00:00And Brandon Ayuk, I mean, for over a year now, it seems, has been openly flirty with the Commanders.
00:09He and Jaden Daniels played one season of college football together at Arizona State in 2019 and have remained close
00:14friends.
00:16And Ayuk has been extremely flirtatious with wanting to come to Washington.
00:22I think it's gone beyond that now.
00:24This latest video, we're going to play the audio of it?
00:27Yeah, this is outright, like, we're no longer.
00:31No, this is stalking.
00:32Yeah, we're no longer flirting.
00:33He is now entering the realm of, I will not be ignored, Dan.
00:39Let's hear from Brandon Ayuk.
00:41Man, what's up, everybody?
00:43I had a great Father's Day.
00:46And before I lay down and go to bed tonight, I just wanted to say, go Commanders!
00:50Go Commanders, man.
00:51Go Commanders!
00:54Raise hell, man.
00:55Take command!
00:56What's up, Ma?
00:58This is an embarrassment to me.
01:02I've never seen an athlete of his stature with his money openly begging, basically, for a team to sign him.
01:10But, hey, there's a large number of the fan base that really want him.
01:14And I don't get it.
01:15I've already stated my opposition to it on multiple levels.
01:18This doesn't help.
01:20But you think it's a done deal that eventually he'll be a commander?
01:24Yes.
01:24And obviously he wants to be, so...
01:26I think what's going to happen is eventually he will get released from San Francisco.
01:32They eventually have to take their hand out of the fire because San Francisco is holding on to him out
01:37of spite.
01:38But he has to really force their hand.
01:41He has to show up.
01:41He has to show up.
01:42But you know what they did is they canceled their minicam so he couldn't show up for something they had
01:46canceled.
01:47I don't think that's why they canceled it.
01:49No.
01:49But isn't that true that it negated his ability to report?
01:53That was the only mandatory thing of the off-season workout.
01:56Could he have reported anyway?
01:58Yes.
01:58Okay.
01:59He could have come to OTAs.
02:00So, he could show up to get treatment.
02:03Can he go knock on the door tomorrow and say, hello?
02:05Yeah.
02:06Brandon Ayuk here.
02:07I'm here reporting.
02:08Come in for treatment.
02:08And then that triggers...
02:10There are guys in the Ashburn facility.
02:11Even though it's now the off-season, you can still go.
02:14You're just not required to.
02:15Okay.
02:15Training camp is obviously, he's required to show up.
02:18I mean, the most interesting part of all this is he could have forced this to happen sooner if he
02:23would just show up.
02:24He has shown an unwillingness to do so.
02:27I do think, though, eventually, if you're the Niners, like, is all of this worth it?
02:31You're trying to win a Super Bowl.
02:33You were in the divisional round last year with injured quarterbacks.
02:37Like, the Niners have an aging roster.
02:40Like, I don't know what they consider their window to look like, right?
02:43But I do think eventually there is a finish line where Ayuk gets released.
02:49I do think Washington, because of all the stuff with all the Instagram videos,
02:57I don't think it's going to be Ayuk is released on Tuesday and there's a press conference in Ashburn on
03:05Wednesday.
03:06I think the Commanders, even only on face value because it's all kind of a done deal,
03:12there will be some semblance of playing hard to get.
03:15There will be some semblance of, yeah, we're going to call Brandon.
03:18We've got to see.
03:19We've got to get him.
03:19We've got to work out.
03:20We've got to talk to him, see where his head's at.
03:22But eventually, he lands here.
03:25I think that's very much a done deal.
03:26Do you think there would be a market for him beyond just Washington?
03:31Would we have to compete for him?
03:37Assuming he's a free agent and he gets to pick?
03:40Yes.
03:40It'd be impossible to think he doesn't pick here after all of this.
03:43Okay.
03:44So I think that is real.
03:46I also could tell you this.
03:47But money talks.
03:48I can tell you this firsthand.
03:50Maybe there'd be a dark horse out there we don't see right now.
03:53I don't think so, but you never know.
03:55Two AFC teams that were very interested when there were real trade talks going on with Ayuk
04:00thought they were getting very close to a finish line where they trade with the Niners.
04:05And then we're going back a year and a half now.
04:07And those two teams, when they got to the finish line and then he ended up just signing with the
04:12Niners,
04:12when Kyle put his foot down and told Lynch, we're just going to sign this guy, this is my guy,
04:16those teams are now out.
04:18Yeah.
04:18So, like, a player of his caliber that has shown it over the years would have a market,
04:24but this situation seems so bizarre, and, I mean, he's burned more bridges than Patton.
04:30Yes.
04:31Like, he's, like, I don't know how receptive that many marketplaces will be for his services.
04:37So it's like the Trey Young thing.
04:40Everybody keeps telling us he's going to resign here in Washington.
04:44Could that change?
04:45Sure.
04:45Life is fluid.
04:46Yeah.
04:46But I expect him to be here.
04:49Yeah.
04:50I just think that fans, and I'm guilty of it, too, from time to time, we get to be prisoners
04:57of the moment,
04:58and we get caught up in the want of a player.
05:02And we envision these best-case scenarios if we just get this player.
05:08And I try to say, well, zoom ahead seven months, well, more like eight months, to the end of the
05:16season,
05:17and then tell me what then if you bring in Ayuk.
05:22Because you're only going to bring him in on a one-year deal as a look-see.
05:25Are you really thinking he'd be a good enough player, a good enough team citizen,
05:30that you're going to now put money into Brandon Ayuk going forward?
05:35That seems like a bit of a stretch, if you ask me.
05:38I think it's a one-year minimum incentive-laden kind of thing.
05:43So then how much does he give you?
05:45How many catches does he give you?
05:46How many touchdowns?
05:47And factor in where those get subtracted from, given the amount of guys currently on the team.
05:55I understand most of the guys beyond Terry are not pedigreed enough to make you go, wow.
06:01But you never know.
06:03800-636-1067.
06:05800-636-1067.
06:08Brandon Ayuk continues to post about the Commanders.
06:10Now he's openly saying, go, Commanders.
06:13Has your opinion shifted throughout this incredibly bizarre saga, right?
06:18I want to take your calls on Ayuk.
06:20Zabe, it's an interesting question you pose.
06:22What constitutes, assuming he lands here, what makes this a success?
06:27If he's your wide receiver two to Terry?
06:29I mean, certainly if he goes for 1,000 yards or hits the ground absolutely running and clicking.
06:34I think 60 catches, 800 yards, five touchdowns, and playoffs is a success.
06:43I think you fall below any or all of those benchmarks.
06:47You're like, why do we bother doing this?
06:50The counter to that is, what do you mean bother?
06:52It's just a transaction.
06:54It might work.
06:55It's cost.
06:56The opportunity cost is very minimal.
06:58Right.
06:59That's the counter to it.
07:00Yeah, I mean, if you look at what Debo delivered last year for a fifth-round pick, you got value
07:05out of that.
07:05I think he went for about 800 total yards.
07:08The curious question I find, and listen, the job of the front office is to improve the roster no matter
07:14what.
07:15And if that means another guy gets cut or released that you like, that's life in the big city.
07:21When you look at the receiver room, if you're going to add Ayuk, you're going to lose someone else.
07:28And, you know, obviously Terry is established and has looked great throughout the offseason.
07:33I think Trey Burks has looked really good throughout the offseason.
07:36I talked to him last week, and he said, yeah, this feels like a fresh start.
07:40Like, I haven't been healthy in a training camp in years.
07:45He's comfortable in this offense.
07:46He's going to be, right now, the receiver that's on the field second most to Terry McLaurin.
07:53That's the way that's tracking.
07:55I thought Antonio Williams in minicamp looked good.
07:58That dude could separate.
07:59I think Van Jefferson is a real pro receiver.
08:02De'Ami Brown has shown you what he could do with Jaden.
08:07Jalen Lane, Luke McCaffrey, I think those are guys with roster spots.
08:10So, like, it gets very interesting the further down this roster you go and where Ayuk fits in it.
08:17I just, for me, I recognize two realities.
08:22There is the social media nonsense reality that, frankly, to me, has grown very annoying.
08:27The other reality is if the organization believes Ayuk comes in and makes this team better, they'll do it.
08:36And they don't care about the social media.
08:38I think that's probably the way they're going to go.
08:39I know this is something you understand about the reality of life in the NFL,
08:43and I think this is accurate, up-to-date.
08:46Correct me if I'm wrong.
08:47I'm on SpotTrack, your favorite site.
08:49And I clicked on Commander's Free Agents Available.
08:53Marshawn, Lattimore, Debo, Samuel, Bobby Wagner, Zach Ertz, Von Miller, Austin Eckler, Noah Brown.
08:59Man, life comes at you fast, doesn't it?
09:01Yeah, dude.
09:03That's the whole team.
09:05That was the heart of the team from two years ago.
09:07That's crazy.
09:08And to a lesser extent, this year, all those guys are, I think, looking for jobs,
09:12although some of them, Bobby Wagner might be like, you know what, I'm probably done.
09:15Yeah, I wonder if Eckler's done between the concussions and the injuries.
09:18Right.
09:18Ertz had the big knee injury, although I saw Ertz.
09:20Eckler's 31, Wagner's 35, Ertz is 35, Von's 37.
09:25Von wants to come back.
09:27Von will, if he gets offered, I don't think he'll be here.
09:30If he gets offered, he'll come back.
09:31Von wants to chase history and sack records,
09:33and I think he's like one or two away from moving into the top five of all time.
09:39There's a bunch of players stacked up right there.
09:41Von's been open about that.
09:43Ertz, I saw in the spring, and he looked fantastic, was walking with no trouble,
09:47but I think the organization has moved on.
09:49I also think this offense is very different.
09:51Ertz was a tremendous fit for Cliff's offense.
09:54I think this offense, you'll see much more verticality from the tight ends,
09:57which will give Senate a chance,
09:58and certainly why they want Jig and his explosive athleticism.
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