In last week’s article, I had a look at five remaining free agent cornerbacks who could be upgrades over whichever of the Commanders’ current CBs is slated to start opposite from Trey Amos.
Today I’ll have a look at three CBs currently on other teams’ rosters who could become available at roster cutdowns. These guys were a lot harder to find than the free agents in the last article. To find potential roster cut casualties, I first looked for teams that added CBs in free agency and the draft. Then
I combed roster projection articles published since the draft for teams with position battles shaping up in camp.
As with the previous article, I used Rate of Yardage Allowed (Y/Cov Snap) as the primary measure of coverage performance to identify potential roster cut casualties with better numbers than CBs on the Commanders’ roster. Y/Cov Snap benchmarks for NFL CBs were provided in the previous article. As a quick guide, league average is around 1.0 Y/Cov Snap; “lockdown corners” allow less than 0.8 Y/Cov Snap; and numbers above 1.1 Y/Cov Snap signal room for improvement.
I also looked at ball production, Run Stop Rate, measurables, and scouting reports to find potential scheme fits with potential to upgrade the CB room.
The results were interesting, and provide further validation of my chosen coverage metric. Initially, it looked like there would be a rich vein of CB talent becoming available at roster cut-downs, with CB position battles expected at 14 out of 32 franchises. However, working through the list, I found that nearly all the players that beat reporters and local media identified as being on the bubble, or likely cuts, turned out to be CBs with Y/Cov Snap well above league average. Players with better than average coverage numbers tended to be counted as locks or likely to make their teams’ 53-man rosters.
The three players listed here were the exceptions. These were the only players I could find who are on the bubble with their current teams heading into camp and had better than league average coverage numbers in their last full season playing. That puts them well ahead of Mike Sainristil, Ahkello Witherspoon and Amik Robertson.
Interestingly, I did not use Run Stop Rate as a selection criterion, since there was no need to narrow down the list any further. But all three players listed below were well above league average for CBs in that metric as well.
2026 Release Candidates at CB
Jack Jones, 49ers
5-11 | 175 lbs | 31.25” arms | 4.52 sec 40 | RAS 6.72 | Age 28.4
2026 Cap Number: $1.1M
2025 Stats: 17 Starts | 1 INT | 6 PD | 77 Comb Tkl | 25 Stops
2024 Y/Cov Snp: 0.62 (5/103)
2024 Run Stop Rate: 3.1% (Rank 15/103)
Jones was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2022. He started for the Raiders in 2024, and the Dolphins last season, playing almost exclusively at outside CB. His string-bean frame might evoke traumatic memories of Emmanuel Forbes for some fans, but Jones is a much better player in all respects.
Jones signed with the 49ers in March to compete for a spot in a deep CB bench, with Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green and Upton Stout locked in as starters, and Darrell Luter, Nate Hobbs and 2026 draft pick Ephesians Prysock vying for the backup positions. If Jones makes the final 53, then one of those players can be expected to hit waivers.
Jones is a feisty ball-hawk. Commanders fans may remember him from his interception of Marcus Mariota’s pass on the first play of overtime in Madrid, last season to set up Miami’s game-winning field goal. He is also very good at containing receivers in coverage, which is great, because it does not always correlate with ball production. His Rate of Yardage Allowed last season was the fifth-lowest among starting CBs.
Despite his size, he is reported to be best in press-man coverage, which could potentially be an issue for the Commanders’ defense. He is also better than expected in run support, which should make any team’s defensive coordinator happy.
His signing might send some Ron Rivera survivors to therapy, but he would be a good addition to the Commanders’ secondary as the second starting outside corner.
Samuel Womack III, Jets
5-9 | 189 lbs | 31.9” arms | 4.40 sec 40 | 7.76 RAS | Age 26.8
2026 Cap Number: $1.1M
2025 Stats: 5 games | 2 starts | 11 comb tkl | 2 PD | 2 FF
Y/Cov Snp: 0.94 (Unranked – low snap counts)
Run Stop Rate: 5.1% (Rank 5/130, min 50 run def snaps)
Womack has been around the league since being drafted in the fifth round by the 49ers in 2022, when Adam Peters was VP of Player Personnel. He was waived following an injury-shortened sophomore season and claimed off waivers by Indianapolis. He started 8 games for the Colts in 2024 and had his best season as a pro, with 2 INT and 9 PD, while holding receivers to just 0.88 Y/Cov Snap in coverage. He was waived at final roster cuts by the Colts in 2025 and claimed by the Titans, then waived at the end of November and signed to the Jets’ practice squad in December.
Womack has mainly played at outside corner. He is facing an uphill climb to make the Jets’ roster, which is two deep at all three positions following the offseason additions of Nashon Wright and D’Angelo Ponds.
Womack was a very productive ball hawk in college and has demonstrated that ability when given opportunities at the pro level. He demonstrated very good coverage ability in his longest starting stint for the Colts in 2024. He has also improved his run defense, which was a concern coming out of college. His 2.2% Run Stop Rate in 2024 ranked 41st out of 114 NFL CBs (min 110 run defense snaps). Lastly, he has been a regular contributor on special teams, with 6 tackles to his credit.
Womack has the athleticism and coverage ability to compete for a CB spot on the Commanders’ 53-man roster. Given the team’s weakness at the position, he might even be able to challenge for the second starting position. At the very least, a reunion with Adam Peters would bolster depth at the position with additional value on special teams.
Terell Smith, Bears
6-0 | 204 lbs | 32.9” arms | 4.41 sec 40 | RAS 8.67 (2023) | Age 26.8
2026 Cap Number: $1.2M
2024 Stats: 2 Starts (14 games) | 1 INT | 4 PD | 19 Comb Tkl | 7 Stops
2023-2024 Y/Cov Snp: 0.99
2024 Run Stop Rate: 3.6% (Rank 21/124)
Smith was a fifth-round draft pick by the Bears in 2023. He has played 26 games with 6 starts in his first two seasons, with good numbers in coverage and run defense. But his 2025 season was derailed by a torn patellar tendon at the end of preseason.
Entering the final season of his rookie contract, Smith faces a challenge to retain his foothold in a crowded CB room, following the addition of CB Malik Muhammad via trade-up in the fourth round of April’s draft.
Smith is a versatile CB, who can play in press-man and zone coverage. He has an appealing blend of length and athleticism for the position, and has demonstrated good ball production and coverage ability when he has been on the field. Smith is also very strong in run support. If he is a casualty of the numbers game in Chicago at roster cutdowns, he could be an intriguing late-preseason addition to the Commanders’ CB lineup.
