The Commanders moved quickly to the only fix that seemed left. Dan Quinn said Lucas Patrick will stay at center going forward, and with Sam Cosmi back at right guard, Nick Allegretti is headed to the bench.
That change says plenty about how fast Washington’s plan at center unraveled.
General manager Adam Peters went into the season betting heavily on Allegretti. He moved on from previous starter Tyler Biadasz, missed on free-agent target Tyler Linderbaum, and then handed the job to Allegretti without much of a safety net. Washington even gave him a new deal early, which made the whole setup look even more confident than it probably should have.
The confidence never really matched the production.
Allegretti missed all of training camp after suffering a calf strain on the first day, but Peters still stuck with the plan and assumed the Super Bowl winner would settle in once healthy. Instead, the opening weeks turned into a problem almost immediately. Allegretti struggled in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Commanders responded by signing Patrick.
Another underwhelming outing followed, and when Cosmi was injured, Patrick became the stabilizing presence on the offensive line while Allegretti shifted to right guard. That didn’t change the trajectory. Washington’s decision to trust rookie sixth-round pick Matt Gulbin over Allegretti in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts made the message even clearer.
At this point, Allegretti has only himself to blame for not holding the job. But the larger story is that Peters put too much faith in a player who looked more like a backup than a starter, and he did it with no real backup plan after losing Biadasz and failing to land Linderbaum.
That matters in a big way because of Jayden Daniels. For a team building around its quarterback, center should never be treated like an afterthought. And yet Washington’s approach made that exact mistake.
Allegretti’s season also comes with an awkward contract wrinkle. He’s under contract through 2027, and cutting him would bring $4.11 million in dead money.
So the Commanders are stuck with the decision for now, even if the football answer has become obvious. Patrick will handle the job the rest of the way, and the center position should sit near the top of Washington’s list when the 2027 offseason arrives.
Peters won’t get every move right, and he did help bolster the defense this offseason. But the center strategy was a miss, and a costly one.
The warning signs were there. Washington just chose to ignore them until the job had already slipped away.
In Other News...
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Under center, the plan has been set for Sunday. Jayden Daniels will start at quarterback, with rookie Athan Kaliakmanis behind him on the depth chart, after Marcus Mariotas latest knee setback forced the team to adjust again at the game's most scrutinized position. For a Commanders team trying to improve its place in the NFC East, how long it can stay on that track is still the question hanging over the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Let A Wild Chance Slip Away In Frustrating Giants Tie
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For a team still searching for traction, the tie lands like a missed opening more than a consolation prize. Washington is now 1-3-1, a record that reflects how thin the margin has been in several of these early games, while the Giants moved to 3-1-1. The Commanders will be left sorting through how a game with so much in play still slipped through their hands when it mattered most. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Passing Game Suddenly Rests On Terry McLaurins Hamstring
Terry McLaurins hamstring has turned into one of the most important subplots of the Commanders Week 5 prep, with the receiver listed as questionable for Sundays game against the Giants. Washington also is already without Stefon Diggs, which leaves the passing game thinner than it would like at a time when every available target matters.
There is at least some optimism McLaurin will suit up after missing the Week 4 loss to Indianapolis, but even that does not come with a full workload expectation. If he is active, the Commanders appear likely to ease him back in with limited snaps, leaving his availability and effectiveness as separate questions heading into a division game that could use all the help it can get. [Read more 🡒]