Washington

Commanders

The NFL appears keen on spotlighting Jayden Daniels and the Commanders after their stunning run to the NFC title game last season. Daniels will lead the hyper-efficient Washington offense into Madrid for the last of the seven 2025 international regular season games. It could be an exciting back-and-forth affair between a high-powered Commanders offense — now with Deebo Samuel — and a Miami offense led by Tua Tagovailoa, De’Von Achane, and Tyreek Hill.

Standig was careful to qualify his statements by saying it is “hard to assess” a player’s potential when they are playing against “a bunch of guys that are not going to make this team.” However, Standig did offer a “bold prediction” by saying that he could see Croskey-Merritt “getting into the rotation,” if he can prove his rookie minicamp performance was “real.” Overall, this should be viewed as a qualified yet positive report from a sharp beat reporter, though fantasy managers must acknowledge that Croskey-Merritt has not yet proved himself against NFL veterans. For future reference, Standig adds that Croskey-Merritt curiously goes by “Bill.”

Phillips was a third-round pick by the Ravens back in 2020 and has spent the last two seasons with the Giants. The four-year vet is presumably joining the Commanders on a “prove-it” deal and will likely battle for a depth spot in training camp. Phillips has started 28 of the 47 games he appeared in for his career and appeared in only three games last season after joining the Giants’ practice squad in November.

Standig doesn’t seem to present the idea as something that’s sure to happen, but in a mailbag question aimed about recouping picks, he mentioned that Robinson and tackle Andrew Wylie were two players who could be traded for draft capital in 2026. “Meanwhile, two of Robinson’s coaches in Washington, Randy Jordan (Tennessee Titans) and Eric Bieniemy (Chicago Bears), head running back rooms with incomplete depth charts,” Standig notes. The Commanders haven’t really seemed sold on Robinson in flirting heavily with this year’s draft class at running back before taking Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the seventh tround, and it would make some sense to deal him before the season if they don’t intend to re-sign him.

Gay will kick for his fourth team since entering the NFL in 2019. He was released by the Colts in early April after making 82 percent of his field goal tries over two seasons with Indy. Gay has been a solid kicker for much of his NFL career, though he has struggled from distance, converting just 61 percent of his field goal tries of more than 50 yards over six seasons. Attached to a high-powered Commanders offense, Gay could have fantasy upside in 2025. Washington had the league’s fourth most field-goal attempts (42) last season.

The move comes less than two months after Washington re-signed Gonzalez following his 2024 late-season heroics. He converted five of his seven field goal attempts during six regular season games for the Commanders. Gonzalez, who has played for five teams since entering the NFL in 2017, will likely catch on with another team this summer.

Brooks (6’2/184) was a highly-regarded recruit coming out of high school and committed to Alabama with offers from Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, and Penn State among others. Brooks got on the map as a sophomore with 674 yards and eight touchdowns. He didn’t play much as a junior while dealing with a shoulder injury and transferred to Louisville for his senior season. Brooks returned to form in 2024 with a 61/1,013/9 receiving line as the Cardinals’ leading receiver. Louisville used Brooks to stretch the field with a 15.1 aDOT. Brooks doesn’t have a speedy top gear, meaning he was forced to win contested targets. Over a quarter of his looks were contested in his final season, but he did manage to reel in nearly 70 percent of those looks. Brooks also struggled with drops throughout his career and logged a 10 percent drop rate in 2024. Brooks needs to flesh out his route tree and clean up the drops to find a consistent role in the pros.

Commanders’ owner Josh Harris has reportedly said he hopes to open the new stadium in 2030, which would keep the Commanders in their current home stadium, Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, through that date. The Commanders enjoyed success playing in RFK Stadium from 1961-1996, playing in five Super Bowls, and winning three, during that span. The contract for a new stadium at the old site is expected to exceed $3 billion and it is unknown if public funding will be allocated for the project. The deal is expected to be announced officially on Monday morning.

Cypress II (6’0/188) played five years of ACC football, spending his first three with Virginia and his final two with Florida State. His best season came in 2023, where he recorded 40 total tackles, seven pass deflections and a forced fumble. Standing at 6-foot-0 and 188 pounds, he’s not the most physical player and there are times where he relies a bit too much on his speed. Cypress posted a middling 55.5 defensive grade while charting in the 70th percentile in run defense last year. He suffered a season-ending injury, starting nine games for the Seminoles before going down. On run defense Cypress shows good speed and is well-balanced throughout plays. However, he has average vision at times causing him to have late reactions. Overall, the Seminole standout is a talented corner who could be a dime rotational player at the highest level.

Croskey-Merritt (5'10/206) played just one game at Arizona due to eligibility issues after spending one season with New Mexico and four seasons with Alabama State. He tallied 189 carries for 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns with New Mexico in 2023 and had 13 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown in his singular game for Arizona. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler describes Croskey-Merritt as “a slippery runner with explosive feet.” He can be a change-of-pace back if he makes the Commanders’ roster as a rookie.