Tag: free agency

PFF says Andrew Wylie is Commanders’ most underrated player

PFF says Andrew Wylie is underrated.

Who is the Washington Commanders’ most underrated player? If you ask 20 people, you’d likely get 15 different answers, but one answer you wouldn’t get is right tackle Andrew Wylie.

Pro Football Focus thinks otherwise.

PFF recently named one underrated player on all 32 NFL teams, and Wylie was Washington’s pick. Here’s what PFF said about Wylie:

Wylie came over from Kansas City with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to play right tackle for the Commanders. Although he gave up a sack in each of his first four games with Washington, Wylie got better as the season went on and eventually earned a 69.2 PFF overall grade — a career-high mark for him on his way to ranking 16th among right tackles.

PFF’s grading system is often controversial. The grades are helpful but don’t always tell the complete story. If you watched all 17 Washington games last season, you’d know Wylie wasn’t very good. Was he as bad as some fans thought? Maybe not, but it was difficult to call the right tackle position a strength.

General manager Adam Peters didn’t replace Wylie this offseason, and he had plenty of cap room to do so. Finding an answer at left tackle was a more significant issue, and the Commanders only addressed that by re-signing veteran swing tackle Cornelius Lucas and selecting Brandon Coleman in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Will Wylie be better in 2024? Peters and the new coaching staff believe so.

 

Former Panthers WR Damiere Byrd signing with Commanders

Former Panthers WR Damiere Byrd has landed in the nation’s capital.

Ron Rivera may be out from the nation’s capital, but perhaps Marty Hurney still has some pull within the Washington Commanders organization.

As first reported by Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz on Wednesday, the Commanders are signing former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Damiere Byrd.

Byrd initially joined the Panthers as an undrafted free agent out of the University of South Carolina in 2015. His first stint with the team lasted for three seasons, a run yielded 12 receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns over 17 games.

He’d move on to four different teams over the next four seasons—picking up stops with the Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons between 2019 and 2022.

The 30-year-old pass catcher rejoined the Panthers on a one-year deal last spring. Byrd would then be released in late August after sustaining a hamstring injury.

His most recent stop came with the Houston Texans, whom he joined during their playoff run this past January.

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Panthers GM Dan Morgan: ‘We’re still in contact with some other cornerbacks’

Dan Morgan on finding a No. 2 CB: “We’re still in contact with some other cornerbacks that you guys may know.”

The Carolina Panthers are still on the prowl.

President of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan joined WFNZ’s The Kyle Bailey Show on Tuesday to talk about his first offseason at the helm. Host Kyle Bailey asked Morgan if he’s hoping to find a more solidified starter at cornerback to pair with Jaycee Horn.

“You wish you could fix everything little thing in one offseason. But sometimes, that’s not the reality,” he replied. “Now, we’re gonna try to do so. But sometimes, it doesn’t always work out the way that you want it to.

“But we’re really excited about some of the guys that we do have on the roster. Dane Jackson—we signed him in free agency. We re-signed Troy Hill. We have D’Shawn Jamison. We have [Dicaprio] Bootle. So there’s some guys that we are excited about. But that’s not to say we’re not gonna be aggressive to attack the waiver wire. We’re still in contact with some other corners that you guys may know about.”

One of the guys we may know about is probably five-time Pro Bowler and 2019 Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore. The Rock Hill, S.C. native has been linked to the Panthers over the past handful of weeks, even by Morgan himself.

He continued.

“So, yeah, we’re gonna be aggressive,” Morgan added. “We’re gonna try to make this roster the best that it can be, to be as competitive as it can be this season. But we also are gonna be smart. We definitely have a plan and we’re gonna do things the right way.”

Some other notable free-agent corners include Xavien Howard, Adoree’ Jackson and Steven Nelson.

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