Commanders GM Adam Peters: ‘Now I Got to Find’ a QB

Getty Adam Peters during Dan Quinn's introductory press conference.

Adam Peters, the new general manager for the Washington Commanders, knows the pressure is on him to put in place the team’s first franchise quarterback since 2017, Kirk Cousins’ final season in D.C.

“And now I got to find a new quarterback,” Peters told reporters February 27 ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, acknowledging the difficulty in evaluating quarterback talent.

Even as one of the architects of the San Francisco 49ers team that went to the Super Bowl, Peters wasn’t always successful, swinging and missing on Jimmy Garappolo and Trey Lance before Brock Purdy fell into the 49ers’ laps in 2022.

“You learn more and more every time you do it,” said Peters, who was in San Francisco for seven seasons, first as vice president of player personnel and then as assistant general manager. “You just try to get better and understand what you did the last time that was really good and what you did last time that was really bad.”

And now he’s got a chance to make his mark on an organization under new ownership.

“Washington has lived that unwanted life for much of the past 30 years, most of which were controlled by dismal ownership,” The Athletic’s Ben Standig wrote on February 27. “Peters, this year’s hot GM candidate, represents the organizational change. Landing a passing prodigy does so even more.”

Adam Peters on the Potential QB Options

The Commanders have the No. 2 pick in April’s draft, giving them the option of choosing between two of the consensus top three QB prospects: USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels.

Or they could stick with their 2023 starter, Sam Howell, who will enter his third year with the Commanders after finishing 12th in the league in passing yards (3,946) and tied for 15th in touchdown passes (21) but also leading the league in interceptions with 21.

“Sam came to the facility a couple of weeks ago and got a chance to hang out. Instead of sitting around, we just took a walk,” Peters told reporters at the combine. “We took a walk around Commanders Park and around the fields and got to know him a little bit better, so I feel really good about him, too. So we’ve got a lot of different things we can do, but still really excited about him.”

But, according to Fox Sports, multiple sources said they were interested in acquiring Howell via trade if the Commanders “recalibrate” their rosters (as new head coach Dan Quinn called it) with one of the draft’s top prospects.

Update on the Top Overall Prospect

Peters hired Kliff Kingsbury to be their offensive coordinator. As senior offensive analyst at USC in 2023, Kingsbury has experience working with Williams, the draft’s top overall prospect.

Williams, a D.C. native, checks a lot of boxes, both on and off the field for the Commanders. Bringing a hometown Heisman winner back to the area would potentially revive a fanbase habitually fooled by the team’s previous ownership.

With Bears GM Ryan Poles still uncommitted on which direction to take with the No. 1 overall pick, it leaves the door cracked open for a potential Commanders trade.

“Really, Kliff and I haven’t talked too much specifically on him,” Peters told reporters. “We really just have talked about quarterback play in general and what he looks for in quarterback and how we can find that right fit for him if that’s what we’re going to do.”

The quarterback situation is going to continue to be viewed under a microscope given that Washington has had 12 different starting quarterbacks since allowing Cousins to leave via free agency in 2018.