Washington Commanders LB Bobby Wagner one of the best players over 30 in the NFL

The Washington Commanders believe linebacker Bobby Wagner will bring the right balance of aggressive, intelligent play on the field and leadership in the locker room that will help them get this rebuild (even if they don’t call it that) moving in the right direction quickly.

At a time when 34-year-old linebackers aren’t exactly having their phones ringing off the hook in free agency, the Commanders want Wagner, and he’s expected to bring the same value to this team that he provided to the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams before him.

Ultimately, Washington didn’t just hire Wagner to be a motivator, it brought him in to help it win. And as one of the NFL’s best players over the age of 30, he’s looking to do the same.

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“Speaking of never seeming to age, that’s Bobby Wagner, who led the NFL with 183 tackles in his 12th season. He’s had more than 100 tackles in each season and was a key member of Seattle’s vaunted defense that reached two Super Bowls,” wrote Jeff Diamond of 33rd Team, ranking Wagner as the league’s 12th-most-30-year-old player. “After being selected in the second round by Seattle in 2012, he played there for 10 years, then spent one season with the Rams before returning to the Seahawks last season. His production has never wavered, but with the coaching change from Pete Carroll to Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks considered Wagner expendable even after he was selected to the Pro Bowl for the ninth time and earned his 10th All-Pro honor (named to the second team in 2023). So he signed with Washington, where he’ll surely continue to play at the level we’re accustomed to seeing from this future Hall of Famer. “

In the 12 seasons prior to this one, Wagner has appeared in nine Pro Bowls and was named a First-Team All-Pro six times. At one point, he was forced to do the unthinkable and leave the Seahawks, stay in the division and join the Rams, who play in his hometown of Los Angeles, California.

That was in 2022, and some thought he had lost his rhythm. But he returned to Seattle in 2023 and put together another Pro Bowl campaign.

Now, he reunites with former Seahawks coaches Dan Quinn and Ken Norton Jr. and once again looks to prove those who say he’s run out of gas couldn’t be more wrong.

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