Everyone knew that the Washington Commanders were taking a huge risk when they opted to decline the fifth-year option on the contract of Chase Young. Doing so meant that he would become a free agent in 2024; the team wanted to see if he could regain his form after his last two seasons were derailed by a knee injury.

Through Week 6, Young is looking more like the player who won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020. He is currently the No. 37 ranked edge defender in the NFL by PFF out of 111 qualifying players.

His impact in the running game hasn’t been there yet, as he has earned a run-defense grade of 54.3, which is 80th out of 105 players. But, he is 16th out of 102 with a pass-rushing grade of 78.7, recording 31 pressures in five games played, including 4.0 sacks.

That is something that should excite the Commanders and their fans as Young is regaining his form. However, their decision to decline his fifth-year option has put the team in a major bind once the 2024 offseason rolls around.

Fellow edge defender, Montez Sweat, is also set to become a free agent. He is playing out his fifth-year option and continues to produce at a high level himself. His overall grade of 73.4 is 31st amongst edge defenders, as he is getting the job done in every facet.

Sweat is setting the edge with a run-defense grade of 76.4, which is 11th among edge defenders and getting after the passer with a pass-rushing grade of 69.0, which is 39th. This is actually a step back in production for the 2019 first-round pick, which speaks volumes to how good he has been with the Commanders. In six games, he has 20 total pressures, including 6.0 sacks, to go along with 10 stops and two forced fumbles.

Both players have set themselves up for massive paydays this upcoming offseason. The Commanders have shown they are willing to invest in players along the defensive line, as they paid defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne major money the last two offseasons.

However, can they afford to keep both Young and Sweat? Complicating matters for Washington is that there is only one franchise tag that can be used. Represented by the same agency, which player is the Commanders going to use the tag on? Both players have a ton of leverage regardless of who the team engaged in extension talks with first.

“Young and Sweat also share agent representation. Every player benefits from reaching the open market, so there’s no real reason for Washington to entertain an extension on one player just to free up the franchise tag for the other player, unless the team is willing to pay an exorbitant price. The Commanders really backed themselves into a corner here. Netting only a 2025 compensatory pick when one of the two signs elsewhere in free agency is a poor process when they could recoup potentially much more in a trade,” wrote Brad Spielberger of PFF.

In that piece, Spielberger mentions Young as a potential trade candidate ahead of the deadline on October 31st. While the Commanders are fighting for a playoff spot still, trading him, or Sweat, could be in the long-term interest of the franchise.

The goals of the coaching staff working to keep jobs and management may not be aligned heading into the deadline, making these decisions that much more difficult. Keeping both players is going to be virtually impossible, especially with the amount of dollars that have already been committed to the defensive line. 

That makes a trade involving one of them a possibility in the coming days. Which player it would be is anyone’s guess as both are playing at a high level, earning their next contract in the process.