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It’s not going to be easy for the Washington Commanders in the loaded NFC East. And the Commanders need to make at least one more trade. But the Commanders’ riskiest move in the 2025 NFL offseason is not taking care of the edge rusher position.
NFL teams can have a good season without getting great pressure on the quarterback. But when it comes to the postseason, the lack of an immediate pass rush tends to be a game-changer in a bad way.
The Commanders didn’t address the edge-rusher position in free agency, choosing to focus more on offense. That left the door open in the draft to take care of the issue. But they didn’t get it done in the draft, either.
First, let’s start with what the Commanders lost. Head coach Dan Quinn no longer has Dante Fowler Jr. on the edge. He posted 10.5 sacks last year, playing a key role in keeping the defense somewhat competitive.
Without Fowler, the Commanders currently stand with Clelin Ferrell, Dorance Armstrong, Deatrich Wise Jr., and Jacob Martin on the edge. Armstrong had five sacks last season while Ferrell had three, Martin had three for the Bears, and Wise Jr. totaled five for the Patriots.
That’s a sad-sack group for a middling NFL team. For a supposed Super Bowl contender, it’s a playoff loss waiting to happen.
The Commanders had their excuses for not taking an edge rusher in the draft. But they aren’t good ones, according to commanders.com.
“It wasn’t, ‘We weren’t going to address edge at any point,'” assistant general manager Lance Newmark said. “There were never any conversations of that mindset. It was, ‘These players made the most sense for us.’ ”
Washington didn’t take an edge rusher in the first round despite several very good options.
“I think it’s every move we make, we’re trying to maximize him and really the whole team,” General Manager Adam Peters said. “He [Conerly] was the highest player on our board, [and that] is really what it ended up being. It wasn’t really so much we needed to get an O-Lineman or anything like that, but he was clearly the highest player on our board.”
Newmark said the Commanders will keep looking at ways to improve the roster.
“You certainly are always watching that board,” Newmark said. “We watch it every day, and we always circle back to guys and see where they’re at. Sometimes they don’t want to do anything right now, but that’s constant. It’s on the wall in my office, so I see it every morning when I walk in, and we talk about it on literally a daily basis.”
But the bottom line is: talk is cheap, and edge rushers aren’t. And they still have a desperate need, according to foxsports.com.
“They needed help off the edge even before they lost Dante Fowler and his (10.5) sacks in free agency, and it’s been their No. 1...
