What the Washington Commanders' 2025 season will become may hinge on their game against the Chiefs. And maybe there’s a window of opportunity for a win. But here are two last-minute trades the Commanders must make before the 2025 NFL deadline.
The Commanders entered Monday night’s game with a record of 3-4. They are buried in the NFL standings, tied with three other teams with the 11th-best record in the conference.
That doesn’t sound like a team that is willing to make a big move for the 2025 season. However, this team had Super Bowl aspirations before the year began, so maybe the Commanders aren’t willing to give that up just yet.
Commanders could deal for RB Alvin Kamara
The question is whether the Commanders believe Kamara still has enough left in the tank. He would at least be a decent replacement for Austin Ekeler, who is out for the season with an injury.
Kamara may not want to leave the Saints, but in the land of speculation, this deal makes sense, according to CBS Sports.
“The former Pro Bowler has made it clear that he'd like to stay in New Orleans, where he's spent his entire NFL career,” Cody Benjamin wrote. “But it doesn't take much to see that Kamara is choosing familiarity over championship prospects. There's a handful of legitimate contenders that could use his level of pass-catching prowess out of the backfield, even if the multipurpose star is aging and relatively expensive.”
But would Kamara even play if the Commanders traded for him? Maybe not, according to NBC Sports.
“I’ve been vocal that I don’t want to go anywhere,” Kamara said. “And I’ve said it countless times. Y’all know that. I think everybody knows that. The fan base knows that.
“At the end of the day, it’s business. I don’t go upstairs. I don’t have an office upstairs. I’ve got an office in Charlotte at NASCAR, but I don’t have an office upstairs. So I don’t really sit in those meetings. I don’t know what happens up there. I’ve just got to keep my head down.
“If I was a GM, I guess I would go to the player and be like, ‘Hey, we’re trading you, just so you know.’ So if Mickey comes downstairs and says that, I’m going to go drink a piña colada somewhere.”
So maybe that’s a good reason for the Commanders not to trade for him. But in a fun world, he would be a good fit. The Commanders could probably get him for a modest draft pick. And that’s the type of player they should pursue.
And it’s the reason they shouldn’t go after a guy like Trey Hendrickson. He would be too expensive. Plus, he’s already hurt. And the Commanders can’t win games with what they’ve got, waiting for him to get healthy. So that’s a non-starter.
Commanders could trade for CB Riq Woolen
Oh, I know. This feels so much like Marshon Lattimore. The Commanders traded for the former star cornerback, and he has been — well — lousy. It doesn’t look like Lattimore can cover anymore, but he sure is good at getting penalized.
And Woolen has been playing poorly for the Seahawks. This would be a reclamation project for the Commanders. But remember, they can’t afford to mortgage the draft farm because this season is on such shaky legs.
Woolen was a Pro Bowl performer as a rookie in 2022. He totaled six interceptions and looked like he would be with the Seahawks for a decade. But his performances trailed off, and he doesn’t have a pick this season.
However, Woolemn had his best game of the season in Week 7 against the Texans. He allowed only two catches on seven targets for 13 yards and a 39.6 passer rating, according to Sports Illustrated.
Yes, it would be dicey to trade for a player based on one game. But the Commanders need help in their secondary. And this could be a dart-throw move that turns into something. He doesn’t have the body mileage of Lattimore, so there’s still hope he could have good years in front of him.
And there’s this from NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah that bodes well for Woolen.
“I always go back to conversations on cut-down day every single year around the league,” Jeremiah said. “You talk to every GM, they'll say the same thing: ‘I always need one more tackle and one more corner, if we could just find a tackle and a corner,' and there's going to be attrition. To me, if I have any depth along the offensive line or secondary, I don't know if I am willing to deal from that at this point if you're a team that's capable of going on a run. I get where he is, and you got guys coming back. And he hasn't been what you hoped he would be, but I don't know, what would you get? You would get a fifth or sixth round pick?”
