Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2024. His encore was not as expected.
After a challenging second season, Daniels said he feels like he has something to prove. But it’s the same feeling he had after his first season.
“If you don’t feel you have something to prove, then you shouldn’t be in this profession,” Daniels said, via John Keim of ESPN.
The Commanders went 5-12 in 2025, with Daniels playing only seven games because of injuries to a knee, hamstring and his left elbow. He threw for 1,262 yards, with eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
“It left a bitter taste in my mouth,” Daniels said. “I mean, it sucked. . . . [It was] a miserable feeling to not go out and do what I do on a daily basis and having setbacks.”
Daniels has a new offensive coordinator, with David Blough replacing Kliff Kingsbury. So far, so good.
“I love the offense. I love what Blough is doing,” Daniels said. “Love how he’s creating and designing different things. It’s awesome to see his creative mind; we’re building this thing together.”
The Commanders had one of the worst defenses in the league during the 2025 season and their efforts to improve that side of the ball have been met with emphatic approval from one returning member of the defensive line.
Javon Kinlaw has been joined up front by new additions Tim Settle, Odafe Oweh, K’Lavon Chaisson, and Charles Omenihu and he made sure there was no mistaking his feelings about the move when he was asked about the changes on Wednesday.
“We’ve got some motherf——s now,” Kinlaw said, via Scott Abraham of 7NewsDC.
Kinlaw then rattled off the above names as well as those of Daron Payne, Dorrance Armstrong, Deatrich Wise, and Jer’Zhan Newton while saying “he can go” to underscore his belief in how much the group brings to the table.
“It’s gonna be exciting,” Kinlaw said. “It’s gonna be super exciting to play with these guys, for sure. A lot of talent. I’m just excited. I’m super excited.”
The Commanders also added first-round pick Sonny Styles and free agent Leo Chenal at linebacker while making a number of moves in the secondary that they hope create the same kind of excitement to a larger audience this fall.
Once again this offseason, the Giants are taking a look at a defensive tackle.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, veteran Eddie Goldman worked out for New York on Tuesday.
Goldman, 32, spent last season with the Commanders. He appeared in 13 games with six starts, recording 26 total tackles with four tackles for loss and one QB hit.
Goldman came out of retirement to play the 2024 season with the Falcons, appearing in 17 games with 10 starts. He tallied 16 total tackles with one TFL, three QB hits, and one sack that season.
A Bears second-round pick in the 2015 draft, Goldman has appeared in 111 games with 89 starts over his career for Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington. He’s recorded 14.0 sacks with 23 tackles for loss and 25 QB hits.
Since trading Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals last month, the Giants have been on the hunt for big men to fill out the interior of their defense. The club has added Shelby Harris, Leki Fotu, DJ Reader, and Zacch Pickens since April 28.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to accept the NFL’s appeal in the case brought by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores (and Steve Wilks and Ray Horton). The decision allows his case to proceed in court — and, in theory, to culminate with a public trial.
Both sides have issued comments in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“We respect the Supreme Court’s decision not to grant review,” a league spokesperson said. “Regardless of the forum, we are fully prepared to defend ourselves as this matter proceeds.”
Said Flores’s lawyers: “We are pleased that the Supreme Court declined to accept the NFL’s appeal. The NFL must now accept that its commissioner cannot be the arbitrator over discrimination claims against the league and its teams. We look forward to litigating these claims in court.”
Obviously, the league wants the forum to be its in-house arbitration process. It keeps things secret, and it tips the scales of justice in the league’s favor.
But, no, the NFL won’t suddenly surrender. It will aggressively challenge Flores at every turn, with the goal of securing a victory without having to take the case to trial.
When will that happen? It could take months. Maybe years. After all, it took nearly 52 months to get the case past the threshold question of whether the claims will be resolved in court or in arbitration.
The NFL’s in-house arbitration process isn’t dead, but it’s on the verge of a TKO.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the NFL’s petition for appeal in the Brian Flores case.
From the 25-page document submitted by the league in January 2026, this is the question the NFL presented to the U.S. Supreme Court: “Whether an arbitration agreement governing disputes in a professional sports league is categorically unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act because it designates the league commissioner as the default arbitrator and permits the commissioner to develop arbitral procedures.”
The league wisely made the question narrow, in order to avoid the possibility that the league’s arbitration process would be taken to its logical extreme. If the NFL can make the Commissioner the default arbitrator for any employment disputes or other legal claims made by employees, every American corporation could make the CEO the default arbitrator for any employment disputes or other legal claims made against it by its employee.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had found that the NFL’s arbitration agreement was not enforceable due to the Commissioner’s power over the process. The decision not to take the appeal doesn’t operate as an agreement by the Supreme Court; however, if the Supreme Court wanted to endorse the league’s longstanding in-house process, it could have taken up the case and then reversed the outcome.
The current legal posture doesn’t prevent the NFL from arguing its position in cases that arise in other courts. However, there’s now a clear path to suing the NFL and avoiding the mandatory arbitration clauses in non-player employment contracts by suing the NFL in New York federal court — since the Southern District of New York falls within the Second Circuit.
As to Flores, the development means that his claims against the NFL, Dolphins, Broncos, Giants, and Texans (and the claims made by Steve Wilks against the Cardinals and Ray Horton against the Titans) will be resolved by the judicial process. With full discovery. And, absent a settlement or a successful motion for summary judgment, with a trial in open court. All facts will be introduced and developed and exposed to public scrutiny.
That could spark a settlement, sooner than later. The league uses arbitration due in part to its desire to keep its business secret. Unless it goes away, the Flores case could result in all sorts of things the NFL would rather us not know playing out in the public eye.
