Washington Commanders: Making sense of bizarre free agency so far

Trying to make sense of the bizarre start to the 2022 free agency period for the Washington Commanders.

Hey yo! It’s definitely been a strange free agency period for the Washington Commanders so far. Let’s start with the trade for Carson Wentz. Yes, it was announced a little bit before free agency, but it clearly had a very large impact on everything going on.

So Washington traded for Wentz in a move that wasn’t very popular. They sent a couple of picks for a guy that many believe was going to be cut anyways. Not only that but jeez does that salary pack a punch. And it’s likely due to that, that the Commanders have made some of these moves.

First, there were the cuts. Okay, Landon Collins wasn’t that surprising. If he wasn’t going to take a pay cut, this was going to happen. Now, apparently, it’s not official yet. Maybe they’re hoping he’ll decide Washington is the best place for him. But at the same time apparently, they were only going to cut his salary a bit and had to change that when they brought on Wentz’s contract.

Then came the more surprising cuts. Deshazor Everett? Eh, not all that surprising. Mainly a special teams guy and it saved $2-million. Matthew Ioannidis though? That one was definitely shocking, especially considering it was announced not long before the cut that Tim Settle signed with another team. That’s a lot of depth from your defensive line gone quickly.

The most shocking had to be Ereck Flowers though. He had another fantastic year at guard for Washington. Yes, they save a nice chunk of money but they already lost Brandon Scherff. So this left them without either of their starting guards from the year prior.

The Commanders didn’t just lose players though. They brought back defensive backs Bobby McCain and Troy Apke. Wide receiver Cam Sims was also re-signed. So were a few depth players.

The big re-signing though was J.D. McKissic. Just the day before it was announced that the running back was signing with the Buffalo Bills. However, he apparently reversed course and decided to come back to Washington. A fantastic receiving threat out of the backfield.

As for new signings, Washington hasn’t done much on that front yet. They have made a big addition though. Guard Andrew Norwell was brought on board and immediately fills one of those two starting guard spots. That was a fantastic signing that has to ease the minds of many Commanders fans.

If we’re being honest, this hasn’t been the most eventful free agency. It’s certainly been strange though.

Washington has signed back quite a few names. But a lot of them are more depth than anything else. The biggest headline seemed to be some of those cuts. However, with the Wentz trade, they were necessary. They give Washington the flexibility to actually try and make some more moves in free agency.

A lot of fans are probably still waiting for those big splash moves. Tyrann Mathieu, Stephon Gilmore, Bobby Wagner, or a talented receiver or something. It’s never fun to watch your team not do much, especially when there’s a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars who seem to just be hoovering everyone up.

But sometimes waiting is the better move. Going for the big splash doesn’t always work. Look at the recently cut (?) Collins for proof of that. There’s still plenty of time and we haven’t even gotten to the draft yet.

It feels like a lot of fans have already soured on Ron Rivera. And to be fair, not many get burned more than Washington Commanders fans. It feels far too early in the offseason to be calling 2022 a bust already though. Breathe.