HEADLINES

Washington Commanders News & Rumors

Titans OL Saahdiq Charles Retires

August 6th, 2024 at 4:18pm CST by Adam La Rose

Instead of competing for a starting spot on the Titans’ offensive line in 2024, Saahdiq Charles will hang up his cleats. The veteran lineman was placed on the reserve/retired list Tuesday.

Charles, 25, had missed the past several training camp practices for what head coach Brian Callahan termed personal reasons. He has since informed the team of his decision to step away from the game. That move will leave the Titans in need of a depth addition up front or the remaining in-house options stepping up in Charles’ absence.

The former fourth-rounder began his career with the Commanders. Charles logged 35 games and 18 starts during that span, including 10 contests as a first-teamer at left guard in 2023. A calf injury landed him on injured reserve, but in the offseason he did not need to wait long to land a deal. Charles inked a one-year, $1.5MM pact with Tennessee in mid-March; that contract included $250K in guarantees and $75K in per-game roster bonuses.

Charles had impressed during his time with the Titans this offseason, and the team’s first depth chart listed him as the starting right guard. That position belonged to Daniel Brunskill last season, one in which Tennessee’s O-line struggled. Brunskill was listed as the backup center behind big-ticket free agent addition Lloyd Cushenberry, but today’s news could put him back in contention at the RG spot.

Tennessee listed Dillon Radunz and LaChavious Simmons second and third, respectively, on the right guard depth chart behind Charles. Both of them will no doubt get an expanded look with the first-team offense through the rest of training camp and the preseason now that Charles is no longer in the fold. The latter collected roughly $4.3MM in earnings over the course of his brief NFL career.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/5/24

August 5th, 2024 at 8:04pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

  • Signed: LB Mike Rose

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Waived: OL Jason Poe

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/4/24

August 4th, 2024 at 5:53pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor transactions to close out the weekend:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Commanders

The Browns were looking forward to stashing Allen’s starting experience as a reserve lineman on the interior. Unfortunately, he suffered a calf injury that ended his season before it even began. Only on a one-year contract anyway, Allen will now get a head start on the free agency he would’ve faced at the end of this season.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson will not be coaching his son, Josh, this season, it appears. The 26-year-old tight end appeared in three games under his father in 2023.

Commanders Claim K Riley Patterson

July 31st, 2024 at 3:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following their short-lived partnership with Brandon McManus, the Commanders are turning to another recent Jaguars kicker. Washington submitted a successful waiver claim for Riley Patterson on Wednesday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets.

Patterson, who has enjoyed multiple stints with Jacksonville, will head to a Washington team that features kicker uncertainty after McManus’ release. Patterson has kicked in 39 career games; 15 of those came last season — with the Lions and Browns.

Entering Wednesday, Ramiz Ahmed resided as the only kicker on the Commanders’ 90-man roster. Ahmed has kicked in one career game — as a Packers Mason Crosby fill-in in 2022. Patterson, who turned 29 last week, landed with the Jags via reserve/futures contract but lost an early camp competition to sixth-round rookie Cam Little.

The Commanders released McManus after a lawsuit alleging sexual assault surfaced after the team signed him. The allegations stemmed from a flight during the 2023 Jaguars season. Washington had given the longtime Denver specialist a one-year, $3.6MM deal in March. Ahmed joined the team in June, shortly after the McManus cut. The inexperienced option now has competition.

Patterson has yo-yoed between Jacksonville and Detroit during his career, being both traded and waived. After seven games with the 2021 Lions, Patterson was the Jags’ 2022 kicker. The Jaguars claimed Patterson just before that season; he made 30 of 35 field goals during the regular season and kicked the game-winner that sealed a 27-point wild-card comeback over the Chargers. Last season, after the Jags traded Patterson back to the Lions, the Memphis alum made 88.2% of his tries but lost an ongoing practice competition to Michael Badgley. The Lions ended up going with Badgley and cutting Patterson in December, leading him to a short role filling in for Dustin Hopkins.

Joey Slye served as the Commanders’ kicker last season, but the ex-Ron Rivera Panthers charge made only 79.2% of his kicks. The team will see if Patterson or Ahmed can prove an adequate replacement.

The Commanders, who also signed Byron Pringle earlier today, released wideout Damiere Byrd and waived wideout Dax Milne. Byrd had played for Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona previously, while Milne has been in Washington since being drafted in the 2021 seventh round.

Commanders Re-Sign WR Byron Pringle

July 31st, 2024 at 9:38am CST by Sam Robinson

Despite the Commanders parting ways with Eric Bieniemy, one of the former OC’s Chiefs charges is still in the team’s plans. Byron Pringle agreed to terms to stay in Washington on Wednesday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.

Pringle rejoined Bieniemy in Washington last season, after having spent 2022 with fellow ex-Chiefs staffer Ryan Poles in Chicago. The sixth-year veteran worked as a rotational backup with the Commanders and should be expected to play a similar role this season. The Commanders have announced the signing.

Although Pringle debuted in 2019, he is set to turn 31 in August. The Chiefs rostered the former UDFA from 2018-21, and the Kansas State product’s most memorable season came for Kansas City’s 2021 edition. Pringle caught 42 passes for 568 yards and five touchdowns that season, operating as an auxiliary weapon for the Chiefs’ final Tyreek Hill-fronted receiving corps. The sides separated after that season, but Pringle will have come continuity once again.

That season is the outlier for the 6-foot-1 target, as he has not eclipsed 200 receiving yards in any other year. After starting four games for the 2022 Bears, Pringle followed Bieniemy to Washington in what turned out to be a one-and-done season for the longtime Kansas City OC. Pringle caught 14 passes for 161 yards with Washington last season, starting one game for a team that deployed a locked-in top three at receiver. One of those pass catchers — Curtis Samuel — has since moved on.

The Commanders’ passing attack will still run through Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, but Kliff Kingsbury‘s offense still features some tertiary-level wideouts that will not make Pringle a roster lock. The team drafted Luke McCaffrey in Round 3 and added Olamide Zaccheaus earlier this offseason. Former third-rounder Dyami Brown remains with the team, with Jamison Crowder and ex-Kingsbury Cardinals cog Damiere Byrd signing as well. With 16 practice squad spots available, the Commanders stand to have some options — Pringle now among them — for their WR insurance spots.

The Giants also recently worked out Pringle, but he will receive another bid to make the Commanders’ roster. Pringle did not spend any time on last year’s Washington practice squad, but given the moves the team has made this offseason, it probably should not be considered automatic he lands with the team’s initial 53.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/24

July 24th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Wednesday’s minor transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Placed on active/NFI list: T Gottlieb Ayedze, WR Shaquan Davis
  • Placed on active/PUP list: S Sydney Brown

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

In New Orleans, Young has officially made the comeback from offseason neck surgery, passing his physical today alongside Olave, who is no stranger to offseason injuries.

Treadwell will join his eighth team in nine years after only making one catch in five games with the Ravens last season.

Brown is working his way back from an ACL tear that he suffered in the final game of his rookie season last year, so it’s no surprise that he will start the offseason on PUP.

QB Notes: Tua, Rodgers, Daniels, Steelers

July 24th, 2024 at 4:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tua Tagovailoa is not holding in, separating the Dolphins‘ top negotiation from multiple others around the NFL. This includes Jordan Love‘s Packers arrangement, which has become a hold-in situation. Despite Tagovailoa having a longer track record than Love, the fifth-year passer went through Dolphins workouts Wednesday. This did come with a notable exception. Tagovailoa took only two reps (both handoffs) in Dolphins team drills to open camp, per ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s camp workload — absent an extension — would compare to OTAs; the lefty did not go through team drills then or during minicamp. We heard Monday this would likely be the route Tagovailoa takes.

The Dolphins have been negotiating with Tua for months, and while some optimism has emerged, Miami’s QB1 has turned down at least one offer and may have seen the team dig in on a price south of Trevor Lawrence‘s $55MM-per-year deal. Lawrence receiving $142MM may also be much higher than the Dolphins want to go. McDaniel said (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson) both sides are “relentlessly” working on this agreement. The parties still have time to hammer out a deal before the season, but the longer this goes, the closer Tua comes to carrying a lofty franchise tag number (upwards of $40MM) on Miami’s 2025 cap sheet.

Here is the latest QB news coming out of training camp:

  • Aaron Rodgers confirmed a trip to Egypt indeed led to his missing minicamp and confirmed the Jets fined him for the unexcused absences. Rodgers has been criticized for a lack of leadership by skipping the offseason’s only mandatory workout, but he said his relationship with Robert Saleh has been unaffected. “I’m an adult; I knew what I was getting into,” Rodgers said, via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. “I knew the fine that was coming and also knew how much I wanted to be in Egypt. I wish there hadn’t been a conflict scheduling-wise, but it was what it was.” Rodgers, who said be based the trip on the Jets’ 2023 offseason schedule, had shown up for OTAs prior to the abrupt — to the public, at least — departure.
  • Jayden Daniels does not have Commanders first-string reps to himself just yet; the No. 2 overall pick is splitting them with free agency addition Marcus Mariota, the Washington Post’s Sam Fortier notes. While Dan Quinn is labeling this a QB competition, Fortier cautions that Daniels is all but assured of the starting job. This follows a report that pointed to the Commanders indeed feeling no real reason to hold back the 2023 Heisman winner by giving Mariota bridge work.
  • Although the Daniels-Mariota split may deprive the highly touted rookie from early reps, Washington is holding an actual battle for the No. 3 spot. The team is pitting rookie UDFA Sam Hartman against veteran Jeff Driskel, Fortier adds. The former Notre Dame starter, who has a safety net via the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions’ recent draft choice, played behind Driskel to start camp. It is not yet clear if the Commanders plan to keep three QBs, but the winner of this battle would stand to at least be the team’s emergency option in the event only two are rostered.
  • Prior to the USFL and XFL merging, Ben DiNucci played in the former league’s second season and spent last year as the Broncos’ third-stringer. The recent Russell Wilson teammate worked out for the 13-year vet’s new team this week, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who notes the Steelers brought in the veteran. Pittsburgh has Kyle Allen in place behind Wilson and Justin Fields presently.

Commanders Place DT Johnny Newton On NFI

July 19th, 2024 at 10:52am CST by Adam La Rose

Johnny Newton will not be on the field to take part in the beginning of the rookie portion of the Commanders’ training camp. The second-round defensive tackle was place on the non-football injury (NFI) list Friday, per a team announcement.

The NFI list is used in cases where players begin their NFL careers rehabbing an injury suffered in college. That applies to Newton, whose pre-draft process was affected by foot injuries. He underwent surgery in January to address an injury to his right foot before suffering a Jones fracture in his left foot. The latter issue required another procedure in May, and as such today’s transaction comes as little surprise.

Newton interestingly said he had returned to full health by the time he was drafted, but the Jones fracture kept him out of rookie minicamp and the rest of spring workouts. He can be activated at any time, but he will now miss at least some time during training camp as he prepares for his rookie campaign. The All-American’s health no doubt contributed to his draft stock taking a hit, and Newton needed to wait until Day 2 to hear his name called.

The Illinois product will nevertheless face high expectations once he is healthy and up to speed at the pro level based on his college production. Newton racked up 18 sacks and 28.5 tackles for loss during his time with the Fighting Illini, and he should be able to serve in at least a notable rotational capacity early in his NFL career. Washington still has both Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen ahead of him on the DT depth chart, though.

Those veterans will report to camp next week as the ramp-up period begins toward exhibition contests and the regular season. The Commanders will no doubt hope Newton recovers in time for the fall, so the timing of when he is activated will be worth watching closely.

Jason Wright To Depart Commanders Following 2024 Season

July 18th, 2024 at 12:41pm CST by Adam La Rose

The 2024 season will be the last for Jason Wright as a member of the Commanders. He and team owner Josh Harris said on Thursday Wright will leave the organization by the end of the upcoming campaign.

As detailed by Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske of the Washington Post, Wright will immediately step down from his role as president. He will carry on the duties he previously had in that capacity while taking on the title of senior advisor. Harris and Tad Brown will lead the search for Wright’s replacement.

The Post report notes that Wright – who joined the team in 2020 – was believed to have his previous contract expire in August, making his departure an unsurprising one. He could leave prior to the conclusion of the coming season, in which case the Commanders would allow him to accelerate the process of taking on his next opportunity. Today’s news was foreshadowed by the fact Wright, 42, was a finalist to succeed Mark Murphy as president of the Packers next year.

“This feels like the right moment for me to explore my next leadership opportunity,” a statement from Wright reads. “I’m extremely grateful to my Commanders colleagues, our fans and this community for all that we have accomplished these past four years, and am looking forward to the start of a very successful season for the Burgundy and Gold.”

Wright’s upcoming departure will mark another notable change in the front office following Harris’ 2023 purchase of the Commanders. The latter’s first season in control consisted of evaluating the organization at all levels before authorizing sweeping changes in recent months. That process has included Dan Quinn being hired as Ron Rivera‘s replacement on the sidelines as well as Adam Peters joining as general manager (although his predecessor, Martin Mayhew, remains in the organization). Earlier this week, it was learned ex-Panthers GM Scott Fitterer will be a member of Washington’s front office moving forward.

“Jason has made a remarkable impact on the Commanders organization since he joined four years ago,” a statement from Harris reads. “He stepped in at a time of immense challenge and has led this organization through an incredible transformation that set that stage for everything that is to come. I am extremely grateful to Jason for his partnership to me and the rest of the ownership group over the past year. His guidance has been invaluable and his leadership has helped reshape our culture.”

Wright’s hire was made during times of transition in the nation’s capital with the organization facing allegations of workplace misconduct and a toxic culture under then-owner Dan Snyder. Much has changed for the franchise since then, and Wright will look to use the improvements seen in Washington as a means of landing another high-ranking executive role on a new team.

Largest 2024 Cap Hits: Defense

July 17th, 2024 at 2:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

As veteran report dates for training camps near, NFL payrolls are largely set. Extension- and trade-related matters remain, but as far as high cap numbers go, the list will not change much between now and Week 1. After we ran down the top cap charges on the offensive side of the ball last week, here are the highest 2024 figures tied to defenders:

  1. Maxx Crosby, EDGE (Raiders): $30.48MM
  2. T.J. Watt, EDGE (Steelers): $30.42MM
  3. Kenny Clark, DL (Packers): $27.49MM
  4. Joey Bosa, EDGE (Chargers): $26.11MM
  5. Khalil Mack, EDGE (Chargers): $25.39MM
  6. Montez Sweat, EDGE (Bears): $25.09MM
  7. Harold Landry, EDGE (Titans): $23.8MM
  8. Jaire Alexander, CB (Packers): $23.49MM
  9. Marlon Humphrey, CB (Ravens): $22.88MM
  10. Tremaine Edmunds, LB (Bears): $22.44MM
  11. Cameron Heyward, DL (Steelers): $22.41MM
  12. Jeffery Simmons, DL (Titans): $21.65MM
  13. Daron Payne, DL (Commanders): $21.61MM
  14. Jonathan Allen, DL (Commanders): $21.44MM
  15. Minkah Fitzpatrick, S (Steelers): $21.36MM
  16. Vita Vea, DL (Buccaneers): $20.97MM
  17. DeMarcus Lawrence, EDGE (Cowboys): $20.46MM
  18. Quinnen Williams, DL (Jets): $20.4MM
  19. Grady Jarrett, DL (Falcons): $20.38MM
  20. Myles Garrett, EDGE (Browns): $20.17MM
  21. Trey Hendrickson, EDGE (Bengals): $20.17MM
  22. Derwin James, S (Chargers): $19.86MM
  23. Budda Baker, S (Cardinals): $19.03MM
  24. Charvarius Ward, CB (49ers): $18.4MM
  25. Marcus Williams, S (Ravens): $18.03MM

While a handful of quarterbacks are set to break the single-player record for cap hit — after this offseason’s $30.6MM cap spike — this year’s defensive hits do not check in on that level. Crosby and Watt are at $30MM, but those numbers do not match last year’s top defender cap hit — attached to then-Giants D-lineman Leonard Williams ($32.26MM). With Aaron Donald now in the dead money category following his retirement and Chris Jones extended, some new faces have climbed toward the top of this list.

The Raiders gave Crosby a $6MM 2024 pay bump to reward a former Day 3 pick who has unlocked another level while attached to an extension signed in 2022. Rather than greenlight a new deal for their top defender, the Raiders moved money around on his through-2026 extension to accommodate a rising market. This season now marks the highest cap hit on this Crosby contract.

Although the Chargers worked out pay-cut agreements with Bosa and Mack, both edge rushers are still among the most expensive — cap-wise — players in the league. The March reductions, however, moved Bosa’s cap number down from $36.6MM and lowered Mack’s from $38.5MM. With James tied to the second-highest 2024 safety figure, Jim Harbaugh‘s team — while clearing out costs on offense — remains among the top defensive spenders.

Two years remain on Watt’s deal, which has paid out its guaranteed money. With Nick Bosa having secured a defender-record extension and lower-production players — compared to Watt, at least — Brian Burns and Josh Allen surpassing the future Hall of Famer’s 2021 extension, a third Steelers-Watt agreement will likely be rumored soon. Heyward has expressed interest in a fourth Steelers contract, which would reduce his lofty cap figure, but the accomplished veteran has not heard much from the team’s side on this matter.

The Packers have begun talks with Clark on what would be a third extension. His current $17.5MM-per-year contract has fallen to 15th among active D-linemen. A new deal would update that figure for a reliable starter while reducing his 2024 cap hit. Despite rumors about the Pack separating from Alexander coming out in December, GM Brian Gutekunst shot down any such move associated with the league’s highest-paid corner.

Baker requested a trade last year, eyeing a deal closer to the James-Fitzpatrick level. The longtime Cardinal DB is in the final year of an extension agreed to back in 2020. Although the Cardinals are rebuilding, Baker has remained part of Jonathan Gannon‘s team. He expressed hope to stay in Arizona beyond 2024, and the Cardinals have the contract-year safety — the team’s longest-tenured starter, now that D.J. Humphries is off the roster — on the team going into his age-28 season.

Load More Posts