Controversial or not, there’s an appetite for merchandise with the Commanders’ outdated name and logo.
Via Eric Flack of WUSA, who first reported on the sale of gear bearing the abandoned name and logo earlier this week, all items featuring the old logo and name at the team’s online store have sold out.
Per Flack, items remain available at the team’s brick-and-mortar store.
The Commanders defended the decision to sell gear with the name and logo by citing accuracy in honoring franchise alumni. The team also mentioned the necessity of keeping its trademark rights viable.
The Association on American Indian Affairs promptly spoke out about the apparent backslide toward a name that has evolved over time into a dictionary-defined slur.
The latest use of the name is the most blatant embrace of it since the name was dropped in 2020. Time will tell whether the Commanders continue to push the envelope regarding the renormalization of the name — and whether the name, at the right time and under the right circumstances, will officially return.
Commanders Clips
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels does not want to talk about his battle with LSU about the school not retiring his jersey number.
Daniels’ lawyer told LSU to cease using Daniels’ name, image and likeness because Daniels is upset that the No. 5 he wore on his jersey at LSU is now being worn by cornerback DJ Pickett. At the Commanders’ practice on Wednesday, where many reporters who cover the Commanders were questioning him for the first time, Daniels was asked if he wants to say why he filed the cease-and-desist.
“No, I posted a statement on Instagram and said everything I needed to say. So, appreciate y’all. Thank you,” Daniels said, ending the press conference.
In the statement he posted to Instagram two weeks ago, Daniels said, “I have been locked in on training camp and that’s been my number one focus. I have a lot of gratitude for my time at LSU and I’m proud of what my teammates and I accomplished there. Obviously there are issues to be worked out between my team and LSU and my hope is that it will get done privately. My sole personal focus is on Commanders’ football. I realize the business of football is unique and I trust this can all be resolved.”
That statement may be all we hear from Daniels about his relationship with LSU, but it’s clear that Daniels is not happy that the No. 5 jersey will be on the field this season, when he believes it should be on display to commemorate his career as a Heisman Trophy winner.
The Commanders and the Ravens had a joint practice today that reporters on the scene described as an ugly performance from the Commanders’ offense. Jayden Daniels was a little more charitable in his description of it, but admitted it wasn’t good enough.
Daniels said after practice that the offense could have been better, but also described it as a learning experience.
“Not the best day that I thought we could have had, all-around, from myself to everybody else, but these are the opportunities we get to learn from,” Daniels said.
Multiple reporters at the practice described the Commanders’ offensive line as getting dominated by the Ravens’ defensive line, with the absence of Commanders center Nick Allegretti, who is out with a calf injury, causing particular problems for Washington. Daniels said he just has to do his best with the teammates available.
“I’m out here with who’s out here, at the end of the day,” Daniels said. “At the end of the day, I’m just doing my job.”
Commanders fans will hope Daniels and his teammates can do their jobs better when the season starts.
Once upon a time, former Washington owner Daniel Snyder said that he would “all-caps” never change the team’s name. Current ownership says the team will never change the name back.
Meanwhile, new ownership continues to keep the old name and logo in circulation.
The most blatant dipping of the toe happened recently, when the team made available T-shirts honoring franchise greats that include the old name and logo.
If the effort was aimed in part at seeing what the reaction would be, there was one.
“The franchise retired this branding in 2020 after decades of advocacy by Native Peoples and one of their large sponsors requesting they change it,” the Association on American Indian Affairs said in a statement issued to WUSA. “Native Peoples’ diverse cultures are not brands to be retired and then revived when there is money to be made. The renewed commercialization of Native stereotypes is part of a broader pattern of disrespect toward Native Peoples at a time when Native Nations are fighting very real threats to their sovereignty, cultures, lands, and sacred places. Reviving harmful imagery — that has been proven to harm Native youth — for nostalgia and profit only perpetuates the stereotypes Native Peoples have spent decades demanding be left behind. And, that the sponsors of the Washington Commanders have said should be left behind. Native Peoples have been clear, consistent and unwavering: We are not your mascot.”
Here’s how the team official explained the move, also in a statement to WUSA: “When we recognize alumni through merchandise, our goal is to ensure those products authentically reflect the era they represent, and that is shown in the handful of items we are selling. It’s also important that we protect our trademarks. We are required to maintain the marks in commercial usage so that [the] marks remain under franchise control. There are no changes to our previous position on the team name, and we’re excited to showcase the Commanders brand this season in ways that celebrate our past while looking toward the future.”
The trademarks argument seems flimsy. Even if the law requires the Commanders to use mothballed names and logos in order to preserve the rights to them, it doesn’t have to be quite so conspicuous. Besides, it felt like a “by the way” addition to the primary argument that they want merchandise honoring alumni that is authentic and accurate.
But that can easily be accomplished, by using an image of the player that includes a straight-on view of his helmet, with the logos not clearly visible.
The bigger picture is this. Even if current ownership says they’ll never bring back the old name, they’re keeping it close enough to use if needed.
In 2020, the planets lined up in a way that got Snyder to do something he said he’d never do. At some point in the future, the planets could line up in a way that results in Harris (or the next owner) doing what the team now says it will never do.
Veteran tackle D.J. Humphries is officially a member of the Commanders.
Reports on Tuesday indicated that Humphries would be signing with the team after working out for them earlier in the day and the Commanders announced the move on Wednesday morning.
Humphries will join the group of players in the mix to replace Laremy Tunsil at left tackle in Washington. Tunsil tore his triceps and will miss much if not all of the regular season.
Humphries has made 101 career starts, including all 98 games he played during eight seasons with the Cardinals. Brandon Coleman has been filling in for Tunsil and we’ll find out if that remains the case now that Humphries is in Washington.
The Commanders’ former name and logo are gone. Unless they aren’t.
As explained by Eric Flack of WUSA, the Commanders are selling in their team store gear containing both the name and the logo.
The Commanders have insisted that the name and the logo are gone for good. They told Flack that they’re using both on a limited basis in order to preserve their trademark rights. And they stress that none of it means they’ll be going back to either.
Still, it feels as if the Commanders are periodically dipping a toe a little deeper into the water regarding the possibility of bringing back both.
Or maybe they’ve decided to pander, just a bit, to fans who want the old name and logo to return.
Without researching the niceties of copyright law, it seems possible to shelve trademarks indefinitely without making it open season on the protected name and logo.
And if they’re truly never going back to the name and the logo, why do they care about preserving the trademark rights? That fact alone suggests they’re reserving the right to bring both back — at the right time.
The Commanders signed offensive tackle D.J. Humphries to a one-year deal, according to multiple reports.
Humphries worked out for the team earlier in the day.
The Commanders needed help at the position with starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil out with a torn triceps.
Humphries, 32, appeared in eight games for the Rams last season, with one start, and he has started 101 career games.
The Cardinals drafted him in the first round in 2015.
He made two starts for the Chiefs in 2024.
The Commanders have let go of an offensive lineman.
Washington announced on Tuesday that the club has released offensive tackle Foster Sarell.
Sarell, 27, joined the Commanders in March for his second stint with the club. He previously as with Washington for the offseason program and training camp last year before he did not make the 53-man roster.
Sarell has also spent time with the Ravens, Giants, and Chargers. But he’s only appeared in games with Los Angeles, making 41 appearances with four starts over the last four seasons.
The Commanders announced the previously reported signing of linebacker Boogie Basham on Tuesday morning and they also made a number of other roster moves.
They have released safeties Will Harris and Malik Spencer while also placing linebacker Drake Jackson on injured reserve. They signed safeties Joshuah Bledsoe and Quindell Johnson to round out the transactions.
Harris started all nine games he played for the Commanders last season and finished the year with 38 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Jackson, who was a 2022 second-round pick by the 49ers, played in three games for Washington.
Bledsoe played for the Patriots for two seasons after being drafted in the sixth round in 2021. Johnson went undrafted earlier this year.
The Commanders are adding a veteran edge rusher to their roster.
According to multiple reports, the Commanders will sign linebacker Boogie Basham. Basham worked out for the team on Monday.
Basham played in three games for the Panthers last season and recorded four tackles. He then moved on to play for the DC Defenders during the 2026 UFL season and had 24 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles.
Basham entered the NFL as a Bills second-round pick in 2021. He spent two seasons in Buffalo before being traded to the Giants and spent two more seasons with the NFC East club.
Basham has 61 tackles, 4.5 sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for his career.
