On March 21, a delegation led by Tom Brady will stage a flag-football tournament in Saudi Arabia. Multiple NFL players will be participating.
As Brady tells it, it’s not going to be an exhibition or a publicity stunt.
“Honestly, this is, like, real football,” Brady recently said in an appearance on the Impaulsive podcast. “This is real competition.”
The conversation between Brady and Logan Paul seemed to be a fairly basic effort to hype the event by talking shit. Still, Brady’s comments shouldn’t be ignored, as it relates to the potential intensity of the game.
“I’m glad you’re gonna be there,” Brady told Paul, “and I’m glad you’re finally gonna participate in, like, a competition that matters.”
Paul then compared the game to the Pro Bowl. “It’s gonna be way better than that,” Brady said.
In reposting the clip, Brady said this: “I hope people understand the level of competition this game is going to be. If you’re on my team you’re going to be locked in, all out, and we’re going to not just win... but dominate.”
The NFL players, who surely had a hard time saying no to the multi-zero check they’ll be getting, may not have gotten the memo that they’re going to be expected to “be locked in” and go “all out.” There’s an injury risk to any type of football. The more “real” the football and the more “real” the competition, the greater the chance that someone is going to get hurt.
Possibly for that reason, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels — who has been announced as one of the quarterbacks for the tournament — was equivocal when the topic came up during a recent visit to PFT Live.
“I don’t know yet,” Daniels said regarding whether he’ll be making the trip.
Daniels, of all potential players in the game, has the most to lose. Injuries limited him to seven games in 2025. He needs to be as healthy as possible for 2026, the last year before he’s eligible for a market-level second contract.
Yes, insurance is available for the players who will be participating in an event that jeopardizes their 2026 salaries, if they’re hurt while playing. (And if you think injuries during flag football don’t happen, we give you Robert Edwards.) But it’s one thing for Daniels to get his full $4.226 million salary for 2026 if he’s injured while playing flag football. It’s quite another for Daniels to miss playing time this year because of an injury that happens during an activity unrelated to his job.
It’s our understanding that the Commanders and all other teams whose players are going to Saudi Arabia are supporting the effort, in part because they feel compelled both to let their players get an extra bag and to defer to the league’s ongoing effort to make flag football a thing.
But Daniels said it himself: “I don’t know yet.”
After seeing Brady’s comments regarding how “real” the game will be, Daniels may quickly know what he’s going to do.
When the Commanders traded for wide receiver Deebo Samuel last year, it was understood at the time that he was headed for free agency in March of 2026. That day is fast approaching.
Samuel’s contract has officially voided, leaving a $12.3 million cap hit on the Commanders’ books for 2026. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent on March 11.
It’s an open question what kind of contract the 30-year-old Samuel can command in free agency. At times in his career he’s been one of the best wide receivers in football (he was a first-team All-Pro in 2021), but he’s coming off a rather uninspiring season in which he averaged a career-low 10.1 yards per catch.
When the 49ers traded Samuel to the Commanders last year, San Francisco got only a fifth-round pick because the 49ers were eager to get Samuel’s contract off their books. Now Samuel can find out how much every NFL team thinks he’s worth.
There’s one big similarity between the new hires the Commanders made at the top of their offensive and defensive coaching staffs since the end of the 2025 season.
Offensive coordinator David Blough and defensive coordinator Daronte Jones are both stepping into those roles for the first time. That’s a departure from their predecessors, but their lack of experience in their new jobs isn’t something that worries head coach Dan Quinn.
“I felt their vision right away and the energy they have for it,” Quinn said, via Ben Standig of the Associated Press. “I know we may talk of two first-time coordinators, but I also recognize everyone needs their first stop. I really feel like we’re going to set them up to succeed.”
Quinn has a lot of experience as a head coach, which should help balance any learning curve that Blough and Jones go through in their first days trying to establish visions that the Commanders believe will benefit the team in the long run.
Punter Tress Way won’t be leaving the Commanders as a free agent this offseason.
The Commanders announced that they have signed Way to a contract extension on Tuesday. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that it is a one-year deal.
Way entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie with the Bears in 2013 and made his regular season debut for the Commanders in 2014. He has appeared in every game for Washington over the past 12 seasons. He was selected for the Pro Bowl for the 2025 season, which marked the third time he’s been tabbed for that honor.
Way has a net average of 41.7 yards per kick over the course of his career. He’s also 2-of-2 for 38 yards as a passer.
During last week’s Radio Row ruckus, we neglected to mention that the Washington Post disbanded its sports department.
Given the general outcry that was articulated by others far more eloquently than I ever could, I’ll stick with my initial reaction to the news: “What the eff?”
On Tuesday, Commanders coach Dan Quinn met with reporters for the first time since the Post punted its sports section. The team had three empty seats in the front row for the now-absent Post reporters.
Quinn, in a video posted by JP Finlay of NBC 4, noted the empty seats and said he was “bummed” to learn about the decision. “Their presence is missed,” Quinn said.
The accountability the Post brought to sports teams and leagues also will be missed. Reporting regarding former Commanders owner Daniel Snyder helped expedite his forced exit in 2023. More recently, in-depth reporting from the Post potentially sparked a federal investigation regarding a doctor who may have responsibility in connection with the May 2025 death of Colts owner Jim Irsay.
As corporations and oligarchs gobble up more and more independent media, true journalism — finding out the stuff they don’t want us to know — will become more and more rare in sports, because there will be fewer outlets whose employees are not beholden to the rich and powerful.
Which will allow those who are doing things they shouldn’t be doing to keep right on doing them.
