It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…
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NFL teams — particularly those that need to open up cap space — have already begun releasing veteran players who were, prior to release, under contract in 2025.
Those players become immediate free agents, able to sign with any team right away. This contrasts with players on expiring contracts, who will become free agents at the start of the new league year (4pm on March 12th, 2025).
GMs who are trying to beef up their offseason rosters ahead of March’s free agent frenzy and April’s draft may want to take a close look at these veterans, many of whom are older, and may need to accept a short-term, low-dollar contract to stay in the league for another season or two.
A few of the players released this week:
- TE Durham Smythe
- RB Raheem Mostert
- CB Kendall Fuller
- OLB Preston Smith
Three of the players in this list were cut by the Dolphins this week, which is no surprise because Over the Cap projects Miami’s Effective Cap Space to be $13.7m over the cap in 2025 even after cutting these three veterans.
Let’s take a brief look at these 4 players, each of whom plays a position at which the Commanders need to build quality depth.
TE Durham Smythe
Smythe was a 4th round pick of the Dolphins in 2018, and has spent his entire career in Miami. Over his 7-year career, he has played in 112 games with 74 starts. He is a capable pass catcher (75.4% career completion rate) who averaged 186 receiving yards per season, but with two seasons (‘21 & ‘23) with over 350 yards each. With a 61.7% success rate, he has been a productive receiver when targeted.
Annual PFF blocking grades that range from 53.6 to 68.3 indicate that he is also a capable blocker. The 29-yr-old out of Notre Dame is 6’6”, 246 pounds, and would likely be the kind of all-round TE that could help Washington bridge the gap between recalibration and perennial playoff contender.
Smythe, who was set to count $4.8m against the Dolphins 2025 cap space, could likely be signed on a 1- or 2-year deal averaging less than the $3.9m APY extension he signed with Miami in 2023.
RB Raheem Mostert
Mostert bounced around the league for about three years after going undrafted in 2015 before bursting into the national NFL consciousness in 2019 with the 49ers, when he ran for 772 yards at 5.6 yards per carry. In 2020, he ran for over 550 yards in just 8 games due to a pair of ankle injuries that put him on IR twice. A week 1 knee injury limited his 2021 season to just 2 carries, bringing an end to his career with the 49ers.
Mostert signed with the Dolphins in 2022 free agency, having been with them for one game in 2015. He put together two good seasons, rushing for 891 and 1,012 yards in ‘22 and ‘23, respectively. In 2023, he scored 18 rushing touchdowns and earned Pro Bowl honors. He holds the record for the Dolphins player with the most touchdowns in a single regular season in franchise history for his 20 total TDs in 2023.
Last season, De’Von Achane emerged as Miami’s clear RB1 with a team-high 907 yards rushing on 203 carries and six touchdowns, making Mostert an expendable cap casualty.
Mostert was set to count for $4m against Miami’s cap in 2025. That would seem to set an aspirational ceiling for how much the 32-yr-old running back could expect to sign for in free agency.
CB Kendall Fuller
Kendall Fuller was, of course, drafted by the Redskins in the 3rd round of the 2016 draft, and quickly became a fan favorite when he played in 13 games (476 snaps) as a rookie. He was traded to Kansas City in the 2018 offseason as part of deal that brought Alex Smith to Washington. That worked out okay for Fuller, who earned a super bowl ring in his 2 years with the Chiefs.
Fuller returned to Washington in 2020, playing the full 4 years of Ron Rivera’s tenure. He was arguably the best corner on the Washington team during those four seasons.
A year ago, Fuller signed with the Dolphins in free agency, inking a 2-year, $15m contract. I was personally disappointed that Adam Peters and Dan Quinn hadn’t held onto him.
He only played 11 games for the Dolphins in ‘24 and ended the season on IR due to multiple concussions and a late-season knee injury, but when he was healthy, he was a starter.
He got generally good grades from PFF, though his coverage grade was down a bit this season.
The Dolphins are generally a zone team, while the Commanders prefer to play more man cover. Fuller might be a better scheme fit in Washington. His stats (completion %, yrds per rec, TDs allowed, etc) were comparable to his most recent 4 seasons in Washington.
Fuller’s release cleared $2.7m in needed cap space for the Dolphins
My feeling is that Fuller could be a solid signing for the Commanders if he was on the kind of contract Michael Davis signed with Washington last year (1 yr/$3.5m per year) as a rotational DB with the ability to play wide, in the slot or at safety — IF his knee is healthy. When he injured it in late-December, coach Mike McDaniel described it as “week to week” before he was put on IR for Weeks 17 & 18.
I’d see Fuller as a giant upgrade to Ben St-Juste, and a guy who would probably be very happy to be back in DC to finish his career. I wouldn’t want to pay more than $4m on a one-year deal to get him on the roster.
OLB Preston Smith
Preston Smith was drafted by the Redskins in the 2nd round of the 2015 draft, a year ahead of Kendall Fuller. He had a solid but unspectacular 4 seasons with the ‘Skins, collecting 24.5 sacks while playing in 64 games and starting every game outside of his rookie season.
The 27-year-old Smith signed with the Packers in free agency in 2019 and went on to have the best season of his career with 12 sacks playing opposite Za’Darius Smith.
His sack production from 2020-2024 returned to about the same levels as during his Washington tenure — 34.5 sacks in 5 seasons.
Last year, Smith was dealt to the Steelers at the trade deadline on November 5th. Apparently, Smith asked to be traded because he preferred to play OLB in a 3-4 scheme as opposed to the 4-3 scheme he was part of with the Packers.
That could be problematic when it comes to Smith’s ‘fit’ with the Commanders, who generally employ 4 down linemen, though Dante Fowler and Frankie Luvu have both been productive as pass rushers from the LB position.
The Steelers saved $12m in cap space with Smith’s release.
I’m not sure that Smith would have any interest in returning to Washington or playing in Joe Whitt’s scheme, and he also may not be interested in the type of contract he is likely to be offered as a 32-year-old pass rusher coming off a ‘down’ year (4.5 sacks and a healthy scratch for Week 17 and the wildcard playoff game), but if so, he could step into the role filled by Dante Fowler in ‘24, likely as a somewhat less effective pass rusher but stouter run defender, based on PFF grades.
