Adding 36-year-old pass rusher Von Miller reflects the Commanders\u2019 belief that they are just a piece here or there away from reaching the next Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a trivial development, though, compared with the contract standoff with Terry McLaurin, Jayden Daniels\u2019 favorite target. The player and the team aren\u2019t close to agreement on an extension. Maybe the disgruntled McLaurin will hold out during training camp. But so far, he\u2019s not asking for a trade. What pass catcher would want to leave Daniels?<\/p>\n
Playing catchup: Nobody could ever accuse Dan Snyder\u2019s Washington franchise of rushing things when it came to retiring a player\u2019s number. Under new ownership, Art Monk\u2019s No. 81 is being enshrined a mere 32 years after he left the team.<\/p>\n
Two-horse race: If he continues to lead the big leagues or keeps pace with Aaron Judge in homers and RBIs, Home Run Derby champ Cal Raleigh\u2019s gold glove play behind the plate and his handling of Mariners pitchers should tilt the AL MVP vote his way.<\/p>\n
Name game: Flush with professional success, Raleigh recently signed a deal with a portable toilet manufacturer. A natural tie-in for the player known as \u201cBig Dumper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominican dynamite: Oneil Cruz of the Pirates, who had one of his Home Run Derby blasts measured at 513 feet, is a lithe, quick 6-feet-7. If he were born in the U.S., he\u2019d be a basketball player.<\/p>\n
Change of tune: Many of the traditionalists who crucified MLB commissioner Rob Manfred for introducing changes to the game are cheering the All-Star Game swing-off, the biggest gimmick of them all.<\/p>\n
Future watch: Ryan O\u2019Hearn\u2019s All-Star season for the Orioles makes him an even more likely trade piece.<\/p>\n
Senior moment: The petty public spat between 73-year-old Bill Belichick and his former boss, 84-year-old Patriots owner Robert Kraft, is best settled on the pickleball court.<\/p>\n
Bill\u2019s business: It\u2019s been a while since we\u2019ve heard anything about Belichick\u2019s other half, a good thing most likely.<\/p>\n
Wimbledon wrapup: Serving as a reminder of the state of men\u2019s tennis is that the past seven Grand Slam singles titles have been won by either Jannick Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n
Un-American: Nothing is less surprising than reports that Donald Trump and Congress are working on ways to restrict NIL payments to college athletes. Sooner or later, the constant whining by coaches, commissioners and schools was bound to reach Washington politicians.<\/p>\n
Add NIL: One of the loudest whiners over expanded compensation for college athletes is Nick Saban. There\u2019s been speculation recently that the former Alabama coach could return to the sidelines. If so, you can bet nothing out of Washington will limit what he makes.<\/p>\n
Futbol giant: As potent as ever, the great Lionel Messi of Inter Miami recently scored multiple goals in five consecutive MLS games. At 38, he\u2019s still spinning magic, albeit too often out of the national spotlight.<\/p>\n
What gives? Rumor has it that the Lakers would be just as happy if LeBron James left for another team. It\u2019s all about the notion that James is out of his prime. Of course he is. But at 40, he averaged a more than respectable 24 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. There are a lot of players who would love to put up LeBron\u2019s non-prime numbers.<\/p>\n
Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@gmail.com and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adding 36-year-old pass rusher Von Miller reflects the Commanders\u2019 belief that they are just a piece here or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215923,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[45120,339,7,226,929,6060,1917,255,2321,2097,6,9,2833],"class_list":{"0":"post-215922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-bob-molinaro","9":"tag-college-sports","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-jets","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-jets","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkjets","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-sports-columnists"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114872306035718314","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}