Daily Slop – 25 Feb 24: Adam Peters has a strong history in drafting WRs

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

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ESPN

How the Washington Commanders hired Dan Quinn as head coach

Four years after being fired as the Atlanta Falcons head coach, and following a successful stint as Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023, Quinn believed the time was right to have a team of his own again. The phone, however, would not cooperate. So, instead of just letting him pace around his Dallas home, his wife, Stacey, suggested they ease the tension and go for a drive.

Meanwhile, in Mobile, Alabama, Commanders general manager Adam Peters was at a dinner with team scouts fielding call after call as he and Washington’s hiring committee finalized its decision about the franchise’s next coach.

Finally, that night, Peters called Quinn.

But there was no answer. Quinn had fallen asleep on his couch.

“He made me wait so long,” Quinn joked at his introductory news conference. “I’m not answering on the first ring.”

He did quickly return the call and Peters delivered the good news. After listening to the excited GM’s job offer, Quinn responded with two words: “F— yeah!” Then he hugged Stacey.

Myers asked Quinn about the most adversity he had faced. That one was easy: Super Bowl LI, when Quinn’s Falcons blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots and lost in overtime. The group didn’t ask Quinn to relive the game, but rather, how he handled the situation.

“He talked about it in a very healthy way, non-defensive way,” one source who was in the room said.

They also liked what he didn’t do: blame others for the loss.

“We have seen him in a brutally difficult position, go through it, get through it and get back on the horse and say, ‘I want another crack at this,’” one team source said. “If Andy Reid was blamed for the Eagles losing the Super Bowl [XXXIX, in 2005] and never got another job that would’ve been a travesty.”

One person involved in the hiring process said the number of people who contacted Washington on his behalf was “significantly more” than anyone else on the list. As one person said, Quinn’s evangelists “came out of the woodwork.”

That wasn’t meant as a knock on the other candidates, this person said, but rather an indication of how highly people who knew him viewed Quinn.

ESPN

Sources: Bieniemy set to be UCLA’s offensive coordinator

Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is finalizing a two-year deal to join UCLA’s staff as the Bruins’ associate head coach/offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN on Saturday night.

The move marks a significant hire for new UCLA coach DeShaun Foster, who intends to forge an NFL identity with the Bruins. It also marks a homecoming for Bieniemy, who grew up in the area and was a Bruins assistant from 2003-05.

“Southern California,” Bieniemy wrote in an email Saturday. “I attended high school there. I started my career in the league here [with the Chargers]. It’s obviously great to be back with the Bruins, where I was previously employed.”

It will be Bieniemy’s first college job since working as Colorado’s offensive coordinator from 2011 to 2012. Foster prioritized hiring a coach with Bieniemy’s experience — and Bieniemy was equally as excited about trying to help UCLA’s rookie head coach.

For Foster, who is entering his first season as a head coach, the hire is a crucial one. Foster does not have coordinator experience. By bringing in someone with Bieniemy’s breadth of experience, he has begun to set the vision of what UCLA will look like on that side of the ball. Former head coach Chip Kelly served as UCLA’s offensive playcaller in recent seasons.

Sports Illustrated

Commanders GM Adam Peters Has Strong History in WR Draft Prospects

Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters has been behind some of the best wide receiver drafts in recent years.

Here’s a look at his receiver draft picks during his time with the team …

Receiver:

• 2017: Trent Taylor – 5th round (177)
• 2018: Dante Pettis – 2nd round (44)
• 2018: Richie James – 7th round (240)
• 2019: Deebo Samuel – 2nd round (36)
• 2019: Jalen Hurd – 3rd round (67)
• 2020: Brandon Aiyuk – 1st round (25)
• 2020: Jauan Jennings – 7th round (217)
• 2022: Danny Gray – 3rd round (105)
• 2023: Ronnie Bell – 7th round (253)

Analysis: The 2019 and 2020 drafts ultimately built out the receiver room for one of the best offenses in football.

Could this mean the Commanders will return to the receiver pond in the draft? If they do, look for them to take some uber-athletic guys. Samuel and Jennings are examples of non-traditional receivers who have become high-octane guys in big offenses, so if Peters can bring some of that to Washington, maybe the Commanders will have some shades of San Francisco into their offense.

Commanders Wire

When will Adam Peters and Dan Quinn speak at the 2024 NFL combine?

Every year, the combine, the GM, and the head coach have a media session with reporters. Not every team participates, but most do. When Bruce Allen was in Washington, he declined, leaving Jay Gruden to speak on Washington’s behalf.

However, the Commanders’ new regime will speak next week.

On Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. ET, Peters will speak to the media. On Wednesday, Quinn gets his turn to talk at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Podcasts & videos

Locked on Commanders: Washington Commanders Offseason Preview: Terry McLaurin Leads 2024 Group | Free Agency | NFL Draft

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Last Word on Sports

Offensive lineman Jonah Jackson should hit free agency as he and the Lions struggle to come to terms on a multi-year deal.

The Detroit Lions had one of the best offensive lines in the league last year, but a key player might not come back in 2024. Former third-round pick, [right guard] Jonah Jackson is currently set to hit free agency, and the one-time Pro Bowler isn’t likely to get a last-second contract.

Jonah Jackson originally joined the Lions as a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and immediately earned a starting spot. The Ohio State product made it to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and has been a steady presence on one of the better offensive lines in the game. Players like this always earn a decent payday, but Jonah Jackson might have to follow the money in free agency.

This report comes from Pro Football Network‘s Adam Caplan. In a recent article, Caplan noted that the two sides were “not close” on an extension at this point last year, and while Detroit will try to sign Jonah Jackson before the start of free agency, it’s anything but a given.

On the one hand, the former third-round pick is a solid starter and Detroit has no clear heir to his throne. With over $52.8 million in cap space, the team has the short-term financial resources to sign him to a new deal.

However, that cap space is going to go away quickly. Several core players are due for extensions, including Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Penei Sewell. With big money already invested in Taylor Decker and Frank Ragnow, can this team justify handing out a big contract to Jonah Jackson in free agency?

Only time will tell for sure, but there is a real chance that Jonah Jackson will leave for greener pastures in free agency.

Barstool Sports

The NFL Is Reportedly Throwing a Tantrum That The College Football Playoff Scheduled Games on a December Saturday the League Has Used in the Past

With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2024, we obviously now have a handful of additional games to tack on to the postseason. The CFP has already released its schedule for the next two years, in which it will play the opening round of on-campus games on Saturdays that have been used by the NFL in years past when they weren’t needed for college football beyond some largely meaningless bowl games.

And the NFL is apparently not happy about it.

Puck — The advent of the 12-team C.F.P., which debuts this year, has suffered through innumerable delays, including recent ones. The executives that I speak to enumerate the usual suspects: figuring out what the hell to do with those two orphaned Pac-12 schools; nailing an equitable way to distribute revenue to the conferences, which are increasingly becoming a duopoly; and perhaps the most prosaic challenge: scheduling. And yet, that final nit—the issue of landing upon a workable schedule, particularly for those opening-round games—is becoming an increasingly significant pain in the neck.

After all, those opening-round games are scheduled for December 20 and 21 this year. The latter date, as you surely know from consulting your Farmer’s Almanac, falls on a Saturday—and the NFL historically schedules games on that day, which is set up to be Week 16 this year. (Last season, the NFL scheduled two games on its Week 16 Saturday: the Bengals-Steelers on NBC and the Bills-Chargers on Peacock.) It’s the same deal the following year, too: The C.F.P.’s opening-round games are on Friday and Saturday.

Multiple sources have told me that executives in the league office were not happy about C.F.P.’s chutzpah in scheduling games that day, and they have been left scratching their heads as to why C.F.P. would encroach on their veritable turf.

Encroach on the NFL’s turf? Saturdays belong to college football. You have been graciously allowed to use those December Saturdays because there weren’t any college games of real consequence happening, but now there are. So we’re taking December back and you’re gonna have to deal with it.

Over the Cap

Saints Restructure Carr’s Contract for $23M in Cap Relief

The Saints have a long road to becoming salary cap compliant for 2024 but they have made their their big move since the last week of the regular season with 2024 in mind- restructuring the contract of QB Derek Carr for salary cap relief, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The Saints likely converted the maximum ($28.79 million) of Carr’s $30 million salary to a bonus which would reduce his salary cap number by $23.032 million, going from $35.7 million down to $12.67 million. The move will increase Carr’s future salary cap numbers by about $5.76 million per season. Carr’s 2025 salary cap figure is now $51.46 million, 5th highest in the NFL.

His dead money in 2025 now sits at $40.132 million an increase of $23 million from where it originally was. While this certainly does not guarantee him a roster spot in 2025 it will give him a much better chance of maintaining his status as starting QB even if he plays at an average or slightly below average level in 2024.

Since the end of the year the Saints have created a total of $37.513 million in 2024 cap room. In addition to the $23 million from Carr, they have saved $7.18 million with a restructure of Erik McCoy’s contract and deferred $7.3 million to 2025 with a change in effective void date of Jameis Winston’s contract. The Saints are still an estimated $53 million over the salary cap.