The Washington Commanders have been sending a very clear message on what they want in free agency in 2026 — youth, speed, and power.
They added some more of that to the mix and gave another big hint at what their offense will look like in 2026 by signing Cleveland Browns free-agent running back Jerome Ford to a 1-year contract on Saturday.
“The Commanders have agreed to terms with former Browns RB Jerome Ford, giving him a 1-year deal,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account. “He leaves Cleveland after four seasons.”
Ford, 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, was a 5th-round pick (No. 156 overall) out of the University of Cincinnati in 2022 and had a career-high 1,132 yards of total offense and 9 touchdowns in 2023.
“Washington is signing RB Jerome Ford to a one-year deal,” ESPN’s John Keim wrote on X. The Commanders add another RB after landing Rachaad White. They entered with only Jacory Croskey-Merritt under contract and now have three.
“Rachaad White and Jerome Ford give the Commanders experience and depth in the backfield alongside Jacory Croskey-Merritt,” NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo wrote on X.
Commanders Create 3-Headed Monster in Backfield
The Commanders made a huge mistake with their backfield in 2025 by trading veteran Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers during training camp.
While the Commanders may have thought they had the position covered with Croskey-Merritt and NFL All-Pro Austin Ekeler, after Ekeler suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week 2 those plans went out the window.
To make matters worse, the team’s leading rusher from 2024, quarterback Jayden Daniels, missed 10 games due to injuries.
Now, with White, Croskey-Merritt and Ford … there might be something cooking with the 3-headed monster in the backfield. Not to mention Daniels remains the elite rushing option out of that entire group — he set the NFL rookie quarterback record with 891 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns in 2024.
Transfer Triggered Jerome Ford’s NFL Career
Ford spent his first 2 seasons of college football playing behind a gaggle of future NFL running backs at the University of Alabama, including Robinson, Najee Harris, Damien Harris, and Josh Jacobs as well as a dual-threat quarterback in future Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts.
After just 151 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns in 2018 and 2019 with the Crimson Tide, Ford transferred to Cincinnati and became a star. As a backup in 2020, he had 483 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns in 10 games while averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
In 2021, Ford had a breakout season with 1,539 yards of total offense and an incredible 20 touchdowns as the Bearcats made the College Football Playoff for the 1st time in program history.
He followed that up by running the 40-yard dash in a blazing 4.46 seconds at the NFL scouting combine.
“He’s a talented, explosive option out of the backfield with soft hands and the speed to mismatch linebackers out in space,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in 2022. “The pieces aren’t all in place, but Ford could have a future as a change-of-pace slasher with third-down value.”
Miserable Year on Miserable Team Hurt FA Value
The Commanders are likely getting a great deal on Ford for 2026 and he’ll be as motivated as anyone to prove 2025 was a fluke after the Browns went into a full-on rebuild and buried him on the depth chart behind rookies Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson.
Playing behind the 2 rookies, Ford had just 176 yards of total offense in 2025 and didn’t score a touchdown after scoring 12 total touchdowns in the previous 2 seasons.
Commanders Sign ‘Talented, Explosive’ 1,100-Yard RB Away From AFC Team