The Washington Commanders finally have a new name, and regardless of whether you are a fan of it or not, at least that element can finally be crossed off the list of things to take care of for that NFC East franchise. But as the team looks to move into a window of competition, the front office needs to work on adding talent alongside the likes of Terry McLaurin, Antonio Gibson, Chase Young, and others.
The Commanders have a QB problem, and any sort of combination involving Kyle Allen, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and/or Taylor Heinicke is not going to solve it – they act more like a band-aid that just does not want to stick. With plenty of chatter surrounding potential trades involving other starting QBs, it figures that Washington should at least be sniffing around any potential upgrades.
Free agency wise, the team has around $30 million to spend on improvements, but with guard Brandon Scherff due for a hefty raise after having been franchise tagged the past two offseasons, it's fair to say that that $30 million really will more likely shape up to be $15 million if they decide they want their best OL back.
There are plenty of areas on this team that need improvements, especially with how poor their 2021 season finished up – while a bit of a surprise, the following player could very well be one of the bigger dominos to fall in order to clear up some cap space and allow the team to go big game hunting in the free agency pool.
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Surprising Commanders Roster Cut in 2022 Offseason
The former New York Giants safety joined their divisional rival back in 2019 and has enjoyed some sustained success, even with injuries taking a big chunk out of his 2020 campaign.
Halfway through his six-year, $84 million deal, Collins holds the largest cap hit on the roster for the ‘22 season at $16.2M (7.63% of total cap), just ahead of cornerback William Jackson ($14M | 6.6%). As the 28-year-old is still more than serviceable leading the defensive secondary, Washington has an opportunity to move on from Collins due to his contract structure.
If released or traded after June 1st, the Commanders would only be on the hook for $4.2M of dead cap in ‘22 and $5.4M of dead cap in ‘23, with an overall cap savings of $12M tacked onto the ‘22 cap sheet. With simple per-game roster bonuses and workout de-escalators the only other earnable parts to his contract, Collins could easily be moved on from this offseason, albeit leaving a sizable hole at the free safety position for the Commanders.
As a defensive-first squad, Washington has plenty of their strengths dedicated to that side of the ball, and with the likes of Da’Ron Payne, Montez Sweat, and Young all up for contract extensions soon, saving any sort of money now helps open up the pockets later on for younger players that fit the long-term plan better.
Collins would certainly land on his feet if given the early heave-ho by the Commanders, but if Washington has a goal in mind of targeting a certain number of big fish in the free agency pond, then he could very well see himself out there looking for a new team to play for in 2022.
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