Ferrell Re-Signed with Commanders for Same Reason He Returned to Clemson ‘I Feel Like I Was Coming Back Home’

Some people thought Clelin Ferrell was crazy when he decided to come back to Clemson after his third year.

But that decision certainly worked out well for him, as he went on to be selected by the Raiders with the fourth overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft after winning a second national championship with the Tigers in 2018 while earning consensus first-team All-American honors, being named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and winning the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top defensive end.

Now a seven-year NFL veteran, Ferrell re-signed with the Washington Commanders this offseason on a reported one-year deal after spending the 2024 season with the Commanders and reaching the NFC Championship Game.

The reason Ferrell decided to return to Washington is the same reason he decided to return to Clemson for his fourth year – he wanted to “come back home.”

“I think I said this when I had the opportunity to come back after my third year in college, and people asked me why I came back to school. I had the opportunity to maybe go have a chance to go into the league and do other things,” Ferrell said in his press conference after re-signing with the Commanders.

“But for me, it’s a much easier decision when you feel like you’re coming back home, and that was the same thing it was in college. It’s the same way I feel here, and it’s the truth. I grew up right down the road, Richmond, Virginia, and I just feel like everything that exemplifies who I am is what this team and this culture is that Coach Q [Commanders head coach Dan Quinn] brought in. So, I feel like I was coming back home, and home is always nearest and dearest to my heart.”

After spending the first four years of his NFL career with the Raiders and then playing with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, Ferrell signed a free agent deal with the Commanders ahead of the 2024 season. He played in 14 regular season games last season and finished with 3.5 sacks, one shy of his career high in his rookie 2019 season.

Ferrell suffered a knee injury in the final week of the 2023 regular season and missed the playoffs that year, then was limited last preseason and was inactive from Weeks 3-5 due to the nagging knee injury. But Ferrell played in Washington’s final 15 games last season, starting the first 10 regular season games he played in before serving as a reserve in the final four regular season games and the Commanders’ three playoff games.

Despite dealing with the nagging injury last season, Ferrell said he was happy the whole year and was glad to still be able to make an impact.

“There’s different times, when you look at the totality of all the players and their careers or what not, there’s going to be some years where you’re playing with what I would call ‘a rock in your shoe.’ And for me, it was a blessing just to be a part of a team that I could still have an impact on, regardless of however my situation was,” Ferrell said.

“Because it’s tough. Mentally you want to feel like you can do more, but physically, you might be kind of being pulled back just a little bit. But I think at the end of the day, as long as I stay strong mental, I’ll always enjoy it. I feel like I was dealing with that all last year, but just being on this team, being a part of this culture, I had a smile on my face the entire time.”

In 89 career NFL games (57 starts), Ferrell, 27, has tallied 159 total tackles, 17 sacks and 25 tackles for loss.

Ferrell finished his Clemson career with 166 tackles, 50 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, 51 quarterback pressures, seven pass breakups and five caused fumbles over 44 games (all starts). He left Clemson as only the second two-time, first-team AP All-American and the school’s first such player since 1981-82, while he is tied with William “Refrigerator” Perry for fourth in Clemson history with 27 career sacks.