Hogs Haven
In a season of major change and re-alignment, there was a lot of good and a little bad from GM Adam Peters
No team in the NFL turned over more of its roster in 2024 than the Washington Commanders.
Current Commanders managing partner Josh Harris and the rest of the ownership group purchased the Washington franchise in July of 2023, just days before the start of training camp — too late to really effect much change on the football operations. The Commanders limped through Ron Rivera’s 4th and final season as the head coach/head of football operations, finishing with a 4-13 record and the second overall pick in the draft.
In January 2024, the re-making of the Commanders began in earnest. Before a single roster move was made, two massively important hires set the stage for what would be the Commanders most successful season in 33 years.
The ownership group targeted Adam Peters from the San Francisco 49ers to take over football operations as the team’s General Manager. AP was the hottest candidate in the GM market at the time, and he has spent the subsequent 16 months living up to his reputation.
Job One for Peters was to hire the right head coach to align the vision and set the right direction for the team. While fans were clamoring for a young and talented coordinator (no retreads!) with a history of developing quarterbacks (second pick in the draft), Peters was laser focused on finding the most outstanding leader available. The Commanders cast a wide net, went through a thorough process, and made what appears to have been the best hire of the ‘24 offseaon in Dan Quinn, former head coach of the Falcons and — from ‘21 to ‘23 — the architect of the Dallas Cowboys defense.
In his first year at the helm of the burgundy & gold, Dan Quinn led his cobbled-together roster to a 12-win season and the NFC Championship game.
Let’s take a look at the roster that Adam Peters assembled, and that Dan Quinn led to such success in the first season of this new era of Washington football and grade Peters on the personnel decisions he made as a first-time GM.
This article highlights 20 players, which might seem unreasonable, but is reflective of the complete re-tooling of the Commanders roster that took place a year ago.
Today, only 6 starters remain from the crew that played for Ron Rivera in 2023. Each of the players highlighted below (with one notable exception) was a starter or played significant snaps for the Commanders in 2024.
No player in the NFL had a bigger impact on his team’s fortunes in 2024 than Jayden Daniels. The Commanders, who had won just 4 games in ‘23, amassed 12 victories in 2024 — many of...
