Washington is 1-4-1 coming out of the bye, Terry McLaurin is done for the year, and the NFL trade deadline is sitting there like a dare. To be clear, I do not think the 2026 Commies are going anywhere at all. The Commies look like a horribly flawed team with a bad roster and poor coaching, and are sitting at 16th place out of 16 teams in the NFC. So, the big question is what should the Commies do prior to the NFL trade deadline?
The easy take is “sell everything.” The smarter take — and the one the local beat is actually arguing — is to sell the aging chips and stay open to buying young only if the price is right. Daron Payne is the most obvious move-out player on the roster. On the other hand, a controlled young receiver like Brian Thomas Jr. is the kind of buy that still makes sense for a roster built around Jayden Daniels.
The fact is that the wide receiver room looks like a problem going into 2027. McLaurin is lost for the year and is facing recovery from a very serious knee injury while also turning 32 as the 2027 season begins. Given how Adam Peters felt about a contract extension for McLaurin prior to the 2025 season, it is tough to see Peters wanting to pay McLaurin to come back for the 2027 season.
Diggs, who will be 33 this November, is not under contract after this season. Treylon Burks is not under contract after this season. Dyami Brown is not under contract after this season. That means the Commies will be going into the 2027 off-season with just Luke McCaffrey, Jaylin Lane, and Antonio Williams as your wide receiver corps. That is horrendous. As much as I like Williams’ potential thus far, it is clear that the Commies will have a glaring need at wide receiver going into the 2027 season.
Therefore, even though I think the Commies are going nowhere in the 2026 season, I would be all for the team trading for a guy like Brian Thomas Jr., who is just 24, if he could be had at a reduced cost. This same logic can be applied to any young player that could be gotten at a reduced cost in any position of need. The point is the shape of a smart buy: young, controllable, discounted.
What I certainly do not want to see Peters do is trade for another rental veteran to tape over a 1-4-1 season. As much as Commies fans do not want to hear it, the 2026 season is over for the Commies. This team is terrible, and the coaching is in disarray. There is no happy outcome to be had for the Commies in 2026. Trying to patch over the obvious defects of Peters’ roster with another aging veteran would be a poor allocation of draft assets.
If Washington flips the seller switch, interior defensive line is where the market already left a receipt. When the Colts dealt DeForest Buckner to San Francisco, Ben Standig immediately connected the dots: “If, IF the Commanders become sellers at the trade deadline, this Buckner deal may help shape the market for Daron Payne. Both are 2027 free agents DTs.” The 49ers gave up a 4th-round pick for the three-time Pro-Bowl defensive tackle who is 32 years old. Payne has only made one Pro Bowl, but he is younger at 29 years old. So, perhaps Peters could get a 4th-round pick out of team in need for a defensive tackle.
That’s the sell case without the drama. Payne is a proven starter heading into a contract year. Contenders pay for that in November. Washington keeps the picks and the cap flexibility for a Daniels-centric rebuild that still has to get younger around him. This seems like a logical route for Peters to take as the deadline approaches. Especially since it seems that the Commies are not going to re-sign Payne after the 2026 season, and they certainly do not need him since the Commies are not going to be a playoff team this season.
The next two weeks should be interesting. If the Commies manage to go 2-0 against the Eagles and the Rams, then they would be sitting at 3-4-1, and Peters might not want to admit defeat for the 2026 season. Not many General Managers want to waive the white flag so early in the season and admit that the roster that they assembled was flawed and defective.