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
There’s a reason Washington’s offense excelled late in games last season. The Commanders work a lot on end-of-game situations — one reason they were 9-4 in one-score games. That was evident again Sunday — and it helped end the struggles of an offense that was getting stymied by the defense for two practices in a row.
In this drill, Washington’s offense started with the ball on the 40-yard line and 30 seconds left, trailing by 6. On the last play of the series, from around the 25-yard line, quarterback Jayden Daniels lofted a perfect pass to the last inches of the corner of the end zone. That’s where rookie receiver Jaylin Lane outjumped three defensive backs and tapped his feet in-bounds. It was the highlight of the day.
McLaurin, who turns 30 in September, is set to earn $19.65 million in total cash in the final season of a three-year, $68 million contract. However, he’s collected fines totaling $200,000 for missing the start of training camp, $105,000 for missing minicap, and forfeited a $500,000 workout bonus.
A league source said Sunday there’s been no substantial progress towards an extension, however.
After practice Sunday, McLaurin was spotted signing autographs for the fans in attendance. “My beef is not with y’all,” he said. “I love y’all.”
“Hold-ins” have become more popular of late among players looking for new deals. The obvious reason is to avoid the stacking of fines for missing mandatory camp, but there are at least some benefits to being around teammates, even if McLaurin can’t attend position or team meetings while he rehabs.
Entering the last year of his current deal, which will pay him $15.5 million in base salary, and which made him one of the top five-paid receivers in the league when he signed it in 2022, McLaurin is looking to sign a new deal commensurate with the top receivers in the game. While no details have emerged yet about his asking price, he is certainly aware of the explosion in wide receiver salaries in the last year and would like to...
