The Daily Slop – 12 June 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders links
Articles
NFL.com
NFL MVP dark horses: Jayden Daniels among top nine candidates in 2026
What a difference a year makes. Last summer, the oddsmakers had Daniels much closer to the top of the board at MVP. The vibes were off the charts coming off Washington’s surprise run to the NFC Championship Game, with Daniels winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year
award.
After an injury-plagued 2025 season, everyone’s waiting to see how he will get off the mat. Washington’s running a new offense coordinated by 30-year-old former QB David Blough, who will ask Daniels to take more snaps from under center. I won’t blame the third-year passer if the burden feels heavy. After the Commanders were very aggressive in adding support for him last offseason — trading for Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel — this year’s moves were far less splashy. At the moment, third-round pick Antonio Williams is the most notable addition to the receiving corps, which is badly in need of more juice opposite Terry McLaurin.
I worry that the first three games — at Eagles, at Cowboys, vs. Seahawks — could derail Daniels and Co. before we reach October, but he’s surprised us before. When healthy, he has the potential to be one of the most electric playmakers in the game. If the Commanders are playoff contenders come December, it will be because Daniels is playing out of his mind.
From Commanders.com
- Paulsen: “It is kinda half-baked, but part of me is like, ‘Why not?’ I think it’s very, very possible…This is an interesting one to me, because it’s so hard to determine. That’s why it’s half-baked. Determining long-term success is really hard, but in that 2024 season, we saw special stuff from him … When he’s on, there’s a magic to him.”
- Smoot: “Caleb had a down in his first year and bounced back last year. Drake Maye, I don’t think he had a down, but he just started slow. And Bo Nix is the one I’m most confused about, because he balls when he’s healthy. But there’s something going on with Sean Payton that we don’t know.”
- Moss: “I think when you think about it, his rookie season…he was on the verge of being an MVP. If he didn’t hurt those ribs, who knows? I think it’s very possible, and to me, one of the things that builds or creates those kind of guys, those outstanding achievers that are looked at as the greatest of their position, is going through what he’s went through. He had an up, then he had a down. So, where do you lie, young fella?”
Riggo’s Rag
Santana Moss noticed something different about Jayden Daniels at Commanders OTAs
Santana Moss was suitably impressed. The former wide receiver highlighted Daniels’ mobility and accuracy as standout traits at OTAs. However, he also thought the dynamic dual-threat had been spending a lot more time in the weight room this offseason.
“JD5 (Jayden Daniels) looks like he’s back and ready for action. I see him getting a little girthy on them arms, and I can see him out there rolling outside the pocket, throwing that thing everywhere.”
Daniels is never going to be a Cam Newton-type in terms of size and physicality. He doesn’t need to be, but after taking some significant punishment last season, the Heisman Trophy winner has taken the initiative to get stronger in the regular-season pressure cooker.
It’s a slight change, but it’ll only help.
The Commanders are expecting Daniels to bounce back next season. Every decision this offseason has had the No. 2 pick in 2024 at the forefront. The defensive enhancements will make things easier. There are some decent-looking options in the passing game and a stronger ground attack. He’s got a more dynamic pass-catching tight end in Chig Okonkwo, and offensive coordinator David Blough’s scheme should maximize the exceptional skills Okonkwo brings to the table.
Daniels proved in Year 1 of his professional career how influential he can be. Knee, hamstring, and elbow injuries limited his influence in 2025, but that’s only made the resolve greater. There is a more collaborative approach, and Blough’s offense has been tailored around his quarterback’s desires. Now, it’s time to put this plan into motion.
Heavy.com
Rachaad White proving value with strong Jayden Daniels connection
Commanders.com Senior Writer Zach Selby…believes “new running back Rachaad White is going to be really helpful in the passing game. He’s a natural route runner with good hands, both of which have helped him catch 51.3% of his targets for 1,450 yards and 11 touchdowns. Quarterback Jayden Daniels already had a good connection with White before Washington signed him, and their chemistry has been clear throughout OTAs.”
Daniels has rarely been shy about targeting running backs and tight ends since entering the league as the second player drafted in 2024, so he’ll appreciate White’s natural skill-set from their days playing together briefly at Arizona State.
The 27-year-old boasts reliable hands and an astute understanding of pass routes. White is also a useful size matchup as a 6-foot, 214-pounder who can be moved out of the backfield, flexed into the slot and even split out wide. Natural acceleration after the catch confirms White’s credibility as a legitimate threat in the passing game.
White’s threat as a receiver is underscored by his snagging 50 or more passes in three of the last four seasons, per Pro Football Reference. A career average of 8.6 yards after catch per reception, shows why White deserves to be a volume receiver in Blough’s offense, and not just because the wideout room still lacks star power.
Commanders Roundtable
Frankie Luvu Solidifying Himself in Commanders LB Rotation
For a veteran now preparing for his third season in Washington, arguably no opportunity looms larger than in 2026 with Luvu now preparing for a room that will likely not return future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner, a move that was expected throughout the offseason yet was seemingly cemented when the front office turned to Chenal and Styles. With a chance to entrench himself as the veteran in the room, Luvu has shown signs of filling into that void.
2026 will also serve as a chance to return to form. After generating 42 pressures and nine sacks to become a second team All Pro selection in 2024, Luvu was inconsistent in year two with the organization after just 25 pressures and 86 total tackles, his fewest since his first season with Carolina in 2021.
From A to Z Sports:
Frankie Luvu’s stats since joining the Commanders
Luvu signed a three-year, $30 million contract with Washington during the 2024 offseason. Below are his numbers since inking the deal:
- Tackles: 185
- Sacks: 11.0
- Interceptions: 1
- Forced fumbles: 3
- Tackles for loss: 17
- QB hits: 20
- Games: 34
“I feel like, you know, I wasn’t doing that part over the last year.”
“I just felt like I could be better in some situations,” he later continued. “So, it’s a lot of, you know, me personal-type things, it’s never about [the] team, at the end of the day. But for the most part, I just feel like there’s little things and critical situational things I have to work on.”
Commanders.com
Chig Okonkwo will be a top 10 tight end in 2026
Paulsen: “He only had 50 catches last year in Tennessee, but I think when you watch all of his targets and catches last year, They use him in a very specific way. We’re gonna use him on the seam; we’re gonna use him on screens; we’re gonna get him a checkdown; that whole thing. And I think he’s a little more twitched up than that. He’s got a little more nuance than that. I’m not saying he’s gonna be Travis Kelce in his prime or George Kittle necessarily, but there is some crossover there.”
Commanders Wire
Wes Welker loves Commanders’ wide receivers room
Welker also declared, “I love this receiver room. We have a lot of talented guys. Different sizes, different skill sets, I think they all complement each other really well. They are all working hard; they are really fun to be around.”
Welker will know more about these guys once the pads are on in training camp. The more actual football they play in football equipment, Welker will know better what the group is and can be this season.
Heavy.com
Jerome Ford : Participating in spring practices
Ford (shoulder) has been practicing, Zach Selby of commanders.com reports. Jacory Croskey-Merritt, on the other hand, has been absent from recent practices with a soft-tissue injury. It sounds like Rachaad White has been getting a lot of the first-team snaps, but Ford is also getting some work alongside QB Jayden Daniels.
While not necessarily a standout in either role, Ford theoretically could fill in for either Croskey-Merritt on early downs or White on passing downs. However, Ford got only $437,500 guaranteed on his one-year, $1.4 million contract, leaving him at risk of missing out on the Week 1 roster if things don’t go well this summer. The Commanders also have sixth-round pick Kaytron Allen and 30-year-old Jeremy McNichols competing for roster spots. There’s been no hint of trouble with the shoulder injury that ended Ford’s 2025 campaign in Cleveland.
Commanders.com
Odafe Oweh loves ‘attack’ style of Daronte Jones’ defense
The Commanders invested more money than most NFL teams into fixing their defense, which ranked near the bottom of nearly every major statistical category in 2025, but Oweh is viewed as the most valuable asset because of how the team believes he can elevate a pass rush that struggled to put pressure on quarterbacks. They viewed him as a good fit for what defensive coordinator Daronte Jones has in store for the unit, and Oweh saw the system as the right opportunity to bring out his best.
“I think this defense is going to allow a lot of people to just wreak havoc,” Oweh said.
But the Commanders didn’t just sign Oweh because he can get quarterbacks on the ground. He had the 10th-best pass rush win rate for an edge player last season and generated 51 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, resulting in nine quarterback hits and 31 hurries. The Commanders needed help in that area, as they were one of the worst teams in generating pressures with just 33 quarterback hurries (that last stat ranked 31st in the NFL in 2025).
NFL.com
The defining number for each NFL team in 2026
Washington Commanders
- NUMBER: 384.3
The Commanders’ defense struggled mightily in 2025, surrendering a league-worst 384.3 yards per game. To have any chance at a bounce-back season, they’ll need to improve on that number (and several others). They’ve already made a concerted effort, signing several free-agent defenders and drafting LB Sonny Styles seventh overall. Their entire linebacker corps is reset — with Styles joining Odafe Oweh, Leo Chenal and K’Lavon Chaisson — forming the core of a new-look defense entering 2026.
Photos
Podcasts & videos
We KNOW Ball + OTA LIVE Looks & Smoot Says 💬 | Command Center | Washington Commanders | NFL
Daronte Jones REVEALS SIMPLE PLAN to Make the Commanders ELITE! Did He Find the WINNING FORMULA?
NFC East links
Bleeding Green Nation
Observations from Philadelphia’s final spring practice
Hurts threw a pass intended for Goedert where Woolen jumped the route for a potential pick six. Hurts badly underthrew the ball to Johnny Mundt’s feet in the flat. Hurts threw a wobbly duck downfield to Elijah Moore that ended up incomplete (looked like he may have held the ball a little too long). Hurts tried to make a couple throws to the sideline (one to Barkley, one to Wicks) that didn’t look like they gave the targets enough room to get both feet in. Hurts then missed Danny Gray on another throw to the left sideline. Hurts had Quez Watkins with a step running deep down the field but the quarterback didn’t throw the ball until Watkins started to slow down … only to try to speed up and make the catch on a late throw to no avail.
[T]he offense might be a work in progress. I’m currently reluctant to believe the offense is going to hit the ground running by the time Week 1 [against the Washington Commanders] rolls around.
A to Z Sports
Caleb Downs hype: Buy (with a caveat)
Everyone is talking about how impressive first-round pick Caleb Downs has looked. Schottenheimer praised his ability to avoid making the same mistake twice. Things look a little too perfect for the rookie defensive back.
I’m buying the hype, but I’m asking for patience from Cowboys Nation. It’s unfair to expect Downs to be a flawless defensive back in Year 1, especially considering Dallas plans to use him primarily at nickel rather than the versatile safety role he played at Ohio State. The transition will take time.
NFL.com
The defining number for each NFL team in 2026
Dallas Cowboys
- NUMBER: 15
Between eight free-agent signings, two trades and five draft picks that involved defensive players, Dallas added 15 new faces on that side of the ball this offseason. Pro Bowl pass rusher Rashan Gary, first-round safety Caleb Downs and others join 2025 additions Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark in an attempt to resurrect a struggling unit that ranked bottom three in scoring and total defense in each of the last two campaigns and allowed a league-high 30.1 points per game last season.
Bleacher Report
New York Giants are OTA losers
[The Giants can’t] be pleased with how their OTAs unfolded. The worst development involved defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris, who suffered a season-ending Achilles tear.
Robertson-Harris started all 17 games for New York in 2025, and following the Dexter Lawrence trade, the Giants find themselves without last year’s top two frontline defenders.
And while running back Cam Skattebo (ankle) was healthy enough to be a partial participant in OTAs, star receiver Malik Nabers appears to be a long way from returning.
“It’s such a hard thing. It’s an ACL and whatever else he had in that knee. Not a simple knee, you know. So he’s in the slog of it,” Harbaugh said of Nabers’ recovery, per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan.
The Giants could still be in store for a bounce-back season under Harbaugh, but they’re certainly not where they’d prefer to be health-wise.
NFL league links
Articles
ESPN
2026 NFL contracts: Next to get a big deal at every position
Offensive tackle
Top of the market: Laremy Tunsil, Washington Commanders ($30.1 million AAV)
There’s a reason Tunsil is in the Bag Hall of Fame. Representing himself across multiple contracts, no player outside of perhaps Prescott has done a better job of leveraging overmatched and desperate teams into handing out player-friendly extensions than Tunsil. The five-time Pro Bowler has mostly held up his end of the bargain on the field, which obviously goes a long way.
Tunsil had one year and $21.3 million remaining on his existing deal when he signed this two-year, $60 million extension with the Commanders, making him the first offensive lineman to average more than $30 million per season on a multiyear pact. Before Tunsil, the largest deal for an offensive tackle belonged to Chargers star Rashawn Slater, who signed a four-year, $114 million extension last offseason.
Contracts at tackle lean heavily toward the left side of the line. Nine of the 11 largest active deals by annual salary were signed by left tackles. The 10th was inked by Penei Sewell, who will move to left tackle for the Lions this season. The other deal belongs to Lane Johnson, a college left tackle who has been among the league’s highest-paid tackles for nearly a decade now. At the moment, though, the best tackles on rookie contracts are playing right tackle, which complicates the top of the market a bit.
Defensive tackle
Next up: Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles
There are a few veteran candidates who might be in line for massive extensions this offseason. Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons and Dallas’ Quinnen Williams are free agents after the 2027 season, leaving them with two years on their existing contracts. With the Cowboys having traded so much to acquire Williams, a new deal north of $30 million per year for the former Jets first-round pick seems inevitable.
I still expect the next record-setting contract to go to Carter, who might be the best young defensive tackle in football. Last season didn’t go as planned for Carter, who started the season with a bizarre ejection for spitting on Dak Prescott before missing five other games because of injuries, but he still managed to make his second consecutive Pro Bowl. And it takes only a trip back to the 2024 playoffs to recall how dominant Carter can be at his best, down to winning the game against the Rams with a pair of pressures on the final drive of the contest.
Howie Roseman is shifting Philadelphia’s spending from offense to defense over the next 12 months, and while anything’s possible in the modern NFL or with the trade-friendly general manager, it would be a surprise if Carter’s next deal wasn’t a record setter. That would come from either the Eagles or another team, which presumably would have given up a first-round pick and more to land the Super Bowl winner. An extension for Carter would likely come in between $32 million and $35 million per season, and given how aggressive the Eagles are with signing young players to contracts, expect it to happen before the start of the 2026 campaign.
The Athletic (paywall)
The state of the NFL’s star QB market after Patrick Mahomes’ record deal
Who is next in line to get paid?
According to contract details from ESPN, Mahomes will slot in at $64 million in average annual value, surpassing Prescott.
Who comes next?
Before his contract extension, Mahomes ranked 13th in AAV among quarterbacks. The Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson has two years remaining on his deal and is 11th in AAV after Mahomes’ extension. Jackson could be the next quarterback to break the $60 million threshold. Other quarterbacks, such as Burrow, could want a pay bump now the market has shifted.
Elsewhere in the quarterbacks market, Baker Mayfield is on the final year of his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is 16th in AVV at $33.33 million. A rising tide lifts all boats.
Discussion topics
NFL.com
NFL divisions ranked by QB talent for the 2026 season
3) NFC EAST
- Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott
- New York Giants: Jaxson Dart
- Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Hurts
- Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels
I’ve accepted that the average football fan will not give Dak Prescott his flowers unless the Cowboys finally win something. It’s fine, but ball knowers understand Prescott was one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks last season and should be expected to continue producing at such a rate in 2026. I cannot make the same confident statement about Jalen Hurts, a quarterback who seemed to fall victim to his own perfectionism as much as he did to Philadelphia’s offensive dysfunction. New coordinator Sean Mannion should revamp the scheme and fix those issues in 2026, but there’s a big difference between should and will. For his part, Hurts needs to stop seeking the perfect throw and just start making the open one.
Jayden Daniels’ sophomore season was essentially a wash due to multiple injuries. He couldn’t stay on the field consistently enough to establish a rhythm and sustained his worst ailment in garbage time of a blowout loss, underscoring the waste that was the Commanders’ season as a whole. I pray they get back on track in 2026 and keep Daniels upright and healthy, because he’s too good to spend most of the season on the sideline.
Speaking of injuries, I have a message for Jaxson Dart: Please protect yourself. After ascending to the starting job, the quarterback missed time because of a concussion and a failure to make business decisions. I respect and appreciate Dart’s competitive nature, but no position is more valuable than franchise quarterback. If he wants to be that, he needs to look out for himself — and the Giants’ chances of competing.
The Athletic (paywall)
The Browns end the offseason the way they began it: Without a starting QB
Shedeur Sanders is making progress. That’s a fair observation and takeaway from the final stretch of the Cleveland Browns’ offseason program, which officially came to a close Thursday afternoon with the team’s third and last mandatory minicamp practice.
But new Browns coach Todd Monken veered from his stated goal of naming a starting quarterback in time for training camp, because he wants and needs to see more from Sanders and Deshaun Watson this summer — and because neither won the job in the spring the way Monken at least hoped one of them would.
Like so many previous Browns teams, the 2026 version doesn’t have a quarterback. Monken says he views Watson and Sanders as starting-quality players, but any honest look at this situation — and why the Browns are in it — must include the likelihood that Cleveland is rebuilding its roster and gearing up for another quarterback search in 2027 if necessary.
UFL
Pro Football Talk
Attendance down, ratings up for UFL in third season
The UFL is surviving. The question is whether it is, or will be, thriving.
Despite moving three teams to supposedly better markets, in-person attendance dropped by 20 percent from 2025. The average paid crowd was 10,501, with only 16 games attracting five figures of fans.
Ratings for Fox games increased by four percent, to an average of 670,000. For ESPN (and NFL Network), the average increased by eight percent, to 686,000.
The good news is that the UFL has managed to do what its non-football-season football predecessors couldn’t. It is persisting.
The legalization of gambling helps. People are looking for things on which to bet, and spring football increases the inventory.
And the numbers, while not stellar, are solid relative to other live programming. Indeed, the NHL averaged only 546,000 viewers per game.
If it keeps the costs low enough to make the ticket sales and TV revenue combine for a profit margin deemed to be worth the effort, the UFL will keep going, indefinitely.
