The Washington Commanders' season will mercifully come to an end when they visit the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. It also represents the end of an error.
In only two years, the Commanders have sped up the story arc of a championship window's rise and fall. They took shortcuts to success, and those shortcuts backfired, with long-term consequences that Adam Peters now must face.
When the Commanders take to the field in Philadelphia, it will be their last time doing so with a roster built to win now for the foreseeable future. Make of that what you will.
Commanders are going to look a lot different in 2026, and it's both exciting and unsettling
By the time the new NFL season rolls around again, there's no telling how many players on Washington's current roster won't be around. Some cuts or free agency walks are obvious: Marshon Lattimore, Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, Austin Ekeler, Von Miller, and Noah Brown, to name a few.
Others are more questionable. Did Deebo Samuel Sr. do enough to earn an extension? Could Daron Payne's time in Washington finally be up? Can the Commanders find a way out of Javon Kinlaw's contract? Nick Allegretti? Will Harris?
Even a shock trade involving someone safely considered a multi-year piece, such as Frankie Luvu or Tyler Biadasz (both 2027 free agents), might not be out of the range of possibilities.
More often than not, if there's ambiguity as to whether or not a player should return, the answer should be to move on. Any of Washington's aging veterans on expiring contracts should be replaced with younger building blocks. Peters needs to do whatever he can to re-acquire some draft capital.
All in all, the Commanders' mission this spring and summer should be clear. They are entering a rebuild.
It doesn't have to — and shouldn't — take very long. But it has to be done the right way, which it wasn't in 2024 despite the short-term success.
Washington needs a core of standouts on rookie contracts to build around, not stopgap veterans brought in to change the culture who accidentally overachieved to an NFC Championship appearance.
It's what needs to happen, but it's also somewhat hard to swallow.
At the start of this season, there was hope that the Commanders were at the beginning of a sustained window. This roster, which now consists mainly of backups, was built to compete for a Super Bowl. That won't be the case at the start of next year.
On Sunday, Commanders fans will get their final glimpse of a team that was supposed to be good. It's uncertain when the next one will be.