Daily Slop – 15 Apr 25 – Commanders are hosting more than 20 prospects on top-30 visits today

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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The Athletic (paywall)

Washington Commanders NFL Draft 2025 guide: Picks, predictions and key needs

Commanders’ key positions of need

Edge rusher: The Commanders ranked 30th against the run last season, with opponents finding big plays on the edge. Washington targeted help in free agency and perhaps found interesting run defender pieces in Deatrich Wise Jr. and Kinlaw. However, the position needs more youth and pass rushers.

Defensive back: The Commanders need cornerback depth, even if Marshon Lattimore rebounds after a trying half-season debut and Jones contributes outside or in the slot, depending on where Washington deploys Mike Sainristil.

Running back/playmaker: Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury tactically maximized his options last season. More talent was required even before receivers Dyami Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus exited in free agency. Samuel and Michael Gallup are the only new options acquired, and while Samuel will occasionally play out of the backfield, Washington could use more breakaway ability in the running back room or elsewhere.

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Commanders.com

Omarion Hampton could give Commanders ‘serious horsepower’

The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team.

This week, Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice and Charles McDonald have the Commanders taking one of the best running backs in a deep class.

Omarion Hampton being 100th percentile in yards after contact is amazing. also is very explosive (both on the field and with his combine testing) pic.twitter.com/PUqzL1Q8ox

— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) April 8, 2025

Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina

For all the positions the Washington Commanders could address with the 29th pick, running back is seemingly low on the list. The group is mostly unchanged with Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler at the top of the depth chart, and it fueled the team’s dominant rushing attack throughout the regular season.

But drafting for need is not general Adam Peters’ style. The Commanders want to fill their roster with good players, regardless of their position, in order to be as dynamic and explosive on both sides of the ball as possible. So, even though the draft is considered deep with talented running backs, it might make sense to take one of the best on the board.

Tice and McDonald certainly think so, which is why they have the Commanders taking Hampton out of UNC.

“This might feel like a luxury pick given the Commanders’ needs elsewhere, but they would have some serious horsepower on offense with the addition of Hampton,” Tice and McDonald wrote. “He has been a star of the draft process coming off the backs of a dominant season running the ball for UNC.”

Hampton was so dominant that there’s only a handful of players in UNC history who had better stints with the Tar Heels. He has the fourth-most career rushing yards (3,565) to go with 36 rushing touchdowns, which ranks third in program history. He has two of the school’s top 10 single-season performances in all-purpose yards, including a program-best 2,033 yards last season.

[A]s NBC’s Connor Rogers suggested in his mock draft, there could be an early run on other positions that would push Hampton down the order.

Regardless of the reason, many analysts have Hampton sliding in the draft far enough for the Commanders to take him.

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Riggo’s Rag

Dream home-run Commanders trade option just fell into Adam Peters’ lap

If the Commanders weren’t all-in already, they would be after this.

According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero from the NFL Network, the Miami Dolphins are looking to part ways with All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey. The respected insiders revealed that both parties are working on a potential transaction, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him land elsewhere in the coming days or weeks.

Commanders should inquire about potential Jalen Ramsey trade compensation

This is a stunning development. The Dolphins might have struggled of late, but Ramsey remains one of the league’s best corners. His coverage capabilities are elite, and the player’s ability against the run is something else that could help the Commanders enormously in this scenario.

Miami has already paid Ramsey his $4 million roster bonus. This means that any team willing to come forward will take on around $21.1 million on his contract next season. It might be a step too far for Washington, but it wouldn’t hurt to place a call to find out one way or another.

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Pro Football Talk

A pre-June 1 Jalen Ramsey trade would trigger a $25.213 million dead-money charge

Last September, the Dolphins rushed to give cornerback Jalen Ramsey a contract with a new-money average of $24.1 million, days after the Broncos made cornerback Patrick Surtain II the highest-paid cornerback with a new-money average of $24 million.

Fewer than eight months later, the Dolphins are looking to trade Ramsey.

Which means they never should have given him his latest contract.

A trade will have significant consequences. Based on the terms of his contract from last year — and the existing proration from the prior deal — a trade before June 1 will trigger a $25.213 million dead-money charge.

Ramsey has already received a $4 million roster bonus on March 16. The best time to trade him would have been before that bill came due.

Ramsey also has a fully-guaranteed option bonus for 2025, in the amount of $18.98 million. The new team would be on the hook for that payment, along with a fully-guaranteed base salary for 2025 of $1.255 million. That’s $20.153 million for a 31-year-old cornerback whose best days are in the rear-view mirror.

It makes for a tough sell. The Dolphins may have to pay some of that $20.153 million to make a trade happen.

They’re going to pay it anyway, thanks to a contract that seemed like a stretch at the time and that now can fairly be called ill-advised.

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Podcasts & videos

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NFC East links

Barstool Sports

Former GM Mike Tannenbaum Is Basically Saying There’s A Massive Dispute Inside The Giants Front Office Over Drafting Shedeur Sanders

Let’s be very clear, there is likely a dispute in the front office because John Mara’s old bag of bones still thinks he knows football and has his moron brother running around, despite trying to tell us Chris doesn’t do this anymore

Of course there’s going to be a dispute. You had John Mara come out and publicly say that Daboll/Schoen need to win this year or they are fired. They are now making short term moves to try and save their jobs instead of whatever is better for the franchise. John Mara is too dumb to realize that he’s driving the organization into the ground with this line of thinking and the fact that he’s gone through GM’s and coaches year after year.

[T]here’s just no way I can see the Giants picking outside the top-5 next year too. I’m sure they’ll win a game or two late that’s pointless and put ourselves back in this spot, but just take Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter, whoever is sitting at 3 right there.

So, yeah, no shit the Giants are meeting with a quarterback who will be sitting there at 3. It makes sense to do so. It doesn’t make sense to blindly take him though

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NFL league links

Articles

Commanders Wire

NFL announces 17 players to attend 2025 draft

The NFL announced the 17 players, some of whom are expected to go among the first few picks, such as quarterback Cam Ward, cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter and edge rusher Abdul Carter. The NFL was careful only to invite the players it believes will go in the first round, so there are no embarrassing situations where a player is left waiting in the green room alone.

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Discussion topics

Fox Sports

Trade bait! One player from all 32 teams who could be dealt around the NFL Draft

Dallas Cowboys: LB Micah Parsons

He is arguably the best defensive player in football and the Cowboys say they intend to give him the massive contract he deserves … eventually. But every day they delay that seemingly inevitable outcome adds to the persistent murmurs that Dallas might deal him instead. The haul would be enormous. It would have to include multiple first-round picks, including at least one that’s pretty high, and possibly players, too. Dealing him might be raising a white flag on the 2025 season, but the king’s ransom in return could set them up for years to come.

Jacksonville Jaguars: RB Travis Etienne

He ran for just 558 yards last season and was passed on the depth chart by Tank Bigsby. But he’s also a 26-year-old former first-round pick who ran for 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons and caught 58 passes two years ago, too. He’d cost his new team $6.1 million, which is a lot considering what happened last season. But he’ll be a free agent in March and sure looks like a player who might thrive with a change of scenery.

Las Vegas Raiders: TE Michael Mayer

He’s a former second-round pick who’s had 48 catches for 460 yards in two seasons, which isn’t bad considering he’s only been targeted 72 times. In Las Vegas, that number won’t increase now that Brock Browers has quickly become a star. Bowers was targeted 153 times last year alone (112-1,194-5) and that’s not likely to change. So, while Mayer is a good backup, he’s also 24 years old and is signed for two more seasons. He’s good, cheap talent and if the Raiders were willing to deal him, they might be able to get a mid-round pick back, at least.

Los Angeles Rams: S Kam Curl

The Rams’ pass defense wasn’t good last season and their secondary was a big reason why. Curl clearly didn’t have the impact many expected he’d have when he came over from Washington. But the Rams got Curl cheap, signing him to a surprisingly low two-year, $9 million deal, which makes him very tradeable.

New York Giants: Edge Kayvon Thibodeaux

Trading a 25-year-old pass rusher who had 11.5 sacks two years ago wouldn’t make a lot of sense for a rebuilding team … unless it knows it’s got a replacement ready. So, this really depends on whether the Giants end up drafting Penn State’s Abdul Carter with the No. 3 pick. If they do, they might conclude that they’re not going to pay Thibodeaux big money when his contract expires after the season (or after 2026, if they pick up his fifth-year option), especially when they’ve already got huge money committed to DE Brian Burns and DT Dexter Lawrence. It might hurt them in the short term, but a deal could be a long-term help because a player like Thibodeaux could bring multiple premium draft picks in return.

Philadelphia Eagles: TE Dallas Goedert

He can be one of the NFL’s best tight ends when he’s healthy, but there’s a significant block of games every year when he’s just not. He could still help the Eagles as they try to defend their Super Bowl title, but he’s also 30, heading toward free agency after the season, and GM Howie Roseman is always trying to stay one step ahead. If he can get a decent pick for Goedert and then replace him in the draft, he’ll have already prepared the Eagles for the future.

Washington Commanders: WR Noah Brown

He’s a really good veteran receiver to have on the roster, and he feels like a lock for 30 catches and 450-plus yards every year. But he’s expendable now that the Commanders traded for Deebo Samuel. Plus, clearing him out makes room for Luke McCaffrey, last year’s third-rounder, to emerge as the No. 3 receiver. The Commanders also signed Michael Gallup, so they’re pretty loaded at this position. Plenty of teams would love a reliable veteran to fill their No. 3 role, just like the Commanders were when they acquired him [after he was released by] Houston last August.

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Front Office Sports

Explosive Brett Favre Netflix Doc Is Cautionary Tale of Fame

A new Netflix documentary pulls back the curtain on Favre’s pursuit of Jenn Sterger and his involvement in the Mississippi welfare case.

[Brett Favre’s] story is explored in a compelling new tell-all documentary from Netflix’s Untold documentary series called The Fall of Favre.

Once his hard-nosed father Irv died in 2003, Favre had nobody to tell him “no.” Slowly, he began to go off the rails. As former Packers beat writer Dylan Tomlinson recalls: “My editor pulled me aside and said, ‘I want you to write the story of Brett Favre as a family man.’ I said, ‘I don’t write fiction.’”

Then there was the Jets quarterback who sexually harassed team host Jenn Sterger during the 2008 season–only one year after being named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year.”

‘My Life Was Ruined’

Sterger, the ex-Florida State student who surged to overnight fame after ABC’s Brent Musberger singled her out during a telecast, comes off sympathetically. After cashing in by modeling for Playboy and Maxim, Sterger landed media gigs with SI.com, then the Jets. She dreamed of being the next Erin Andrews or Suzy Kolber.

But when Favre arrived in the Big Apple he took notice of Gang Green’s new personality (who looked like his wife Deanna Favre). Favre reached out through a third party to try to get together. She said no. He switched to text messages, offering to send a car to bring him to his hotel. She kept saying no. Then came the infamous voicemail invitations to come to his room. She ignored them. Finally, he sent X-rated pictures of his private parts to an anxious Sterger. She didn’t know where to turn.

The peripatetic Favre left the Jets for the Vikings in 2009. But the Jets declined to renew Sterger’s contract. Her nightmarish story didn’t end there. Against her wishes, Deadspin broke the Favre-Sterger story in 2010; the site’s editor A.J. Daulerio later apologized to Sterger and calls himself a “scumbag” for breaking the story. Her chances of a sports media career went up in smoke.

“My life was ruined, and he went to the Hall of Fame,” Sterger says ruefully.

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All aTwitter

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