Daily Slop – 2 May 24: A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East and the NFL in general

Commanders links

Articles

Commanders Wire

Commanders announce dates for 2024 rookie minicamp

The NFL announced rookie minicamp dates for all 32 teams on Wednesday, and Washington’s camp will run from May 10-12.

Of course, it is only a rookie minicamp, so fans won’t see Daniels in pads, but we may get a clue about which jersey number Daniels will wear. Daniels has always worn No. 5, which is currently worn by Washington’s most tenured player, punter Tress Way.

In addition to Daniels, the Commanders’ other eight draft picks will also don the burgundy and gold for the first time. Additionally, Washington signed 11 undrafted free agents who’ll also be on the field for the Commanders for the first time.

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Commanders.com

Five things to know about Ben Sinnott

He reminds Adam Peters of some impressive tight ends.

Peters was around some of the best tight end in the game as a member of the San Francisco 49ers’ front office. George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk have been critical parts of the team’s success, and while both have unique roles in that offense, they do share the trait of being exceptional blockers.

Peters isn’t comparing Sinnott to those players, but the way he blocks does remind Peters of the Pro Bowlers.

“The way he blocks and in the way he moves, and just the way he competes,” Peters said. “Certainly not putting him in that, those guys are All Pros, Pro Bowlers, everything you’d want, but Ben has that same mindset and he plays with that mindset. He can block really anywhere.”

That works out well for Sinnott, because blocking is going to encompass most of his responsibilities as a rookie. Sinnott can still have a positive impact on the team in that role, too. While John Bates does have reliable hands, he’s mostly known for excelling as a run-blocker.

We’re still months away from seeing where Sinnott falls on the depth chart and how many snaps he’ll get during the season, but it sounds like the Commanders believe he can handle anything they throw at him.

“You can put him at the end of the line of scrimmage and you can block a D end, you can block a linebacker, you can block a defensive back in space, you’ll block two people on the same play,” Peters said.

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The Athletic (paywall)

2024 NFL best UDFA fits: One undrafted prospect to watch on each roster

Washington Commanders: Michael Wiley, RB, Arizona

Sometimes, it makes no sense.

Throughout the entire 2023 NFL Draft cycle, for example, Cincinnati linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. stood out to just about anyone who watched tape as a tougher-than-hell (albeit undersized) inside linebacker who tackled anything that moved.

A lock to be drafted, right? Not so much. Pace never heard his name called. He landed instead with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent (UDFA), but then made the roster out of camp and was one of the best rookies in football last year — he notched 102 tackles in the middle of Minnesota’s defense.

No matter how or why the prospects are still available, there is always gold to be mined in an annual sift through the UDFA class.

Wiley turned down offers from Princeton and Yale to play FBS football at Arizona. There, he blossomed into a team captain/third-down weapon, setting set the school records for catches (123) and receiving yards (1,150) by a running back. A reliable, tough and durable player with special-teams upside, Wiley (5-10, 210) has a work ethic that will impress in Washington.

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Commanders Wire

How Commanders GM Adam Peters did not outsmart himself

Can you imagine if Washington had determined to go ahead and accept a trade with the Raiders, who desperately wanted Daniels? What one month ago seemed doable and practical and would have reaped long-term benefits in providing the Commanders multiple good draft choices last Thursday night would have been an utter disaster!

Which draft analyst had predicted that six of the first 12 selections would be quarterbacks? Nobody saw Michael Penix and Bo Nix being selected in the top 12 choices, nobody.

Thus, had the Commanders made a deal with the Raiders, who wanted Daniels, the Commanders would have been left at No. 13 with no first-round quarterback remaining.

Peters illustrated why you don’t simply trade down for the sake of trading down and gaining multiple draft picks.

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Podcasts & videos

2024 NFL Draft Highlights: DT Jer’Zhan Newton | Illinois Football

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Russell: Brandon Coleman was born in the 757, and ready to rep the 202 and surrounding

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Photos

Commanders.com

PHOTOS | The best of Ben Sinnott

Check out the top photos of Kansas State tight end Ben Sinnott.

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NFC East links

Pro Football Talk

As expected, Cowboys decline fifth-year option on Trey Lance’s contract

The Cowboys will not exercise the fifth-year option on quarterback Trey Lance’s contract, Todd Archer or ESPN reports.

The move was expected given it would fully guarantee Lance $22.4 million for 2025. The Cowboys already have a cap hit of at least $40.137 million for Dak Prescott for next season, regardless whether he plays for them or not.

Prescott, Cooper Rush and now Lance are scheduled to become free agents in 2025.

The Cowboys acquired Lance from the 49ers last August for a 2024 fourth-round pick. The former No. 3 overall pick was inactive for all 17 games.

He is set to make $5.31 million this season.

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Deadspin

Giants sign veteran defensive back David Long Jr.

The New York Giants on Wednesday signed free agent defensive back David Long Jr., who played for three NFL teams and started for two in 2023.

Long, 26, has played primarily cornerback, starting 12 of 66 regular-season games for the Los Angeles Rams (2019-22), Las Vegas Raiders (2023), Carolina Panthers (2023) and Green Bay Packers (2023). He started one game each for the Raiders and Packers.

He has 96 career tackles and eight passes defended.

The Rams selected him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Michigan. He started in Super Bowl LVI, a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Blogging the Boys

Cowboys free agent: Ezekiel Elliott contract details revealed

Elliott’s contract is cap-friendly for the Cowboys.

With Elliott entering his ninth season, and not quite being the player he used to be, many had to be wondering at what cost his deal would come at for Dallas. Well, via ESPN’s Todd Archer, the details of Elliott’s deal have been revealed.

This is another win for the salary cap-friendly Cowboys who currently sit at about $6.3 million in space. It’s pretty much a league-minimum deal. With Elliott playing in every game last season, his $375k in active roster bonuses count against the 2024 salary cap. If he were to miss any time in the upcoming season, the Cowboys would receive a cap credit of $22,058 per game.

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NFL league links

Articles

Over the Cap

Discounting Of Future NFL Draft Picks

We had a little discussion over the last few days about discounting of future draft picks. The consensus is that in the NFL when a team trades up and includes a future pick that pick should be discounted by a full round (i.e a 2^nd round pick in 2025 would be valued as a 3^rd round pick) due to the uncertainty of the future. I personally have never subscribed to that belief since a 2^nd round pick regardless of when you get it is always going to be more valuable than a 3^rd rounder. Normally I “discount” by giving the pick one of three values- pick 16, pick 25 or pick 32- regardless of what the team’s current record is. Maybe that is the wrong approach but I thought I would look at some of the data to see if there are dramatic changes that should force us to discount the pick more.

I won’t get into the soft factors related to budget or anything like that but I can’t see the evidence of dropping a pick a full round based on the evidence. Drafts are more less equal in talent from year to year. We should never be drafting solely on position if the concern is positional variance unless we are talking QB or ultra high end EDGE rushers. Records year by year are pretty random but we at least have some rule of thumb guidance to evaluate the normal outcomes. It is rare a rookie impacts the game that much to save a job. In my opinion, a mid to late round valuation makes the most sense when looking at the picks from one year to the next but the general data is here for you to make your own conclusions as to why the NFL team should drop the value of a future pick by a full round the way they currently do.

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NFL.com

Bears GM Ryan Poles on taking punter Tory Taylor in fourth round: ‘I didn’t expect him to get much further’

The Chicago Bears’ 2024 NFL Draft class — small in number as it might well have been — was going swimmingly until a fourth-round splash that had pundits aplenty scratching their heads. That’s when the Bears became the first team to select a specialist, going with Iowa punter Tory Taylor.

Taylor going at No. 122 overall was the earliest a punter has been drafted since the San Francisco 49ers selected Mitch Wishnowsky in 2019 at No. 110, also in the fourth round. Bears general manager Ryan Poles, who was working with just four total picks at the time and ended the three-day festivities with five total selections, didn’t see Taylor falling further and believes the booter can be a game-changer for Chicago.

“I didn’t expect him to get much further. Definitely didn’t think I’d be able to pick him up when we got into the fifth round,” Poles said Wednesday when speaking to a former All-Pro punter on The Pat McAfee Show. “And, really, the thought process there is to make anyone we’re playing really uncomfortable. I didn’t play much in the NFL, but I know running onto the field and having the ball spotted inside the 10-yard line is a very uncomfortable feeling. It’s disheartening at times. And I love taking advantage of field position. And, really, that should help us with points, as well.”

When Taylor was taken, that was the Bears’ last pick of the draft. Poles later traded back for a fifth-round choice that he turned into Kansas edge Austin Booker.

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