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A deep dive into 3 mid-round draft prospects that could fill some Commanders’ needs
CB Daylen Everette | Georgia
6’1″ | 190 lbs | 4.34 40 (projected) | Draft Projection: Rounds 2–4
Comp & Fit: Tariq Woolen. A scheme-specific athlete who projects best in Cover 3 or quarters-heavy systems where his press ability and speed are assets rather than liabilities. Ideal for teams like those in Washington, Seattle, or San Francisco that run two-high shells.
S Bud Clark | TCU
6’2″ | 190 lbs | 11 career INTs | 3x Team Captain | Draft Projection: Rounds 3–5
Comp & Fit: Budda
Baker in terms of role and IQ — someone who impacts games through anticipation rather than athleticism. Thrives in two-high, zone-coverage defenses where he can roam and react. Ideal for teams like Washington, Tampa Bay, or Kansas City.
DE Derrick Moore | Michigan
6’3″ | 254 lbs | 10 sacks (2025) | Draft Projection: Rounds 2–4
Comp & Fit: Derick Hall. A high-floor, power-based rotational edge who won’t wow anyone but will be exactly what a defensive coordinator draws up. Best in an odd-front defense — 3-4 or 4-3 under — as a 5-technique or rush linebacker. Washington, Baltimore, and Green Bay are natural fits.
Bottom Line
Everette is the boom-or-bust bet. Clark is the underrated, safer veteran player. Moore is the dependable edge anchor who needs to develop in the run game. None of them will headline a draft board — but the teams that find the right fits here could be getting starters at discount prices.
Commanders.com
Combine notebook | LBs, DL discuss confidence, versatility, disruption
— The combine is full of confident athletes, but Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods might have more than most. He described himself as a “game disruptor” and added that he likes being the type of player who offensive coordinators have to account for. Woods, a First Team All-ACC selection last year, recorded 30 tackles in 12 games. He also has a history of being a disruptive player with 14.5 tackles for a loss over three seasons.
— Arvell Reese is one of the top prospects in the draft and could be a top 10 pick. Whenever a player receives that kind of praise, it usually means that they will not participate in drills in favor of performing during their school’s pro day. Reese has taken the opposite approach and is expected to participate in drills, which could include the 40-yard dash. Such a move could be viewed as a gamble, but if he has a strong day, it could move him even further up draft boards.
— Texas Tech has 13 players participating in the combine this year — more than any other team in college football. Two of those players — Cashius Howell and Lee Hunter — both spoke to the media and praised the school for putting them in the best position to succeed at the next level. Howell said he and his teammates are built to translate to the NFL, while Hunter said the program’s operation, from practices to film study, has prepared them for the moment.
Commanders Roundtable
Washington Commanders lose key trainer ahead of 2026
Tim McGrath, who served as the senior director of player health and performance the last two seasons, has elected to return home to Australia with a search underway to find his replacement ahead of the 2026 season.
“It was his decision. We supported it,” Peters said following his press conference at the podium during day one of the NFL Combine. “[It] had nothing to do with our injuries. We were pretty healthy the year before so he doesn’t carry the blame there.”
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Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey calls reported contract offer ‘fake’
Things have escalated with Brandon Aubrey.
We are only at Wednesday, but this week has likely felt long for the Dallas Cowboys relative to their kicker. On Tuesday it was reported that they have an offer out to make him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL at a rate of $7.5M annually, and the Dallas Morning News even reported that Aubrey turned that down in the name of wanting $10M per year.
The thing about that report is… someone disagrees with it.
Brandon Aubrey called the reported Cowboys offer ‘fake’
Nowadays players have an opportunity to defend themselves on social media. They can take to different platforms and share their opinions, and on Wednesday that is exactly what Brandon did.
Aubrey responded with one word and called it ‘fake’ which suggests that it was not real.
It would be interesting to hear what Brandon feels is fake about the offer. Is it the offer Dallas has? Is it that he wants $10M per season? His disagreement would be important perspective.
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ESPN
Source: Bears allow LB Tremaine Edmunds to seek trade
The Chicago Bears have granted linebacker Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Edmunds, 27, is entering the final season of the four-year, $72 million contract he signed with the Bears as a free agent in 2023. His contract carries a $13.9 million base salary for 2026 with a $1 million roster bonus due on the fifth day of the league year. His cap hit is $17.9 million.
If Edmunds does not find a trade partner, he is in line to become a cap casualty. Releasing Edmunds would create $15 million in salary cap space for Chicago.
Edmunds led the Bears with 112 tackles last season to go along with nine passes defended, four interceptions, one sack and a fumble recovery despite missing four games with a groin injury. He also tallied 13 tackles across Chicago’s two playoff games.
A first-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2018, Edmunds has posted at least 102 tackles in each of his eight NFL seasons.
Commanders Wire: Could Bears linebacker be an option for Commanders if released?
When players are granted permission to seek trades, that usually means they’ll be released before the new league year. That would free up money for Chicago and allow Edmunds to choose his next destination.
Would he be an option for Washington?
Right now, so much is unknown about the type of defense that new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones will run for the Commanders in 2026. Despite his size and athleticism, the 6-foot-4, 251-pound Edmunds is considered an off-ball linebacker, which means he isn’t as coveted as pass rushers. Edmunds would give Washington more speed and size at the linebacker position, but he will not impact the pass rush.
However, if Jones runs a base 3-4 front, Edmunds would be a good fit in the middle of Washington’s defense. Bobby Wagner is a free agent, and with the Commanders’ desire to get younger and faster, he is unlikely to return in 2026.
Front Office Sports
There’s nothing bigger on US television than the NFL; keeping those rights presents a range of challenges for incumbent linear rights holders
As the league prepares to start talks this year targeting a new set of rights pacts, Bank of America said NFL games are the glue holding much of legacy media together. That, by itself, is not surprising as the league enjoyed its best regular-season viewership since 1989, neared another U.S. television audience record for Super Bowl LX, and in any given year dominates the list of top 100 U.S. broadcasts, regardless of genre.
The soon-rising cost of those league rights, however, represents a heightened pressure point for Comcast, Disney, Fox, Paramount, and their respective networks.
“NFL-related content at this point is the key linchpin holding the linear cable bundle together, a massive driver of linear advertising dollars, retransmission fees, and even more recently, direct-to-consumer sign-ups. This market paradigm has not gone unnoticed by the NFL,” Bank of America analysts wrote in a research note released Wednesday. “In short, it is hard to paint a positive outcome from the traditional media ecosystem perspective.”
As the collective annual costs for those four media companies to retain NFL content is set to rise beyond the current total of about $9 billion, the analysts detailed a series of negative scenarios in play. The possible outcomes for the incumbent rights holders include being priced out of having NFL rights entirely, seeing their corporate bottom lines decline significantly, or a hybrid situation where they pay more in future rights fees for less content.
The NFL has a contractual opt-out with most of its rights holders after the 2029 season, but given the size and complexity of the contracts, talks are expected to begin in earnest this year. Prior to Super Bowl LX this month, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the leaguewill be looking to maximize both reach and revenue in new pacts.
The NFL regained control of four games annually amid its complex and newly closed equity deal with ESPN parent company Disney. The league is shopping that inventory now, and that will provide an updated sense of what both linear and streaming networks are willing to pay.
NFL Draft / Combine
ESPN
Top NFL draft prospect Reese: ‘I’m an outside linebacker/edge’
Ohio State’s Arvell Reese made it clear at the NFL combine: He views himself more as an outside linebacker/edge rusher than an off-the-ball linebacker in the pros.
“Teams have pretty much been asking me what I want to do and see where my mind was at. I’ve been telling them I think I’m an outside linebacker/edge,” Reese said Wednesday. “I haven’t even scratched the surface with really what I can do pass rushing.”
Reese’s position fit is one of the compelling questions in the 2026 NFL draft, as he projects as a potential top-five pick after totaling 69 tackles and 6.5 sacks last season. He said he plans to run the 40-yard dash at the combine, while also taking part in outside linebacker/edge and off-the-ball linebacker drills.
In his latest mock draft, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has the 6-foot-4, 243-pound Reese going No. 4 to the Tennessee Titans.
Reese, 20, said he has already met with the New York Jets (No. 2 pick), Arizona Cardinals (No. 3) and Cleveland Browns (No. 6), among others. He shared that in his meeting with the Jets, coaches installed a defensive package and wanted to see how he responded to it mentally.
Reese acknowledged he will need to get bigger as an outside linebacker/edge in the NFL but felt he showed the ability to set the edge against the run at that spot in college. He described his pass-rush approach as a mix of “speed and power.”
NFL.com
2026 NFL combine: What We Learned during Wednesday’s activities in Indianapolis
Mesidor sees advanced age as a feature, not a bug. There’s a lot to like about Akheem Mesidor, a relentless pass rusher who earned first-team All-ACC honors this past season with 12.5 sacks, including 5.5 in Miami’s four-game College Football Playoff run. As Bucky Brooks’ No. 3 edge defender and Daniel Jeremiah’s No. 20 overall prospect, Mesidor is widely projected to be a first-round pick. But one potential knock on his draft profile is the advanced age. Having played college football for six years — two at West Virginia, followed by four with the Hurricanes — Mesidor turns 25 on April 5, making him one of the older players in this draft class. He doesn’t see this as a negative, though.
“You can call me a seasoned rookie,” Mesidor said on Wednesday in Indianapolis. “I think I’m coming in more mature with a different approach, different mentality than a lot of younger guys. I think my age could be a plus.”
To his point, Mesidor draws steady praise for the maturity of his game, which combines a non-stop motor (SEE: last season’s impressive total of 63 tackles, including 17.5 for loss) with a deep bag of pass-rushing moves (tied for fourth in the FBS with 67 pressures, per Pro Football Focus). A native of Ottawa, Canada, the 6-3, 265-pounder believes the prolonged voyage truly refined his skill set, which will allow him to hit the ground running in the NFL.
Pro Football Talk
Brett Veach: Players who would be high on Chiefs’ draft board stayed in college for NIL
Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said now that the NCAA allows players to make money off their names, images and likenesses, players aren’t entering the draft because of the money they can make in college. Veach said that the Chiefs already had an early version of their draft board set before the deadline for players to enter the draft, and a large proportion of the Chiefs’ top prospects decided to stay in college.
“When the official decision date for the underclassmen came, I believe we moved over 25 guys off our board that we had Top 75, Top 100,” Veach said. “So it’s really impacts, I think, the draft, and then you’re getting older, older prospects as you go on. I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon and I think that’s something we have to adapt to.”
Veach said where he really sees it is on Day 2 of the draft, which used to have a lot of talented prospects who hadn’t played a lot of college football. Those players are typically transferring to other schools now rather than moving to the NFL.
