The Daily Slop – 30 August 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles 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, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
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Commanders links
Articles
The Athletic (paywall)
Commanders’ shaky preseason requires immediate fortification before the regular season
The Commanders sat 41 players before a 41-3 loss to the Ravens, capping an ugly end to training camp which started with Baltimore’s first-team defense dominating Washington’s available starters for most of last Wednesday’s joint practice. The Ravens’ third- and fourth-teamers then smacked Washington’s around at M&T Bank Stadium for four quarters. Dan Quinn had clarified going into the week that Wednesday would be the last bit of preseason business for not just Jayden Daniels, but almost everyone on the two-deep chart. Almost no one Friday made a case for making the team that hadn’t already done so, leaving Quinn miffed.
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The Commanders’ OTAs and (most of) training camp point to a team that should be more competitive than last season’s 5-12 version — though a brutal schedule the first eight weeks may render that preparation moot. They point to an offense that first-year offensive coordinator David Blough spun up that could put points on the board behind a more balanced attack around Daniels. Though the long-term triceps injury to star tackle Laremy Tunsil has shaken the offensive line’s depth and potential.
Still, amid the finite disappointment of this last week, alongside a mistake-filled outing in Detroit a week ago, there’s hope for a turnaround once the games start to count. The staff, including new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones, threw a lot at this group. They absorbed much of it, but there is much to clean up.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Ringer
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NFC East Preview: Is This the Cowboys’ Year?
What’s at Stake for the Commanders
I’m not saying for sure that Dan Quinn is on tilt about saving his job. But if he were on tilt about saving his job, this is what that would look like: Fire both coordinators. Hire two new coordinators who have no experience doing the job. And implement spelling bees and friendship quizzes to improve team morale.
Quinn seems like a nice enough guy. And I think he can be (and has been) a good coach in the right situation. But we all know the score here. If the Commanders underperform like they did last season, Quinn will be gone, and they will try to find a young, offensive-minded head coach who can maximize Jayden Daniels’s talents.
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How I See It
If you squint, you can see some upside for this team. But there are a lot of ifs. And the Commanders are facing the NFL’s ninth-hardest schedule. The truth is that there are as many unknowns here as there are for any team in the NFL. If some bounces go the Commanders’ way, they could be a little sleepery and compete for a playoff spot. But I think that the most likely scenario is a season stuck in mediocrity.
Projected record: 8-9
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
Washington owns the No. 7 waiver priority as it works toward its initial 53-man roster
The Washington Commanders officially have until 6 p.m. Sunday to cut their roster from 91 down to 53 players, a process they started Saturday night. One thing to keep in mind: no matter who is on the original list, it can and likely will change frequently before the team kicks off the season in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Currently, Washington owns the No. 7 position in the waiver order, meaning Commanders GM Adam Peters has the priority to claim players before 25 other teams get a chance. Through the third regular-season game, the waiver wire order will reflect the 2026 NFL Draft order.
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The six teams that can claim players before Washington are the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, and the Cleveland Browns. For a Washington claim to succeed, none of the six teams ahead of them can put in a claim for that same player. The waiver order gives the Commanders’ front office leverage over the teams at the bottom of the stack as Washington continues working to improve the bottom of its roster.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Riggo’s Rag
Commanders must resist glaring waiver-wire trap from Dan Quinn’s past
According to reports, the New York Jets have waived defensive lineman Mazi Smith following a brief yet underwhelming stint with the AFC East club. He was part of the trade package that sent Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys, but he didn’t do enough to make any sort of impact.
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Commanders should not entertain Mazi Smith waiver claims after Jets exit
Of course, Quinn was the defensive coordinator in Dallas when Smith was selected No. 26 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. His lack of consistency and effort led to his failings, and the Cowboys were only too willing to give him away in their quest to acquire a legitimate difference-maker in Williams.
Quinn is extremely loyal to his players, old and new. The Commanders also have some depth concerns in the defensive trenches after losing 2024 second-round pick Johnny Newton to a torn pectoral muscle.
However, they should not remotely consider Smith as a viable option.
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The Michigan product just doesn’t look interested in playing football most of the time. Quinn gave him countless chances as a rookie in Dallas, but he almost always fluffed his lines. Things didn’t get much better once the coach departed, and the Jets were signing guys off the street rather than giving him game time over the second half of 2025.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFC East links
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles part ways with former Commanders DB
TARIQ CASTRO-FIELDS
TCF was having a decent summer before suffering a heel injury that landed him on injured reserve on August 21. Now he’s leaving Philly after reaching an injury settlement with the team.
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To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Eagles waive OL Myles Hinton
The Philadelphia Eagles waived 2025 sixth-round pick Myles Hinton on Saturday, according to a report from NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Hinton’s departure doesn’t come as a surprise; he really struggled this summer. The Eagles originally experimented with moving the 24-year-old to guard earlier this offseason before putting him back at offensive tackle, where he didn’t play well.
Perhaps the Eagles will bring Hinton back on the practice squad if he clears waivers but I tend to think he might look for a fresh start. It’s worth noting that Jeff Stoutland, who left the Eagles earlier this year, seemed to be a big fan of Hinton when he was drafted.
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Hinton is the third member of the Eagles’ 2025 NFL Draft class to be dismissed by the team. They previously cut Kyle McCord and Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. (who made some plays against the Birds for the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night) last year.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Blogging the Boys
Here is what the Cowboys are getting in Broderick Jones
Jones was the fourth offensive lineman selected in the 2023 draft because of his great athleticism. He showed impressive speed for a guy his size. He possessed agility and power from heavy hands and a strong grip. He didn’t allow a single sack in 2022, and he helped the Georgia Bulldogs win back-to-back National Championships. The sky was the limit for this athletically gifted lineman.
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Unfortunately, his NFL adventure has not been so pleasant. The Steelers moved him to right tackle midway through his rookie season, where he did okay in run support, but struggled mightily in pass protection. It was a mixed bag, but there was definitely something to work with.
Things went south during his second year. Right tackle wasn’t his thing. He wasn’t technically sound, and speed rushers abused him regularly. He gave up 11 sacks and frequently committed penalties.
Last season, he moved back to his more natural position at left tackle, hoping to unleash his strengths, but things didn’t improve. He continued to struggle with pass protection, and his season was cut short after 11 games when he suffered a neck injury and underwent spinal fusion surgery.
The Steelers declined to pick up his fifth-year option, meaning he has one year left on his rookie deal. He entered camp fighting for the swing tackle spot in Pittsburgh, but his performance has once again been underwhelming, leading to this trade.
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To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
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Big Blue View
Why did the NY Giants trade for C.J. Okoye? John Harbaugh explains
It was clear throughout the preseason that the New York Giants needed additional depth along the interior of their defensive line.
The Giants got some on Saturday when they traded a 2028 seventh-round pick for C.J. Okoye, a 6-foot-6, 365-pound 24-year-old who played for Harbaugh last season with the Baltimore Ravens.
Why did the Giants make the deal?
“He’s a guy that we got to know recently last year, came in, was with the Chargers actually with my brother [Jim] for a couple years in the international program,” Harbaugh said. “So a guy who had been developmental type guy, learning the game and tremendous physical skills, hard worker, has really dedicated himself over the last few years to learning the game really because he didn’t play it growing up and made great strides, made great strides with Dennis Johnson, our defensive line coach last year. That’s where he kind of broke through and had a really good season.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL league links
Articles
Riggo’s Rag
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This is the latest major setback for Davis. And one he may not recover from.
The Commanders eventually gave up on him under the new regime when his switch to the defensive edge didn’t go well. Davis has bounced around the league ever since, so one has to wonder just how many chances he has left before the NFL looks away entirely.
It’s a sorry tale.
Davis was overdrafted by Rivera, who desperately needed to find a long-term solution at the defensive second level. The Commanders didn’t know how to maximize his skill set, giving him responsibilities he clearly wasn’t ready for over the early stages of his time in Washington.
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And the ripple effects were enormous.
Confidence in the player dwindled. When head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters came into the fold, it didn’t take long for them to make a judgment. Davis was let go, and it’s been difficult to make a go of things elsewhere ever since.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Discussion topics
Pro Football Talk
12 NFL teams did not play their starting quarterbacks in the preseason
The growing trend of NFL teams keeping their quarterbacks out of the preseason has reached the point where more than one-third of starting quarterbacks did not take a single snap in this year’s preseason.
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The reasons were different for different teams: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Colts quarterback Daniel Jones are recovering from season-ending injuries. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson haven’t played in the preseason in years, across multiple coaching staffs. Rams coach Sean McVay is perhaps the most cautious coach in the league when it comes to avoiding preseason injuries, so of course reigning MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t play.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Front Office Sports
The Week That Broke College Football: Everything to Know
Just over a week ago, a local judge in Baton Rouge handed down a temporary ruling that sent shock waves across college football: A group of NFL players could return to college this season.
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College sports has undergone plenty of change throughout the past six years, from unrestricted transfers to NIL and revenue-sharing rights. But the ruling opened up a previously unthinkable possibility that professional football players could somehow regain college eligibility.
Two of the plaintiffs in that case, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, were scooped up by LSU. If another plaintiff, Jack Pyburn, gets cut from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he’ll also return to Baton Rouge, according to court documents.
Since then, other NFL players have scrambled to determine whether they, too, could return to college—and some have since filed lawsuits. Meanwhile, conferences fought back, announcing a wave of policies aimed at preventing pros from coming back to college even if the NCAA couldn’t. Players initiated legal action to strike down the SEC’s new policy; LSU is expected to support them.
The situation has set up a seismic legal battle over whether conferences can enforce basic eligibility rules, like preventing professionals from returning—one that could have ripple effects across football and even the entire college sports landscape.
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In June, the NCAA passed a new “age-based” eligibility policy, allowing players five years to complete five seasons (up from four) starting when they enter college or their 19th birthday—whichever comes first. But the NCAA chose not to include players who entered school in 2022 and had already exhausted four years. So many of those players sued, arguing they should be grandfathered into the new policy—and they started winning.
The Louisiana case is one of those lawsuits; it just so happened to also include players who tried to get roster spots on NFL teams. The lawsuit argues they never would have gone pro if they had known the NCAA would change its rule this summer.
The judge agreed, saying the NCAA was not allowed to prohibit them from playing this season. But the judge also said these players had to terminate their NFL contracts and return any money they earned.
Is this expected to set a new precedent across college football?
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No. The Louisiana ruling was specific to the players who signed on as plaintiffs—anyone else would have to file a separate lawsuit and obtain their own court order. Plus, because the case was solely about the one-time situation freshmen from 2022 found themselves in, sources across the industry told Front Office Sports they believed this NFL player–return situation would be a one-off.
Currently, none of the players have actually ever played regular-season NFL football. Wright, Harris, and Pyburn, for example, all went undrafted. Harris signed with the New Orleans Saints but never played preseason games due to an injury; he was cut from the team Aug. 8. Wright secured a spot for the Cleveland Browns and played in preseason but was waived last week. Pyburn is still on the Buccaneers; he has said his focus is on landing a spot on the team, but that he could take his spot at LSU back if he returns.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
aBit o’Twitter
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