Washington Rivals: Mid-offseason News and Notes

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June 17, 2022

by David Earl

Training Camp Nearing

The offseason is moving quickly, with the Philadelphia Eagles having made the most noise thus far.  The Giants were calculating, but Washington again leads the headlines for all the wrong reasons. While all that is going on the Cowboys continue to remain the media darling, as per usual. This piece is meant to discuss Washington’s biggest rivals mainly, but the recent events in Washington cannot just be overlooked. From the polarizing message from Jack Del Rio to the fine levied from Ron Rivera, this has been a status quo type offseason in many ways, but I will address that last. Let’s start with the divisional rival news and updates then you can decide to read a little further on Washington’s recent attention grabber.

Philadelphia Eagles

  • AJ Brown Trade: The draft day of AJ Brown was certainly a message to Jalen Hurts but adding him to their skill position room was huge. The Eagles’ wide receiver group, including Dallas Goedert, is arguably the best in the division. Add a running game anchored by Miles Sanders plus a quarterback who is dynamic in the run game makes the potential for this offense limitless. Will Hurts progress as a quarterback as the next step for this offense hinges on his play in the passing game?
  • James Bradberry: This was not the move many in the division wanted to see happen but now the Eagles possess one of the better tandems at cornerback in the league. Don’t be fooled by some of his struggles last year – the Giants’ offense was terrible and their defensive line was not producing much pressure, unlike years past. The combination of the offense not sustaining drives and the defensive front applying minimal pressure would affect nearly any cornerback in the league.
  • Haason Reddick and Nakobe Dean: The Eagles linebacker corps has been their achilles heel for a very long time, but Howie Roseman seemed to have found his way this 2022 offseason. Reddick brings back-to-back double sack seasons and his coverage skills to an already well-built defensive unit. Add one of the steals of the 2022 NFL draft and seemingly healthy Nakobe Dean, and Washington will be facing what appears to be a stacked team on paper.

Dallas Cowboys

  • Amari Cooper, Cedrick Wilson Gone: The trade moving Cooper was certainly foreseen and absolutely puts a chink in this offense’s armor. Not only will the receivers need to make up for the 104 targets gone but CeeDee Lamb is the only other receiver having good chemistry with Dak Prescott around. Michael Gallup is a good player but there is no telling how he is post-injury entering the season. Down the stretch of the 2021 season saw a rise in reliable play from Cedrick Wilson so his departure, however minimal, could prove to be a loss early in the season.
  • Running Game: Their offensive line last season, combined with the fact Ezekiel Elliott was never healthy, contributed to an ineffective unit. Dallas made no true significant moves this offseason for the offensive line unit.  They seem to be banking on the health of Ezekiel Elliot and Tyron Smith plus the development of their younger guys such as Tyler Biadasz and Terence Steele.
  • Hot seat Year For McCarthy: In year 3 and returning continuity in defensive coordinator Dan Quin, anything less than a deep playoff run will surely make Jerry Jones antsy. Their struggles the last few years against playoff-caliber teams have not gone unnoticed. McCarthy will be hedging his bets on a status quo offensive line, aging running back, and Dak Prescott to final take that next step as a franchise quarterback.

New York Giants

  • Saquon Barkley‘s Health: Barkley has been very clear that he’s regained more trust in his knees with no reports of any setbacks. The Giants plan to utilize him in every possible way, which certainly helps Daniel Jones. If everything continues on a positive path New York’s inept 2021 offense in New York could quickly flip that script.
  • Daniel Jones: New offensive coordinator Mike Kafka wants Daniel Jones to be his guy in what will be a much more versatile offense this season. While a healthy Barkley will certainly help that plan to succeed, flipping the play of Daniel Jones is not only vital but could prove to be tougher than he expected. A silver lining here for Jones is how Brian Daboll took a very raw but talented quarterback in Josh Allen and developed him into a very productive player.

Ron Rivera‘s Statement and Fine

Depending on your stance here, Ron fining Jack Del Rio is significant for sure and has drawn many opinions. A firm-standing conservative will call this an attack on Jack’s freedom of speech while an equally unwavering progressive will claim that’s not enough, and that he should have been fired. Regardless of where you stand it is important to note that Ron Rivera had to consider more than just what you and I think, including the thoughts of the players working with Jack Del Rio and the new image or culture Ron is trying to build. If the players truly felt Jack’s comments were malicious in intent those views would have surely spoken to by now and Ron would have had no choice but to fire Jack Del Rio in order to maintain a cohesive locker room. It is obvious the players still support Del Rio.  If nothing else, it should speak to his overall character and their respect for his views. Being able to respect an opposing view and still come to work focused on football shows the maturity of the team. It’s not to say that could change but consider when Jack opposed his Raider players kneeling years back – some came out against his views on that but the team still maintained support for him going forward. Once again, that has to speak to his overall character right? Disagreeing with Jack’s statement and even taking some offense is not wrong of anyone either, which seemed to be the statement here from Ron Rivera. He apparently felt that, considering his task of running this team and rebuilding its culture, Jack’s statement was counterproductive to the new mission statement of this organization. That too is perfectly fine. Even if you disagree and feel the freedom of speech was infringed here understand that while your speech is free you are still subject to consequences whether you feel the punishment fits the crime or not.  Del Rio was held accountable to a private company’s position and rules which he is also free to challenge if he so chooses. Jack was not fired, which could have set a dangerous precedent, but held accountable to a significant level by a private company’s rules . Whether you agree with Ron’s punishment or not, he took the proper steps for this team and the guidelines he set forth, and thusfar the players do not seem to have an issue with this resolution. Now it is time to move forward and away from this ordeal.