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Commanders open camp with high expectations with all eyes on McLaurin contract
After their best season in 33 years, expectations are high for the Washington Commanders as they enter training camp Wednesday.
Coming off an appearance in the NFC Championship game, the Commanders are set to begin year two of the Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels era.
The front office has put together a roster that is built to win now.
Quinn established a culture last year that had the entire league talking and players wanting to come to Washington. Jayden Daniels had one of the best rookie seasons of all-time, winning Rookie of the Year and leading the Commanders on their deep playoff run. Now, they’ve got some help to surround the second year quarterback.
General manager Adam Peters went out and got some help along the offensive line in five-time Pro Bowl tackle Laremy Tunsil, while also drafting Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round. He also traded for wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
One position up for grabs along the offensive line, at least to begin the year, is right guard, as Sam Cosmi works his way back from a torn ACL suffered during the NFC Divisional win over Detroit.
Von Miller was brought in to provide pass rushing help. The 36-year-old had six sacks last year with the Bills and has 129.5 for his career. They needed some help after last year’s sack leader, Dante Fowler, left via free agency.
Other additions to the defensive line include Javon Kinlaw, Deatrich Wise and Eddie Goldman, while Jer’Zhan Newton enters his second season.
Stopping the run needed to be a big focus this offseason, after the unit finished 30th in the league last year in run defense, culminating in the NFC Championship game loss in Philadelphia, where the defense gave up 229 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns. In order to win the NFC East, they need to go through Philadelphia and stop Saquon Barkley.
The team is also counting on a healthy cornerback in Marshon Lattimore, who missed six games last year with a hamstring injury after being traded from New Orleans. He did play in the three postseason games, but acknowledged this offseason he wasn’t 100% healthy.
The Commanders also drafted rookie corner Trey Amos to help fill holes in the secondary.
While optimism is high, uncertainty around Terry McLaurin’s contract extension is putting a damper on things. The star wide receiver is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off a year in which he caught 82 passes for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He has 1,000-plus yard seasons every year of his career, except his rookie year, when he had 919 yards. McLaurin has made it clear he wants to be in Washington, but wants to be paid like one of the top receivers in the league.
“I think everybody in this building values Terry very much, and we knew that coming in. And we knew that even more after spending a year with him. In terms of where we’re at, we’ve had conversations recently … and we’re going to do everything we can in order to get a deal done,” GM Peters said during his pre-training camp news conference.
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After their best season in 33 years, expectations are high for the Washington Commanders as they enter training camp Wednesday.
Coming off an appearance in the NFC Championship game, the Commanders are set to begin year two of the Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels era.
The front office has put together a roster that is built to win now.
Quinn established a culture last year that had the entire league talking and players wanting to come to Washington. Jayden Daniels had one of the best rookie seasons of all-time, winning Rookie of the Year and leading the Commanders on their deep playoff run. Now, they’ve got some help to surround the second year quarterback.
Building an offense around Daniels
General manager Adam Peters went out and got some help along the offensive line in five-time Pro Bowl tackle Laremy Tunsil, while also drafting Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round. He also traded for wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
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One position up for grabs along the offensive line, at least to begin the year, is right guard, as Sam Cosmi works his way back from a torn ACL suffered during the NFC Divisional win over Detroit.
Shoring up the defense
Von Miller was brought in to provide pass rushing help. The 36-year-old had six sacks last year with the Bills and has 129.5 for his career. They needed some help after last year’s sack leader, Dante Fowler, left via free agency.
Other additions to the defensive line include Javon Kinlaw, Deatrich Wise and Eddie Goldman, while Jer’Zhan Newton enters his second season.
Stopping the run needed to be a big focus this offseason, after the unit finished 30th in the league last year in run defense, culminating in the NFC Championship game loss in Philadelphia, where the defense gave up 229 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns. In order to win the NFC East, they need to go through Philadelphia and stop Saquon Barkley.
The team is also counting on a healthy cornerback in Marshon Lattimore, who missed six games last year with a hamstring injury after being traded from New Orleans. He did play in the three postseason games, but acknowledged this offseason he wasn’t 100% healthy.
The Commanders also drafted rookie corner Trey Amos to help fill holes in the secondary.
Terry’s scary contract situation
While optimism is high, uncertainty around Terry McLaurin’s contract extension is putting a damper on things. The star wide receiver is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off a year in which he caught 82 passes for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He has 1,000-plus yard seasons every year of his career, except his rookie year, when he had 919 yards. McLaurin has made it clear he wants to be in Washington, but wants to be paid like one of the top receivers in the league.
“I think everybody in this building values Terry very much, and we knew that coming in. And we knew that even more after spending a year with him. In terms of where we’re at, we’ve had conversations recently … and we’re going to do everything we can in order to get a deal done,” GM Peters said during his pre-training camp news conference.
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