Free Agency Preview 2026: Cornerbacks and Safeties
February 10, 2026
By Noonefromtampa
The Commanders’ secondary was a mess for a significant amount of time during the season. Blown coverages, missed tackles and poor angles taken all contributed to an underperforming unit. There is renewed hope for this area with the signing of Daronte Jones, the former Vikings pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach as the new defensive coordinator.
There are some questions and holes that need to be filled. Can Mike Sainristil and Quan Martin return to their better level of play of the 2024 season? When Marshon Lattimore is released, who fills that void? Will Harris seems like the answer at one safety spot, but he was injured most of last season, who does he pair with?
Cornerbacks
Washington free agents include Jonathan Jones, Noah Igbinoghene, and Antonio Hamilton at cornerback.
The list of possible non-restricted free agents at cornerback filtered by age 30 and under who played at least 36% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2025 from 90+ cornerbacks entering free agency are:
| Player | Pos | 2025 Team | Type | Snaps | Age | Ht/Wt | PD | INT | Total Tkls |
| Nahshon Wright | CB | Bears | UFA | 97.0% | 28 | 6-4/199 | 11 | 5 | 80 |
| Alontae Taylor | CB | Saints | UFA | 96.2% | 28 | 6-0/199 | 11 | 2 | 83 |
| Eric Stokes | CB | Raiders | UFA | 92.2% | 27 | 6-1/193 | 5 | 0 | 53 |
| Jack Jones | CB | Dolphins | UFA | 91.5% | 29 | 5-11/175 | 6 | 1 | 77 |
| Jaylen Watson | CB | Chiefs | UFA | 83.4% | 28 | 6-2/197 | 6 | 2 | 64 |
| Coby Bryant | CB | Seahawks | UFA | 81.0% | 27 | 6-1/193 | 7 | 4 | 66 |
| Amik Robertson | CB | Lions | UFA | 76.3% | 28 | 5-9/183 | 12 | 1 | 52 |
| Cobie Durant | CB | Rams | UFA | 73.0% | 28 | 5-11/181 | 7 | 3 | 40 |
| Josh Jobe | CB | Seahawks | UFA | 72.5% | 28 | 5-11/190 | 12 | 1 | 54 |
| Tariq Woolen | CB | Seahawks | UFA | 72.4% | 27 | 6-4/210 | 12 | 1 | 41 |
| Greg Newsome II | CB | Jaguars | Void | 69.1% | 26 | 6-0/192 | 9 | 0 | 23 |
| Montaric Brown | CB | Jaguars | UFA | 67.1% | 27 | 6-0/190 | 12 | 2 | 51 |
| Cordale Flott | CB | Giants | UFA | 66.5% | 25 | 6-2/175 | 11 | 1 | 38 |
| Jamel Dean | CB | Buccaneers | UFA | 56.8% | 30 | 6-1/2-6 | 9 | 3 | 38 |
| Rock Ya-Sin | CB | Lions | UFA | 55.3% | 30 | 5-11/195 | 9 | 0 | 47 |
| Dee Alford | CB | Falcons | UFA | 52.7% | 29 | 5-11/180 | 13 | 3 | 67 |
| Ifeatu Melifonwu | CB | Dolphins | UFA | 51.1% | 27 | 6-3/210 | 1 | 1 | 53 |
| Kaiir Elam | CB | Titans | UFA | 49.0% | 25 | 6-1/191 | 2 | 0 | 33 |
| Jalyn Armour-Davis | CB | Titans | UFA | 48.0% | 27 | 6-1/200 | 2 | 0 | 34 |
| Nick McCloud | CB | Bears | UFA | 40.6% | 28 | 6-1/191 | 2 | 0 | 27 |
| Cameron Lewis | CB | Bills | UFA | 38.0% | 29 | 5-9/183 | 4 | 0 | 43 |
The Commanders fanbase is very high on signing Riq Woolen from the Seahawks, but there are several other possibilities available to the team. Fans are also speculating whether new DC Jones brings over former Vikings players. Between Jeff Okudah and Tavierre Thomas, I think Thomas is the more likely candidate as a backup nickel corner.
While the Vikings ended up starting a lot of games with both corners under six foot in height, I think the team will look for a veteran cornerback who is at least six foot to play opposite Trey Amos next season.
There are several candidates that fit that bill including Wright, Taylor, Stokes, Watson, Bryant, Woolen, Newsome, Brown, Flott and Dean. It all depends on who re-signs with their current team and who actually enters the free agent market next month. The Chiefs, Vikings, Cowboys, Dolphins, Jaguars, Lions and Bills all have significant cap space issues and with the Chiefs being $50M over. So, players like Watson, Newsome, Brown, and Jones may be cap casualties making them available. The Seahawks have almost as much free cap space as the Commanders while the Raiders have the second most free cap space, so they have room to re-sign some of their key players.
Besides, a veteran starter the Commanders will likely sign a couple of veteran journeymen corners to serve as backups.
Safeties
Washington doesn’t have any safeties entering free agency this season. This position group underwhelmed most of the season with Quan Martin seeing his playing time reduced once Will Harris returned from injured reserve. Besides Harris and Martin, Percy Butler, Tyler Owens and Jeremy Reaves will all return next season.
The list of possible non-restricted free agents at safety filtered by age 30 and under who played at least 40% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2025 from 60+ cornerbacks entering free agency are:
| Player | Pos. | 2025 Team | Type | Snaps | Age | Ht/Wt | PD | INT | Total Tkls |
| Jaquan Brisker | S | Bears | UFA | 99.9% | 27 | 6-1/204 | 8 | 1 | 93 |
| Kamren Curl | S | Rams | UFA | 99.1% | 27 | 6-2/207 | 5 | 2 | 122 |
| Nick Cross | S | Colts | UFA | 95.5% | 25 | 6-0/212 | 5 | 1 | 120 |
| Alohi Gilman | S | Ravens | UFA | 93.2% | 29 | 5-10/201 | 9 | 1 | 90 |
| Geno Stone | S | Bengals | UFA | 93.1% | 27 | 5-11/210 | 4 | 2 | 104 |
| Reed Blankenship | S | Eagles | Void | 89.5% | 27 | 6-1/203 | 4 | 1 | 83 |
| Andrew Wingard | S | Jaguars | UFA | 87.7% | 30 | 6-0/200 | 9 | 1 | 84 |
| Jalen Thompson | S | Cardinals | Void | 85.5% | 28 | 5-11/190 | 6 | 0 | 95 |
| Bryan Cook | S | Chiefs | UFA | 82.4% | 27 | 6-1/206 | 6 | 0 | 85 |
| Jaylinn Hawkins | S | Patriots | UFA | 81.9% | 29 | 6-1/208 | 6 | 4 | 71 |
| CJ Gardner-Johnson | S | Bears | UFA | 72.1% | 29 | 5-11/210 | 4 | 2 | 66 |
| Ashtyn Davis | S | Dolphins | UFA | 66.7% | 30 | 6-1/205 | 4 | 1 | 65 |
| Kyle Dugger | S | Steelers | Void | 66.0% | 30 | 6-1/220 | 5 | 2 | 42 |
| Dane Belton | S | Giants | UFA | 63.2% | 26 | 6-1/190 | 5 | 1 | 120 |
| Jason Pinnock | S | 49ers | UFA | 45.5% | 27 | 6-0/200 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
| Andre Cisco | S | Jets | Void | 44.2% | 26 | 6-0/210 | 1 | 0 | 41 |
| Tony Adams | S | Jets | UFA | 41.5% | 27 | 5-11/203 | 5 | 0 | 49 |
The top safeties, Brisker, Curl, Cross, Gilman and Stone, would all bring more consistency to the safety position. With a new DC who has a DB background, you have to think improving the coverage play is a top priority. Also, most of the top safeties are strong against the run game too. Curl is one player who should have been re-signed by Washington instead of letting him leave.
Cap Math
What do the contracts look like for some of the players that the Commanders could be interested in? Potential cornerback deals according to Spotrac:
- Jaylen Watson, 3 years, $37.4M or $12.5M per year in average annual value
- Cordale Flott, 4 years $38.0M or $9.5M per year
- Greg Newsome, 3 years, $27.0M or $9.0M per year
- Tariq Woolen, 1 year, $8.2M
- Eric Stokes, 3 years, $22.1M or $7.4M per year
Potential safety deals according to Spotrac:
- Jaquan Brisker, 3 years $33.3M or $11.1M per year
- Karen Curl, 4 years, $40.1M or $10.0M per year
- Nick Cross, 4 years, $24.3M or $6.1M per year
- Alohi Gilman, 2 years, $8.2M, or $4.1M per year
- Geno Stone, 1 year, $7.6M
Signing Watson and Brisker would cost the team almost $24M in cap space. Adam Peters will be trying to manage costs and production value to optimize the roster for the coming season.
Sources: overthecap.com, spotrac.com, pro-football-reference.com