Adam Peters‘ Commanders regime cut ties with a handful of 2023 draft choices brought in by Ron Rivera and Co. This included bailing on third-round center Ricky Stromberg‘s rookie deal a year in. Weeks later, the top pick from last year’s Commanders draft may not be on steady ground.
The Commanders are gauging Emmanuel Forbes‘ value on the market, per veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson. Forbes has not justified his draft slot — No. 16 overall — despite coming to the nation’s capital after elite turnover numbers in college. Forbes has started one game this season and played in five, seeing later-round prospects work in front of him.
Drafted one spot in front of Christian Gonzalez last year, Forbes has played just 37% of the Commanders’ defensive snaps this season. The team drafted the slender prospect to work in Rivera and Jack Del Rio‘s scheme, and while a thumb injury slowed him early this season, the Mississippi State alum only played 50% of Washington’s defensive snaps as a rookie. The Commanders have used Forbes as a starter in just seven games since drafting him midway through the first round. Pro Football Focus has assigned Forbes an abysmal 37.6 coverage grade this season.
Benjamin St-Juste and second-round rookie Mike Sainristil are ahead of Forbes, with multiyear Chargers starter Michael Davis also added this offseason. Noah Igbinoghene, a former Cowboys low-end trade pickup, has also started five games and logged a 67% snap share as primarily a slot defender. After not contributing much to the Dolphins’ cause despite being a former first-round pick, Igbinoghene was among the cadre of Cowboys to follow Dan Quinn to Washington. He has slid Sainristil to the boundary, cutting off a Forbes path back to the lineup.
Forbes finished his college career with six pick-sixes but checked in at 166 pounds. The previous Commanders regime liked Gonzalez as well but preferred Forbes to the eventual Patriots CB1. Forbes intercepted a staggering 14 passes in just three seasons at Mississippi State, but thus far, he has not translated into a reliable pro corner. Forbes is under contract through 2026 and would add some dead money to Washington’s payroll if traded before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline.
It would cost the Commanders more than $12M in dead cap, which would be spread between this year and next, to] unload Forbes, who has more than $5M in guaranteed salary due from 2025-26. That would also be an issue for an acquiring team, though with Forbes just 23, it would also not surprise to see a team that liked him coming out of the draft to take a flier. Of course, the Commanders would likely not fetch anything beyond a Day 3 pick at this juncture. Whether the team moves on may depend on whether it acquires another corner before the deadline.
