Commanders Expected To Add To Receiver Room Before Training Camp

Per Jason La Canfora, there’s a growing sense from other teams that the Washington Commanders are interested in reinforcing their receiving corps before training camp gets underway in a little over a month. 

La Canfora quoted one GM as telling him, “They want to do something at receiver. That’s a lot of smoke.”

Washington continues to be linked to some of the most notable receivers available or expected to be available, including Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins and Brandon Aiyuk. 

Aiyuk remains under contract with the 49ers as San Francisco tried to hold out for some kind of trade. But La Canfora has previously reported that Aiyuk is expected to be released before training camp, freeing him up to join the Commanders and reunite with his friend and college QB at Arizona State, Jayden Daniels. 

Hopkins would also love to team up with Daniels, per La Canfora, and he spent last season in the Maryland area while playing with the Ravens. 

Diggs went to college at Maryland and is from the area as well. He recently said the idea of coming home was appealing but he has some other options that he’s sorting through. 

“I never realized how many fans it was back home until I was a free agent and people were like, ‘Are you going to come back home?’” Diggs said. “Especially when they see me back. I’m like this, I’ve been living here for my whole life. I’ve been living here for 10 years. They was just like this, ‘Oh, we never see you.’ I was like, ‘Man, y’all wasn’t looking.’

“It’s a lot of hopes. We’re kind of figuring it out, working through some things. I did have a small piece of me, like, ‘Damn, it would be great to come home and play in front of the fans I used to play in front of as a young adolescent in college and just kind of doing something for the city.’ Hopefully, things do work out. We’ll see how it goes.”

Diggs, 32, is a former fifth-round pick of the Vikings back in 2015. He was in the final year of his rookie contract when he agreed to a five-year extension worth $72 million with the Vikings in 2018

The Vikings traded Diggs to the Bills in 2020 for a package of draft picks, including a first-round selection. 

Diggs was set to make base salaries of $11.775 million and $11.85 million over the final two years of his deal in 2022 and 2023 when Buffalo signed him to a four-year, $104 million extension. 

He was due base salaries of $18.5 million and $18 million over the next two seasons when the Bills traded him to the Texans for a 2025 second-round pick. Houston reworked his contract to give him a raise and make him an unrestricted free agent in 2025. 

Diggs played out that contract and signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Patriots in 2025. He was released after just one season, though. 

In 2025, Diggs appeared in all 17 games for the Patriots and recorded 85 catches on 102 targets for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns. 

Hopkins, 33, is a former first-round pick of the Texans back in 2013 out of Clemson. Houston later traded Hopkins to the Cardinals ahead of the 2020 season in return for RB David Johnson and draft picks. 

Hopkins was in the third year of his five-year, $81 million extension that included $49 million guaranteed when he agreed to a two-year, $54.5 million extension with the Cardinals. 

He was owed base salaries of $19,450,000 and $14,915,000 over the final two years of the agreement when the Cardinals opted to release him. Hopkins eventually signed a two-year, $26 million contract with the Titans.

Tennessee ended up trading him to the Chiefs in October of the 2024 season. After playing out the rest of his deal, Hopkins signed a one-year deal with the Ravens. 

In 2025, Hopkins appeared in all 17 games for the Ravens and caught 22 passes on 39 targets for 330 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Aiyuk, 28, was a one-year starter at Arizona State and earned first-team All-Pac 12 in his final season. The 49ers traded up with the Vikings to select him with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. 

He signed a four-year, $12,531,342 rookie contract that included a $6,673,703 signing bonus. The 49ers picked up his fifth-year option last year that cost them $14,124,000 fully guaranteed for the 2024 season. 

Aiyuk officially agreed to a four-year, $120 million extension that includes $76 million guaranteed after a lengthy period in which he was nearly traded to the Steelers.

In 2024, Aiyuk appeared in seven games for the 49ers and caught 23 passes for 351 yards receiving and no touchdowns.

We have Diggs and Hopkins included in our Top 100 Available NFL Free Agents list.