Several former Dallas Cowboys have reunited with Dan Quinn on the Washington Commanders, but cornerback Noah Igbinoghene was easily the most surprising of the bunch. For what it's worth, Igbinoghene, who Dallas acquired in a trade with the Dolphins in August of 2023, actually played well for Quinn last season.
However, Quinn and the front office made it a point to revamp the secondary this offseason, and Igbinoghene could become collateral damage, per Dean Jones of Riggo's Rag.
"The Commanders' group of cornerbacks has undergone a dramatic overhaul since last offseason, starting with the selection of Mike Sainristil in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft," Jones wrote. "Midway through the ensuing campaign, Washington traded for four-time Pro Bowler Marshon Lattimore. This past spring, the team used another second-rounder to pick Trey Amos."
"Those three players are virtual locks to make the team. Veteran free agent acquisition Jonathan Jones is as well. Where it gets murkier is behind them, as the re-signed Noah Igbinoghene could be a surprise cut candidate given his role has already been reduced from the starting one he played for much of last year."
Dan Quinn could end up cutting former Cowboys CB Noah Igbinoghene
Igbinoghene started a career-high 10 games for the Commanders last season and played 76 percent of the defensive snaps. He allowed just a 60.8 completion rate on a whopping 75 targets, racked up seven passes defended and allowed a 89.6 passer rating when targeted, per PFF.
That is night and day compared to what Dallas got out of Igbinoghene in 2023, though the bar admittedly wasn't set very high.
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A first-round pick of the Dolphins in 2020, Igbinoghene played just 25 defensive snaps the entire season, which is surprising considering Quinn was still running the show. He played more on special teams, but even then his 77 snaps ranked 27th on the team.
What is so ironic about Igbinoghene's short-lived Cowboys tenure is that he delivered one of the most memorable moments of the 2023 season in Week 1 when he returned a blocked Giants field 58 yards to the house. It was Dallas' first touchdown of the campaign as they went on to rout New York 40-0 in a statement win.
The Commanders re-signed Igbinoghene to a one-year, $1.17 million deal in March. They can move on without breaking a sweat, and that seems to be in the cards after they spent significant resources to upgrade the cornerback room around him.