Jonathan Allen has expressed hesitancy about being part of another Washington rebuild. The standout defensive tackle may not have a choice.
Although the Commanders have a new head coach and football ops boss in place, the Dan Quinn–Adam Peters regime appears prepared to go into the season with Allen in place at his defensive tackle post. Peters said this week the team is not interested in a trade, via Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano. Only Tress Way has been with the franchise longer than Allen, who is going into his eighth season.
The Commanders have Allen on what has become a team-friendly deal. Since Allen agreed to his four-year, $72M extension in 2021, the D-tackle market has seen multiple waves adjust its contract hierarchy. Although no one approached Aaron Donald‘s $31.7M-per-year deal while he was still active, Daron Payne‘s $22.5M-per-year contract started the formation of a second tier on that market. The subsequent deals for Dexter Lawrence, Jeffery Simmons and Quinnen Williams preceded this year’s monster contracts handed to Chris Jones, Christian Wilkins and Justin Madubuike.
The activity on this market over the past three offseasons has dropped Allen to 12th at the position in terms of AAV. With the 2017 first-round pick signed through 2025, it can be expected he will be asked to play another season on this deal — if, in fact, he remains a Commander going into the season.
Teams asked about Allen before last year’s deadline, but Ron Rivera and Co. did not move either of their D-tackle pieces; they instead traded both their defensive ends. Rivera and other staffers did not want to give up Montez Sweat, but ownership is widely believed to have played a role in the team moving on from both its top DEs last fall.
It would be interesting to see if Josh Harris would step in on the Allen front, but considering he just hired Peters to run football ops, another such intervention would surprise. Allen is coming off a 5.5-sack season, though he totaled more QB hits (19) compared to his 7.5-sack 2022. Allen, 29, has registered 22 sacks over the past three seasons, helping a D-line compensate for Chase Young‘s injury trouble.
Washington would seem to still have an opening opposite ex-Quinn Dallas disciple Dorance Armstrong at defensive end, but fellow ex-Quinn Cowboys charge Dante Fowler and Clelin Ferrell could conceivably compete for the other starting job. But Allen staying keeps D-tackle as a team strength. Former second-round pick Phidarian Mathis joins Allen and Payne inside. A big offer could change the Commanders’ mind here, as this regime is inheriting the Rivera-era extension, and Allen could be a name to watch at the deadline come November. For now, however, the oldest of the team’s three ex-Alabama DTs is staying put.
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