NFC East Owners Meeting Notes: Dan Quinn is ‘pumped’ about Deebo Samuel addition, and more

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NFL Owners Meeting took place last week, and I had the privilege of attending to hear what the head coaches and general managers said. With that in mind, here are some relevant quotes about players who matter to you.

We’re breaking this down by division, and here is the NFC East. Dan Quinn is “pumped” about the addition of Deebo Samuel in Washington, and Brian Schottenheimer said Javone Williams is “hungry” to prove himself in Dallas. Brian Daboll said new Giants quarterback Russell Wilson is a “phenomenal deep ball thrower,” and Nick Sirianni said he wants Dallas Goedert back in Philadelphia but “we’ll see how that plays out.”

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get updates on every player. But here are some notes that could help you prepare for your Fantasy leagues this season.

Commanders: Dan Quinn “pumped” about adding Deebo Samuel

Washington acquired Samuel via trade from San Francisco for a fifth-round pick in March, and Quinn is “pumped” to have Samuel playing for the Commanders this season.

“Coaching against him, this is an explosive player,” Quinn said. “Not just the scheme, but after he gets the ball in his hand, sometimes you can tell the toughness of a player with and without the ball. He has both of those and an explosive nature. To add a player of his caliber into a tough and strong group, we’re really pumped about it.”

Samuel, 29, is coming off the worst season of his career in 2024 when he averaged just 10.2 PPR points for the 49ers. He had 51 catches for 670 yards and three touchdowns on 81 targets and 42 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown in 15 games.

In Washington, Samuel will be the No. 2 receiver opposite Terry McLaurin, and hopefully, Samuel will benefit with Jayden Daniels at quarterback. Fantasy managers should consider Samuel a No. 3 Fantasy receiver at best in the majority of leagues, and the earliest he should be drafted is Round 6.

Cowboys: Brian Schottenheimer said Javonte Williams is “hungry” to prove himself

It would be a huge surprise if the Cowboys didn’t add a running back in the upcoming NFL Draft, but for now, the player atop the depth chart at that position is Williams. He signed as a free agent in March from Denver, and Schottenheimer likes the addition of Williams in Dallas.

“Really excited about Javonte,” Schottenheimer said. “I love his short area quickness. I love the power he runs with. Some of the best players that I’ve ever been around are guys that have chips on their shoulders, and Javonte is one of those guys. He’s hungry. And we’re always looking for guys that have that. We feel really good about his ability to run the ball. His pass protection is really good. We feel really good about that addition.”

Williams will hopefully be a solid complement to a high-end rookie, but he could also open the season as the starter for the Cowboys depending on who else is on the roster. For now, Fantasy managers should plan to draft Williams in Round 7 at the earliest, but his outlook could change dramatically after the NFL Draft.

In 2024, Williams averaged a career-low 9.7 PPR points per game for the Broncos. He had 139 carries for 513 yards and four touchdowns and 52 catches for 346 yards on 70 targets. All of his receiving stats were career highs, and he could play on passing downs in Dallas, especially given what Schottenheimer said about Williams’ pass-protection skills.

Giants: Brian Daboll still has high hopes for Russell Wilson

Even though the Giants signed Wilson and Jameis Winston as free agents to join Tommy DeVito, Daboll wouldn’t rule out the team adding another quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft.

“I think as many good players as we can add, we’ll take,” Daboll said. “We’ll see what happens here over the next month. Whoever is in that room, we’ll do the best job we can of coaching them up.”

Wilson is expected to be the starter for the Giants in 2025, and Daboll expressed plenty of optimism about Wilson. Daboll said he watched all of Wilson’s tape dating back to his rookie season of 2012.

“He makes good decisions with the football,” Daboll said. “He’s athletic. He’s a little bit older, so maybe not as athletic as (2013 and 2014), but certainly has the ability to use his legs, extend plays, create explosive plays, phenomenal deep ball thrower.”

Fantasy managers aren’t going to draft Wilson in one-quarterback leagues — he’ll be a mid-round pick in Superflex and two-quarterback formats — but he could be a waiver-wire addition during the season. While Wilson, 36, is past his prime, he did average 19.0 Fantasy points with the Steelers in 2024 and 20.6 points with the Broncos in 2023.

Eagles: Nick Sirianni says Dallas Goedert is on the roster “right now”

Goedert, 30, is entering the final season of his contract, and there is speculation he could be traded. Sirianni would like Goedert to remain in Philadelphia but indicated that might not happen in 2025.

“Right now he’s on our football team and obviously Dallas Goedert has meant a lot to us,” Sirianni said. “We’ll see how that plays out. He’s a heck of a football player, heck of a leader. Want to be able to bring back as many guys as you can. But that is not the reality of the NFL. We’ll see what happens and how that happens but of course, you want everyone back.”

Goedert averaged 10.7 PPR points per game in 2024 while helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl, which was the fourth time in his past five seasons that he’s averaged at least 10 PPR points. But he was also limited to 10 games due to injury, and Fantasy managers should consider him a low-end starter at best worth drafting with a late-round pick in the majority of leagues.

His outlook could change if traded, so continue to monitor what happens. And if he leaves Philadelphia, depending on who is brought in as a replacement, the value for DeVonta Smith and even A.J. Brown would increase with more targets headed in their direction.