The main Panthers-Commanders pipeline effectively closed when the NFC East team fired Ron Rivera, but a recent Carolina linebacker is heading to Washington. The Commanders are signing Krys Barnes, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz tweets.
Spending last season with Carolina, Barnes is better known for his time in Green Bay. For his career, the seventh-year veteran has made 33 starts. Twenty-four of those came with the Packers. In Washington, Barnes will be expected to provide some depth — either as a backup on the 53-man roster or as a practice squad option.
Barnes, 28, did not make the Panthers’ 53-man roster last year but played in seven games (three starts) after moving up from the P-squad. No team signed Barnes in free agency this year, but he will make a mid-camp Washington arrival. Joining the Cardinals in 2023 — after being nontendered as an RFA by Green Bay — Barnes made six starts that year but none in 2024. Re-signing with Arizona in 2024, Barnes played 70% of the Cardinals’ special teams snaps that year.
Washington did not re-sign Bobby Wagner in free agency but made big investments at linebacker in Dan Quinn‘s third offseason. The team signed ex-Chiefs starter Leo Chenal and used the No. 7 overall pick on Sonny Styles. Hybrid player Frankie Luvu is in the final year of his contract. The team also has Quinn-era draftees Jordan Magee and Kain Medrano rostered as depth options.
In addition to the Barnes deal, the Commanders brought in some notable names for a workout. Defensive linemen Jonathan Harris and Maurice Hurst Jr. auditioned for Washington, The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala notes. The team also worked out Blake Watson but signed Craig Reynolds, who was also part of this audition, earlier today.
Hurst has 19 career starts, though only two have come over the past five seasons. Spending the past three years in Cleveland, Hurst was out of the league last season until a late-season arrival on the Browns’ practice squad. A nine-game Broncos starter in their 3-4 scheme, Harris did not make the Vikings’ 53-man roster last summer but landed on Minnesota’s P-squad. The Commanders hired former Vikes DBs coach Daronte Jones as DC this offseason. The Commanders are fairly deep at D-tackle, rostering Daron Payne and Jer’Zhan Newton to go with free agency pickups Tim Settle and Shy Tuttle. Byron Cowart also joined the team last week.