Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is coming off an impressive rookie season, and Colin Cowherd isn’t afraid to put him up against the league’s elite quarterbacks. Selected with the second-overall pick, the LSU product took the league by storm, guiding the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game while completing 69% of his passes for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and a 90.6 PFF grade, the sixth-best mark in the league.
Now entering Year 2 and with Super Bowl aspirations, Colin Cowherd believes that Jayden Daniels is in the same tier as guys like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen when it comes to untradeable athletes. In a recent segment, the NFL analyst named Daniels as the seventh-most untradable athlete in all of sports, not just football.
"I think he's our next superstar in the NFL."
Which surprise player cracks @colincowherd’s list of untradeable athletes? pic.twitter.com/fCOsCc4SsP
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 26, 2025
“Number 7 – you’re gonna think this is crazy – I think it’s Jayden Daniels,” Cowherd said. “I think he’s our next superstar in the NFL. I thought last year was the greatest rookie season by far…Relevance, maturity, arm, movement – to the nation’s capital. There is an argument that over the next 20 years, they’re going to become Kansas City in the NFC. That kid was bizarrely good as a rookie, you cannot trade him.”
Colin Cowherd Throws Insane Praise on Jayden Daniels
It’s worth noting that Cowherd’s list not only factors in the talent of the player but also the situation in which they find themselves. For instance, when discussing Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, Cowherd mentions the significant revenue she personally generates for the league and the potential backlash from the fanbase if the Fever were to trade her to another team.
With that disclaimer out of the way, Colin Cowherd doesn’t use this angle when discussing Jayden Daniels. While he briefly mentions Washington’s historical inability to win football games, he only uses it to highlight the team’s impressive turnaround. Based on this clip, Cowherd is saying that Daniels is effectively the third-most important player in the NFL, behind only Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, but is this fair?
Too Excited?
Jayden Daniels had a fantastic rookie season and should establish himself as one of the game’s best quarterbacks over the next few seasons, but Colin Cowherd is jumping the gun a bit here. By saying Daniels is behind only Mahomes and Allen, he’s effectively saying that the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals would rather have Daniels than Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, respectively.
While Daniels is a great young player, neither team would trade their quarterback for the LSU product. Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP, and while Burrow’s never earned the honor, both players have a long track record of elite play. While Daniels is still on a rookie contract and represents a great financial value, it shouldn’t be enough to put him over proven elite quarterbacks. Maybe he’ll deserve a spot at this point next year, but you can’t overreact to one impressive season.
Main Photo: Geoff Burke – Imagn Images
