Free Agency comes at you fast. The “Official” start of Free Agency comes at 4pm on Wednesday March 11. It’s the start of the new League year, don’t you know. What? there’s no New Year’s Party planned? The League opened this two-day “Legal Tampering” window which started on Monday. By the end of the day Washington had landed an Edge Rusher, a Slot Corner, brought back an inside Defensive Lineman who can play “Zero Technique” (Nose Tackle situated directly over the Center), set their Left Tackle for the next three years, and re-signed their solid #2 QB. And, curiously the team did not lose any of their own Free Agents. That’s not a bad day’s work. There are many more moves coming. Hold on tightly!
Quick Thoughts
Washington needed an Edge. Scratch that; they needed multiple Edges. They landed the third-best on the market in Odafe Oweh. It’s a solid move. Is he the end-all and be-all of Edges? No. But, he is athletic with terrific “Get off.” That’s a technical term for “He comes out the chute like he means business.” His sack totals are not gaudy. But, per Next Gen stats his pressure rates are quite good.
The naysayers were out in force after this move. “Overpay” was the typical comment. It really isn’t. The contract, which cannot be signed until Wednesday Evening will reportedly be for 4-years at $100-Million. That sounds bigger than it is. Guaranteed money is $68-Million. That’s probably over the first three years which gives an AAV of $22.6-Million. That’s not Micah Parsons money. ($47-Million AAV) For reference the Franchise Tag value for an Edge Rusher is $24.4 Million.
The truth of Edge Rushers is that a team needs two good ones. They don’t both have to be world-beaters. But, if there’s only one the protection will slide to his side every snap. Witness Detroit with Aidan Hutchinson on one side, and not much on the other. A lot of the vitriol for the move came from those who claimed Oweh’s success was because of Khalil Mack being on the other side. Well, that’s how it works. Two good Edges are better than one good Edge. Washington still needs one. But, now it’s only one.
Adam Peters signed Corner Amik Robertson to a two-year deal. He’s a short Corner best suited to Slot duty. That will move Mike Sainristil to the Outside where he plays best. And, yes, they are both short. But, the move was cheap at $16-Million for two-years. It’s an upgrade, albeit not a big one.
Tim Settle is coming back to town. One thing about this new Defensive Coordinator is that he likes a basic 3-4 alignment. This isn’t the old Steelers’ 3-4 where they were in that alignment exclusively. Rather it’s a hybrid mix and match of pieces and parts. One of those parts is a guy in Zero-Technique over the Center. Settle can play that. The contract at $8-Million a year for 3-years is reasonable. Settle is 28-years old.
The team re-signed Marcus Mariota to a one-year deal. That’s his third in a row of those. Teams that don’t have a solid QB2 pay the price more often than not. He’s one of the better QB2s in the League.
Finally, the team avoided any hint of drama with Left Tackle Laremy Tunsil signing him through 2028. The bottom line on the contract is that he will make $30-Million AAV. That will make him, for now, the highest paid Offensive Lineman in the League.
One who hasn’t re-signed is Left Guard Chris Paul. His play dramatically improved last year. It’d be nice to have him back next to Tunsil. But, it doesn’t look like that will happen.
The Center Market
Phew! That’s a lot. Across the League the volume on Monday was crazy. The Raiders signed Center Tyler Linderbaum to a 3-year, $81-Million deal. It will make him the highest-paid Center in the League…by a lot. Center is a position of interest for this Washington team. Cutting Tyler Biadasz was a bit of an unforeseen mystery move. The reasoning has yet to leak out of a very tight building. Say what you will about Adam Peters. But, he runs a super-tight operation. In the bad old days the reporters might as well have been sitting in the room with the decision makers. Not these days.
The Center market in Free Agency just got re-set with the Linderbaum signing. That would make it seem that signing a Free Agent Center won’t happen. Supposedly there are as many and five plug-n’-play Centers in this upcoming Draft. One kid not on many lists is the Center from the Indiana team; Pat Coogan. He’s not on a lot of media radar screens. He could be a surprise from later rounds.
Roster Tracker
The chart below is divided into “Rooms.” e.g. “QB Room”
A player that was on the roster in 2025 and is under contract for 2026 will have a check mark in the “Status” Box.
A player that was on the roster in 2025, but is not under contract has a salmon color. And, the “Status” Box will be blank. (There’s a lot of Salmon on this chart!)
A player that was cut or signed elsewhere will have yellow fill throughout.
A player that was acquired will have a light blue background.
This will be updated on a periodic basis.
