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Stack or Shed Ep.7 Commanders edition · Football Junkies podcast

• 0:00
  Hey everybody, this is your GM, your back row
• 0:01
  dominance, your GM who currently is not on a
• 0:03
  team right now, but don't you worry about it,
• 0:05
  Kale, here to bring you episode 7 of the Stack
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  and Shed series. Now in this series, we're covering
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  all 32 teams, meaning nobody is neglected, everybody
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  gets a chance to be talked about, alright? Now
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  we're covering a few different topics, and they
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  include what went wrong, what do they need, stack
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  or shed, their draft picks, one move i would
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  do in their cap space now in this episode we're
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  talking about the commanders so for all my dmv
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  fans out there make sure you guys go to the forestville
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  mall get you some snickerdoodle cookies maybe
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  about maybe a half a pound maybe a pound if you're
• 0:36
  feeling you know a little bit extra and make
• 0:38
  sure you warm it up and you get you a sprite
• 0:40
  to go with it all right and if y 'all don't mind
• 0:42
  can y 'all give me a side order of oatmeal raisin
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  cookies and just have them warm it up just a
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  little bit please thanks let's lock in All right,
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  let's get into it. So what went wrong in the
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  commander season? And I would venture to say
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  it was a regressing offense and defense. Coming
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  into the 25 season, the Commanders had a lot
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  of momentum on their side. For starters, they
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  just finished making an appearance in the NFC
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  Championship. They traded for Laremy Tunsil.
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  They traded for Deebo Samuel. And everybody is
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  thinking that the Commanders are going to repeat
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  what they just finished doing. Instead, what
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  we saw was a regression in both the offense and
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  the defense. So here's the offensive rankings
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  from the 24 offense, according to NFL Pro. They
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  had the 7th ranked offense and they averaged
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  28 .5 points per game, 369 .6 yards per game,
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  5 .7 yards per play, and 54 touchdowns. They
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  were 17th in passing offense and they averaged
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  215 .6 passing yards per game, 6 .4 passing yards
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  per play, and 29 passing touchdowns. They were
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  3rd in rushing offense and they averaged 154
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  .1 rushing yards per game, 5 rushing yards per
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  play, and 25 rushing touchdowns. Now the 25 offense
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  had the 22nd ranked offense and they averaged
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  20 .9 points per game, 318 .8 yards per game,
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  5 .5 yards per play, and 39 touchdowns. They
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  were 24th in passing offense and they averaged
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  184 .1 passing yards per game, 6 .2 passing yards
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  per play, and 19 passing touchdowns. They were
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  4th in rushing offense and they averaged 134
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  .7 rushing yards per game, 4 .7 rushing yards
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  per play, and 20 rushing yards per game. Now,
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  I'm not saying that I expected this passing offense
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  to be top five or the best passing offense in
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  the entire league, but you would have thought
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  they would have made a significant step in the
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  right direction. But clearly, that wasn't the
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  case. Now, was it because of the quarterback
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  play? Was it because of the availability of the
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  receivers? Was it because the league itself finally
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  had a game plan to counter Cliff Kingsbury's
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  offense and Jaden Daniels? It's possible, but
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  I don't think nobody expected this offense to
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  go six steps back after going four steps forward.
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  Now, the defensive regression is mainly in part
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  because of the lack of talent that they have
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  on that side of the ball. Now, I understand this
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  veteran -led defense was productive in 24, but
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  I don't think nobody expected the defense to
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  replicate the same thing in 25. Now, they were
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  probably thinking by acquiring Marshawn Lattimore
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  via trade and signing Von Miller via free agency
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  that maybe they'll add a little bit of splash
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  or a little bit of juice to this defense, and
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  clearly that wasn't the case. Now, we can all
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  All admit the Marshawn Lattimore trade was a
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  flop, and that Von Miller at this point in his
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  career needs to be paired up with an elite pass
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  rusher in order for him to be successful. And
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  when we look at some of the stats from those
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  defensive players, this is what we have. Von
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  Miller had 9 sacks, 28 pressures, and a 10 .3
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  % pressure rate. Dorian Armstrong had 5 .5 sacks,
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  20 pressures, and a 15 .5 % pressure rate. Jake
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  Martin had 5 .5 sacks. 43 pressures, and 11 .1
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  % pressure rate. Jajar Newton had 5 sacks, 23
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  pressures, and a 10 .8 % pressure rate. Bobby
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  Wagner had 3 .5 sacks, 17 pressures, and a 23
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  .3 % pressure rate. Now I was expecting more
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  production from this defense, but clearly my
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  expectations are too high. Now let's continue
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  to paint this picture. When we look at the 24
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  defense, they had the 13th ranked defense, and
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  they allowed 23 points per game, 326 .9 yards
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  per game, 5 .4 yards per play, and 43 touchdowns.
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  They were third in passing defense, and they
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  allowed 189 .5 passing yards per game, 6 passing
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  yards per play, and 25 passing touchdowns. They
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  were 30th in run defense, and they allowed 18
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  rushing touchdowns, 137 .5 rushing yards per
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  game, and 4. rushing yards per play now if we
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  compare that to the 25 defense this is what we
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  have they were the worst defense in the league
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  and they allowed 26 .5 points per game 384 .3
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  yards per game six yards per play and 51 touchdowns
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  they were 28th and pass defense and they allowed
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  242 .5 passing yards per game 7 .1 passing yards
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  per play and 33 passing touchdowns they were
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  30th and run defense and they allowed 18 rushing
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  touchdowns 100 141 .8 rushing yards per game
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  and 4 .8 rushing yards per play. Now with that
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  being said, what do the commanders need? And
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  that is more offensive production and creativity
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  and more defensive playmakers. Now, by promoting
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  David Blau to offensive coordinator, I do believe
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  the commanders are making the first step in the
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  right direction. Now, I'm not expecting this
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  offense to be productive or creative like the
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  49ers or the Chiefs, but I do expect for them
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  to be different in some capacity. Now, that all
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  depends on what the commanders do with this offense.
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  If they can extend Deebo Samuel and Larimi Tunsil,
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  maybe trade for Brandon Iyuk or sign him if the
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  49ers release him, and then maybe go after a
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  productive tight end in the draft, I think that's
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  a step in the right direction. However, if the
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  Commanders do none of these things, then we need
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  to have an honest conversation about Adam Peters
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  and Dan Quinn. Because at this point, going into
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  next season, they're on the hot seat right now.
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  I understand they started their tenure hot. I
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  understand that the fan base and ownership wants
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  them to go back to being in the NFC Championship.
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  And I understand that's hard. But at the same
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  time, you have to show that this team is heading
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  in the right direction. Now, getting more defensive
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  playmakers is an easy fix. And the reason why
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  I say this is because you have a lot of cap space
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  and you have a decent amount of draft picks.
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  So whatever you don't get in the draft or free
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  agency, you just get it in the other phase. It's
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  a very simple fix. So if that means that you
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  address pass rushers high up in the draft, that
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  means that you can address corner and free agency
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  or interior defensive linemen or linebacker,
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  however you want to do it. Now, with that being
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  said, the question we all need to ask ourselves
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  is stack or shed. And I will eventually say stack.
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  And the reason why I say this is because you
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  have your franchise quarterback. Build off of
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  that. As long as you don't continue to go after
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  these old, past their prime veterans, I think
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  you're going to be in a good spot. But if you
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  continue to go down that road, you are playing
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  with fire. We saw what the Bengals did when Joe
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  Burrow was on his rookie deal. They built that
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  team up, and they went on a Super Bowl run, and
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  they went to a couple AFC championships. The
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  Commanders can do the exact same thing. But it
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  all depends on what you do in this offseason.
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  Because this is a very pivotal offseason, not
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  just for Adam Peters, but for Dan Quinn and everybody
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  else that is on this coaching staff. When we
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  look at their draft picks, they have their first,
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  their third, their fifth, two sixth round picks,
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  and a seventh round pick, which isn't bad. You're
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  also in a really good spot in the first round.
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  So you can get one of the top players in whatever
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  position you're trying to address. Now with that
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  being said, the one move that I would do is draft
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  a defensive player. Now me personally, I think
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  the commander should address the secondary or
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  edge rusher in the first round. Now whoever falls
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  when it's time for you to make your pick, go
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  for it. If it's Caleb Downs, do it. If it's Arvo
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  Reese, even though I don't think that's going
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  to happen, do it. If it's Sonny Styles, do it.
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  Looking at the Commander's cap situation, they
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  have $79 .2 million for now. And that's in part
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  because the NFL has informed all teams that everyone
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  is getting $22 million added to their cap space.
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  Meaning that the Commanders can be big spenders
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  in all three ways of free agency. My expectation
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  is the Commanders will go after players such
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  as Lloyd Cushenberry, Devin Lloyd, Adafio Way,
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  Boye Mafe, Tyreek Woolen, maybe make a trade
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  for someone, maybe try to go after Brandon Ayuk,
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  depending on how that situation goes. I think
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  all of those options are on the table right now.
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  But only time will tell. But I'm going to end
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  this episode here. If you guys like what you
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  were listening, please, please, please, please,
• 8:54
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• 8:56
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• 9:44
  and everything that I've talked in this episode,
• 9:46
  as well as previous episodes. Let's have a debate.
• 9:48
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• 10:34
  fixes you guys need. I love you guys. I appreciate
• 10:36
  you guys so much. much stay tuned there's more
• 10:38
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• 10:40
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  -to -day basis this is your GM Kale signing out
• 10:46
  peace and love later guys