Safety shake-up leaves Commanders banking on untested talent

Considering the speed with which Adam Peters reconstructed the Washington Commanders’ roster he inherited last year, it isn’t surprising that the general manager allowed starting safety Kamren Curl to depart.

There was some thought that Peters might want to retain one of the few success stories from Ron Rivera’s drafts. Curl seemed to be a good match for another of those successes, free safety Quan Martin. Together, they formed a promising young tandem.

But Peters did not pursue Curl. Instead, he signed Jeremy Chinn from the Carolina Panthers.

Chinn had been a rising star during his first two seasons with the Panthers. However, a change in defensive coordinators and scheme eventually relegated him to special teams and spot duty on defense.

The former second-round pick out of Southern Illinois is one of the modern safeties who looks and plays like a linebacker much of the time. Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. know how to best deploy him. His bounce-back season in 2024 earned him a good contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.

For the second straight season, the Commanders have allowed a good box safety to sign with another team. How much will Chinn’s departure affect the defense in 2025?

Quan Martin returns and should continue developing into an upper-tier free safety. His pick-six against the Detroit Lions in the divisional round of the playoffs last year was a season highlight.

Commanders have young guns ready to take over Jeremy Chinn's mantle

Penciled in to join him in the secondary is Will Harris, formerly of the New Orleans Saints. He is not the hitter that Chinn was, but he has been a steady player throughout his six seasons.

Over his last four years, in both New Orleans and Detroit, Harris has played in 62 games, starting 42 of them. He is solid, if not spectacular, in all phases of the game.

The Harris signing provoked a lot of yawns both locally and across the league. That may be why some analysts are still clamoring for another big signing — Justin Simmons’ name has been speculated about of late. That remains a definite possibility.

If Peters opts not to sign another veteran, the Commanders still have in-house options should Harris falter. Percy Butler and Jeremy Reaves both have extensive experience at safety, though they are probably best suited to remain special-teams fixtures.

Peters signed two intriguing undrafted free agents last year. The uber-athletic Tyler Owens impressed coaches enough to earn a roster spot. Though he never saw the field on defense, he developed into a core special-teams player. He would no doubt like to build on that and get some defensive snaps.

Ben Nikkel stayed on the practice squad for much of last season and is back to compete for a spot. He is joined by a new UDFA, Jackson State’s Robert McDaniel. Virtually all of these players fit the same physical profile: around six feet and 210 pounds.

They can all run pretty well. The Commanders have done a nice job in recent years of developing safeties, so it is entirely possible one of the little-known back-end defenders could emerge.

Washington has two other rookies who were not drafted as safeties but could see time there if Whitt decides to experiment. Car’lin Vigers will be competing for one of the backup cornerback spots, but the former Louisiana-Monroe star lined up as a box safety at times in college. He has the physicality to give it a shot in the pros.

Finally, if Quinn and Whitt are looking for the player most like the departed Chinn, they may have him in sixth-round draft pick Kain Medrano.

Though ostensibly a linebacker, Medrano has the speed and agility to play a big nickel spot that Chinn thrived in last year. The UCLA product has a lot of developing to do before he is likely to get serious defensive snaps, but if he progresses this summer, he might find his way onto the field as a safety in special packages.

The same might apply to 2024 draft pick Dominique Hampton, a player with great size and speed as well. He has been taking snaps at linebacker, but that would not preclude him from playing a traditional safety or perhaps some kind of hybrid.

Replacing Chinn won’t be easy, but we were all saying the same thing about Curl at this time last season. It appears that Peters, Quinn, and Whitt have prepared a lot of backup plans should Harris not work out.

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