The Washington Commanders drafted their supposed quarterback of the future in the 2024 NFL Draft in Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick, then spent the rest of the draft building their team up around him. However, after the draft concluded, the Commanders quickly moved to sign another quarterback via the undrafted free agent market.
One of the top available quarterbacks after the draft was Notre Dame's Sam Hartman, and he quickly latched on with the Commanders. And given the fact that Washington handed him a base salary of $225,000, which is a pretty big figure for an undrafted free agent, it looks like he could end up being a part of their plans at quarterback moving forward, even with the recent addition of Daniels.
Commanders pick up developmental project in Sam Hartman
Hartman transferred from Wake Forest to Notre Dame after spending the first five seasons of his collegiate career with the Demon Deacons, and while he didn't have his best season under center (191/301, 2689 YDS, 24 TD, 8 INT) Hartman showed enough to at least put himself on some teams' radars, even though he didn't end up getting drafted.
You can never have too much security at the quarterback position, and after moving on from both Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett earlier this offseason, Washington has completely revamped their depth chart at that spot. Beyond Daniels and Hartman, Washington also has Marcus Mariota, Jeff Driskel, and Jake Fromm on their roster currently.
The addition of Hartman, though, may result in the team getting rid of one of these guys. Guaranteeing such a large sum of money for Hartman seems to indicate that he has a serious shot of earning a spot on their 53-man roster, and even if he doesn't, he likely will have a spot on their practice squad waiting for him given that he is younger than these other guys.
While it is interesting to see Washington make this move, Hartman isn't going to threaten Daniels for his job anytime soon. The former LSU product was brought in to be the team's Week 1 starter in 2024, and unless something catastrophic happens between now and the start of the season, that's what will end up happening.
However, in the event Daniels doesn't pan out over time, the Commanders want to have some options at their disposal. There's no guarantee that Hartman will develop into anything, but given how important the quarterback position is in the NFL, there's no reason to pass up a shot to further reinforce the spot as best they can. Hartman's addition is certainly intriguing, but he's not a guy that is going to threaten Daniels for his job anytime soon, even if he experiences some growing pains in his rookie campaign.
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