Daily Slop - 9 July 23: Opening game ticket special & new political developments with RFK site

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Commanders Wire

Commanders this weekend offering a deal for season opener

For Washington NFL fans who don’t yet have a ticket to the first game of the post-Daniel Snyder era (1999-2022), the Commanders are offering two upper-level tickets for only $79. For that same price of $79, the Commanders are also offering one lower-level ticket.

But again, it is only this weekend. It is an opportunity for many fans to seize the chance and be a part of this season’s home opener.

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The Washington Post

Comer prepares legislation that could allow Commanders stadium at RFK

Comer’s legislation, once it is introduced, could mark a new chapter for D.C. as it competes with Maryland and Virginia for a chance to woo the Commanders to a new stadium from its current site in Prince George’s County, Md. Bowser (D) has long sought to bring the Commanders back to D.C. — although federal legislation freeing up the RFK site would be just a first step toward that goal, with a number of hurdles remaining, including a divided D.C. Council, whose members have differing opinions about how the site should be used.

[One source described] it as a 99-year lease extension and modification — which would broaden the city’s options for what it could do with the land.

The current RFK lease between D.C. and the National Park Service is slated to end in 2038 and restricts land usage to sports, recreation and entertainment.

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HTTR4LIFE.com

Can Montez Sweat Become an Elite Pass Rusher in 2023? – Commanders Film Review

Key points from the video:

1. Background: Montez Sweat is 26 years old and is about to hit the prime of his NFL career. He is set to make 11.5 million on his fifth-year option in 2023, which the team decided to pick up last offseason. His market could be anywhere from 16 million to as high as 24 million, depending on his performance in the upcoming season.
2. Competition: The team has set up a competition between Montez Sweat and Chase Young to see who will get a big extension next off-season. They decided not to pick up Chase Young’s fifth-year option a few weeks back, possibly to motivate him and see if his rookie-year production could return. However, they can only tag one player a year, so if they can’t work out deals with both, they can only tag one of them.
3. Performance: In 17 starts last year, Sweat had eight sacks, 28 quarterback hits, and 14 tackles for loss. In his career, he has 29 total sacks, 74 quarterback hits, and 37 tackles for loss. However, for the first time in his career last year, he didn’t force a single turnover. He had forced eight turnovers in previous years.
4. Potential: The commentator believes that Sweat has the potential to become an elite player. To do this, he needs to start hitting home more often, meaning he needs to convert more of his near-misses into sacks and turnovers. The commentator points out several instances of in-game footage where Sweat was just a fraction of a second away from sacking the quarterback.
5. Expectations: The commentator suggests that if Sweat wants to secure a big long-term deal, he needs to increase his production in 2023. Less than 10 sacks will not get him paid at an elite level. The commentator believes that Sweat could be the next 100-million-dollar man if he starts hitting home more often and putting up bigger numbers.

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Commanders.com

2023 training camp preview | Offensive line

There are a lot of new players in new positions on the Commanders’ offensive line, but the only real competition is at left guard, and there are two options for who could claim the spot.

Of the two, the Commanders have given veteran Saahdiq Charles the first shot, as he took all of the starting reps in OTAs and minicamp. Injuries have prevented him from being much more than a backup for most of his career thus far, but the coaching staff is confident that he has the skill set to be a solid player.

“That always seemed to be the issue,” said coach Ron Rivera. “If you go back and look at the times he’s played, something has come up whether it’s been the calf, it’s been the ankle, the shoulder. You just hope that he stays healthy because he has the skillset.”

The other player to watch is Chris Paul. Although he worked with the rest of the backups this offseason, Paul has received praise from his coaches and teammates for his technique and ability to move players off the ball.

“They talk about him as being a guy that can lock you up,” Rivera said of defensive linemen who approached him about Paul last year. “And they’ve told me unsolicited, they’ve come to me and said, ‘Wow, coach, we gotta keep an eye on this kid.’”

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Bullock’s Film Room

Commanders Scheme Breakdown: Tampa 2 Coverage

Breaking down Tampa 2 coverage and the variations of it that the Commanders use

Everyone in the league will run Cover 2 and Tampa 2 at various times throughout the season. It’s a very safe coverage that teams will default to in situations like third and long where they just want to stay on top of everything, force a checkdown and then rally to the ball in order to prevent any additional yards after the catch. So what do these coverages look like, what are the differences between them and how do the Commanders use them? Let’s take a closer look.

Cover 2 is a very basic coverage that involves two deep safeties splitting the deep parts of the field in half and being responsible for their deep half each. The remaining five defenders in coverage then split the underneath part of the field into fifths, with the cornerbacks playing the flats and the linebackers playing inside. Tampa 2 is a slight variation on Cover 2 where the middle linebacker takes his underneath zone in the middle of the field and drops just a little deeper, allowing the safeties to gain a bit more width and giving them some security in the middle of the field.

The Commanders prefer Tampa 2 to Cover 2 and used it pretty often last season.

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Riggo’s Rag

Would outgoing Commanders owner Dan Snyder consider a second NFL act?

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk recently speculated about what might come next for Snyder.... While many believe he’ll ride off into the sunset and live a life of a recluse, the writer wondered whether or not he’d contemplate a second act - one that would represent redemption - somewhere else.

“He’s getting $6.05 billion. What’s he going to do with it? What’s he going to do with his time? Will he simply fade? Or will he seek ongoing relevance in some sort of significant — and public — venture? His current legacy is not a good one. He might want to attempt a second act of some sort. Or he might be content to float on his superyacht and enjoy his remaining years. Regardless, there’s a chance he will be forgotten but not gone. It will be interesting to see whether he simply goes away, or whether he tries to find a way to hang around. Even if the vast majority of NFL fans would prefer that he disappear for good.”

- Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk

Even if he was planning something like this once the dust settles on his time in Washington, the scandal that’s followed him around in recent years means he could be black-balled from ever owning a sports team again. And as for the NFL, there’s more chance of Jimmy Hoffa being found than Snyder getting another team.

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Podcasts

Montez Sweat has got ALL that SWAGGER and someone caught YOU sleeping |Command Center Podcast | Washington Commanders

Minicamp Awards:

• Got that Swagger (2:10),
• Hometown Hero (7:17),
• Road Warrior (10:55),
• Just a DAWG (13:30),
• Just a HOG (17:28),
• Caught you Sleeping (20:22),
• Major Tuddy Award (24:49).

Santana Moss, Fred Smoot, Logan Paulsen.

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Pro Bowl selection Jeremy Reaves joins the Player’s Club | Season 2, Episode 17 | The Player’s Club

Pro Bowl selection Jeremy Reaves joins London Fletcher and Santana Moss. They talk about Reaves’ NFL journey, his days as a baseball player, and what makes the Commanders’ punt team special.

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The John Keim Report

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The Al Galdi Podcast

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NFC East links

The Athletic

3 things we’ve learned about Joe Schoen and his Giants regime heading into Year 2

Under general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll, the Giants exceeded expectations in their first season with a 9-7-1 record and a playoff victory. But how did they get there? And have they laid a foundation to find continued success?

A shrewd sense of value

There have been plenty of examples of how Schoen values players, but there are a few key decisions that give us a sense of how aggressive and tenacious he can be when it comes to assigning value to a particular player.

The first example that stands out was the in-season trade of receiver Kadarius Toney to the Chiefs for a pair of 2023 picks, including pick No. 100. Toney, the previous regime’s final first-round selection, lasted 10 months under Schoen and even fewer days under Daboll. We know cost wasn’t a factor, since Toney was playing in just the second year of his rookie deal. We can also probably rule out scheme, since one of the biggest strengths of Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka is their ability to craft schemes that play to their players’ strengths.

Whatever the exact reasoning behind the trade was, Schoen decided pretty quickly Toney was a not a fit for what he wanted to build in New York, and he acted. Now, it remains to be seen if the trade will prove a success — that will depend on how well Toney and Darren Waller, the player the Giants acquired with the 100th selection, perform. But Schoen moved swiftly, even as the team was chugging along toward the playoffs at 6-1, when he saw a chance to reinvest Toney’s value into assets more to his liking.

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NFL league links

Articles

Bleacher Report

NFL Teams That Must Consider Tanking for Caleb Williams in 2024 Draft as Top Priority

Make no mistake, the Commanders aren’t going to give Howell another year if he fails miserably this season. He fell into Day 3 of the ‘23 draft for multiple reasons. He needs to show consistency within a pro scheme. From there, he will have a chance. Until then, the Commanders are a rudderless organization that can be competitive yet clearly behind the likes of the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants in their own division.

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ESPN

Cups of coffee: Seven former NFL players remember their one and only game

• Name: Jordan Bernstine
• Position: Safety
• Team: Washington
• Game played: Sept. 9, 2012: Washington at Saints
• Notable stats: 15 special teams snaps

Jordan Bernstine stood up gingerly on the turf at the Superdome and took a step. As he started to take a second, athletic trainers sprinted toward him, shouting to stop walking and sit down. Less than 12 minutes remained in Bernstine’s debut as a seventh-round rookie in Washington’s season opener against the Saints in 2012, but he wouldn’t take another snap that day. Or ever again.

What he thought initially was a sprained right knee from two blockers rolling up on him from behind as he engaged another blocker during a kickoff turned out to be a torn ACL, MCL, PCL and patellar tendon. After a promising preseason, Bernstine’s season was over.

“I went from being one of the fastest players on the [team] to being told on Monday that I probably would not walk, jog, or do any of these things without a limp,” he said. “My response was, ‘Well, what’s the recovery time?’”

• Name: Ted Karras Jr.
• Position: Defensive tackle
• Team: Washington
• Game played: Oct. 4, 1987: Washington vs. Rams
• Notable stats: 1 sack

The first thing Ted Karras Jr. remembers about his first NFL game is everyone hated him.

And not just him, but the entire Washington football team — at least the version that walked into RFK Stadium on Oct. 4, 1987.

A defensive tackle on Washington’s roster of replacement players during the 24-day player strike, Karras vividly remembers the jeering fans and protesters, including guys he once called teammates.

“Everyone was against us to begin the game,” said Karras, now the head football coach at Marian University in Indianapolis. “The Cardinals came to Washington, and there was a crowd there and there were picket lines. Everything and everyone was kind of against us.”

But not for long.

Karras recorded a sack, replacement wide receiver Anthony Allen set a franchise receiving record and Washington beat the St. Louis Cardinals 28-21.

“I thought it was the greatest feeling in the world,” Karras said of his third-quarter sack. “I was fired up. The fans were fired up. The team was fired up.

“... At the end of the game, the fans were all yelling to everyone outside to stay on strike, which I found to be fascinating.”

When the strike ended and the original players rejoined the team, Karras’ football career was over, and he watched from home as Washington finished the season under Super Bowl confetti.

[T]his 30 for 30 [2017’s “Year of the Scab”] came out, and yes, it was beautiful. We went out there, saw all the guys, got our rings 30-some years later. It was unbelievable.

“I had a cup of coffee, but it was the best damn cup of coffee I ever had.”

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Deadspin

Report: Tom Brady lost $30M in FTX collapse

Under an agreement the retired NFL quarterback made with FTX in 2021, he received $30 million in now-worthless stock for his work pitching the company in television ads and at its conference. In step with him at the time was his then-wife, Gisele Bundchen, who received $18 million in stock, per the [New York Times].

Brady, who won seven Super Bowl titles in his career, also faces legal peril on top of the financial losses. Both Brady and Bundchen, who officially divorced last October, are being sued by FTX investors who want repayment from celebrity endorsers. Basketball Hall of Fame member Shaquille O’Neal also has been sued in the FTX case, as have Larry David of “Seinfeld” fame, tennis player Naomi Osaka and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

“None of these defendants performed any due diligence prior to marketing these FTX products to the public,” according to the lawsuit, obtained by the Times.

Before the collapse of FTX, it was valued at $32 billion, including $48 million in shares held by Brady and Bundchen, per the Times. Now, it has no value.

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