NFC East

The Washington Commanders reportedly have an answer to their attendance woes: make their new stadium smaller.

Michael Phillips of the Richmond-Times Dispatch reported the Commanders' proposal for a new stadium in Prince William County, Virginia, is designed to seat 55,000 people, which would make it the smallest stadium in the NFL.

FedEx Field, the Commanders' home since 1997, has been removing seats for several years amid their attendance woes. The stadium once maxed out with a capacity of 91,704 fans—the largest in the NFL—and now holds only 67,717. 

Despite the massive reduction seating, FedEx Field remains unfilled on most weeks. The Commanders ranked 31st in attendance last season (52,751), ahead of only the Detroit Lions, and have not ranked higher than 20th in attendance since 2017.

Washington was once one of the NFL's most popular teams, but decadeslong mismanagement from owner Daniel Snyder has led to widespread frustration among fans. Snyder has also come under public fire in recent years because of allegations of workplace harassment from female employees and an investigation into alleged financial impropriety.

Undeterred, Snyder has continued to search for a new stadium site as the team's lease on FedEx Field ends in 2027. 

The Virginia stadium package proposal is said to create 2,246 jobs in the area by 2033.

“We are grateful for the bipartisan support the stadium authority legislation has already received, and any additional time will certainly provide us with more opportunities to share how this project can create new jobs, generate significant tax revenue and spur economic development,” team president Jason Wright said in a statement.

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley entered the NFL as a supposed generational talent. Beyond a promising first season, he's been anything but an elite playmaker. 

His career now sits at a crossroads with a new regime in place. Head coach Brian Daboll can unlock the potential that once made Barkley look like a future star, or the Giants may look to move on from the 2018 second overall pick at some point within a year.

A short shelf life due to the physicality required to play the position coupled with the ability to find quality performers at a low price have devalued the running back position. But previous Giants general manager Dave Gettleman thought differently, bucked positional value and made Barkley the highest-drafted running back since Reggie Bush went second overall in 2006. 

"I think a lot of that is nonsense," Gettleman told reporters when asked about positional value shortly after Barkley's selection. "I think it's someone who had this idea and got into the analytics of it, and did all these running backs and went through their whatever. ... I don't believe in it [positional value]."

His stubbornness may have hastened his retirement.

In Year 1, Barkley dazzled when he led the league with 2,028 yards from scrimmage, made the pro Bowl and became the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Over the next three seasons, the running back totaled 2,391 yards. 

Barkley fought through a high-ankle sprain during his sophomore campaign, suffered a torn ACL in 2020 and dealt with a balky ankle last season. He hasn't looked like the same dynamic threat since his rookie campaign.

"You don't screw up the special ones when you are a talent evaluator. This guy is special," a general manager told NFL.com's Lance Zierlein prior to the 2018 draft. "Any concerns you file on him just feels like nitpicking to fill out the report."

Much like the term generational talent, the descriptor "total package" is often overused. Barkley was treated like a unicorn coming into the league because of his rare combination of size, strength, athleticism and ability to affect games as a runner and pass-catcher.

Barkley's relative athletic score (RAS) ranks him among the top five most athletic running backs over the last 35 years, according to Pro Football Network's Kent Lee Platte. He's a 6'0", 232-pound ball-carrier with tree trunks for legs, baby-soft hands and 4.4-second 40-yard dash speed. 

Despite being a near-perfect prospect, Barkley couldn't escape the same issues other running backs face.

The Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry is the game's premier workhorse, yet he missed nine games last season with a Jones facture in his right foot. The Cleveland Browns' Nick Chubb shares the backfield, meaning he doesn't take on the same type of workload, and he's still missed seven games over the last two seasons. 

The pounding takes its toll over time. The solution in New York is to use Barkley less as a true running back and more as an offensive weapon.

"I'd say I've had some good running backs in my career," Daboll told reporters during organized team activities last week. "But Saquon is a unique guy. If you go back, I've watched all of his tape all the way back from his rookie year when he had [91] catches. He's a versatile player ... I'm excited to work with him."

Daboll spent four seasons as the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator before being named the Giants' head coach. During that stretch, no back on the Bills roster managed more than 870 rushing yards in a singular season, though players at the position were often a part of the passing game as both pass-catchers and blockers.

In general, quarterback Josh Allen determined the success of the offense as the Bills coaching staff put more on his shoulders with each passing season. Last year, Allen posted a career high with 646 passing attempts, which ranked fourth overall. The Bills had at least three wide receivers on the field for 80 percent of their snaps last season, according to Sharp Football. For comparison, New York used multiple-receiver sets on 63 percent of its offensive plays. In fact, Buffalo ran 255 more plays than New York from 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers). 
 
To be fair, Buffalo running back Devin Singletary isn't Barkley, and Giants quarterback Daniel Jones certainly isn't Allen. As such, Daboll will make adjustments based on available talent.
 
"You try to do as much work as you can on these guys before they get here to see what have they been successful at and figure out how to use them in the things that they've excelled at," Daboll said at the league meetings in March. "But you've got to see them do the things you're going to ask them to do in the offense, and there's plays we're going through right now that, heck, if these guys want to turn inside on this route, let's figure it out when they get here and ask them."

How everyone looks at Barkley should change to some degree. He's still an amazing talent if healthy. He can be a 1,000-yard back again. At the same time, his increased implementation in the passing game could enter him into a different category of backs who create an all-around impact.

Those players don't need to be traditional backs. Alvin Kamara and Carolina's Christian McCaffrey aren't. They're dynamic playmakers with the ball in their hands. The goal should be to feature them as much as possible in a way that takes away some of the consistent body blows a traditional back faces on a down-by-down basis. They both have still dealt with injuries, but they're not nearly as thick or as compactly built as Barkley is. 

Additions along the offensive line, including Mark Glowinski, Jon Feliciano and 2022 seventh overall pick Evan Neal, should make life a little easier on Barkley and the rest of the Giants' skill-position players. However, New York can strike a balance, using Barkley out of the backfield and even as a wide receiver.

Jones' growth will likely become a big part of this transition. The quarterback can form a symbiotic relationship with the running back so the pair can help take pressure off each other. As Daboll and his staff continue their evaluation of these previous top-10 picks, difficult decisions could be forthcoming.

The 25-year-old Barkley will play under his fifth-year rookie option in 2022. How much of an impact he can create under Daboll's supervision will determine whether he's a member of the Giants for the entirety of this campaign and into next offseason. If his performance doesn't necessitate an extension, the organization may even try to trade him before this year's deadline in an effort to gain assets for future roster improvements. 

Basically, the G-men find themselves in a transitory phase. A strong offseason created some excitement, though expectations should be tempered in an NFC East in which the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles feature better rosters and the Washington Commanders should be improved. New York is likely a year or two away from consistently competing in the division and entering in the postseason discussion.

Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen should give Barkley every opportunity to show he's still the same player who took the league by storm as a rookie by making him the focal point of the offense.
 
"I think, one, the energy that he's bringing and the conversations about the way he's going to relate the offense to the players and make the system work for the players," Barkley told reporters in February when asked about his initial impression of Daboll and the new regime. "Obviously, I think with Joe Schoen, what he's going to do in free agency and the draft to build the team. I think we have the talent on the team. I truly don't think we’re that far. We just have to keep working."

The sunk cost of Barkley's original draft status doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is whether Daboll can maximize the running back's abilities. The best thing for all parties is to put the ball in Barkley's hands as part of a new-look offense and let his play determine which direction the franchise should go. He's capable of being so much more than what's been seen so far, as long as the coach adjusts his scheme, uses Barkley as the focal point of the offense and makes him a much bigger part of the passing game. 

The expectations for the Dallas Cowboys are the same each and every year. Win the Super Bowl. Period. Anything less, and the season is a failure for all intents and purposes.

There are Texas-sized expectations in Dallas in 2022—the Cowboys are fresh off a 12-5 season and NFC East title. Last year no team in the NFL tallied more yards or scored more points per game.

However, while the Cowboys are a talented team and the front-runner to win the NFC East according to the oddsmakers at DraftKings, a compelling argument can be made that after an offseason dictated largely by the team's lack of cap space, the 2022 Cowboys aren't as good on paper as the team that was embarrassed at home by the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round last season.

With a roster inching in the wrong direction (and a Super Bowl window growing slimmer along with it), these Cowboys are flawed—too flawed to be considered a legitimate threat to NFC powerhouses like the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

At least one person disagrees vehemently with the notion that the Cowboys are a franchise heading in the wrong direction. Per Arnav Sharma of Cowboys Country, quarterback Dak Prescott pushed back on the idea that the Cowboys have backslid while speaking to reporters at OTAs.

"We definitely didn't take a step back," he said. "We're going to continue to get better and that's what this offseason is about.”

For his part, Prescott has held up his end of the deal. After eclipsing 4,400 passing yards for the second time in three seasons with a career-best 37 touchdown passes in 2021, the 28-year-old Prescott may well be the biggest steal in the NFL draft of the past decade. He's gone from a Day 3 pick to a high-end NFL starter and two-time Pro Bowler.

The problem isn't Prescott, though. It's the players around him.

The Cowboys have a budding young star at wide receiver in third-year pro CeeDee Lamb, who caught 79 passes and topped 1,100 yards in 2021. With Amari Cooper now in Cleveland, it will fall to Lamb to serve as Prescott's No. 1 wide receiver—a role that he told Rob Phillips of the team's website he is more than ready for.

"I've been ready," he said. "That's just me and my competitiveness. That's in my nature. It's kind of how we grew up playing football. I'm always ready for my name to be called. It's a dream that I've always wanted to live and now that I'm actually living it, I feel like it's my opportunity to fulfill it. So I'm looking at it as an opportunity."

That Lamb has the talent to be a No.1 receiver isn't in dispute. But neither is the fact that once you get past him on the depth chart, the questions start piling up fairly quickly.

The Cowboys brought back fifth-year pro Michael Gallup, but Gallup missed almost half of the 2021 season and tore his ACL in January. The player brought in to replace Cooper (former Steelers wideout James Washington) has never caught 45 passes nor topped 750 yards in a season.

One of the things that made the Cowboys so dangerous offensively a year ago was the depth of their pass-catching corps. If a defense focused on one guy, it meant another could take advantage of single coverage. But that depth has taken a sizable hit, especially if Gallup is out or limited in the early going in 2022.

It's not hard to imagine opposing defenses bracketing Lamb in coverage and essentially daring Gallup, Washington and tight end Dalton Schultz to make them regret it. It isn't guaranteed they will be able to do that.

If the passing game takes a step backward in 2022, that could put added pressure on Ezekiel Elliott and the rushing attack. Per Matt Howe of 247 Sports, after an injury-marred 2021 season, Prescott expects Elliott to rebound in a big way this year.

"Nothing ever changes for my expectations of Zeke, of who he is, how he leads this team, how he approaches the game," Prescott said. "He comes in like a pro each and every day and does that, so I expect his best. When you do that and do it with the intentfulness he does, he's going to get better. When Zeke's healthy, I don't think there's a better back."

Now, it's possible that a (reportedly) healthy Elliott will bounce back from a 2021 campaign that saw the 26-year-old post a career-low 58.9 rushing yards per game. Even in that "down" season, Elliott gained 4.2 yards per carry and topped 1,000 rushing yards. And the Cowboys have a solid insurance policy against Elliott faltering in fourth-year pro Tony Pollard, who averaged a robust 5.5 yards per carry last year.

But it's equally possible (if not more so) that Elliott's 1,650 career carries are catching up to him, and while Pollard shined on a per-touch basis last year, he has never tallied more than 130 carries in a season.

The questions carry over to the offensive line, as well. Per Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys fielded the best O-line in the game in 2021. But that line lost two starters in free agency in left guard Connor Williams and right tackle La'El Collins. The Cowboys spent a first-round pick on a replacement for Williams in Tulsa's Tyler Smith, but he's not a sure thing and Dallas could have an issue at the right end of the line regardless. It's more than likely going to be a good line, but it's quite possible it won't be as good as last season's version.

It's not just the offense where the Cowboys could struggle to match last season's production. Dallas was decent (if unspectacular) at rushing opposing quarterbacks last year, tallying 41 sacks. But after Randy Gregory bolted Dallas for Denver, there's increased pressure on Micah Parsons to back up last year's rookie explosion and for veteran DeMarcus Lawrence to return to form after tallying just 9.5 sacks the past two seasons combined.

Dallas signed veteran Dante Fowler and drafted Ole Miss' Sam Williams to help on the edge. Still, Fowler was mostly invisible the past two seasons in Atlanta, and Williams is an untested rookie at a position where first-year players often struggle.

If the pass rush begins to falter in Dallas, that will leave the team's cornerbacks on something of an island—and that would be a problem. The Cowboys were 20th in the NFL in passing defense last year, and while cornerback Trevon Diggs paced the league in interceptions last year, he did so while allowing a whopping 907 yards in coverage and 16.8 yards per completion.

Dallas is an average defensive team, which only ratchets up the pressure on Prescott and the offense that much more.

All of those potential problem areas in Dallas probably aren't going to go against the team in 2022. Not everything will go wrong. But it doesn't have to, and it's every bit as unlikely that everything will go right.

That leaves the Cowboys in real trouble. The Buccaneers and Rams both did a mostly excellent job of keeping together rosters that lack glaring weaknesses. Dallas' division rivals in Philadelphia appear to have markedly improved their team.

For Dallas, meanwhile, the best-case is a team that's no better than the one that failed to win a playoff game last year. The worst is a team that's substantially worse and misses the postseason altogether.

The most likely outcome lies somewhere in between. A team that's good enough to get to the playoffs but not good enough to do any real damage once it gets there. A flawed team that will soon be one year closer to their Super Bowl window being shut.

And a team that won't be any closer to winning football's biggest game for the first time since 1995.

The Cleveland Browns and tight end David Njoku reached an agreement on a new contract Friday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:

Per Over the Cap, the total value on Njoku's new contract is the fourth-most among tight ends behind the San Francisco 49ers' George Kittle, the Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce and the Philadelphia Eagles' Dallas Goedert, respectively.

The $28 million in guarantees is fifth behind the Atlanta Falcons' Kyle Pitts, the New England Patriots' Jonnu Smith, the Baltimore Ravens' Mark Andrews and Kittle.

Njoku was set to play on the franchise tag before the deal.

Another big-name tight end, the Dallas Cowboys' Dalton Schultz, is set to play on the tag, though. The ex-Stanford star broke out in 2021 with 78 catches for 808 yards and eight touchdowns. That followed a 63/615/4 campaign in 2020.

The 2018 fourth-rounder has provided tremendous value as a Day 3 pick to the point where he's one of the best tight ends in the game. Schultz finished third in receptions, sixth in receiving yards and fifth in touchdowns at the position last year.

There's little reason to believe that Schultz isn't worthy of a contract of Njoku's value at minimum. Njoku had to split snaps with Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant last year, recording 36 catches for 475 yards and four touchdowns. 

While Bryant is still in Cleveland, Hooper is now with the Tennessee Titans.

Njoku can certainly live up to his contract with more playing time as a true TE1, and he could have plenty left in the tank at just 25 years old. 

Still, Schultz, 25, has proved to be a better offensive weapon, and any contract talk should start with Njoku's deal as the baseline.

The gold standard for tight ends is Kittle's five-year, $75 million contract ($30 million guaranteed). Schultz isn't in the three-time Pro Bowler's tier, but he deserves a contract that breaks $60 million in total value after being one of the key pass-catching weapons on the NFL's top-scoring offense last year.

The best guess for a Schultz deal: four years, $64 million, $30 million guaranteed.

The Dallas Cowboys traded Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns this offseason, leaving the team with CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and James Washington as its top receivers, and one of those guys is ready to take over as Dak Prescott's No. 1 target in 2022.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Lamb said he has "been ready" to be Dallas' top receiver for a while. 

"I've been ready. That’s just me and my competitiveness," Lamb said. "That’s in my nature. I’m always ready for my name to be called."

When the Cowboys traded Cooper to the Browns, team owner Jerry Jones said the franchise made the decision to part ways with him because it felt the veteran receiver's $20 million salary "should be better spent."

Dallas went on to extend the contracts of Gallup, DeMarcus Lawrence and Leighton Vander Esch. It also added Washington, Dante Fowler Jr. and Ryan Nall via free agency.

The Cowboys have every reason to be confident in Lamb's ability to be their No. 1 receiver after selecting him 17th overall in the 2020 NFL draft. 

During his rookie season, Lamb caught 74 passes for 935 yards and five touchdowns in 16 games. He was even more impressive during the 2021 campaign, catching 79 passes for 1,102 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games. 

The 23-year-old led the team in receiving yards last season and ranked second on the team in receiving yards during his rookie year. 

While he will draw more attention in 2022, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy appears confident that Lamb can be the team's top receiver in 2022 and beyond, telling reporters that the opportunity is there for him to succeed in his third year in the NFL.

This is a great opportunity for him personally. I think just the way we've established the offense, particularly in the passing game, the ability for those guys to play different positions, to create matchups and make it harder on the defense to double you and those type of things -- my point is, playing in the slot a lot last year and now playing the flanker position (where Cooper played).

And we understand his rise in Year 3 that he's going to get a lot more attention from the defense. But he's doing all of the little things that are needed to get him ready to be the No. 1 guy.

In addition to trading Cooper, the Cowboys lost wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. to the Miami Dolphins in free agency, which will put even more pressure on Lamb to succeed in 2022. 

The Cowboys are also expected to be without Gallup for the start of the season as he continues to recover from a torn ACL. In addition, Washington is wearing a walking boot, but told reporters Wednesday that it's nothing to worry about. 

Aside from Lamb, Gallup and Washington, the Cowboys depth at wide receiver includes Noah Brown, Jalen Tolbert, Simi Fehoko, Brandon Smith, Ty Fryfogle, T.J. Vasher, Donatario Drummond, Dennis Houston and Jaquarii Roberson. 

Lamb will get to showcase his abilities as the team's leading receiver when the Cowboys open the 2022 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium.