The Washington Commanders have a plethora of pending free agents this offseason and will likely part ways with many of them. One of the biggest names set to hit the market is veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner.
Wagner is a former Super Bowl champion, a 10-time Pro Bowler, and a six-time first-team All-Pro. He's a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, and he probably won't have to wait beyond the first time he hits the ballot. Perhaps above all else, the 2025 Walter Payton Man of the Year recipient is one of the best teammates and community leaders in the NFL.
He has also almost certainly played his final snap for the Commanders.
Despite playing an instrumental role in changing the culture during Washington's magical 2024 campaign, Wagner simply no longer fits the team's future plans. And in all honesty, he may not want to.
Bobby Wagner has no reason to stay for another Commanders rebuild
In an interview with Kevin Sheehan of The Team 980, independent Commanders beat writer Ben Standig speculates that Wagner will depart the team this offseason. The reason is simple: his work here is done.
Ben Standig isn't sure Bobby Wagner wants to go through a sort of rebuild-type season with the Commanders in 2026 pic.twitter.com/mLZHMEkmlt
— The Team 980 (@team980) February 20, 2026
It's anybody's guess how the Commanders might perform in 2026. They could return to the playoffs behind a healthy Jayden Daniels and revamped supporting cast, or they could struggle to a lowly record again.
The NFL is a year-to-year league. Expectations are not what they were this time last offseason.
For Wagner, a player for whom there's no certainty he suits up at all in 2026, why would he stay in Washington?
He was considered a strange fit for a rebuilding Commanders team back in 2024, and now he's two years older. The main appeal in him is as a locker room guy, but in Year 3 of the Dan Quinn era, the culture is what it is.
Sheehan points out that Wagner might actually be a better fit in Daronte Jones's linebacker-heavy system than he was in Joe Whitt Jr.'s. Still, Washington needs to get younger, and the 35-year-old (36 in June) Wagner is too limited at this stage of his career to be trusted in a major role.
Assuming this is going to be Wagner's final season in the NFL, he'd be best off returning to the Seattle Seahawks (again) or joining some other aspiring Super Bowl contender.
The Commanders have no use for him anymore, and he has no incentive to stay in Washington.