The Washington Commanders have released veteran offensive tackle D.J. Humphries, ending a brief and ultimately unsuccessful bid to add experienced depth to an offensive line already strained by injury.
The move, announced by the team on Friday, comes just two days before Washington opens the 2026 season on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles and only a couple of weeks after the team signed Humphries near the end of training camp.
Humphries arrived as a stopgap after All-Pro left tackle Laremy Tunsil tore his triceps in August, an injury expected to sideline him for most or all of the season.
Brandon Coleman was installed as the starter on the blind side, and Humphries was viewed as a veteran insurance policy who could compete for snaps or provide a reliable backup. He never gained enough traction in that role to survive the final roster crunch before Week 1.
Because his salary would have become fully guaranteed had he been on the active roster for Sunday’s game, Washington chose to cut him now. The team can still bring him back later if needed, whether on a new deal or via the practice squad, but for the moment he is a free agent again.
The 32-year-old has traveled a long path since Arizona selected him 24th overall out of Florida in the 2015 draft. Humphries spent the bulk of his career with the Cardinals, developing into a durable starter who logged more than 100 career starts.
His finest stretch came around the 2020 and 2021 seasons, when he earned Pro Bowl recognition with Arizona in 2021. That honor reflected both his improved pass protection and his value as a leader on the offensive line during a period when the Cardinals were among the NFC’s better teams.
Injuries and inconsistency later interrupted that trajectory. After Arizona released him while he still had money remaining on a large extension, Humphries signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024 and then spent 2025 with the Los Angeles Rams, appearing in eight games and making a pair of starts.
Those later stops never recaptured the form that once made him a first-round cornerstone. Still, his body of work—108 games played and 101 starts—gave Washington a reason to take a late look.
For the Commanders, the release is another reminder of how quickly plans can shift on the offensive line. Tunsil’s absence already forced a reshuffling; Humphries was supposed to ease that transition.
Instead, Washington will head into Philadelphia with Coleman at left tackle and a thinner veteran presence behind him.
Humphries, meanwhile, will wait to see whether another club needs a tackle with starting experience and a Pro Bowl on his résumé, or whether Washington itself circles back once the opening-week salary deadline has passed.
