Commanders reach midseason haunted by one regret they can’t undo

The Washington Commanders have toiled their way to the midseason point, and things are not going well. If head coach Dan Quinn's squad loses to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football in Week 9, their slim hopes of reaching the playoffs will completely evaporate.

That is a far cry from what fans expected before the campaign. Fans were anticipating the Commanders to make another deep postseason run after an aggressive offseason from general manager Adam Peters. They've come nowhere close, and unless things change soon, this rising franchise could be staring down the barrel of a top-10 draft pick when it's all said and done.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Some of Peters' decisions this offseason have paid off handsomely. The jury is still out on others, but arguably, Washington's biggest regret is something they can't undo.

Commanders are paying the price for not believing in Jeremy Chinn

When the Commanders signed free-agent safety Jeremy Chinn during the 2024 offseason, nobody really knew what to expect. The 2020 second-round pick was nothing sensational to start his career, with many believing he should have been named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year over Washington defensive end Chase Young. However, he became an afterthought with the Carolina Panthers after new coordinator Ejiro Evero switched to a 3-4 base scheme, and he couldn't wait for a fresh start elsewhere.

Chinn seized this chance in Washington. He was explosive, dynamic, and aggressive. The urgency and athleticism with which he went about his business were first-class. There were some frailties in coverage, but even that troubled part of his game showed improvement as the campaign progressed.

Extending Chinn was a foregone conclusion for most fans. Peters disagreed, allowing him to walk in free agency to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Commanders replaced him with Will Harris, who had a couple of nice games early before going to injured reserve.

Washington's safety unit has been exposed as a weak link. Quan Martin has regressed. Jeremy Reaves gives maximum effort but is unpredictable. Percy Butler is more of a special-teams specialist these days. Tyler Owens showed promise when given defensive reps in Week 8, but he remains an unknown quantity.

Perhaps things would be different if Harris hadn't gotten injured. But looking at their desperate need for dynamism across the second and third levels, and how Chinn is emerging as a genuine bright spot amid the chaos in Las Vegas, one cannot look at this as anything other than a regret right now.

Peters thought he could get similar production for cheaper. Harris is a good player, but he's not around to prove this one way or another right now, and Chinn would have made a significant difference.

Hindsight, the thing everyone wishes they could have but can't.