The Washington Commanders are among the biggest and most pleasant surprises of the young NFL season, and therefore have as much reason as any team to go hunting for upgrades ahead of the league's November 5 trade deadline.
Washington is tied for 9th in the NFL with 15 sacks through the first five games of the season, even despite trading Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears during the middle of last year, which concluded with the defensive end in the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
The Commanders (4-1) are in position to spend some money at premier positions like pass rusher over the next several years, as they have quarterback Jayden Daniels under contract at tremendous value over that span.
The rookie, who is among the front runners for the MVP Award roughly one-third of the way through the season, is on a four-year deal worth a total of nearly $38 million (approximately $9.5 million in annual average salary) with a team option on the fifth year. To put that in context, Dak Prescott just inked a four-year extension worth $240 million ($60 million annually) with the Dallas Cowboys.
Because of that value at the game's most important and expensive position, Washington is among a handful of teams with the need, money and juice to pursue a player like New York Jets edge rusher Haason Reddick, who hasn't played a snap for the team this season after the Philadelphia Eagles traded him there in March.
"The Washington Commanders may ... want to kick the tires on a Reddick trade," Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report wrote on Wednesday, October 9. "Adding Reddick could help balance out the team and improve its 20th-ranked scoring defense. The Commanders have $26.1 million in available cap space and could afford to make Reddick more than just a short-term addition."
Reddick is in the final season of a three-year, $45 million deal and is holding out for a long-term extension so as not to risk injury and potentially lose out on tens of millions of dollars. He is currently 30 years old and certainly looking for a multiyear contract.
And while one could examine the situation and wonder about Reddick's commitment to the concept of team, no one can question his production. Reddick has tallied at least 11 sacks in each of the previous four seasons and earned Pro-Bowl nods in both of the past two campaigns.
The Jets sent the Eagles a third-round pick in exchange for Reddick, though at this point there is little to no hope they could get equal value back in a deal. As such, the Commanders could potentially land Reddick at a bargain for a late Day 2 pick, or even an early Day 3 asset, in the 2025 draft.
Related: Haason Reddick Breaks Silence on Jets Holdout With Cryptic Message