The Washington Commanders suffered their fourth consecutive defeat on Sunday Night Football and lost Jayden Daniels to a dislocated elbow in the process. Afterwards, the discussion immediately turned to what Adam Peters might do at the 2025 trade deadline.
This is a lost season for Washington, and the Commanders feature several grizzled veterans who could be considered ideal trade chips. Tight end Zach Ertz and linebackers Bobby Wagner and Von Miller all came to mind. Others, such as offensive linemen Nick Allegretti and Andrew Wylie, defensive tackle Daron Payne, and wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., were also floated as possibilities.
As it turned out, the Commanders were neither buyers nor sellers at the deadline, and the reason why is obvious.
Commanders' potentially disposable assets were no use to contending teams
The harsh reality of being a trade deadline seller is that other teams have to want the players you want to offload. They have to like them badly enough to give you sufficient compensation in return. If you're an aspiring playoff contender, are you really going to give up draft picks for any of those players mentioned above?
It was a quiet trade deadline across the entire league, with only a small handful of moves being made. The two headliners were both courtesy of the New York Jets, who sent cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys.
Those are Pro Bowl-caliber players in their primes, who teams would understandably be willing to take on despite the high price tag. The Commanders can't afford to give away anyone like that — offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, for example — as they're a team still focused on long-term success with Daniels on his rookie contract for three more years.
The Commanders were in an impossible situation here. They couldn't trade anyone too valuable, but there was no market for any of the players they should've been shopping.
The production of aging veterans can usually be matched, if not exceeded, by younger, cheaper in-house options, and general managers of contending teams aren't stupid. They're not going to go all-in for an Ertz or a Wagner just because of the name recognition factor.
That leaves Washington forced to ride it out for the rest of 2025 with a roster that desperately needs to get younger, faster, and more explosive. But the Commanders will have to wait until the offseason to blow up this year's failed experiment.