The Washington Commanders are unrecognizable from the team they were in 2023. Not only are they one of the top teams in the NFL presently, but very few players from last season remain on the roster.
Moving forward, the Commanders may see even more change in 2025, as numerous players enter free agency. This includes veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner, who signed a one-year, $6.5 million contract with the Commanders in March 2024.
Wagner leads the Commanders with 69 tackles through 8 games, including 2.0 sacks, 6 TFL, 1 pass deflection, and 1 forced fumble.
Matt Holder of Bleacher Report believes the Commanders might replace Wagner with Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane in 2025 if Wagner leaves in free agency, citing Wagner’s age as one reason Washington may not bring him back.
“Bobby Wagner is set to become a 35-year-old free agent in the offseason, and if he doesn’t return, Washington will have a big hole to fill at linebacker, especially against the run,” Holder said. “While Spillane may not have Wagner’s résumé, the 28-year-old has been a ground game specialist and tackle machine in Las Vegas over the last two seasons. He has 215 total tackles and 12 TFL in 24 games with the Silver and Black as of this weekend.
Wagner Seems Destined For Pro Football HOF.
Wagner led the NFL in 2023 with 183 tackles while playing for the Seattle Seahawks, receiving second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honours.
Wagner was picked by the Seahawks in the second round (No. 47 overall) of the 2012 NFL draft, and he was a crucial member of Seattle’s Super Bowl-winning team in 2013 and their return to the Super Bowl in 2014, both times under then-defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
Wagner has led the NFL in total tackles three times, solo tackles once, assisted tackles four times, safeties once, and fumbles returned for touchdowns twice, the latter in 2015.
Wagner spent the first ten seasons of his career with the Seahawks before signing a five-year, $50 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, a season best remembered for Wagner’s confrontation with a flare-wielding fan who ran onto the field during a road game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Wagner played one season for the Rams before returning to Seattle in 2023.
Spillane became a full-time starter in 2023.
Spillane, the grandson of 1953 Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Johnny Lattner, joined the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent from Western Michigan in 2018, then spent four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before signing a two-year, $7 million contract with the Raiders in March 2023.
Spillane, 6-foot-1 and 229 pounds, received his first NFL opportunity as a full-time starter with the Raiders and has taken advantage of it. He started all 17 games in 2023, recording 148 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3.5 sacks, and 7 TFL.
Spillane made only 16 starts during his first five seasons in the NFL.
Spillane has maintained that same energy in 2024, recording 79 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception through 8 games, despite the Raiders’ 2-6 record and last place in the AFC West standings.
Leave a Reply