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Based on the latest 2026 roster-age calculations, Washington is still projected to have the NFL's oldest roster.
Their current age estimate for the 2026 season is 26.79 years old, which is a dramatic drop from their 28.1-year-old roster at the 2025 final cutdown.
A couple of important caveats:
2025: 28.1 → oldest roster in NFL history in the final-cutdown dataset
2026: ~26.8 → still oldest, but much closer to the championship-team norm
So "oldest roster" is a little misleading in 2026. They're no longer old the way they were in 2025. They're basically around the age of recent Super Bowl champions but happen to have the highest average because the rest of the league has gotten so young.
And I think this is actually a much more interesting question: how does Washington's 2026 roster age compare position-by-position with the recent Super Bowl winners? That would tell us whether the important players are aging appropriately, rather than letting guys like Tress Way and Bellore distort the overall number.
… and once you break the Commanders down by position, the picture is much more encouraging than the overall “oldest roster” label suggests.
One important correction to my earlier answer: the 26.79 figure is an overall roster-age estimate, not a prediction of how old Washington's actual high-snap players will be. That's an important distinction. The latest Commanders depth chart has a lot of very young projected starters, while the roster also carries some very old depth/special teams players.
2026 Commanders projected starters
I used the current ESPN depth chart and current ages; I get approximately:
Those ages are based on the current depth chart and player ages; the roster is still changing, so these are "projections" rather than final Week 1 snap-weighted ages.
The big difference: offense vs. defense
This is where the Commanders' situation gets really interesting.
Offense: older than the recent championship model
Washington's projected offensive starters average roughly 27.4 years old.
The biggest reason is obvious:
Terry McLaurin — 30
Stefon Diggs — 32
That's an extremely veteran WR pairing.
And then you have an offensive line with:
That's not ancient, but it isn't the profile we've seen from the recent young champions.
The 2024 Eagles, for example, were 26.1 overall, and their championship roster was particularly young in the trenches.
Defense: MUCH closer to the championship model
This is actually the part I like most about Washington's roster.
The projected defense has a lot of youth:
Sonny Styles — 21
Trey Amos — 24
Mike Sainristil — 25
Nick Cross — 24
Jer'Zhan Newton — 23
That's a very different picture from Washington's 2025 defense, which was carrying huge snap loads from Bobby Wagner, Von Miller, and other older veterans.
In 2025, Washington's snap-weighted defense was 28.7 years old — the oldest in the NFL. Their offense was 27.8.
That's the key transformation.
The Commanders haven't simply shaved a year or two off the roster. They have fundamentally changed the age distribution of the defense.
Now compare that with the recent champions
Here's the really interesting part.
The last four champions were all remarkably young. The 2023 Chiefs, for example, had a 26.0 snap-weighted age and a 25.2-year-old defense, which was the youngest defense in the NFL.
And the 2025 Seahawks were 26.1 snap-weighted overall, with a 25.6-year-old offense and 26.5-year-old defense.
So, Washington's projected overall roster number (~26.8) still looks old relative to the recent champions.
But…
Washington's core doesn't look old.
That's the distinction I'd make.
Washington's current projected core looks approximately:
QB: 25
Skill positions: ~27
OL: ~28
Front seven: ~27
Secondary: ~26
That's not a bad championship-age profile at all.
The biggest age problems are concentrated in specific veteran positions, rather than spread throughout the roster.
And there's one HUGE caveat
Washington's special teams are making the overall roster look older than its football core.
Tress Way is 36 and Tyler Ott is 34. Washington also has veteran depth such as Marcus Mariota (32), Antonio Hamilton (33), Daniel Brunskill (32), etc.
Those guys matter, but they don't represent 50–70 snaps per game.
That's why I prefer snap-weighted age over simply averaging all 53 players.
FTN's methodology does exactly that — it weighs each player's age by the number of snaps he’s actually played.
My takeaway for Washington
If I were evaluating the Commanders strictly from an age/roster-construction standpoint, I'd grade it like this:
QB: Championship profile
RB:
WR: Too old
TE:
OL:
DL:
EDGE:
LB:
CB:
S:
Special teams:
Overall: /
And that's considerably better than saying “Washington has the oldest roster in the NFL.”
In fact, there's a compelling argument that Washington has the age distribution of a potential contender, despite having the league's oldest overall roster.
The defense is the biggest reason. Recent Super Bowl winners have increasingly won with young defenses — the 2023 Chiefs had the NFL's youngest defense, and the 2024 Eagles' defense was also exceptionally young.
Washington appears to be moving in that direction.
The real question isn't whether Washington is too old. It's whether McLaurin/Diggs + the veteran OL can stay productive while Daniels, Conerly, Sainristil, Styles, Amos, and Newton form the younger championship core.
And that, to me, is a much more interesting question than the 26.8 overall number. Gentlemen and ladies... your thoughts?
Their current age estimate for the 2026 season is 26.79 years old, which is a dramatic drop from their 28.1-year-old roster at the 2025 final cutdown.
A couple of important caveats:
- 26.79 is not a final Week 1 number. Rosters are still fluid, and the Commanders can get younger or older before the 53-man deadline.
- Washington still has some significant age outliers — Tress Way (36), Nick Bellore (37), Tyler Ott (34) and other veterans — which pull the average upward.
- The team has nevertheless made a major age reset. The six 2026 draft picks and younger free-agent additions have brought the average down substantially. Washington's own post-draft roster assessment showed how much the roster had changed.
- Here's the part I find most interesting
2025: 28.1 → oldest roster in NFL history in the final-cutdown dataset
2026: ~26.8 → still oldest, but much closer to the championship-team norm
So "oldest roster" is a little misleading in 2026. They're no longer old the way they were in 2025. They're basically around the age of recent Super Bowl champions but happen to have the highest average because the rest of the league has gotten so young.
And I think this is actually a much more interesting question: how does Washington's 2026 roster age compare position-by-position with the recent Super Bowl winners? That would tell us whether the important players are aging appropriately, rather than letting guys like Tress Way and Bellore distort the overall number.
… and once you break the Commanders down by position, the picture is much more encouraging than the overall “oldest roster” label suggests.
One important correction to my earlier answer: the 26.79 figure is an overall roster-age estimate, not a prediction of how old Washington's actual high-snap players will be. That's an important distinction. The latest Commanders depth chart has a lot of very young projected starters, while the roster also carries some very old depth/special teams players.
2026 Commanders projected starters
I used the current ESPN depth chart and current ages; I get approximately:
Position group | Washington projected age | How it compares with recent champions |
| QB — Jayden Daniels | 25 | Excellent |
| RB — Jacory Croskey-Merritt | 25 | Young |
| WR — McLaurin/Diggs/Luke McCaffrey | 29.0 | Old |
| TE — Chig Okonkwo | 26 | Ideal |
| OL — 5 starters | 27.6 | Older than ideal |
| EDGE — Oweh/Chaisson | 27.0 | Slightly old |
| DT/front — key starters | ~28 | / Older |
| LB — Luvu/Styles/Chaisson group | ~26 | Good |
| CB — Amos/Sainristil/Robertson | ~26 | Good |
| S — Cross/Reaves | 26.5 | Good |
The big difference: offense vs. defense
This is where the Commanders' situation gets really interesting.
Offense: older than the recent championship model
Washington's projected offensive starters average roughly 27.4 years old.
The biggest reason is obvious:
Terry McLaurin — 30
Stefon Diggs — 32
That's an extremely veteran WR pairing.
And then you have an offensive line with:
- Andrew Wylie — 32
- Chris Paul — 27
- Nick Allegretti — 30
- Sam Cosmi — 27
- Josh Conerly Jr. — 22
That's not ancient, but it isn't the profile we've seen from the recent young champions.
The 2024 Eagles, for example, were 26.1 overall, and their championship roster was particularly young in the trenches.
Defense: MUCH closer to the championship model
This is actually the part I like most about Washington's roster.
The projected defense has a lot of youth:
Sonny Styles — 21
Trey Amos — 24
Mike Sainristil — 25
Nick Cross — 24
Jer'Zhan Newton — 23
That's a very different picture from Washington's 2025 defense, which was carrying huge snap loads from Bobby Wagner, Von Miller, and other older veterans.
In 2025, Washington's snap-weighted defense was 28.7 years old — the oldest in the NFL. Their offense was 27.8.
That's the key transformation.
The Commanders haven't simply shaved a year or two off the roster. They have fundamentally changed the age distribution of the defense.
Here's the really interesting part.
Champion | Overall snap-weighted age |
| 2022 Chiefs | 25.4 |
| 2023 Chiefs | 26.0 |
| 2024 Eagles | 25.9 |
| 2025 Seahawks | 26.1 |
| 2026 projected Commanders | ~26.8 roster average |
And the 2025 Seahawks were 26.1 snap-weighted overall, with a 25.6-year-old offense and 26.5-year-old defense.
So, Washington's projected overall roster number (~26.8) still looks old relative to the recent champions.
But…
Washington's core doesn't look old.
That's the distinction I'd make.
Washington's current projected core looks approximately:
QB: 25
Skill positions: ~27
OL: ~28
Front seven: ~27
Secondary: ~26
That's not a bad championship-age profile at all.
The biggest age problems are concentrated in specific veteran positions, rather than spread throughout the roster.
Washington's special teams are making the overall roster look older than its football core.
Tress Way is 36 and Tyler Ott is 34. Washington also has veteran depth such as Marcus Mariota (32), Antonio Hamilton (33), Daniel Brunskill (32), etc.
Those guys matter, but they don't represent 50–70 snaps per game.
That's why I prefer snap-weighted age over simply averaging all 53 players.
FTN's methodology does exactly that — it weighs each player's age by the number of snaps he’s actually played.
If I were evaluating the Commanders strictly from an age/roster-construction standpoint, I'd grade it like this:
QB: Championship profile
RB:
WR: Too old
TE:
OL:
DL:
EDGE:
LB:
CB:
S:
Special teams:
Overall: /
And that's considerably better than saying “Washington has the oldest roster in the NFL.”
In fact, there's a compelling argument that Washington has the age distribution of a potential contender, despite having the league's oldest overall roster.
The defense is the biggest reason. Recent Super Bowl winners have increasingly won with young defenses — the 2023 Chiefs had the NFL's youngest defense, and the 2024 Eagles' defense was also exceptionally young.
Washington appears to be moving in that direction.
The real question isn't whether Washington is too old. It's whether McLaurin/Diggs + the veteran OL can stay productive while Daniels, Conerly, Sainristil, Styles, Amos, and Newton form the younger championship core.
And that, to me, is a much more interesting question than the 26.8 overall number. Gentlemen and ladies... your thoughts?
