Daily Slop – 9 Mar 24: NFL Draft (temporarily) takes a back seat to free agency, which kicks off (kind of) on Monday

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

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Washington Post (paywall)

Breaking down the Commanders’ approach to NFL free agency

Washington’s spending spree this year may not be as splashy as perhaps some might hope. Yes, the Commanders have plenty of money to burn, but they also have numerous spots in need of better starters and reserves.

Washington intends to build primarily through the draft so it can develop a young core and create some continuity. That means the team may look more at second-tier free agents — quality players who can help fill roster gaps and provide some sorely needed veteran leadership.

Washington may not break the bank for a marquee player, but there are a number of quality players it could have for slightly less. The market will determine who falls into that camp. If Tyron Smith, for instance, is unable to get a longer-term deal elsewhere, it would make sense for Washington to target him. Although he’s 33 and has a lengthy injury history, he’s still a force when healthy, and he’s familiar with Coach Dan Quinn.

Two-time Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons, 30, may fetch more than Kam Curl on the open market, but his versatility and ball-hawking ability would be intriguing in coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.’s defense; Simmons tied for the league lead in interceptions (six) in 2022 despite missing five games.

Although it can be difficult to get a good read on what the Commanders are planning at quarterback, one thing they have made clear is they’re not interested in mortgaging their future for a high-priced free agent. Not now, when they’re trying to rebuild.

[I]n the last few days, teams have cut more than a half-dozen veteran safeties, including Pro Bowlers Jordan Poyer, Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and Simmons.

Curl, who will turn 25 later this month, still has age on his side. And if safety is a buyer’s market, and the demand for Curl is depressed, he could return at the right price for Washington.

Trench Warfare (subscription)

2024 OL Free Agency Rankings

The top 40 OL broken down by position and categorized into tiers with analysis on the top 30

Offensive Tackle Rankings – Tier 3 – Solid/average starter

1. Trent Brown – 31

Brown is coming off of another injury-filled season after a red-hot start to the year following an excellent 16-start season in 2022 with dominant performances as a run-blocker to go along with his usual pass-protection prowess. Brown has had his fair share of injury issues, but when he is on the field, there are few more effective pass-protectors at the position. He also offers dominant stretches as a run-blocker. Ideally, he is signed to a short-term, incentive-laden sort of deal that would give a team an easy way out while also incentivizing and rewarding high-end (tier 2) play that no other left tackle available outside of Smith can replicate.

1. Jonah Williams – 26

After initially requesting a trade once the Bengals signed Orlando Brown to play left tackle last off-season, Williams quickly shifted gears and accepted his role as the team’s right tackle. He wasn’t cleared from a season-ending knee injury until June which delayed the transition, but he was able to settle in nicely as the year went on, especially over the second half of the season. Williams doesn’t offer the ceiling of a player like Brown, but he is a younger, more durable and steady player who projects as an average, functional starter at right tackle for 2024 and beyond.

Interior line rankings – Tier 1 – Very good starter

1. Jonah Jackson – 27

Jackson dealt with a slew of injuries last season to his wrist, ankle and knee that kept him out of five games and caused his play to fluctuate more than normal. When Jackson was healthy over the last three seasons, no other available guard matched his explosiveness, power and movement skills. With 57 career starts over his first four seasons, a Pro Bowl under his belt and impact ability as a run and pass protector, he should be the most coveted guard this free agency period.

Commanders.com

Free agency preview | Cornerback

Tre’Davious White

Tre’Davious White was a cap casualty as the Bills continue to clear space on their roster ahead of the new league year. It’s been a tough couple of years for White, as he’s torn his ACL in 2021 and Achilles in 2023. Despite those injury issues, there are sure to be several teams looking at the possibility of adding White to their roster.

When White was healthy, he was one of the best players at his position. His first four seasons were full of individual success, deflecting 54 passes and 15 interceptions. He led the league with six picks in 2019, which earned him First Team All-Pro consideration.

And if you need any more convincing about White’s skills, consider that McLaurin has heaped praise on him over the years.

“He can play press-man, his press-man technique is very patient,” McLaurin said in 2021. “He does a really good job of cutting off the receivers when they get into the stems of their routes. He’s strong when he’s in press coverage with his game. He can run with pretty much any receiver out there, which makes it really tough. So when he’s playing off, he does a really good job of reading the receiver’s body language.”

ESPN

Commanders examining options with second overall pick

In 2020, Washington had a quarterback the owner favored in Dwayne Haskins, whom they used the 15th overall pick on the previous year. The Commanders’ incumbent starter now is Sam Howell, a fifth-round pick two years ago by a different coach, general manager and owner. Though they have complimented him, they are not tethered to him in the way multiple sources said they were to Haskins in 2020.

Four years ago, they called the Bengals to see if they would trade the top pick so they could take Joe Burrow. They heard an emphatic no.

They hoped someone would call about trading up but mostly heard the chirping of crickets. Except, that is, for Atlanta. But the Falcons owned the 17th pick and Washington didn’t want to move that far back when it needed to find premium players. While two other quarterbacks went in the top six — Tua Tagovailoa to Miami and Justin Herbert to the Los Angeles Chargers — nobody was willing to move up to select either one.

“It has to be a boatload [of picks], and it never approached that,” former Washington coach Ron Rivera said.

So here they are again. And, like four years ago, three quarterbacks will be selected high. It’s hard to imagine Washington bypassing the position this time.

“There’s a lot of really good quarterbacks,” Washington general manager Adam Peters said last month. “A good year if you needed a quarterback.”

But having options makes their No. 2 pick more intriguing than the last time. Here’s a look at their options in order of likelihood:

Podcasts & videos

Maye Changes Minds, 1-on-1 with Dan Quinn & Paulsen’s Prospects | Command Center | Commanders

Craig Hoffman has some thoughts on Dan Orlovsky saying Drake Maye should get the ‘Jordan Love treatment’

NFC East links

Blogging the Boys

Cowboys forging ahead with business as usual, and all its problems

What are your realistic expectations for the Cowboys right now?

It is easy to see two contracts that are very likely to be involved, those of quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. With Prescott, they have the option of either working out a massive new deal, or just restructuring him. Either would get them under the cap, but there are very different implications for each. The extension would be a commitment to Prescott for the future. Restructuring would leave them with the option of not bringing him back. It seems hard to imagine them doing so, but there are nagging questions about whether he can lead the team past the playoff frustrations they have experienced in his career. It is not inconceivable that they would choose to see how he performs this year before deciding on his future with the team. This is complicated by Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff all playing for their possible future with the team. There is great pressure on both the quarterback and the coaches. It is a valid question whether that is the best way to try and find success, but it is not incompatible with the way the Jones family runs their franchise.

Lamb does not offer any cap savings with a restructure, so an extension seems inevitable. It would also get the team under the cap, buying them some time to make the Prescott decision. It would appear to be a further argument to retain the quarterback rather than risk Lamb’s talent not being fully utilized with a new passer in 2025. Logical arguments don’t always get the proper consideration with this team, however.

There is one more path with Prescott, to just do nothing and take the full cap hit of the final year of his current deal. That is a rather staggering $59.455 million. But Jerry Jones has implied that is possible as RJ Ochoa noted a few days ago. However, as we learned to our dismay over the words “all-in,” you need to have some grains of salt handy whenever you are trying to figure out the meaning of the owner’s words.

Big Blue View

NFL free agency: Russell Wilson meets with Giants — what it means

Veteran QB begins free agency tour with stop in New Jersey

Russell Wilson to the New York Giants? Maybe. The soon-to-be free agent, given permission by the Denver Broncos to speak with teams, held an “exploratory meeting” on Thursday with the Giants.

“Exploratory” could mean a lot of different things.

• It could mean Wilson wanting to know if he would have to compete with or sit behind Daniel Jones if he signed with the Giants.
• It could mean the Giants wanting to judge whether the 35-year-old nine-time Pro Bowler had an appetite to do those things.
• It could mean Wilson wanting to know how seriously the Giants are considering selecting a quarterback early in the 2024 NFL Draft, which would likely make the Giants a one-and-done scenario for the veteran quarterback.

No matter what it means, it is interesting. The Giants have acknowledged they need to do something at quarterback this offseason because of the uncertainty around Jones’ recovery from a torn ACL, not to mention his uneven — at best — performance in six games last season.

Signing Wilson would be about the biggest “something” the Giants could do on the free agent market. It would also be about the least expensive. Because of offset language in his contract, Wilson will still be getting paid by the Broncos after he becomes a free agent. An acquiring team will only have to pay Wilson the league minimum for his experience level.

NFL league links

Articles

The Athletic (paywall)

Why are so many NFL safeties being cut? Will their market vanish like it did for RBs?

The supply is in line to outweigh the demand, which could drive down the value of the position. It’s unlikely to be as dramatic as the running backs’ sinking market, but seven personnel executives and coaches around the NFL told The Athletic something has been developing, even if it only becomes a short-term trend.

As of Thursday morning, more than $100 million in 2024 cash salary had been shed at the safety position, according to Over The Cap’s Nick Korte. That was the most of any position by nearly $40 million.

“While the market wasn’t nearly as strong (in 2023), you saw teams weren’t willing to pay,” an executive said. “I think we’re going to see a trend of teams not willing to overpay for this position.”

Philosophically, what’s happening may be more similar to what’s happened to linebackers than to running backs. Within a certain extent, smart defensive coordinators have schemed up ways to make safeties and linebackers interchangeable commodities in specific packages. And some of the better slot cornerbacks have taken on safety responsibilities, either in a game-plan role or on a full-time basis.

Meanwhile, running backs have become easier to find in the draft, and younger players with less mileage become valuable commodities at a position where injuries take their toll, especially when there’s typically just one on the field at a time.

NBC Sports

Some fans who attended frigid Chiefs playoff game needed amputations due to frostbite, hospital says

The temperature for the Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit , and wind gusts made for a windchill of minus 27 degrees F.

Some of the people who attended the near-record cold Kansas City Chiefs playoff game in January had to undergo amputations after suffering frostbite, a Missouri hospital said Friday.

Research Medical Center didn’t provide exact numbers but said in a statement that it treated dozens of people who had experienced frostbite during an 11-day cold snap in January. Twelve of those people — including some who were at the Jan. 13 game — had to undergo amputations involving mostly fingers and toes. And the hospital said more surgeries are expected over the next two to four weeks as “injuries evolve.”

The University of Kansas hospital said it also treated frostbite victims after the game but didn’t report any amputations.

The temperature for the Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius), and wind gusts made for a windchill of minus 27 degrees F (minus 33 C). That shattered the record for the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history, which had been 1 degree F (minus 17 C), set in a 1983 game against Denver and matched in 2016 against Tennessee.