Transcript 0:00 Joined by my friend, colleague, mentor, the purveyor of the Two Deep Zone, Mike Tanier. 0:04 And Mike, this was a really fascinating day with the backdrop of Terry McLaurin's contract situation, the trade request, um, that he put in yesterday, and a bit of news regarding De- Deebo Samuel, uh, potentially at the end of practice. 0:20 Yeah, yeah, I, I saw the drama go across, uh, the internet there. DeMa- Deebo jammed his finger? Yeah, it was very... Uh, this was really the Deebo Samuel/Terry McLaurin show today. 0:31 First snap of practice of the team periods, an end around, a jet sweep to Deebo Samuel, which feels fitting based on what the Commanders want to do with him. Mm-hmm. 0:41 But the second to last snap of the practice, a move the ball period down near the goal line, Jayden Daniels rifles a quick slant to Deebo, appeared to jam his finger, hurt his hand, uh, walked off the field with the trainers at the end of practice. 0:55 Um, no confirmation on any sort of injury, but certainly something to monitor. He was back out on the field with his family, um, after practice hang- hanging out, so maybe you can read into that a little bit. 1:06 But, you know, Mike, if, if, if this Terry McLaurin situation drags on or he's not here and Deebo's banged up, for a team loaded with talent across the roster- 1:18 Yeah, I think you reached a point, I think we l- just lost you. Can you come back in there, Matt? You know, I like to do the joke here that it's like, well- Yeah, the internet here- [laughs] 1:30 Internet does not seem to be your friend over there in Ashburn, Virginia. Uh, you may ha- have a regular- No, it's not. This, th- th- this... 1:37 Yeah, this has not been a great internet day, so people following along on the socials not seeing a lot of, uh, tweets, videos, clips, and those sort of things because the Wi-Fi is so spotty. 1:48 Um, but you know, Mike, th- this feels like a team with Jayden Daniels. You could see today that he's started to take the next step. The offense really funneling through Zach Ertz. 1:57 You saw Luke McCaffrey make a couple of really nice catches. It just seems like this is a team ready, uh, uh, they're not, not afraid about any sort of sophomore slump from their quarterback or their offense. 2:07 Yeah, and the joke would be, as soon as Deebo jams his finger, uh, McLaurin's phone rings and $5 million suddenly add to the offer here. It- that's not really how it goes. 2:17 Like, what, w- you talked, you, Quinn spoke today. He was very, I, I guess, uh, gracious about the hold-in by Terry McLaurin. 2:25 I, I, I get the impression that the McLaurin thing is just simply negotiations as usual, this is how they do things, that he's going to be back by the end of the preseason. Do you get any different vibe there? 2:35 Yeah, the total vibe I got, Mike, was this was a leverage play by Terry McLaurin, and I thought that Dan Quinn handled it really well, talking about how he doesn't talk contract and finance with Terry McLaurin. 2:46 He has those conversations as far as structuring the roster with general manager Adam Peters. Right. But that he understands Terry McLaurin trying to take care of his family. 2:56 I thought that really underscores the culture they're trying to build here. 2:59 But it feels in stark contrast to what's going on in Dallas, where it feels like Micah Parsons might just be done with Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. 3:07 Whereas here, it feels like McLaurin is trying to get any sort of leverage over a contract talk where he really doesn't have any. He's under contract. 3:17 Um, i- i- he's trying to get an extension and a new deal, but it's not like he's in the last year of his contract and there's any urgency on the Commanders' part. I, I agree with you. 3:26 I think that by the end of the preseason, I'd be shocked if McLaurin isn't on the field, and I'd be floored if there's conflict. Right. If McLaurin, it's about business, nothing personal. 3:34 Very clearly business, nothing personal. Uh, Parsons, it has [laughs], uh, percolated and, and bubbled over into something very personal, very he said, he said. Uh, very Cowboys, very distinctly Cowboys in that respect. 3:47 Again, I think that one ends with September 3rd, uh, Parsons becoming the highest paid non-quarterback on Earth, but that lingering bad blood about how that team doing business still, uh, uh, happening. 3:58 J- just 'cause I missed it, you were in East Rutherford, and I didn't get the full, uh, uh- Yes... w- walk down with this. Two things. Um, is the Scarbough, uh, hype real? I, I'll ask that first. Uh, Scarbough hype. 4:13 Should I be drafting him in fantasy? 4:14 I, I, I, I, I picked a great day to be at Commanders camp with Terry McLaurin here and, like, shaking hands and chatting with owner Josh Harris after practice and, you know, picked a great day with the Deebo situation unfolding. 4:28 Not a great Cam Scarbough day- Oh... in East Rutherford. He was banged up going into Tues- Wednesday's practice when I was up there. Didn't get eyes much on Cam Scarbough. 4:38 Uh, but I will say, uh, a- a- and readers can read a lot more about this in Four Downs on Monday, the Abdul Carter hype is very real, uh, a- and he might h- make a transcendent impact on that defense based on what I'm hearing and what I saw the other day w- at the Giants. 4:53 What about Dart, Dart, Dart? 4:55 Yeah, you and I saw Jaxson Dart down in Mobile during the Senior Bowl, and I don't think that either one of us came away thinking this guy was going to be the second quarterback chosen in the draft. 5:06 I don't know that the Giants are holding any sort of quarterback competition here with Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart. I, I thought he was fine. 5:14 You know, made some nice throws, off target on a few others, running almost exclusively with the second team, uh- Hmm... offense at this point. 5:21 But I, I, I don't get the sense that Jaxson Dart is going to be pushing Russell Wilson anytime soon. Wow, but I think we buried the lead. Back up a second. You said you... Josh Harris shaking hands with Terry McLaurin. 5:33 Yeah, uh, so after practice, Terry McLaurin emerges from the facility behind me, walks down the hill, makes a b- beeline over to Joshua Harris. There was a little bit of a, a dapping up between owner and player. 5:48 Chatted for about 45 seconds, and then he went out to, uh, Terry McLaurin went out to meet his wife on the field and spend some time with his family before signing every autograph, uh, along the fence here with the fans. 6:00 But, but yeah, uh, that, that, that just goes to show you that it, it, it doesn't seem like there's as much bad bloodBetween McLaurin and ownership in the franchise, as much as it is trying to figure out how exactly to get these two sides to get to the table and, and, and find a, a mutual meeting point as far as the number goes. 6:17 Just business, nothing personal. When we were kids, when we were younger, there used to be a, a cartoon, and it was the sheep dog and the coyote. And the, the- [laughs]... the sheep dog... 6:26 And the coyote was always trying to catch the sheep, and the sheep dog was starting him, stopping him. But at the beginning of the, uh, cartoon, they both clocked in and said, "How you doing?" 6:35 And then halfway through, they clocked out and ate lunch together. And then they went back to trying to kill each other in the cartoon. 6:41 [laughs] And the joke was, "This is just who we are, but when, when the, when the, uh, the day is done, we walk home together." That's what you're seeing here with Harris and McLaurin. 6:48 It's like, "I have to try to prevent you from, uh, making all the money in the world. You gotta try to get as much money as you can. We're gonna do this dance for everyone." 6:55 At the end of the day, again, September 4th or whatever the opener is, you're gonna see McLaurin out there, it sounds like. 7:02 Yeah, that, that's my read on this thing, and I think that the Commanders know how valuable he is, right? 7:07 We had Jordan Matthews on the podcast a couple weeks ago, and he talked about the great wide receiver duos in the NFC East. The AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens across the league. 7:17 Ja'Marr Chase and, and Tee Higgins. It, it just seems like the Commanders know how to build out the roster. They understand Terry McLaurin's value. But they can't sign him to a $29 million deal, right? 7:28 And he might want that $29 million number. There, there has to be that happy medium. And, you know, the, the subplot to all this is, there's young receivers on this roster that are benefiting, um- Mm-hmm... 7:40 from Terry McLaurin not being here. And the name that kept coming up in conversations with people today, uh, rookie Jakobi Brooks had a couple nice catches. Yeah. And we mentioned Luke McCaffrey very briefly. 7:52 I thought the play of the day, Mike, was down near the red zone. Jayden Daniels rolls out to his right a little bit and leads, um, McCaffrey on a perfectly thrown ball along the sideline. Mm-hmm. 8:04 Touch pass to it, led him to the spot, McCaffrey made the catch. They're really waiting and hoping that McCaffrey takes a big step, because they drafted him a year ago. 8:13 Really unproductive, kind of a non-factor as a rookie. This is his opportunity. This is his time with those extra snaps with McLaurin not being here. 8:20 Um, it, it, it's gonna be interesting if he's not here during the preseason, who's the emergent star out of that receiving corps? Because there's opportunity there, that's for sure. 8:27 That's it, and they need that third guy, 'cause if Deebo's working the middle, and McLaurin's there, being I guess more vertical boundary, there's another opportunity there. I don't know much about Brooks. 8:36 It's always interesting when somebody like that starts to shine in a camp, though. Yeah, the, the quote I was told by somebody in the building, "He's small, but he has lots of power." 8:45 So definitely a guy to watch, um, potentially climbing the depth chart. You'll appreciate this, Mike. Th- this offense continues to be the Zach Ertz show, right? That's who they funnel this thing through. 8:56 That's where Jayden Daniels' bread is buttered. And it, it almost looked like turning back the clock to when you and I were in the locker room every day. [laughs] Those 2017, 2018 Eagles. 9:06 It looks like that version of Zach Ertz a little bit. Now, it's only August 1st, August 2nd, whatever it is. But I was really impressed by Ertz on the field today coming off a really strong year. 9:15 Caught up with him very briefly after practice. He loves it here. It was never really a doubt or debate about him coming back. He's gonna be a focal point once again. 9:23 It's stunning to hear that, 'cause when he was in Arizona, he looked like he was done. 9:27 I gu- I guess him and Bobby Wagner and Von Miller are all going out to dinner at about 3:30 in the afternoon, and they're enjoying the tomato soup together. [laughs] And that's what's helping them, uh... 9:36 That, that's what's helping the old guys, uh, feel young together. By the way, a couple people have been s- uh, making comments. I can kind of see the comments. Thank you. Uh, we... 9:44 We're barely getting this thing [laughs] off the ground. I think I see a comment from Bill Houston. Thank you very much. Uh, but like I... We won't be able to interact. We're not that good at this yet. 9:53 Uh, Matt, what's coming up next on the tour? But first of all, are you down there... Are you driving right back up after we get done, or do you have a little hotel down there? What's going on? 10:03 Yeah, drove down late last night, got a hotel for overnight last night. Pro move, by the way, avoiding the- [laughs]... DC Metro traffic in the mornings. Yeah, yeah. 10:12 A couple of drives down to Walt Disney World will teach you that. Uh, but going, g- gonna find a little Starbucks here with reliable internet. Uh- Mm... 10:20 felt the vibe and the ambiance was worth the choppy internet risk for the, for the live shot, the live show. Uh, but gonna find a little Starbucks, write up the postcard piece. 10:29 A little work on the column for Monday with some, uh, some nuggets and details and deeper dives from the Commanders today on Monday morning. 10:37 And then, uh, Thursday we'll be out at Latrobe for the Pittsburgh Steelers' final practice before their preseason opener against the Jaguars. 10:45 Really excited to get to Latrobe and get eyes on a, a really interesting, uh, and different Steelers team than we're used to seeing. Eyes on Aaron Rodgers. When you get out there, you can say hi to Jared Bailey for me. 10:56 I am jealous. You can see I'm just here in the home office doing my thing. You got beautiful weather, though, didn't you? Perfectly sunny. Walked out of the hotel room and felt, "Whoa, this feels like fall." 11:06 And I felt like I should've gone to get my little pumpkin spice, but, but, but not yet. Not ready to rush it yet. But, uh, you know, this is my favorite time of year, Mike, and you know this. 11:14 Just getting boots on the ground, seeing a glimpse of the emerging stars and what these teams are becoming. 11:20 It, it, it's a lot of fun, and, uh, I, I'm glad you were able to carve out a few minutes to, to do this, 'cause I love chatting with you on the pod. And, uh, yeah, it's, it, it's been fun so far. 11:30 No, and I love hearing the, the behind-the-scenes McLaurin and Harris. Dabbing it up, folks, which means it's, it's only a matter of time. 11:37 I'm, I'm talking, like, 49ers fans are like, "Well, why aren't we trading for Terry McLaurin?" It's like, guys, you're, you're trying to get younger as a team. And also, this isn't happening. 11:45 There's not going to be a McLaurin trade, everybody. It's just, it's just business as usual. Um, but yeah, this has been a lot of fun, man. Absolutely. 11:55 And, you know, my big-picture takeaway here, Mike, is I think that this team is going to take a step. Yeah. And there's just a vibe. There's, there's a culture that's very obvious. 12:03 And I think when you start to project out the NFC, it, it's the Eagles, it's the Commanders, it's the Lions. And it might be everybody else at this point, but, uh, they, they, they were aggressive this off-season. 12:14 They added some big pieces where they needed to. A- and I think they're gonna be a real fun team to watch. 12:19 And they're a great team to see at practice, 'cause when they go out there in the preseason, you're not gonna see any of the people we are talking about. 12:25 We're gonna see Marcus Mariota and Sam Hartman and all these other goofballs. So you get the boots on the ground to see the actual starters doing their thing. For sure. 12:34 And, and now I have the lawnmowers, uh, blowing off the field and mowing the lawn. So, uh, to save the people's ears, it might be time to wrap this up. But we'll check in from... 12:42 We'll, we'll talk on the podcast on Tuesday, and then we'll check in from Latrobe next week. He's Mike Tanier. Subscribe to the Twitter. Don't follow him across socials. I'm Matt Lombardo. Glad to have you here, Mike. 12:52 It's been a lot of fun. Absolutely. Safe travels getting back on that DT traffic. Thanks, brother.
