Washington Commanders NFL free agency: Analyzing available cornerback options
There are still opportunities available to improve the Commanders secondary
The Commanders have made great efforts to upgrade the defensive front seven this offseason in free agency and the draft. Compared to the massive investment directed toward those position groups, relatively little was done to address the roster deficiencies in the secondary, and the cornerback room, in particular. Prior to free agency, I published an analysis of the 2025 coverage stats which showed that, aside from the now departed Marshon Lattimore and rookie Trey Amos, the rest of the Commanders’ CBs gave up yardage in coverage at much higher rates than league average.
The worst performer of the group was second year CB, Mike Sainristil, who ranked close to the bottom of starting CBs in Rate of Yardage Allowed (Y/Cov Snap), Touchdown Rate, and yardage allowed after the catch (YAC/Rec). The rest of last year’s CB lineup were not much better and were released. Antonio Hamilton Sr.
was recently re-signed to pad the depth ranks. Evaluating CB Performance While his coverage was weak, Sainristil was well above average in pass defense, ranking just outside the top 10% in Interception Rate. Cornerbacks who make a lot of interceptions often get a pass on leaky coverage.
In my opinion, that is a mistake. Interceptions can be game-changing plays. But they are also rare events.
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