Right when things seemed like they couldn’t get worse for the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football against the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers … well, they did.
After NFL All-Pro wide receiver Terry McLaurin left the game and was ruled out with a serious knee injury in the first half, $45 million defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw suffered the same fate and was ruled out with a knee injury early in the third quarter.
“Javon Kinlaw (knee) ruled out,” ESPN’s John Keim wrote on his official X account on Monday night.
“Javon Kinlaw has been ruled out with a knee injury,” The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala wrote on his official X account.
Kinlaw was facing his old team — he was a 1st-round pick (No. 14 overall) by the 49ers in the 2020 NFL Draft.
“This is quietly a huge loss for the Commanders,” Commanders reporter Chad Ryan wrote on X. “Kinlaw is important and effective up front.”
Javon Kinlaw: Free Agent Disaster for Commanders
The Commanders signed Kinlaw to a 3-year, $45 million free-agent contract before the 2025 season, after he spent 2024 with the New York Jets.
It was one of the moves that led to the franchise seemingly coming undone over the last two seasons — they already had two highly paid and effective defensive tackles on the roster in Pro Bowlers Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.
Pro Football Focus singled out Kinlaw’s contract as the worst of the 2024 cycle.
“The Commanders got aggressive in an effort to boost their defensive line, giving Kinlaw a three-year, $45 million contract,” PFF’s Bradley Locker wrote. “However, the early results of the agreement seem to be playing out as some surmised. Kinlaw finished the year with a 46.8 overall PFF grade, including a 47.6 PFF run-defense mark and a 9.4% pass-rush win rate. In turn, the interior defensive line is still an area of weakness for Washington.”
Problems With Kinlaw Signing From Start
The buzz on Kinlaw and his contract have been bad from the start.
Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald gave the Commanders an “F” grade for the Kinlaw deal, which included $30 million in guaranteed money.
“Most contracts in the NFL have some level of justification…this does not,” Fitzgerald wrote. “The Jets signing Kinlaw at $7.5M was a bad one last year and this just blows that away. 3 years, $45 million with $30 million full at signing. Insane. Teams that do stuff like this because they have cap room often wind up a mess in a year or two because the cap room is gone and they wonder why they have some of these contracts on the books. On paper this is the worst signing of the early free agency period.”
Commanders’ $45 Million Defender Suffers Knee Injury vs. 49ers