Here’s the way an NFL roster works for an elite team — you build a nucleus of 15-20 guys and build around that. Simple as that. Year after year. Outside of that group, everybody else is in a constant state of prove it or lose it.

The Washington Commanders showed they were already trending in that direction by how they constructed their 2024 roster, dumping over half of the roster from 2023’s disastrous, 4-13 campaign before they even began training camp.

And it’s worked. The Commanders are 7-2, in first place in the NFC East Division and off to their best start since 1996. As the Commanders continue to build their nucleus in the years to come — a group centered around rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels no doubt — you can expect more of the same. And with players wanting to come join a team on its way up and with an estimated $104.3 million in estimated cap space in 2025, that could mean some high-profile free agents taking meetings with general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thinks one of those players in 2025 could be longtime Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who is in the final season of a 3-year, $40 million contract extension he signed before the 202s season.

Lawrence, who previously signed a 5-year, $105 million contract extension in April 2019, could be looking for a new home as an unrestricted free agent. Lawrence played 3 seasons for Qunn while he was the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023.

“Washington would also serve as a sensible landing spot — and not entirely because former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is now the head coach,” Knox wrote. “Quinn’s presence would undoubtedly be part of the equation, but the Commanders are also set to potentially lose both Dante Fowler Jr. and Clelin Ferrell in 2025 free agency.”

Lawrence Could Still Fetch Big Money as Free Agent

Lawrence will likely look at 2 important things when he hits the free-agent market following the 2024 season — where can he win and where can he land one final, massive payday?

At 32 years old, Lawrence has been on injured reserve since October 2 with a foot injury but is a 4-time Pro Bowler — including in 2022 and 2023 under Quinn — and earned NFL All-Pro honors in 2017.

While being in your early 30s might have been a barrier to scoring another big contract in the past, we can look at the contract 35-year-old Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller signed in 2022 — a 6-year, $120 million deal — as evidence that age doesn’t quite mean what it used to.

Even if Lawrence can’t hope for those kind of numbers, it’s fair to think he could seek out a contract that brings him in the neighborhood of 3 years and between $30-$45 million.

Commanders Winning With Budget-Friendly Roster

The Commanders could stand to drop some cash on edge rushers.

They traded away one of the NFL’s elite edge rushers in 2023 when they dealt former first round pick Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears and he immediately signed a 4-year, $98 million contract extension with $72 million guaranteed.

The Commanders are paying their two starting defensive ends this season a combined $8.5 million with Ferrell ($4.8 million) and Dorance Armstrong ($3.7 million).

Fowler, who leads the Commanders with 6.5 sacks through 9 games, is making just $3.2 million in 2024.