Chris Paul breakout surge tightens pressure on Commanders' front office

The odds of Chris Paul making the Washington Commanders’ roster in the run-up to the 2025 season seemed small. Just one year later, the offensive lineman could be in line for a decent payday.

The former Tulsa lineman had played a grand total of 506 snaps in his first three professional seasons. They had all been at left guard, and the vast majority had come in the second half of 2023, when he filled in for the injured Saahdiq Charles. Paul struggled to perform consistently.

General manager Adam Peters signed Nick Allegretti to play left guard in 2024. The Super Bowl winner and right guard, Sam Cosmi, stayed healthy the entire season. Paul got one offensive snap.

Then Peters traded for Laremy Tunsil and spent a first-round draft pick on Josh Conerly Jr. Acquiring two new offensive tackles meant that Brandon Coleman and Andrew Wylie could both be moved inside. With Cosmi and Allegretti also on the roster, it looked like Paul’s days were numbered.

Paul proved all the doubters wrong.

When both Coleman and Allegretti underperformed early, Washington gave Paul a chance at left guard. He ran with it. He started the Commanders’ final 15 games.

Back in 2022, Paul rode the bench the entire season. He got his chance to start in the final week in what seemed to be a meaningless game. In that debut, he was the Commanders' most aggressive lineman. He was all over the field, often making solid blocks.

But he also showed serious technical flaws. Paul still looked more like a tackle, playing far too upright to manage powerful drive blocks against bigger NFL interior defenders. Fans would have to hope that with some coaching, his natural aggressiveness and obvious power could be harnessed.

But it really never happened until 2025.

Paul still struggles to get out in space on running plays. He is not the quickest of athletes. But his pass blocking, which had been a bigger problem for him early on, witnessed a major upgrade.

That was reflected in his Pro Football Focus grades, which shot up into the top five in the league. Now, those grades have been supported by new data that ranks Paul as the fifth-best left guard in the NFL last season in terms of pressure rate.

His 3.18 percent pressure-allowed rate puts him right on the heels of elite left guards like Joe Thuney and Quenton Nelson. Cosmi ranked fifth among all right guards, giving the Commanders a tandem second only to the Carolina Panthers in pass protection.

This could not have come at a better time for Paul. His rookie contract is up, and he is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. Spotrac is currently projecting a fair market value on a two-year, $9.39 million deal. He actually might be hurt a little bit because there could be some quality interior linemen also hitting the market this year.

Peters, along with head coach Dan Quinn and new offensive coordinator David Blough, will need to decide if Paul still has room to grow. He has made major strides in pass protection, but is still an average run blocker at best. If they need a guard who can attack the second level of the defense, he may not be the man for the job.

But his price tag will still be modest, and Paul has proven he belongs in the NFL. Has he done enough to convince the Commanders he is their long-term answer at left guard? We’ll find out very soon.