One area where they appear to have made a couple of borderline brilliant choices is at linebacker, where they signed two free agents who have become the cornerstones of their defence, Frankie Luvu and 10-time NFL All-Pro Bobby Wagner.
Both players are experiencing All-Pro seasons. Wagner leads the Commanders with 91 tackles, while Luvu leads the team with 71 tackles and 7.0 sacks.
According to Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, the 34-year-old could next join the Kansas City Chiefs, who won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks during the 2013 season.
Wagner is currently playing on a one-year, $6.5 million contract signed in March 2024.
“The Chiefs will continue to attract elderly veterans seeking a championship. Bobby Wagner, if he wants to play in his 35th season, may be an excellent example,” Ballentine noted. “He’s shown he can still be an impact player in Washington this season, but he might be willing to take a slightly smaller deal to join the Chiefs pursuit of a Lombardi (Trophy) in 2025.”
Wagner’s age, not his production, appears to be stopping him from signing a more lucrative contract.
It’s time to start fitting Wagner for the gold jacket.
Wagner joined the Commanders after leading the NFL with 183 tackles in 2023 with the Seattle Seahawks, and his bust is bound for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
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.
He’s also a nine-time Pro Bowler and is fifth in the NFL’s career tackles chart with 1,797 entering Week 12.
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.
Commanders still control playoff destiny.
Despite consecutive losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, which decreased their record to 7-4, the Commanders remain in control of their postseason destiny.
Washington has back-to-back home games against the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans before a Week 14 bye, then returns to action against the New Orleans Saints in Week 15, followed by home games against the Eagles and Atlanta Falcons before the Cowboys’ regular-season finale in Week 18.
If the season ended today, the Commanders would have the seventh and final position in the NFC playoffs, and according to NFL.com, they have an 81 percent probability of making the playoffs with 6 games left in the season.
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