Fixing the Defense: Three Smart Plays for 2026

The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions, and all 32 teams are now 0-0.

For Washington, the season just gone was in stark contrast to the 2024 campaign. After the high of an NFC Championship appearance, a five-win season was a nasty reminder of the toughness of the National Football League. Injuries curtailed the rookie promise of QB Jayden Daniels and exposed the overall weakness of the burgundy & gold roster.

Commanders GM Adam Peters could, however, be in a worse predicament. It is widely agreed that Washington have the answer at QB, and they also have decent cap space and flexibility heading into free agency. The flip side, of course, with a bad team is that there are also a number of clear holes on the roster — take your pick from CB, Edge, Safety and even WR. So, how can the Commanders get better — and fast — in 2026?

UKHTTC founder Christian Burt first looks at the defensive side of the ball with three takes.

Align the high draft pick with the vision of the new Defensive Coach in Washington

Daronte Jones’ scheme is built around flexible, aggressive coverage, and valuing DB playmaking fits what elite cornerbacks are asked to do at the next level. With the 7th pick in the 2026 Draft, the Washington Commanders select the No. 1 cornerback in the class — Mansoor Delane out of LSU.

Matched with last year’s second-rounder Trey Amos, the burgundy and gold would have four years of potential high-level CB play.

Overall, I value the CB position ahead of Safety (Caleb Downs, for example), and a player like Reuben Bain will likely be gone by that point.

Washington could even look to double down at the position if Jeff Okudah follows Daronte’s path to Washington. In this scenario, the Commanders, of course, do not pick up Lattimore for 2026.

The big defensive FA splash

In the Peters era so far, he has proven to be semi-aggressive in trades (Tunsil and Lattimore) but hasn’t really made the big splash in free agency. That changes in 2026, when the Commanders surprise a few and persuade DE Trey Hendrickson to pen a two-year deal at $22m per year.

There are some concerns around age and his 2025 surgery. However, a core muscle procedure — assuming normal healing and no setbacks — isn’t generally long-term or career-threatening for a player at his level.

Jones would now have an elite edge rusher, two young dynamic CBs and, if Washington wisely restructures Payne and better utilises Johnny Newton (who has the twitch Jones will appreciate), there is every chance of a glow-up for the burgundy and gold defence.

The sensible, scheme-savvy defensive addition

The Commanders might need a slight overpay here and there — and they do so with a 31-year-old LB who shined in Minnesota in 2025.

Eric Wilson might not be the flashiest name in free agency, and he wasn’t viewed as a full-time starter in 2025, but he was a constant menace for the Vikings and a disruptive force.

Wilson isn’t a Wagner replacement as such — nor is he a true MIKE LB — but for a blitz-heavy DC, it feels too good a fit not to bring him to Washington on a one-year, $7m deal.

A linebacker room of Wagner (re-signed), Frankie Luvu, Jordan Magee and Wilson is far from a terrible quartet — with Kain Medrano providing depth.