While Washington entered the season with some options along its offensive line, the team has already shuffled the position group. Both Brandon Coleman and Nick Allegretti hit the bench in Week 3, moving Chris Paul and Andrew Wylie into the lineup. This will only be a temporary solution, with Samuel Cosmi on the way back.
Cosmi is stashed on the Commanders’ reserve/PUP list, having suffered an ACL tear during the team’s divisional-round upset over the Lions. ACL recovery timetables vary, and while some players have made recoveries from a postseason tear in time for Week 1, many land on the PUP list to open the following season. The Packers used it for Christian Watson, who suffered his ACL tear in Week 18.
The Commanders can bring Cosmi off the PUP list beginning in Week 5, and window would come just less than nine months after the injury. The team should be considered unlikely to activate Cosmi when he is first eligible, with The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala indicating she would be “shocked” if the fifth-year blocker returned at that point.
Instead, it should be considered more likely Cosmi receives a ramp-up period. The Commanders would have three weeks to activate Cosmi after designating him for return, giving him time to practice while not on the 53-man roster. Teams have also given players longer ramp-up periods, activating them from injured lists but still not using them in games. It is unclear if the 26-year-old guard would need more than a three-week ramp-up period, however.
Washington traded for Laremy Tunsil‘s contract, making the former Texans and Dolphins left tackle its highest-paid O-lineman, but Cosmi still represents a better bet to be around longer. The right guard became the Adam Peters regime’s first big extension last summer, signing a four-year deal worth $74MM. This commitment, which included $26.62MM guaranteed at signing and $45.12MM guaranteed in total, ties Cosmi to the team through 2028. That would stand to lead the Commanders to exercise caution regarding Cosmi’s recovery timetable.
Cosmi, 26, started all 17 Commanders games in 2023 and ’24. ESPN’s run block win rate metric graded the former second-round pick fifth among all interior O-linemen last season. Converted from right tackle earlier in his career, Cosmi would supplant Wylie at RG upon return. Though, Dan Quinn did not guarantee the Allegretti-for-Wylie switch would be a long-term move.
Once Cosmi comes back, however, the team will have Wylie, Paul, Coleman and Allegretti to choose from at left guard. One of these players would probably be in consideration to be cut, though, as teams generally do not carry three backup guards. Wylie and Coleman’s tackle histories would prove helpful for his case to stick around as a swingman, and it would surprise if Washington bailed on Coleman during the ex-third-rounder’s second pro season. Pro Football Focus also viewed Paul’s debut strongly; while an admittedly small sample size, the advanced metrics site ranks the 2022 seventh-round pick as the NFL’s top guard in 2025.