The Washington Commanders put together a patchwork roster in 2024 that included a lot of veteran players on 1-year contracts. The thought going in wa that, while it wasn’t necessarily a rebuilding year, expectations weren’t going to be sky high in the first season for head coach Dan Quinn, general manager Adam Peters and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
While Daniels ended up grabbing all of the headlines on his way to leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game and being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, it was the players on all of those 1-year contracts that ended up being just as valuable to the team’s success.
One of those players who helped the Commanders win games and upped his value in the process was cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, who played in all 17 games with 10 starts on a 1-year, $1.292 million contract.
Igbinoghene got a slight raise for 2025 when he signed a 1-year, $1.5 million contract on March 13, but Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine believes Igbinoghene might have more value to the franchise as a trade asset.
The Commanders have added cornerbacks in each of the last 3 drafts. Their 2023 first round pick, cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, is no longer on the roster, but 2024 second round pick Mike Sainristil seems like a star in the making and 2025 second round pick Trey Amos looks like he could be a plug-and-play starter.
That’s not to mention the Commanders made a big move to trade for veteran cornerback and 4-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore at the 2024 NFL trade deadline.
Igbinoghene will have $14.1 million in career earnings through the end of the 2025 season.
“Drafting Trey Amos in the second round gives them a lot more flexibility at cornerback,” Ballentine wrote on May 21. “Adding another outside corner gives them the option of moving Mike Sainristil back inside where he played at Michigan.”
Igbinoghene Struggled With Early Expectations
Igbinoghene was a first round pick (No. 30 overall) by the Miami Dolphins in the 2020 NFL draft out of Auburn but missed the entire offseason with the team due to the pandemic. He truggled mightily as a rookie and never got his footing in 3 seasons before he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in August 2023.
That one time when Noah Igbinoghene walked off with the game winning interception from Kenny Pickett. The good old days.
In his lone season with the Cowboys in 2023, Igbinoghene only played in 5 games and was declared inactive in 12 contest. Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn saw enough in him to bring him over to the Commanders when he was hired as head coach.
Igbinoghene finished with career highs of 54 tackles and 7 pass deflections in his first season with the Commanders. Through his first 5 NFL seasons, Igbinoghene only has 15 starts and 1 career interception. He’s also only played in 51 games, although that’s not because of any significant injury.
“Because of how he performed (in 2024), it’s no lock Igbinoghene is a goner,” Pro Football Network’s Sterling Xie wrote on May 2. “Still, it’ll be tough for him to beat out a pair of recent second-round picks, which could leave him as a decent trade asset for Washington. Given his pedigree and promising 2024 performance, Igbinoghene would be a sneaky trade target for teams needing help in the slot.”
