A new report suggests that despite having new ownership, as well as a new head coach and general manager, the Washington Commanders’ reputation is still so damaged around the league that they will have to pay out huge sums to land any notable players in 2024 NFL free agency.
This offseason brings a new era for the Washington Commanders. New owner Josh Harris has a complete grip on the franchise and he has installed Dan Quinn and Adam Peters in key roles to help build a winning roster for the organization. Furthermore, they have the resources in draft capital and salary cap space to improve the roster in a major way in the next couple of months.
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Heading into NFL free agency — which starts on March 11 — the Commanders have the most available salary cap space at over $90 million (via OverTheCap). It is the most free money of any team in the league and gives them a massive leg up on the open market. Well, in theory, it should be.
Washington Commanders finished last NFL PA team report for the second straight year
Previous owner Dan Synder built a reputation as one of the NFL’s worst owners through scandals that led to investigations by the league and Congress as well as some terrible decisions in the draft and in the players they signed in free agency. Last week, the NFL Player’s Association released a report on grades players gave their organization in different categories and Washington added another poor chapter to their reputation.
In terms of treatment of family, the locker room, training staff, and travel, Washington Commanders players gave the team an F. It was the second straight year they finished last in this report. It is the latest terrible distinction given to the organization in recent years and that seemingly will be an issue for the team in free agency.
On Tuesday, Philly Voice NFL insider Jimmy Kempski speculated “It’s going to take a while to get the Dan Snyder stink off of that organization. They may have to wildly overpay guys to get them to come to Washington.”
Fortunately for the Washington Commanders, they have the most money to give out this year. However, it is still going to be very difficult to make notable free agents believe that anything more than the money is a good reason to bring their talents to D.C.