Commanders keep purging roster of Ron Rivera-era draft picks

It is a noteworthy move because Forbes was the team’s first-round draft pick (No. 16 overall) just one year ago and is already off the team. 

First-round picks — especially picks in the top half of the draft — tend to get more of an opportunity to prove themselves, but Forbes was clearly not working out with the Commanders. But what makes it even more noteworthy is that with the release of Forbes, the Commanders no longer have a single first-round pick from the Ron Rivera era remaining on the roster. 

Rivera was the Commanders head coach between 2020 and 2023, producing a very disappointing 26-40-1 record.

That record resulted in sweeping changes to the front office and coaching staff prior to the 2024 season, and the new regime has not wasted any time in purging the roster of as many players as possible from the previous era.

Just for a quick recap on what happened to the Rivera-era first-rounders: 2020 first-round pick Chase Young was traded last year, while 2021 first-round pick Jamin Davis was released back in October. 

Prior to the start of this season, wide receiver Jahan Dotson, the first-round pick from 2022, was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now with Forbes being released, that is four big swings and misses by the Commanders during the Rivera era. Even worse, there is not a single draft pick from the 2020 class still on the roster. 

All of that is a big reason why the Commanders needed to make big changes before this season.

Even though they have lost three games in a row, the 7-5 Commanders are still in a good position to make the playoffs under first-year head coach Dan Quinn and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.