Hogs Haven
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, and a sprinkling of other stuff
The Commanders have 37 players entering the final year of their contracts, with 20 who would be considered either starters or key backups. Not all of those 37 will make the roster. Some, though, have a chance for multiyear deals if they produce, whether in Washington or elsewhere.
Here are five players whose next contract will be greatly impacted by this season:
The Commanders did not negotiate an extension with Samuel after trading a fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for him this offseason. They converted $15.43 million of his existing base salary into a signing bonus and added four voidable years to spread the cap hit. He’ll count only $5,151,105 on the cap this season.
He, too, is in the final year of his rookie contract. In his first three seasons Robinson has rushed for 2,329 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. The Commanders drafted running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the seventh round. It’s way too soon to consider him Robinson’s eventual replacement, but regardless, the fourth-year back needs a strong season. He has yet to rush for more than 800 yards in a season.
He should have a stronger offensive line to open holes; in the last nine games last season, including the postseason, Robinson had six games when he averaged 1.48 yards or less before first contact. The league average was 2.67 yards.
Nagging injury issues have hindered his play the past two years.
“The biggest thing for me is being available,” he said. “I’m hell when I’m well.”
A new record sale for a Jayden Daniels trading card was set when Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris agreed to pay $500,000 for one of Daniels’ most sought-after rookie cards while standing next to the young quarterback on stage at Topps Trade Night on Saturday.
Harris and Daniels were special guests at the event, which followed Day 2 of Fanatics Fest at the Javits Center.
The original unearthing of the Daniels Black Finite card bears its own improbable story.
A collector with the username “Dr. Moist Muffins” acquired the card from a pack through a box break (where collectors pay for a select portion of the cards opened by a third party) on a Fanatics Live stream around midday New Year’s Day. Dr. Ojash Raval, as he’s known outside of trading card livestreams, only spent $36 for the rights to all the Commanders cards in the break. The monster Daniels card then emerged from a pack, spurring immediate offers from interested buyers. Alexis Ohanian, the...
