The Washington Commanders want to extend safety Kamren Curl. Curl, a seventh-round selection in the 2020 NFL draft, is eligible for an extension after playing three years in the NFL.
The Commanders, under head coach Ron Rivera, have shown a willingness to lock up their best homegrown players to contract extensions. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne and Terry McLaurin first come to mind, but former center Chase Roullier was the first player Rivera extended back in Jan. 2021.
Curl has way outplayed his draft status, quickly becoming one of the NFL’s better safeties over the past three seasons. More importantly, he proved his worth more than ever last season by missing five games. In four of those games, Washington’s secondary struggled badly without Curl.
While there are no right or wrong ways to go about handling contract negotiations, Curl chose to report for voluntary OTAs this week in Ashburn. He talked to the media Wednesday and kept it simple on why he reported to work.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus recently came up with a list of players from the 2020 NFL draft who were early extension candidates, and Curl obviously made the list.
What kind of contract does Spielberger believe Curl could earn?
Three years, $40 million ($13.33 million per year), $26 million total guaranteed.
That’s a good deal for Washington and Curl. However, head coach Ron Rivera said this week that while the team is moving forward on the football side in business-as-usual mode, things such as contract extensions are on hold until the team is officially sold.
The goal is for Josh Harris to become Washington’s owner by Week 1. For the Commanders, you’d have to believe an extension for Curl would be high on their priority list.
Curl has been an absolute steal of a seventh-round pick since he was drafted in 2020, immediately contributing in Week 1 of his rookie season and becoming entrenched as a full-time starter by the second half of the campaign. As evidenced by the above graphic, Curl is extremely versatile, lining up as a deep free safety, slot cornerback and box player.
Curl’s 6% missed tackle rate over the past two seasons is the fourth-lowest mark among 99 safeties with at least 50 total tackles over the span. In 2022, Curl’s 80.8 PFF grade ranked seventh among safeties, and he allowed an open target rate of just 47.2%, which ranked eighth among safeties with at least 25 targets into their coverage area. Two total safeties earned run-defense and coverage grades of at least 80.0 in 2022: Minkah Fitzpatrick and Kamren Curl.
It’s time for Curl to get paid. And Rivera is undoubtedly pleased with Curl showing up for OTAs this week as he and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio have each called Curl a leader.
