Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters addressed the media at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. Here are five takeaways from his press conference.
1. Martin Mayhew retires.
Peters began by announcing that Mayhew, who spent the 2024 season as the team's Senior Personnel Executive/Advisor to the GM, had decided to retire after 26 years in the NFL as a player and executive.
"When I got here, he was one of the first people I really wanted to keep and work with," Peters said. "I was lucky enough that he wanted to stay, and we couldn't have done what we did last year without him."
Mayhew was in the Commanders' front office for the last four seasons, three of which were as the team's general manager. Mayhew was pivotal in helping mold the Commanders' 2024 draft class, which had a slew of immediate contributors like Jayden Daniels, Mike Sainristil and Johnny Newton.
Click **HERE** for more information about Mayhew's retirement.
2. He confirmed the news about Jonathan Allen.
News broke before Peters approached the podium that the Commanders had granted two-time Pro Bowler and 2017 first-round pick Jonathan Allen permission to seek a trade heading into the final year of his contract. It was one of the Peters was asked when he addressed the media, and he confirmed that the news was accurate.
"He's another person who has been a great Commander, a great person for this franchise," Peters said. "He's going into the last year of his deal, and...wanted to be able to explore other opportunities."
Allen missed a significant portion of the Commanders' regular season after tearing his pectoral in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens. Allen was initially thought of as being lost for the season but returned in Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons to help Washington earn a playoff berth. Allen played in all three of the Commanders' playoff games and recorded six tackles with two quarterback hits.
There is no other immediate news on Allen's status with the team, but Peters said that "everything is still on the table," which includes a trade or possibly keeping him for the 2025 season. Peters also described the situation as being "early in the stages," the two sides remain in close communication. There is also no timeline for when a decision will be made on Allen's future.
"The two main things are that we're always going to do what's best for our organization, but we also want to do right by Jon," Peters said. "Those things are important to us."
3. Life is different when you have a quarterback.
This time last year, the Commanders were picking No. 2 overall and looking for an answer at quarterback. This year, they have that answer and are picking 29th in the first round. That is a drastic change in about 365 days.
Peters isn't complaining about it.
"It feels a lot better," he said with a laugh. "We're thrilled to have Jayden and couldn't be happier with his first year."
It was an easy decision for the Commanders to draft Daniels, who they had identified as one of the best players in the class, and they had high hopes for his future. Of course, it would have been hard to predict how big of a hit Daniels would become as a rookie. He put up some of the best numbers for a rookie in NFL history, surpassing 5,000 total yards in the regular and postseason. His talent, poise and demeanor were the catalysts that turned Washington's offense into one of the league's most entertaining units and gave the franchise a 12-5 record.
"He's his own toughest critic, and he's gonna do everything he can to maximize everything he has," Peters said.
Now, the Commanders' priority is to surround Daniels with talent, protection and a good defense. That starts with deciding what to do with the 29th overall pick.
"It's always a challenge every year, and that's why we have a great team," Peters said. "DQ [Dan Quinn] and I talk every day about how to really improve our team and what's the best way to do that."
4. They will be active in free agency.
The Commanders are projected to have some of the most available cap space in the NFL this offseason. That kind of money normally draws speculation about being active in free agency, and Peters confirmed that will be the case.
Don't take that as meaning the Commanders will take big swings on the league's top available players, though. There are other needs to address, most notably filling the roster.
"We've got 28 free agents, so we've got a lot of holes again on our roster in terms of players that played really well for us last year," Peters said. "We'll be active in free agency, because we have to be."
The Commanders got exceptional returns out of players who signed one-year deals last offseason. On defense, Bobby Wagner had another 100-tackle season and became a clear leader for the unit. Jeremy Chinn was an ideal fit for Washington's physical play style and ranked second on the team in stops. On offense, Zach Ertz was one of Daniels' favorite targets, and Marcus Mariota provided Daniels with veteran guidance in the quarterback room.
All four of those players, among others like Dyami Brown, are set to hit the open market. Peters wants to bring some of those players back, although he didn't specify which the team had in mind. Either way, that will be the team's primary concern once the new league year begins in about two weeks.
Washington will still bring in new faces to improve the roster, but keeping as much of the main core that gave them so much success as possible is just as important.
5. Perception doesn't change the process.
Things are different for the Commanders in 2025. They are no longer considered to be a team in a rebuild, although Quinn has always been quick to use the term "recalibration" when talking about turning the franchise into a championship contender. Regardless of the verbiage, the outside perception has changed for the Burgundy & Gold.
Peters felt the shift last year and gave a shoutout to the DMV fanbase for supporting them, but the outside perception hasn't affected how they intend to build the roster. Their parameters for finding new Commanders remain the same, no matter what people outside the building think of them.
"Our principles are the same," Peters said. "We want to bring in great people and great Commanders that are going to help us win."
But the Commanders are proud of the way the fanbase rallied behind them last season. The players feel it, he said, and people reached out to Peters to express how happy they were that the team was having so much success.
The way Peters sees it, that's just encouragement to stay consistent with the process he and Quinn built last year.
"We're gonna do whatever we can to keep making those people proud," Peters said.
