Commanders Free Agent Fits: Linebacker

Taking a look at some linebackers that the Washington Commanders could potentially target in free agency

The linebacker position is an interesting spot for the Commanders to consider this offseason. On one hand, they have a young, athletic and talented linebacker in Jordan Magee and a productive veteran in Frankie Luvu pencilled in as starters, with young guys like Kain Medrano and Ale Kaho as back up options behind them. On the other hand, Magee is very inexperienced in terms of calling a defense from the Mike linebacker position because Bobby Wagner took all the reps last year, and Frankie Luvu is coming off a down season.

With Wagner a free agent and potentially considering retirement, the Commanders could well look to find a new Mike (middle) linebacker this year. They also have the question of what roles do they want from their linebackers under new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones, who could be switching from a base 4-3 front to a 3-4. With all of that in mind, the Commanders could look to dip into the free agent market, which is full of interesting linebacker options this year. Here are a few players they could be considering.

High Profile: Devin Lloyd, Jaguars, 27

The top free agent linebacker on the market is Jacksonville’s Devin Lloyd. Lloyd was a first round pick of the Jaguars in 2022 and had a hot start to his career before falling off a bit. The Jaguars opted against picking up his fifth-year option, but in 2025, he bounced back and was one of the top linebackers in the NFL this season. The 6-foot-3, 235 pound linebacker is a terrific athlete freak and looks like the profile of the modern NFL linebacker - big enough to hold up in the run game but agile enough to be good in coverage too.

It was his coverage ability that really took a step forward this year. Lloyd was joint second in the NFL in interceptions this year, securing five interceptions. When you look at those interceptions, you see his value in coverage.

Here is one of Lloyd’s two interceptions against the 49ers. On this play, the 49ers are running a play-action pass with quarterback Brock Purdy looking to find receiver Jauan Jennings over the middle. At the snap, Lloyd takes one slight step forward but immediately corrects himself and starts sinking backwards before the play-action fake has even been executed. That tells you he’s done his homework and studied the 49ers well, understanding their tendencies.

He drops back into an underneath zone coverage, but shows terrific awareness when doing so. As he drops back, he sees the quarterback opening his body towards his left, indicating that he’s looking to throw that way. Lloyd then opens his body that way and looks for a receiver trying to cross over the middle of the field. The end zone replay angle is the best view for this.

He knows that the 49ers love to attack the middle of the field off of play-action and quickly spots Jennings breaking inside. Lloyd then shuffles across and gets his eyes into the backfield to try and locate the ball. Clearly quarterback Brock Purdy wasn’t expecting him to be there, anticipating him being on the other side of the field in his zone, but Lloyd read the play so well and put himself in a great spot to surprise the quarterback and make the interception.

It was a terrific play by Lloyd that tells you he not only has a good feel for coverage, but he does a great job studying opponents and understanding how they’re trying to attack the defense. That’s a big part of being successful as a linebacker in the modern NFL. So much of the game is designed around putting linebackers in stressful spots where they have to fit the run but also sink back into coverage. Being able to know the opponent tendencies gives you a step up in being able to identify plays and react quicker than other players.

That was far from Lloyd’s only impressive play in coverage. Against the Chiefs, he had a 99-yard pick-six, and it came from a look that will be familiar to those that have studied Commanders new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones.

Down on the goal line, the Jags line up in a Cover-0 look, with nearly every defender on the line of scrimmage. Lloyd lines up in the A gap between the center and left guard. He looks like he’s blitzing but his job is actually to step forward and get the center to slide his way before then dropping back into coverage as a late dropper, trying to lay a trap for the quarterback. This is something Daronte Jones and his Vikings defense did a lot under Brian Flores, so this would be a directly translatable skill for the Commanders.

Lloyd steps forward a few steps at the snap, getting the center to slide his way and forcing the running back to step up and block the other linebacker in the other A gap. Lloyd then quickly peels off and sinks into coverage while watching the quarterback. He spots Patrick Mahomes looking to his right, so Lloyd crosses over to the other side of the field as he follows Mahomes’ eyes. Mahomes thinks he can hit a quick slant to beat the Cover-0, but Lloyd suddenly appears in the throwing lane and intercepts the pass.

Not only does he intercept the pass, taking points off the board from the Chiefs, Lloyd then shows off his athleticism by running it back 99 yards for the touchdown. He made a nice move to make Mahomes miss the tackle and then was able to outrun the rest of the Chiefs all the way down the sideline to score. That’s a game-changing play.

It’s clear to see then that with the size, athleticism and coverage ability, Lloyd will be a highly desired linebacker in free agency. Some places are projecting him to get somewhere in the region of $20 million a year on average annual value. That’s a significant amount of money but you can understand why teams would be willing to pay it. It’s not often you can find a linebacker with that type of coverage ability. My question with Lloyd is the other stuff.

He’s not the best run defender, he can get caught on some blocks and isn’t always the first one to fill his lane. He’s more of a run and chase guy that suits playing the Will (weakside) linebacker spot rather than the Mike (middle) linebacker position. He’s also not a terribly effective blitzer, despite his athleticism. Now the Jags don’t necessarily blitz him a ton and if he were to end up in Washington, I’d expect Jones to use him as a blitzer a lot more. But he only has 3.5 sacks over his first four years in the league.

If I’m going to pay a linebacker $20 million a year, I want that guy to be good in all aspects of the position, not just elite in one and poor in the others. That makes me a bit apprehensive about Lloyd. The Commanders definitely could use his coverage ability, no doubt, but their run defense was poor last year too. Perhaps they could protect him with a switch to a 3-4 and having bigger defensive lineman in front of him to eat up blockers and keep him cleaner. But that would be a concern if they signed him.

Good Value: Leo Chenal, Chiefs, 25

Chenal is one of the more intriguing free agents of this entire class. He’s 6-foot-3, 250 pounds but posted absurd athletic testing numbers prior to being drafted. His relative athletic score, which takes note of all combine testing and ranks it compared to all other players at his position, was a 9.99 out of 10. He ranked as the third best athlete at the linebacker position out of the 2406 linebackers tested from 1987 to 2022. He went in the third round to the Chiefs in 2022 and has flashed his potential but never really settled into a role there. He’s a ball of clay full of potential waiting to be tapped into.

When you watch Chenal, you immediately notice how the Chiefs put him in a lot of different positions. They probably were a bit over the top with it and he could probably use with a more defined role going forward, but some of the plays he makes in those different spots show the raw athletic ability he has, and why the Chiefs were willing to put him in those spots in the first place.

Check out this play from the Chiefs game against the Ravens this season. Chenal is standing up as a linebacker, but he’s on the line of scrimmage and placed between the left guard and center. Effectively, he’s playing as a defensive tackle on this play. Sometimes you see linebackers or defensive ends in this spot in a rush package, but rarely do you see them have to try and defend the run from this spot. The Ravens identify Chenal in that spot and decide to run right at him with a double team from the left guard and center.

As the ball is snapped, the guard and center work in combination on Chenal, who naturally has to give some ground against not one but two offensive lineman that are significantly bigger than him. But he shows great technique here, he twists his body to almost go down onto one knee, a very common and effective technique that a lot of defensive lineman use to withstand double teams. This enables him to stop the movement backwards. The left guard then has to peel off to block a linebacker, which Chenal uses to his advantage. He breaks free of the center’s block and emerges in the hole to make the tackle on the running back, keeping the gain to a minimum.

It’s not just a great play from Chenal, but it shows that he has the strength, physicality and technique to take on blockers much bigger than him and shed them, which is critical in the run game. But while Chenal is capable of that type of play in the run game, he’s also capable of dropping back into coverage, especially in ways that new Commanders defensive coordinator Daronte Jones would appreciate.