HigSkin

I suppose there won't be any Brissett news until Wednesday

Offensive line is where I hope they get splashy and not bargin hunt. As for the players who will get paid, I’d look to the offensive line for your answers. And this is as much about NFL economics as anything, as they relate to the franchise tag. There’s one blanket number for offensive linemen, which essentially means if you’re going to tag a guard or a center, you’re tagging them at the tackle number. The result, from there, is similar to what you’d see if the NFL decided to group safeties with corners, or tight ends with receivers. And it’s exactly like what the flood of edge rushers tagged as linebackers has done to teams’ ability to franchise off-ball linebackers. Simply put, a guard or a center generally isn’t worth what a tackle is, so teams don’t tag them, which winds up dumping them into the market. Add the reality that there aren’t enough offensive linemen to go around, and there should be a windfall for big men. So if we go back to the question of which players could get paid more than people think, a lot of the feedback I’ve received is pointed toward those interior line positions. It was the Miami Dolphins’ Robert Hunt and Detroit’s Jonah Jackson at guard, and Denver’s Lloyd Cushenberry at center. Others such as New England’s Mike Onwenu (who has the flexibility to play right tackle) and Dallas’s Tyler Biadasz could benefit from the rising tide, as well. “If Ben Powers got $13 million last year, a lot of guys should get more than that this year,” says an NFC exec, citing Powers’s four-year, $51.5 million deal in Denver. That, again, is the NFL leaning into certain position groups and away from others.

One guy they do have on staff (asst QB coach) is David Blough. Makes one wonder if they even plan to have an active roster mentor.

Keim said in his FA podcast that he didn't think they'd bring Brissett back.

Standig on with Sheehan discussing who/what he's watching in FA - DE market could be tricky in FA (Allen and Burns tagged) talent drop He's looking at guys in their 20's that could grow with the team and not necessarily aged vets He's watching FA names where Commanders coaches have familiarity DE Armstrong (DAL), LB Fowler (DAL), Center Biadasz (DAL), LB Al-shaair (SF), DE Bryce Huff (NYJ) Large receivers like Josh Reynold (DET), Noah Brown (TEX) He says maybe resign Lucas, pair with rookie but he'd go center and guard in FA (both Detroit guards are FA and coached by Johnson) Curl may have over inflated himself, mentioned safty Kearse (DAL)

On The Junkies this morning they said that Bengals OT Jonah Williams would be a #1 target. Not saying it happens but I suspect he's a target for a lot of LT needy teams. I haven't seen anyone predicting him to Commanders.

It's not often a team releases a four-time All Pro safety coming off another All Pro season like the Denver Broncos did with Justin Simmons. It's also not often a team decides to let a 24-year-old safety coming off a season with 11 passes defensed walk out the door like the New York Giants did with Xavier McKinney. And the Seahawks released Quandre Diggs, and the Bills released Jordan Poyer, and the Jaguars released Rayshawn Jenkins and so on and so forth. Though they're all individual decisions within teams, the league at large is speaking loudly on how it feels about safeties: They generally aren't worth the money. Just like the running back market has cratered in recent years, the safety position has done something similar. There are some safeties worth paying, like a Derwin James or Antoine Winfield Jr. or Kyle Hamilton in a few years. But more than $103 million across the league has been saved in 2024 cash salary at the safety position, according to Over The Cap. That's the most by far of any position group, outpacing the cornerback salary shed by early $40 million. "There's so much opportunity to overcome physical talent with high level intellect and intangibles. So you don't have to overspend to get production," one NFL personnel executive told CBS Sports. "You can draft these guys Day 3 or put low free-agency resources into them and get production back if they are smart." Said another personnel executive: "It's essentially a similar but not equivalent argument to running backs. So many teams are playing with third-to-fifth-round picks at the position and doing just fine. There are other areas of your team to spend on that impact the game way more." To no one's surprise, coaches see it differently. "There's a disconnect between how coaches see the position and how personnel see the position," one defensive backs coach told CBS Sports. "It's a very scheme-dependent role so some guys can be a perfect fit for some coaches whereas other guys are not as good of a fit, no fault of their own or even their measurables. That said, trying to gauge production from one scheme to another can then become equally difficult." If a safety can cover a tight end, and then tackle in the run game, and then force fumbles, and then sack the quarterback while also not allowing any touchdowns in coverage, that player will get paid. There just happens to be very few of those humans on the planet, and any deficiency a safety has will likely be exposed by a creative offensive coordinator. This is the way the NFL is trending right now. Quarterbacks aren't throwing the deep ball like they used to. The last four years, the league has seen less than eight passes per game of 20-plus yards down the field after a decade of being above eight per game. Last year there were 15.4 passes per game behind the line of scrimmage, the most since the NFL began tracking it in 2006. And of the past two decades, the last five years have produced the lowest interception rates in the league. There's been an increase in two-high safety looks over the last half-decade. According to league data, 38 percent of coverages last season had two-high safety looks. That has crept up from 2019's rate of 30 percent in each successive year. Those looks tend to yield shorter passes. Against two-high last year, quarterbacks threw 68 percent of their passes less than 10 yards downfield where that number was 63 percent against zero or one-high safety.­­ So, on the field, there has statistically been less of a need for a safety compared to previous years. It will be fascinating to watch how the safety market plays out next week at the start of free agency. Will teams pounce on one of the top players like McKinney and Simmons? Or will teams sit back and wait for someone else to set the market?

Russini with Sheehan yesterday talked about challenges as a reporter, trying to discern between what is true and what is a team needing to use you as a mouth piece to achieve something. Hate to be a conspirator but screw it. What if Chris Simms, son of Phil Simms who played for the Giants is out there slinging shade on Maye, in hopes he drops to NY? Sounds far fetched but the Russini thing was fascinating and it goes on a lot. Case in point, the Bears chatter is now that people in the org are torn on keeping Fields. Schefter said that but seems they are trying to drive up interest in Fields by saying that.

Ertz and Pritchard have familiarity too. https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-offensive-coordinator-brian-johnson-staying-nfc-east-commanders/563690/ Former Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard, who overlapped in 2009 with Zach Ertz in Palo Alto, spent last year as Washington’s quarterbacks coach

You may have listened to Jeff Howe's (Athletic) interview this morning on The Junkies but he touched on this. Reference to that article you posted on the order (Williams, Maye then Daniels), he collected the opinions from as many executives as he could find that would talk to him. He did not get anything from Commanders execs. Howe called it 'group think' from the way both media and mockers are pushing QB narratives. I'll trust the NFL executives opinions because they deal more in realities!

FYI https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/brandon-scherff-rayshawn-jenkins-could-be-next-to-go-in-jacksonville The Jaguars are creating cap space. It’s starting with cornerback Darious Williams. It could continue with offensive lineman Brandon Scherff and safety Rayshawn Jenkins. Both are in the final year of their respective contracts. Jenkins is due to earn a non-guaranteed salary of $8.28 million in 2024. His cap number is $12.564 million. He’d leave behind $7.136 million in dead money, if released. Scherff has a base salary of $15 million. His cap number is $23.967 million, and his release would result in a dead-money charge of $14.868 million. The Jaguars are expected to apply the franchise tag to defensive end Josh Allen, before today’s deadline for doing so.

I think a lot of the rhetoric is coming from statements like this from Peters. "We'll do anything to make our team better, trade up, trade down" yada, yada! It's smart not to give your plan away. LOL

Seems like a bunch of smoke that way now that the draft is done.

First, I was only comparing a similar age and talented vet when going to another team. As far as injuries, Trent has missed a lot of games in his career.

Tyron Smith to me is kind of like the SF and Trent Williams situation (Trent was 31 when traded). I'll bet he is on Peters/Quinn's radar.

Looks like Leno will be sitting football out, at least for a while.

Maye is a very likeable dude for sure.

This one too

Add to this DJ just said on the NFLN combine coverage that Maye has been interviewing really well. Teams like him and how he handles himself.