#brandon-scherff

#brandon-scherff

Over the years, Washington has been one of the worst teams in the league at collecting compensatory draft picks, so it was a pleasant surprise when - for the first time since 2019 - Washington generated two compensatory picks for the 2023 draft last year.The comp pick capital for those two picks was gained by letting Brandon Scherff and Tim Settle walk in free agency for contracts that were sufficiently large - $16.5M and $4.5M APY, respectively - that they met the compensatory pick cut off threshold, while at the same time passing on signing any free agents who would have cancelled them out.

The 2023 NFL Draft is officially over and Washington has added 8 new players to their roster.The Commanders entered the draft with 8 picks, but committed to added more picks in a draft they felt was strong in the middle rounds.They went in missing their 3rd round pick(Carson Wentz trade), but they also gained compensatory picks for losing Brandon Scherff(3rd) and Tim Settle(6th) in free agency.

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The goal of All aTwitter is to give readers a handy spot to check the Washington Commanders beat writers & bloggers, national sports journalists, and football fans in order to keep up on the latest news and opinions about Washington, the NFL, and sports in general, along with a smattering of other things.

The NFL trade deadline is just days away and the Washington Commanders haven't made any moves yet.It wouldn't surprise anyone if that remained the case through Tuesday's 4 p.m. EST cutoff, but a team that was previously 1-4 and now sits at 3-4 with a winnable game on deck against the Colts shouldn't sit on its hands.

As the offseason rolls forward, Washington is surely starting the process of determining which of its free agents to re-sign and which to let walk, in addition to scouring the field of the potential free agents leaving other teams to pursue over the coming months.Last May, I wrote about Washington positioning itself for two compensatory picks in the upcoming draft:

The comp pick capital was gained by letting Brandon Scherff and Tim Settle walk in free agency for contracts that were sufficiently large - $16.5M and $4.5M APY, respectively - that they met the compensatory pick cut off threshold.

After two straight wins, the Washington Commanders are suddenly a half-game out of the final wild card spot in the NFC.The only downside?There's currently four other teams - the 49ers, Falcons, Packers and Cardinals - who own a 3-4 record.Nine wins might be enough to get the job done this year, but if the first seven weeks are any indication the standings are going to be crowded right until the end.

Which Washington Commanders player's development in the next year or two is most crucial to the team's long-term success?The easy choice would be Sam Howell because quarterback is always the most important position.Since the Commanders quarterback position remains unsettled, the development of anyone - be it Howell, or Heinicke, or some college underclassman on the horizon - is obviously most important.

The trade deadline is an exciting time around the NFL.For Washington Commanders fans, though, the cutoff hasn't amounted to anything in the Ron Rivera era.Leading up to Tuesday's 4 p.m. EST deadline, the club has reportedly rebuffed any inquires for Daron Payne and Antonio Gibson, leaving William Jackson as the most likely player to get moved.

Dud: Ron Rivera (game management) Look, Rivera and his staff deserve credit for their game plan.In Week 2, his decision to go for two in the fourth quarter backfired and saw the Commanders without a chance to tie the game late after Joey Slye missed a field goal.Of course, there's more that entails a head coach's job than game-planning and Rivera has now made a puzzling game management decision in each of Washington's first three games.The stats won't favor the Commanders' defense, but they gave the offense a chance in the first half before Jalen Hurts and DeVonta smith caught fire and put the game out of reach late in the second quarter.