Commanders
Commanders sixth-round RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt‘s final season at Arizona was shut down prematurely after facing eligibility issues, but he’s turned that negative into a positive.
“Just facing adversity,” Croskey-Merritt said, via the team’s website. “That was the biggest thing. I feel like I got past that pretty well. I had God and my family on my side the whole time.”
Croskey-Merritt still participated in practice and was attentive during meetings, which earned praise from Arizona’s staff and also caught the attention of the Commanders.
“He turned a situation that was unfortunate into a real positive,” assistant GM Lance Newmark said. “You talk to the people at Arizona and you talk to him when he was here, and they have so much respect for how he stayed engaged the whole way through the season. He was a great teammate; was a great practice player; was in meetings. It was like he knew he wasn’t going to play on Saturday, but you would never know it by the way he acted and prepared.”
Croskey-Merritt took the time he had off the field to refine his craft and learn more about the mental side of the game.
“I feel I’ve grown the most just learning the game,” Croskey-Merritt said. “Just being able to just be a mature runner. Being an older guy, I just feel like I got a very good feel for the game.”
Cowboys
The Cowboys lost DE DeMarcus Lawrence after 11 years with the team, but signed DT Osa Odighizuwa to a four-year, $80 million deal to be a centerpiece of the future. Heading into his fifth year with the team, Odighizuwa talked about taking on a larger leadership role with DE Micah Parsons in Lawrence’s absence.
“Having him gone definitely puts a little bit more on me and Micah [Parsons]’ plate just as far as leadership and leading by example, but we’ve got good vets in there too,” Odighizuwa said, via Tommy Yarrish of the team’s website. “[Solomon Thomas] came in, Dante [Fowler]’s been here before, and they’ve been doing it for a long time as well, so we got good leadership in the room.”
Although Parsons has been in and out of the building during contract talks, Odighizuwa spoke on the positivity he’s brought to the team when he is around.
“Just feeding positivity into everyone, emphasizing that everybody has playmaking ability and that should be the mentality of everybody on the line. Just making that mentality of ‘You’re a playmaker, you’re a playmaker, everyone on this line is a playmaker.’ So every player should have that in mind and appreciate stuff like that.”
Odighizuwa touched on vocal support being a huge focal point of the early goings under HC Brian Schottenheimer.
“Pushing connection and supporting each other, and not only just on the field and giving everything that you got on the field for the guys to your left and to your right, but if someone has something that’s important to them off the field, showing up for that.”
Eagles
- The Eagles picked up $6.42 million in cap space on June 2 following the release of CBs Darius Slay and James Bradberry, per OverTheCap.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap notes the Eagles guaranteed $475,000 of sixth-round OT Cameron Williams‘ salary, which guarantees him $676,568 instead of the typical $201,568 for his draft position.
- Fitzgerald writes Williams’ guarantee is split as $375,000 in 2025 and $125,000 in 2026, while also giving him a small salary increase in the first two years of the contract. In return, the team got a split salary structure that will lessen its obligations in event of an injury.
- According to Fitzgerald, Philadelphia has been trying to work rookie contracts in this manner “for some time” and wants to set a new precedent for deals.
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