Daily Slop – 3 Mar 25 – Spotlighting ‘Thrift shop free agents’ for the Commanders roster

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders

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Washington Post (paywall)

Deebo Samuel at his best makes the Commanders’ offense even better

Star wideout struggled with injuries for the 49ers last season but is tough, versatile, dangerous in space and capable of racking up big yards after the catch.

The addition of star wide receiver Deebo Samuel, whom the Washington Commanders agreed Saturday to acquire from the San Francisco 49ers, makes the team tougher, more versatile and more dangerous in space, especially on screens and underneath routes. Those are the areas in which Samuel has been elite at breaking tackles and racking up yards after the catch in his career.

The big question is whether Samuel can stay healthy and in shape.

The 29-year-old plays a punishing, physical style that wears on the body. He dealt with calf, wrist, oblique and rib injuries last season, as well as an illness that kept him out of two full games and parts of others. Samuel has missed just nine games over the past four seasons, but even when he’s healthy, he sometimes has struggled to stay well-conditioned.

In 2022, the 6-foot, 215-pound receiver said he was “awful” because he was out of shape. The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami, a long time Bay Area columnist, said on his podcast last month that Samuel played “20 pounds overweight” last year, hampering his explosiveness and his ability to break tackles and leading to his worst season since his rookie year of 2019.

General Manager Adam Peters is betting the Commanders can fix Samuel. Peters knows him well — he was the assistant GM when the 49ers took Samuel in the second round of the 2019 draft. And he only had to give up a fifth-round pick and $17.55 million in salary cap space to get Samuel, whom it appears will play this season on his current contract. Peters will count on offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Jayden Daniels to elevate Samuel as they did last year with running back Austin Ekeler, tight end Zach Ertz and others.

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Riggo’s Rag

Commanders reportedly get aggressive to speed up Jonathan Allen trade

Jonathan Allen was on the table for Deebo Samuel before things fell through.

Washington won’t get much in return for Allen. They only have six picks in the 2025 NFL Draft as things stand, so anything would be a bonus. His production has regressed over the last two seasons, but he’s a two-time Pro Bowler and exceptional leadership presence within the locker room. That intrigued the Niners, which might raise urgency for another contending team looking to fortify their defensive front.

Peters is incredibly active. He’s approaching Washington’s roster construction with purpose and urgency. Adding Samuel into the mix is only going to make them more attractive to potential targets. Those plans won’t include Allen, who’s looking to galvanize his career in a different environment.

The Commanders have Daron Payne and Johnny Newton. They’ve also got veterans like Carl Davis, Sheldon Day, and Jalyn Holmes who could be re-signed on short-term deals. But if, or when, Allen departs, this seems like a good opportunity for Washington to inject some extra explosiveness into the defensive trenches.

This is a deep draft class for defensive linemen. Peters could solve this complication with a long-term replacement for Allen via the college ranks.

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Hogs Haven

Thrift Shop Free Agents: Breaking open the bargain bin

Adam Peters has roughly 30 impending free agents he needs to either re- sign or replace in free agency. In some ways, Peters must replicate his 2024 success all over again with the notable exception of quarterback. To complete this year’s recalibration, Peters will have to find some value in the free agent market to fill out the roster. This article contains free agents that could be the proverbial Picasso purchased at the thrift store because the buyer liked the fame. While they don’t all carry bargain basement price tags, most represent options below the top market value.

So break open your Washington Redskins ceramic piggy bank and let’s go thrifting!

Jaylon Moore , Offensive Tackle

Everyone has a plan at OT, that is until Ronnie Stanley or Alaric Jackson are no longer available. Enter Jaylon Moore, a fifth-round selection for the Niners in 2021. He also happens to be Trent Williams’ backup at LT. Not coincidentally, there have been several opportunities for him to start over the last four years and he has acquitted himself well for the most part. Over his four-year career, Moore has appeared in 55 games and made 12 starts. Last year he surrendered one sack and 10 pressures on 154 opportunities and had favorable grades especially in pass blocking while holding his own in the run game. This is what his OL Coach, Chris Foerster, had to say about him,

“He’s doing a good job. Has he proven to be an upper echelon starter in the National Football League? Probably not at this point. Is he in middle of the pack down to second? Where’s he rank one to 32 or 64 starters in the League at tackle? Where does he fit in that thing? I think he is somewhere in there. I don’t think he’s outside the realm of starting. He’s ideal as a swing guy, obviously because you have a guy that can step in and play at a starting level because he has done that through these years he’s played(1).”

There are some questions about his ability to play on the right side and he only has 831 career snaps to his name, but so far his performance indicates the potential for a bigger role. A deal like Yosh Nijman’s 2-year, $ 8 Million contract with 5,000,000 guaranteed and an average annual salary of $4,000,000 feels about right.

How he fits Washington: If they miss out on the marquee options at LT in Stanley or Alaric, they still need to bring in some options to upgrade at tackle besides the draft. Moore would slot in as a Cornelius Lucas replacement in the swing tackle role with the possibility of winning the LT job outright if Coleman fails to progress or is moved to a different position.

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Podcasts & videos

Commanders Film Room: The Deebo Samuel Episode feat. @MarkBullockNFL

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NFC East links

Big Blue View

Could the New York Giants get the No. 1 pick from the Tennessee Titans?

The pick isn’t for sale yet … but it might be eventually

Trade up from No. 3 to No. 1 with the Tennessee Titans.

Can the Giants actually pull that off? It seems like many around the league expect them to try, with Dianna Russini of The Athletic saying the Giants are “a team to watch on multiple fronts” in their effort to find a quarterback.

Would the Titans, with Will Levis not looking like their long-term answer at quarterback, be willing to move off that pick rather than select Ward or Shedeur Sanders? They might be.

First-year GM Mike Borgonzi has said Tennessee would not pass on the opportunity to draft a player they believe to be generational. If they believe both Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter and Penn State edge defender Abdul Carter fall into that category and decide against taking a quarterback, they could move to No. 3, get additional picks, and still get one of those two players.

Borgonzi said at the Combine that no trade of the No. 1 pick would be considered until closer to the draft, once the organization completes its evaluation of the quarterbacks.

“At the end of the day, we have to make the best decision at this point for the Titans. And if we deem taking a quarterback is the most important thing right now, then we’ll do that,” Borgonzi said. “But we have to go through this process here. So this is like one touch point in the process. We’ve gone through the whole evaluation part. Now we’re finally getting to sit down and meet with these guys and talk with them. We’ll have pro days, we’ll have 30 day visits. We have to go through the whole process really to make that decision.”

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