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The Washington Commanders were not done making moves in free agency this weekend and added four more players to the roster! Kevin Sheehan gives his reaction and analysis on all of the free agency signings the Commanders made over the weekend and what it could mean for any possible future moves in the offseason.
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00:00Deami Brown is back in the fold for Washington. They had an active weekend since we last were
00:07together on Friday. They added Deami Brown. Remember, one year, $10 million. Now he's back
00:14here on a one-year reported $3 million deal. More on him in a moment. They added Van Jefferson.
00:21Several of you reminded me that I actually threw Van Jefferson's name out on Friday's show. I did
00:26not know anything. It was just Ben and I looking through the wide receiver free agent list,
00:30and I said he'd be a good ad. Jerome Ford running back in, and Chris Paul is back. He tested
00:39free
00:39agency the first week of it anyway. Obviously wasn't going to get what he and his agent thought
00:44they might get, and he has come back on a one-year deal to play in Washington. Maybe, I would
00:51think,
00:51starting next to Laramie Tunsil on that left side. So there solves the guard problem that
00:59we thought we had. The center problem has not been solved. More on that coming up. They lost
01:07Noah I off to Seattle, Josh Johnson off to Cincinnati over the weekend. If you're wondering and trying to
01:14keep up with the players that were free agents here that have now signed elsewhere, that list
01:21is Tyler Biotish obviously cut before free agency began with the Chargers, Jake Martin in Tennessee,
01:27Chris Rodriguez in Jacksonville, Jonathan Jones in Philadelphia. That may have happened after the
01:33show on Friday. I forget. Noah Igbenogheni to Seattle, and Josh Johnson to Cincinnati. Those three,
01:42the last, signed one-year deals. Rodriguez and Martin, two-year deals, and Biotish, a reported
01:47three-year deal, even though we don't know the actual details. I think that'll be interesting to
01:53see how much of that deal is guaranteed. I'm going to guess that two years are guaranteed.
01:59That's my guess on the Biotish deal. But if it was more than two years, again, I'll go back and
02:07we'll
02:08have time to go back and be critical of Washington, perhaps not trying to extract something for the
02:16loss of Tyler Biotish. All right, Deami Brown back. So let me just start off with this. You know,
02:23adding Deami Brown and Van Jefferson does not answer the number two wide receiver issue.
02:30They still have to find another wide receiver that's a legitimate 1A or 2. I still think that
02:39that guy is Brandon Iyuk if, you know, they certify he's not crazy, B, he's physically healthy,
02:47and C, he gets released because you're not trading for his contract. You're going to wait for him to
02:53get released, and then you're going to sign him to approve it deal. That's my guess. That seems to be
02:58the way it should go. So this does not, you know, solve that issue. They needed wide receivers,
03:06you know, after, you know, last week, you're talking about still under contract. Before Friday,
03:14under contract, Washington had Terry McLaurin, Traylon Burks, Luke McCaffrey, and Jalen Lane
03:23under contract. Now you have Deami Brown and Van Jefferson added to the list.
03:28Yes, they still have guys like Ja'Cory Brooks from last year and Jacoby Jones from last year.
03:34Those guys are still, you know, technically under their rookie deals or, you know, contracts that
03:40they signed. And I forget, you know, if Chris Moore was on injured reserve at the end of the year,
03:45but in terms of real receivers, McLaurin, Burks, McCaffrey, Lane, Brown, and Jefferson,
03:52you're still looking for another. For Deami, man, look, he was good for us at the end of that season.
04:01He really came on. That was his kind of breakout, you know, at the end of 24 and then through
04:06the
04:06postseason. Last year in Jacksonville, he caught just 20 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown. He was
04:14a healthy scratch twice near the end of the regular season for a game. And then in the playoff game
04:21against Buffalo, he was not active and he wasn't hurt. He had completely fallen out of favor with
04:28Liam Cohen and the Jacksonville staff. Barely played. He had one catch total as a healthy player
04:35in the final eight games of the season. But look, we know what his capability is. And Jacksonville
04:45thought they were getting that player. That's why they signed him to a one year, $10 million deal.
04:49And that was the reason Deami didn't come back to Washington is because Adam Peters looked at it and
04:54said, Whoa, I mean, one year, 10 million, take it. Absolutely take it. You'd be crazy not to,
05:02because we're certainly not going to offer you one year, 10 million for basically, you know,
05:06a five or a six game output towards the end of the season. You know, he had 30 catches total
05:13in 2024's regular season, but more than half of those catches in 2024 came over the final five games
05:23of the regular season. And then in the playoffs, obviously the three playoff games, 14 catches,
05:30229 yards, and then had a touchdown in that first playoff win in Tampa. And then had that incredible
05:38throw slash over the shoulder catch to lead to a touchdown in the first half against Detroit in
05:46the playoff game. You know, I didn't know one thing, and I didn't know this during the regular
05:49season. He returned like four or five kickoffs during the course of the year and averaged over
05:5426 yards per kickoff return. So they started to try to find other ways to use Deami. I don't know
06:00with the new rules, obviously, and more kickoff returns. Now a part of it, he could be a part of
06:07that mix on the team next year. But again, Deami being back, there's definitely, I think a spot on the
06:14roster for him. Whereas with Van Jefferson, you know, I think there's a spot on the roster for him too,
06:20but it's also not inconceivable that he wouldn't be on the opening day roster in early 20, in the early
06:29portion of the season of 2026. I just think that this is, you know, they're adding people to the
06:37roster at that position. They're adding experience to the roster at that position. They're adding
06:41players that can play certainly to that position. And it's in part a bit of an insurance policy on
06:48what they may or may not get over the next, you know, few weeks and few months. The Van Jefferson
06:54thing is interesting to me because the reason I even mentioned him the other day with Ben, when we
06:59were just kind of running through the available wide receiver free agents is I've always kind of been a
07:04fan of his going back to Florida. I always thought he played big. He played big in big games, but
07:11he also
07:11played physically bigger than he was. He's listed at 6'1". He always looked bigger than that, the way he
07:17played. In those years with the Rams, he had some moments, man. Got drafted by Sean McVay and the Rams
07:24in
07:242020. Had his best season the year they went to the Super Bowl and beat the Bengals in 2021. Van
07:30Jefferson
07:30had 50 catches, 802 yards, six touchdowns. He's played in seven playoff games, six in LA. Of course,
07:39they won the Super Bowl in 2021. And he played in a playoff game a few years ago when Russell
07:44Wilson
07:45was the quarterback for the Steelers. One of those Tomlin teams that overachieved and lost to
07:49Baltimore. Actually caught a touchdown pass in that playoff loss to Baltimore. He was in a game,
07:56I'll never forget because I had the Rams plus the points in a playoff game during COVID 2020
08:02at Lambeau. And he was the go-to guy that day as a rookie for Jared Goff at Lambeau.
08:10But he never really became that guy for Matt Stafford. Why? Well, they had Cooper Cup. Cooper
08:16Cup had 145 catches, second greatest season reception-wise in NFL history in 2021. And remember,
08:24you know, Van Jefferson was, you know, good enough, but they wanted better. And they went out and got
08:32Odell Beckham Jr. during that Super Bowl run. And he had the huge finish to the season and the huge
08:37postseason before he got injured in that Super Bowl win. Jefferson played in Tennessee this past season,
08:4429 catches for 350 yards. So, you know, even in lesser roles, lesser positions, he's been able to
08:53produce. And here's the thing about Van Jefferson, he'll block. You know, we had, who did we have on the
09:00show recently in talking about IU? Oh, Dante Wittner. Wittner said, you know, you don't play for Kyle
09:08Shanahan at wide receiver if you don't block. Same goes for Sean McVay. You don't play for Sean McVay at
09:14wide receiver if you don't block. Van Jefferson's a good blocker as well. I'm sure that's part of what they
09:20liked about him. Plus he's been in an offense, you know, somewhat similar to the one that they might
09:24be running. But yeah, two players from Tennessee now off that terrible team, Chigakonkwo and Van
09:33Jefferson. But Jefferson certainly is not a lock to, you know, make the team depending on what else they
09:41do. Again, I think both of the deals they did on Friday don't prevent anything from happening in the
09:48future, whether it's IUK or whether it's Carnell Tate or somebody in the draft. They needed bodies.
09:54You know, Terry, Burks, McCaffrey, and Lane were the receivers under contract. Now you add Deami
10:00Brown and Van Jefferson to that list. It's, by the way, if you just look at like the roster right
10:06now,
10:07wide receiver, it kind of looks like 2024 with one exception. You don't have, you know, Zaccheaus or
10:15Crowder, you know, as kind of slot receivers, you're still missing that piece. Maybe it's somebody,
10:20maybe it's McCaffrey, maybe it's Lane, who knows. But like if they didn't add anything else,
10:26Burks, Jefferson, they're kind of like Noah Brown. I mean, they would be hoping that they're
10:32kind of like Noah Brown. Deami's back playing the role of Deami. Also, you know, one thing to
10:40consider, I know we've talked about this. I know Ben and I have talked about it, but with Blau,
10:44there's a very good possibility. We're going to see a lot more 12 and 13 personnel, you know,
10:50a lot more one back, two tight end, one back, three tight end sets. So your need for more receivers
10:58isn't as great as your need for tight ends. And obviously with a Conquo and Bates and Sinnott,
11:03and we'll see what else happens at that position. Expect those three to play a lot, you know, in
11:102026. I think we're going to see a lot of Oconquo, Sinnott and Bates, all three of them. But minus
11:18the
11:18slot, the answer, you know, the Zaccheaus answer, the Crowder answer from 2024, right now what they
11:25have looks kind of similar. But again, stay tuned because I think, you know, there's still some
11:31movement there. Then they added on Saturday, I think it was, they added another running back.
11:39They added Rashad White on late Thursday and they added Jerome Ford on late or late Friday or early
11:48Saturday. Jerome Ford has been one of those backs too that's been in the league and he's played
11:54obviously with bad teams, you know, a bad team in Cleveland. But every time he's had opportunities,
12:00he's looked good running the football, you know, he's looked very good running the football in the
12:06last couple of years, the Stefanski scheme and system, you know, again, kind of off the Kubiak,
12:13Shanahan, Blau has some of that influence, has obviously the Ben Johnson influence. So Ford,
12:21you know, I was looking at his numbers on Saturday and it didn't surprise me that he averaged
12:275.4 yards per carry last year and then four yards per carry in 2023. He rushed for 813 yards
12:37on that 2023 Cleveland team that actually went to the playoffs with Joe Flacco at quarterback.
12:47You know, it's interesting. I mean, like you would not think of Cleveland as like a playoff team,
12:54but they did go 11-6 that one season and they advanced to the playoffs. A lot of the players
13:00that Washington has added, they fit the profile of younger, hungry, high motor, highly competitive.
13:10They also fit the playoff experience mode. I mean, Owe was just in the playoffs. Shanal's got
13:18Super Bowls, plural. Tim Settles played on good football teams during the last few years.
13:24Robertson's been in Detroit. Chason just played in the Super Bowl. Omenohu from Kansas City,
13:31obviously the experience there. Van Jefferson's played in a bunch of playoff games. Rashad White's
13:39played in a bunch of playoff games. And even Jerome Ford played in the playoffs with the Cleveland Browns
13:48in 2023 when they went to Houston, by the way, after what was really a thrilling season in 2023 for
13:56them, came out of nowhere. They signed Joe Flacco, remember, at some point to replace Deshaun Watson
14:03and the kid from UCLA who was not a rookie at that point, but was like a second-year player.
14:10And then Flacco took them on this incredible run towards the end of the season. They won a bunch
14:16of miracle games and they ended up losing in the postseason, but people thought they had a shot.
14:22But Kareem Hunt and Jerome Ford were the two key backs and they kind of shared a lot of what
14:28happened
14:29that particular year. Again, in 2023 for the Browns, 813 rushing yards averaged four yards per carry
14:38and caught 37 passes that year. So does, you know, Jerome Ford and Rashad White mean no Jeremiah Love?
14:49No. Do Van Jefferson and Deami Brown mean no Brandon Ayuk? No. Does Chigakonkwo mean, you know,
14:58no more tight ends? No. None of what they've done means or excludes anything from happening,
15:05in my opinion, no matter how active they've been defensively. Look at some of the contracts.
15:11I mean, you know, you're talking about Chason signed a one-year deal. Omenahut, a one-year deal.
15:20Defensively, Nick Cross is a two-year deal. Robertson's a two-year deal. Now, Settle signed a
15:25three-year deal. Chanel signed a three-year deal and Owe signed a four-year deal. So they've been
15:31active and more money and more players, etc. But nothing prevents them from taking David Bailey
15:39or Reuben Bain or Jeremiah Love or Carnell Tate. I think everything they've done in free agency
15:46opens up the possibility of them doing anything at that pick. And even though it shouldn't drive the
15:52decision to take best player available in terms of how many needs you have, they're now in position
15:58certainly to take the best player available at seven in the draft. All right. So here we are one
16:06week after we started because it was about one week ago when yours truly and Max started to hype the
16:1212
16:12noon kickoff to free agency. We hyped it so much that five minutes into it, people were killing Adam
16:19Peters for not having signed 17 players in the first 20 minutes. But what a week it was. I mean,
16:28what's the total number of players? Six, three, six, nine, 12, 15 players have been added to the roster.
16:41And in terms of new players, 12 new players, Paul, Trent Scott, Marcus Mariota are the three that are
16:51back. 15 new, 12, 15 total, 12 new. They are at the top of the list, you know, in the
17:01top three,
17:01it's a dynamic list because it's changing all the time. But in terms of free agency dollars spent,
17:07top three, new players added, top three.
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