The Front Office: Adam Peters and Roster Construction

[burgold]

What’s the alternative when you’ve deemed that all but 5 players from the previous regime need replacing within 3 years?

Tress Way
Jeremy Reaves
Chris Paul
Terry Mclaurin
Daron Payne


There is no way to find long term solutions at all of those vacated positions… there are a few from the 2024 offseason that we may have liked a longer signing of but that season was surprising to everyone. Would have loved to have Chinn, Zaccheus, some others, but there were plenty that were fine letting go. To this point Noah I and CRod are the only two of our free agents that have signed elsewhere… not exactly a bunch of missed opportunities for long term answers

Yeah, and it's probably really four. Everyone knows Payne is on borrowed time. I can't see them re-signing him next year.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I will keep saying this: you are pointing to a symptom and ignoring the problem.

The problem is none of the 5 second/third round draft pics from 2024 are 100% lock starters, with the exception of maybe sainristil.

And the Lattimore trade blew up and cost them potentially 2 players who are at least depth guys.

If those guys hit then you don’t need to sign 1 year guys or FA guys to fill out the roster, they’re already on the team.

 

[heisenberg]

What’s the alternative when you’ve deemed that all but 5 players from the previous regime need replacing within 3 years?

Tress Way
Jeremy Reaves
Chris Paul
Terry Mclaurin
Daron Payne


There is no way to find long term solutions at all of those vacated positions… there are a few from the 2024 offseason that we may have liked a longer signing of but that season was surprising to everyone. Would have loved to have Chinn, Zaccheus, some others, but there were plenty that were fine letting go. To this point Noah I and CRod are the only two of our free agents that have signed elsewhere… not exactly a bunch of missed opportunities for long term answers

And thats mostly the previous, previous regime.

My god Rivera was truly pathetic at drafting.

Of the 32 players he drafted i think theres 6 left and only one would be considered difficult to replace, that being cosmi.

Bates is a good blocking tight end and Martin, butler, brown and Paul are all ehh.

That's why we need to turn the roster over so drastically every year until weve had enough drafts to overcome complete incompetence.

 

[Riggo44]

Of the 32 players he drafted i think theres 5 left and only one would be considered difficult to replace, that being cosmi.

He is literally the only starter in 4 years of drafting

 

[heisenberg]

He is literally the only starter in 4 years of drafting

Him and curl but unfortunately we threw him out with the bathwater.

Oh and young but he became a reclamation project too.

 

[DWinzit]

Yes AP didn't inherit a great roster and that does suck

That should have led to all the more reason to sign players they liked to longer than one year contracts. Keep some semblance of continuity

In 2024 they only signed Luvu, Armsttrong, Ekeler, Biadasz, Armsttronga and Allegretti to multi year deals. That was APs first year when he was putting his vision into action. It's like he didn't have the confidence to sign their FA selections to more yet like many of you are suggesting, AP knew there were not many players on rookie contracts.

Last year was year two of a rebuild and they only signed FA they signed to multi-year deals were Kinlaw, Harris, and Bellore along with giving Bates a new 3 year contract. That is not how you build. Find the players that fit and commit more.

Would it have been awful each year to have signed a couple more players to multiyear contracts?

If you don't have many players on the roster committed for more than a year you need to hit on your draft picks.

It also means maybe last year you should have thought about trading down to gain a couple more players that can fill roster holes and are on a 4 year cap friendly rookie commitment.

And stop trading away draft picks!

Make better coordinator decisions. Two years into a rebuild and now you are changing offensive and defensive schemes creating a need to change some personnel.

Yet again, some 1 year contracts are needed and work great but add more time to more of the contracts. Your staff has done their homework to get you the players you want, give the another year or two It makes things more cap friendly and gives the team more consistency

 

[heisenberg]

Yes AP didn't inherit a great roster and that does suck

That should have led to all the more reason to sign players they liked to longer than one year contracts. Keep some semblance of continuity

In 2024 they only signed Luvu, Armsttrong, Ekeler, Biadasz, Armsttronga and Allegretti to multi year deals. That was APs first year when he was putting his vision into action. It's like he didn't have the confidence to sign their FA selections to more yet like many of you are suggesting, AP knew there were not many players on rookie contracts.

Last year was year two of a rebuild and they only signed FA they signed to multi-year deals were Kinlaw, Harris, and Bellore along with giving Bates a new 3 year contract. That is not how you build. Find the players that fit and commit more.

Would it have been awful each year to have signed a couple more players to multiyear contracts?

If you don't have many players on the roster committed for more than a year you need to hit on your draft picks.

It also means maybe last year you should have thought about trading down to gain a couple more players that can fill roster holes and are on a 4 year cap friendly rookie commitment.

And stop trading away draft picks!

Make better coordinator decisions. Two years into a rebuild and now you are changing offensive and defensive schemes creating a need to change some personnel.

Yet again, some 1 year contracts are needed and work great but add more time to more of the contracts. Your staff has done their homework to get you the players you want, give the another year or two It makes things more cap friendly and gives the team more consistency

You're making a few different arguments now, and several i agree with.

Unfortunately when we use the power of hindsight its easy to see where we should have done this and shouldn't have done that.

For example, stop trading away picks, yes that would be nice and we'd have multiple contributors had it not been for the Lattimore trade but we wouldn't have Tunsil.

Better coordinator decisions, yup cant argue with that one.

But the one year deals, who in the last two years did we lose to one year deals that you think we should have signed long term?

Who this year? As has been stated we've only lost a couple guys so far and nobody crippling.

There's only so much money to throw around each year in free agency and mistakes are going to happen you have to choose your big shots carefully and the rest you give short deals knowing if you harbor a good working environment the ones you want to keep you can re-sign.

When we string together more good drafts and free agency periods the one year deals will shrink im sure of it, until then I dont see any other choice besides the mistake of signing bad contracts.

 

[ES1974]

The biggest mistake this Front Office made was thinking we were better than we actually were after the 2024 season. That season was like a sweet spot of things falling our way.

From Hail Mary passes to record breaking 4th down conversion rates. 20 from 23 in the regular season or something, whilst that is only one stat, re 4th downs, it had a massive impact on us somehow landing at 12-5. And of course, Jayden was sublime.

I personally think AP and Co misjudged where we were on our build, starting running too soon, and basically fell over in 2025.

I see that as a 2 year setback, will take this offseason and next to sort this roster out.

 

[Primus Porcus]

And thats mostly the previous, previous regime.

My god Rivera was truly pathetic at drafting.

Of the 32 players he drafted i think theres 6 left and only one would be considered difficult to replace, that being cosmi.

Bates is a good blocking tight end and Martin, butler, brown and Paul are all ehh.

That's why we need to turn the roster over so drastically every year until weve had enough drafts to overcome complete incompetence.

Yeah I missed a couple but the point remains

 

[Boone]

One alternative is not trading picks for an oft-injured CB. Another alternative is not giving away a draft pick for a 1 year rental WR and then not re-sign him.

There have been opportunities missed.

 

[KDawg]

One alternative is not trading picks for an oft-injured CB. Another alternative is not giving away a draft pick for a 1 year rental WR and then not re-sign him.

There have been opportunities missed.

And we have several of them.

This offseason seems to signal the beginning of a different philosophy, but I hope it’s not too late.

 

[ES1974]

There’s time for him to trade for a receiver yet.

 

[DWinzit]

And we have several of them.

This offseason seems to signal the beginning of a different philosophy, but I hope it’s not too late.

Agreed and another movie in the right direction is not signing ancient players that you hope you can get one year out of. Sign younger players that you want sticking around and it looks like we are turning the corner on this too!

 

[DWinzit]

You're making a few different arguments now, and several i agree with.

Unfortunately when we use the power of hindsight its easy to see where we should have done this and shouldn't have done that.

For example, stop trading away picks, yes that would be nice and we'd have multiple contributors had it not been for the Lattimore trade but we wouldn't have Tunsil.

Better coordinator decisions, yup cant argue with that one.

But the one year deals, who in the last two years did we lose to one year deals that you think we should have signed long term?

Who this year? As has been stated we've only lost a couple guys so far and nobody crippling.

There's only so much money to throw around each year in free agency and mistakes are going to happen you have to choose your big shots carefully and the rest you give short deals knowing if you harbor a good working environment the ones you want to keep you can re-sign.

When we string together more good drafts and free agency periods the one year deals will shrink im sure of it, until then I dont see any other choice besides the mistake of signing bad contracts.

Yeah the arguments all go hand in hand and were mostly brought into play by different posters remarks

I am sure AP in hindsight would have begun this rebuild with some different players and contracts in 2024...and of course at least a different DC if not OC.

When rebuilding you may need a few more one year deals but not as many as they did. The reason some of the players aren't wanted by other teams when becoming FAs is because the preexisting roster was talent deprived and AP brought in a lot of old players...also resigning many of the them to a second one year deals instead of trying a real rebuild with a youth movement. He was just pushing the chips in for one more year. All poor decisions. Sprinkle a few vet leaders in with younger players that fit the scheme and sign the younger players to longer term contracts.

Bottom line is you don't want to turnover a third of the roster every year and you don't want your roster to be loaded with 32 year old players. I mean there had still been talk of possibly bringing back Wagner and Ertz to their third one year contracts...seriously we need to move from this thought pattern. Good news is, it looks like we might be. What a great talent haul of FAs, but we still have a ways to go

 

[burgold]

The biggest mistake this Front Office made was thinking we were better than we actually were after the 2024 season. That season was like a sweet spot of things falling our way.

.

I actually think (other than the trades) it might have been the opposite. Peters was so tepid in free agency, opting for patch players on one year contracts that he hoped he could squeeze one more productive year out of that I think he was trying to slow build while working the draft. I think if Peters really thought we were good he would have gone for some bigger moves. Now, like I said, the trades for Deebo and Tunsil undermine my argument, but there were pretty much no free agent signings of note. That's not usually what a team does when they really think they are one game away.

To me, the purpose of the one-year contracts was because he was trying to buy time and stay afloat until the Commanders could get good.

 

[Bulldog]

At the heart of roster construction is the draft.

The 2024 draft for Washington even two years later has netted us two starters in Daniels and Sainristil and a bunch of question marks and depth players.

I am sure that was not Peters' intention - he thought a number of these players like Newton, Coleman and Sinnott were going to step up and take on regular contributing roles to ease the transition of older players OUT in 2025.

Instead we resigned 30 plus year old players specifically BECAUSE these players were not ready and able to contribute at a high level after their rookie seasons.

Eddie Goldman at 32 was an example of a player we went out and acquired specifically because Newton could not be a true depth player behind Daron Payne because he showed little ability to stop the run inside.

 

[RedWolf]

For the most part AP had to gut the entire roster that he inherited. It has only been 2 years of drafts and now into the third year of free agency. Not to mention new ownership, complete coaching staff overhaul, new scouting staff overhaul, new training facilities, new brand design, a new stadium being planned etc. Do not think for a second that he doesn't have some input and involvement to a certain degree or another.

No GM is perfect in the draft nor in free agency. They all have their hits and misses.

I think some people have their expectations set too high and need to see the glass more full than empty. In the short amount of time since this team was purchased we have come a long way. We are not there yet but I think we are headed down the right path.

Try to be a little more patient. I guess 25 years of misery can do that

 

[Commander Wraith]

At the heart of roster construction is the draft.

The 2024 draft for Washington even two years later has netted us two starters in Daniels and Sainristil and a bunch of question marks and depth players.

I am sure that was not Peters' intention - he thought a number of these players like Newton, Coleman and Sinnott were going to step up and take on regular contributing roles to ease the transition of older players OUT in 2025.

Instead we resigned 30 plus year old players specifically BECAUSE these players were not ready and able to contribute at a high level after their rookie seasons.

Eddie Goldman at 32 was an example of a player we went out and acquired specifically because Newton could not be a true depth player behind Daron Payne because he showed little ability to stop the run inside.

Goldman and Newton both averaged 24 snaps a game, so I’m not sure about your last statement, but I agree with the rest of your point. These 1 year deals are to 1) open up the draft, and 2) to provide a baseline of talent/competition. You then raise that floor via draft picks stepping up and/or FAs outperforming expectations (along with coaching, scheme, play calling, luck, etc).

I do think our draft picks have been somewhat underwhelming (2024 more so than 2025), and FA in 2025 was very underwhelming (though injuries had an effect, just as good health had an effect in 2024). Hopefully this FA pans out; it looks good on paper at least. Our roster churn looks like it is slowly decreasing, but we need (to continue) to trend upwards in terms of drafting success to further reduce that churn... which is obviously harder to do with fewer picks.

 

[Boone]

There is not a single person on this forum who is 100% negative or positive. Everyone here is a mix, some more glass full at present, some more glass empty. The whole reason this forum exists is to discuss and debate. It’s not an echo chamber, and it’s not ever going to be. The only thing we expect is that folks make their arguments with a reasonable degree of respect. And yeah, we all fall a little short at times, but we try hard to keep it friendly.

I don’t think I can make it any clearer than that.

 

[DWinzit]

Here is something that could alter some roster building plans or cap strategies in the future ( I know...Florio...)

Speaking on the Rich Eisen Show, ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio reports the league may propose a rule that limits players to playing in 17 games in order to expand the regular season to 18 games.

As the league continues to push for an 18th regular-season game, Florio reports “there’s an idea floating around” that would limit every player to a maximum of 17 games to sell the expansion of the regular season. Florio does note that QBs, along with kickers and punters, could end up being exempt from these rules, but this would obviously create an interesting wrinkle for teams and fantasy mangers should this come to fruition. While no deal is imminent for an 18th regular-season contest, the belief is that it will be here sooner rather than later.

6m ago
Source: Rich Eisen