Commanders should target Colts' defender to improve secondary

When the NFL’s legal negotiating window opens Monday, the Washington Commanders will weigh moves at premium spots such as edge rusher and wide receiver, yet the club’s most urgent upgrade may sit deeper on the depth chart: safety. Despite entering 2025 confident in the position, Washington watched the group collapse—Quan Martin regressed, Will Harris missed most of the year, and the back end produced almost no game-changing plays. The result is a stealth need that could be solved by one under-the-radar free agent: Indianapolis Colts safety Nick Cross.

Cross, 24, checks every box for a franchise looking to blend youth, durability and upside. A third-round selection in the 2022 draft, he appeared in 51 of a possible 52 career games, logging only one absence. After spot starts as a rookie and sophomore, Cross became a full-time starter in 2024 and posted a 70.4 overall Pro Football Focus grade, buoyed by an 80.2 mark against the run. Even in a follow-up campaign that saw his overall PFF rating dip to 59.8, his run-defense grade remained stout at 72.0, and he continued to flash as a downhill attacker and occasional blitzer.

At 6-foot-0 and 212 pounds, Cross pairs that physicality with rare long speed—he blazed a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. The Maryland native and DeMatha Catholic product would also offer local ties while addressing a Commanders defense that finished last season among the league’s worst tackling units. Cross has spent the past two seasons working closer to the line of scrimmage, experience that should translate to tighter run fits on the back end for Washington.

The Commanders enter free agency with both cap space and a laundry list of roster holes, ensuring they will be linked to nearly every marquee name. Still, the smartest additions are often the subtle ones. Cross, young, homegrown and trending upward, fits that mold and could stabilize a safety room suddenly desperate for reliability and playmaking punch.