It’s no secret in the NFL that the Washington Commanders believe their Super Bowl window is right now.
Last year at this time, the Commanders seemed lightyears away from reaching a Super Bowl, but things can change quickly in professional football.
The decision to draft Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick last year proved to be the best one the Commanders have made in decades. After a constant carousel of quarterbacks, from Rex Grossman to Kirk Cousins and RG3, Washington has finally found their franchise signal caller.
It became quickly evident that Daniels was special in 2024. He was poised, confident an effective in the biggest moments. On six different occasions, Daniels led the Commanders to victory when they were trailing with two minutes or less remaining. It doesn’t get more clutch than that.
The rookie QB shattered several records and was the runaway winner of NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
After shocking the rest of the league and making it to the first NFC Championship game since 1991, the Commanders brass entered the offseason with a much different mindset than when they kicked off the 2024 season.
They are no longer in rebuild mode. The Washington Commanders believe they can compete for a Super Bowl right now.
Washington’s offseason moves have made that abundantly clear. They acquired jack-of-all-trades WR Deebo Samuel from the 49ers to give Daniels another dominant weapon. The Commanders then surprised everyone by trading for 5-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tonsil.
They re-signed key veterans and locker room leaders Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner.
In the draft, the Commanders used their first round pick to solidify the offensive line, selecting Josh Conerly Jr. who will play in the right tackle spot opposite of Tunsil.
They drafted Ole Miss CB Trey Amos in the second round and used their fourth round pick on speedy Virginia Tech WR Jaylin Lane.
Optimism has never been higher in the nation’s capital heading into 2025.
The one major piece of news to watch has been Terry McLaurin skipping both OTA sessions as he seeks a new contract.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported he believes Washington will ultimately get a new deal done with their star WR, but as each day passes, speculation about a potential trade has only grown.
Bleacher Report laid out a scenario where the Commanders trade McLaurin to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a 2026 2nd-round pick, a 2026 4th-round pick, and former first-round WR Quentin Johnston:
The Los Angeles Chargers are a more obvious trade candidate for a receiver. While L.A. did bring back Mike Williams and use a second-round pick on Tre Harris, receiver depth was one of the team’s biggest issues in 2024.
Ladd McConkey was great as a rookie, but 2023 first-round pick Quentin Johnson has yet to become a dependable target for Justin Herbert. Josh Palmer finished third on the team with 584 receiving yards but is now a member of the Buffalo Bills.
Williams missed most of 2023 with a torn ACL and had just 298 yards with the Steelers and New York Jets last season.
McLaurin would walk into L.A. as Herbert’s top perimeter target and would instantly elevate the passing game. For a team looking to leapfrog the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West and make a deep postseason push, that would be huge.
And like the Cardinals ($40.9 million), the Chargers should have the cap space ($27.9 million) needed to work out a long-term extension with McLaurin.
Los Angeles could send Johnston to Washington in the deal. While the TCU product hasn’t played up to his draft status yet (1,142 yards in two seasons), he has intriguing upside, is only 23 years old and is starting to adapt to the NFL game.
“Going into that second year last year, I feel like a lot of stuff slowed down for me,” Johnston said, per Omar Navarro of the Chargers’ official website.
With up to three years left on Johnston’s rookie contract—including the fifth-year option—he could be valuable enough for Washington to justify a Day-2 pick swap instead of an outright second-rounder.
