The Commanders and the District of Columbia announced an agreement for the Commanders to build a stadium at the site that the franchise once called home.
It is a $3 billion deal that will allow the Commanders to erect a new building where RFK Stadium once stood. That was the franchise’s home base from 1961 to 1996 and they have been playing in Landover, Maryland since 1997.
The proposed stadium will include a roof, which is a must if they are going to hold a Super Bowl in Washington D.C. for the first time, and Commanders owner Josh Harris said at a Monday press conference that the team has eyes on hosting big events in a stadium that he says will set a new standard.
“Without exaggeration, this will be the best stadium in the country when it’s built,” Harris said, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was also at the press conference and called the stadium an “important project” that the league has been looking forward to for many years. He also said that its construction will “dramatically” increase the city’s chance to host the Super Bowl, although it will be a while because the target date for construction to be completed is 2030.
Gabriel Taylor, the younger brother of Commanders legend Sean Taylor, will get a chance to follow in his brother’s footsteps.
The former Rice safety has accepted an invitation to participate in the Commanders’ upcoming rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
Gabriel Taylor played five years for Rice. In 2024, he had 52 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions.
Sean Taylor was on track to have a Hall of Fame career until he was murdered during a home invasion in November 2007, at the age of 24.
While it’s always an uphill climb for any player who hopes to get an offseason roster spot as an undrafted free agent based on the performance at a weekend minicamp, it’s an opportunity. A chance. And it would be a great story if Gabriel Taylor could earn a chance to show what he can do in the offseason program, training camp, and the preseason.
A deal is in place. All that’s left is the approval.
The Washington Post reports that the Commanders and D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser have reached an agreement on a new facility to be built at the site of the defunct RFK Stadium. The deal is expected to be announced on Monday in a joint news conference featuring Bowser and Commanders owner Josh Harris.
Approval will still be needed both from the D.C. Council and from Harris’s NFL business partners.
Prior reports pegged the stadium cost at $3 billion, with D.C. paying as little as $500 million.
An effort is underway to secure enough signatures to put a stadium initiative on the June 2025 ballot in D.C. Also, multiple D.C. Council members have expressed concern about the use of public money for the stadium.
The mayor and the team will be hoping to generate enough public support to fuel the approval process. And there is plenty of sentiment among the fan base to return the team from Maryland to D.C.
If, however, the question ends up on a ballot, it likely will fail. Even though pro football is king, the voters who don’t care about football generally outnumber those who do. Given the current public sentiment that taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to subsidize multi-billionaires, the best chance for success comes from keeping it out of the hands of the voters and hoping to get enough D.C. Council members to get behind it.
The other owners could be concerned about the deal, too. Currently, these projects typically entail a 50-50 split between private and public resources, with the team/league on the hook for overages. If the Commanders end up responsible to a significant majority of the expense, other owners could be concerned about the precedent being used against them in their own markets.
The Commanders added tackle Laremy Tunsil in a trade with the Texans. The Commanders have now used their first-round pick on another tackle.
Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr. becomes the 29th pick, and another player who can help protect franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Conerly was on the wrong end of a Senior Bowl practice rep, when Conerly was driven into the ground by Marshall defensive end Mike Green.
Conerly got the last laugh. He’s been drafted, and Green is still on the board.
Former NFL linebacker Steve Kiner died Thursday, the National Football Foundation announced. Kiner was 77.
Kiner played at the University of Tennessee from 1967-69, earning consensus All-America honors in 1968 and unanimous All-America honors in 1969. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Kiner appeared in the 1970 Senior Bowl, and the Cowboys selected him in the third round of the 1970 draft. He played nine NFL seasons with Dallas, New England and Houston.
He appeared in 114 games but only 14 of those came with the Cowboys despite his special teams play as a rookie. Kiner, who didn’t start any games as a rookie, was angered when Chuck Howley came out of retirement in 1971, relegating Kiner to a backup role for another season.
The Cowboys traded him to the Patriots for a fourth-round pick.
The Patriots traded him to the Dolphins in 1972, and the Dolphins cut him before training camp ended. Washington claimed him for their taxi squad, but he did not see any game action.
The Patriots claimed him off waivers in 1973 but traded him to the Oilers in 1974 for a ninth-round draft choice.
His last season was 1978.
In 1994, Kiner earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He later established a mental health therapy practice in Carrollton, Georgia.
Born on June 12, 1947, in Sandstone, Minnesota, Kiner was reared in Tampa, Florida, and attended Hillsborough High School.
