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USA Today
3 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Terry McLaurin's contract frustration with Commanders is too familiar for comfort
2024 was the season the Washington Commanders turned a corner. In one postseason, the franchise won as many playoff games under team owner Josh Harris as it had in 24 years under reviled former boss Dan Snyder. This should have created a foundation of optimism for a once glorious, then laughable franchise. But all is not well in the nation's capital. That's where Terry McLaurin comes in. He played the first four seasons of his NFL career as a flower rising from Snyder's toxic swamp. He was vital to the team's rise in 2024, earning his first All-Pro honor thanks to a fifth-straight season with at least 1,000 receiving yards. If anyone had cause to be hopeful, it was the young veteran who churned through the muck and escaped to sunshine for a team capable of making it to the NFC Conference Championship. McLaurin, however, is not happy. Per reporter Jordan Schultz, McLaurin left Commanders' voluntary team activities this week as he angles toward a new contract. His prior deal, a three-year, $68.4 million extension of his rookie contract, expires after 2025. With his age 30 season approaching and one more big payday coming, McLaurin wants to cash in the sweat equity he's poured into a franchise that's risen from also-ran to legitimate contender. Washington isn't biting yet. There's logic to not paying future money for past success and reason for concern when it comes to an aging wideout. The Commanders have purposefully built one of the oldest rosters in the league. They just traded for Deebo Samuel, a player roughly the same age as McLaurin with more mileage under his belt despite playing fewer games (634 NFL touches to McLaurin's 556). With Samuel's contract similarly set to expire next spring, the team is creating a scenario where it can walk away from its aging playmakers and aim for a soft reset around reigning offensive rookie of the year Jayden Daniels. McLaurin, however, has shown few signs of slowing down. Pairing him with an above average quarterback for the first time in his NFL career pushed him to a career-best 70.4 percent catch rate despite the second-longest average target depth (13.4 yards downfield) of his career. His yards per route run (YPRR) went from 1.65 in 2023 with Sam Howell slinging him passes to 2.38 in 2014 -- 12th-best in the NFL. Daniels' passer rating when targeting him, crucially, was a sterling 133.0. Letting McLaurin twist in the wind would make sense if he showed any signs of decline. But even as his 30th birthday approaches he's remained great. Vitally, he's played all 17 regular season games each of the last four seasons and has only missed three games in his NFL career. He's also incredibly important inside the 20; 106 NFL wideouts ran at least 25 routes inside the red zone last season. McLaurin's 1.72 YPRR ranks eighth. His 10 red zone receiving touchdowns were the most in the league. This is not a man the Commanders should be antagonizing after briefly scraping the face of competence. Yet, here we are, with a reportedly disgruntled All-Pro leaving offseason workouts and potentially considering a hold-in. This isn't what we expected from Josh Harris', playoff-game-winning Washington team. It's what we expected from Dan Snyder's. And you never want to be compared to Dan Snyder unless it's an argument about yacht size.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
49ers Brock Purdy Signing Concern Detailed In New Rumor Update
One of the biggest stories of the NFL offseason has been the contract extension saga between Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers. Purdy has reportedly been seeking a salary north of $60 million. Multiple reports have come out suggesting the two sides have been talking and discussing, but nothing imminent. Meanwhile, The Athletic's Dianna Russini revealed on her Scoop City Podcast that she believes the Niners and Purdy could be much closer to making a deal than we believe. Advertisement 'I think there's some talk out there that they're far apart on this and that this is going to take a while. I don't get that sense. The sense that I'm getting is that they're closer than what we think. I don't believe Brock Purdy shows up for OTAs if he doesn't feel good that they're near a number that he's happy with. That's how it usually works with players." Russini said. "Very rarely are guys showing up if they're that far apart. To me, that action alone tells me they're close, but also, doing some digging on it, I think this is still moving in a really good direction. "I don't think there should be any concern.' We don't agree that a lack of a holdout is a sign of a deal. Advertisement Nor do we share The Athletic's view of "non-concern.'' But "closer'' is optimistic enough for now. Purdy has become one of the best stories in all of sports. Selected with the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, "Mr. Irrelevant" has led the Niners to a Super Bowl appearance and an additional NFC Conference Championship appearance. In his three years in the NFL, all with the Niners, Purdy has thrown for 9,518 yards and 64 touchdowns to just 27 interceptions. As a starter in the regular season, Purdy sports a career 23-13 record. Purdy was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2023, finishing fourth in MVP voting. Advertisement In the playoffs, Purdy has a 4-2 career record, throwing for 1,343 yards and six touchdowns with just one interception. Purdy's rookie scale contract has been one of the best value contracts in the NFL. His salary was less than $1 million in each of his first three NFL seasons, and has a base salary of just $5,346,000 in 2025, per Spotrac. Related: 49ers Trade of George Kittle Offered Revealed in Shocker Related: 49ers Draft Ranking May Surprise Fans
Miami Herald
28-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
NFL franchise announces $3 billion deal for a new home
Outside of the military, nowhere in professional society is hierarchy more rigid than in sports. While board members and shareholders can shuffle C-suite executives in and out as they please, NFL teams and their fan bases are, for the most part, stuck with the person who owns the team in perpetuity. Don't miss the move: SIGN UP for TheStreet's FREE Daily newsletter Owning an NFL franchise is one of the most secure investments a wealthy person can make. The average NFL franchise more than doubled in value between 2018 and 2024. The average value of the NFL's 32 franchises is now $6.5 billion, according to CNBC, thanks to lucrative television and sponsorship deals and a level of popularity the league has never experienced. Unfortunately for the ultra-wealthy, there are only 32 opportunities to get a majority stake in an NFL franchise. Plus, every single owner knows exactly the type of cash cow the NFL is and would never voluntarily sell. Related: Houston sports nightmare worsens with shocking NFL trade Not only that, but the process for gaining entry as one of the 32 is also extremely arduous. Barriers to entry are high because acceptance into the ownership group is basically a lifetime appointment. It takes something scandalously egregious to oust an NFL owner, and the league often closes ranks when one of its own is in trouble. Despite all of these protections, the Washington Commanders (formerly Washington Redskins) were finally able to oust their owner, Daniel Snyder. Nearly 30 years of embarrassing futility had dropped to the middle of the pack a franchise that was once top-3 in terms of valuation. When Washington-area native Josh Harris purchased the Washington Commanders from Dan Snyder and his associates for $6 billion in 2023, most fans were ready to say sayonara to Snyder as he sailed away on his megayacht. Many felt that the new ownership group could finally turn around the moribund franchise that was the NFL's gold standard during its heyday in the late '80s and early '90s. Harris' group has done just that, putting together a front office full of young executives like Adam Peters that is turning into the envy of the league. Image source:The team has also upgraded facilities at its headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia, and its nearly 30-year-old stadium in Landover, Maryland. Fans have certainly noticed the difference, and so have the players on the field. Every year, the NFL Players Union produces a report card. It's a survey ranking each team based on how players in the locker room feel about their franchises. After finishing dead last for two years, the Commanders jumped to 11th in 2024, with players pointing to new head coach Dan Quinn as the key to the turnaround in sentiment. His leadership and team building led the Commanders to 12 regular-season wins (the most the team has had this century) and a trip to the NFC Conference Championship game. However, the players also pointed to upgrades in the team's food program, increases in family events, daycare provisions during home games, and improvements in team travel. Related: Boston Celtics secure another title after championship run Players say the team lacks in one area, however: the facilities. Northwest Stadium opened in 1997 and is one of the older buildings in the league, but bombshell news just revealed that the Harris group is planning to address this issue in a big way as well. The Washingon Redskins moved to Northwest Stadium in Maryland after playing their final game at RFK Memorial Stadium (less than 10 miles away in Southeast Washington D.C.) in 1996. RFK Stadium opened in 1961. Nearly 30 years later, the team announced plans to return to their old stomping grounds. After months of negotiations, the Harris group and the DC government finally have an agreement on what to do with the 174-acre site on the banks of the Anacostia River. "We have 180 acres of opportunity on the banks of the Anacostia River, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, sandwiched between Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at a press conference on Monday. Oakland has lost three major sports franchises over the past few years: the Raiders, Athletics, and Warriors. Citizens and their elected officials there do not want to subsidize municipal works for billionaires who can afford to finance them independently. Mayor Bowser has a different take, often touting the power of the sports economy to transform her city. In a post on X, she said, "In 2006, D.C. made a bold investment of $611M to build a new stadium on a vacant lot. Today, that neighborhood has over 85 restaurants, 6,500 residences, and five hotels. That's what we mean when we talk about a sports economy." D.C. will pay $500 million for horizontal stadium construction, Events D.C. will pay $181 million, and the city will pay $175 million to build event parking garages that will be under the city's control once they're finished. The team will pay the rest of the $2.7 billion freight, bringing the project's total cost to nearly $3.6 billion. The stadium itself will only be 15% of the total project, with the site also featuring food, entertainment, and housing. Harris announced that the team would be making the largest private investment in Washington, D.C. history, with a target to open the new stadium by 2030. She called Josh Harris the right partner at the right time after saying she's been working on bringing the Washington team back to D.C. for 10 years. Goodell said the new stadium would dramatically increase Washington, D.C.'s chances of hosting the Super Bowl someday. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
New York Times
26-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
S2 Cognition testing: How NFL teams use it to evaluate draft prospects
With the NFL Scouting Combine set to begin Thursday and run through the weekend, teams are in the midst of evaluating hundreds of college players in hopes of unearthing future NFL stars. While 40-yard dash times, bench press totals and anecdotes from private meetings will be thoroughly reviewed, one of the most recent evaluation metrics — the S2 Cognition test — has a bit of a complicated history. Advertisement And while the current collective bargaining agreement bars S2 from testing players at the NFL combine, prospects know that it could be a part of additional testing done after the combine at all-star games, pro days and top-30 visits. Within the last decade, teams have used the S2 Cognition test to measure how quickly the brain can process information in real time. Wonderlic — the previous benchmark for measuring cognition during the NFL combine — more closely resembles a standardized test, but the S2 Cognition test is a 40- to 45-minute exam made up of eight tests of nine cognitive functions, which are graded separately. Using a specialized laptop and response pad, athletes run through tests such as keeping track of multiple objects and identifying designated shapes in a crowd to track perception speed, search efficiency, improvisation and spatial memory, among other categories. Additionally, unlike the Wonderlic test, the S2 is an evaluation that can't be prepared for. 'Things are happening at speeds that are very different than what you do in everyday interactions,' S2 Cognition co-founder Scott Wylie told The Athletic in 2023. 'These guys, it's incredible. Their brains are wired to do things most human beings don't appreciate and can't do. They are really at the upper extreme with some of these brains. You can imagine how that gives them huge advantages on the football field if they can see things a tick quicker, when you can anticipate with higher accuracy better than most, when you can process, recognize and track things with better precision and effectiveness. 'That's what we're getting at, those intangible qualities that lead to terms like, 'Man, he's got a nose for the ball.' That's what we're quantifying.' GO DEEPER Inside the S2 Cognition test that's transforming how NFL teams evaluate draft prospects The test is most commonly associated with quarterback performances. In 2022, Brock Purdy was praised for his performance in the examination. The last pick in the draft that year, Purdy was able to slot right into San Francisco's offense to finish the regular season 5-0 and lead the 49ers to the NFC Conference Championship. Neuroscientist Brandon Ally, co-founder of the S2, considers scores above the 80th percentile to be elite. He said Purdy finished somewhere in the 'mid-90s,' a score similar to that of Drew Brees, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in recent years. Advertisement Ally did not reveal the exact score because the scores are privileged information. Other athletes have chosen to reveal their scores — Joe Burrow scored in the 97th percentile on the exam during his draft process. Despite being most commonly associated with quarterbacks, the test is meant to evaluate all positions. The top performer in the exam in 2022 was Trent McDuffie, who went on to start in the next two Super Bowls at cornerback for Kansas City. Then-LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson scored 'off the charts' on the exam while still in college, scoring in the 92nd percentile on a chart normed for NFL talent. The secrecy around the scores also has its drawbacks. Prior to the 2023 draft, a report surfaced that quarterback C.J. Stroud performed poorly on the exam. With the No. 1 pick that year, the Carolina Panthers elected to draft Bryce Young, who scored in the 98th percentile. Stroud slipped to the second pick and was selected by the Houston Texans, where he went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, make his first career Pro Bowl and pick up a playoff win as a rookie. Young, while improving amid a struggling Panthers roster, has a career record of 6-22 through his first two seasons. 'I'm a football player. … I'm not an S2 taker,' Stroud said the day before he was drafted. 'But shout out to S2, man, they probably have a good system, what they do, no diss to them. But I know who I am, and I know what I can do on that field. And I'll do that at the next level. 'I don't think you can play at Ohio State and not be smart. At the end of the day, if you don't trust and believe in me, all I can tell you is: Watch this.' The Stroud-Young situation prompted some to reconsider the validity of these cognitive exams. Sports agency Athletes First, which represented nearly 30 draft-eligible players during the 2024 cycle, notified NFL teams last February that its clients would not participate in any cognitive exams. The agency is maintaining that stance in this year's draft. Advertisement S2 Cognition does not have a contract with the entire league, leading to a smaller sample size of potential participants. The collective bargaining agreement also bars S2 from testing players currently on NFL rosters. At most, the test currently exists as one of the many data points for teams to use in the evaluation process.
USA Today
25-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
5 trade destinations for Jonathan Allen, who wants to leave Washington NOW???
Jonathan Allen dealt with the muck. He kicked off the Washington Commanders' run of five straight seasons with a first round defensive pick in 2017. He was arguably the best of a bunch that included Montez Sweat, Daron Payne and Chase Young (decent!) as well as Jamin Davis (less so!). He was a trusted veteran under the most dysfunctional regime in the NFL, overseeing the defense through the end of Dan Snyder's disastrous ownership. Then came the light. Josh Harris bought the team, seemingly ending an era of harassment and alienating fans. Jayden Daniels brought deliverance from the second overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, rising to offensive rookie of the year honors. The Commanders won a pair of playoff games and advanced to the NFC Conference Championship for the first time since Color Me Badd was a pop radio mainstay. And now Allen wants out. The eight-year veteran was reportedly granted permission to seek a trade this offseason. It's tough timing, but it makes sense. He's in the final year of a four-year, $72 million contract extension. The Commanders just had their best season despite the fact he played just eight games. Allen wants another big money deal, likely the last of his career. Washington may not want to pay that as it continues a roster makeover under Harris and Dan Quinn, the head coach hired in 2024. Allen will be 30 years old in the 2025 season. He still has plenty to offer a team up front, though his list of suitors may not be filled with contenders. So who could want the two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle?
