NFL insider Adam Caplan joins host Evan Groat on the Sportsnaut Interview to discuss the Washington Commanders’ breakout potential in 2025. From Jake Daniels’ elite play to blockbuster trades for Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel, Kaplan explains why the Commanders are a force in the NFC East. Plus, insights on the Cleveland Browns’ QB battle, Cincinnati Bengals’ contract drama, Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh, and new head coaches like Ben Johnson with the Bears. Don’t miss this deep dive into the NFL offseason!
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⏰Timecode:
0:00 – Intro: Washington Commanders’ 2025 Potential
0:50 – Welcome to Sports Not Interview with Adam Caplan
1:10 – Cleveland Browns QB Competition: Sanders, Flacco, Pickett
3:12 – Cincinnati Bengals: Hendrickson, Stuart, and Contract Issues
6:24 – NFL Contract Stalemates: McLaurin, Watt, Parsons
9:16 – Aaron Rodgers to Pittsburgh: Can He Still Deliver?
11:17 – Washington Commanders’ Offseason Moves: Tunsil, Samuel
14:37 – New NFL Head Coaches: Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn Shine
16:05 – Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams: A Game-Changing Duo?
17:01 – Outro and Thanks to Adam Caplan
#NFL2025 #WashingtonCommanders #Jaydendaniels #AaronRodgers #BenJohnson #NFLInsider #AdamCaplan #ClevelandBrowns #CincinnatiBengals #PittsburghSteelers #nfloffseason #nflnews #nflrumors #nflminicamp
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yeah but it’ll be the Washington Commanders um let’s be honest about it they came out of nowhere Jake Daniels played elite football he he put the team on his back that the roster was not that talented last season they they exceeded any expectations but I give Adam Peters credit he clearly knew this that they weren’t the roster wasn’t good enough so they were aggressive they made a huge trade for Larry me tunsel one of the best for agent moves they made the trade for Deebo Samuel they signed Noah Brown I know he got hurt this week and welcome back to the sports not interview I am Evan Groot your host and today we are joined by NFL insider Adam Kaplan and Adam is here today to talk NFL football with us we had several uh mini camps take place this week so there’s a lot to get into Adam thank you so much for joining us today sure good to be with you awesome now let’s start in the state of Ohio the AFC North there’s a lot of stories coming out of some of that division let’s start with the Cleveland Browns they’ve got a little quarterback competition underway doer standards of course is is being talked about a lot he’s getting a lot of attention uh he’s competing with uh uh veteran Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett as well as fellow rookie Dylan Gabriel so I just kind of want to get some of your uh insight are you are you hearing any Intel from from inside the Browns building and I know it’s early but what do you think about Sanders possibly winning this job out of training camp well it’s good he’s a ways away I mean he’s he’s got a long way to go here let’s be honest they’re in t shirts and shorts I’ve covered this business for 28 years I put very little stock in who’s winning or losing jobs nobody’s winning a job or losing a job at Otis it’s never happened but you want that you want your rookies to get off to a good start okay this is what we call having the learning phase and for a guy like Sanders we know he’s played a very tough schedule at Colorado so he’s been through it before in terms of of you know the the the tough level of college football but this is the pros right and we gotta you’re not gonna know if you’re a Browns fan till how he’s really doing until we get through training camp and the preseason I’m I’ve I’ve likened uh the all season to double a baseball very light they’re in t shirts and shorts training camp is triple a major leagues is a regular season so just be careful with these reporters who put out tape or a practice will put out a little one snapshot of one throw and all of a sudden the guy’s a hall of Famer just relax let the let let it play out Sanders is very talented had mostly 2nd or 3rd round grades from clubs unfortunately dropped but the bottom line is he’s a talented quarterback he’ll have a shot but we gotta get to training camp first yeah I like that analogy you made there with with double a Triple a and then eventually to the major leagues that’s a great way to look at it now I wanna jump over to Cincinnati a lot coming out of their camp it seems like that’s been the case the last couple years you know we got the situation with Hendrickson and now the rookie Stuart as well you know is is it a bad look for Cincy it just seems like year after year we have these players who are a little bit unhappy wanting new contracts I know that happens around the league but um you know they recently played burrow they they did get it done with Jamar Chase and and t Higgins last off season but what is going on in Cincinnati yeah and the Higgins one I gotta be honest with you that was a surprise around the league because you know their defense at times was not competitive last season and they need a lot of help they’ve got issues in the back end pass rush is inconsistent and you got Shamar Steuart who’s a raw player who needs to be there in training camp they got they gotta get uh the contract clause thing straight now the Bengals wanna do something that’s very odd that other teams simply don’t do so that’s a concern you mentioned Trey Hendrickson I what I always tell people is that there’s no urgency from clubs until there’s something over their head what would be over their head is to start a training camp that’s when you yes Trey Hendrickson’s willing to to take fines and not show up to OTAs but you know how serious it is and how that could be once he starts missing training camp practice getting those fines and so what happened with Chris Jones uh when he when he he missed camp and he wasn’t ready till the regular season he he forfeited a lot of money then that could be a problem and and let’s not forget the Bengals have a new defense coordinator Al Golden former temple head coach why my head coach has been assistant in the National Football League before with the Lions now he’s he’s coming back the NFL as their defense coordinator and in his first year with the Bengals so they need all the help they can get and you can’t keep asking Joe Burrow to carry this team and that that’s the problem with their front office and their philosophy it’s just it they can never seem to get it right I mean even when they went to the Super Bowl Joe Burrow was able to carry him despite having a less than stellar offensive line yeah absolutely now talking about the contract stalemate with with Hendrickson there’s a few other players uh noteworthy players from around the league who are also seeking new contracts James Cook in Buffalo Michael Parsons TJ Watt Terry Mclaurin there’s a few guys who want to get a new deal done do you think that any of these has the potential to to get ugly and and possibly uh have a long term holdout during training camp we’re not gonna know till we get there to training camp I mean I deals can get done any like as you and I speak today or they can get done closer to training camp um I I I never worry about these deals until we get to training camp I’ve covered this business for so long I’ve seen it I mean it’s it’s funny how like you’ll talk to a general manager and say man we’re so far apart like two days before training camp and all of a sudden magically gets done yeah cause the clubs have to have something hanging over their head and they don’t want it to be as distraction now the Steelers typically once the regular season starts they will not negotiate uh that’s been their stance they’ve rarely done it there’s always exceptions to to negotiate in season but they don’t like doing it and quarterbacks by the way don’t like doing it they don’t want to be distracted so let’s go to McLaren look McLaren did his deal three years ago it’s outdated he needs to be taken care of I I would expect this to be resolved sometime uh by the start of training camp or or just after it uh he’s just too good he’s too valuable highly highly regarded player class guy just been a great story development Josh Harris their new owner I expect him to do the right thing here but again we’re in June there’s what urgency do you have you only have urgency when you know you have something that you gotta get done and and we’re not there yet um and then the TJ Watt thing yeah that’s another one this now now this one’s a little harder in that yes he’s worth extending and taking being taken care of which I expect to get done but Evan at his age and his injury history yeah you gotta be careful here now they really like Nick Herbig who’s a fourth rounder from two years ago he’s Nate Herbig’s younger brother Nate’s have been a journeyman interior offensive lineman Nick’s Nick’s one of the better 3rd edge rushers in the NFL that fans unless your Steelers don’t know about he’s really good he could be what’s successor years down the road here but herb is on the third year of his four year rookie deal now if you if if you’re the Steelers and and TJ Watt now they do they do contracts and he turns 31 by the way in in October so he turns 31 this season the Steelers typically do contracts structure this way it’s one a major a huge signing bonus one year fully guaranteed base salary and they typically don’t guarantee salaries after that so it it’s not gonna be easy to get through this contract I expect them again to get this done it could take a little bit of time here again I I don’t I’m not like fans and some of the media who make a big deal of this stuff these things usually get done there sometimes there’s a little bit of short term pain it’s unfortunate yeah but um you know that’s that’s just the way it is now with Watts Watts former deal the last deal they actually went outside their structure uh they did self they I think they did three years of fully guaranteed money they rarely do that that’s just they did it and and I always say in the NFL with anything there are exceptions to anything you have to understand that teams are allowed to change their mind they’re human beings they can change their mind if they want to but what’s what’s one expect to eventually get taken care of um now the the the the uh the Parsons thing’s going to get done um it it’s typical Jerry Jones waiting he now he’s gonna have to pay over $40 million per season he could have got this done a year a couple years ago he didn’t he waited he he’s waited till now and it’s gonna be costly but we’ve seen this now with Dak Prescott’s deal which was landmark and that that’s what happened when you wait yeah yeah good good stuff there now we talked a lot about TJ Watt in Pittsburgh you brought up quarterbacks and what not let’s stay in Pittsburgh there’s an old face in a new place now Aaron Rodgers he yeah held out held out on making a decision he uh made it just before the start of mini camp I think a lot of us knew all along it was going to be Pittsburgh it is Pittsburgh does he have anything left in the tank um and and how do you see this working out in in Pittsburgh that’s a good question so I give the guy credit for not missing a game last season he had in my reporting he had um I think a moderate hamstring strain and knee sprain and I know there was some overlap with both injuries I I don’t know how he did it I give the guy credit he was beat up physically he he did the best that he could he turns 42 I believe in December September from not mistaken that’s concerning yeah he does that I’m that is correct uh December 2nd that does concern me does he have something left yes he showed he had something left but you worry about the body breaking down I know that the Steelers were happy to get Mason Rudolph back as a backup they would have gone the veteran route had they they would have looked elsewhere to bring someone else in had they not gotten Rogers um at the very least to compete against Rudolph or just be the starter but they didn’t have to go there cause Rogers signed I’m glad he showed up to their mandatory camp this week that’s good they gotta get on the same page with not just Mccaffrey worked out within the spring everybody else and we’ll see um but it’s interesting if you look if you look at the bed odds the over under total is not increased it’s still they’re still plus 100 at over eight and a half wins that that that is remarkable to me that it is it hasn’t moved at all depending like an m G m that hasn’t moved at all still plus 100 yeah that’s hard to believe uh you know because you think about years ago getting Aaron Rodgers on your team you would think that your odds would increase dramatically but just not the case anymore at his advanced age uh but you know looking around the league now um you know we had free agency we had the draft is there a team or two that you can pinpoint that you feel like at least on paper right now have have really improved themselves going into training camps in a in a you know a month and a half here yeah but it’ll be the Washington Commanders um let’s be honest about it they came out of nowhere Jake Daniels played elite football he he put the team on his back that the roster was not that talented last season they exceeded any expectations but I give Adam Peters credit he clearly knew this that they weren’t the roster wasn’t good enough so they were aggressive they made a huge trade for Larry Me Tunsel one of the best free agent moves they made the trade for Deebo Samuel they signed Noah Brown I know he got hurt this week um Josh Carney in the draft who wanted to be in the right tackle they they knew they could not live with Brandon Coleman as their left tackle they made that decision at the last last season he wouldn’t be their left tackle he’s just not a left tackle he’s a right tackle or guard uh bringing in Jevon Kinlaw it’s a big contract but Peters knows him from the days with the Niners had a great really good season I shouldn’t say great but good season with the Jets best season as a pro wise a veteran edge rusher who I like uh you’re getting Marshall Latimore now for a full off season let’s hope he stays healthy with the hamstring problems Saint or Stril who turned out to be a big surprise playing on the outside uh Quinn Martin now at safety this is this is a much better roster now that now that that now that that we know from pillar to post that they’ve they’re deep enough now to compete at a higher even a higher level I know the Eagles boat raced them in the playoffs that was a blowout in the end but now they’re they’re tightening up in the NFC East and the NFC with what they’ve done this offseason yeah and you know going back to our our conversation about Terry McLaren and you mentioned what’s the rush I guess the one thing that I could point to would be that obviously this team feels that they’re in win now mode having the success they had last year you know they don’t they don’t want any distractions during training camp they want to get their best players in there so that could be one reason why they want to get something done I wouldn’t worry about that that that just so you understand that this it has little to no impact on the team it only has an impact if the player doesn’t show up in shape that’s a problem saying he would um the stuff the the media narratives clubs don’t care about that stuff I’ve lived this thing when I would put reporting out about oh this is not good for team chemistry it turns generally turns out to be nonsense I’m just telling I know I know people like to blow stuff up but it it generally is nonsense it there’s very little carry over only if the now the other part the in addition not being shape if the players are distraction that’s a different surface the guy didn’t handle his business the right way that could be a problem now Brandon I remember his hold out his contract issue um there were concerns about you he signed late was he good enough football shape then he tore his ACL but terms of team chemistry more often not it it just doesn’t matter yeah I think back to Antonio Brown with the Raiders with the whole helmet thing and that that was a team that’s a that he’s a bizarre guy but that’s yeah that’s you’re talking about another island here you’re talking about a guy you you I was there that training camp with the Raiders that that’s something I’ll never forget with the feet the the the he he he he’s right he he uh the craziness of his feet being for I dude my man hahaha if if you ask me what are the 5 strangest uh training camps of my career going back to 2,002 that Raiders training camp is my top five that was absolutely bizarre with Mike Mayock as a GM that wasn’t his fault that’s just that was a John Gruden when a Antonio Brown and the craziness of that training camp absolutely this is this is why we love your insight this is why we have you on I’m gonna get you out of here on this last uh topic here seven new head coaches were hired in this this uh offseason you know coaching cycle who is the one or two that you feel is in a position where they can get things turned around a little bit quicker uh Ben Johnson of the of the Bears as someone used to work with the Lions told me um you’re not gonna look you’re not gonna have to wait very well long to see if it’s gonna work out because he’s an in your face coach yes he’s a first time head coach but he’s got great command he he’s got he he he gets on his players he coaches hard I’m I’m excited for the Bears not just their offense which is gonna change the scheme is gonna change it’s the way they’re gonna be coached the accountability factor which they didn’t have under the former staff you’re gonna see that thing um I’m very interested to see that no question about it that would be my No. 1 yep if if you look at the the coaching changes that’s the one I’m probably um yeah I I would say that one I’m most excited about and then Aaron Glenn just because when I’ve heard from behind the scenes there’s also a level of accountability he’s bringing in there he knows that building you know he’s he played there I’ve I’ve heard from from people that he’s brought in a good sense of of of togetherness and accountability and the way you need to run a a a football team so I’m looking forward to that one as well yeah one quick follow up there with Ben Johnson do you think uh he’ll get the most out of Caleb Williams are we are we gonna see a much better version I know it’s year 2 you definitely see some growth but because of the coaching we’ll definitely see a better version oh yeah he’ll be better now now here’s the thing Evan how much is he gonna take the coaching that that’s he needs to be coached hard he was undisciplined last year with his play uh we’re just talking on the field I’m not talking anything off the field I’m just talking about his style of play he’s got to play with instruction yeah and you know the pocket breaks down go ahead man show your ability but he’s he’s he’s got to play a different brand of football uh and and you know I’m I’m looking forward to that marriage though because one’s just super gifted I remember when I wrote about him in my first mock draft last year in January of 24 and I never changed it I called him once there the first time and I never changed it for um his profile on network and I just felt cause he’s so gifted his upside tremendous if he could get the right coaching he’s gonna have it with Ben Johnson I I’m very excited to see how these guys work together yeah me too uh excited about it and guess what it’ll be here before we knew it before we know it training camp just a few weeks away now Adam Kaplan thank you so much for your time today all your great insight we love having you on and and thank you so much you got it thank you
