Commanders to re-sign WR Noah Brown

Brown is re-signing with Washington on a one-year deal worth up to $4.5MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Brown had overlapped with Dan Quinn in Dallas, before playing two seasons in Houston. Brown is coming off an injury that ended his season in early December. He had previously indicated hope a Commanders re-signing would commence.

Following K.J. Osborn in re-signing with Washington, Brown played a more notable role than the late-season slot addition. Coming over after a late-summer Texans release, Brown caught 35 passes for 453 yards in his Commanders debut. While the Jayden Daniels heave that began a Bears tailspin inflated Brown’s yardage total, the former Texas-stationed WR posted four other games with more than 50 receiving yards. He will be back and set to vie for a job as an auxiliary piece alongside Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel.

A clear-cut backup for his first five NFL seasons, Brown caught on as a reliable target in 2022 and has remained such since. Following the Cowboys’ Amari Cooper trade, Brown stepped into a bigger role and posted 555 receiving yards in 2022. The Texans added him on a one-year deal in 2023, and the 225-pound target helped a team depleted at receiver. Brown’s 567-yard, two-touchdown season aided C.J. Stroud during his Offensive Rookie of the Year season. Brown has since played supporting roles for back-to-back Offensive Rookies of the Year.

Brown’s skillset differs from Osborn’s, as the latter has been primarily a slot player during his career. Both will have a clear chance to supplement the recently formed McLaurin-Samuel duo. Brown is going into his age-29 season. Despite not surpassing 185 yards in a season, he is still going ahead of a ninth NFL campaign. Although Washington added Samuel, the team has otherwise been retention-heavy with its skill-position group. Zach Ertz, John Bates and Jeremy McNichols are back in the fold as well.