Breaking: The Washington Commanders have made a MAJOR splash trading for Pro-Bowl LT Laremy Tunsil.
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00:00Wow. Absolutely massive breaking news. Thanks to Toby for the update. The commanders are
00:10trading for Laramie Tunsil, one of the best tackles in the National Football League. A
00:17star on the left side, a five-time pro bowler, began his career in Miami, has been a mainstay
00:23with the Houston Texans, very durable guy, has played the full season two of the last
00:28three years, missed three games last season in 2023, but he's made three straight Pro
00:33Bowls, five of the last six years, he's played in 125 games, he's 30 years old, he's entering
00:39his 10th season. Laramie Tunsil, who was drafted way back in 2016, 13th overall, he was actually
00:47supposed to go way earlier than he did.
00:49Gas mask bit.
00:50Yeah, he was the guy that got screwed over by the gas mask video, would have been a top
00:54three, top five pick, but this is one of the best tackles in the league. I've got chills
00:58as I'm mentioning this here on the air, Adam Peters taking a gigantic swing. He's got a
01:06left tackle, means they can kick Brandon Coleman over to the right side or they can play Brandon
01:10Coleman inside at guard, but you got your young quarterback, you're protecting his blind
01:15side and this offensive line just got a hell of a lot better.
01:19Holy crap. So we don't know the terms yet. Houston gets a draft pick all of some kind.
01:23I don't know how they're going to do it. They're up against the salary cap. So Houston
01:26has to make moves like this. I did not anticipate this. Quite frankly, left tackles who are
01:31excellent do not become available. So this one just did. I cannot believe this. I didn't
01:37see this coming. I never saw anything, uh, no rumor mill, no, even like fake fan account
01:42that said this might be possible.
01:43I'll say holy crap. Peters in Washington, they don't really do leaking. You know that
01:48here are the terms from the commanders to the Texans, a second and fourth rounder next
01:53year to the Texans plus a third rounder this year, this year's third, second and fourth
01:58next year. I would set a record for how fast I signed up for that. Oh hell yeah. The commanders
02:05will also be getting a fourth round pick back from the Texans. Uh, now I wonder if that's
02:11this year or next year, I'd have to imagine it's probably next year.
02:14So it's the next year would be a fourth round swap then. Cause Washington sending a fourth
02:18rounder next year, possibly unless it's this year's fourth round pick. Uh, he did not specify,
02:23but this is the interapple port saying Washington is sending a two next year and a four and
02:30a three, excuse me, a two and a four next year. But the third round pick this year to
02:35the Texans for Laramie Tunsil, the starting left tackle, we have said, Danny, they've
02:40got to find a way to upgrade this offensive line. One of the paths to doing that was to
02:46get better on the left tackle spot to improve from Brandon Coleman, who gave up a lot of
02:51pressures and sacks as a rookie. Now I was on record as saying I would just roll with
02:55Coleman because I didn't think there was a left tackle on the market. It was a pretty
02:57bleak market. You normally cannot trade for standout left tackles. It doesn't really happen,
03:04but Washington was able to find a dance partner. Now by trading a third round pick for him,
03:14it means that now you've got pick 29 in the first round, pick 29 in the second round,
03:20which is 61 overall, and then pick two Oh seven, two 38 and two 50.
03:25So they're now down to just five draft picks and only two before the sixth round
03:30because that third round pick that they got from Miami at 79, presumably is the pick going
03:35for Laramie Tunsil. So, but they're, they're solving needs with those picks. It's just,
03:39you know, not the, not the way we're used to doing it, right? You're used to using that
03:42pick on a young player who then you signed to that four-year deal with a fifth round option
03:45and blah, blah, blah. This is a, we're using that third round pick on a pro bowl left tackle.
03:50We're using the fifth round pick on a weapon Debo. Sam that we used last year's third and
03:56fourth and whatever the other terms were for hopefully an upgraded quarterback and
03:59Marshawn Lattimore. So they are filling out the roster. They're looking at voids and looking at
04:04under sort of valued commodities to use the currency at their disposal, whether that's
04:09salary cap money, whether it's a draft picks. Cause there was a time, remember not that long
04:12ago when people were treating draft picks, like they were solid gold. Like you couldn't possibly
04:17part with any draft pick just because it was such a commodity. And then the Rams are going,
04:21well, everybody's overvaluing them. We'll just say bleep those picks and go, you know,
04:24stars and scrubs and win a super bowl. Now it's kind of balancing back out a little bit.
04:28They're using the means at their disposal to capitalize on their window right now.
04:33They just got a lot better, dude. Like I did not see that coming at all. You just said it.
04:38The versatility of having Coleman either. Now you upgrade a left guard massively. Maybe you
04:42kick Coleman to the right side. Maybe Wiley's still on the roster as the right guard while
04:48Sam Cosby gets himself healthy. You've got options now. Cause you just got your most talented,
04:53best offensive lineman with all due respect to those other guys. Now left tackle the most
04:57important spot, maximizing and protecting Jayden Daniels is mission number one for me.
05:03And it looks like it's important to them too. Hell yes. So I need to know if this fourth round pick
05:08is for this year or next year, which is not to say by the way that I really care necessarily
05:12in terms of you know, making the trade worth it or not, because the trade is absolutely worth it
05:18to me regardless if we're being honest, but I need to know just for my own clarification of
05:24like how to feel about this year's draft, because if the fourth round pick is next year,
05:29then again, they're down to a one to two and six and two sevens five picks this year.
05:34If they have a fourth round pick, it does make you feel a little bit different because now you
05:38could trade back from 29, get two or three picks in the second or the third round or whatever,
05:43and then have multiple twos, a three, a four. It looks very, very different all of a sudden
05:48with a trade back, whereas without that fourth round or no matter what almost,
05:53it's going to be pretty bleak in the early going. But look, I am never going to fault
05:57a executive for going out and taking big swings. I'm never going to get upset at Adam Peters for
06:03adding super talent. Now, this is one of the better left tackles in the league. This is one
06:07of the better players at one of the most important positions in all of football.
06:12Okay, this is a five time Pro Bowl, 30 year old stud who's got years left at a high level.
06:18But also let's stop saying it's all about draft picks. It's all about the draft. No,
06:23you're in win now mode. Pretty clearly. You went and got Debo for a year. You have now
06:27paid a bunch of money to a defensive tackle who you think is going to be pretty good the next
06:31couple of seasons. And you're going to get a 30 year old left tackle and moving off of the plan,
06:36which was the guy that you had just drafted in Brandon Coleman. Yeah.
06:39So I say all that to say, man, A, I love this. And B, I want to know about this fourth round pick.
06:45Looks like cap numbers, 2025, 21.3 million with 10 million guaranteed next year. It's not
06:50guaranteed, but still a bargain. 21.3 for imagine going in free agency and trying to
06:55sign all their every tonsil. So it would be north of 30 and it probably might end up being there if
07:00they end up extending him. So there's only two years left at 42 mil, only two years left at 42.6
07:05mil. That's ridiculous. Precisely. I mean, I don't know anything, so I shouldn't say this.
07:11I've never talked to the guy. He'd be insane if he's not looking for an extension now. Also,
07:16why would the Texans have traded him if he doesn't want an extension?
07:19I would have to imagine he wants to get paid. So I think so. They know they can't. I mean,
07:23they're up against it now. I think they're 4 million under the cap as it stands right now
07:27today before a flurry of activity. That's according to over the cap. So they're freeing
07:32up about 14 million bucks of cap space in real time this year. They have to eat a little bit
07:36for this season. But going forward, they're already looking ahead to Stroud extensions to
07:43being able to kind of improve the ballclub after they went last year, feeding frenzy style to try
07:47to add some pieces in their kind of win now mode. Right. And they sort of, I would say,
07:51underachieved a little bit, given expectations were still fine when a playoff came in the like.
07:55But they're kind of, I think, clearing the deck for what might have to happen going forward.
07:58And they realize we can't do a mega extension. Again, it's not like I've talked to a Houston
08:03Texan, but I think they realize we can't do a mega extension to keep Tunsell happy going in
08:07the last year of his deal with guaranteed money. We can't pay him 32 or whatever the hell it's
08:12going to take to keep him happy, to keep him here and still build the rest of the roster.
08:16So they moved on and Washington for two years as it stands, they'll my bet is they'll extend
08:22them at some point. They're getting basically for what one of these guards just got in free agency.
08:28Yes. I mean, this is, though, this is a neck out move. If you're Peters. Yeah. Just because
08:35of the amount that they're giving up a two or three and a four, eight, nothing. I mean,
08:39that's a lot of draft capital. That's your Trey Hendrickson, you know, trade. Like if you would
08:45have told me an hour ago, they're about to trade a two or three and a four for somebody.
08:48I would have said, holy shnikes. They're getting Trey Hendrickson. A two or three and a four is
08:53a lot to give up for a 30 year old left tackle who's got two years left on his deal. My guess
08:58is you extend him. And I'm quite sure that they feel like they've got their franchise left tackle
09:03for the next several years. So to not give up a first round pick and to do that, I, the beholder,
09:07no problem. But there's someone else sitting somewhere that goes, man, three picks a second,
09:11a third and a fourth for a 30 year old offensive lineman. It's one of those things where he's got
09:15to play well. If he plays like a bookend stalwart standout left tackle, nobody will ever have an
09:20issue with what you just gave up. But if you start to show a little age, not everyone's Trent
09:24Williams playing until they're 35, 36 at the same level. Then all of a sudden, if you're Adam
09:28Peters, when you take swings like this, you just open yourself up. And I love that he's not afraid
09:33to. I love it. Albert beer, 18 seconds ago, said the following, the Texans are trading five-time
09:37pro bowl left tackle, Dermot Tunsell and a 2025 fourth round pick to the commanders for a 2025,
09:44third and seventh round pick a 2026 second and fourth rounders sources confirmed. So to recap,
09:51that's next year, second and fourth this year, uh, it's a third and seventh and, uh, Houston
10:00sending back Laramie Tunsell and a 2025 fourth. So Washington picks up a fourth this year,
10:05gives up a third and seventh in this year's draft and a second and fourth in the 26 draft.
10:11Got it. So then to clarify this year's class, so they have one of the two sevens. So now they have
10:15a one, a two, a four from Houston. Yes. One six and one seventh. And they're down to five draft
10:22picks. Correct. Eight hundred six, three, six, one Oh six, seven. You want to react
10:26Marty's in Alexandria. How about that for a blockbuster Marty? Yeah. Once they call it,
10:32I went right online and I saw, uh, the actual trade. So I was just going to tell you what it
10:37was, but you guys already beat me to it. Honestly, I, I was a little concerned when I heard the two,
10:42three and four, but since it's a four swap and we have a four this year,
10:46to me, it's a second, third and a seventh. I don't, I don't care about the seven.
10:50I do care about the second and third. That's a little pricey, but look, I'm,
10:55I'm like you guys, I'm in Adams. We trust. So whatever.
10:59Appreciate you guys in Devante Adams, John Quincy Adams. Yes. Um, good phone call. Thank you. You
11:06can react to Laramie Tunsell to Washington at eight hundred six, three, six one Oh six,
11:11seven. You can tweet us at grand H Paulson at funny Danny. I think two things can be true.
11:16This is very pricey giving up a two, a three and a four. You've already depleted this year's draft
11:23class to the point where you're really going to have to get creative and get on some picks.
11:27And now you've started to do it with next year's class, which adds to the conversation about
11:31building through the draft and pushing your chips in. But you've got a finite window here
11:36with Jaden Daniels on a rookie deal. And what have we all been saying for weeks,
11:40upgrade the offensive line, give this kid the best chance at superstardom.
11:44You want to compete with the Eagles in your division. You want to compete with the teams
11:49that you're not quite on the level of right now. The best path to that is upgrading the trenches.
11:54And Adam Peters has now signed a D tackle, even though it was a little rich for me,
11:5815 million for Ken law, not my favorite move of the day, but went out and got a big D tackle
12:02up the middle to replace Alan and has now signed a starting left tackle.
12:07I wonder what they do with Brandon Coleman. Do you kick him inside the guard where a lot of people
12:11felt he was going to play when he got drafted? I think he'd be a really, really good guard.
12:15This could be Cosme 2.0, by the way, where you draft a guy, try him at tackle. He's okay. You
12:20kick him inside and it becomes really, really good. Or might they kick him over to right tackle
12:26that allows you to either cut Wiley or move Wiley inside where he once started in Kansas city.
12:31And then that would be for Sam Cosme, who's recovering from a very late season knee injury,
12:35right? So you can also start him at left guard over Allegretti. You could do that too.
12:39The point is that will not be available at the beginning of the year because of the ACL
12:42precisely. So to me, my, my dream, the point that I made, I want three new starters along
12:47the offensive line, but two new players. Coleman was going to start somewhere for me. I don't know
12:51if that was left tackle, right tackle, left guard, whatever he was going to move for me.
12:56If it was, if it was up to me and I was going to hopefully upgrade, whether it was in the draft,
12:59maybe there's a right tackle late in the first round. Maybe it's a, you know,
13:02you trade back at the end of the first round or early second round, something like that.
13:06You have to move around the board to find somebody. I did not see this coming. Obviously
13:10I had no idea that a five-time pro bowler and left tackles, a lot of guys will tend to play
13:14into their mid thirties, upper thirties, really, really well. So you Trent Williams and a bunch
13:18of other guys at this stage. So to me, this is a price that I would pay every time and twice
13:24on Sunday. Like I understand it's, it's steep with the number of draft picks going into,
13:28in the next year, but you look at the tackle market at the end of the first round,
13:32really hard to find one. You need to be usually 10, 11, 12. If you want
13:36one of the second or third best guys in the draft, marquee spot, free agent, huge position,
13:41premium spot. You're not finding one in free agency. You got to pull the lever somehow.
13:45And that's what it costs. Well, you got to keep Jake Daniels healthy period. The whole goal of
13:49the organization right now is to keep this guy who is not particularly thick. And if he gets
13:53crunched in the pocket, when he's not expecting it could get hurt. We saw him basically play
13:57mediocre football for a month last year, after he got dinged in the ribs, you have to keep him
14:02healthy. He looks like he could be one of the great players in the league. If he's healthy,
14:06that's right. Upgrade your offensive line. And there's only so many ways to do that. And they
14:10just got one of the best left tackles in football, by the way, PFF graded out. Glammy tonsil as the
14:15fourth best Texan overall last year behind Colin Strouden digs, although it was a limited number
14:20of snaps. So I would say the third best full-timer for the Texans and his past blocking grade of 89
14:25is elite as good as it gets around the league this past season from PFF. Speaking of which Nick
14:31Ackridge covers the commanders for pro football focus. And he joins us now, Nick, what do you
14:35think about a two or three and a four? It's a lot, but Laramie tonsils are really good left tackle.
14:41Yeah, it's a lot, but these left tackles don't, you don't really get an opportunity to get someone
14:47like Laramie tonsil. I'm shocked that the Texans are willing to make that trade. But yeah, you
14:54just got yourself an elite left tackle. Who's just constantly been elite throughout his entire
15:00career. I mean, there hasn't really been a season that he is performed anything less than elite.
15:07So again, confused as to why the Texans were willing to move on with that, but ecstatic that
15:12he's here in Washington. How does he fit scheme wise? I mean, I imagine you could, you could
15:16put him anywhere, Nick, but just in terms of Kingsbury fit design, they could run past game,
15:21et cetera. I imagine he'd be a pretty good fit, but specifically to this scheme, how does he,
15:25how does he work for you? Yeah. I mean, plug him in instantly left tackle. And I think he,
15:29he doesn't skip a beat. I think, you know, there were some times last year where left tackle was a
15:34bit of an issue with Brandon Coleman. He had a decent year, but you have someone like Laramie
15:37tonsil I can step in right away tons of experience in the NFL. And I think he can just, he can step
15:43in right away. He's an athletic player as well. So you can get out the screen game, but you really
15:48don't want to use him for that. He's going to be the protector of Jane Daniels. And he's going to
15:53be very, very good at it. Laramie tonsil for a two, a three and a four to Washington, their new
16:01starting left tackle. It is a lot, but as Nick Ackridge of PFF is saying, you're getting a
16:06potential elite player at left tackle. How did you guys grade him out? I mentioned the past
16:12blocking grade was amazing. How has he graded out over the years from a run standpoint?
16:17Yeah, from a run standpoint, it's just, it's a round above average for his entire career.
16:21And that's kind of perfectly fine for left tackles. You would rather have them be
16:25much better pass blockers than run blockers. But yeah, just, just kind of above average
16:30throughout his whole career, which again is really kind of where you want someone who's
16:33going to excel this much in past blocking. You don't want a huge drop off of the run game,
16:37but it's just been, he's been just above average, which is more than enough.
16:40Is, do you think that they're making moves? I happened to Nick, I'm kind of tipping my hand
16:44here. Do you think that they've been making moves with the Eagles in mind? In other words,
16:48like what bothered them about an excellent team that obviously won the Superbowl? You've got to
16:52beat them first before you get out of your own division and maybe go make some noise in the
16:55post-season again. It seems to me they've got an eye just up the road in 95 with how they're
16:59building this roster. Yeah, no, I agree. I think it also kind of coincides with, this is, this is
17:05kind of where they were weak in general. I think the trenches were where they were kind of the
17:09weakest. But yeah, you've seen exactly what Phil has done. Phil has had an incredible offensive
17:13line for almost as long as I can remember, and trying to match that is a good strategy.
17:18Trying to match that offensive line strength, trying to match their defensive line strength
17:21is a great way to kind of attack your team, especially when you've already figured out
17:25that quarterback position. We saw what Jaden could do with, you know, somewhat lackluster
17:29a group of receivers. And I think you just really needed to solidify what you have in the trenches.
17:34And I think, um, with this player repensable trade, they're, they're definitely doing that.
17:37Nick, my last one is, I know a lot of Washington fans are kind of conditioned
17:41to quote, unquote, build through the draft, right? Where you select a bunch of players and
17:45they grow and develop and you keep them. And it's this nice young core.
17:48My point is they're using draft picks, but just in a different, maybe
17:52less traditional way is all third and fourth and second round pick. It's not exactly the
17:58Ernie Grunfeld methodology, but it's maybe closer to that than some folks are used to.
18:02They're bringing in difference makers and using their draft picks as currency. I'm cool with it,
18:06but you know, I wonder about sustainability. I wonder, you know, maybe how folks are going to
18:10react. Just give me your thoughts there. Yeah, that's a fair point. But we, we saw a team that
18:15was one, one game away from the super bowl. I think they realized that they can go and attack
18:19right now and they're not too concerned about, you know, building that stability out. I think
18:24you have a window right now and you do everything that you possibly can to succeed in that window.
18:29And I think Laramie council is the key to that. And, you know, it's not the worst thing in the
18:33world to kind of have a quiet draft day. Um, you know, typically Washington is very heavily
18:37involved in the draft, especially early on, but it's, for me, it's going to be kind of nice to
18:42just kind of sit back and relax and, and kind of not really stress too much about the draft.
18:46I think that what they're doing right now with free agency is where I would kind of, um, lean
18:52towards. I know Danny asked you this in passing, but just to drill you down a little bit here.
18:56So what's your best guess. Brandon Coleman starts where I think left guard. Um, he played a lot of
19:03he played a lot of left guard there at TCU. And I thought he was really good at left guard at TCU.
19:07Um, again, this past year, I thought he was fine. I thought he was, you know, for,
19:11for a third round rookie, I thought he played pretty well. Um, he had some moments, but I think
19:15moving into left guard is probably a better fit. Um, and then playing next to someone like Laramie
19:19council is always a good thing to do as well. No kidding. Why wouldn't he want an extension
19:24two years and 42 million left for one of the best players in the league at that position.
19:28Don't you think you'll be asking for a new contract?
19:32Yeah, I can see that. Uh, I can definitely see that. And then Washington could be in a good
19:35position to, to give them that with all the cap space they, they currently have. Um, that could
19:39be another reason why the tech might've moved on from him. Um, we'll probably learn more in the
19:44next few days of why they did. I still can't really wrap my head around it. Um, but yeah,
19:49you can definitely see an extension online. Thank you, Nick. We appreciate the time.
19:52Yeah. Yes. I'm getting some reaction on social here at grand H Paulson at funny,
19:57Danny, we'll hit the phones in a moment. 800-636-1067. If you're just joining us,
20:01the commanders with one of the huge moves of the day in free agency in the NFL,
20:07trading a two or three and a four, the two and the four next year, the three
20:11this year to the Texans for one of the best left tackles in the league, Laramie tonsil.
20:15And surprisingly to me, Danny, a lot of people are bothered by the draft picks that they're
20:19giving up that they're down now to two picks in the first three rounds or picks in the first five
20:25rounds. They've got a one or two, a four one sixth and one seventh. I think people like the
20:31idea of drafting a left tackle at number seven or whatever they're picking 29th this year. Oh,
20:36by the way, they have one pick in the top, like 60 selections as it is. So this idea that you're
20:42going out and getting the types of guys that you're normally shopping for in the draft,
20:46when you're picking second Jaden Daniels, you know, fifth, seventh, ninth, they're picking 29th.
20:52So number one, their first round pick is kind of like a second round pick. Their second round pick
20:57is kind of like a third round pick, but also after years of the draft being the super bowl around
21:03here, after years of the draft being our little baby, we swaddle it. We look at the draft and
21:09we pay it to my first mock in October. What quarterbacks available? It's seven hours long.
21:14I can't wait. They're good now. They're good. Now you want to left tackle you're picking 29th.
21:20You got to trade for a left tackle. You can't find a premier left tackle at 29 in the first
21:27round. You want one, you trade draft picks your precious little draft picks for Laramie freaking
21:34tonsil. One of the best players in the league. And by the way, Adam Peters, I don't need any
21:39more. Like we're building through the draft. You know, the picks mean everything to us.
21:43I also don't need them to get the bleep them pick shirts, but he's not far from the bleep
21:47them picture. He's not quite less needing and Sean McVay in this thing, but he's closer to
21:53grabbing that shirt than he is hoarding the picks, you know, like he's a bill Belichick
21:58in the mid two thousands or whatever.