March 21, 2026, 4:02 a.m. ET

The first couple waves of free agency are over now, and most teams have added several players to their rosters.

The Washington Commanders have been one of the busier teams, which makes sense considering the team had a disappointing 2025 season. The Commanders entered the offseason with plenty of needs on both sides of the ball, and on paper, they did a fine job addressing those needs in free agency.

The team spent on defenders like Odafe Oweh, Leo Chenal, and Amik Robertson, while adding Chigoziem Okonkwo and Rachaad White to the offense. These additions, combined with the upcoming rookie class and a healthy Jayden Daniels, should make the Commanders more competitive in 2026.

However, one NFL analyst isn’t sold. Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports recently updated his power rankings, and he has the Commanders at No. 19. In Vacchiano’s previous rankings, the Commanders were No. 17, so they actually went backwards after free agency.

Regarding that slide, Vacchiano offered the following:

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.

All that cap space and they went for quantity over quality. They did make some nice additions on both sides — edge rushers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson, cornerback Amik Robertson, linebacker Leo Chenal, tight end Chig Okonkwo and running back Rachaad White. But are any of them really difference-makers?

Vacchiano’s main gripe is that the Commanders got good players, not true difference-makers. Vacchiano isn’t the only person surprised by how much money Oweh got, but it still feels like a slight overreaction to say they didn’t get better.

Oweh is a guy who could immediately improve the pass rush and could form a nice trio with Dorance Armstrong and Chaisson. Chenal will almost certainly be an upgrade over Bobby Wagner, and Robertson and safety Nick Cross are solid starters as well.

Sure, the Commanders didn’t get any superstars, but given how many needs they had, it was smarter to get several good players rather than one or two great ones. The Commanders also still have the draft, so the roster is far from set. There are plenty of reasons to believe that just a healthy Jayden Daniels by itself could translate to several more wins.