Marcus Mariota on Re-Signing with Commanders: "Feels Right for Me"

Quarterback Marcus Mariota was among the double digit free agents waiting to see how the open market would materialize, noting he drew interest from teams that "never felt right like this," making his decision to re-sign with the Washington Commanders official this week.

Mariota is coming off a 2025 season where he appeared in 11 games and eight starts, throwing for nearly 1,700 yards and ten touchdowns against seven interceptions while completing just 61% of his passes. The expectation ahead of the offseason was a return was a realistic possibility, but Mariota would evaluate the market for potential starting jobs that could materialize. But he admitted that a lot of the outside interest "never really felt right like this."

All roads led back to Washington, cementing him as the veteran backup for the third consecutive season.

"This feels right for me. Love to play, would love to get the chance to go do it, but I really find this kind of mentor role really rewarding, and I'm appreciate the fact that they wanted me back," Mariota told reporters. "And we'll see what it all looks like, but I'm excited to kind of navigate all these new challenges together, and like I said, I love being in the quarterback room with these guys."

But there will be a little bit of change in his third season with the franchise.

Head coach Dan Quinn made the decision to part ways with coordinator Kliff Kingsbury days after the end of the 2025 season - and one day after his end of season press conference. But the replacement served as a familiar name for those inside the building with David Blough now stepping into a coordinator role in just his third year of coaching. 

While the offensive scheme is expected to shift away from the no huddle tempo under Kingsbury to a traditional under center offense expected to feature the run game, being back alongside his former assistant quarterbacks coach isn't lost on him after finding out "early in the offseason" that Kingsbury was not expected to return.

"From the first time I met Blough, like you could tell how smart he was and just an unbelievable person. Not only would he just drive our entire quarterback room with competition and all that kind of stuff, but like he was adamant, day in and day out, of providing whatever we needed, trying to make us the best version of ourselves. And when you build a relationship with somebody like that, you can't help but just try to be a part of it."

Mariota also admitted that location was something that he and his family have prioritized when in free agency, adding the desire for the Hawaiian to head back west. But he also admitted that prioritizing the fit, culture and system was as important if not more, making Washington the clear answer with his status settled shortly after the legal tampering window officially opened on Monday.

"Being able to be in a great quarterback room like this, to be around [offensive coordinator David] Blough and to see this system come to life was a challenge and an opportunity I didn't want to pass up."