The Washington Commanders might have found themselves on the wrong side of the free agency news cycle with a pair of moves at the defensive tackle position.
On one hand, the Commanders received widespread condemnation for signing free agent defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw to a 3-year, $45 million contract — a massive overpay by any reasonable standard.
On the other hand, the Minnesota Vikings have received widespread praise for signing former Commanders defensive tackle and 2-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Allen to a 3-year, $51 million contract that could be worth up to $60 million with incentives just days after he was released by Washington in a salary cap move.
ESPN’s Pamela Maldonado had Allen’s contract listed as the NFL’s best free agent deal following the first week of the 2025 cycle.
“Minnesota’s defense desperately needed disruption and toughness, especially against the run,” Maldonado wrote on March 18. “Landing Allen at three years, $60 million instantly fixes that. He can stop plays cold and send quarterbacks scrambling. It’s a move that reshapes the Vikings’ defensive identity and significantly elevates their competitiveness in the NFC North.”
Allen Played Entire Career With Commanders
Allen is a 2-time Pro Bowler who has spent his entire career with the Commanders, who selected him in the first round (No. 17 overall) of the 2017 NFL draft after an All-American career at Alabama. Washington released Allen on March 17 and cleared $16.35 million in salary cap space, as he was headed into the final season of the 4-year, $72 million contract extension he signed in July 2021.
It’s unfortunate for Allen that the Commanders finally became a contender almost a decade into his career, because he’s arguably been one of the NFL’s best interior defensive linemen for the last decade on some truly awful teams. Washington’s 12-5 record in 2024 was the first winning season with Allen on the roster and he was missing for most of it, suffering a torn pectoral muscle but returning for the final game of the regular season and the Commanders’ surprise run to the NFC Championship Game.
Allen’s time in Washington will likely be best known for an unforgettable, expletive-filled postgame rant following a 14-7 loss to the New York Giants in 2023.
Commanders Receive ‘F’ Grade for Signing Kinlaw
Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald gave the Commanders an “F” grade for the Kinlaw deal, which includes $30 million in guaranteed money.
“Most contracts in the NFL have some level of justification…this does not,” Fitzgerald wrote. “The Jets signing Kinlaw at $7.5M was a bad one last year and this just blows that away. 3 years, $45 million with $30 million full at signing. Insane. Teams that do stuff like this because they have cap room often wind up a mess in a year or two because the cap room is gone and they wonder why they have some of these contracts on the books. On paper this is the worst signing of the early free agency period.”
Kinlaw was a first round pick (No. 14 overall) by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2020 NFL draft and after playing 14 games as a rookie only played 10 games, total, over the next 2 seasons due to injuries and didn’t play all 17 games until his fourth season in 2023.
