There are plenty of areas that the Washington Commanders need to upgrade during the 2022 offseason, and with their recent acquisition of Carson Wentz as their new quarterback, they were able to plug one hole. But during this offseason’s NFL free agency, there are other players that the front office is likely to target.
While adding Wentz has ‘somewhat’ helped improve the uncertainties around their QB spot, it put even more of a crunch on their cap sheet, which was already facing some challenges if they wanted to be active this offseason.
The NFL East is one of the most wide-open divisions in the entire league, giving any sort of improvements that the Commanders make the potential to be enough to push them into winning the division. With all four teams at various stages of their respective competitive windows, free agency can be about who you add just as much as who you don’t add.
*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (click here for a free trial)*
Commanders Free Agents to Avoid
With Antonio Gibson firmly entrenched as RB1 in their offense, the Commanders will be tasked with finding a compatible backup for him, which has been J.D. McKissic for the past two seasons. Even though McKissic will not be overly pricey in free agency, they could be forced to look elsewhere.
Tight against the salary cap is a polite way to describe the financial situation for the Commanders, but looking into Tarik Cohen as a backup option is a potential route the team could take – but they shouldn’t.
After having suffered a torn ACL back during the 2020 season, Cohen’s recovery forced him to miss every game since (including all of the ‘21 season), and he was still not ready to return, so the Bears released him with an injury designation. Still with an uncertain timeline for his return, combined with an expected lack of explosion and fluid motion, any sort of move to add Cohen with the idea he would immediately become the offense’s RB2 would be a foolish move to make.
Big names don’t become available in free agency often, especially those of the caliber that Bobby Wagner was and still is. His surprise release by the Seattle Seahawks added an unexpected member to the linebacker group, and on paper would be a good replacement for Jon Bostic as he enters free agency.
But Wagner is likely going to command a ton of multi-year contract offers, ultimately driving up his price and pricing him out of any sort of reasonable window for the Commanders to make work. As they already released safety Landon Collins in a cap-saving move (after he turned down a restructure offer), it would be a bad look for the team to focus what little, available money they have on an older LB.
The Commanders certainly could use an infusion of LB talent this offseason to pair with Jamin Davis, but Wagner is not the target that this team should be focusing on, especially during free agency.
Follow Us
Subscribe