[ad_1]
The fate of the No. 1 pick, and the Commanders’ chances of entering contention, will become clear over the next two weeks. Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles told Chicago media that if the Bears draft a quarterback, they won’t also take Justin Fields. Poles said he would like to “do right by Justin.” which means trading him before the free agent negotiating period opens on March 11, to maximize his return.
If the Bears prefer to keep Fields, they will fuel a bidding war for the No. 1 pick. Poles said they haven’t had “big conversations” about the election, but “everyone wants to take the temperature of what’s going on.”
Chicago’s decision will be important for Washington; The Commanders could move up for Southern California’s Caleb Williams, the presumptive No. 1 pick, or stay put and decide between LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
“You always want to be involved in (the first pick discussions),” Peters said. “Whether you actually pull the trigger or not, that’s a different story.”
Washington focuses on interviews and medical information. Which is a good thing because Williams, Maye and Daniels reportedly won’t be pitching or working out for scouts until their pro days. The quarterbacks who do throw in Indianapolis will do so on Saturday.
Peters emphasized his belief in building through the draft. Yes, that’s cliché GM-speak along the same lines as “keep the main thing the main thing.” But Peters has hinted several times that the Commanders won’t spend much in free agency, despite having nearly $78 million in cap space, one of the highest totals in the league.
“You have to build it responsibly to make it sustainable,” Peters said. “Spending on a group of high-level free agents is probably better in the short term. But are you better off in the long run? Maybe. Maybe not.”
The salary cap increased by $30 million this year, which hurts the Commanders a bit. In theory, the increase affects all teams equally, but in reality this is not the case. Teams that previously had salary problems now have more room for negotiation.
“The value of cap space is asymmetrical,” Eric Eager, vice president of sports analytics company SumerSports, wrote on X. “Lack of cap space is much worse than having plenty of it is good.”
Washington will not tag any players this year, Peters said. Which means if the team doesn’t come to terms with safety Kam Curl, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
Peters said the team has had conversations with Curl’s agents and those conversations will continue before the start of free agency.
“I can only say that playing against him… when I was in San Francisco, he was always one of the best players on defense and (one of) the guys that we had to take care of, a guy that we had to plan the game. stop,” Peters said. “So I have a lot of respect for him. I’ve heard great things about him. … We’re definitely going to explore that and see if he fits into our overall plans.”
Washington has ground to make up. The Commanders were the last of nine teams to hire a head coach and spent the next two weeks building their coaching staff.
Now, Peters said, the team is still “working” on evaluations of its impending free agents. He added that the team hopes to get some clarity on those players this week at the combine; In addition to evaluating draft prospects, teams use this event to talk to agents about players on their rosters and those with expiring deals.
“It’s quite a puzzle you’re putting together,” Peters said. “…We’ll probably make a lot of decisions this week, which will be good before free agency. But we’re still really in the middle of that process.”