The Washington Commanders have released defensive tackle Jonathan Allen after failing to find a trading partner for the former Alabama All-American.
At the NFL Scouting Combine last week, Washington general manager Adam Peters told reporters the Commanders had given Allen permission to look for a new team.
Now, Allen will do so as a free agent after Washington announced his release on Friday.
Allen’s release sliced $16.471 million off Washington’s salary-cap obligations for the 2025 season. Allen was entering the final season of a four-year, $72 million contract extension
In 2024, his eighth season with Washington, Allen missed nine games because of a torn pectoral muscle sustained on Oct. 13. He made it back to the field to start all three of the Commanders’ playoff contests as Washington reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991.
At Alabama, Allen swept the national Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2016 by winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award. He also won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Rotary Lombardi Award as the nation’s best lineman and the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s best defensive end. Allen was a unanimous All-American in 2016, when he earned All-SEC selection for third season in a row.
Allen joined Washington as the 17th selection in the 2017 NFL Draft. A Pro Bowl selection in 2021 and 2022, Allen ranks second in franchise history in tackles for loss and quarterback hits and 10th in sacks.
With Allen’s departure, the Commanders have Daron Payne and Jer’Zhan Newton as their top defensive tackles. A former Shades Valley High School and Alabama standout, Payne has two seasons remaining on a four-year, $90 million contract extension. A second-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, Newton started 11 regular-season games and played 587 defensive snaps as a rookie.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.