The Washington Commanders’ resurrection is ahead of schedule. But the hard work is just getting started.
No one realistically thought that a 4-13 team in 2023 could advance to the NFC Championship game one year later. That amazing success will not alter general manager Adam Peters’ drafting strategy, but it may cause him to look at free agency a little differently.
In addition to trying to build a team that will have success over the next decade, Peters must also take advantage of the next few years when quarterback Jayden Daniels is playing on his rookie contract. The Commanders can’t wait to be a top contender down the road. They need to pursue the Super Bowl in 2025.
Peters will have money to spend this offseason. A lot of fans are eager to see him spend some of it on a high-profile offensive weapon like Tee Higgins or Chris Godwin. The front-office leader needs to spend wisely. Fortunately, he has a perfect model to study when budgeting for free agency.
Commanders must avoid the Bengals' mistakes for sustainable growth
The 2021 Cincinnati Bengals were very much like the 2024 Commanders. They improved from their 4-11-1 record the previous year to finish 10-7. They won the AFC North division and defeated the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC Conference championship. They lost the Super Bowl by three points.
The Bengals were led by an elite young quarterback, just like the Commanders. Joe Burrow was not a rookie like Daniels. His first season was cut short by injury — in a game against Washington. It was just his second campaign and he looked to be one of the best signal-callers to enter the league in a long time.
Cincinnati planned to build around Burrow and continue chasing Super Bowls. How could they find the four additional points they needed to claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2021? What would Bengals' director of player personnel Duke Tobin do?
Here’s what he did.
After the 2021 season, Tobin signed free-agent offensive linemen La’el Collins, Alex Cappa, and Ted Karras to multi-year deals. That made sense since the Bengals' protection wasn’t very good and protecting Burrow was of utmost importance. The following season, he gave another long-term deal to free-agent offensive tackle Orlando Brown. He inked one more — Trent Brown — to a one-year deal for about $5 million last year.
During that same span, Tobin signed free agents like Irv Smith Jr., Mike Gesicki, and Zack Moss to less expensive deals. Each of those was justifiable at the time.
Tobin signed some defensive players during that three-year span as well. Most were low-cost deals for depth players, but he did shell out bigger money for defensive linemen B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins.
Here’s the problem.
In 2021, the Bengals already had a good offense. The offensive line was a definite problem but the team still produced. They finished that year 13th in the league in total offense and eighth in scoring.
The defense, on the other hand, was below average in both those categories. They weren’t bottom-of-the-barrel by any means, but they were not in the top 16 in either yards or points allowed. Apart from Hill, Tobin did not prioritize defense in free agency.
He evened that out somewhat in 2024 by signing Rankins and safety Geno Stone. But Rankins was already 30 at the time. He did not perform very well in 2024. In fact, except for Hill, no free-agent defender acquired since the Super Bowl appearance has been especially good for the Bengals. Many are no longer with the club.
While the Bengals offense, still led by Burrow, is posting numbers very much like they did in 2021, their defense collapsed. They went from being slightly below average to being one of the worst in the league last year. The Bengals have gone from 10-7 in 2021 and 12-4 in 2022 to 9-8 in each of the last two campaigns. They did not make the playoffs in either season.
The Commanders’ offensive and defensive situations are not identical to the Bengals in 2021, but they are similar. An offense led by an elite young quarterback who is ahead of the middle-of-the-road defense. We all know the offensive line needs to get better and that Daniels would benefit from more weapons around him.
But if Peters does not prioritize his defense, he runs the risk of repeating the mistake of the Bengals.
The Commanders got very close in 2024. It would be a shame if that is as close as they get because they stopped building a complete team and focused their spending on the side of the ball that is already stronger.
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