Former Washington Commanders receiver joins the coaching ranks

Former Washington Redskins/Commanders wide receiver Jamison Crowder has retired. On Saturday, Crowder's alma mater, Duke, posted a message on X, officially revealing that he'd be returning to Durham as a part of the "inaugural former player coaching fellowship."

The 32-year-old Crowder was good enough to last 10 years in the NFL, playing his first four seasons with the Redskins (2015-18), the next three with the Jets (2019-21), 2022 with the Bills, and then his final two seasons, 2023 and 2024, again with Washington.

While it's not an official retirement announcement, it would seem to indicate that Crowder has moved onto the next step of his football journey.

Crowder came into the NFL as a fourth-round draft choice, 105th overall, out of Duke. In 2016, Washington had a very effective passing game with Kirk Cousins at quarterback, and Crowder recorded a career-high 7 touchdown passes. The former Blue Devil also had his career high in receiving yards in a season in 2016 with 847, and returned a punt for a touchdown, going 85 yards against the Ravens. In 2018, Crowder achieved his career-long 79-yard reception for the Redskins.

After playing out his four-year rookie contract, Crowder became an unrestricted free agent, signing a 3-year $28.5M contract through 2021 to become a New York Jet. In his first season with the Jets, he caught a career-high 78 passes and a career-high 41 first downs via a pass reception.

In Buffalo, Crowder only appeared in four games, suffering a broken ankle in the Week 4 contest against the Baltimore Ravens. The bad injury ended Crowder's season, sending him to injured reserve.

At age 30, Crowder returned to Washington, where he was primarily the team's punt returner. Returning 35 punts, Crowders' highlight of the season was a 61-yard punt return in Atlanta against the Falcons.

In his final NFL season, Crowder, again with Washington, appeared in six games, catching only nine passes. However, in a home game on December 22, 2024, against NFC East Rival the Philadelphia Eagles, Crowder caught two touchdown passes, including the game-winner, a 9-yard touchdown from Jayden Daniels with a mere six seconds remaining, for a 36-33 Washington victory.

Following the 2024 season, Crowder again became an unrestricted free agent but was not signed by another NFL team. Thus he did not play in the 2025 season. He retires having played in 123 NFL games, catching 440 passes for 4,898 receiving yards, averaging 11.1 yards per reception and 31 receiving touchdowns.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: WR Jamison Crowder retires from NFL