The Washington Commanders might trade down in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to gain more picks.
General manager Adam Peters addressed the possibility of trading with an NFC East opponent, considering division rivals might want to move up for impact players. He was asked on Thursday whether holding the No. 7 overall pick would influence his approach to a trade with a team from the same division.
“No, I don’t think it impacts it at all,” Peters stated. “Obviously, I think there’s more scrutiny with that, but it certainly doesn’t change. You know, the thought process is always, is this the right decision for our team? And if that’s the case, then we’ll do it. And it doesn’t really matter what the team is, we got to beat them on Sundays and Mondays and Wednesdays and Thursdays and Fridays regardless. So, you know, to me, that doesn’t make it a huge difference there. It’s just whatever is best for our team.”
Potential Trade Partners
The Cowboys have been mentioned as a possible team looking to trade up. The Eagles are known for being willing to make moves on draft day. Peters acknowledged that while any trade must benefit his team first, helping a rival always has implications.
Likelihood of Staying at Pick No. 7
Despite the trade speculation, Peters indicated that he anticipates the Commanders will keep the No. 7 pick. He added that this could change depending on how things develop on Thursday night.
“Yeah, certainly have to be ready to do that. I would say more likely than not, that would happen,” he said. “But you never know. You never know and it’ll depend on who’s on the board, if a team wants to move up, and then we have to decide if we want to do that. But I would say more likely than not, we’d stay and pick.
“I don’t foresee us moving up, but moving back just depends on the circumstances. But we’re not, like, I don’t want to say we’re not actively trying to move back, you know, we’re always assessing our options and making sure we’re ready, and then understanding who’s going to be there at certain positions and certain spots towards the middle to the later part of the first round. But just being prepared for that, but not really actively trying to get out of that at all.”
The Commanders currently have six draft selections next week, with just one in the first two rounds.