It didn’t take long for Adam Peters and Dan Quinn to show they weren’t here to rebuild slowly. They started where it mattered most—quarterback—and landed Jayden Daniels, who’s already cracked top-five rankings heading into year 2. Then came help. Terry McLaurin (expected to get a contract extension) still works the sidelines like clockwork. Deebo Samuel will now give them yards after the catch. And in front of it all? Laremy Tunsil is locking down the blindside, with rookie Josh Conerly Jr. settling into right tackle and Brandon Coleman bumping inside to round out a revamped front.

The secondary? It got the same treatment. Marshon Lattimore arrived in a headline trade, while nickelback Mikey Sainristil brought versatility and burst from the draft. Even the interior D-line has shape now—Javon Kinlaw, Eddie Goldman, and Deatrich Wise Jr. That’s how Washington quietly checked off the NFL’s premium boxes one by one—quarterback, receiver, protection, coverage, push up the gut. All except one: edge rusher.

Entering the 2025 season, the Commanders were thin at the edge rush position. They had Dante Fowler Jr. last year, who led the team with 10.5 sacks over 17 games before leaving for Dallas. That said, the Commanders were searching for a veteran presence at edge rush to complement Frankie Luvu for the 2025 season, and just like that, they’re now bringing 8x Pro Bowler Von Miller.

Enter Albert Breer, who observed that the Commanders finally addressed their edge rush issue after signing Miller. “I’d say, almost all of the premium positions now where you’re not only functional, you’re pretty good at all the premium positions except for edge rusher,” Breer said. “And so to me, the signing of Von Miller is addressing the edge rusher issue.” But how does Miller fit behind the Commanders’ D-line? That’s a question.

Miller is 36 years old and is now entering the 15th season of his career. And as Breer noted, the Bills managed Miller’s workload over the past two seasons to maximize his impact. He missed out on at least four to five games in each season and was available for the better part of it, the playoffs. That’s not just smart—it’s a proven template. Now, expect Dan Quinn and the Commanders to take a familiar approach.

But could that work for Washington? It will highly depend on how Quinn utilizes his potential. “But it doesn’t fix it completely because I think what the Bills found over the last couple of years with Von Miller at his age, to really get the most out of him, you’ve got to use him less,” Breer added. And that’s what Buffalo did the last couple of years. They scaled down what they were asking of him, so they could get the most out of him when he was on the field.

“So at best, what this, if this is working at the at its highest level, you’ve got a rotation of defensive ends and Von Miller’s coming in there on third down and he’s still got the juice because he’s only playing 30 or 40% of the snaps. You have him really as a specialist. If he’s in that role, I love the idea of it.” In the 2023 season, Miller accounted for 24.1% snaps (258) of the Bills total defensive plays. And last season, the number jumped to 25.3% (279).

All things considered, Von Miller fills the edge rusher gap for the Commanders. We’ll see how well he fits in the 2025 season.

How does Von Miller’s signing affect Trey Hendrickson?

Throughout the offseason, Dan Quinn and Co. needed a pass rusher to complete their defense. That wasn’t out of frustration, though. With Fowler Jr. off to Dallas, Washington needed to bolster their edge rushing game to make it a top contender in the NFC. Which is why they’ve been constantly linked to the Bengals‘ DE, Trey Hendrickson, which, if we’re being real, made sense. The Commanders had both the means ($84M in future cap space) and the motive to trade for Trey.

Hendrickson led the league in sacks last year and is now entering the final season of his contract. However, as far as a contract extension is concerned, the Bengals and Trey never seemed to be on the same page. “This situation seems to be worsening by the day, which is a great reason why the Bengals should move Hendrickson before the season,” NFL.com columnist Jeffri Chadiha wrote last month, hoping for a trade possibility. Again, the Commanders came out as the front runner to grab last season’s sack leader via trade.

On paper, the logic was airtight. Washington’s defense delivered just average pressure last season (22.6%), and Dorance Armstrong’s five sacks barely filled the void left by Fowler Jr. Hendrickson’s 17.5 sacks last season speak volumes. His arrival in Washington would have been transformative. Fast forward to now, and that early optimism is slowly unraveling, thread by thread. The catalyst? Von Miller’s signing. On Thursday, the 8x Pro Bowler revealed that he’s signing a deal with the Commanders through a social media post.

That said, Hendrickson is now left with fewer options. Either a contract extension could still be at the table, or we’ll have to wait and see if any other team is interested in Trey.