Few teams have taken the beating the Washington Commanders have through the first part of the NFL offseason.
In the most basic terms, the headlines haven’t been great.
This is a new Commanders organization, however, and we got a glimpse into how to turn bad headlines into good headlines after the franchise made a genius move to rework the contract of recently acquired wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who spent the first 6 seasons of his career with the San Francisco 49ers.
From ESPN: “Washington guaranteed $17 million of Samuel’s contract in 2025 and added $3 million worth of incentives, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday. Before this move, Samuel had no guaranteed money remaining and was scheduled to have a base salary of $16,600,529 with a $200,000 workout bonus and a per game roster bonus of $44,117 worth up to $750,000.”
Giving Samuel a mostly incentive-based raise does several things for the Commanders that will have positive outcomes for the team. First, it avoids giving him a contract extension now, which would be a disaster. Second, it puts a carrot on a stick for Samuel that should see him at his very best in 2025 after a lackluster season in 2024 in which he appeared to be out of shape at times.
Now, Samuel isn’t just playing for that extra $3 million. He’s playing for a much bigger deal in 2026 — a final massive payday for the 29-year-old NFL All-Pro.
Perhaps the most genius part of reworking Samuel’s contract was giving him a small raise and pushing it to the media as being “fully guaranteed” because there was never a chance the Commanders weren’t going to pay Samuel the $16.6 million he was owed in 2025 when they traded for him.
Were they going to try and make Samuel take a pay cut and risk him sulking his way through a season in which the Commanders could be Super Bowl contenders? Does it hurt them at all to give him what amounts to a smidgeon more guaranteed money plus incentives that, if Samuel hits them, would likely signal the Commanders had already registered a massive return on their investment?
Commanders Pilloried for Free Agent Signings
On The Ringer NFL Show Podcast following the first day of free agency on March 10, co-host Steven Ruiz put the Commanders firmly in his “biggest losers” category.
At the heart of that “loser” label was signing New York Jets defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw to a 3-year, $45 million free agent contract.
Making matters worse? The Commanders released 2-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and watched him sign a 3-year, $60 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings that was widely praised.
“(The Commanders) are a team that doesn’t have any new ideas and it feels like they’re running back their strategy from last year,” Ruiz said. “… Javon Kinlaw, I think, was the biggest shock deal early on. Three years, $45 million for a player that has largely been forgotten since his days in San Francisco … Kinlaw was a free agent last year and signed a 1-year, $7 million contract and had 2 1/2 sacks in 12 games. He wasn’t even on my radar as a Top 50 free agent.”
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