Bada, Tyler Clark and Daniel Wise — have combined to play less than 150 snaps in their young careers.

The Commanders already claimed one former Cowboy in Justin Hamilton. Why not take another flier on a young asset with high athletic upside? Maybe they’ll decide Hill isn’t worth the headache, but the fourth-year pro might just need a no-nonsense head coach like Ron Rivera to help him turn his career around.