What Has Adam Peters Done For Us?

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September 9, 2026

BY Noonefromtampa

There is a lot of pessimism around the upcoming season from the fans, the beat reporters and national sports media pundits. Washington has been called the worst team in the league by some. Really? Tell me you didn’t see any Miami Dolphins preseason games, come on, please!

Is Washington an elite or even a near elite team? No. The roster left by the previous roster was seriously flawed from top to bottom. Adam Peters got sucked in the emotional roller coaster of the 2024 season and went all in for a Super Bowl for 2025. Honestly, the team was missing depth beyond the starters and could not weather the rash of serious injuries that befell the team. Hindsight said he should have continued the roster build and made the team younger not older.

Let’s take a look at how the roster has changed since 2023.

Offense

Position 2023 Team Position 2026 Team
QB Sam Howell QB Jayden Daniels
RB Brian Robinson Jr. RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt
WR Terry McLaurin WR Terry McLaurin
WR Curtis Samuel WR Stefon Diggs
WR Jahan Dotson TE John Bates
TE Logan Thomas TE Chig Okonkwo
LT Charles Leno Jr LT Laremy Tunsil (IR)
LG Saahdiq Charles LG Chris Paul
C Tyler Larson C Nick Allegretti
RG Samuel Cosmi RG Samuel Cosmi
RT Andrew Wylie RT Josh Conerly Jr.

Two offensive starters out of eleven remain from the 2023 team, Terry McLaurin and Sam Cosmi. Both the skills group and offensive line group have been upgraded since 2023. Several of the 2023 starters are either backups on other teams or out of the league, which shows the quality levels of that 2023 team.

Defense

Position 2023 Team Position 2026 Team
DE Montez Sweat OLB Odafe Oweh
DT Daron Payne DE Daron Payne
DT Jonathan Allen NT Tim Settle
DE James Smith-Williams DE Javon Kinlaw
LB Jamin Davis OLB K’Lavon Chaisson
LB Cody Barton ILB Sonny Styles
LB Khaleke Hudson ILB Frankie Luvu
CB Benjamin St-Juste CB Trey Amos (IR)
CB Kendall Fuller CB Amik Robertson
S Kamren Curl S Nick Cross
S Percy Butler S Jeremy Reaves

Montez Sweat was traded away, Jonathan Allen released and Kamren Curl signed a deal with the Rams. Jamin Davis has bounced around the league but never lived up to his first-round draft status. Daron Payne is only remaining starter with Percy Butler a backup now. The front office totally revamped the defense this offseason bringing in six new starters.

Special Teams

Position 2023 Team Position 2026 Team
P Tress Way P Tress Way
K Joey Slye K Drew Stevens
LS Camaron Cheesman LS Tyler Ott

Tress Way is the consistent player in this group, having started for Washington for the last twelve years. When Joey Slye left after the 2023 season, Washington went through seven different kickers in 2024 and 2025. The hope is that rookie strong-legged Drew Stevens solves that problem. Camaron Cheeseman didn’t last the 2023 season after being drafted in the sixth round. He was released after botching two snaps in a week 15 game against the Rams. He wasn’t too sad though; he accumulated enough money to pay for dental school. Tyler Ott has been consistent since signing with the team.

Draft Picks, Free Agents & Roster Drift

The previous regime did not help the team long term either. Draft picks like Emmanuel Forbes, Ricky Stromberg, Braden Daniels, Jahan Dotson, Phidarian Mathis, and Jamin Davis, none of which panned out for the team, left major gaps in both the offense and defense.

Quarterback moves such as Ryan Fitzpatrick and Carson Wentz did not work out for the team. Other less successful moves included CB William Jackson III, S Bobby McCain, G Andrew Norwell, and WR Adam Humphries.

The impact of this is a cascade down through the roster where beyond the less than stellar group core players, the supporting cast of players was largely forgetful.  How many of you really miss Danny Johnson, Benning Potoa’e, Efe Obada, Christian Holmes, De’Jon Harris or Darrick Forrest? Or even remember them at this point?

Some notable players that made their way through to the Dan Quinn era were TE John Bates, S Quan Martin, Percy Butler, Chris Paul and Dyami Brown who returned this season.

Conclusion

When you retain four out of twenty-five starters (16%) and decimate the rest of the roster trying to rebuild, there was not much of a foundation to start with. This front office has made some questionable draft picks each of the last couple of years (Ben Sinnott and Jer’Zhan Newton come to mind), so Adam Peters will have to be more consistent at picking players with long-term futures with the team. Going all in for the 2025 season set the rebuild back a season, so this team likely needs one or two more drafts to build up the roster. The lack of quick progress is already causing some fans to call for changes in the front office or coaching staff. If you look at franchises that have had long-term success, you will find longevity in either the front office or in the coaching staff. Management churn is probably the single biggest contributor to poor results on the field.

The big question to answer when the games are played this season is whether the ownership group will provide the time to the front office and coaching staff to finish the building process, or will a Dan Synder type knee-jerk reaction reset this whole process all over again. The number of wins this team has at the end of the season will be a key determining factor.

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