The Daily Slop
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
The Athletic (paywall)
3rd-year Commanders linebacker Jordan Magee enters minicamp with something to prove
[A]s Magee enters his third season, when many players are expected to take a leap in their play and production, Magee now faces another hurdle to becoming a key starter for Washington: competition.
The Commanders drafted Sonny Styles in the first
round with the clear intention of making him the “mike,” or the middle linebacker typically tasked with wearing the green dot and relaying plays to the rest of the defense. He is, essentially, the projected heir apparent to Wagner, who remains an unsigned free agent.
Norton and Quinn have praised Magee as a potential three-down linebacker, with the versatility to move around the front seven. Washington sought to get faster and younger this offseason, and Magee fits the bill; his closing speed was on display multiple times last season, but he also showed his inexperience.
“He’s taken all the necessary steps,” Norton said of Magee last week. “He’s doing all the things correctly. It’s just a very competitive room. And he, along with Frankie and everybody else in the room, is going to have to continue to really compete to play.”
Commanders Roundtable
Three Washington Commanders Primed for Breakout 2026 Seasons
1. Cornerback Trey Amos
Why the Breakout? Amos will enter his sophomore year fully healthy and locked in as a foundational piece of the secondary opposite Amik Robertson and Mikey Sainristil. At 6’1″ with high-end short-area explosiveness, Amos is the purest boundary corner on the roster. He fits like a glove in Daronte Jones’ defensive system, which champions length on the outside and relies heavily on aggressive shell coverages.
In this scheme, cornerbacks are repeatedly asked to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage, disrupting the timing of the route by just a half-second. That minor hesitation forces the quarterback to hold the ball longer, allowing the front seven to hit home with exotic blitz packages and trigger poor decisions, bad throws, or sacks. Amos’s natural instincts and physical tools have already flashed; now, he’s in a system that maximizes his strengths.
The Athletic (paywall)
This week’s NFL minicamp storylines
Jayden Daniels’ rebound
After taking the league by storm as a rookie in 2024, Jayden Daniels battled injury throughout the 2025 campaign, and as a result, the Commanders took major steps backwards in Year 2 under Dan Quinn. With Daniels healthy again, the Commanders hope they can again compete in the NFC East and the conference.
Part of Daniels’ road back will involve gaining comfort in a modified offense. Gone is Kliff Kingsbury, and Quinn elevated assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough to offensive coordinator. The 30-year-old former NFL journeyman quarterback will try to blend the best elements of Washington’s previous offense with elements from the systems he learned while playing under Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota and Ben Johnson in Detroit to produce a system that best supports and positions the 2024 offensive rookie of the year for a significant step forward.
The Athletic (paywall)
The Commanders players who can benefit the most from scheme changes
Ben Sinnott, TE
Blough’s offense will be an amalgamation of his own football influences, from Kliff Kingsbury to Kevin O’Connell to Ben Johnson, which means Washington could use a heavy dose of multiple tight end sets. Johnson’s Chicago Bears ranked sixth in the NFL last season with 45.4 percent of plays featuring two or more tight ends, and ninth with 27.5 percent of the team’s catches coming from tight ends.
Riggo’s Rag
Percy Butler is fighting to stay relevant at Commanders 2026 minicamp
[New defensive coordinator Daronte] Jones is focused on versatility, athleticism, and aggression. Minor tweaks were made rather than a drastic overhaul, a sign of confidence in those who underperformed last season. While it’s a calculated risk, a stronger front seven should make things a lot easier.
Where that leaves Percy Butler is anyone’s guess.
The safety’s influence on the defensive rotation waned considerably, playing just 20 snaps. He’s a much more prominent feature on special teams, but is that enough to guarantee his roster spot in 2026?
Butler signed a one-year extension last year, giving him some extra financial security entering this offseason. He’s counting $2.8 million against the salary cap, and the Commanders would save $2.12 million with an early departure. While special teams remain an integral part of the overall game plan, Washington also has other younger, athletic players more than capable of filling the void.
Commanders Wire
Could unheralded free agent DJ Davidson become solid piece for Commanders?
What plans do the Washington Commanders have for DJ Davidson? The 26-year-old, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Arizona State, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Giants before becoming a free agent. Earlier this offseason, Davidson was determined to sign with the Commanders in free agency.
What were the Commanders thinking in pursuing Davidson? Defensive tackles Javon Kinlaw and Daron Payne both return. However, Kinlaw will be 29 in October, and his defensive numbers didn’t exactly impress. Then there is defensive tackle Daron Payne.
Last Man Standig (paywall)
Creating WR2 in the aggregate: Washington’s plan beyond Terry McLaurin
The Commanders spent the offseason searching for another high-end target. Their fallback plan borrows from Moneyball: build the role from multiple pieces and trust that the sum exceeds the parts.
“Guys, you’re still trying to replace Giambi. I told you we can’t do it, and we can’t do it. Now, what we might be able to do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate.”
— Billy Beane in Moneyball
The Washington Commanders spent much of the offseason searching for another high-end receiver to pair with Terry McLaurin. When those pursuits failed to produce a clear answer, the plan shifted.
Rather than finding a single player to fill the role, Washington’s coaching staff is attempting to build one from multiple skill sets. That’s what Beane, faced with a low payroll, did with the 2002 Oakland A’s, changing the way rosters are built across sports.
Until somebody seizes the job outright, Washington’s answer around McLaurin may look less like one receiver and more like several.
For more from Ben Standig, click here
Podcasts & videos
Washington Commanders Minicamp Preview: Top Storylines to Watch | Take Command
NFC East links
Bleeding Green Nation
Philadelphia better watch itself, or it will lose another superstar
Jalen Hurts is not exactly [Wilt] Chamberlain, but he has accomplished some history here, becoming the first Eagles’ starting quarterback to lead the franchise to win a Super Bowl and the first Eagles’ quarterback in franchise history to lead the team to two Super Bowls. As a starter, he has a 57-25 record, and in his five years as a fulltime starter, he’s the Eagles to five-straight playoff berth, three NFC East titles, two Super Bowls, one Super Bowl championship and has a 10-7 record in the postseason.
Somehow, all of that seems glossed over under a deluge of doubt entering this season. Words like “polarizing” have been used to describe him. This coming season, in some media circles, is being labeled a “prove it” year for Hurts. He has his limitations; there are no doubts about that.
But what stands above everything is that he wins.
The fear here is that Philadelphia may be pushing another superstar out of the door.
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games – Day 91
We bring you to Day 91 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff, where we look back at a loss that helped shape one of the defining rivalries in Cowboys history. The 1971 Cowboys were coming off a Super Bowl V defeat and had opened the season by scoring 91 points across wins over Buffalo and Philadelphia. Then George Allen’s [Redskins] team arrived at the Cotton Bowl and handed Dallas its first loss of the season, 20-16, in a rainy, physical NFC East statement game.
Sunday, October 3, 1971 — 2:00 p.m. ET
Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Final Score: Washington 20, Dallas 16
This game belongs on the countdown because of what it represented. George Allen had just taken over in Washington, bringing his ‘the future is now’ approach and a veteran-heavy roster built to win immediately. Beating the defending NFC Champion Cowboys in Dallas gave that project credibility and poured fuel on a rivalry that would become one of the NFL’s fiercest through the 1970s.
Dallas would eventually steady itself, move into Texas Stadium later that month, avenge this defeat, win the NFC East, and finally capture the franchise’s first Super Bowl. But on this October afternoon at the Cotton Bowl, Washington landed a real blow, and the Cowboys-[Redskins] rivalry entered a new era.
Blogging the Boys
This year is going to be different on defense
Last season was a year to forget when it comes to the defense of the Dallas Cowboys. Most of the time, it was pure chaos. We saw players completely lost. We saw repeated blown coverages. We saw confusion, confusion, and more confusion. It became so consistent that each week we psyched ourselves up for a shootout, just hoping the offense had a good enough showing in them to keep up. Not fun.
This year is going to be different. At least, that’s the hope. And it’s not going to happen because the team has added a bunch of players who are bigger and faster. It’s time to work smarter, not harder. The Cowboys will be better this year because they will have things figured out upstairs before they start flying around chasing people. Adding some much-needed intellect into the system was needed considering this group looked dumbfounded a great majority of the time last year. And the way to do that is simple. Just talk to each other.
New defensive coordinator Christian Parker has added the latest buzzword to a growing list of buzzwords that are raining down upon training camp. Today’s special word is – overcommunicate.
Big Blue View
Size matters? 1986 roster vs today LB/OL/DL
Take a look at the OL/DL and LB’s from the 1986 ]G]iants. Not to get ahead of it Jumbo Elliott was drafted in 1988 and, [at] 6’7 308 lbs, he was the biggest player [on] the 86 squad .
LB’s are interesting and are very similar in size and height compered to today. All LB’s were between 6’2 [and] 6’5. This is from NFL.com; please argue amongst yourselves if you disagree [with] the height/weights . [I] checked with Pro Football Reference and they list Jim Burt 6’1 260lbs. Jim Burt must have been extremely strong at his weight. The other NT, Salley, was 267lbs.
The ‘86 LBs could play and dominate in today’s NFL.
[In fact, the] ‘86 Giants [were the] biggest LB group in the NFL in 1986 (and the best). The best 40 time in the group was Taylor at 4.55-4.6. Edmunds at 251lb [ran] a 4.54 and Reese [at] 241lb [ram] a 4.46.
- Carl Banks- 6’4 235lbs
- Gary Reasons -6’4 235lbs
- Harry Carson – 6’2 237lbs
- Lawerance Taylor -6’3 237lbs
- Andy Headen -6’5 240lbs
- Pepper Johnson -6’3 259lbs
- Byron Hunt – 6’5 238lbs
NFL league links
Articles
ESPN
Jameis Winston helps Japan’s fans clean up after World Cup match
At each of their men’s World Cup appearances since 1998, Japan’s fans have made headlines for cleaning up their sections after matches. On Sunday, they received help from a special guest — Jameis Winston.
The New York Giants quarterback is a Fox Sports World Cup correspondent and assisted with coverage of the Japan–Netherlands match in Dallas on Sunday. It marked the opening match for both countries in this tournament.
Before the game, Winston walked with Netherlands’ “Orange Army” fanbase. Following a thrilling 2-2 draw, Winston headed to the stands and assisted Japan fans in cleaning up. It’s a tradition the fans began in 1998 during their first World Cup appearance.
Winston rocked a custom Japan jersey with “No. 4” and “Winston” on the back and carried a blue bag to collect trash.
Pro Football Talk
Broncos to sign UFL offensive player of the year Hakeem Butler
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Broncos are signing Butler ahead of their mandatory minicamp this week. The wideout won the UFL award while playing with the St. Louis Battlehawks this spring.
Butler also won the offensive player of the year award while playing for St. Louis in 2024 and he’s spent the last three seasons with the team. He had 29 catches for 641 yards and three touchdowns during the 2026 season.
Butler was a 2019 fourth-round pick of the Cardinals and spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve. He played in two games for the Eagles in 2020 and has also spent time with the Panthers, Steelers and Bengals over the course of his career.
