Tag: Daron Payne

Takeaways and observations from Ravens first joint practice with Commanders

We’re looking at takeaways and observations from the Baltimore #Ravens first joint practice with the Washington Commanders via @Thacover2NFL

The Ravens and Commanders squared off for their first of two joint practices Tuesday and the rivals didn’t hold back any intensity or physical play.

There were scuffles in the later portions of practice, and deep balls galore from star quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“That’s the bottom line; we got a lot of work done,” Harbaugh said. “Joint practices are a challenge, always, obviously, because you’ve got two teams out here, and there is a lot of pride. I thought it was a really good practice. We had a couple dust-ups, which you don’t want to see, but it’s not really unexpected. I thought they got handled pretty quickly.”

With Day 2 of practice set to begin shortly, here are takeaways and observations from Day 1.

Highlights and notes from Ravens first joint practice with Commanders

We’re looking at highlights and notes from the first joint practice between the Baltimore #Ravens and Washington Commanders via @thacover2NFL

The Ravens and Commanders just commenced a scrappy, physical joint training camp practice in Baltimore on Tuesday morning.

Lamar Jackson and Odell Beckham continue to build chemistry, connecting on a deep passing attempt early-on.

Washington rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes plays with an edge and SEC swagger, getting involved in two training camp scuffles.

With the two teams set to practice again on Wednesday, we’re looking at highlights and notes from Day 1.

15 Commanders to watch during joint practices with the Ravens

We’re looking at 15 Washington Commanders during joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens and Commanders are set for two days of joint practices ahead of Monday’s second preseason game for both clubs.

There’s star power at multiple positions on both sides of the football, but there are also several intriguing position battles to monitor.

Baltimore will look to continue the momentum from Saturday night’s 20-19 home win over the defending NFC champion Eagles.

With the first practice underway, here are 15 players from Washington’s rebuilding roster to watch.

Washington DL Jonathan Allen ranked No. 52 in 2023 NFL Top 100

Former Alabama DL Jonathan Allen ranked as the No. 52 overall player in the NFL

The Washington Commanders have found a ton of success in the NFL draft with Alabama players in recent years, especially on the defensive line. In 2017, Washington selected Jonathan Allen No. 17 overall, then a year later they selected Daron Payne No. 13 overall. Both have been Pro Bowl-level players and have each earned second contracts with the franchise.

Allen is coming off his best year as a professional where he posted 65 tackles, 7.5 sacks, two fumbles forced and an interception. As a result, his NFL peers have voted him as one of the top 100 players in the NFL, No. 52 overall to be exact. Since entering the league, Allen has consistently been one of the top five best interior defensive linemen in the league.

With new ownership in Washington, Allen is going to be a foundation piece they continue to build around for years to come. At only 28 years old, Allen still has a lot of high-level football left to play and he deserves the opportunity to be on a playoff-contending team.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

New Netflix docu-series teases hilarious Daron Payne interaction

Daron Payne’s hilarious clip in new Netflix documentary “Quarterback”

On July 12th, Netflix debuted a new docu-series called “Quarterback” which follows three starting quarterbacks in the NFL and pulls the curtains back to see their lives more day-to-day and get some behind-the-scenes coverage of what it’s like to live the life of an NFL QB. The debut season is covering the Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings and Marcus Mariota of the Atlanta Falcons.

Outside of getting to go behind the scenes and getting to see their lives outside football, it is a chance to see them mic’d up on the football field. The quarterbacks go back and forth arguing with defenders and the show really helps shed a light on the passion these guys have for the sport. It has not been announced who the show will follow in 2023 yet.

One of the funniest clips from the first season includes former Alabama defensive lineman, Daron Payne The Commands are hosting the Vikings and Cousins is dropping back in the pocket, he releases a deep bomb to Justin Jefferson, but as he releases the ball Payne breaks through the offensive linemen and smokes Cousins. You can see Cousins on the ground as the wind is knocked out of him.

As Daron Payne gets up off the turf, he taps Cousins on the behind and says, “You’ll be alright!” Right after Payne makes that comment, the medical team rushes out onto to field. Cousins was okay after the hit which makes the interaction okay to laugh about, but it shows the humor on that field that the viewer would typically miss out on.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Raiders falling behind rest of NFL in valuing defensive tackles

NFL teams have figured out that defensive tackle is a valuable position. Then there’s the Raiders…

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Today Quinnen Williams became that latest pocket crashing defensive tackle to cash in with a big time extension.

This offseason alone has seen massive paydays for some dominant interior defensive linemen. Williams is merely the most recent. Here’s the full list:

Quinnen Williams: four-year, $96 million
Jeffery Simmons: four-year, $94 million
Daron Payne: four-year, $90 million
Dexter Lawrence: four-year $90 million
Javon Hargrave: four-year, $84 million
Ed Oliver: four-year, $68 million

Others expected to get the bag this offseason include Chris Jones, Christian Wilkins, and DJ Reader.

That would be nine defensive tackles getting major money. And it shows how much the NFL values dominant defensive tackles.

Then there’s the Raiders…

When’s the last time you saw the Raiders place much of any real value on the defensive tackle spot? The closest you will see these days is picking through the free agent scrap heap. Something they didn’t even do this offseason, sticking with the latest underachievers in Bilal Nichols and Jerry Tillery.

Five of the defensive tackles who either have received a big new deals or who are about to get one were selected in the first round of the 2019 draft — Williams, Simmons, Lawrence, Oliver, and Wilkins.

All but Williams were on the board when the Raiders wasted their fourth overall pick on Clelin Ferrell.

On that note, does anyone remember the last time the Raiders spent a first round pick on a defensive tackle? That would be 1997 when they selected Darrell Russell at number two overall. That’s 26 years, folks.

Since then the highest Raiders drafted DT’s to play for the team have been second rounders PJ Hall (57 overall) in 2018 and Lamarr Houston (44 overall) in 2010.

That means the last time the Raiders made a big investment of any kind in a defensive tackle was 2009 when they acquired Richard Seymour in trade with the Patriots. They got 3.5 years out of him before he hung up his cleats in 2012.

That’s more than a decade I’ve been screaming from the rooftops that the Raiders needed to make the interior defensive line a priority and they simply have not.

The best defensive tackles they had the past ten years was the group they fielded in 2021, when they took fliers on a bunch of castoffs and got lucky with a couple of them. And wouldn’t you know it, they had their best overall defense (14th in yards allowed) in a decade and made the playoffs. Then they let all of them leave the following offseason. And back to the 28th ranked defense.

It’s as if dominant defensive tackles make a big difference in the play of a defense. Crazy, right?

Not sure what needs to be said to convince the Raiders of what the rest of the league seems to have already figured out.

The NFL’s 11 best interior defensive linemen

From Vita Vea to Chris Jones, here’s Doug Farrar’s list of the 11 best interior defensive linemen in the NFL today.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That simple truth is important for the purposes of our list of the NFL’s best interior defensive linemen because we’re in a league where quick-game passing concepts are perhaps more prevalent than ever. And with those zero- and one-stop drops, and one- to three-level RPOs, your edge-rushers aren’t always going to get to the quarterback in time.

So, it behooves your NFL franchise to develop as much interior pressure as possible. That’s where the straight line comes in.

In a recent episode of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell,” Greg and I got into the traits for every player aligned to every gap along the defensive line, and those big guys getting to the quarterback made up a big part of that.

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The attributes required to make our list of the best interior definitive linemen coming into the 2023 season are as follows:

  • Gap versatility is an absolute must. If you can only win from one or two gaps, especially if those gaps are right next to each other… well, that’s nice, but we’re looking for more.
  • You must have different ways to get to the ball, and if you’re too reliant on schemes and stunts and those around you, that’s a debit. We need guys who can do it all without help all the time.
  • When we’re talking about inside guys, the ability to stop the run obviously becomes more important and is more paramount. Defenders with high stop rates will find that paying off on this list.

So, here’s our list of the 11 best interior defensive linemen in the NFL today. You can read the rest of our position lists linked below, leading up to our list of the 101 best players in the NFL today.

The NFL’s top 11 edge defenders
The NFL’s top 11 linebackers
The NFL’s top 11 slot defenders
The NFL’s top 11 cornerbacks
The NFL’s top 11 safeties

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated). 

Javon Hargrave is paying close attention to the Daron Payne contract

Daron Payne’s new deal just threw a wrench into free agency plans everywhere as he raises the defensive tackle market.

As NFL free agency nears, the Cleveland Browns and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave have been consistently linked. However, after fellow defensive tackle, Daron Payne gets a new contract on the eve of legal tampering day, NFL teams can now expect to offer a higher figure to lure free agents to their team. And Hargrave knows this.

The Washington Commanders have forked out $90 million to Payne over four years, with $60 million guaranteed after placing the franchise tag on him. PFF had Hargrave’s market set at $18.33 million annually, but now thanks to the Commanders and Payne, he too may be looking for $22.5 million annually.

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How Daron Payne’s 4-year, $90M deal with Commanders impacts Javon Hargrave

The Washington Commanders have reached an agreement today on a four-year, $90 million deal with Daron Payne and we’re looking at how that impacts Javon Hargrave

Daron Payne just got paid and may have ensured that Javon Hargrave won’t be returning to the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Washington Commanders agreed to a 4-year, $90 million deal with the 25-year-old defensive tackle.

The $22.5 million per year puts Payne behind only Aaron Donald on the list of highest-paid defensive tackles and exceeds the $18.9 million franchise tag he would have played on in 2023.

With the legal tampering period set to get underway on Monday and the new league year set for Wednesday afternoon, we’re looking at how Payne’s new deal impacts Hargrave.

Lamar Jackson among franchise-tagged players in 2023

Here are the six players who received the franchise tag in 2023.

The deadline to apply the franchise tag tender on pending 2023 free agents has passed, and six players across the league were on the receiving end.

While the Indianapolis Colts were among the rest of the teams who opted not to use the tender—a streak extended to 10 years now—there were some big names who received the franchise tag before Tuesday’s deadline.

Players have until the middle of July to sign the tender or negotiate a contract extension with their current teams. It should be noted that all six players received the non-exclusive franchise tag. That means other teams can negotiate a contract, but the team applying the tag can match or they will be compensated with two first-round picks in exchange.

Here’s a quick look at the six players who received the franchise in 2023: