“We’ve awoken a sleeping giant. Hopefully, we can keep building on that next year.” Those were the parting words of Dan Quinn after making Commanders relevant again. Make no mistake, this was a 4-13 team a year ago fighting in the trenches to stay afloat. A franchise that didn’t have any vision and a revolving door of QBs, 20 to be exact, in the last two decades. But following a trip to the NFC Championship, falling short to the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the Eagles. One ESPN analyst believes it will be the Commanders who will be the closest challengers to the Birds crown next season. With a bit of help from the Browns.

Taking nothing away from the Eagles, stopping the Chiefs from a historical 3-peat was in no way an easy feat to achieve. But easy isn’t the word we are looking for here. It was more of a cakewalk for the Eagles, showing the NFL what they are actually cooking in Philadelphia. With that being said when Marcus Spears was asked who he thinks can probably go head-to-head with the Eagles next season. His answer may not surprise a lot out there, “I’m gonna go with Washington Commanders.” Now, Spears didn’t just put the Commanders’ name before the other 31 franchises without proper backing. 

He pointed out the Commanders’ third-best cap space in the league with a bit of a suggestion, “I look at their cap space, and I wonder if they are, I think. They are going to try to make a play for Myles Garrett, which I think can shift a lot in this division.” See, since the moment Browns reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett, dropped the papers at Browns front office asking for a trade. He is getting linked with teams left, right, and center. And considering the Commanders’ cap space, $78.1M per Over the Cap. It would be a walk in the park for them to get their hands on Garrett. 

Yeah, they have a favorable cap space to target Garrett. But that’s not the only thing for which the 6-time All-Pro is getting linked to the Commanders. Rightfully pointed out by ESPN’s Dan Graziano, “The Commanders were 19th in defensive EPA this season.” So, it makes all the sense for them to bring Garrett to Washington and give them a platform to challenge the Eagles head-on. However, Garrett would be the least of the problems the Eagles could face from their NFC East rivals. One name who would probably continue to haunt them for years to come is rookie sensation Jayden Daniels.

Jayden Daniels is predicted to snatch the Eagles crown next year

When Daniels was picked No.2 overall by the Commanders, the expectations were he would at least deliver a winning season. But ask anyone before the start of this season—no one would have predicted the impact of Jayden Daniels. And a historic season wasn’t even in the cards of the bookies. However, Daniels changed all the narratives, taking the Commanders from a 4-13 to a 12-win regular season. Then, the streak continued with wins over the Bucs and the Lions, that too on the road. Yeah, some would say they punched above their weight, eventually losing to the Eagles one game away from the Super Bowl. With Daniels and his sensational rookie year, that saw him record 3,568 passing yards and 25 TDs.

The bookies aren’t taking any risk this season. They have already started to weigh on the Commanders’ appearance at Super Bowl LX. As per BetMGM Sportsbook, the odds of Commanders reaching the Super Bowl next season stand at +1700. While the Eagles have been given +625 punch back-to-back spots in the Super Bowl. See, obviously, the Eagles’ goal would be to retain the Lombardi. However, those dreams also clash with the Commanders as their WR Terry McLaurin said after the season. “The standard is to have a chance to win the Super Bowl.”

Just pause and think about McLaurin’s statement for a second. Imagine a team that didn’t even have any credibility to win games a year ago. They are in conversations about winning the Super Bowl. Like for real, a sleeping giant has awakened whose destiny is known, but the limit is yet to be discovered.