Did Washington Pay Too Much for Odafe Oweh?
The Commanders just handed Odafe Oweh a four-year, $100 million deal with $68 million guaranteed. The commanders just paid cornerstone money for a 27-year-old edge rusher with 30.5 career sacks in five seasons. So, did Washington pay too much for Odafe Oweh? The simple answer: yes.
And that is exactly why this move deserves to get hammered.
Yes, Oweh flashed after getting traded to the Los Angeles Chargers. Yes, he finished with 7.5 sacks in 12 regular-season games in Los Angeles and looked explosive again. But that is the problem. Washington just paid top-shelf money based on a streak, not a body of work. One hot stretch should not be enough to make a front office hand out a contract like he he been an elite producer his entire career.
The Commanders are betting that Oweh is an ascending player. Fine. Bet on growth all you want. Just do not pretend that paying $25 million per year for projection is the best option. That is a gamble, plain and simple. And for a team with multiple needs, it is fair to ask why this was the swing worth taking at this price.
Is it Wishful Thinking?
The timing around this contract is what makes it a hard pill to swallow.
Baltimore already started cooling on Oweh before he left. Snap counts dipped. His role stopped growing. The Ravens clearly were not behaving like they had some untouchable edge terror on the roster.
Then he lands with the Chargers, and suddenly everything looks different for a few weeks. Pressure numbers climb. Sacks show up. Analysts start talking about “upside” again. It is funny how fast that happens in the NFL. The next thing you know, Washington is writing a check big enough to make the whole conversation disappear. Because apparently, a late-season surge wipes away every earlier question.
Expectations Will be High For Oweh
Players do get better. Nobody is denying that. Development happens. Situations change. A different scheme can wake somebody up. Still, paying top of the market money right when a player’s value is screaming the loudest feels backwards. Teams usually hope to buy before the spike.
Somebody in that building clearly believes the Chargers’ version of Oweh is the real one, and that’s fine. Front offices have to trust their evaluations. But fans are allowed to have stick shock.
What gets harder to explain is paying star-level money before a player has put out some star-level seasons.
Seventeen and a half sacks since 2024 ranks nineteenth in the league. It is a useful production, and plenty of teams would take that output without complaint. But pretending it screams one hundred million dollars takes some creative thinking. Expectations are going to go through the roof for Oweh. If he does not produce immediately, the fans will be calling for Adam Peters‘ dismissal.
The Need Does Not Equate to the Price Paid
Washington needed help off the edge. Quarterbacks were far too comfortable, far too often. Something had to change. But needing help does not magically erase the price of the fix.
Teams talk themselves into these moves every March. Free agency opens, and the market moves fast. Sometimes those bets work beautifully. Many times, they go downhill quickly.
Maybe Oweh turns into the kind of defender offensive tackles dread every Sunday. Pass rushers can explode once everything clicks. Right now, Washington paid too much for Oweh. They gave him elite money, hoping that moment had already arrived.
Hope is great. But hope also costs one hundred million dollars in this case.
