OPINION:
The clock is ticking for the Washington Commanders and general manager Adam Peters — and not just on Thursday night.
Like every other team in the league, the Commanders will have less time to make a final decision on their pick in Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft.
But Peters and the Commanders are also on a more encompassing clock that is steadily counting down the minutes, hours and months until their superstar quarterback’s cap-friendly rookie salary deal expires.
The league has shortened the time allowed for teams to make their sometimes-franchise decisions by 20%, from 10 minutes to eight.
Some teams don’t need any more time than it takes to inform NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell of their choice. Others are still debating and taking phone calls like they’ve been doing for months leading up to this moment.
Peters told reporters that the reduced time makes preparation even more important.
“A lot of times there’s a lot of phone calls that come in,” he said. “Last year, there’s a lot of phone calls that came in (the Josh Conerly Jr., 29th pick in the first round), the year before no phone calls (the Jayden Daniels No. 2 selection), but I think it makes you kind of do a little more work on the front end.
“Talking to other GMs on the front end, if there is a deal, which you might not ever make it, but at least getting the parameters so you’re not hemming and hawing in those eight minutes trying to work out a deal,” Peters said. “You kind of have the parameters ahead of time if that is something you would do, and then very well may well say, no, we’re not going to do it at that time, but at least you know so you’re not starting from scratch. So, that’s probably, to me, the more of a difference this year is you kind of just do the work ahead of time, which you already do, but this one may be a little more intentional.”
There’s another clock ticking for Peters, though, in this draft — the one kept by his boss, owner Josh Harris.
Asked by reporters recently at the NFL owners meeting if there was a sense of urgency coming off a disappointing 5-12 season — Daniels’ second year — Harris answered, “There is.”
“No one was happy with last season,” he said. “We have a young quarterback we have a lot of faith in. Time’s a-wasting and we’ve got to get on it and that’s what we’re doing.”
Harris spoke the truth about this upcoming draft — despite all the draft cultists who insist you don’t draft for need, there certainly is one overriding need driving the Commanders at the No. 7 pick and beyond — how does it help Daniels?
The 25-year-old quarterback, coming off an injury-filled, disappointing 2025 season, remains the sun around which all Commanders revolve. His star-studded Rookie of the Year 2024 season, when he led Washington to the NFC title game, heightened the opportunity to make the most of the time Daniels is serving under a bargain-basement rookie contract.
They lost one year last season, with Daniels making just seven starts, sidelined with a variety of ailments — sprained right knee, right hamstring strain and dislocated left elbow — all of which left the Commanders so concerned that they sat him for the final three games of the season.
When Daniels played, he sometimes showed the skills that had set the league on fire the year before, throwing eight touchdowns for 1,262 yards and three interceptions, while rushing for 278 yards.
But much of the time, he was under attack, his ability severely hampered by injuries to his skill position players — average when healthy — and a defense that often left him handcuffed.
Playing with receivers that were sometimes picked off the street, Daniels often found himself in poor field position and playing from behind. The Commanders ranked 25th in the league in starting field position, while their opponents were fourth throughout the season.
Their defense was ranked 27th, with a league-worst minus-14 turnover margin.
Peters tried to level the playing field for Daniels by using free agency, signing seven defensive players, including a $100 million deal for edge rusher Odafe Oweh. But offensively, the spending spree — the Commanders had $90 million in available cap space, sixth in the NFL — was limited to tight end Chig Okonkwo and two backup running backs, Rachaad White and Jerome Ford.
The No. 7 pick in this year’s draft gives Peters a chance to draft an impact offensive player and significantly fill the need of helping his young quarterback, because, as his boss has said, “Times a-wasting.”
• Catch Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.