Odafe Oweh’s contract extension details
All contract details have been obtained from Over the Cap
It’s clear that the Washington Commanders are betting heavily on recently signed free agent edge rusher Odafe Oweh to produce at a very high level in 2026 and subsequent seasons, and they have put their literal money where their metaphorical mouth is with a 4-year, $96m contract that has $68 million guaranteed, of which $50.6 million is fully guaranteed at signing.
While the general structure of this contract is very similar to the Sam Cosmi
extension — Adam Peters’ first big contract in Washington — inked in 2024, Oweh’s deal offers more money, more guarantees, and a bigger percentage of guaranteed money to the player. In fact, Oweh’s contract may be the most aggressively player-friendly contract I’ve seen from Washington since the Alex Smith extension in March of 2018, and this newer contract actually offers more security to Oweh, in my opinion, than the Smith contract offered to the then-franchise quarterback. At the same time, the structure of Oweh’s new deal offers some advantages to the Washington in the latter years — especially if Oweh is playing and producing at a high level.
Notes:
- Oweh’s deal has an April 2027 roster trigger for the $17.4m guarantee on his 2028 salary. That means that the team would have to cut him at the end of the 2026 season to avoid that $17.4m guarantee, which is wildly improbable given the $21.3m guarantee for the 2027 season (see notes immediately below).
- As written, this contract is very simple, with a single void year, a single guarantee trigger, and a single (minimal) roster bonus of $1m. Absent any restructures, the structure of this contract is conducive to Oweh playing all 4 years of the contract in Washington without being cut or traded (see notes in the final section).
- From 2027 to 2029, the Commanders could easily re-structure this contract to open up cap space if needed, but the absence of any empty void years (2031, ‘32, or ‘33) indicates that this is not the plan — though void years can be added at the time of restructure if the Commanders are trying to maximize new cap space.
Here’s what Odafe Oweh will earn per season if he is cut or the contract expires:
This details how much the team has to pay Oweh if they cut him at the end of any of the first three seasons, or if he plays to the end of his contract:
Cut after 2026: $51.3m for one season
- Signing bonus: $26m
- 2026 base: $3.3m
- per game/workout bonuses: $700k (based on playing 17 games)
- 2027 guaranteed salary: $21.3m
Cut after 2027: $69.4m ($34.7m per season)
- $51.3m accounted for in 2026 (above)
- per game/workout bonuses: $700k
- 2028 guaranteed salary: $17.4m
Cut after 2028: $74m ($24.66m per season)
- $51.3m accounted for in 2026 (above)
- 2027 per game/workout bonuses: $700k
- 2028 salary: $21.3m
- 2028 per game/workout bonuses: $700k
Contract terminates at end of 2029: $96m ($24m per season)
- $74m paid through 2028 (above)
- 2028 base: $20.3m
- per game/workout bonuses: $700k
- Roster bonus: $1m
Oweh’s cash flow:
This details how much the player will receive each year of the contract if he is not cut:
- 2026: $30m (signing bonus + base salary + per game/workout bonuses)
- 2027: $22m (base salary + per game/workout bonuses)
- 2028: $22m (base salary + per game/workout bonuses)
- 2029: $22m (base salary + roster bonus + per game/workout bonuses)
When can he be cut?
It would be completely impractical for Washington to cut Oweh after the ‘26 season as they would end up paying him $51.3m.
While the Commanders could possibly cut Oweh after just 2 seasons, the edge rusher would walk away with nearly $35m per season for two seasons — a lot to pay for a guy who wasn’t good enough to stick with the roster for a third season.
Washington earliest practical exit ramp comes at the end of the ‘28 season, when the Commanders would have paid him a bit less than $25m per year for 3 years; however, given the flat cap hit from 2028 to 2029, it seems verey likely that, as long as he is playing well, the team won’t be motivated by contract structure to part ways with him before the contract runs its full course.
No significant backloading
While the Commanders have tucked a cap hit of $5.2m into a void year (2030), if you look at Oweh’s cash flows and base salaries, you’ll see that he will receive cash payments of $22m per year for the final 3 years of his deal, and his base salary basically also stays flat (if you include the $1m roster bonus in ‘29) at $21.3m per season. In this respect, it is very similar to the structure of Sam Cosmi’s extension, the first significant contract given out in Washington by Adam Peters, signed just two years ago.
This structure matters because — absent any contract restructures along the way — Oweh’s flat annual cash cost ($22m) and salary cap hits ($27.2m) from 2027 to 2029 will make him seem more affordable each year as the league salary cap rises, making it less likely that the team will be motivated to cut him or trade him ahead of the 2029 season. Again, Cosmi’s deal has the same feature.
This is one of the rare NFL multi-year contracts in which it appears (right now) as if the player has a good chance of actually playing out all 4 seasons.
