The Commanders are recalibrating. Their 3-item checklist begins with a new QB

When Josh Harris bought the Washington Commanders last July, there wasn’t time for him to fix the broken franchise. He knew he’d have to wait until this offseason to rebuild.

Well, maybe not “rebuild.”

“Your words. Not mine,” new Commanders coach Dan Quinn said earlier this month at his introductory press conference. “I would say this is a ‘recalibrate’ — you know, finding our north again.

“So no, you will not hear me say the word ‘rebuild’ at all.”

Well, whatever Quinn calls it, there is still a lot of work to do on the $6.05 billion fixer-upper that Harris bought — a franchise whose last winning season came in 2016 and one that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2005. The work began when the new owner hired former 49ers executive Adam Peters as his first general manager, and continued three weeks ago when they hired Quinn — their third choice — to be the new head coach.

Now, as Quinn begins his work on the rebuilding — or recalibration — project, he’ll see up close what everyone else sees: The Commanders have a crumbling roster with what Peters called “a few cornerstone pieces,” but not many. They have a lot of salary-cap space (an estimated league-high of $73.6 million, according to OverTheCap.com) to use, and five picks in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft this April.

But they have so many holes to fill.

So where does that recalibration start? Here’s a look at the three biggest issues facing the Washington Commanders as the offseason begins:

1. Choose a quarterback for the future (and present)

In the first half of last season, it sure looked like the Commanders had struck gold in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft with quarterback Sam Howell. By the end of the season, he looked more like slightly tarnished silver. There’s value, but clearly a lot to clean up first.

If it weren’t for the regime change, Howell might have a bright future with the franchise. But with a new brain trust taking over and holding the No. 2 overall pick in a quarterback-rich draft, it’s hard to believe they won’t start over with their own elite prospect. The only question is which one they’ll take. People around the NFL believe new Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury loves USC’s Caleb Williams, but they might have to trade up to get him — and if the Bears are amenable to that, they’d reportedly set an enormous asking price.

The Commanders would surely be happy with North Carolina’s Drake Maye, too, and maybe even LSU’s Jayden Daniels. But it’s a really strong bet that a new quarterback is coming, whoever he is. They’d be wise, then, to re-sign veteran Jacoby Brissett as veteran insurance and to be the rookie’s mentor.

What about Howell? Multiple NFL sources believe several teams would be interested in trading for the 23-year-old who threw for 3,946 yards and 21 touchdowns in 17 starts last season (albeit with an NFL-worst 21 interceptions). They could potentially get a third-round pick for him — maybe more — if they decide they’re willing to deal him sometime around the draft.

A team like the New York Jets, who know they’ll need a quarterback of the future when their experiment with 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers ends, would be wise to make a call.

2. Completely rebuild the offensive line

If there’s one big lesson Quinn should take with him from his time in Dallas, it’s this: Spend money and assets on the offensive line. Without a strong line, nothing else works on offense. And if he needs proof, just look at the Commanders’ 2023 season when their quarterbacks were sacked 9.3 percent of the times they dropped back to pass — 65 times in all.

That’s even more important if the Commanders do go with a rookie quarterback. Next season will be about learning and developing, but he can’t do that if he’s running for his life on every play the way Howell seemed to be last season.

And they need help at every position along the line. Of the current group, maybe Sam Cosmi (a second-rounder in 2021) is a keeper — maybe. But they should use a bunch of their cap room to bring in young veterans everywhere else. The free-agent tackle crop isn’t great, but they could find a lot of interior help with players like center Connor Williams or guards Kevin Dotson and Robert Hunt. If they sign a couple of interior linemen, they could back that up by taking a tackle or two in the second and third rounds of the draft.

If they don’t do that, it won’t matter what else they do. Kingsbury’s offense simply won’t work if the quarterback is constantly under duress. And they run the risk of stunting the growth of their new franchise quarterback.

3. Replace what they lost on defense

When Quinn was asked about the personnel he inherited in Washington, the first thing he mentioned was “the inside of the defense.” That’s not surprising given that he’s a defensive coach and the Commanders’ defensive tackle duo of Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen is one of the league’s best.

But it wasn’t that long ago that Washington had, arguably, one of the NFL’s best defensive lines — not just defensive tackles. Of course, they traded edge rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young near last year’s deadline and they had no one on the roster to replace them. They could also lose promising young safety Kam Curl in free agency. Their best corner — Kendall Fuller — is about to be one of the best corners on the free agent market, too.

The Commanders just don’t have the depth to replace two edge rushers and the two best members of their secondary, so they’re going to have to look outside for help. They probably should try to re-sign the 24-year-old Curl, though he might cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $13-15 million per year. Regardless, though, once they’re done spending on offensive linemen, they need to extend a little for an edge rusher and a corner.

The corner market isn’t great beyond Jaylon Johnson, L’Jarius Sneed and Fuller, but there might be a few relative bargains in the second week. One good idea would be for Quinn to try to lure veteran Stephon Gilmore from Dallas to anchor a young secondary and be a mentor to 2023 first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes.

The same is mostly true for the edge rusher market after Josh Allen, Brian Burns and Danielle Hunter, though bidding big on the 25-year-old Burns could have a huge, immediate impact on Quinn’s defense. He’s exactly the kind of player the Commanders should invest in — young, talented and transformational for his new team.

Free agency has never offered teams a quick fix, and the Commanders shouldn’t try for one. But for a “recalibrating” team it can help jump-start the process if they spend smart.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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