OPINION:
The Washington Commanders held their first OTAs of 2025 last week. If you didn’t already know, OTAs stands for Organized Team Activities.
From various reports, a good time was had by all.
Well, maybe not all.
I wasn’t there. Then again, in case you didn’t read it in one of the numerous accounts, OTAs are optional. Show up or not. No big deal.
Apparently every member of the Commanders roster felt their best option was to show up for the workouts, except for three players — receiver Terry McLaurin, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
For them, OTAs meant Other Teammates Attending.
McLaurin is seeking a contract extension, so the assumption is that’s the reason he wasn’t there. He would seem to earn a pass based on his standup track record with the organization since he arrived as a rookie in 2019. He has banked plenty of goodwill.
The other guys, though? Lattimore, with his spotty performance last year after he came to Washington in a trade with the New Orleans Saints, is overdrawn on his account.
You would think he would take any opportunity to prove that he is the four-time Pro Bowler who was worth the third, fourth and sixth round picks the Commanders gave up for him. As of now — though it is early for conclusive judgments — Lattimore looks like possibly general manager Adam Peters’ worst mistake so far in the Commanders front office.
Tunsil? He hasn’t even opened an account yet, having arrived in a deal in March with the Houston Texans for four draft choices. Reportedly, he wasn’t a fan of OTAs in Houston, but still performed as one of the top left tackles in the NFL and was named to five Pro Bowls. He was a valuable contributor to a Texans team that went 41-51 in the six years he was in Houston. So I guess he can make a deposit when he feels like it.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn was asked about their absence last week. This was his response:
“I think it’s not one size fits all for everything. And in my opinion, like this has been a fantastic off season. And it’s not just the players, it’s also the coaches too, John [Keim], to say, can we level up, you know, and to level up, you know, what do you look at and what do you want to change, what do you wanna keep the same? And so, the off season’s been excellent. I’ve been in touch with every guy on the team and so I’ve really enjoyed this time. I also have some stronger relationships than you did maybe a year ago with everybody being new and now it’s that blend of the year two players to go through with it. It’s one of the things I do enjoy about coaching, like if you can get to know the man before the ballplayer, it helps take it and push it a little further. And so, for the guys who are in year one, the new players here, not just a rookie, but a new free agent that may have joined the team, getting to know them and watching them practice today for the first time. Like you could see guys work hard in the strength and conditioning, but it’s another thing to see the speed of processing and on the field. And so today we just did some seven on seven and some two minute and then we will add more team as we go. I like to ramp it up, you know, as opposed to doing everything all at once, day one.”
Let me know if you find an answer in there.
This doesn’t exactly fit in with the narrative that everyone in the league wants to come to Dan Quinn’s football camp. We’ve heard one testimonial after another from Washington players about how great it is to be here and how others are knocking down the door to be part of it — even newcomers like offensive tackle Foster Sarell, who signed here in March as a free agent after three years with the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I think it’s become pretty unanimous around the league that they are just running this place really well,” Sarell said. “The players love being here, and coaches love working here. I think that is super appealing, because that matters a lot.”
I guess some things may matter more.
I get it is a question that is hard to answer because attendance is voluntary and it would be difficult to directly express disappointment over their absence.
The whole concept of OTAs are ridiculous — you don’t have to show up for your job but you are expected to be there, an agreement negotiated between owners and the players union.
It makes everyone look bad or foolish — the players who don’t show up look bad and those in attendance left to explain their absences.
But don’t try to explain their absence by diminishing the importance of these workouts. It makes the 99% of players who showed up at Ashburn look like idiots.
I don’t know the reasons why Lattimore or Tunsil were absent. They weren’t revealed. But I’m guessing most of their teammates who chose to attend had other options. What would happen to your Organized Team Activities if 50 players had other options?
How important are OTAs? Let’s let former Washington receiver DeSean Jackson speak to that:
“That’s when Super Bowls and championships are won.”
That was 2014. Next year Jackson didn’t show up because he was filming his new BET reality television show — “DeSean Jackson Home Team.”
Some team activities are more important than others.
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