Of all the players the Washington Commanders have either signed, re-signed, or otherwise acquired this offseason, one of the most under-the-radar might be tight end John Bates.
The 2021 fourth-round pick from Boise State is an elite blocker. More importantly, Bates is an A-plus culture guy.
Bates was interviewed on Grant and Danny from 106.7 The Fan this week about why he chose to return to D.C. His answer is a resounding affirmation of the progress the Commanders franchise has made both on and off the field in recent times.
"You go in the building now and it's like everyone in that building has energy and is excited to see each other… I think that’s the cool thing about what AP and DQ have done with the culture. They've made it a true like family environment and you can feel that, and it's just so different than before."
John Bates via X
I loved this John Bates answer about why so many Commanders free agents want to stay in DC. pic.twitter.com/UIzYvCGjxu
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) March 13, 2025
Bates' message speaks to the job that Washington's current leadership group has done. It also hints at the failures of the previous regime — starting from the top.
Commanders' culture shift made retaining free agents simple in 2025
The Dan Snyder horse doesn't need to be beaten any further into submission. Even so, the stench he left on the franchise only makes the work of Josh Harris and company all the more impressive to have turned around such a toxic environment this quickly.
As Bates points out, general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn — both of whom recently completed their first season in Washington — are a major part of that shift as well. It's largely because of them that the Commanders have been able to build such a tight-knit core of players, and by extension, why those players are largely sticking together through free agency.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner, tight end Zach Ertz, backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, and wide receiver Noah Brown are among the veteran players who Washington retained after their contracts expired. All were originally brought in last offseason on one-year deals and decided to stay after the success of the Commanders' magical 2024 campaign.
Bates, whose four-year rookie contract just concluded, will now be back for three more years in D.C. He's never caught more than 20 passes in a season, and he's accumulated a total of two touchdowns in this NFL career thus far. But he's a player who knows his role, doing all the little things for Washington on the field while understanding what it means to be a teammate off of it.
In other words, he's a microcosm of everything right about this era of the Commanders.
