Daily Slop – 17 Feb 25 – Will Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley make it to free agency?

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders

Commanders links

Articles

Commanders Wire

Is Commanders’ Jayden Daniels one of the frontrunners for MVP in 2025?

Can Daniels be an MVP candidate in 2025?

Using DraftKings Sportsbook, CBS Sports has Daniels’ odds of winning MVP next season at +1000. Daniels was fifth behind Jackson, Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow.

CBS is going with Daniels as the early favorite.

Daniels put together a historic rookie season, leading the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship. He also became just the second player in league history to record 4,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in a season (including playoffs). Because of Daniels’ dual-threat ability, he has the benefit of putting up eye-popping numbers, which has helped the likes of Lamar Jackson win the award in the past. With the Commanders owning the third-most amount of cap space and plenty of draft capital to further build around him, he should have a better roster at his disposal in 2025. On top of new additions to the roster, it shouldn’t be overlooked that Daniels will continue to have offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury in his ear after forgoing head-coaching opportunities this cycle. That should only help as Daniels steps into Year 2.

There are tons of reasons why Daniels should be a favorite in 2025. Look how much he accomplished with a roster around him that many believed wouldn’t win more than seven or eight games. The Commanders won 14 games, including the playoffs.

---

Commanders Wire

What occurs if Commanders lose QB Marcus Mariota to free agency?

Before you reflexively reply that Jeff Driskel could handle the job as Daniels’ backup, be aware that Driskel is also an unrestricted free agent. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that both could be offered a raise and depart the Commanders and Daniels.

The Commanders will need to be looking to sign a QB(s) whose market value and role correspond as a backup to Daniels.

Are there connections to Peters or OC Klint Kingsbury? Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo were both in San Francisco with Peters.

Surely some team looking for a possible starter would sign Justin Fields? Might Joshua Dobbs be interested in coming to Ashburn?

Might Daniel Jones be willing to take on such a role as a supportive backup?

---

Riggo’s Rag

Michael Deiter and 4 Commanders players who won’t be missed in 2025

More changes are coming to the Commanders’ roster this offseason.

K.J. Osborn – Commanders WR

The Commanders had to think on their feet after Noah Brown suffered a serious internal injury in Week 13 against the Tennessee Titans. Those in power struck with conviction to scoop K.J. Osborn off waivers following his release by the New England Patriots.

Osborn has talent. He was a respectable contributor during his time with the Minnesota Vikings, taking advantage of the one-on-one opportunities with the likes of Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson taking the focus. This earned him a deal with the Patriots, but the relationship soured quickly.

Most fans were expecting Osborn to make an impression. The Commanders desperately needed someone to step up and become a complimentary piece opposite Terry McLaurin. As it turned out, that was Dyami Brown.

The North Carolina product came to the fore at an important time. Brown rose to the occasion and emerged as a trusted target for Jayden Daniels down the stretch. This continued into the postseason, leaving Osborn on the inactive players list as a result.

Washington must find more productive pass-catchers for Daniels this offseason. McLaurin is a star, but everything is uncertain aside from that. Whichever way Adam Peters decides to go, those plans won’t include Osborn following his non-existent contribution in difficult circumstances.

---

Podcasts & videos

---

NFC East links

NFL.com

Eagles’ Milton Williams would ‘love to be back in Philadelphia’ but ‘obviously’ wants raise

The 6-foot-3 Williams offers excellent burst and strength to get upfield, playing behind the line. The question for evaluators is, after being a rotational player for four seasons, can he handle the workload that would come with big money? With his career-high 5-sack 2024 season coming next to Jalen Carter, can he thrive against more double teams? — Williams saw a 36.3% double-team rate in 2024, the fourth-highest on the Eagles, per Next Gen Stats, well behind Carter’s 50.1%.

“Wherever I end up, if it’s here or wherever, just get guys to buy into the togetherness and not being selfish and not hating on one another and fighting over who get the stats or the sacks or whatever,” Williams said. “Really, just being together.

“You saw in the Super Bowl, everybody was out there making plays. So when we’re all together, everybody playing free, fast, and we just want to win at the end of the day. That’s what we did.”

Williams picked the perfect time to have a career-best season as a key member of a championship team before hitting free agency. He should be one of the top defensive playmakers to hit the open market come March.

---

---

NFL league links

Articles

Pro Football Rumors

Free Agent Stock Watch: Ronnie Stanley

After taking a $7.5MM pay cut ahead of the 2024 season, left tackle Ronnie Stanley started every game for the first time in his career and earned Pro Bowl honors as a crucial piece of the Ravens’ league-leading offense.

Stanley bounced back in 2024, starting all 17 games with a career-high 1,089 snaps. The 2016 first-round pick is still not the dominant pass protector that earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2019, but he is clearly one of the more capable left tackles in the NFL. Given the league’s scarcity at the position, Stanley will likely draw a strong market in free agency.

The Ravens may not let him get that far. Baltimore used the sixth overall pick – the franchise’s highest selection since 2000 – on Stanley in 2016 and signed him to a five-year, $98.75MM extension just three days before his 2020 injury. He has been the team’s preferred left tackle for his entire career when healthy, including the duration of the Lamar Jackson era.

With Mekari also hitting free agency, the Ravens have an uncertain future at the position. They could flip second-year tackle Roger Rosengarten to the blindside, but they would then have to replace him on the right side and deal with the bumps of two new starters on the offensive line. Re-signing Stanley would allow them to bring some continuity into 2025 and keep Rosengarten in the spot where he showed tremendous growth as a rookie.

Stanley will likely be seeking upwards of $20MM per year after Garett Bolles signed a $20.5MM APY extension with the Broncos in December. Given his injury history and struggles against elite competition like Myles Garrett and Trey Hendrickson in 2024, Stanley will likely find it difficult to break into the top tier of left tackle contracts at $22MM APY and above.

Unlike last year’s tackle-rich draft class, the 2025 draft has just two surefire first-round tackles: Will Campbell out of LSU and Kelvin Banks Jr. out of Texas. Neither is expected to fall to the Ravens at the 27th overall pick, and general manager Eric DeCosta is extremely unlikely to trade up. Re-signing Stanley has long seemed like Baltimore’s best and most likely option, though the team was willing to gamble with their offensive line last year.

---

33rd Team

2025 NFL Free Agency: Predicting This Year’s Mega-Contracts

Byron Murphy, CB, Minnesota Vikings

Projected Contract: 3 years, $50 million ($16.6M/year)

Cornerback is another spot that lacks depth in free agency, but Byron Murphy could benefit from that in a big way this offseason. Murphy had a career-high six interceptions with the Vikings this season, playing on the outside and in the slot.

Murphy has dealt with some injuries in the past, but he has 79 career starts in six seasons, and he just turned 27. The fact that he has this much experience but is still this young bodes well for his chances in free agency.

Don’t expect him to earn a record-breaking deal or anything like that. Still, somewhere between $15-$17 million per season is about right for Murphy.

---

The Athletic (paywall)

Potential NFL salary-cap cuts for all 32 teams: From Cooper Kupp to Davante Adams and more

Washington Commanders: Jonathan Allen, DT

One season remains on Allen’s four-year, $72 million extension. The terms included a $22.47 million salary-cap hit but only a $6 million dead-cap charge. Washington has significant cap room regardless, but it also has DT Daron Payne counting north of $20 million and an Allen replacement in 2024 second-rounder Johnny Newton on the roster. Allen’s streak of healthy seasons ended with a pectoral tear, though he surprisingly returned before the playoff run. His power and pass rushing would be missed. However, his sack totals have declined annually since recording nine in 2021, and he is entering his age 30-season. — Ben Standig

---

Pro Football Focus

One underrated 2025 NFL free agent at every defensive position

Edge Defender: Joshua Uche

Overall Free-Agent Rank: 94

The Michigan product had a breakout season in 2022, when he earned an eighth-ranked 87.8 PFF pass-rushing grade (among 100 qualifying edge defenders that season) and recorded a second-ranked 21.1% pressure rate at the position.

Even though Uche was a one-dimensional player who only contributed on pass plays, that made him a valuable piece who consistently manufactured pressure on third downs. But Uche’s career since then has taken a downturn, and even a mid-season trade to the Chiefs in 2024 didn’t help. Regardless, Uche is only 26 years old, and his previously displayed potential should encourage a team to bet on him.

---

Discussion topics

---

All aTwitter