The Washington Commanders added to their secondary Wednesday with safety Nick Cross.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported the Commanders plan to sign the former Indianapolis Colts safety. Cross and the Commanders agreed to a 2-year, $14 million contract.
The deal can become official when the new league year begins at 4 pm ET Wednesday.
Cross, who is a Maryland native, spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Colts. The past two campaigns, he started every game and became a tackling machine.
In 2025, Cross posted 120 combined tackles, including five tackles for loss. He also had six quarterback hits, 2.5 sacks, five pass defenses and one interception.
During his 2022 draft process, Cross received compliments for his physicality.
“Cross operated as the bouncer of the Maryland defense, playing with the aggression and explosiveness to throw opponents out of the club,” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote. “He is a chase player who seeks to make a statement upon impact and has impressive stopping power near the line or as an open-field tackler.
“He’s a tight-hipped, linear mover, so flipping and flying are not his strong suit. He’s capable of matching with most flavors of tight end and will be most comfortable in coverages that allow him to play with a downhill trigger.
“He has the temperament, size and toughness to become an eventual starter in the league.”
The Colts selected Cross at No. 96 overall in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Commanders Sign Safety Nick Cross: Report
Cross entered the league with considerable hype for a 20-year-old Day 2 selection. In his first two seasons, he carved out a role on special teams but didn’t play much on defense.
But then in 2024, Cross became a key figure on Indianapolis’s defense, playing more than 1,100 snaps each of the past two campaigns.
Entering this offseason, pundits considered Cross a top 10 safety and top 100 player on the free agent market. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper ranked Cross at No. 7 among safeties and the No. 68 player overall.
“Cross is a box safety who can defend the run and blitz. He ranked third among safeties with 16 pressures last season. He also led all free-agent safeties in splash plays with 30,” Popper wrote. “He is functional as a deep-half and post safety. He has decent ball skills. But Cross is less instinctive as a coverage player than as a run defender and blitzer.”
Still only 24 years old, Cross also has one of the higher ceilings of any free agent this offseason.
Yet, the Commanders landed him for seemingly less than expected. Popper projected the safety to receive a 3-year, $21 million contract this offseason.
Commanders Safety Depth Entering 2026
Washington added Cross despite the team still having its top three safeties in terms of snaps from 2025.
Those three safeties are Quan Martin, Jeremy Reaves and Will Harris. All three are set to become unrestricted free agents in 2027.
With Cross’s arrival, the Commanders should have strong safety depth next season. It’s unclear how the team might deploy all those players in the back end of its secondary, but Cross is very likely to be the leader.
If Reaves and Martin prove capable of playing the rest of the snaps next to Cross, Harris could be expendable. The Commanders could release Harris to save $3.73 million and incur only a $1 million cap hit.
Commanders Signing Explosive, Tough Safety to $14 Million Deal: Report