The Commanders have 5 picks available to help fill out the 90-man offseason roster this weekend
Recent roster additions
Washington has made only one roster addition since the last roster & depth chart update; the soon-to-be-39-year-old veteran quarterback Josh Johnson has returned to Washington where, back in 2018, he achieved his only career win as a starter.
Add newly signed 39-yr-old QB Josh Johnson to the long list of Commanders players on the Veteran Benefit contract structure, saving about $140k in cap space in ’25.
I think that makes 21 of these contracts for nearly $3m in cap savings.https://t.co/JQGMkpoNcj pic.twitter.com/JpqbJYmjaK
— Bill-in-Bangkok (@billhorgan2005) April 16, 2025
Raising the floor
GM Adam Peters spent the offseason raising and reinforcing the ‘floor’ of the Commanders roster. He traded for a pair of offensive starters in LT Laremy Tunsil and WR Deebo Samuel, and inked contracts with 30 veteran free agents, 19 of whom return from last year’s roster.
That hard work has left Washington, still, with some ‘thin’ position groups on the roster but no obvious holes that have to be filled by players selected in this weekend’s draft. That should free up Adam Peters to focus on adding talented players with upside at whatever position group they are available as well as giving him the freedom to make trades in an effort to optimize Washington’s return on its current draft capital.
Commanders current 75-man offseason roster presented graphically as a depth chart
The numbers that appear beside some players’ names are 2025 cap hits per Over the Cap. I have not included cap hits below $1.5m.
Please note that assigned positions and color coding are my own personal opinions. They do not necessarily represent the thinking of Washington’s coaches or front office, nor are they necessarily consistent with fan consensus. This chart represents my personal interpretation, and may not reflect the thoughts of other writers on Hogs Haven. Finally, this is not a “true” depth chart; rather, it is a graphic representation of the current roster, with each player listed only once. Some subjectivity is involved in deciding, for example, whether to list a player as a slot or wide receiver, a slot or wide CB, or a guard or tackle as well as indicating starters and backups where there is not genuine clarity. The most obvious examples of this are at the CB position with Noah Igbinoghene, Mike Sainristil and Jonathan Jones, but there are others.
The Commanders currently have 75 players under contract for 2025; they have 40 offensive players, 32 defensive players, and 3 special teams specialists (punter, kicker, long snapper).
Raising the ceiling
The most commonly cited roster need of late seems to be DE/edge rusher. I don’t think many people would be surprised to see the Commanders go that direction at some point in the first two rounds of the draft, but experience with Adam Peters indicates that he is likely going to be motivated to select the best player available, almost regardless of postion, as he said he did a year ago when he picked DT Johnny Newton 36th overall despite having a pair of pro bowl tackles as starters in Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen.
Fan Duel Odds on first player selected by the Commanders
In the most recent Reacts survey, edge rusher was the most popular answer among Hogs Haven readers when asked about the first position they expect to be drafted this weekend.
Check the most current odds at FanDuel
Trading back?
Of course, the Commanders’ initial selection of the draft may not happen in the first round; with only five picks in hand, Washington may try to find a trade partner for its first- or second-round pick in order to get at least one more bite at the apple.
Multiple trade scenarios have been proffered in national media, blogs, podcasts, radio talk shows and in the comments section of Hogs Haven. There seems to be a strong feeling that if AP can find a dance partner, he’ll make at least one trade to acquire more picks.
In fact, at the end of March, those responding to a Reacts survey here on Hogs Haven indicated a strong preference for Adam Peters to trade back from the #29 pick and to pick the best player available when he made the selection.
Focus on the best player available
Peters and Quinn, having leveraged the skills of then-rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels into an appearance in the NFC Championship Game last season, appear to have a tiger by the tail.
The challenge now is to take advantage of the opportunity by building an immediately competitive roster while not losing sight of longer-range goals. Adam Peters invested draft picks into the two major trades for Tunsil and Samuel, but has also stated and demonstrated a desire to hold onto enough draft capital to keep adding young talent that will be important to team success beyond 2025 and 2026.
A good player drafted in nearly any position group outside of quarterback, punter or long snapper is likely to strengthen the roster.
The curtain on Act Two of Adam Peters’ tenure as GM has already been raised with the acquisition of veteran players in March, but the spotlight will shine particularly brightly this weekend as he faces the challenge of parlaying five draft picks into the roster talent that the Commanders need to build on last year’s success.
Draft details
The draft kicks off at 8pm tonight, and continues with the second round starting at 7pm on Friday, and the final day of the draft at noon on Saturday.
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