Commanders fans are LIVID at this...

Today was the NFL trade deadline. At 3:47 Eastern, 13 minutes before it closed, Washington's beat reporter wrote, unless something dramatically changes in the next 15 minutes, the Commanders will stand pat. Nothing changed. They did nothing. They didn't buy, and they didn't sell. They had a choice on selling, buying, or holding, and they held. And before you say it, no. Nobody is mad that they didn't pull off a blockbuster. Or they're not mad that they didn't completely strip this down to the studs. What people are mad about is simpler. This is a team that has a franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels. And this team that is 2-5-1 with the biggest game of the season coming up on Thursday. Did absolutely nothing with looking at the future or adding to that franchise quarterback or other positional needs. Jane Daniels said himself on Sunday, as if they're running out of time, he said, yeah, next week is a must win. So today I want to show you what this team passed on, what they couldn't do, and how this upcoming game decides the entire season. Start with the move that it makes it hard to defend, which is Josh Downs. Downs asked the Colts for a trade on October 28th. His rookie contract is expiring, and the Colts are 2-5, so he always was going to move. Now look at what he is. This season he had 26 catches on 46 targets for 307 yards through 7 games, no touchdowns. And he wasn't the only one on the market. The Colts sold the whole shop. On October 27th, they send Quentin Nelson to Seattle. and DeForest Buckner, to the San Francisco 49ers. Teams lined up and bought. A 2-5 team had a sale on, and the Commanders just walked right past it. He's not a superstar, but he's a receiver that gets open and makes catches, something this roster desperately needs. And the price? The Colts first asked was the third round pick according to Adam Schefter. The deal got done, and Schefter reported the term. A fourth and fifth for Downs, and a seventh. The Chiefs got him. A fourth and a fifth. That's it. That's what it took. Here's what makes it worse. Washington is carrying all 21 of its picks in the next three drafts, rounds one through seven, and none are traded away. And I'm not sitting here to tell everyone that Downs was the option, and they should have traded for him. But if that was the price in a positional need that this team needs, This was a... A management group that just went out to say what they thought on the season. Remember, the Colts beat Washington 30-13 on October 4th. Now they sell a receiver for a 4th and a 5th and the commanders just watch. It's like having a leaky roof with a hardwood store right next door. You could just make that one trip over, but instead you stayed home. Okay, so you might say maybe they were busy trying to sell instead. And they were, and that's the problem. Darren Payne was Washington's best trade chip. Everyone knew it. He's on the last year of a four-year $90 million deal. And his cap hit this season is $27.95 million. If you're a team that wants to retool, that's the one you move. And they wanted to move him. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported Washington was talking to one or more teams about the terms of a potential trade. The team was the Giants. Ian Rapoport said, Payne was someone they liked, and had talks about. Then he broke his foot in practice, and that deal was off. October 30th, a Friday practice. His left foot. Schefter said it was a Jones fracture, a season-ending one. Then on November 4th, he went on injured reserves, along with Javon Kinlaw. And Dan Quinn said Payne is likely out for the season. And here's the part that is bad luck. Payne was getting a lot of traction from teams, And you cannot put the blame on management. For not being able to sell a guy that is currently out for the year. But it's the only plan they showed. The one trade chip they had their eyes on moving this season ended up getting hurt and they didn't do anything else. Even before the injury, the signs were soft. Washington reporter Ben Standig said the team would listen to offers, but appeared unlikely to trade players away. Right before the deadline, he added, not much. They didn't go to find another buyer. They didn't pivot to a different move. The report after the injury is just five words. There will be no trade. And the same Giants team is who they play Thursday. So what do us fans really want here? It's not a mystery and it's not crazy. They didn't need a blockbuster and they didn't need to sell everyone. A wide receiver. A defensive tackle. Adding to the O-line. Any move at all. Who they're doing it for. Jaden Daniels has... 1249 passing yards this year, the most on the team by 909 yards. The backup is sitting at 340. He's getting better too. He's averaging 263.7 passing yards over his last five games, against 153 before that. He's gone six straight games without an interception, his best stretch this season. He's counting 10.3 million against the cap this year. A quarterback playing this well on a deal this small is exactly the window every team in this league chases. And Washington looked at that window and did absolutely nothing. Here's how fans reacted today. One said, looks like the commanders are staying pat ahead of the NFL trade deadline. Another disappointing season and no moves being made. Another said, the The Commanders organization has failed Jayden Daniels. And one more said. Andrew Peters making no moves at the deadline wouldn't surprise them and they don't have any expectations. The fans stopped expecting anything. And remember, this is not a rebuilding team. You have a franchise quarterback in Jaden Daniels. You're not looking at him to ask to look at a five-year window while you build around them. Any other management group in the NFL looks at this as a timeline and starts building around this. Daniels is already climbing this franchise list. He passed Mark Brunell for 14th in franchise passing yards by 47. And he's one touchdown from passing RG3 for 11th in franchise history. He's putting up numbers that matter to this franchise, but The front office is just looking right past this like it's background noise. That's the real damage. It's not the deadline. It's what they're not bringing to this organization. And the roster is not hiding anything. Look at who they've lost. Terry McLaurin is out for the season. Payne is out for the season. So is Kinlaw. That's the list of starters. At wide receiver, Brown is out with the calf. And Burks is out with a foot on the week 9 report. At center, Lucas Patrick is in the concussion protocol, so they're moving a guard to play the position. Dan Quinn said Tuesday. So it's a quarterback throwing to a depleted group when it comes to wide receivers, with holes in the O-line and defensive tackles out for the season. And these games are close. Five of their last eight were decided by eight points or fewer, or tied. They are 1 win, 3 losses, and a tie in those. They lost 24-22 in Philadelphia, beat Seattle 33-31, tied the Giants 27-27, lost 23-17 in San Francisco, lost 20-13 to the Rams on Sunday. Two of those were decided by two points, a catch and a stop. You add a deadline. Those are not blowouts. One real player at it and this is a completely different look at the season. And on Sunday it was a drive away. Daniels went 24 of 35 for 274 yards and a touchdown against the Rams. And Washington scored 13. People wrote after the game they needed Daniels to be Superman too often. That's a polite way to say the roster isn't good enough. Imagine the same game with an extra receiver and lineman. That's what the deadline was used for. What Daniels said on Tuesday about the offense. We're far ahead of where we were in OTAs. But we're still growing and we're still learning. Growing. Learning. 2-5-1 is where this team stands after 10 weeks. Here's what it means. The full season is on Thursday. Washington plays at the Giants on Thursday night. The Giants are three games clear of them in the NFC East. Washington is out of the 7 playoff spots in the NFC right now. A loss doesn't just hurt, it makes the rest of the year a countdown. And it doesn't get easier after Thursday. Cincinnati comes to Washington on November 24th, and it's Arizona on the 29th, then Tennessee on December 6th. And Quinn said it this week, we need this, and we're battling for it. Stidham's version was simpler, must, must, must win on Thursday. And that's why this deadline hurts the most. If you head in and you lose this game on Thursday, then management will sit down and say they were never really in it. But if they do go into it and win that game, they're going to sit there and say they always knew they were. And either way, they did nothing. It falls back on Jaden Daniels' shoulders. And here's my take. Standing pat is not the strategy. I understand you have a franchise quarterback. You want to go out with this season and not mortgage picks To bring in players that ultimately do nothing, but you also don't sell, you're looking at this group and showing absolutely no confidence in this team after they've went out and tried to win every game. And at the deadline, it isn't just to make this team better. It's to look at your franchise quarterback and say, we see you. We're adding around you. And they didn't do that. Who do you guys blame for this? Is it Peters for not making the moves or Dan Quinn for getting them in this mess? With the coaching, put Quinn or Peters down in the comments. Thursday night against the Giants. We'll see what the commanders do because it's their last chance.