The Washington Commanders need more than a few breakout players in 2024, but fortunately, Sam Cosmi already has the motivation of entering a contract year.
Washington’s second-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft, Cosmi was the only one of the team’s offensive linemen who played at a high level last season. The improvement should have the “currently non-household name blocker tracking toward being handsomely paid. Very soon,” according to Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports.
Trapasso rates Cosmi as “an absolute physical freak.” He also noted how the 25-year-old interior lineman “went from allowing a pressure on 6.1% of his pass-blocking snaps as an NFL sophomore two years ago to just 3.9% on significantly more snaps in 2023.”
Numbers like those are helping generate plenty of buzz about Cosmi’s skills. The hype could force the Commanders to have make a significant financial investment to keep him beyond this season.
Sam Cosmi Getting Attention
Trapasso isn’t the only one impressed by Cosmi’s successful transition from tackle to guard. The player’s skills have also caught the eye of Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder.
He rates Cosmi as the “best-kept secret” on the Commanders’ roster. That status is earned by Cosmi giving up just one of the 65 sacks surrendered by Washington last season, according to Holder, citing statistics from Pro Football Focus.
Cosmi also graded high blocking for the run, per PFF Commanders.
Sam Cosmi makes PFF's top 101 players in football for 2023 (98th):
🪖 1 sack allowed all season
🪖 80.9 run-blocking grade
📈 pic.twitter.com/bkTWW26RXJ— PFF Commanders (@PFF_Washington) March 6, 2024
Cosmi stood out, despite the struggles of those around him. Fortunately, the Commanders have tried to solve the issues by signing center Tyler Biadasz and left guard Nick Allegretti in free agency.
Ideally, the Commanders need those new additions to form a stout trio with Cosmi for the long haul. The franchise can’t risk the same mistake made the last time Washington had a dominant right guard.
Commanders Can’t Repeat Brandon Scherff Mistake
Cosmi’s emergence helped the Commanders save face after allowing Brandon Scherff to leave town to join the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2022. Scherff had been a first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler in Washington, but the organization never rewarded him with a long-term deal, preferring instead to use franchise tags.
The same approach would let a rare draft success like Cosmi get away. A new regime of general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn can’t let that happen. Especially when a revamped O-line still faces questions about both tackle spots.
Those questions relate to Andrew Wylie struggling considerably at right tackle last season. Meanwhile, the Commanders appear primed to trust this year’s third-round draft pick, Brandon Coleman, at the all-important left tackle spot, despite an All-Pro being on the market.
It’s a risk compounded by the need to keep No. 2-overall pick, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels upright as a rookie. His introduction to the pros will go a lot smoother if Cosmi continues his upward surge and helps secure the middle of a new-look line.
Paying him appropriately after that could be tricky, even though Cosmi only counts for $3,660,649 against this year’s salary cap, per Spotrac.com. That’s a modest sum, relatively, but the same source also shows how the highest-paid guards in the NFL earn as much as $21 million annually.
Further dominance from Cosmi would make it worth Peters and Quinn paying a premium.
