Daily Slop – 4 Jul 25 – Happy 249th birthday!

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, and a sprinkling of other stuff

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Commanders links

Articles

Spectrum News

Marcus Mariota at peace with mentorship role entering return season with Washington Commanders

“For me, it was one of those things hard to pass up, and you want to go somewhere where you’re wanted,” Mariota said. “And they were very adamant that they wanted me back for another year. I love coach, DQ (Dan Quinn) and just Kliff (coordinator Kingsbury) and the offense, and for me, it was like a no brainer.

“To stand here 11 years in — very, very few people get an opportunity to do that,” Mariota added. “So I’m thankful for every day and the ability to go into work and have fun, cut it loose, and have such a great (quarterback) room that makes it so much better, too. I’m just kind of having fun with it, rolling with the punches. Whatever comes, if they need me, I’m ready to play. Otherwise, I’m here for Jay, and just making sure he’s playing to the best of his ability.”

“I was very surprised at how big the fan base is,” he said. “People had mentioned to me when I was going to sign there last year. It was kind of a sleeping giant of a fan base … they had such a great run in the ‘70s and ‘80s where teams or people across the country had really followed the Washington Commanders.

“Then you kind of went through this run that we did, and toward the end of the year, you start to see kind of how that fan base loves the team. And being in that area, the DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) area, like it’s, it’s cool, it’s got, like what people talk about, it’s, it’s football, and they love it up there, and I’m excited to see kind of what that turnout looks like, especially with our new owner, and kind of what they’re doing with the franchise in the organization.”

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ESPN

The best NFL draft pick ever at every slot from No. 1 to 262

I took “best” to mean some combination of “most talented” and “most successful.” As is always the challenge in debating the bestness of football players, any argument that exclusively looks at Super Bowl wins and All-Pro nods is insufficient and lacks context. Similarly, any argument that leans solely on individual player stats and film impressions is lacking as well. I generally tried to use historical accolades to contextualize career-long production. Peak season performance and single-season record-setting also mattered to me; this isn’t just a measure of who played the longest but also who played … well, the best. And of course, rings matter because rings always matter. But there’s no formula here. There’s my read on each pick, levied as fairly as I could make it. Disagreement is expected.

I am 28 years old. I did my best with the stars of the 1970s and 1980s, but please do not interpret any mischaracterizations of the historical GOATs as ageist propaganda. When I’m being deliberately anti-throwbacks, I’ll make it very clear, I promise.

18. Art Monk, WR (1980)

A quieter group of options here — the biggest contenders were Joe Flacco, Marcus Peters and Maurkice Pouncey — makes the only Hall of Famer an easy choice. Three rings certainly helps, though Monk made only two All-Pro teams. Guess that’s the struggle of playing at the same time as Jerry Rice, Steve Largent, Sterling Sharpe and Andre Reed.

84. Charles Mann, DE (1983)

Mann played 11 of his 12 seasons with Washington and was an integral part of their Super Bowl runs in that era, as his two All-Pro nods and four Pro Bowl appearances show. Defensive line running mate Dexter Manley might have beaten him out for career sack production and overall name recognition, but Manley didn’t win his pick slot (No. 119), so Mann can brag about that huge victory.

99. Joe Theismann, QB (1971)

Theismann doesn’t have to fend off a Hall of Fame receiver like Gannon did and accordingly gets the win on the back of his late-career MVP award with Washington. Theismann did absolutely none of his damage with the team that drafted him, as he never signed with the Dolphins and elected to instead make the Grey Cup championship game with the Toronto Argonauts.

102. Kirk Cousins, QB (2012)

139. Harold McLinton, LB (1969)

197. Gus Frerotte, QB (1994)

231. Darryl Grant, DT (1981)

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Commanders.com

2025 opponent breakdown | Atlanta Falcons

• Will the new faces ignite the pass rush? The Falcons have spent years searching for answers to spark their pass rush. They ranked 31st in sacks last season and have been among the bottom 10 teams since 2017. They haven’t had a player finish with double-digit sacks since Vic Beasley in 2016. Pearce and Walker could be the duo to change that. Walker, who racked up All-American and All-SEC awards for Georgia in 2024, was one of the best pass-rushers in the country and paired natural athleticism with a nice arsenal of moves at the line of scrimmage. Pearce was arguably one of the most athletically gifted players in the draft but still needs to develop more moves at the NFL level. The two will likely be immediate contributors on defense, and the Falcons will need them to hit sooner rather than later. Their defense struggled last season, particularly against the pass. Adding two young, talented edge rushers should help fix that.
• What does Michael Penix Jr.’s second season look like? The Falcons made one of the most baffling moves during the 2024 draft by taking Penix after handing Cousins a massive deal in free agency. Penix ended up starting the final three games of the season, though, and showed much of the talent that draft evaluators believed he had in the offseason. He played well in his first start, which resulted in a 34-7 win over the Giants, and he nearly pulled off a win over the Commanders in Week 17. The Falcons are moving forward with Penix as their starter, and it will be interesting to see how he performs with a full offseason as the top option. He certainly has the arm to be in the NFL, but he will need to improve his decision-making to have a long career. The Commanders have won four straight games against the Falcons, but all of them were decided by seven points or fewer. So, expect Penix and Atlanta to give Washington another thrilling afternoon.

• Will the additions be enough to be more competitive with the Buccaneers? The Falcons invested heavily in their defense this offseason to compete against the Buccaneers and their third-ranked offense. Aside from Walker and Pearce, they also added Floyd and Morgan Fox to their defensive front. They brought in Ford to compete for a role in the secondary and provide depth and re-signed cornerback Mike Hughes. The Falcons actually swept the Buccaneers last season, but it required 30-plus points in each matchup to do so. The Falcons theoretically have the offensive tools to compete in the division with the likes of Robinson and Kyle Pitts in the lineup. They also have a solid offensive line that helped them rush for 127 yards per game. However, until a team can find a consistent answer for the Buccaneers’ offense, which scored 29.5 points per game last season, the NFC South will run through Tampa Bay, Florida. The Falcons will play the Buccaneers in Week 1, so we’ll get an early look at how much their investments were worth.

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Commanders.com

RFK Rewind | Darrell Green sends Detroit home with walk-off INT

With the game on the line, Murray kept Washington’s hopes alive with a 39-yard field goal that tied the score at 30 and forced overtime. That’s when one of the best defenders in Washington history made a huge play.

Washington was forced to punt, putting all the pressure on its defense. Detroit quarterback Scott Mitchell took the snap at his own four-yard line but cracked under the pressure, throwing the ball directly to Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green. With the help of linebacker Rod Stephens, who helped Green up after he stumbled at the 5-yard line, Green crossed the goal line to give Washington the walk-off victory.

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Riggo’s Rag

Commanders could be facing another massive contract conundrum with Laremy Tunsil

There’s an extra caveat attached, one that’s gone relatively under the radar compared to most storylines around Tunsil. His contract has two more years left and is pretty cheap compared to most elite-level offensive tackles around the league. The former first-round pick out of Ole Miss hasn’t made things difficult yet, but that might be coming soon if he performs as expected in 2025.

This subject was discussed in greater detail by John Keim from ESPN. The Commanders’ insider hinted that Tunsil could demand a substantial amount if everything goes well, and Peters should be willing to pay in pursuit of keeping Washington’s new bookend tackle tandem intact.

“For a five-time Pro Bowler, he’s prohibitively affordable in 2026, with a cap hit of only $21.5 million — currently 14th among offensive tackles. Washington drafted tackle Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round, and he will play on the right side. At some point in his career, he could shift to left tackle. Still, the bigger question for [Laremy] Tunsil is what kind of extension would he receive if he plays as they anticipate this season? After all, the Commanders also could have their bookends for a while — providing high-level protection for [Jayden] Daniels.”

John Keim

Tunsil counts $21.35 million in the final year of his deal in 2026. There is no guaranteed money attached. Therefore, a holdout is almost guaranteed if the Commanders don’t work something out beforehand.

That’s a problem Peters could do without.

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Sports Illustrated

Commanders owner shows off $135 million yacht in viral post

Magic Johnson’s lavish yacht vacation is another flashy reminder of the star power and winning energy he’s brought to the Washington Commanders.

In a video posted to Instagram, the NBA legend and Commanders owner showcased his massive yacht — so large it practically looks like its own private island. “You don’t need much motivation to workout with this beautiful backdrop,” Johnson wrote, as he casually walked on a treadmill at the top of the multi-level yacht, surrounded by endless blue water.

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Podcasts & videos

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NFC East links

NFL.com

Why Cowboys’ Dak Prescott among NFL’s most overrated QBs

Overrated: Dak Prescott (Cowboys) — It’s not that Prescott is bad. He really isn’t. You don’t last nearly a decade as the Dallas Cowboys’ starter, with seven playoff appearances, by accident. But that Cowboys brand magnifies everything, and the simple truth is that Prescott is the latest face of an organization that’s routinely failed to make deep-playoff noise out of the NFC. He’s regularly considered among the NFL’s top 10 or so starters, he’s survived multiple coaching changes and he’s repeatedly landed lucrative extensions in Dallas. He’s also struggled to stay healthy and/or control the ball in three of his last five seasons, and he enters Year 10 with just two postseason victories to his name.

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NFL league links

Articles

ESPN

NFL ‘Bag’ Hall of Fame: Players who maximized contract leverage

Kirk Cousins, QB

Calling card: Making the front office so mad it refused to call him “Kirk”

If you explained this concept to an NFL fan and asked them who they thought was worthy of induction, they would probably name Cousins first. About to become the most expensive backup quarterback in NFL history, Cousins has earned more than $294 million in his career and has another $37.5 million in guaranteed money coming from the Falcons before the 2026 season begins. He has been underrated as a reliable passer for most of his career, but it’s also fair to say he has never been the best quarterback in football, either.

From 2016 to 2024, nobody took home more cash from NFL teams than Cousins, whose $291.3 million earned was $21 million ahead of the second-place passer (more on that player later). In part, that’s because Cousins didn’t emerge as early as most quarterbacks. Taken 100 picks after fellow Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III in the 2012 draft, he wasn’t much more than an injury fill-in early in his career. He threw 10 picks on 203 pass attempts over his first two seasons. While he was better over an extended stretch starting early in 2016, he finished his third season with a below league-average 50.4 Total QBR.

With the Commanders benching Griffin in 2015 to avoid triggering his $16.2 million fifth-year option (when those options were only guaranteed for injury), Cousins’ path to the starting job was cleared. In the final year of his rookie deal, he posted a league-best 69.8 completion percentage, cut his interception rate from 4.7% to 2% and led the Commanders to an unexpected division title. The run ended with a home loss in the playoffs to the Packers, but he had suddenly proven he was an NFL-caliber quarterback.

Team owner Daniel Snyder & Co. weren’t as convinced. After briefly negotiating with Cousins before the 2016 season, Washington broke off talks when their offer of a multiyear deal worth $16 million per season was rebuffed. Instead, it used the franchise tag, paying Cousins just under $20 million. It was a reasonable decision given that he had been a solid quarterback for only one year, but it couldn’t have helped the relationship between the team and their signal-caller.

Quarterbacks in their 20s with a track record of above-average play and no significant injury history almost never hit free agency, which gave Cousins the ability to dictate terms on the open market. With significant interest from multiple teams, he chose the Vikings over the Jets on what was a massive deal at the time — three years and $84 million, $82.5 million of which was fully guaranteed.

Given one more shot at unrestricted free agency as a viable starter, Cousins quickly inked a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons. Atlanta’s aggressive decision seemed bizarre when it used its first-round pick on Michael Penix Jr. the following month, but Cousins was well-protected. His deal was essentially a one-year pact for $90 million, a two-year deal for $100 million or a three-year contract for $135 million.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Cousins landed some guaranteed money from another team in 2026 if he returns for another season, but even if he retires, he has become the best-compensated free agent in league history. Most of the highest-paid players ever — such as Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson — earned the majority of their money from extensions with the teams who drafted them or signed new deals after being traded elsewhere. Cousins, currently the sixth-highest-paid player in league history, will finish this Falcons deal having earned more than $285 million from teams that signed him as an unrestricted free agent.

Dak Prescott, QB

Calling card: Getting one or two over on Jerry Jones

Like Cousins, Prescott is a former fourth-round pick who wasn’t his team’s first choice as its quarterback of the future. During the 2016 draft, the Cowboys were reportedly interested in drafting Paxton Lynch or Connor Cook, only to be beaten to the punch by the Broncos and Raiders, respectively. Team owner Jerry Jones & Co. settled for Prescott with the 135th pick, and after Tony Romo went down in preseason with a back injury, the door was opened for the rookie.

While Prescott proceeded to go 13-3 and lead the Cowboys to two division titles in his first three seasons, the front office wasn’t exactly eager to pay him when he became eligible for an extension in 2019. The Cowboys prioritized Ezekiel Elliott, who signed a six-year, $90 million contract. Prescott played out the final year of his rookie deal and waited.

That decision probably has cost Jones nine figures in terms of lost leverage and extra money for Prescott. In 2019, the Cowboys reportedly offered him an average of $33 million per year on a new deal, albeit with no real details on the guarantee structure. He asked for $40 million, and the Cowboys balked. He played out the final year of his rookie deal, and after being one of the biggest bargains in football between 2016 and 2019, he got the franchise tag for $31.4 million in 2020.

While that season was shortened by a serious ankle injury, a disappointing year meant little in terms of his negotiating leverage. Instead, the ticking clock on Prescott’s path to free agency was more meaningful. With the Cowboys having little choice but to offer him a second franchise tag for $37.7 million and run the risk of losing him the following season for nothing in free agency, the time for coy negotiating was up.

Prescott got everything he wanted and more. He received a four-year, $160 million deal with that $40 million average annual salary. By never signing the tag and limiting his new deal to four years, he got a chance to hit free agency again after his age-31 season, still firmly in the peak years for quarterbacks. And crucially, his new deal had no-tag and no-trade clauses, meaning he would potentially have even more leverage at the end of this contract.

Sure enough, after Prescott finished second in MVP balloting in 2023, the Cowboys had little choice but to give their long-term starter a record-setting deal. Prescott’s next four-year deal was for a whopping $240 million, with records for average annual salary ($60 million), most single-season cash ($86.3 million), cash over the first three years ($174.1 million) and the largest signing bonus ever ($80 million). Again, he was able to negotiate no-trade and no-tag clauses, giving him added leverage at the end of this pact.

[O]ther teams haven’t even been willing to match this Prescott deal for their own quarterbacks and, at least so far, have treated it like an outlier. Between 2021 and 2024, Prescott took home a staggering $212.3 million, nearly $47 million more than any other player.

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The Athletic (paywall)

Will the NFL ever offer ‘Sunday Ticket’ on a single-team basis? Sports Media Mailbag (Part 2!)

As a Jets fan who lives in Pennsylvania, the only way to watch all Jets games is to purchase a very expensive full NFL TV package. While I purchase single-team packages to watch the Mets, Knicks and Rangers for a reasonable annual fee, I skip watching NFL football on Sunday afternoons in the fall. Any chance the NFL will ever implement a single-team option that provides all the games for one team at a fair price?

Great question. I personally don’t think there’s any chance the NFL would do that because the scarcity of the product is what drives the billions paid by the media rights holders. But I wanted to get someone who has worked at the networks for insight, so I forwarded your question to Patrick Crakes, a former Fox Sports senior vice president who now works as a media consultant. This is a long answer so stay with it.

“I understand this sentiment, but I just don’t see a route to single NFL team out-of-market season passes,” Crakes said. “The core issue here is how game inventory is valued for different leagues. For the NBA, NHL and MLB team season passes, the game inventory is monetized regionally with telecast partners across six-month-long regular seasons. In contrast, 100 percent of the 272 NFL’s regular season games are monetized nationally to include the majority of games that air during Sunday daytime and are regionalized across two windows (1:00 pm and 4:25 p.m. ET). This works out to only 17 regular season games for each team across only 18 weeks.

“This scarcity in game inventory combined with the extreme viewing demand for the NFL means every single regular season game has national strategically significant economic value for the most important media distribution platforms such as broadcast TV networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC), top pay-TV channels (ESPN) and top streaming platforms (Amazon Prime Video, Google, Paramount+, Peacock and Netflix). These are the ones that can afford to pay $13.3B overall in 2024 alone for America’s by far most popular and valuable media property. These mega-strategic NFL telecast partners need some type of exclusivity for their NFL investments.

“When you consider the NFL’s requirement that there will always be a free over the air (OTA) broadcast signal for each game regardless of its national telecast partner, you can see how from the NFL’s perspective they believe they’re fully serving local and national fans while also serving out of market ultra fans,” Crakes continued. “They believe the NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTubeTV remains the best way for the most passionate of NFL viewers to gain access to as many games on Sunday afternoons as possible while maximizing per game economics.

“If your anchor is the per-game pricing for a NBA, NHL or MLB regular-season local package then any such hypothetical NFL package is going to look astronomical by comparison. For example, MLB’s most expensive team season local passes are around $120 annually or about 75 cents per game over 162 games. Taking the total paid by NFL telecasters ($13.3B) last year and dividing it by the total number of NFL regular season games (272), you get an individual NFL regular season game value of $48M. That figure alone should tell you that you’re going to pay a significant premium for a NFL team season pass because the per-game value of your local team is derived via a national market and not local/regional one. Unfortunately, there’s probably no route to single NFL team passes in the near future.”

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Independence Day Special

Front Office Sports

Geoffrey Esper Can’t Catch a Break at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest

eoffrey Esper knows a thing or two about second place. The humble Massachusetts native, recognizable for his beat-up Red Sox hat, placed runner-up behind megacelebrity Joey Chestnut three years straight at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

When the world-record holder was disqualified from last year’s competition over his sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, Esper was favored to win. He put on his best performance yet with 53 hot dogs, but settled for the $5,000 second-place check again—and Chesnut is returning this year.

Yet even though the lights are the brightest for the annual event at Coney Island, the hot dog contest isn’t his favorite—or his forte—of the roughly 15 competitions he eats in each year. According to Major League Eating, which runs the Nathan’s contest, Esper holds 19 different records, including corn dogs and two different categories of brats.

Ahead of competitive eating’s biggest event, Front Office Sports spoke with Esper, a vocational high school electronics teacher and the No. 3 eater in the world, about his training, prize money, and handling the spotlight.

FOS: You placed just behind Joey a few years in a row. Did you think last year was finally going to be your year?

GE: I was trying. I didn’t know for sure, because my practices weren’t going too good, but I was hoping. And then when I looked over at the end and I saw Pat [Bertoletti] was a couple dogs ahead of me, I was like, ‘Oh, I guess not this year again.’

It was kind of neat because other people got to shine. Pat Bertoletti won, and he got to do the Good Morning America TV show the next day.

FOS: What’s your mindset this year knowing Joey’s coming back?

GE: Pretty much the same. I’m going to go out there and do my best. I hope the hot dogs are good.

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All aTwitter

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