Commanders balance sour season finale with bright future: ‘Looking forward to the years to come’

ASHBURN — It was a bittersweet Monday at the Washington Commanders’ practice facility. Players and coaches celebrated a season highlighted by the team’s first NFC championship appearance in 33 years while acknowledging the disappointment over Sunday’s blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

But the future, according to those in the building, is bright.

There was no music in the locker room, though, for the first time in six months. The atmosphere was somber as players packed up less than 24 hours after the Eagles ended their season.

There were no shots on the basketball hoop mounted above the fridge, no cornhole between the boards that run half the length of the locker room; no card or domino games at the usually busy tables.

Sunday’s defeat still stung, but veterans like linebacker Frankie Luvu and punter Tress Way noted that this is how 31 of the league’s 32 teams end their seasons.

“It’s never a good day when you’re boxing up,” Luvu said in a locker room littered with moving boxes as the scratch of packing tape interrupted questions from reporters.

The game-week conversations were replaced with well wishes as players passed around and signed helmets and footballs like yearbooks on the last day of school.

Despite the end-of-season disappointment, the 2024 campaign was largely a win for the Commanders. Rookie Jayden Daniels looked like a franchise quarterback. Players appeared to buy into the culture of coach Dan Quinn. A roster overhaul led by general manager Adam Peters landed Washington 12 regular season wins for the first time in more than 30 years.

Several Commanders said they were proud of their performance, but the looming offseason cast a shadow over the facility.

“It’s always a weird day. Just a lot of unknowns,” guard Nick Allegretti said. “You don’t know who’s coming back or what this team can look like next year. You’re saying bye, but you don’t know if it’s for a month or two or a couple years.”

For some of Washington’s players, Monday will mark their final day in the Commanders’ locker room. More than 30 players currently on the roster become free agents in the spring, eligible to sign with any team in the NFL.

General manager Adam Peters will have $87 million in cap space to work with, but many of last season’s players won’t be back when the Commanders reunite for organized team activities in the spring.

That’s a hard pill to swallow, according to several players who lauded the tight-knit nature of this year’s roster.

“The hardest part about today is just knowing that I’m going to have to go three, four months without seeing these guys again,” rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil said after having his teammates sign a Burgundy and Gold helmet for him. “It’s just for me to have as memories of this team, the great guys and great men on this football team.”

Wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus wasn’t as sentimental. He has bounced between three teams in his six seasons — that’s enough time to reflect on the real worst part of the season’s end.

“Honestly, packing all my [stuff], that’s the hardest part,” Zaccheaus said. “There’s a couple tough things, but for me personally, it’s just packing … I hate packing.”

Zaccheaus tops the list of Washington’s impending free agents, alongside veterans like backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, tight end Zach Ertz and linebacker Bobby Wagner.

They’re used to the end-of-season rigamarole, from the emotional goodbyes to the inevitable reflection about what went wrong. Mariota noted that there’s a sense of comfort in the uncertainty about the offseason — he can’t predict where he’ll be next season, so there’s no need to try.

“It’s just part of it. You can’t really find comfort in it when you have three kids,” Ertz said as he disagreed with his teammate. “It’s not exactly comforting to not know where you’re going to be.”

While they don’t know for sure where they’ll play next season, Wagner, Ertz and Mariota said they know where they want to be: Washington.

“At this point in my career, I want to be in a place that is really excited to have me, a place that is going to allow me to be at my best when my best is needed,” Ertz said. “This place did that for me this year.”

Washington’s players expect other free agents to see the potential as well. After years of inconsistency, there’s a clear and stable leadership system in place with owner Josh Harris, general manager Peters and coach Quinn.

Daniels’ electric rookie performance further boosts the sales pitch. He’s the widespread favorite to be the Rookie of the Year and captured the attention of football fans across the country with his play during a pair of playoff wins.

Beyond the surface-level disappointment, the Commanders noted they were proud and confident about the future.

“We are looking forward to the years to come,” said guard Sam Cosmi, who will undergo ACL surgery on Tuesday. “Anybody that wants to come, there’s a lot of attraction about this football team. Especially with No. 5 [Daniels] back there.”