It’s been an offseason of change for the Washington Commanders. The most significant change occurred last July when Josh Harris and his partners bought the team from Dan Snyder.
In January, Harris hired Adam Peters as general manager, and then they hired Dan Quinn as head coach. Once Quinn put together his coaching staff, their attention focused on the roster.
When free agency opened in March, no team was busier than Washington. The Commanders agreed to deals with several players in the opening few days of free agency. In total, Washington added over 20 outside free agents and chose to sign only a few of its own free agents.
The 2024 NFL draft followed, in which the Commanders selected nine players and signed 11 undrafted free agents.
That’s a lot of turnovers, but it was needed.
Several of the free agents Peters signed were one-year deals, allowing the Commanders to build veteran depth for 2024 while also retaining future financial flexibility.
So, how much turnover has Washington had this offseason? According to Jason Fitzgerald of overthecap.com, the Commanders have the fewest percent of players returning from last season at 57%.
Yes the #Commanders have the fewest percent of players returning from 2023 at 57% pic.twitter.com/wuecjEyoLt
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) May 6, 2024
In the NFL’s salary-cap era, it’s difficult to turn over that much of a roster in one offseason. Fortunately for Washington, everything lined up perfectly, as it had significant salary-cap room and several players on expiring contracts, allowing the Commanders to reshape the roster in Peters’ image.