Tag: Washington Commanders
Commanders release veteran WR Michael Gallup
The Washington Commanders on Monday released veteran wide receiver Michael Gallup, who signed with the team in March after initially retiring from the league before the 2024 season.
Gallup, 29, had signed a one-year contract with the Raiders in April 2024 but opted to retire on the eve of the team’s first practice at training camp in July. The Raiders then released him from the reserve/retired list in March to allow him to attempt a comeback.
The Commanders also released cornerback Essang Bassey, center Nick Harris, tackle Tyre Phillips, defensive end Norell Pollard and wide receiver Braylon Sanders on Monday.
Gallup was competing for a spot with Commanders wide receivers Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel, Noah Brown and Luke McCaffrey.
Gallup had 266 catches for 3,744 yards and 21 touchdowns in 86 career games (67 starts) with the Cowboys. His best season was in 2019, when he had 66 receptions for 1,107 yards and six scores.
The third-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft sustained a torn left ACL on Jan. 2, 2022, while making a touchdown catch against the Arizona Cardinals. In his final two seasons with the Cowboys, he had his lowest yardage totals of his career: 424 in 2022 and 418 in 2023.
–Field Level Media
Commanders linebacker Von Miller still confident in pass rushing
Eight-time All-Pro linebacker and new Washington Commander Von Miller is 36 years old and hasn’t notched double-digit sacks since 2018. Yet his confidence in his passing ability is unwavering.
“I can still roll out of bed at 36 years old with my shoes on and rush the passer,” Miller said Thursday. “I can do that right when I wake up fresh out of sleep. I love rushing the passer.”
Miller joined a Washington squad in need of pass rushers on a one-year, $6.1 million contract. The Commanders notched 43 sacks last year, 11th-most in the league, but lost their sack leader Dante Fowler Jr. (10.5) in free agency.
Once one of the NFL’s most feared defenders and an every-down player, Miller has evolved into a situational pass rusher; he played only 25.27 percent of Buffalo’s defensive snaps last season.
Washington will especially lean on its younger rotational pass rush pieces, given that they were one of the worst run defenses in the league last season and need defensive ends who can set the edge.
The surefire Hall of Famer has won two Super Bowls — in 2015 with the Denver Broncos and 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams. After three years with a Buffalo Bills squad that couldn’t make it over the hump, he signed with Washington to contend for another.
The Commanders made a surprise trip to the NFC championship game last year, the franchise’s first since 1991. They currently hold the seventh-best Super Bowl odds ahead of next season.
“You can’t just leave Josh Allen for anywhere,” Miller said. “You can’t go from the AFC championship and go anywhere. … This team is all about winning. I’m all about winning. That’s why I’m here is to win.”
–Field Level Media
Reports: Commanders WR Terry McLaurin absent from training camp
Washington Commanders All-Pro wide receiver Terry McLaurin did not report to training camp Tuesday amid a contract dispute, per multiple reports.
McLaurin, 29, was not present for a required conditioning test that unofficially marks the start of training camp. He is the only Commanders player absent from camp.
This comes a week after McLaurin revealed that Washington hadn’t spoken to his representation about a new contract in more than a month.
“I’ve been pretty frustrated, I’m not going to lie,” McLaurin said. “Everything that has transpired up to this point has been disappointing and frustrating. I want to continue my career here, I’ve created my life here, my wife and I have bought out first home here. So this has been somewhere where I’ve always wanted to be.”
The Ohio State product is entering the final year of a three-year, $68.4 million contract. His contract currently ranks 17th by average annual value among wide receivers.
Several high-profile pass catchers have signed deals this offseason, including the Pittsburgh Steelers’ DK Metcalf, who was drafted in 2019 like McLaurin. Metcalf inked a four-year, $132 million contract, but is two years younger than McLaurin.
McLaurin has not publicly stated the exact amount of money he’s looking for, only that he wants to get paid commensurate with the type of player he is.
“With how the market is today, it conveys what guys of my caliber are deserving of,” McLaurin said.
He is coming off a career year, amassing 82 catches for 1,096 yards and a career-high 13 receiving touchdowns with Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels under center. Last season marked McLaurin’s fifth consecutive 1,000-yard campaign.
Despite McLaurin’s holdout and a lack of headway in negotiations, Commanders general manager Adam Peters made it clear that extending the receiver is paramount.
“Without a doubt, I think everyone in this building values Terry very much,” Peters said. “… We’re going to do everything we can in order get a deal done.”
–Field Level Media
Donald Trump urges Commanders, Guardians to revert to original names
The NFL’s Washington Commanders and MLB’s Cleveland Guardians are just a few years into their respective team rebrandings, but President Donald Trump is ready for the two franchises to return to their original names.
In a post to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said that “a big clamoring” exists for the “Washington ‘Whatever’s’” to change back to the Redskins. Similarly, he added, Cleveland should bring back the Indians moniker, claiming it’s something that “(o)ur great Indian people, in massive numbers,” want to happen.
“Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them,” Trump wrote. He added: “GET IT DONE!!!”
The president then threatened to block the Commanders’ deal for a new stadium if the team did not revert to its old name.
“I won’t make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington,” Trump wrote. “The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be exciting for everyone.”
Trump also suggested that Matt Dolan, brother of Guardians primary owner Paul Dolan, lost in the last two Senate Republican primary elections in Ohio — including in 2022, won by Trump’s vice president, JD Vance — because the team changed its name.
The Commanders became the Washington Football Team in July 2020 before adopting the team’s current nickname two years later. Cleveland rebranded as the Guardians in July 2021. Both moves were made in the wake of widespread protests over racial injustice following the death of George Floyd.
In February, new Commanders owner Josh Harris said that the new name was “being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff. So, we’re going with that.”
Cleveland, a charter member of the American League in 1901, ditched the Chief Wahoo logo in 2019 — 104 years after the team first became the Indians.
The Athletic reported that Guardians team president Chris Antonetti is not focused on the team going back to its previous name.
“Not something I’m tracking or paying a lot of attention to,” Antonetti said Sunday, “but I would say generally, I understand there are very different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago … But it’s a decision we made and we’ve gotten the opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians over the last four years and we’re excited about the future that’s in front of us.”
The Commanders reportedly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
–Field Level Media
Report: Von Miller’s deal with Commanders could net him $10.5M
Von Miller’s one-year deal with the Washington Commanders gives him a chance to earn $10.5 million, NFL Network reported Saturday.
The deal is worth $6.1 million but reportedly can give the three-time All-Pro another $4.4 million in incentives.
Miller, 36, is the NFL’s active leader in sacks with 129.5, but injuries and age are undeniable factors.
Washington had 43 total sacks last season led by Donte Fowler (10.5) and linebacker Frankie Luvu (8.0).
Miller was released by the Buffalo Bills in March. He had 6.0 sacks last season and has won the Super Bowl twice, once with the team that drafted him — the Denver Broncos — and also with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Commanders acquired proven Pro Bowl talent in the offseason, trading for left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Deebo Samuel, after reaching the NFC Championship game in head coach Dan Quinn’s first season in Washington.
Miller had 110.5 sacks in his first 10 seasons with the Broncos, who drafted him No. 2 overall out of Texas A&M in 2011. He was Defensive Rookie of the Year and later the Super Bowl 50 MVP when the Broncos defeated Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.
In three seasons with the Bills, Miller never played in more than 13 games. The Bills signed him to a six-year, $120 million deal in 2022.
–Field Level Media
Reports: Commanders WR Noah Brown hurt during minicamp drill
Washington Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown was carted off the field with an apparent injury after making a catch during minicamp on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
Brown, 29, caught a short pass from Marcus Mariota during 7-on-7 drills and stayed on the ground before slowly getting to his feet and limping off to the sideline, where he threw his helmet. He met with athletic trainers and was carted to the team facility.
Brown, who re-signed with the Commanders as a free agent in March, has dealt with injuries throughout his seven-year career. That includes the kidney injury he suffered against the Tennessee Titans on Dec. 1, 2024 that knocked him out for the rest of the season, including the Commanders’ run to the NFC championship game.
Last season, his first in Washington, Brown played in 11 games (nine starts) and made 35 receptions on 56 targets for 453 yards. His lone touchdown came on a 52-yard Hail Mary pass that gave host Washington an 18-15 win over the Chicago Bears on Oct. 27.
A seventh-round draft pick by Dallas in 2017, the Ohio State alum has 150 catches for 2,000 yards and six TDs in 87 games (34 starts) with the Cowboys (2017-18, 2020-22), Houston Texans (2023) and Commanders.
The Commanders also were without veteran Michael Gallup on Tuesday and Wednesday, reportedly due to a strained hamstring. A Dallas receiver from 2018-23, Gallup, 29, signed with Washington in March after coming out of a retirement that he announced in July 2024.
–Field Level Media
Commanders sign WR Michael Gallup
The Washington Commanders signed wide receiver Michael Gallup to a contract on Thursday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed for Gallup, who returns to the NFL after he retired last offseason.
Gallup, 29, was released from the Las Vegas Raiders’ reserve/retired list earlier this month. He signed a one-year contract with the Raiders in April 2024 but opted to retire on the eve of the team’s first practice at training camp in July.
With Washington, Gallup will see a familiar face in head coach Dan Quinn, who was the defensive coordinator in Dallas in 2023.
Gallup will join Commanders wide receivers Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel, Noah Brown and Luke McCaffrey.
Gallup had 266 catches for 3,744 yards and 21 touchdowns in 86 career games (67 starts) with the Cowboys. His best season was in 2019, when he had 66 receptions for 1,107 yards and six scores.
The third-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Colorado State sustained a torn left ACL on Jan. 2, 2022, while making a touchdown catch against the Arizona Cardinals. In his final two seasons with the Cowboys, he had his lowest yardage totals of his career: 424 in 2022 and 418 in 2023.
–Field Level Media
Commanders Eagles Betting Picks, NFC Championship OVER?
