Are Commanders Free Agency Losers? NFL Power Rankings

The NFL landscape was drastically altered in March with a flurry of blockbuster transactions on the trade and free agency market. A number of the league's top talent, like Russell Wilson, Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, found new teams and grabbed headlines.

Washington Commanders co-owner Dan Snyder has been the source of a lot of accused misconduct, and the fan base's public enemy No. 1

The conflict has expanded to very public disagreements between Snyder and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

Even while the league and franchise try to put co-owner Tanya Snyder in as the forward-facing leader of the organization, Dan's name and actions continue to dominate headlines

Unfortunately for the Washington Commanders, the offseason headlines have been largely surrounding owner Daniel Snyder and the troubling investigation into the organization's front-office behavior.

The good news is, in addition to a new team name and logo, the Commanders have a new starting quarterback after trading a pair of draft picks to the Indianapolis Colts for Carson Wentz. At the cost of $28 million this season, Wentz will be the starter. But the future of the franchise is still unknown.

Where do the Commanders stack up in Sports Illustrated's Post-Free Agency NFL Power Rankings? After the first wave of free agency moves, the Commanders come in at No. 24.

Ron Rivera indeed has full control of this franchise, as seen in the fact that it only spends first-round picks on defensive players and the team is now named after the off-brand G.I. Joes you can buy at Dollar General. Typically, this also means disadvantageously conservative quarterback play, but in the case of the newly-acquired Carson Wentz, any Rivera-influenced guardrail will be welcome for a quarterback who can go through destructively bad stretches of hero ball. We will likely see a less-effective version of Wentz than we got in Indianapolis last year, which is still oddly just enough to put the Commanders in contention for the No. 7 seed.

Washington hopes Wentz will exemplify consistent play and leadership in the locker room. Receiver Terry McLaurin and tight end Logan Thomas should benefit under Wentz this season, but Washington will likely need to add more pass catchers.

In order to emerge from the middle of the pack in the NFC, the Commanders need their defense to exceed. After an underwhelming showing last season, Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen and Da'Ron Payne still have the talent to be elite.

Has the gap between the Commanders and the reigning NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys narrowed? The Cowboys remain the favorites (-115) to win the division in 2022, but the Commanders still have money to spend in free agency and can still make moves to improve their roster.

Washington currently sits 20th in the league in terms of cap space, with just over $10 million to spend. The team might use the money to sign another receiver for Wentz, a middle linebacker or perhaps help with depth at defensive tackle or offensive line.