The Washington Commanders are going to try to build their roster around quarterback Jayden Daniels over the next few years in the hopes that the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft turns into their franchise player.
One of the keys to helping Daniels along that path is making sure the franchise keeps elite offensive linemen around him like right guard Sam Cosmi.
ESPN’s Aaron Schatz thinks the No. 1 priority for the Commanders before training camp begins should be signing Schatz to a long-term contract extension.
“(The Commanders) do need to start looking at their 2025 roster, and it would be a good idea to lock up Cosmi long term,” Schatz wrote. “Cosmi was 14th in pass block win rate among guards last season and also above average in run block win rate. He’s the best player on the Commanders’ offensive line, and his contract is up after this year.”
Cosmi is headed into the final season of the 4-year, $6.2 million contract he signed after the Commanders drafted him in the second round (No. 51 overall) out of Texas in 2021.
Cosmi Had Breakout Season After Position Switch
Cosmi battled injuries through his first two seasons, missing a total of 11 games in 2021 and 2022 before switching positions from right tackle to right guard late in 2022.
In 2023, Cosmi thrived at his new position and avoided injury, starting all 17 games at right guard while grading out at a stellar 80.6 percent, according to PFF, and is ranked as the No. 3 guard in the NFL ahead of the 2024 season by PFF’s Thomas Valentine.
“Cosmi was quietly one of the best guards in the NFL in 2023,” Valentine wrote. “His 80.6 PFF overall grade ranked fifth at the position, and he had seven games with an overall grade of 80.0 or higher. Despite that, Cosmi didn’t garner the attention he deserved in his first full season as a starter. He spent most of his first two NFL seasons at right tackle for the Commanders before making the switch inside to guard in 2023. His 4.3% pressure rate allowed last year was the 19th lowest at the position.”
Cosmi now finds himself part of an interior offensive line that could be one of the NFL’s better units with free-agent additions at center in Tyler Biadasz and at left guard in three-time Super Bowl champion Nick Allegretti from the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I’m excited to build this relationship with (Biadasz and Allegretti),” Cosmi told Commanders.com’s Zach Selby in April 2024. “I can really tell it’s gonna be easy, so that’s just gonna allow the process to go even smoother on the field.”
Looking at the Market for the NFL’s Elite Guards
While Cosmi can’t count on getting a contract similar to the highest-paid right guard in the NFL — Atlanta Falcons star Chris Lindstrom signed a 5-year, $102.5 million contract extension with $62.5 million guaranteed in March 2023 — he could very well get a contract that pays him in the neighborhood of $10 million per year.
Cosmi, 25 years old, could be in line for a deal similar to the 4-year, $44 million contract extension given to New Orleans Saints right guard Cesar Ruiz in Sept. 2023 — one that included $32 million in guaranteed money.
