To say Mike Sainristil has been a massive disappointment throughout the first two games of the 2026 season is an understatement.
As things are presently looking, Sainristil is going down as yet another wasted top-60 draft pick for Commanders general manager Adam Peters.
I was bullish on Sainristil coming into the season. I felt the cornerback had a solid rookie season on a below-average defense and he was thrust into a scheme in 2025 that didn’t fit his skillset — coupled with a coordinator who was fired
midseason and injuries all around him.
I was wrong to go out on a limb and defend him during the offseason and preseason, and I will be the first to admit that a change NEEDS to happen.
So, what could that change be?
Leave him where he is and hope he improves
To me, this is the definition of insanity. CLEARLY the young man is broken and I don’t know if there is an immediate fix for him in his current role. Coaches, players and fans seem to be fed up with him, and more bad play will just dig him deeper into the hole he’s already in.
Cornerbacks in the NFL are required to have a short memory, but the way Mikey is trending, he’ll have Alzheimer’s by the time he’s 27.
Free Safety
Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones currently has no free safety and it’s becoming a major problem. Jeremy Reaves looks lost and had been frequently targeted by Philadelphia and Dallas in the middle of the field. Quan Martin has also seen some time as a deep safety, but he hasn’t looked much better than Reaves.
Mikey tends to play a lot better with his eyes towards the quarterback. He struggles mightily when put in hip-trail where he’s usually chasing a bigger receiver or when Washington runs match-up man.
As a free safety, he can read and diagnose plays from a distance and use his athleticism to break on the ball once it leaves the quarterback’s hand. He has plus ball-skills, so this may help generate more turnovers.
The downside here, is his angles and tackling have been a liability, so that would need to be immediately cleaned up. However, he showed as a rookie he’s not afraid to stick his head in there and mix things up.
Wide Receiver
This may be a bit far-fetched, but Sainristil was a receiver coming into Michigan before being moved to cornerback after his redshirt-sophomore season. He does own 37 career collegiate receptions for 539 yards and five touchdowns as a Wolverine.
It would take a year of seasoning to get him up to speed as a slot receiver, but with Diggs signed for just one year, and Terry McLaurin likely on his way out after this season, maybe he can find a spot on the roster with a new head coach in 2027 after taking 2026 to learn some of the nuances of the position in the NFL.
Bench him
This might be the best option. Maybe taking some time to ride the pine and hopefully get his mental state right will help him. Let’s not forget, he’s seen significant starting time since his rookie year, so this could be a humbling experience designed to first break him down before building him back up.
This move would need to result in Commanders coaches being able to admit they were wrong, something head coach Dan Quinn and company have not shown in the past. However, if they can get over their egos and do what’s best for the team, it actually may turn out to be what’s also best for the player.
As Commanders analyst Brian Mitchell so eloquently put it — “We can’t sit up here and be mad at the player if the coach keep putting him back on the field.”
Trade him
There is probably not much of a trade market for a guy who is ranked dead last by two different analytics services and in the bottom five by another. But, every coach thinks they can fix what’s wrong with someone and it only takes one team to view his upside as intriguing enough to pull the trigger. Sure, he’s not going to net Washington much in return, but getting him off the team, which may be a distraction at the moment, and giving him a fresh start elsewhere may be best for both parties.
If you were head coach Dan Quinn, what would you choose to do with the diminutive corner? Please discuss in the comments section.
