RB Notes: Hines, Rodriguez, Cook
Here are a few RB-related items from around the league:
- The Bills have invested heavily at the running back position in recent years, and at present, the club has 2022 second-round pick James Cook and 2023 free agent signee Damien Harris at the top of its depth chart, with newcomer Latavius Murray also in the mix. As quarterback Josh Allen is a significant part of Buffalo’s ground attack, and since the Bills also offer a bevy of quality receiving options, Ryan O’Halloran of the Buffalo News wonders how 2022 trade acquisition Nyheim Hines fits into the equation. As a member of the Colts, Hines proved that he can be a dynamic weapon, but he saw just 66 offensive snaps in nine games with the Bills last year. While O’Halloran expects Hines to continue making an impact as a return specialist, he finds it difficult to envision anything more than a gadget role for the NC State product on offense. On the other hand, RB coach Kelly Skipper suggested that Hines’ limited usage in 2022 was largely due to the complexity of the Bills’ playbook, and that Hines will see meaningful action both as a receiver and rusher this season.
- In a feature on Commanders rookie running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., which will be of particular interest to fans of the team and which details the devastating loss of Rodriguez’s mother in January, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post notes that the Commanders had a third-round grade on the Kentucky product. Washington was able to land Rodriguez in the sixth round, and he is currently penciled in as the third RB on the depth chart, behind Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson. As a sixth-rounder, though, he is not guaranteed a spot on the roster, especially if the team’s interest in Kareem Hunt should evolve into something more. As new OC Eric Bieniemy noted, Rodriguez will need to impress on special teams, but if he can do so, he could be well-positioned for a productive tenure in the nation’s capital. Gibson is a free agent at season’s end, and while neither Robinson nor Rodriguez offer Gibson’s upside as a receiver, both players have the type of downhill, between-the-tackles power that the team values, and the duo could form a potent 1-2 punch down the line.
- Free agent RB Dalvin Cook recently suggested that he declined a visit with an unnamed club, and according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, that club was not the Dolphins (Twitter link). As of the time of this writing, the ‘Fins are the only named team that has definite interest in Cook’s services, though the latest reporting suggested that about six teams are in the market and that Cook has received multiple offers. Jackson says that Cook — who has previously expressed enthusiasm for joining his hometown Dolphins — remains interested in playing his home games in South Beach.
NFL Urged To Release Mary Jo White’s Commanders Report
The NFL is inching closer and closer to the conclusion of its relationship with Commanders owner Dan Snyder. A special league meeting has been set for July 20, in which the team owners are expected to vote to ratify the sale of the franchise to Josh Harris for $6.05 billion. That’s only one part of the league’s situation with Snyder. The other part entails their investigations into allegations against the soon-to-be former owner of sexual misconduct and financial malfeasance. According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, the NFL has been urged by the House Committee to release a report on the investigation upon its completion. 
To be clear, this is the second investigation into the allegations against Snyder. The first investigation, conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson, was conducted back in 2021. The findings of the investigation were not released by the NFL, but it did result in a fine to the team of $10MM and the forced assumption of day-to-day operating duties by Snyder’s wife, Tanya. The findings were concealed due to promises of confidentiality made to witnesses.
The Oversight Committee released a 79-page report on the Wilkinson investigation in December claiming that Snyder “obstructed” the committee’s investigation and failed to provide full and complete testimony, as his attorney had pledged he would. The report also claimed that the NFL failed “to address Mr. Snyder’s interferences” and that the league played a role in concealing the team’s toxic work environment.
This second investigation was conducted by attorney Mary Jo White, a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigation has not yet concluded, but already, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has urged the league to release the findings of the report upon its completion. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had pledged before to release the report in “full transparency,” so the letter from representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Committee, was a call to abide by Goodell’s pledge when the opportunity comes.
“More than a year has passed since your pledge to ‘share the results of that investigation,’ yet, to date, no part of the information has been released to the public,” Raskin wrote. “In light of the impending sale of the Commanders franchise, I urge you to honor your commitment to release the report in its entirety and ‘take additional disciplinary action if warranted.'”
We’ve seen in previous reports that Snyder is opposed to the pledge by Goodell. It’s been reported that Snyder had called to keep the findings confidential in February and was lobbying the league to limit the release in May, though the Commanders denied both reports. Despite Snyder’s continued efforts to cover up the findings of White’s report, it’s not believed that the issue should hold up the sale of the franchise at all.
It’s unclear, as of yet, exactly when the report will be concluded. Snyder has refused to be interviewed by White for the investigation to date, but some believe that White will request his participation at least one more time before concluding her investigation. It will be interesting to see just how much, if anything, is released by the league upon the report’s conclusion and if any action will be taken due to the results.
Josh Harris Not Expected To Make Major Changes Following Commanders Sale
Josh Harris will officially become the Commanders owner later this month. While Daniel Snyder‘s sale of the team will surely have a long-lasting impact on the organization, the new owner isn’t expected to make any immediate changes.
[RELATED: Date Set For Vote On Commanders Sale Ratification]
According to Ben Standig of The Athletic, Harris isn’t expected to “make major staff changes” when he officially takes over the organization. This includes the job status of team president Jason Wright, with a source telling Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske of the Washington Post that Wright will “absolutely have the opportunity to perform in his role.”
Wright was hired by the Commanders in 2020, becoming the first Black team president in NFL history. As Jhabvala and Maske write, the executive was hired to “improve the workplace culture of a franchise embroiled in controversy,” and Wright did help navigate the organization through multiple investigations and eventual “senior business personnel” overhauls.
The team president has also faced criticism, mostly when it comes to near-league-bottom ticket sales over the past two years. Wright also drew some ire when it came to the Commanders’ “missteps in honoring the late Sean Taylor, a bounced raffle check and the tepid public response to its new name.”
Harris isn’t expected to shake things up, at least right away. Per Standig, the owner intends to “take his time to evaluate current staff before considering changes.” This buys executives like Wright some extra time to build a rapport with their new boss, but as Standig points out, Harris surely has “a list of potential executives to join him in Washington.”
It sounds like Harris also won’t make any rash decisions when it comes to the coaching staff and front office, including head coach Ron Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew. Of course, considering the timing of the sale, it seemed extremely unlikely that Harris would shake up those two areas of the operation with training camp rapidly approaching.
A league meeting has been scheduled for July 20 to ratify the Commanders sale. As the Washington Post notes, Harris and his group aren’t allowed to “to speak with employees of the team about future changes” until that time.
Latest On Commanders LB Depth
Entering mandatory minicamp, there were some questions surrounding the Commanders’ depth at linebacker. However, the team’s answer at the position may already be on the roster. As ESPN’s John Keim writes, the Commanders’ apparent need for a LB may not be as urgent considering the emergence of Khaleke Hudson.
Hudson, a 2020 fifth-round pick, has seen time in 41 games through his first three seasons in the NFL. However, he only has four starts while playing about 85 percent of his total snaps on special teams. In total, the Michigan product has 34 tackles, two tackles for loss, and three QB hits. The defender was cut by Washington last August before catching on with the practice squad. After appearing in 13 games last season, he was signed to a one-year extension back in March.
Jamin Davis is still expected to fill in at the WLB spot, but he was sidelined during minicamp while recovering from offseason knee injury. On the other side, free agent addition Cody Barton was slated to play the MLB role, but he was playing alongside the backups while he learned the defense.
As a result, Hudson saw an increased role during minicamp, and per Keim, the linebacker’s performance impressed coaches. Even if the 25-year-old doesn’t end up starting at either of Washington’s two linebacker spots, it seems all but certain that he’ll still see an increased role on defense in 2023. Plus, as Keim notes, his development may reduce the team’s need for depth at the position. The Commanders are also rostering the likes of David Mayo, De’Jon Harris, and Milo Eifler at the position.
Date Set For Vote On Commanders Sale Ratification
Not long after a pair of dates were provided to NFL owners as possible days on which a special league meeting could take place to ratify the sale of the Commanders, one has been agreed upon. The final step in the sales process now appears to be in place. 
A league meeting has been scheduled for July 20, as detailed by Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. That represents the earlier of the two possible dates floated last week (August 8 being the other), and could allow the sale to be approved in time for the opening of training camps around the league. The Commanders’ camp opens on July 26.
It is expected the league’s finance committee will provide a unanimous recommendation to approve the sale, the Post report adds. The committee met at length with prospective owner Josh Harris and investment group member Mitchell Rales earlier this month to discuss the outstanding issues with the proposed purchase agreement. The number of investors and an ability to remain under the league’s debt ceiling have been causes for concern during the vetting process, but the scheduling of the ratification vote suggests they will have been smoothed out by next month.
Harris and current owner Dan Snyder reached an exclusive agreement on a sale in May. The $6.05 billion price tag will comfortably surpass that of Rob Walton‘s Broncos purchase last summer and thus set a new North American sports record for franchise sales. It will also represent an end to Snyder’s much-maligned tenure at the helm of the Commanders, one which has been marked by a number of investigations into toxic work environments and financial improprieties.
A probe led by NFL investigator Mary Jo White into Snyder and the Commanders remains ongoing, but it could conclude in time for the ratification vote. The findings of that investigation are set to be made public, and the Post notes that they could result in commissioner Roger Goodell imposing a fine on the team. Issues of indemnity regarding Snyder and the other owners have been a sticking point over several months, but the eagerness to remove the former from the league has long been a driving force during the sales process.
At least 24 votes will be required to approve the sale to Harris’ ownership group, something which has not been in doubt since he and Snyder first entered into a purchase agreement. With the finance committee set to compete its vetting process and present a ‘yes’ recommendation to the full slate of owners in the coming weeks, the finish line in this process is firmly in sight.
Ron Rivera Confirms Sam Howell As Commanders’ Training Camp Starter
Since the end of the 2022 season, Sam Howell has been in the driver’s seat to begin the coming campaign as the Commanders’ starting quarterback. The team’s stance in that regard did not change through minicamp, and the same is true with respect to next month’s training camp. 
Head coach Ron Rivera said both before and after the hiring of new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy that Howell would sit atop the depth chart heading into the new league year. Free agency did not, as expected, involve a serious pursuit of the top signal-callers available via signings or trades, but a veteran presence was indeed added. Jacoby Brissett was inked to a one-year deal in March, opening the door to a potential offseason competition.
When Rivera addressed the situation before this past week’s mandatory minicamp, he said Brissett had “shown us some things that have really gotten people’s attention,” adding that the team “talks about Jacoby almost as much as we talk about Sam” (h/t Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports). With minicamp having come and gone, Washington has had another chance (albeit under very limited circumstances given the nature of June practices) to evaluate Howell with the first-team offense. The latter preformed well enough to maintain his title of QB1 for the time being.
“He’s much shown us what we want to see,” Rivera said, via ESPN’s John Keim. “He’s young, we know he is young. There was a lot of room for growth, and we know that, but he’s got a good skillset. He’s mobile, he’s got good foot movement, he’s got quick twitch to him, good decision maker. He is still learning to make those decisions, but he’s also got the arm talent and that’s the thing that that excites us.”
Howell, a 2022 fifth-rounder, made just one start in his rookie season. The Commanders’ Carson Wentz experiment did not pay off, leading to his release this offseason. Rather than making another pricey move under center, the keys have tentatively been handed over to Howell, whose career at North Carolina made him one of several less-than-highly-touted member of last year’s quarterback class.
A strong showing in training camp would be enough for Howell to remain in pole position for the Week 1 starting position, though the Brissett deal includes a high proportion of guranteed money along with incentives. The latter has logged 17 starts across his one-year stints in Miami and Cleveland over the past two years, and could provide Bieniemy’s unit with a stable floor if Howell delivers an underwhelming performance in July and August. Such a development will be needed for a change to the depth chart at this point, though.
Commanders’ Montez Sweat Extension Plans On Hold
Both Montez Sweat and Chase Young are going into contract years, thanks to Washington declining the latter’s fifth-year option. While the the Commanders’ defensive line commitments might dictate an either/or situation regarding an extension, they might not need to see more from Sweat before beginning extension talks.
The team would like to extend Sweat, John Keim of ESPN.com notes, but the ownership situation is pausing the talks. We heard of the ownership-driven halt of big-picture decisions earlier this month, and while Ron Rivera said speaking to Dan Snyder remains an option, the fourth-year Washington HC now indicates the Commanders’ football ops heads will need to clear a move like this with new ownership expected to come in.
Josh Harris has agreed to purchase the Commanders for a record-setting $6.05 billion, but with the 76ers and Devils owner’s debt and number of minority partners in his ownership group has led to a longer vetting process from the NFL. That said, this is moving toward a ratification — either in July or August. By that point, it looks to be Harris needing to offer input on the Sweat front.
“We can’t go on until we get a chance to explain to them exactly what our thoughts and ideas are and whether they agree or disagree,” Rivera said, via Keim.
Drafted in the 2019 first round to play alongside Ryan Kerrigan, Sweat arrived in Washington based more on positional need. The 2020 No. 2 overall pick, Young was a value-based choice after a woeful 2019 season. While Young earned Defensive Rookie of the Year acclaim, he has not matched that level of play since. The ACL and patellar tendon tears Young suffered in November 2021 played the lead role in the Commanders passing on his fifth-year option. During this period, Sweat served as the team’s top edge rusher. A year before declining Young’s fifth-year option, the team picked up Sweat’s $11.6MM Year 5 guarantee.
Never a Pro Bowler, Sweat has still racked up 29 sacks and eight forced fumbles during his four-year career. Perhaps not soaring toward a top-market extension, Sweat is in the front office’s plans — despite having been a Bruce Allen-era draft choice. Sweat compiled a career-high 28 quarterback hits last season, though Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen have respectively led the team in sacks over the past two years. Each defensive tackle is also signed to a big-ticket extension, with Payne signing a $22.5MM-per-year deal shortly after being franchise-tagged. Jonathan Allen’s $18MM-AAV pact remains in the top 10 among D-tackles.
Washington, however, is hoping to build around Sam Howell‘s rookie contract. It cannot be assumed the 2022 fifth-round pick will be the answer, but the team does not currently have a franchise-QB salary on its books. That opens the door for more payments elsewhere, and the Commanders are projected — nine months out, at least — to carry more than $83MM in 2024 cap space. That could be used for a Sweat extension and potential Young franchise tag, depending on how the ex-Ohio State phenom looks this season.
Rivera and Co. opting for a Sweat extension over Young would be interesting, since Allen, Payne and Sweat were each draft picks by the previous regime. But the current Commanders regime is prepared to discuss terms with Sweat’s camp. It just looks like Harris will eventually need to greenlight those discussions.
Commanders Looking Into RB Kareem Hunt
Despite coming up in steady trade rumors ahead of last year’s deadline, Kareem Hunt has not been closely tied to teams during a three-month free agency stay. That has since changed.
The Commanders are looking into the former rushing champion, per CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson. Washington has made preliminary inquiries into Hunt, who recently played out his second Browns contract (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Browns Not Looking To Bring Back Hunt]
A clear Commanders-Hunt connection exists, with new OC Eric Bieniemy having been the former third-rounder’s position coach when the Chiefs drafted him in 2017. Prior to spending five seasons as Kansas City’s OC, Bieniemy oversaw Hunt’s rookie-year surge as RBs coach, helping him to the ’17 rushing title. Hunt, who won that crown with 1,327 yards, soared to a stronger start in 2018; his career path changed after a video showed him assaulting a woman at a Cleveland hotel.
While Hunt did not match his Chiefs showing with the Browns, he formed one of the league’s top backfield duos of this era by playing alongside Nick Chubb. Following Hunt’s eight-game suspension to start the 2019 season, Hunt worked as a 1-B option behind Cleveland’s perennial Pro Bowl starter. The Browns used Hunt more in the passing game, though he only topped 500 rushing yards in one of his Cleveland seasons (2020, with 841).
Prior to that 2020 season, the Browns gave Hunt a two-year, $13MM deal. That deal checked in much lower than Chubb’s (three years, $36.6MM) and Hunt’s top peers from the 2017 draft class. With the likes of James Conner, Leonard Fournette and Chase Edmonds passing Hunt in running back AAV, the then-Browns back requested a trade last year. As they looked to retain talent around Deshaun Watson, the Browns held off on dealing Hunt. The Eagles and Jets checked on the veteran at the deadline, but the Browns again held onto their talented backup.
Washington returns its Brian Robinson–Antonio Gibson backfield tandem, with the latter going into a contract year. Ron Rivera and GM Martin Mayhew are believed to be prioritizing a power run game, with rumblings of disagreements on this front with since-ousted OC Scott Turner coming out in January. The Commanders already ranked fourth in carries last season (538), but with the team now preparing to give the untested Sam Howell a legitimate starter opportunity, providing backfield support would make sense. The team did, however, use a sixth-round pick on a back (Kentucky’s Chris Rodriguez).
At this juncture, Hunt will have a hard time even matching that $6.5MM-AAV accord he landed in Cleveland. The RB market did not produce a single $6.5MM-per-year deal this offseason, and teams’ free agency budgets are obviously depleted by June. Hunt also averaged just 3.8 yards per carry last season — by far a career-worst mark. Neither Robinson nor Gibson topped 4.0 per tote, either, but Hunt’s disappointing contract year undoubtedly led to teams looking elsewhere earlier this offseason.
Dates Emerge For Ratification Vote On Commanders Sale
The next round of NFL owners’ meetings are not on tap until October, but the league is making preparations for a special session regarding the Commanders sale.
Owners have been informed to be available on July 20 or August 8 for a meeting that would include a ratification vote, according to the SportsBusiness Journal’s Ben Fischer (Twitter link). Vetting of Josh Harris‘ Commanders purchase is ongoing, but dates emerging certainly points to confidence the sale will be ratified by one of these two dates. Roger Goodell said recently he expects the sale to be ratified, providing a rather clear indication the item will meet the required 24 votes to pass.
Harris, who agreed to terms with Dan Snyder to buy the Commanders for a record-shattering $6.05 billion, has said he is willing to work with the league on a more amenable deal structure. Issues concerning the amount of debt held by the potential new owner, as well as some tax and incentive matters, have arisen. But the NFL owners have long been eager to finalize Snyder’s exit, opening the door for the large Harris-headed ownership group.
Harris is not believed to need to make many adjustments to his bid structure, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones (on Twitter). He and group member Mitchell Rales met with the NFL’s eight-man finance committee last week, and the meeting is believed to have gone well. Signs continue to point to the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner adding an NFL team to his portfolio before the start of the season.
The NFL most recently held a special session last August — for the ratification of Rob Walton‘s summer 2022 Broncos purchase. That did not encounter any speedbumps, and owners approved the Walton group’s acquisition just less than two months after the $4.65 billion bid arrived. Harris’ more complex bid structure has brought a slower-moving vet. He reached a nonexclusive agreement with Snyder in mid-April, and the parties came to terms on the exclusive deal — one the NFL is still vetting — May 12. If the NFL calls the meeting for July 20, the time between the Harris purchase and ratification will not end up being much longer than Walton’s.
Walton’s $70 billion-plus in net worth provided no liquidity-driven complications, whereas Harris’ net worth (estimated at just more than $6 billion) has required a number of investors. A prospective primary owner must be able to furnish 30% of the total sales price in cash at the time of the purchase, and while this component has added to the finance committee’s task, it would still be a shock if Harris was not ratified as the new Washington owner. While this bid structure might not be approved under normal circumstances, the owners’ chance to end Snyder’s increasingly scandal-ridden tenure running a franchise has long superseded concerns pertaining to the bid.
Latest On Sale Of Commanders
In one of our most recent updates on the situation, we mentioned a meeting between Josh Harris and the NFL owners finance committee set to take place today. The meeting with the eight-member committee did, in fact, occur today, and according to Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, it went very well. 
Harris attended the meeting with fellow investor Mitchell Rales. Rales, co-founder of the Danaher Corporation, is one of the group’s top investors and reportedly holds favor with the committee. Other reported investors include South American billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo, whose family’s portfolio includes the likes of Anhueser-Busch InBev, Chilean bank Corpbanca, and Spanish bank Inmobiliaria Colonial, ex-CEO of Google Eric Schmidt, chair of the DC Open tennis tournament Mark Ein, and NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.
The meeting was intended to be an opportunity for Harris to address a number of issues the committee had with his most recent proposal, namely issues concerning the amount of debt held by the potential new owner, as well as some tax and incentive issues. Maske and Jhabvala reported that the two and a half hour meeting “was productive and, barring any unforeseen setbacks, the sale is advancing toward expected ratification by the league’s team owners as soon as next month.”
In the meeting, Harris was apparently very cooperative and “continued to pledge to make the requested adjustments to his deal.” The impending ratification is contingent on Harris meeting those requests, but everyone around the situation seems nearly certain that he will be able to do that.
The next owners’ meeting isn’t scheduled to take place until October, but a call for a special session is expected to take place to assist the progress of the sale. The special session could take place as soon as late July and would require approval from 24 of the league’s 32 owners. The approval is not a main concern, as the owners generally follow the finance committee’s recommendations in situations like the sale of a franchise. The vote, theoretically, could be taken remotely, but for important matters such as this, the league tends to prefer an in-person meeting.
Part of the rush comes from the exclusivity of the deal. Harris reached a signed, exclusive agreement with current owner Dan Snyder on May 12, following the submission of a nonexclusive version of the deal to the NFL for an informal review. The exact number isn’t known but the time limit on Harris’ exclusivity is estimated to be either 60 or 90 days. Seeing as the next scheduled owners’ meeting is far beyond that deadline, the special session becomes crucial.
So, to this point, Harris and the finance committee have come to an agreement as to what will make the deal acceptable. The finance committee will meet several more times virtually to ensure that things are on track and a vote will hopefully be taken in the next 60 days. The owners are reportedly eager to approve the deal and oust Snyder, but they need Harris to meet their demands. The finish line is coming more and more into focus with each report and seems just on the horizon.