
January 27, 2025
Jayden Daniels was a rookie phenom who will make the Commanders dangerous for the foreseeable future, but Washington still probably has a ways to go before they're among the NFC's elite.
The NFC Championship Game is in the books, and the Philadelphia Eagles are the final team standing in the conference. We have one last obituary to write, for the Washington Commanders.
After a 4-13 season that earned Washington the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, even the most deranged Commanders fans couldn't have possibly predicted that this team would have been playing in the NFC Championship Game.
With that No. 2 overall pick, the Commanders selected Jayden Daniels, an instant star player who arguably had the best rookie quarterback season in NFL history. As long as Daniels can stay healthy, the Commanders are going to be dangerous for the foreseeable future.
They'll also be a fascinating team to watch in free agency this offseason, because of the smart way they ran their offseason a year ago. As we noted in our offseason grades last year, the Commanders entered free agency with the most cap space in the NFL. After signing around 20 outside players, they still had about $50 million in cap space, per OverTheCap. They improved their roster with a combination long-term pieces (Frankie Luvu, Tyler Biadasz, Nick Allegretti, Dorance Armstrong, etc.) and short-term fixes on one-year deals (Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, Austin Ekeler, etc.) who they can move on from this offseason if they so choose.
They improved their roster to a level where the rookie quarterback wouldn't be surrounded by utter garbage while simultaneously maintaining the flexibility to get more aggressive with long-term answers in 2025, when they'll once again be loaded up with cap space. They currently have more than $87 million to play with, third-most in the NFL, per OverTheCap.
Any team drafting a quarterback should study the Commanders' 2024 offseason.
But ultimately, the Commanders got thoroughly outclassed in the NFC Championship Game by an Eagles team that was better than them at almost every position on the field, including at quarterback, which is where they were thought to have their one significant edge. Oh, and the Eagles happen to play in the same division as them, so their quest to become one of the NFC's elite pretty much runs through Philly.
Their ascension to the upper echelon of the NFC seems so close, but more realistically it's probably still a ways away.
1) Eagles (17-3): Since Howie Roseman reclaimed his spot as the Eagles' general manager:
NFC | Playoffs | NFCCG appearance | SB appearance | SB win |
Eagles | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Rams | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Buccaneers | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
49ers | 4 | 4 | 2 | - |
Falcons | 2 | 1 | 1 | - |
Packers | 6 | 3 | - | - |
Vikings | 4 | 1 | - | - |
Saints | 4 | 1 | - | - |
Lions | 3 | 1 | - | - |
Commanders | 2 | 1 | - | - |
Cowboys | 5 | - | - | - |
Seahawks | 5 | - | - | - |
Giants | 2 | - | - | - |
Bears | 2 | - | - | - |
Panthers | 1 | - | - | - |
Cardinals | 1 | - | - | - |
It's probably pretty safe to call the Eagles the most successful franchise in the NFC over the last decade.
But can they take down the Chiefs?
Last week: 1
And that does it for our NFC Hierarchy/Obituary this season. 🪦
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