Commanders’ $36 Million Free-Agent LB Could Be ‘Non-QB MVP’

Getty Former Carolina Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu.

The Washington Commanders made one of the NFL’s most deft free-agent signings in the offseason when they brought in linebacker Frankie Luvu on a 3-year, $36 million contract in March 2024.

Luvu, 27 years old, got the first big payday of his career and the Commanders got one of the NFL’s most underrated linebackers after spending the first six seasons of his career with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers.

Luvu is also the player The Athletic’s Ben Standig identified as the player who could be the “Non-QB MVP” for the Commanders in 2024.

“Luvu, one of the Commanders’ primary free-agent signings this offseason, arrived with the versatility required to play multiple spots,” Standig wrote. “At 27, Luvu is an ascending talent coming off back-to-back 100-tackle seasons with (12.5) combined sacks. He will play every down, and the defensive personnel will shift depending on where the coaches deploy this aggressive playmaker.”

The Commanders need all the help they can get after finishing last in the NFL in total defense in 2023, giving up a mind-numbing 388.9 yards of offense per game.

Luvu Became Standout on NFL’s Worst Teams

Luvu took an unusually hard path to NFL riches and stardom — he made the Jets as an undrafted free agent out of Washington State in 2018. Luvu stayed on the Jets’ roster for three seasons as a special teams standout and only made four starts at linebacker.

Luvu signed a 1-year, $1.1 million free-agent contract with the Panthers in 2021 and played his way into a 2-year, $9 million contract extension before the 2022 season. Over the last two years, he’s proven he can be an elite NFL linebacker. He started 14 games and had 111 tackles, 7.0 sacks and 1 interception returned for a touchdown in 2022 and followed that up with 125 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 5 pass deflections in 2023.

One thing Luvu has never experienced? Playing on a winning team. Through Luvu’s first six NFL seasons, teams he’s played on are a combined 27-72 and none have  finished above .500.

Luvu Paired With Future Hall of Famer in D.C.

Luvu not only has the opportunity to make a boatload of cash in Washington, he gets to do so playing alongside one of the NFL’s most respected linebackers over the last few decades in Bobby Wagner, who the Commanders signed to a 1-year, $8.5 million contract in the offseason and should one day end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The pairing of Wagner and Luvu creates one of the more intriguing linebacker duos in the NFL in 2024. Wagner is a former Super Bowl champion, 10-time NFL All-Pro and 9-time Pro Bowler who has had over 100 tackles in each of his 12 NFL seasons and has led the NFL in tackles three times, including with 183 tackles on the Seattle Seahawks in 2023.

Wagner is also a winner — in 12 NFL seasons he’s only played on teams with losing records twice and made the playoffs eight times, with 16 career playoff starts.

“Wagner’s move east marks a notable shift in his career plans, and reunites him with his former defensive coordinator in Seattle, head coach Dan Quinn,” wrote NFL.com’s Nick Shook. “The longtime Seahawk moved south to his hometown of Los Angeles for a one-year stint with the defending Super Bowl champions, but as the wheels fell off for those Rams, it became clear Wagner wouldn’t want to stick around, leading him to re-sign with Seattle in 2023.”