The Commanders are in need of a quarterback this week and they’re set to sign one who used to play for offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan reports that the Commanders are signing Trace McSorley to their 90-man roster. McSorley played for the Cardinals in 2021 and 2022 when Kingsbury was the head coach in Arizona.
McSorley is needed because Sam Hartman is dealing with a right shoulder injury that has him on track to miss this weekend’s game against the Dolphins. Marcus Mariota and Jeff Driskel are also on the depth chart behind Jayden Daniels.
McSorley played six games and made his only NFL start during his time in Arizona. He spent time with the Patriots, Bears, and Steelers last year.
John Keim of ESPN.com reports that the Commanders will also be cutting offensive lineman Mason Brooks.
Martavis Bryant will get at least one more shot at his comeback.
The Commanders announced on Tuesday that they have signed Bryant.
After an indefinite suspension for violating the league’s drug policy lasted for years, Bryant was reinstated last November and signed with Dallas’ practice squad. He did not appear in a game, though he did re-up with the team on a futures deal. The Cowboys released him in May.
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was around Bryant last season as Dallas’ defensive coordinator.
A Steelers fourth-round pick in 2014, Bryant has 145 career receptions for 2,183 yards with 17 touchdowns. He last played for the Raiders in 2018 — when the club was still in Oakland — catching 19 passes for 266 yards in eight games.
As a corresponding move, the Commanders released kicker Ramiz Ahmed.
Wide receiver Martavis Bryant is spending a little more time with the Commanders.
Bryant worked out for the team in the spring and, per multiple reports, he is working out for them again on Tuesday.
Bryant has not played in an NFL game since 2018, but spent time on the Cowboys practice squad last season after being reinstated from an indefinite suspension. His most recent on-field work came in the XFL during that league’s 2023 season.
The 2014 Steelers fourth-round pick caught 126 passes for 1,917 yards and 17 touchdowns over three seasons sandwiched around another year-long suspension. He then played in eight games for the Raiders in 2018 before being suspended.
If Jayden Daniels becomes what the Commanders believe he will, everyone may look back on one play in Saturday’s preseason opener as the moment they knew for sure. The rookie quarterback played one series, went 2-for-3 for 45 yards and scored on a 3-yard run.
It was the third play from scrimmage when Daniels showed the team he’s ready.
The Commanders faced a third-and-six, and as Daniels came to the line, he realized the play called by offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury had no prayer of succeeding.
The Jets had seven defenders in the box.
So, Daniels checked out of it, sending Dyami Brown on a go route, and the two connected for a 42-yard gain.
“It’s just something throughout practice in the time I’ve been here where Kliff is like, ‘If you don’t like this look, check it,’” Daniels said, via Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “So, they came out in a certain look, and we were in a play I didn’t like, so I checked it.”
The play took Commanders coach Dan Quinn by surprise.
“I thought of ‘Top Gun,’” Quinn said. “‘Do I have permission to buzz the tower?’ ‘No, Ghostrider, the pattern is full.’ I think on that one he wanted to ask for forgiveness and not permission and throw an absolute dime over the top to Dyami to go. It was a really cool play. I think it probably illustrates for him the awareness and checks and things that go into it.”
Jayden Daniels’s preseason debut against the Jets was an illustration of why the Commanders took the quarterback with the second overall pick in this year’s draft.
Daniels capped an 11-play, 70-yard opening drive by faking a handoff to running back Austin Ekeler and keeping the ball on a three-yard touchdown run. Marcus Mariota replaced him on the second Commanders possession.
The scoring run came after Daniels flashed his arm earlier in the drive. He hit wide receiver Dyami Brown for a 42-yard gain on a third down early in the drive and connected with Terry McLaurin for a three-yard gain on his only other completion.
Washington also got 20 yards on three carries by running back Brian Robinson and — even with the caveat that it came against Jets backups — the whole package is the kind of thing that the Commanders hope to see a lot of this fall.