Washington Commanders sign S Jeremy Reaves

Washington's signing of safety Jeremy Reaves earns a C- Contract Value Index (CVI), reflecting a depth acquisition that carries modest upside but limited immediate impact on a roster sheet that needs help elsewhere. At $3.35M AAV, this is a low-stakes commitment—the kind of veteran minimum-to-modest deal teams deploy when scouting for secondary depth without committing meaningful cap real estate or draft assets. Reaves lands in a secondary rebuild context where the Commanders are 5-12 and addressing systematic defensive gaps; a reserve safety signing does not move that needle in isolation, but it adds experienced bodies to a thin positional room. The value equation hinges on whether Reaves functions as a solid backup or special-teams contributor at that price point—acceptable value if he stabilizes the position group, but a misallocation if he becomes another rotational afterthought on a struggling defense. For a team in offseason mode with 91 days until the regular season and clear roster holes to fill, this signing represents a low-risk, low-reward tactic: it avoids cap stress and doesn't foreclose better opportunities, but it also won't be remembered as the move that changed the trajectory. The real test is whether the Commanders pair this depth play with more impactful defensive acquisitions in the coming weeks.