Adam Peters’ hire as general manager of the Washington Commanders was met with much fanfare. He cut his teeth as a scout with the Patriots and Broncos, who both won the Lombardi Trophy while he was there, and learned as an executive under John Lynch in San Francisco. Fans felt that owner Josh Harris had landed a true football mind.
Fast-forward two-and-a-half years and many are questioning Adam Peters’ philosophy here in the Nation’s Capital, and for good reason.
Settling on Dan Quinn
Make no mistake about it. Dan Quinn
was not Adam Peters’ first choice. That honor would go to one Ben Johnson. Quinn wasn’t Peters’ second choice. That would have been Mike Macdonald, who went to Seattle instead. I don’t even know if Quinn was third on the list. Point is, we ended up with him and now he’s one of the top coaches on the hot seat after just two full seasons.
“Settling” on Dan Quinn may have turned out to be a really bad look for Peters’ first hire as general manager. After a rather lucky 2024, Quinn has come back down to planet Earth and has settled into his expected routine as a head coach — one of mediocrity.
There is a severe lack of development with players Quinn and his staff have been handed, and some of those players have barely been able to even see the field. Those who have seemed to have regressed or been hit by the injury bug. And since the injury bug has been brought up, I think it’s fair to question Dan’s “back to play” protocol as being a bit TOO cautious.
Unless there is some miraculous turnaround over the next three quarters of Washington’s season, Quinn may have exhausted his final shot at being a successful NFL head coach — and much of the blame can be pinned on Peters for making the underwhelming hire.
Missing badly on draft picks
Adam Peters believes in building through the draft and supplementing through free agency. Although many point to him trading away draft picks for an aging and injured Marcus Lattimore and pro bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil, his bread and butter is still the draft.
Well, what if your draft picks aren’t that good?
2024:
Let’s not confuse anything here. With the exception of what many viewed as a “can’t miss” prospect in Jayden Daniels, who fell into Peters’ lap at pick No. 2 overall, the 2024 draft has been a disappointment.
- QB Jayden Daniels – great pick. Needs to stay on the field.
- DL Johnny Newton – currently on IR, but has done nothing to date beside one game against Dallas’ reserves in 2025.
- CB Mike Sandristil – has essentially been benched for a street free agent.
- TE Ben Sinnott – career 17 receptions, 148 yards and two touchdowns. Currently, Brandon Coleman has as many receptions and more receiving yards in 2026.
- WR Luke McCaffrey – has been inactive for three of Washington’s four games in 2026.
- LB Jordan Magee – on IR yet again…
- LB Dominique Hampton – no longer with the team.
- EDGE Javontae Jean-Baptiste – back-up EDGE.
2025:
It’s still very early to grade the 2025 draft class, but…
- OL Josh Conerly – starting right tackle who is improving.
- CB Trey Amos – current injury concerns.
- WR/KR Jaylin Lane – currently on IR. Mainly a special teams contributor.
- LB Kain Medrano – backup linebacker.
- RB Bill Croskey-Merritt – starting running back who looks to have regressed from 2025.
2026:
Although Peters’ 2026 draft class is looking promising, it’s way too early to judge the class. However, Washington did just waive their rookie sixth-round running back Kaytron “FatMan” Allen on Thursday and, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins.
Trading away draft picks
This one is two-fold.
DB Marshon Lattimore: 2025 third-, fourth-, and sixth-round picks (Washington received a fifth-round pick from New Orleans).
The move for an aging, declining and injured Marshon Lattimore was a whiff. And look, it happens. I will give Peters credit for seeing a need and making a move to fill that need, however this was a poorly calculated decision moving on a player who was on the decline and battling injury.
OL Laremy Tunsil: 2025 third- and seventh-round picks, plus 2026 second- and fourth-round picks (Washington received a 2025 fourth-round pick).
I loved the trade for Laremy Tunsil. He’s been a stalwart in the league and has shown no signs of decline. It was unfortunate he got injured in the preseason, but there were no injury red flags with him like there were with Lattimore.
WR Deebo Samuel: Although not as costly as the previously mentioned, Peters gave up a 2025 fifth-round pick for the aging 49ers former star. It wasn’t a bad move; it wasn’t a great move. It was just MEH. And, by the way, Samuels leaves a $12.4M dead cap hit for 2026.
AARP Adam (2025 offseason)
I joked about Adam Peters being “AARP Adam” in the 2025 offseason due to his propensity for signing aging veterans on one-year deals – or did I…
Re-Signings
- LB Bobby Wagner – major liability against outside runs and in coverage.
- TE Zach Ertz – got injured and finished season on IR.
- TE John Bates – quality blocking TE.
- WR Noah Brown – played in four games before being placed on IR.
- RB Jeremy McNichols – tough runner, but not a difference maker.
- QB Josh Johnson – started two games (out of necessity).
- WR Chris Moore (futures contract) – wound up starting five games.
Unrestricted free agents
- DB Will Harris – cut this summer after one year of a two-year deal.
- DL Eddie Goldman – older, big-bodied interior presence who did nothing.
- CB Jonathan Jones – injured; came back and forced into starting duties because of other injuries.
- DL Deatrich Wise – injured in second game of season. put on IR.
- EDGE Jacob Martin – started 14 games and recorded 5.5 sacks.
- EDGE Von Miller – led the team with nine sacks.
Street free agents
- EDGE Preston Smith – recorded half a sack over 13 games.
- WR Robbie Chosen – played in three games and caught five passes.
Make no mistake – Washington had cap room to spend some money on young, ascending players. Instead, Peters chose to hand Quinn the bingo room at the local VFW! A MASSIVE oversight by the “smartest man in the room” that backfired.
The current mess at center
Scott Bair wrote this about Peters’ plan at center heading into the 2026 season:
Commanders general manager Adam Peters had a plan for the center position entering the 2026 campaign. It obviously wasn’t good enough.
We’ve seen that play out painfully over the course of this summer, with presumptive starter Nick Allegretti out most of training camp with a calf strain.
Allegretti suffered the injury during Washington’s first training camp practice, way back on July 29. He returned on Aug. 18, following nearly three weeks on the shelf. Allegretti aggravated the issue a day later and hasn’t returned since.
Because of Adam’s mismanagement at center, Jayden Daniels took snaps most of the offseason from Julien Good-Jones and rookie Matt Gulbin. When training camp ended and regular season game preparation began, Nick Allegretti finally returned to practice and took over starting center responsibilities.
The “Allegretti Experiment” lasted just two weeks. After Sam Cosmi was ruled out for a concussion, Allegretti slid over to right guard and street free agent Lucas Patrick slid in at center. Surprisingly, Washington won their first game of the season against Seattle despite Allegretti getting absolutely abused at guard. Patrick, maybe not so surprisingly, looked good at center.
Last week against the struggling Colts, Quinn decided to make a change at right guard, giving rookie Matt Gulbin the start while “wonder boy” rode the bench. Gulbin played so poorly in that game that fans were calling for Allegretti to be put back in at the half – something that never happened.
Now, you may want to pin the blame on Dan Quinn for having confidence that Allegretti could hold down the center position, but I put this one squarely on Adam Peters for his offseason mismanagement of the position.
The team parted ways with starting center Tyler Biadasz this offseason incurring $8M in dead cap space. After reportedly flirting with, and missing on, Tyler Linderbaum, Peters decided Allegretti would get the starting job by default. He and Quinn sold the fanbase HARD on “wonder boy” and how his intelligence and grit would help him succeed as the prime communicator along the front five.
Now, four weeks later, Allegretti has been benched…
Paying Terry McLaurin
This is a sticky subject. Most people, including myself, wanted Terry extended. Most people, including myself, didn’t want Terry’s contract situation dragging throughout the summer of 2025.
Looking back on this, it may have behooved Peters to trade Terry instead of extending him. They say hindsight is 20/20 and I’m obviously taking full advantage of that here, however, there were many people in the fanbase who talked about trading Terry instead of paying him. Maybe we should have been listening a bit more to those quieter voices.
Terry is loved by all, but paying 30-year-old receivers top-of-the-market money is not a best practice, as they are more prone to breaking down, which we are now beginning to see with Terry. I wonder (using hindsight again here), if taking a second-round pick would have been the wise decision.
Not spending Washington’s salary cap
This one could be a bit tricky as there may be a pretty big contract on the horizon for Washington with quarterback Jayden Daniels, however, seeing all the current team needs and lack of depth along the offensive line and especially in the secondary, it was gross cap mismanagement by Peters to not be as aggressive in free agency (especially at center, wide receiver and cornerback), while he entered the 2026 regular season with over $27M in cap space.
To put this into perspective, Tyler Linderbaum, who is just 26 years old, has a 2026 cap hit of just $14M. I get it — Peters had a line he drew in the sand and he was not about to cross it — so Washington gets handed Nick Allegretti! Let me repeat – NICK ALLEGRETTI!
Tariq Woolen signed a one-year, $12M contract with Philly. Must have been too rich for Peters’ blood.
Kenneth Walker is chewing the league up with Kansas City with a 2026 cap hit of just $5.6M. But don’t worry, what rookie offensive coordinator in their right mind would have wanted him…
I get it that a player needs to want to come here as a free agent, so it’s not as easy as waiving your magic wand and POOF – “blank” is a Commander. But, MONEY TALKS and Peters is treating our cap as if its his first communion money!
I’ve seen many people call for Dan Quinn’s head. I don’t think I’ve seen a sane person who is not a fan of a division rival believe Quinn just needs more time. That being said, are we pointing the finger at the right person here? Should Adam Peters be the one whose seat is the hottest right now?
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