It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…
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One position group that is different from nearly every other on the Commanders roster is quarterback; it is the only position other than right guard at which the Commanders have the clear starter under contractual control through the 2028 season.
No one here needs a recitation of what Jayden Daniels achieved in his rookie season. The biggest question for the Commanders at quarterback is: Who will back up JD5?
2024 roster
Jayden Daniels won Offensive Rookie of the Year by a landslide. He will be the starting quarterback for the Commanders for years to come.
Marcus Mariota, the 32-year-old 10-year veteran and one-time 2nd overall pick in the 2015 draft, was Daniels’ backup. Mariota stepped in when Daniels was injured on the opening drive of the game in Week 7 and led Washington to a dominating 40-7 win over the Panthers. In Week 18, Mariota took over after halftime for a struggling Jayden Daniels and led a come-from-behind victory to secure the team’s 12th win of the season and lock up the #6 seed in the NFC playoffs. Ideally, the backup QB never has to take a snap, but if he does get on the field, then you want him to play like Mariota played in these two games.
Mariota may have done enough to earn a strong offer from another team to compete for a starting role, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sign an extension with the Commanders in an effort to build on what the team accomplished in 2024.
Jeff Driskel was on the 2024 53-man roster all year, but was active for only one game, and took only one offensive snap (vs the Giants in Wk 2). Driskel is set to become a free agent on March 12th; I don’t see him as a priority re-signing, but he cost the Commanders less than $1m in cap space in 2024. I doubt the 32-yr-old QB will have any better offers if the Commanders want to bring him back.
Sam Hartman, an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame and Wake Forest, spent the entire 2024 season on the Commanders’ practice squad. He and Jayden Daniels were reported to be good friends, which may weigh heavily in Hartman’s favor as Adam Peters and Dan Quinn contemplate which low-cost QB should fill the #3 role going forward. Hartman has already been signed to a future contract with Washington for 2025.
2025 Estimated cap space and free agency options
The NFL announced this week that the league-wide salary cap will end up between $277.5m and $281.5m, which was a bit more upside than Over the Cap had previously been counting on. This increased OTC’s estimated salary cap space for every team in the NFL, including, of course, the Commanders.
After OTC split the difference between the high & low estimates from the NFL and adjusted its expected league-wide salary cap number for 2025 to $279.5m, Washington’s available cap space estimates all increased:
The breakdown looks like this:
- Current estimated available cap space (46 players): $82.21m
- Less: Cap space required to sign draft picks: $9.25m
- Add back: Rule of 51 offsets: $2.52m
- 2025 Effective Cap Space: $75.48m
- Less: allowance for injury replacement during season: $5.48m
- 2025 Cap space available for signing/re-signing veteran free agents: $70m
The Commanders have Jayden Daniels and Sam Hartman under contract at the moment. They key question seems to be whether they try to entice Marcus Mariota to return in ‘25, or whether they add a different backup — presumably a moderately-priced veteran free agent — to replace him.
Mariota offers some major advantages in that he has a similar skill set to Daniels, he is already familiar with the offense and the team, he reportedly has a very good relationship with JD5, and he played well in (and won) the two games where he was called upon to play significant snaps last season.
That said, Mariota has the same pedigree as Daniels (Heismann Trophy winner; 2nd overall pick), and — having played well last season — could be viewed as a legitimate starting option for a QB-needy team. If Mariota heads elsewhere for more money or more opportunity, the Commanders would need to replace him — hopefully without dipping too deeply into the salary cap piggy bank.
For a full list of upcoming free agents, CLICK HERE
The list can be sorted by team or position.
One thing that Washington can’t offer to a veteran free agent is any realistic chance of starting (outside of an injury to Daniels), so the backup QB position is going to appeal to and be appropriate for only a certain subset of free agents.
Options in the NFL Draft
Below is a list of lower-ranked college quarterbacks who will be entering the NFL via the draft in April, ranked by CBS Sports. I have focused on later round prospects since no player drafted to the Commanders would have a realistic chance of starting any time in the next several seasons (outside of major injury to Daniels). The days of evaluating the top 3 or 4 QBs in the draft are over for the foreseeable future.
The overall rank in the left column can provide some general guidance about which round each player is expected to be drafted in, though such rankings are highly subjective and likely to change substantially between now and the end of April.
Washington holds the following draft picks (per Tankathon):
