NFC Notes: Jonathan Allen, Drew Lock, Commanders, Eagles, Giants

Commanders

• Jeremy Fowler of ESPN confirms that the Commanders attempted to trade back into the first round for an offensive tackle.
• Fowler mentions that the decision to draft Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton in the second round “creates an interesting dynamic at defensive tackle, which already features two Pro Bowlers in Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.”
• According to Fowler, a few league executives are wondering if the Commanders will consider trade offers for Allen.
• Sources he’s spoken to believe Washington will need to either rework Allen’s contract, given that he’s owed $15.4 million this year and another $16.5 million in 2025, which is below market value. Otherwise, they may have to weigh trade possibilities.
• The Commanders weren’t able to address the offensive tackle position until the third round, selecting Brandon Coleman to compete with Cornelius Lucas for the starting left tackle job. Veteran Andrew Wylie remains the starter on the right side.
• The Athletic’s Ben Standig notes former Saints OL Andrus Peat and former Cardinals LT D.J. Humphries are two potential options for Washington to sign to reinforce the position, with Humphries having played for Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona. Peat has since signed with Las Vegas. 
• Commanders GM Adam Peters mentioned they only received “one solid offer” for the No. 2 pick in the draft and it “didn’t move the needle” for them to trade out. (Standig)
• The Commanders are not renewing senior director of player personnel Eric Stokes‘ contract after four years with the organization. (Jonathan Jones)
• Commanders DC Dan Quinn mentioned Newton has the same injury to his other foot that was injured in college and he has a procedure scheduled next week. (JP Finlay)
• Quinn praised Newton’s toughness and noted it’s not something to keep track of yet. (Finlay)

Eagles

Mike Sando of The Athletic cites an anonymous NFL executive who points out the Eagles wanted to trade up for CB Quinyon Mitchell but wound up getting him anyways at No. 22. 

“They wanted to trade up to select that guy (Mitchell) and had to sit, and he fell right to them,” one exec said.

Another executive expects DC Vic Fangio to use second-round CB Cooper DeJean as a safety and “big nickel” type of defensive back. 

“Vic Fangio will use him (DeJean) as a safety, as a big nickel type,” an executive said. “You can look at him like Eddie Jackson, who Chicago took when Vic was there (fourth round in 2017). He was a corner they saw as a safety. Cooper might also have some Minkah Fitzpatrick-type traits. He has to be in a system that has multiplicity to maximize him.”

• According to Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer, the Panthers and Eagles discussed a pick swap where Carolina sent picks No. 39, No. 65 and a seventh for picks No. 50, No. 53 and a sixth. 
• Per Zach Berman, Eagles HC Nick Sirianni said they will play OL Mekhi Becton at tackle to start and “see what happens.”
• Fangio spoke highly on Mitchell: “There’s a lot to learn. But we think he’s the right guy emotionally and mentally to do that, and hopefully he’ll pay dividends quickly rather than later.” (Brooks Kubena)

Giants

Giants GM Joe Schoen reiterated it’s their expectation for Daniel Jones to continue as the starting quarterback with Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito as his backups. 

“Yeah, for me, I said it in January after the season. Expectation was Daniel would be our starter and we brought Drew Lock in to be his backup and Tommy [DeVito] has been the backup,” Schoen said, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN. “So that’s where we are and that’s how we’ll move forward this season. Daniel is still under contract for three more years. As it sits today, that is where we are.”

As for whether New York spoke with the Patriots about trading up for the third pick, Schoen said he spoke to a lot of teams about potentially trading picks. 

“We had a lot of conversations with a lot of teams,” Schoen said. “I’m not going to get into specifics. We had a really good player at six. That was a position that I think was a need that we needed to upgrade. I’m fired up about the kid.”

Giants HC Brian Daboll said they always kept Jones informed of their plans and tries to be “transparent” with all of his players. 

“There’s a human element, too. If you’re sitting in there and you’re in the receiver room and we draft Malik Nabers, there’s a human element to that, too,” Daboll said. “So I think you have to be transparent. There’s a draft every year. There’s free agency every year. We start out the meeting by any new players that are here that weren’t here last year, stand up, and any guys that were drafted by Joe and the staff, stand up. It’s different every year. The teams are different. It’s constructed different.