American Football

Jeremy Reaves tops the list of the Commanders’ Restricted and Exclusive Rights free agents

Sports FEED

February 25, 2023

2023 NFL Pro Bowl Games — Photo by Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

Washington has decisions to make on 5 guys with less than 4 accrued NFL seasons

The Commanders have 5 players who are upcoming limited free agents

Exclusive Rights Free Agents:

LB Milo Eifler
CB Rachad Wildgoose
TE Eli Wolf

A qualifying offer to an ERFA is simply a one-year contract (non-guaranteed) at the league minimum salary.

Given the contributions of Eifler and Wildgoose during the 2022 season, I would think that they are both no-brainers to receiver ERFA tenders.

Wolf spent the entire 2022 season on IR, but the team needs depth at the tight end position, and he seems like a reasonable candidate to get a tender from the team.

The deadline for ERFA tenders is 15 March.

Restricted Free Agents:

LB Khaleke Hudson
S Jeremy Reaves

The cost of an RFA tender is:

Jeremy Reaves

Reaves is still living in the glory of being named to the 2023 Pro Bowl as a special teams player. The only reason that I can think of that the Commanders wouldn’t use the RFA tender on Reaves, who entered the NFL as a UDFA in 2018 and seems to be a favorite of Ron Rivera, is if they sign him to a long-term deal instead. Reaves made $965,000 in 2022, and a $2.6m right of first refusal tender following his pro bowl season seems like good value; however, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 27-year-old sign a 3-year extension with a signing bonus and slightly lower ‘23 cap hit instead.

Khaleke Hudson

Hudson played significant defensive snaps in only one game in 2022 — the Week 18 game against the Cowboys — but he played virtually every special teams snap in the other 16 games.

I question whether the Commanders will see his contributions as worthy of the $2.6m price tag for an RFA tender. My expectation is that the team will offer Hudson a contract with a value closer to $1m per season and allow him to test free agency if he thinks he’s worth more than they are offering.

Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA)

An exclusive rights free agent (ERFA) is any NFL veteran [who reaches the end of his contract] with less than three accrued seasons. A rookie (first year player), second, and third year player each fall into this category.
A player with exclusive rights status may only sign a contract with their original team, if the original team placed the minimum salary tender, typically during the first days following the completion of the Super Bowl through the start of the new league year (mid-March).
Any player who receives a team’s exclusive rights minimum salary tender will not be able to negotiate with another team, and the player must only re-sign with his original team.
If the minimum salary tender is not given or the tender has been withdrawn by the original team to a player with less than three accrued seasons, that player will then be completely free to sign with any team without any penalty or any restrictions.

Restricted Free Agent (RFA)

A restricted free agent (RFA) is any NFL veteran [that reaches the end of his contract] with three accrued seasons but not four accrued seasons of service. (Under certain restrictions, any NFL player with three accrued seasons shall be free to negotiate and sign a contract with any other NFL club).
The RFA has a signing window of roughly one month—typically between mid-March, when free agency starts, and mid-April. The signing period must last a minimum of thirty-five days and cannot end later than five days before the annual NFL Draft.
If a RFA player is tendered a Qualifying Offer, his original team has a right of first refusal and may receive a draft selection as compensation if the player signs a contract with a new team.