- 2 days ago
With the NFL Draft being over and NFL free agency reaching it's late stages, should the Commanders consider bringing back these veterans or continue to get younger? Denton Day is filling in for Kevin Sheehan and gives his thoughts on if it would benefit the Commanders to re-sign either of Bobby Wagner, Von Miller or Zach Ertz.
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00:00Well, transition to football here.
00:01We got a poll question up on our Twitter at the team 980.
00:04If you could take any of these or one of these three old heads back,
00:10who would you take?
00:11Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, or Von Miller, right?
00:14There's an option for none as well if you want none of them back.
00:18But you can go vote on that poll question at the team 980.
00:22The overwhelming majority right now is none.
00:25But go vote on that.
00:26But I'm going to explain why this is even a conversation to begin with.
00:32Zach Ertz obviously got hurt at the end of last year.
00:34Terrible knee injury.
00:36For a guy that's closer to 40 than he is to 30,
00:39any sort of injury is always going to be bad.
00:41A knee injury is going to be even worse in relation to potentially extending your career
00:46if he wants to play more.
00:48And I actually thought that Zach Ertz had a,
00:50for how bad of an offensive year as the team had in 2025,
00:56I didn't hate the year that Zach Ertz had.
00:58It wasn't great, but I still felt like there was good football left in Zach Ertz.
01:03I still felt like towards the end of the year, if they wanted to bring him back,
01:07then I'd be open to bringing Zach Ertz back.
01:09And a lot of that is less so about Zach Ertz himself,
01:12and more so the questions that surround Ben Sinnott.
01:16And what is he going to be in 2026?
01:19Is he going to be anything in 2026?
01:23But then Zach Ertz got hurt, and it kind of went to the back of my mind.
01:26You signed Chicka Konkwo this offseason,
01:28and he is going to be definitively tight end number one for Washington.
01:34But then Zach Ertz went on a podcast this week.
01:37He went on the Ross Tucker podcast, and they were just talking.
01:40There actually wasn't a lot of conversation about his time in Washington.
01:44The podcast was only like 25 minutes, 26 minutes.
01:47I thought there was going to be a lot more about his time here.
01:50They asked him more about the Philly stuff than they did the D.C. stuff,
01:53which I get because he played there for such a long time.
01:56But he played in Washington, went to the NFC Championship with Jane Daniels,
02:00who's a superstar, with Dan Quinn.
02:01I thought there was also an avenue to ask, like,
02:04hey, what did you think about Cliff Kingsbury leaving?
02:06Because Zach Ertz came to D.C. because Cliff Kingsbury was coming to D.C.
02:11Unfortunately, none of that was asked.
02:12However, Ross Tucker, who is the host of the Ross Tucker podcast,
02:16did ask Zach Ertz about playing in 2026,
02:20and this is what Zach Ertz said about that.
02:21And so for me, I haven't put too much stock in where or when I want to sign
02:28because I just told teams and my agent relayed that to teams
02:32that whenever Zach feels like he's probably about a month away
02:36from being ready to play football again, then we'll start reaching out.
02:41And so I don't know when that is.
02:43I think it's unfair for them.
02:44It's unfair for me to kind of say, hey, this is what I want to sign by
02:47because I just need to feel good again.
02:51But obviously would love the chance to earn my role.
02:54I don't have this expectation that a team is banking on me to be a week one starter
02:59right now coming off the injury that I had.
03:01But I do think that if I do get back healthy, that I am still that same player.
03:05And so for me, it's just earning things again.
03:12I'm not going in there with any expectation.
03:14I don't want things to be handed to me.
03:16I'm going to go out there and compete like I always do
03:18and see where everything falls into place.
03:22So it's worth pointing out that that is not Zachert saying I'm going to play in 2026.
03:28But it is him saying that I'm going to try and play in 2026.
03:33And my answer to this poll question that is available to you at the Team 980,
03:37we'll take your phone calls on in about 10 minutes at 301-230-0980, 301-230-0980.
03:43I would honestly be open to bringing all of them back, but I don't want all of them back.
03:48I would like to have Zachert's back.
03:51Realistically, though, if I can only bring one back, I'm bringing Von Miller back in 2026.
03:57Because I think Von Miller can add something to the rotation that maybe does not exist.
04:04With Zachert's in particular, if they didn't sign Chikakankwo,
04:08this would be a much bigger talking point.
04:10I'm very glad that they did go out there and sign Chikakankwo.
04:14Because, again, I think he's going to be a dynamic piece to the offense.
04:19And I'm always for getting as many playmakers on offense as possible.
04:25Because we lived through 2025.
04:29Recency bias, maybe.
04:30I would say recency pain.
04:32Because we lived through what it's like to have no weapons.
04:37To see Jane Daniels throwing to guys or attempting to throw to guys that are running routes
04:42that are not the routes they're supposed to be running.
04:43They're not running it with enough depth.
04:45They're not running it with enough nuance.
04:47And then you put the guy in hell.
04:49I don't need to see that again.
04:51So I'm always in favor of bringing back as many playmakers as possible.
04:55The question and the problem that I would have with bringing Zachert's back into this particular scenario
05:03is where exactly does he fit?
05:06Because you have Okonkwo who's going to be tight end number one.
05:09You have John Bates who is likely going to be tight end number two.
05:13And John Bates has the great ability to block his ass off while also being a factor in the pass
05:19game.
05:19Is John Bates nearly as good of a factor in the pass game as Zachert's?
05:23No.
05:24But he's such a good blocker and he's signed to a multi-year deal that you're going to say,
05:29all right, we're going to keep John Bates.
05:30John Bates is in this.
05:32He's in this group.
05:33It's all about that third tight end spot.
05:36And that's where it comes down to Ben Sinnott and Zachert's and maybe Colson Yankoff.
05:40You could throw Colson Yankoff in there as well.
05:42So there's three guys that could potentially be vying for that final spot.
05:47If Zachert does want to play again and if his relationships extend past Cliff Kingsbury,
05:53maybe he developed a really good relationship with David Blau.
05:56Maybe he developed a really good relationship with Adam Peters and with Dan Quinn.
06:00We know that he thinks very highly of Jaden Daniels.
06:02He said as much on multiple occasions the way that everybody has said as much on multiple occasions.
06:08So I don't think that's anything we have to question.
06:10But just knowing that he came here because he wanted to work with Cliff Kingsbury again
06:14because of their time in Arizona, that does play a factor into potentially his decision-making.
06:19He could also then just go right up the road and play in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson,
06:23which is not the worst thing in the world either.
06:26But what does he provide that the other two do not provide?
06:29What do they provide that he does not provide?
06:32And the obvious answer is special teams because both Sinnott and Yankoff are going to play on special teams.
06:37Zach Ertz coming off a knee injury, damn near 40 years old, is not running punts, right?
06:44He ain't on kickoff team.
06:45He might be on hands team for the onside, but he ain't on just regular.
06:49It's the first quarter.
06:50We're kicking the ball off.
06:52He is not on kickoff team.
06:53Those two other guys might be.
06:55So then I look at the other two guys that are a part of this poll question, right?
07:00Bobby Wagner and Von Miller.
07:02I'd love the mind of Bobby Wagner back.
07:05I don't necessarily need to see the play of Bobby Wagner anymore.
07:09I love what Washington has done defensively in the linebacker spot because they have gotten guys that can do the
07:18things physically that Bobby Wagner could not in 2025.
07:22I don't know that I'm going to want to call my eyes out watching Sonny Styles potentially cover a running
07:29back out of the backfield or potentially line up against a tight end.
07:34I don't know that Leo Chanel is going to make me want to ram my head through a window doing
07:38either of those two things.
07:39I love Bobby Wagner watching that man attempt to chase Bijan Robinson from behind looking like a Drewski skit was
07:46embarrassing.
07:47That's a first ballot Hall of Famer.
07:49You can't put him in those positions anymore, but they were what I would love to keep with Bobby Wagner
07:54is I'd love Bobby Wagner to take the Ryan Kerrigan approach.
07:58We're going to make you a a low level assistant.
08:01We're going to keep you around.
08:03You're going to get to be a part of the community and you're going to get to use the intellect
08:06that you've gained over the course of a Hall of Fame first ballot career and really kind of pour that
08:13in to a Sonny Styles.
08:15I can you imagine Sonny Styles just getting to sit under and learn from Bobby Wagner.
08:21That's going to do wonders for his career long term.
08:24He's already a smart guy, but getting to learn the nuances of how to play linebacker at the NFL level
08:30from Bobby Wagner would be sensational.
08:33I just don't really want to see Bobby Wagner play anymore.
08:36And at least with Von Miller, Von Miller showed that he could still play at a high enough level.
08:42Do I want him to be the lead the leader in sacks again?
08:45No, but we did learn the hard way that life sucks when you don't have guys that can rust the
08:51passer.
08:52Right.
08:53My philosophy on pass rush has always been the same thing.
08:56It is never a bad thing.
08:58You can never have too many pass rushers.
09:02That idea is an oxymoron.
09:04It doesn't exist.
09:05There's no such thing as having too many guys that can get after the passer.
09:09But we did learn in 2025 that you can have nobody that can get after the passer.
09:14And while Von Miller did theoretically fall into that, I would love to keep him around specifically similar to what
09:21what Bobby Wagner did, but specifically to help with the young guys who are playing the position.
09:27Joshua Joseph said at Tennessee, they really like the upside with him.
09:31How can you capitalize off of that upside?
09:34The bend, the arm length, some of the elite traits that you can't coach.
09:38We parallel that with some of the things that you can coach.
09:42Right.
09:42Have them work out with a Von Miller.
09:45Have those dudes practice together.
09:47Have Von Miller be the veteran for a guy that you drafted in the fifth round pick.
09:51Worst case scenario, a fifth round draft pick doesn't work.
09:54Oh, darn it.
09:55Your expectations for him aren't even that high.
09:58Best case scenario is that the fifth round pick learns from a Von Miller.
10:03Von Miller still gets you four or five sacks at a far reduced rate snap count wise from what he
10:08played in 2025.
10:10But he still gets you four to five sacks.
10:12And then you take this fifth rounder that you had no expectations for.
10:16He learns, he grows, and he develops into being a dynamic pass rusher that could end up being a guy.
10:24That is around for years to come in this organization.
10:27I'm not going to sit here and say that I think Joshua Joseph's fifth round guy out of Tennessee is
10:33immediately going to be one of the best defensive ends in football because he learned under Von Miller.
10:38I'm not going to say that.
10:39But he could end up being a guy that could routinely get you six to seven sacks as a rotational
10:44piece.
10:45And if that's what you end up drafting in the fifth round and you're getting five to six to seven,
10:50maybe eight, maybe get like a weird 12 sack season in there at one point over the course of his
10:54career, that's a big time win.
10:56It's fulfilling the depth on the defensive line.
10:59They know they sink on defense.
11:02The drafts told us that our eyes told us that body language told us that like they know we know
11:09everybody knows defensively.
11:11They were awful in 2026.
11:14If keeping Von Miller around helps the defense get better, then I'm very much in favor of keeping Von Miller
11:20around.
11:20But I'm good on Bobby, and because Zach Ertz doesn't play special teams, I'm good on Zach Ertz.
11:25But I do think there's a lot of pressure on Ben Sinnott.
11:28I don't know that I'd be going into training camp thinking that his position on the team is 100%
11:35set in stone.
11:36And it's not about giving up on guys, but eventually in year number three, you're going to have to develop.
11:41We can't just keep you around for forever.
11:43There's a bunch of other dudes that were drafted in that draft class of Ben Sinnott that I feel much
11:48more comfortable about.
11:49Mikey Sander still is the big one.
11:51I feel much better about Mikey than a lot of people seem to.
11:54I just hope that they play him on the outside.
11:56They've had two seasons, right?
11:58But they start with Mikey in the slot.
12:00He doesn't look that awesome.
12:01And then they move him outside.
12:03He looks pretty darn good.
12:04Is he a lockdown, shutdown, all pro?
12:07No.
12:08But he looks pretty good.
12:09And he leads the league in interceptions.
12:11And they saw that his rookie year.
12:13And then they moved him inside again for year number two because they loved Marshawn Lattimore.
12:17And I get it.
12:18You had to see if the Marshawn Lattimore thing was eventually going to work out.
12:21Didn't work out.
12:23Then they move Mikey back outside.
12:24And he looks awesome again, right?
12:25He starts picking balls off.
12:27They finally start forcing turnovers.
12:29He plays really well on the outside.
12:31I just hope that they play him on the outside this year.
12:34They've learned their lesson.
12:35And they say, no more slot.
12:36We're going to put you on the outside.
12:38We're going to trust that we've seen enough from you.
12:40So I'm higher up on Mikey.
12:41I'm not giving up on Ben Sinnott.
12:43But eventually, you're going to have to showcase something that would keep you around.
12:49Because your draft status and the position of which you were drafted in can't do that forever.
12:54It keeps you around the first two years.
12:56You're number three.
12:57It doesn't.
12:58And eventually, you're about winning now.
13:01I need to see it from Ben Sinnott.
13:03I think he's under a lot of pressure as we approach 2026.
13:06We'll take some of your phone calls.
13:08301-230-0980.
13:10301-230-0980.
13:12Which of those three guys would you keep?
13:14Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, Von Miller.
13:16Do you have any interest in any of them?
13:18We're going to keep you in mind.
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