Washington Commanders' QB Marcus Mariota re-signs, is 'very blessed to be back'

The Washington Commanders aren't a collection of individuals playing football on the same team, they're a group of likeminded people pulling in the same direction.

When you get that many people locked into the same mission, amazing things can happen. For the 2024 Commanders, that amazing thing was a trip to the NFC Championship Game.

Washington general manager Adam Peters and his staff are hard at work putting even more talent on the roster this year, but bringing back important members from last year's squad is also critical. So when the news broke that quarterback Marcus Mariota was re-signing with the team, we could almost hear the cheers coming from the fans.

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

"The grass isn't always greener and being around this league for a long time, you understand that when you have a good thing and you have a great culture and you have a great room, that's not everywhere," Mariota said upon returning to the Commanders. "At the end of the day, something was going to have to really knock my socks off to leave this place, and I'm very happy and very blessed to be back and I'm excited to make another run with this team."

Mariota drew interest from other NFL teams during this early free agent period, but as he said, it was going to take a big offer to lure him from Washington. That alone is a testament to what is happening within the franchise as a whole.

It isn't every day that a veteran who knows his years and opportunities to get back in the starting lineup doesn't even take a flier of a chance to go after it. That's how special this place is right now, to Mariota, who admitted that his ego required he go out and see what was available, but his heart brought him back to the East Coast.

"When I took a step back and thought about it, and reflected, it was so important for me to be a part of this and to just enjoy my journey," Mariota shared. "I think there's been so many times in my career there's been a lot of ups, there's been a lot of downs, and I just wanted to just enjoy coming into work and what (head coach Dan Quinn) has built here is probably the best environment that I've ever been a part of and for me that's hard to leave."

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the offseason.

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