The Washington Commanders built their defense in 2024 on head coach Dan Quinn’s expertise as one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators over the last decade-plus.
After being hired as the Commanders new head coach on February 1, Quinn took that expertise and turned it into borderline genius moves in free agency. Possibly the most impactful of those moves was signing edge rusher Dante Fowler to a 1-year, $3.25 million contract and watching Fowler re-establish himself as one of the NFL’s best pass rushers with a team-high 8.5 sacks through 13 games.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder thinks the Commanders should move quickly and reward Fowler with a new contract as the franchise sits at 8-5 headed into their Week 14 bye and are firmly in control of their own playoff destiny.
“One of the former Cowboys that Quinn lured over from Dallas, the 30-year-old has been impactful as a rotational edge-rusher this season,” Holder wrote. “The Commanders should be looking to get younger on the edge, but Quinn knows what he has in Fowler. Extending an offer before Fowler hits the open market again would be sensible.”
That Holder mentions Fowler’s age is significant, as it will likely have an impact on his value in the open market. If the Commanders really want to have some fun with it — God forbid — they could offer a deal to Fowler that’s tied to his production.
For example, if Fowler could manage another 1.5 sacks over the final 4 games of the regular season to 10.0 sacks, that might equal a 1-year, $10 million contract offer.
One Thing NFL Teams Always Need: Pass Rushers
The Commanders might already think Fowler is out of their price range, as NFL teams are always in need of pass rushers because of the rotational nature of the position — the more players you can have going in and out of the game at those spots the better off your team will probably be.
In November, Holder predicted Fowler could be a prime target for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency — a team that’s struggled to establish a consistent pass rush all season.
“Tampa Bay could use some help at edge-rusher now and that’s only going to get worse in the offseason when Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Anthony Nelson become free agents,” Holder wrote.
Fowler Went From No. 3 Overall Pick to Journeyman
Fowler was a 2-time All-SEC pick at Florida before the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft but his career got off to a terrible start when he tore his ACL on the first day of minicamp his rookie year and followed with a scandal, when he was illegally fined $700,000 by Executive VP and former head coach Tom Coughlin, which led to Coughlin’s firing in December 2019.
The Jaguars traded Fowler to the Los Angeles Rams midway through the 2018 season, where he played his way into a 1-year, $12 million contract in 2019 and a 3-year, $45 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons in 2020.
Fowler played in 2022 and 2023 on 1-year contracts with the Dallas Cowboys before signing with the Commanders and his 8.5 sacks through the first 13 games are his highest sack total since having 11.5 sacks with the Rams in 2019.
