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Daily Slop – 28 Mar 25: Most improved NFL teams, season win total odds, and ending the tush push

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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

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Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)

NFL Draft Profile: DE Shemar Stewart

One of the most polarizing prospects in this draft class is Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart. Some analysts have him as one of their top 15 players in this draft class while others don’t see him as a first rounder at all. Stewart is so divisive because he’s one of the classic traits vs production type players while also falling into the workout warrior vs football player debate too. When you start looking into Stewart, it’s easy to see why he causes so much debate.

If you look at his combine measurements – 6-foot-5, 267 pounds, 34-inch arms – he looks like what you would build on Madden as a prototype for a defensive end. Then you look at his performance in athletic testing drills at the combine, it gets even more enticing. Stewart ran a 4.59 40-yard dash, fourth among defensive ends this year and the three that were ahead of him all weighed 10-20 pounds less than him. His 10-yard split was 1.58, which ranked third among defensive ends. James Pearce Jr. was the fastest and he ran a 1.56 10-yard split with 20 pounds less weight on his frame. He also ranked second among defensive ends with a 40-inch vertical jump and was the top performer in the broad jump, which are drills to test explosiveness.

On paper and in the gym, Stewart has everything NFL teams are looking for from a defensive end in terms of physical profile. However, If you then look at his production from college, you get a completely different story. Stewart had 4.5 sacks total across three seasons at Texas A&M. That’s an average of just 1.5 sacks per season. Now sacks aren’t the most effective way of measuring the production and effectiveness of a pass rusher, but you would still expect a player of his athletic profile to have accumulated far more sacks than that in three years.

Already then, it’s clear to see why Stewart is such a debated prospect. But we’ve only looked at athletic testing numbers and box scores so far. The most important part of any evaluation is the film. So what does the tape say about Stewart’s athletic profile vs his production? Well, it’s mixed. I think a lot of people will see what they want to see when studying Stewart’s play from college. There certainly are reps where he looks fantastic and dominates a play, but there’s also reps where he looks like a player nowhere near ready to be a first round pick.

Here is a play that shows the raw potential of Stewart. He works against the Notre Dame left tackle on this play and displays a lot of the traits you’re looking for in an NFL pass rusher. Stewart comes off the snap with good burst, accelerating up the field before throwing a euro-step at the left tackle. That jab step inside forces the tackle to stop his momentum and shift his weight to his inside foot to prepare for the threat of an inside rush.

With the tackle working inside, Stewart suddenly bursts to the edge, dipping low under the outside hand of the tackle and bending around the edge. The left tackle grabs on and frankly tackles him but somehow doesn’t get called for a holding penalty. Stewart can’t quite get to the quarterback as a result, but the pressure was absolutely felt and forced the quarterback to get rid of the ball in a hurry.

Commanders.com

Five things to know about DE Jacob Martin

“My role is whatever they ask me to do.”

Martin was one of the many players Washington signed this offseason to shore up its run defense and put more pressure on quarterbacks. The team hasn’t given him any specifics on how he’ll fit into their plans, but he’s eager to contribute to the defense’s improvements, regardless of what that means for him.

“My role is whatever they ask me to do,” Martin said. “I’ve played enough ball in multiple…schemes. I’m fairly versatile on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams.”

Martin said he’s willing to come off the edge as a third-down pass-rusher for work inside on first and second downs. He might have to do both, because the Commanders have a need to bolster both areas. While the team became one of the best stories in the NFL last season for winning gritty games, its defense had some glaring weaknesses, particularly when it came to stopping running backs. It was solid at rushing passers in 2024 but still needed depth.

Fortunately, Martin has experience in both areas and is excited to add his skill set to what already exists in Washington. And after seeing how the team played last season, he wants to be part of the next chapter.

“It’s a hot team right now,” Martin said. “You’ve got a lot of talented players, dudes that are hungry … You can feel the energy the guys play with. You can feel the hunger that they play with.”

NFL.com

Who’s had the best 2025 NFL offseason? Patriots, Bears among 5 teams deserving of extra praise

There are teams that simply got better (Patriots) or improved their chances of getting into the playoffs (Bears), but the one team that made the moves to actually earn a trip to the Super Bowl was Washington. The Super Bowl timeline accelerated instantly with Jayden Daniels orchestrating the offense, evidenced by the Commanders’ trip to the NFC Championship Game in his rookie season. This offseason, they made trades for elite players at key positions, bringing in offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Deebo Samuel. The Commanders also re-signed veteran contributors like Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner and offset their own free agent losses with smart signings, including defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw and safety Will Harris.

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Sports Illustrated

Russell Wilson Complete Contract Details After Signing With New York Giants

• Russell Wilson’s 1-year, $10.5 million deal includes an $8 million signing bonus, $2 million fully guaranteed and a $500,000 workout bonus. Then there are a ton of incentives for performance and playing time.

• Wilson can make up to $2.5 million in play-time incentives. If he plays 65% of the snaps he’ll get $500,000. He’ll get an extra million if he plays 75% of the snaps and $1.5 million for 85%.

• The contract includes up to $2.5 million in performance incentives. He’ll get $500,000 if he has a passer rating above 96.0 and $500,000 for a 64%+ completion percentage. He’s also able to earn $500,000 if he throws 20+ touchdowns and has a passer rating over 88. Then another $250,000 if he throws 30+ touchdowns with a passer rating of over 88. He can also earn $500,000 if he throws for over 2,500 yards with a passer rating of 88+ and yet another $250,000 if he throws for more than 3,500 yards with a passer rating over 88.

• If Wilson leads the Giants to the playoffs he can earn up to $2.5 million in playoff incentives. If he plays 55% of the snaps and the Giants make the playoffs, he’ll get another $750,000. If he plays 75% of the snaps and the Giants make the playoffs he’ll get $1.5 million. If he plays 55% of the snaps and the Giants win a playoff game he’ll add another $500,000. A second playoff win will earn him an extra $500,000.

• Finally, he can get up to $3 million in win incentives. For any game where he plays more than 50% of the snaps and the Giants win he’ll get another $176,470.59.

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Pro Football Talk

Will there be enough votes to kill the tush push?

If the league wants to get rid of the tush push, the simplest fix would be to revert to the pre-2006 rulebook, which prohibited both pulling and pushing of the ballcarrier. Alternatively, pushing of the ballcarrier could be banned within the tackle box. Or within two yards of the line of scrimmage.

We’re mentioning it because of this observation about a tush-push ban from Dianna Russini of TheAthletic.com: “I feel like it’s getting more momentum in terms of those opposed to it than I’ve ever heard before.”

That’s all relative, of course. If there’s never been much momentum against the play (and there hasn’t been), any momentum would be more than ever before.

All that matters for present purposes is 24. Is there a proposal, any proposal, that would get 24 owners to support it. Most importantly, would that proposal truly ban the maneuver?

The Packers’ proposal would merely delay it. If there are 24 owners who want to get rid of it entirely, it would be very easy to do it. The fact that there’s no clean and simple and direct proposal that would ban the play suggests that the league remains a long way away from having the requisite 24 votes.

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Athlon Sports

Here’s Why Waiting for Arch Manning Would Be a Mistake

No group of players has been harder to accurately assess than next year’s quarterbacks. That’s because they’re myths. In every sport, we get over-excited about potential and underestimate actual production.

But the bigger problem with the “Tank for Arch” plan is that he might not be in next year’s class. There’s a very good chance Arch will return to the University of Texas.

Arch Manning didn’t wait two years behind Quinn Ewers just to start for one season in Austin. He and his family chose Texas because he wants to make his mark on college football. Arch could have gone almost anywhere and started immediately. He chose a situation that would help him maximize his college football potential.

Manning’s Uncle Peyton famously stayed at Tennessee until his senior season and Uncle Eli played four years at Mississippi. Like Arch, they were in an economic position to wait on the NFL. For Arch, the financial decision is even easier. He’s already earning over $6 million per year in NIL. He could make $10-$15 million if he stayed for his redshirt junior season.

Arch, and other top prospects, can afford to be picky about when they leave for the NFL. If a team tanks this season, it could create an atmosphere that isn’t attractive enough to draw Arch away from Texas. As NIL grows exponentially, colleges will be able to compete with the pros for the best 21-year-old players.

Perhaps the Giants — because of the Eli connection — or Arch’s hometown Saints would be exceptions and lure him to go pro next spring. But even those teams might not seem so appealing if they win just one or two games this season. The Mannings may have loyalty but they also want a situation in which he can thrive. Arch didn’t go to Tennessee or Ole Miss like his uncles and he didn’t stay in state at LSU. He went outside the family circle because he wanted to play for head coach Steve Sarkisian.

If Arch did go pro after next season, he would have to buck a recent trend of one-year starters who’ve struggled in the NFL. As CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd laid out, quarterbacks are well served to get more college games under their belt. Trey Lance, Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins and Mitchell Trubisky are the most recent players to make that jump. While Murray has had some success, the only true superstar to follow that path was Cam Newton in 2011.

Manning turns 20 on April 27. Even if he wins the Heisman this season, he’d still enter the NFL light on experience. He must feel confident that he’d be a top pick no matter when he comes out, so he might as well continue to hone his skills.

All aTwitter

“This is just a special place…the owners were texting me and asking about the baby boy. It is unbelievable,” Tress said, as Grant relayed his own personal experiences with the new ownership versus Dan Snyder. “When the news broke that I had agreed to the terms of a new deal, (Mitch Rales) texted me immediately, but on the signing, we walk in, and the kids have become a hit.Our three oldest are old enough to be hilarious and cute and all over the place, but they had contracts for them to sign, with like their names on them. So they signed them, and Mitch texts me them signing their contract, not me signing my contract. He texts me my kids signing their contract, and he’s like, ‘this is what it’s all about.’”