Head coach Dan Quinn sheds light into the evaluation process as he looks to right the ship for the Washington Commanders in 2026.
After coordinator searches spanning drastically different ends came to a close late last month, head coach Dan Quinn will be able to officially announce his new coordinators on Tuesday with the Washington Commanders set to host a 1 PM press conference with both offensive coordinator David Blough and defensive coordinator Daronte Jones.
2026 will mark the first season in a coordinator role in the NFL for Jones, and first time ever for Blough, but once tomorrow is over, it'll be a quick next two months filled with several critical front office and roster decisions to make - while still finalizing the rest of the offensive and defensive staff.
For head coach Dan Quinn, part of that is analyzing which of his over 30 available free agents are likely to return with the running back room a candidate for debate with Chris Rodriguez Jr. entering the offseason as a restricted free agent.
The first deadline comes less than one month away with a chance for teams to designate players by 4 PM on March 3, though that isn't likely to materialize into anything for Washington this offseason. It could have an impact on the free agent market especially at wide receiver with George Pickens expected to be tagged by the Cowboys.
Nearly one week after that, free agency kicks off with nearly $68 million to work with in cap prior to any roster decisions. But the biggest question is how the Commanders asses what moves to make this question.
"You also really dig in on your own team first," head coach Dan Quinn said in an interview with JP Finlay. "You want to do those evaluations before anything else. Where are we? And you could use the words like musts or needs or wants. Who do we have to put into different places?"
The Commanders are expected to address the pass rusher while general manager Adam Peters previously transparent that the team could get younger on defense. Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey has drawn continued praise as the fanbase's top preference with the chance to add a young, impact piece at a position of need, but the growing question about whether he'll remain on the board at seventh overall could be the bigger question mark.
Of course, cornerback Marshon Lattimore also enters the rest of the offseason as a prime roster cut candidate with Washington able to move on from a disappointing stint with a release adding $18.5 million in cap space with no additional dead money.
Tight end, wide receiver, cornerback, running back and safety are among the other expected positions of focus while Washington enters the offseason with the fifth-most cap space across the NFL.
But with a long list of stay or go decisions and Tuesday offering insight into the new vision each coordinator is looking to turn around a team one year removed from an NFC Championship game appearance, Quinn and company will get a chance to start making that a reality ahead of a critical March.