Washington Commanders’ general manager Adam Peters positioned his franchise perfectly heading into the 2025 offseason. There was a lot of hard work ahead, but things couldn't have gone much better for the new regime in the first year of their ambitious project.
Peters had an elite quarterback on a rookie deal. The previous year, he had invested wisely in young veterans on team-friendly deals. With a roster needing a complete overhaul, the front-office leader did not blow much cash on splashy short-term fixes. The result was a developing squad with draft picks and salary cap space.
The extraordinary success of the 2024 campaign may have altered that general game plan. In 2024, Peters gave three-year deals to free agents in their mid-20s. Players like Dorance Armstrong Jr., Tyler Biadasz, Nick Allegretti, and Frankie Luvu. He made nine selections in the draft, with six coming in the top 100 picks.
So far in 2025, the approach has been very different. But that's not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination.
Commanders took a slight pivot from Adam Peters' initial recruitment strategy
He has traded away draft capital for two big-name trade acquisitions. Peters made one big splash via free agency. The three-year, $45 million deal given to defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw is $12 million more than his richest signing of 2024. There have been no other long-term deals offered to any free agents. As of now, there have only been two other multi-year contracts handed out.
Virtually all of Peters’ moves via free agency have been value-based, one-year contracts, many of which were given to returning players. That's a strong vote of confidence in those around previously. It's also a sign of how the Commanders viewed this year's free-agent class.
The benefit of this approach is twofold.
Peters has been able to add three potential game-changers in Kinlaw, Laremy Tunsil, and Deebo Samuel Sr. This simultaneously maintains a fair amount of roster flexibility.
The Kinlaw deal seems like an overreach right now, but both Tunsil and Samuel will be playing in 2025 at team-friendly numbers. The Commanders are still in the middle of the pack in terms of available salary cap space. Terry McLaurin's pending extension should increase that number considerably.
The downside of the approach is that it may have led the general manager to pass on some players who could have helped beyond the 2025 campaign. Here are four free agents who Peters could have signed had he adopted a similar approach to the one employed last spring by the franchise.