Commanders links
Articles
Commanders.com
3 pass-rushers Washington could target in 2026 draft
Dani Dennis-Sutton, EDGE, Penn State
Paulsen’s projection: Third round
Height: 6-5
Weight: 265
2025 stats: 42 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 3 FFs, 3 PDs
Why: He’s a big ole’ hoss. He’s kind of in this
long lineage of Penn State edge rushers with Chop Robinson, Abdul Carter, all these guys that have come through. He’s a tier down [from Bailey]. I think you could take him with that third-round pick at 71. He’s bigger; he’s got a complement of moves. He’s more of a power rusher…but I think there’s more athletic juice. There’s more “pass-rusher” there. He’s got long arms. He’s got everything you want. He’s big; he’s heavy-handed. So, if you want just a solid rotational piece, he kind of falls into that mold.
A to Z Sports
Day 3 options at EDGE
Logan Fano, Utah
Logan Fano is an older draft prospect at 24 years old, but he has a high floor as a big-time run stopper who can still get to the quarterback. He doesn’t have the flashy sack numbers with only five in 2025, but he has a 24.5% win rate in true pass rush sets, so he wins his matchups. Fano has a bigger frame that you want in an EDGE defender at 6-5, 260 pounds, and a lot of experience that can help him produce day one for a defense.
Riggo’s Rag
Commanders could consider giving Tyler Biadasz a contract extension this offseason
Nicki Jhabvala from The Athletic thought the Commanders could lock down starting center Tyler Biadasz at some stage this offseason. He’s heading into the final year of his deal, and tying him up long-term would give quarterback Jayden Daniels even more stability beyond 2026.
“The Commanders also need to lock up their center for the long term to keep their front five intact for years to come, and to provide [Jayden] Daniels some continuity. Biadasz has a $1 million roster bonus due April 1 and carries an $11 million salary cap hit for 2026.”Nicki Jhabvala
Biadasz is a solid player. He’s been a dependable presence over the last two seasons, communicating pre-snap and effectively blending run blocking and pass protection. While the former Wisconsin standout isn’t a world-beater by any stretch, the Commanders could do a lot worse.
At 28, Biadasz has a lot of good football left. Dan Quinn knows him well from their time together on the Dallas Cowboys, and he made the lineman one of his most pressing targets in 2024 free agency. He’s done nothing to suggest he isn’t deserving of a new contract.
Commanders Wire
Who is Joe Cullen?
Many won’t know the name. Some will recognize the name “Joe Cullen” but are not sure who he is. A few will recall that he recently interviewed for the Washington Commanders’ defensive coordinator position.
One concern is that, with so many openings this offseason, the top candidates are taking the top jobs, leaving the Commanders with someone who has not previously been a defensive coordinator.
Cullen is not currently a defensive coordinator. But he has been a defensive coordinator, and more than once. Currently, the defensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs (2022-2025), Cullen, a former college noseguard at the University of Massachusetts, graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor’s in Sports Management.
Getting his early coaching experiences in college football, Cullen coached defensive line at UMass, Richmond, LSU, Memphis, Indiana and Idaho State. He has college defensive coordinator experience at Richmond and Indiana. There is plenty of NFL experience too, where he coached defensive line for the Lions, Jaguars, Browns, Bucs, Ravens and Chiefs. He also has one year of NFL defensive coordinator experience, having led the Jaguars’ defense in 2021. Unfortunately for Cullen, Urban Meyer’s lone NFL season was a failure, and he never really had a chance.
When it was reported that Cullen interviewed with the Commanders, Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris Jones made it clear he didn’t want his coach to leave.
Commanders Wire
5 Washington Commanders who shouldn’t return in 2026
Quan Martin, S
Quan Martin did play in all 17 games for the Commanders in 2025, but the results weren’t exactly promising. The safety racked up 99 tackles, one tackle for loss, and three pass deflections.
Pro Football Focus was not a fan of Martin’s play, giving the defender a pitiful 50.2 grade in 2025. That ranked 89th out of 98 qualified safeties, and the Commanders could almost assuredly find better production elsewhere. The team could free over $3 million by cutting Martin before June 1.
Podcasts & videos
Top-Tier Tight Ends + NEW Stadium Reveal Reactions! | Command Center | Washington Commanders | NFL
NFC East links
ESPN
Source: Cowboys reach DC agreement with Eagles’ Christian Parker
Parker, 34, has spent the past two seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing game coordinator and secondary coach. He has worked under Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio since 2021 when they were with the Denver Broncos.
He helped develop Eagles cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean into Pro Bowlers in their second seasons while also getting productivity from veterans like Darius Slay, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship. DeJean was effusive in his praise of Parker on X, writing “wouldn’t be the player I am without Coach CP.”
This marks the first time since Monte Kiffin in 2013 that the Cowboys have not had a former NFL head coach as their defensive coordinator. Since then, they have had Rod Marinelli (2014-19), Mike Nolan (2020), Dan Quinn (2021-23), Mike Zimmer (2024) and Matt Eberflus (2025), who was fired after Dallas finished last in the league in points allowed and 30th in yards per game.
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles reportedly lose Christian Parker to the Cowboys
Bad news for Philly
Losing Parker was likely inevitable. Losing him to a division rival isn’t very fun.
We previously touched on Parker’s value:
The 34-year-old Parker has a strong track record of getting the best out of his players. He notably oversaw the development of Patrick Surtain II with the Denver Broncos before coming to Philly and coaching Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean to All-Pro status in their second seasons.
The Eagles have had one of the best defenses in the NFL since they hired him along with Vic Fangio during the 2024 offseason. The team would probably like to retain him, especially since he could potentially be a Fangio successor one day. But it’s quite possible — if not outright likely — that Parker will be poached before that can happen.
It’s possible that Parker is a good position coach but not a good defensive coordinator. And Dallas has a long way to go in remaking their talent on that side of the ball after it was such a disastrous unit under Matt Eberflus in 2025.
But it’ll be pretty annoying for the Eagles if Parker helps the Cowboys turn things around in a big way.
Big Blue View
Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator hiring good news for NY Giants
Charlie Bullen, Daronte Jones, Jim Leonhard bypassed by Dallas
Charlie Bullen, outside linebackers coach for the New York Giants the past two seasons and interim defensive coordinator the final five games of the 2025 season, will not become defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys are set to name Philadelphia Eagles passing game coordinator Christian Parker as their new defensive coordinator, replacing the fired Matt Eberflus.
In further good news for Harbaugh and the Giants, three other candidates believed to be in consideration to become Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator in New York were bypassed by the Cowboys. Those are Minnesota Vikings’ defensive pass game coordinator Daronte Jones, Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator Zach Orr, and Denver Broncos’ defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard.
NFL league links
Selected coaching updates
Articles
NFL.com
NFL Honors: Finalists announced for MVP, other awards from 2025 season
AP Most Valuable Player presented by Invisalign
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills QB
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars QB
Drake Maye, New England Patriots QB
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers RB
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams QB
AP Defensive Player of the Year presented by TCL
Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans DE
Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos LB
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns DE
Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions DE
Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers DE
AP Offensive Player of the Year presented by Microsoft Copilot
Drake Maye, New England Patriots QB
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers RB
Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams WR
Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons RB
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks WR
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year presented by EA SPORTS Madden NFL
Jaxson Dart, New York Giants QB
Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR
TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots RB
Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers WR
Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints QB
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year presented by EA SPORTS Madden NFL
Abdul Carter, New York Giants LB
Nick Emmanwori, Seattle Seahawks DB
James Pearce Jr., Atlanta Falcons DE
Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns LB
Xavier Watts, Atlanta Falcons S
AP Comeback Player of the Year
Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots WR
Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions DE
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars QB
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers RB
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys QB
AP Coach of the Year
Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars
Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears
Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks
Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots
AP Assistant Coach of the Year
Vic Fangio, Philadelphia Eagles DC
Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings DC
Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos DC
Klint Kubiak, Seattle Seahawks OC
Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots OC
ESPN
NFL quarterbacks with first start of season in playoffs
Check out other quarterbacks who made their first start of the season in the playoffs below:
- Taylor Heinicke, Washington Football Team (2020 wild card vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, L, 31-23)
- Connor Cook, Oakland Raiders (2016 wild card at Houston Texans, L, 27-14)
- Joe Webb, Minnesota Vikings (2012 wild card at GB, L, 24-10)
- Frank Reich, Buffalo Bills (1992 wild card vs. Houston Oilers, W, 41-38)
- Gary Danielson, Detroit Lions (1983 divisional round at San Francisco 49ers, L, 24-23)
- Roger Staubach, Dallas Cowboys (1972 NFC Championship at Washington, L, 26-3)
Discussion topics
ESPN
2026 NFL offseason WR market: Free agents, trade candidates
Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers
An occasionally tumultuous run for Doubs in Green Bay likely came to an end in the Packers’ wild-card loss to the Bears. The underrated Doubs was suitably impactful in his final game, catching eight passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. That goes well with a 151-yard performance in his playoff debut, a win over the Cowboys in the 2023 wild-card round, and an 83-yard follow-up the subsequent week against the 49ers.
Given how often the Packers run the ball and how willing they are to rotate a deep, flat receiving corps, Doubs has also gone missing at times. He literally did so for a few practices in 2024, leading the Packers to suspend their 2022 fourth-round pick for a game. Doubs returned and played out the rest of his Packers tenure without incident, but GM Brian Gutekunst used two of his top three picks in the 2025 draft on wide receivers and extended Christian Watson, who would have also been a free agent.
Doubs is therefore extremely likely to actually make it to free agency, which isn’t always the case for young wideouts. And there has been steady growth in his underlying metrics. Doubs’ yards per route run has improved during his time in Green Bay, from 1.4 during his rookie and second seasons to 1.8 in Year 3 and 1.9 in Year 4. Drops can be an issue, but the 6-foot-2 wideout produced a top-30 catch score this season, per ESPN’s receiver scores.
I’ll be fascinated to see where Doubs’ deal comes in. There’s a chance teams see him as only a midtier No. 2 receiver, leaving him something in the range of $15 million per year. I suspect there will be at least one team that sees him as a player with untapped potential who could blossom in a more pass-happy scheme and with a steadier, more reliable usage pattern. That team might be willing to go north of $20 million per season.
Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts
Last offseason, teams desperate for speed simply overpaid to sign replacement-level talent at wide receiver in free agency. The Rams brought back Tutu Atwell on a one-year, $10 million deal and got 192 receiving yards over 10 games, as the move into 13 personnel groupings and the ascension of Xavier Smith and Konata Mumpfield cut off Atwell’s access to the field as the third wideout behind Davante Adams and Puka Nacua.
The Jaguars signed Dyami Brown to an identical contract after a hot postseason in Washington, yet despite Travis Hunter’s knee injury, they essentially lost interest in Brown after a slow start. Jacksonville traded for Jakobi Meyers and promoted Parker Washington ahead of him in the lineup. Brown played single-digit snaps down the stretch and was a healthy scratch in the season-ending loss to the Bills.
If speedy receivers who barely see the field are worth $10 million deals, Pierce’s pending free agency poses an interesting question: What if a speedy receiver who was actually good hit the market? Pierce narrowly topped 1,000 yards for the first time as a pro with a 132-yard effort against the Texans in Week 18, but his breakout wasn’t really a product of better quarterback play in 2025. His rate of off-target potential receptions was roughly the same in 2024 (23.5%) and 2025 (23.8%).
Deebo Samuel, Washington Commanders
Catch Samuel on the right week and he’s devastating. Samuel led the league in yards after catch score (in ESPN’s receiver scores) in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and he was second in 2024. He dropped off only to 10th in 2025. He’s still a special talent when it comes to breaking tackles and making something out of nothing. And while Samuel has never put together a full healthy season as a pro, he did manage to play 16 games for the second time in his seven-year career this season.
On the other hand, Samuel has consistent problems with drops and fumbles, with three of the latter coming on 89 touches in 2025. He has become less impactful as a runner, where he managed just four first downs on 17 carries this season. And with each passing year, Samuel’s 1,405-receiving yard, 365-rushing yard campaign of 2021 looks more and more like an outlier. He averaged nearly 111 yards from scrimmage that season and is at 61 yards from scrimmage per game across his six other seasons, a figure that fell all the way to 50 yards from scrimmage per game in 2025.
Samuel spent most of the season playing with various backup quarterbacks as opposed to Jayden Daniels, which obviously hurt Samuel’s chance at a big season. But even if you prorate out Samuel’s six games with Daniels under center, we end up with 99 catches for just 850 yards, which tells you how much of Samuel’s production came on screens and lateral throws around the line of scrimmage. His average target with Daniels on the field traveled just 4.5 yards in the air, which would rank 65th out of 67 wideouts in terms of target depth over a full season.
There’s a useful player here, but Samuel’s injury history, problems holding on to the football and age (he turns 30 in January) will limit his market. It would be surprising if Samuel landed a multiyear guarantee, and he’s likely to take a pay cut from the $17.5 million he made this season.
Though Coleman had a 36-yard catch-and-run against the Jaguars, the 2024 second-round pick has clearly fallen out of favor in Buffalo. Coleman was both benched for disciplinary reasons and subsequently healthy scratched multiple times in 2025. When he has been on the field, Coleman managed 59 catches for 404 yards and four touchdowns, much of which came in a comeback win over the Ravens in Week 1. He had 112 yards in that win and hasn’t topped 50 yards in a game since then. It seemed telling in the wild-card round that Tyrell Shavers — who was literally playing through a torn ACL — had more snaps in the second half than Coleman.
Coleman still has two years left on his rookie deal and will make $3.8 million between 2026 and 2027, most of which is already guaranteed. That’s a pittance for a player whom teams saw as a Day 2 pick heading into the 2024 draft, which is why there will be interest if the Bills do decide that a fresh start is best for all parties involved. Given that owner Terry Pegula seemed to blame the decision to draft Coleman on fired coach Sean McDermott during an explosive news conference Wednesday, it’s safe to say that Coleman is better off getting out of Buffalo.
The Commanders received a third-round pick (and moved a fifth-rounder) when they sent Jahan Dotson to the Eagles, while the Cowboys sent a fourth-round pick to the Panthers for Jonathan Mingo and a seventh-round selection. The Bills should be able to get something in line with the latter price for Coleman, with teams betting they can get more out of his size and contested-catch ability than Buffalo.
aBit o’Twitter
