Commanders granted permission to speak with Raiders’ assistant

The Commanders will speak to a 10-year NFL veteran for a role of the defensive staff.

New Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn wasted no time making his first coaching hires. Shortly after officially being named head coach, Quinn landed his offensive and defensive coordinators.

On Sunday night, the Commanders hired Kliff Kingsbury, the former Cardinals coach, as offensive coordinator, while Joe Whitt Jr. followed Quinn from Dallas to become the Commanders’ new defensive coordinator.

Now, it’s time for Quinn to fill out the rest of his coaching staff.

A possible name has emerged as Washington’s next secondary coach.

Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Commanders requested — and were granted permission — to speak with defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Jason Simmons.

Simmons spent last season with the Raiders and was with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 and 2021 in the same roles. Before coming to Carolina, Simmons spent nine seasons with the Packers, where he worked with Whitt.

A fifth-round pick in the 1998 NFL draft, Simmons was a college teammate of Pat Tillman. He played 10 NFL seasons with the Steelers and Texans.