Washington Commanders Free Agency: DL Jalyn Holmes re-signed on 1-year deal

Jalyn’s back

Free agency has slowed down and we’re entering the next phase as teams continue to tweak their rosters before next months draft. Teams have re-signed most of the players they planned to bring back, and are looking for role players and camp bodies with potential.

Defensive lineman Jalyn Holmes was a late addition to the Commanders roster last season, signing with them on October 16th, two days after getting released by the New York Jets. He played in 11 regular season games, and all three playoff games. He got his only start of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round of the playoffs. Holmes had 2 sacks, 14 combined tackles and 5 tackles for loss with Washington and another three tackles during the playoffs.

Bill’s reaction:

On Sunday morning, I published a review of my pre-free agency thoughts on the Commanders 30 2024 free agents. Here’s what I wrote about Jalyn Holmes:

With the signing of Kinlaw and Goldman, and the possibility of drafting another young player, Holmes could be the odd man out, though I’m surprised to see Viliami Feheko and Norrell Pollard on under contract while Holmes is unsigned. I’m not sure he’s gone just yet.

Those words turned out to be mildly prophetic as Holmes’ agent announced Sunday night that the 29-yr-old has re-signed with Washington, bringing the team’s current number of players reported to be under contract to 72.

Jalyn Holmes joined the Commanders mid-season in 2024. He played 265 total defensive snaps between the two teams, with 162 coming in 11 games with Washington. He played well as a backup, accounting for 14 tackles and 2 sacks in his limited snaps in those 11 games. At just over $1m for the 2024 season, Holmes offered good value and depth on the defensive line.