NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal and Daniel Jeremiah combine their areas of expertise in the latest episode of “40s and Free Agents.” To start the show, the duo discusses how the first week of free agency changed the draft outlook for several teams, including the Browns, Giants, Patriots and Raiders. Then, DJ defends the Seahawks’ aggressive pursuit of QB Sam Darnold. Later, Gregg analyzes the Steelers signing WR DK Metcalf to an extension, and the potential for an Aaron Rodgers team-up in Pittsburgh.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to forties and free Agents, where we marry up
the draft and free agency. And it's been quite a week.
I'm Greg Rosenthal. My friend Daniel Jeremiah has been celebrating
his anniversary. I'm glad you got that out of the way, DJ,
because I don't want to hear about eisen or Bucky Brooks.
This is the only partnership that matters to you.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, I'm committed to this partnership. Not committed enough to
make that two hour drive after a vacation, but I
am committed to it, at least via this online video
communication setup that we have.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, a lot has been going down this week, and
we'll get into some of the big free agency moves.
You were all over it last week with like Gino
leaving Seattle. But before we kind of go with what
we like the most, I thought we'd look at how
the top of the draft has been affected by free agency,
and we could just go through the first picks, starting
(01:01):
with Tennessee, and I wonder if you agree with me
or not the way they built up this offensive line.
And then the quarterback that they sign in free agency
is Brandon Allen, Who's who's a backup at best or
a number three type of pick. Does that make you
think they're looking a little more at cam Ward than
maybe people thought a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I think you can logically get to that point when
you look at what they've done and they've you know,
brought in some veteran offensive lineman. Now in terms of
you know, how much better they're going to be and
where there's some overpays in there, that's another conversation, you know,
Greg with with what they added. But you know, Kevin Zeitler,
I don't know that that's you know, a three year move.
That's something for the next year or two to help,
(01:41):
you know, you would think a young quarterback to kind
of get assimilated into the league. Man Dan Moore got
way more money than I ever anticipated he was going
to get coming out of Pittsburgh to be their left tackle.
So they fortify, you know, in their in their way
of doing it, they fortify the offensive line, and you
can make a strong case for that. I would just
say that, you know, there's nothing coming up out of Tennessee,
(02:01):
but in talking to people around the league, there still
is an expectation that Tennessee's playing a little more of
the long game here. Don't rule out a quarterback there
at one. But also I still think they would be
intrigued to at least listen to what offers are out
there with them not sliding out of the top three,
so that would I wouldn't rule that out just yet.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So that makes sense to me. But how long of
a game can you play? If you're Brian Callahan. They
didn't win a lot of games last year. You don't
want to go through another year like that. It was
really the quarterback signing when they could have There's a
lot of good backup, real bridge type quarterbacks available, and
they signed Brandon Allen as their guy. I'm like, Okay, well.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I don't know that that was a destination for a
lot of folks. I mean, if you look at the
free agents that had a chance to be a starter
and to be a starter for several years or even
via the trade options that were available. I don't know
that that Sam Donald was interested in going to Tennessee,
is what I'm getting at.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Okay, you pushed me off that take, but I'm still
going to stay there, all right. So the Browns in
Freezer haven't really done a lot. They got that Miles
Garrett deal done at just huge money and otherwise they're
picking around the edges they I mean, the worst take
I saw all week was that Kenny Pickett somehow says
(03:19):
something about this draft class and I'm thinking.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
They're out on a quarterback now because they got Kenny
in the in the fold, they're good to go.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Come on. I mean, if Kenny Pickett's competing and he
believes he competes, he's competing, I gotta think it's for
a backup job. And and Kirk Cousins could still shake
loose there as a potential quarterback. Do you think they'll
be looking quarterback early? Let's you know, who knows they
could trade up from two to one.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah. Well they also just you know, had Russell Wilson
in their building where they're at least intrigued by, and
Kirk Cousins is still out there potentially down the line
for for them to get. So there are some other
options there. And I think we talked about this on
the last episode. But I do know that the Browns
have done their homework not just on the top of
the quarterback class, but the entirety of the quarterback class.
(04:04):
So if they're not in love you know, with what's
going to be there for them, you know, between the quarterbacks.
Then you know, maybe they're sitting there saying, ah, well,
we'll take we'll take some of these veteran options we have.
Can you PICKTT maybe it's a Russell Wilson. We'll get it,
you know, get you through the year.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Guy.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We're gonna kind of push that long term need to
next year. But then we'll use this top pick to'll
get a big time impact player so that that's something
that they could do and then just take a flyer
on a quarterback on day two. You know who's interesting
to you. If you don't think there's that much of
a gap between the second and say the fourth quarterbacks
in this draft class, then they just take the premier
player there at at two, or you know, sit and
(04:43):
wait for that quarterback option that would be there on
date number two.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah. I go back to what you said on on
your warm up podcast, Move the Sticks. I feel like
that was that was you in the minor leagues and
just getting ready for this one. And you you made
the point when Miles Garrett asked for that trade that
he might have been doing them a favor because then
trade wouldn't have been as unpopular.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I no blood on their hands. I thought it was
a reset moment. There's and this is again, we could
go a thousand different directions. This is what I love
about this show. And I heard you talking about this
the other day because I had a long flight home
and I did listen to you and mina kind of
Banny about a lot of the free agency stuff, which
is a good pod, good episode. But there's like some
organizations who are you know, quote unquote running it back
(05:23):
versus maybe taking an opportunity to reset, and let's just
kind of maybe not tear it down, but let's make
some tweaks and let's kind of let's look a little
bit more long term. I thought the Browns were in
that situation with Miles giving them a get out of
jail free card, you know, by requesting a trade that
they could have had a haul and try and collect
picks for next year. But they decided to, you know,
(05:43):
not only to not do that, they decided to extend
them and put them right at the very tippy top
of the market. So I don't know that that makes
Cleveland a little bit tricky to figure out with the
way they're doing business right now and bringing in these
veteran quarterbacks is I think they believe they're much closer
than maybe the team that's picking number two overall should
be thinking.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Well, it also might be something where what's best for
the organization doesn't match up with the needs of who's
trying to keep their jobs. Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanci
coming off that kind of year, they want to win now,
So maybe thinking about the deep future without Michael Miles Garrett,
that's not helping out your team at all.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
But man, they don't the most interesting team. Let's move Okay,
let's know.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I'm just saying, the most exciting thing you did was
Mully Collins. By the way, I noticed that was Mina
Kimes podcast that you listened to. It was not mine
NFL Daily, So that that's sticking in my craw a
little bit. The Giants are the most interesting in free agency.
They attack the secondary with Paulson Adebo and they you know,
go at the safety.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Right the wrongs from the safety decision of not too
long ago.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I thought Joe Shane doesn't. He only spends on premium
draft positions. That's why they left Xavier McKinney. Go, uh,
now they're looking at Aaron Rodgers, They're they're looking at
Russell Wilson. Are they the team maybe most likely to
to trade up for them quarterback?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah? To me, that makes the most sense. I always
look at trade, you know, opportunities as who is the
who's the most I don't want to say desperate, but
who has the most urgency. And of those teams up
there in the top three, who has the most urgency
to go get the top quarterback in the draft? I
think without question it's the New York Giants. So I
was looking it up Gregan. Historically, to go up to
(07:23):
number one four quarterback, there's a premium, and for the
most part, most of those trades require a twenty percent overpay.
I don't think you're going to have to do that
this year. I don't. And so if we were to
just look at a five to ten percent overpay, which
is still you know what the price would be of
doing business. This is what a trade would look like.
If the Giants were to try and get all the
(07:45):
way up to number one, it would cost them a
third pick. Obviously, it would cost them there two this year,
which is pick number thirty four and it would cost
them their two next year. So when you look at
those resources that, I mean, it's not cheap by any stretch.
But if you're a Giants and you have a regime
that needs to win right now, are you going to
(08:05):
really worry about a two this year and a two
next year? I just I think you'd be the most
aggressive of those teams wanting to get up to number one.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense to me. And yeah,
I don't know if they're just hoping that Aaron Rodgers
sends out the bat signal and he arrives there. Adding
him and a rookie quarterback does not make a lot
of sense to me. The Patriots don't have to worry
about that. They got the best young rookie quarter you know,
quarterback in the entire league in Drake May. I'd still
take him over Jaden Daniels. I don't care. And I
(08:35):
thought they would add some protection for him. And they
signed Morgan Moses, which if you listen to forties and
free agents, that was one of the names I threw
out there, just a guy to at least take one
tackle spot. But otherwise they really didn't address offense. It's
all about the.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
He tried, man. I think they tried. I think they
tried on Ronnie Stanley and just came up short. They
tried on Godwin. They threw them literally gobs of money,
much more than he ended up getting where he stayed.
So they swung and they and they weren't able to land.
But I actually like what they did from the standpoint
(09:08):
of you've got all this space. You know, you've got
tons of room. So if there's not you know, we're
not going to reach for the fourth fifth tackle that
we're going to be looking to replace a year from now.
What's the point of doing that. You're better off just
plugging some holes on the defensive side of the ball
with really good players, which you know, Harold Landry was
that was a little more expensive than I thought, but
you know the rest of those I like what they
(09:30):
did defensively. And so what that does Greg, and that's
why we do this show is because it's marrying free
agency in the draft. Now they could free themselves up
to go heavy, heavy offense in the draft, starting with
where they are where they could they'll have their choice
at the top offensive lineman where they're picking. If Travis
Hunter were to somehow be there, you take him, and
now you've give Drake May a big time weapon. So
(09:50):
I think they're freed up. I think in free agency,
I give you credit because the Patriots did a good
job of free themselves up for the offense.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I love what you said there that you just are
almost assuming if they take Travis Hunter, he would be
a wide receiver at least for that team. You have
Carlton Davis and Christian Gondales. That is an identity on defense.
I love the Carlton Davis signing. It ended up being
basically the same that a Debo guy and DJ Reid.
They were all in the same area. There was actually
five quarterbacks and maybe they're just picking off my top one,
(10:17):
O one, five of my top six. They've all basically
got the same contract Byron Murphy, Tarvarius Ward to Debo,
Carlton Davis, and he fits what they want to do.
I'm with you. I liked Milton Williams. If you're going
to spend a lot of money in free agency, do
it for a young defensive lineman that can get better
and better, and it frees them up. The Jaguars they
didn't go quite as aggressive as I expected in free agency.
(10:39):
They said they have slots on their team that they
want to fill with draft picks. And then finally you
look at the Raiders who end up getting Gino Smith.
Feels like that takes them out of any cheddur Sanders
market if he's available there. Otherwise they've been relatively quiet.
Do you think they're an A and gent team? They
(11:01):
could use another wide receiver? Who knows? What do you
think about the Raiders where they're at right now?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, I do agree with you. It sounds weird to
say you got a thirty four year old quarterback in
the building, so you're for sure out of trying to
find your future quarterback. But when you just look at
at Pete's age where he is, the fact that they
chose him as their coach to go, it feels like
they want to try and get better right now. So
you've got Geno in place, You've got a steady veteran quarterback,
so now you're freed up a little bit in the draft.
(11:28):
You look at some of the other needs that they
would have, you know, just getting another weapon, whether that's
at running back or at wide receiver. They need an
explosive playmaker to pair up with Bowers and so yeah,
I think ash and Genty comes into play there. You know,
you look at the wide receivers. That's a little early
for the wide receivers for me in this draft. But
you could easily kind of slide back a little bit
(11:49):
and potentially be a trade down team. But yeah, I
think that does. You know, I think that does pull
them out of the of the shud Or Sanders market,
which is going to make him one of the more
fascinating players because I think the you know, the Jets
signing and you know, look at what they did with Fields,
I don't see I think they're gonna give him a
little runway there. I don't think they're gonna bring him
to the young quarterback. So it's it's interesting to see
(12:11):
where shood Or could go. I think the Giants. If
the Tennessee sticks and picks, I could see the Giants
being in play for shoot Or. But if he gets
past the Giants at three, then it becomes really interesting.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah. Then I then I look at the Saints at
nine as a team that I just feel like needs
need some hope for the future at that position. I
would be with that. I was driving up to the
desert with with my son. We were gonna watch and
watch some tennis when the Geno Smith you know thing
happens and I in my immediate reaction was like DJ's
coming for these insiders. If you listen to forties and
(12:42):
free Agents, you kind of you had Geno on the move.
You have so much more info than you let out there. DJ.
I want to bring that out of you and I
want rap seat to be mad at you by the
end of this podcast in nine weeks.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
You know it's my favorite though? Is it's not Ian?
Just like insiders as a as an entire community, when
somebody from outside the club tries to come in and well, man,
if you're wrong, they will, they will rally, and they
will they will punish you in a big, big way.
They get even if you're right.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
They don't even want it if you're Oh no, he
doesn't he doesn't know anything. How could anyone else know anything?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Hey? By the way, can I call you on the
carpet for a second? Grig As the president of the
Geno Smith Fan Club and as someone who's a member
of the Sam Darnold Fan Club, I don't know that
I'm the president but I'm probably on the board of directors.
This is what I don't understand because I've heard a
lot of people. I've heard you say, I've heard a
lot of people say, oh, it's a step down, you know,
(13:40):
Gino to Sam. And my question is, isn't Geno Sam?
Isn't I mean Geno's first good year came as a
thirty one year old. That was that was the first
time he got an opportunity. What happened? He bounced around.
We always knew he had ability. He was a first
round talent, you know, coming out first second round talent
who had all these tools but just needed to get
in the right situation. Now he's got the knowledge to go,
(14:02):
he still has the ability there. And then at thirty
one he gets the opportunity and goes with it. And
then all of a sudden, it's like Sam does the
same thing at what twenty six, twenty seven, gets his
you know, first real supporting cast and he takes off
and it's like, well, no, that was a one off,
that'll never ever happen again. I just I think you're
you're talking about Geno Smith seven years younger. That's what
the that's what the uh Seattle Seahawks did. They're like,
(14:24):
we can go with Gino at thirty four and pay
him this money, or we can take the same contract
and give it to Gino Junior, who's seven years younger.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Well, Gino, didn't, you know, melt under the brightest of lights.
And maybe he's not a scheme dependent. I do think
he's shown more as like an upper tier processor. He
just throws such a pretty ball. But I know Darnold
is very talented too. Since you're bringing it up that
that's a fair point.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Arnold Chier, last year's as good as of a year
as Gino's had.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That that's that's absolutely true. He was in the perfect
situation since since you're bringing up Seattle here, I just
didn't love by the.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Way, by the way, by the way, I love how
the Vikings supporting cast gets all the credit. But then
when they can't block anybody in the in the game
against the Rams, that it's all Sam's fault. But nonetheless,
go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, and they they attacked the interior line. Well, we'll
get to what the bike, which is weird because they
had a perfect team.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I don't know why they felt the need to redo
the offensive line because it was. It was an all
star team.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But just when you when you watch those those Geno
throws to the to the middle of the midfield, you
gotta just admit it's pretty and you're right. Darnald could
keep developing and maybe he's the better fit for that system.
But I just felt like John Schneider's trying to have
his cake and eat it too. They didn't really want
Geno Smith back, and when he spoke to the media
to defend saying, hey, we tried, we made an offer
to him, and we never heard back from him, It's like,
(15:41):
we know what you're doing here, and he kind of
blamed it on DK Metcalf. Hey, he didn't want to
be here. We want the guys that were here. They
wanted to do a reset. I give him credit because
I think it was a bold move and they're standing
behind it. They got to be absolutely right about it.
While we're talking Seahawks, let's talk about another guy they
brought in to Marcus Lauren, so instead of spending on
the interior offensive line. Another thing I didn't love from
(16:03):
Schneider was he said, hey, we wanted to bring in
Will Fries, but we wanted him to take a physical
and another team just blew us out of the water
money wise, so that that's what happens in free agency.
You can't get irresponsible. And so they didn't end up
getting the interior alignment that ends up going to Minnesota.
In the end, they spend that money on DeMarcus Lawrence.
Let's listen to Lawrence in his first day in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
You know, Dallas is my home.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I made my home there.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
You know, my family lives there. You know I'm forever
going to be there.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
But you know, I know for sure I'm not going
to win a super Bowl there. So yeah, oh man.
And so Lawrence throws that out there. It didn't seem
like he had planned to say that. He just said
it because that was how he was feeling. He's like,
oh man, I just said that. And then Michaeh. Parsons
responds on Twitter. He says that this is what rejection
(16:53):
and envy looks like. This is some clown stuff. And
what I liked even better is he left this tweet up.
And eventually Lawrence responds, calling me a clown won't change
the fact that I told the truth. These standing ten
tones on this, maybe if you spent less time tweeting
and more time winning. I wouldn't have left. I'm actually
(17:14):
taking some real takeaways from this that all's not right
there in the in the Cowboys locker room, Like, did
you take something from this DJ?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's not great? Yeah, I mean, even though it's a
former player. Yeah, And I think there's been a lot
of speculation out there. I know from going out there
to training camp, there was a lot of talk around
Michael Parsons, which was Okay, Hey, the Dak deal's gonna
get done, the Ceedee Lamb deal get done. I don't
know about Micah. I'm curious to see if they'll, you know,
if they'll you know, make that long term commitment there.
(17:45):
So I think there's you know, there's always a little
kernel of truth in some of this stuff. So I'm
sure there was some frustration. And it's not just a
Marcus Lawrence on Hey, you know, was Micah, you know,
focus on all the right stuff all the time? I
mean I think that you could take that from that
by Micah pars is a heck of a player, and
there's not many people on the planet they can do
all the stuff he can do. So you got to
stactor that in too.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
I've said he's the best just pure pass rusher that's
come into the league, I think since I've covered the league,
which is about to talk.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
He reminded me I got a lot of flak because
when he was just starting to get to play more
on the edge, and I was like, man, if they
committed to let him play on the edge full time,
like he gives me Derek Thomas vibes like just watching
him rush, and it was like that was a little
People thought it was a little rich, but when you
see him, he's got some unique ability.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Man, well they're gonna have to pay him, and they're
now going to have to pay him more than Miles
Garrett Mabe. Maybe they won't have to and they'll just
welcome the drama. What do you think about what the
Seahawks did in free agency? So I mentioned, you know,
they take the risk in terms of Sam Darnold. It's
a fifty five million dollar guaranteed contract. Actually that the
deal is very similar to what Baker first signed with
(18:53):
Tampa for what Gino first signed in Seattle. This is
a bridge quarterback money. They're not really invested past this
year if they didn't have to, Very similar to the
Derek Carr contract that he first signed with the Raiders,
where he only ended up staying one more year. But
they spend that money on DeMarcus Lawrence. They spend a
lot of money on John Reid, who had a good
year for them last year. They bring back Ernest Jones,
(19:14):
one of the many off ball linebackers that gets paid.
They don't really spend on the offensive line. They bring
in mvs. Marcus Valdez scanting on the offensive side. Does
that make you think they're they're going more towards the
draft here? And is this a case where sometimes a
defensive coach ends up just like worrying about his side
of the ball a little more than the other side
(19:34):
of the ball.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
What do you think, Well, a couple of things, you know,
and this is dangerous when you're doing this, when news
could break at any moment. But as we're recording this,
nothing's happened here. But a couple moves that make sense
to me. I thought Cooper Cup made a lot of
sense for them to give them just a reliable, dependable
pass catcher, always going to be where he's supposed to be,
going to catch everything. I thought he could compliment, you know,
(19:55):
you can move him around a little bit. With him
and JSN, you've got two really smart, heady plays, So
that one makes sense there. Garrett Bradbury reuniting with Sam Darnold.
I know Bradbury struggles a little bit with power, but
in the run game he's really good. Can get up
and climb the second level, cut guys off, all that stuff.
So just having the relationship there with Sam, I thought
that one would make some sense. But you know, the
(20:17):
interior of the offensive line is you know, that would
be my greatest concern right now, and that's not just
going to be solved with with a move like that.
They're gonna have to they're gonna have to draft and
they're gonna have to hit. And I think some part
of what we saw with the DeMarcus Lawrence thing is
not just to help the defense. Again, Greg, I think
it all Mary's together with the draft and they're thinking, man,
(20:38):
there's going to be a run on these defensive linemen
in the first round. There's a ton of them, and
so they can sit out the you know, they don't
want to be on the middle to tail end of
the d lineman run when they might be able to
get near the top of the interior offensive line run
with where they're picking, so that that made some sense
to me.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And you saw the vision the Mike McDonald defense late
in the seas and was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
And if you look, christ Joan's a big part of that. Man,
I'm glad that that was a great signing. And we
said it last week. He's one of those players like
what the heck? Why is he getting bounced around the
league like this? This guy plays well everywhere he goes.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I love I love the fit. I have a
hard time finding a weakness on that defense. So if
they had snuck into the playoffs they wound up with
ten wins last year, I think, you know, they would
have been a dangerous type of team. And they're hoping
Clint Kubiak can help fix the offensive line. In terms
of the talent, and I did note Schneider also said, hey,
our coaches they he likes some of the talent that's there.
(21:34):
They've drafted guys in the middle rounds Christian Haynes and
Anthony Bradford, and so it's one another case where I
think they're betting on John Schneider right or wrong. And
he's done a great job there overall over the years,
they're really trusting him his vision at quarterback, developing some
of his players, and he's working in concert with Mike McDonald.
(21:55):
But he's got he's got the juice in that building,
kind of like DJ's got the juice on this show.
Let's take a quick break, you know.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Hold on, hold on real quick, before you get to
the break, real quick, real quick. This team's twenty eight
in the league in rushing yards Seattle. Their backs are
so much better than that. That tells you again they've
got to get offensive line. Grey's abel go get him,
just go do it in the.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
First four do it? Okay, I like that pick, and
you know according I've watched some of the mocks, including
you talking out there. He might not even make it
all the way to Seattle, but if he does, he
would be a fantastic pick there. All right, we're going
to take a quick break. We're going to come back.
We're going to talk about some of the teams, some
of the moves that we like the best in free agency,
and yes, how that all fits with the draft. Back
(22:38):
in a minute. Good to have DJ back on California soil,
even if he didn't want to come up to Inglewood.
All right, we talked before the break about the Seahawks
and what they did in terms of bringing in people.
Let's talk about one of the guys that they that
(23:00):
they sent out. DK Metcalf goes to the Steelers, very
unstealer like move. Not only that they gave up the
draft pick, well you know, a second round pick that
that's good business for DK Metcalf, but they gave him
a four year, one hundred and thirty two million dollar extend.
And when you look at him and Pickens on the
same team, do you think they're at all duplicative.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Their redundancy department of redundancy is that?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Yeah, they kind of win in similar ways, right, I
mean they're.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Different, don't I don't see how. I don't see George
Pickens there. I mean, well, look, we've got a long
time before we get to the to the start of
the season, and maybe they decide to let these guys
partner up and pair up. But to me, it does
feel like there's they're very similar. They're going to ask
to do similar things. To me, it makes sense. And
I don't know, maybe it's maybe it's your Patriots, Greg,
(23:52):
but you know, I would think there would be somebody
that would be willing to cough up a third round
pick for for George Pickens. But I just to me,
I feel like DK Metcalf was brought in with the
hope that he could kind of do what you know,
Aj Brown did when he went from the Titans to
the Eagles, which was, you know, immediately infuse some much
needed playmaking into that offense. And he's still in his prime,
(24:15):
he's still young. For as long as he's been in
the league. He came in the league really young. So
I understand that how he fits individually in there, I
don't understand how he and George worked together. I just
don't see that as as a great pairing and a
great fact knows, maybe I'll be maybe I'll be proved
wrong when it's all said and done, But that to
me felt more like a replacement than a compliment.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Right because he's still got two years left George Pickens
on his rookie deal, but they haven't had to declare
whether they give him the fifty year option. So maybe
that is something I hadn't really thought about it that
happens during the draft before the draft, that could be
a situation to watch and then isn't it a little
weird team building wise that you're investing all this and
you're wide receiver and you don't have a quarterback. At
(24:59):
some point, aren't they going to take a little bit
of heat for not having any post bend plan that
that works.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I know, I mean, I think this is the challenge.
I think that they took their swing. I think they
took their swing on Sam Donoald. They tried to get
it to make it work, and he chose to go
to Seattle, so you know, you can't. It's like what
we were saying with the Patriots and some of the
you know, issues and holes that remain for them on offense.
You don't get everybody you want. You don't snap your
fingers and they all decide they want to come play
(25:26):
for you. But they have a major, major, major quarterback
issue right now, you know. And maybe there's a short
term band aid, a forty one year old band aid.
They can put on it for a year or two,
but eventually they're going to have to hit on one,
and they're going to have to hit on one in the draft.
And this year there's some intriguing guys those Day two quarterbacks.
They could be a team I wouldn't I wouldn't put
(25:48):
it past them. Maybe they are a team that slides
down a little bit, trades down, get some extra picks
to fill some other holes, and then maybe they take
a swing on that second group of quarterbacks a little
earlier than people think. But they have to they have
to keep swinging. Man, they tried with Kenny Pickett. Didn't work.
You know, They've they've got to keep swinging and and
find that because you're in a division when you've got
(26:09):
Burrow and Lamar like, it's hard. You're literally bringing knife
to a gunfight. You know, you've got to find a
way to hit on a court.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Well, they keep trying to swing in the wrong years
for it. Pickett was a little bit of a reach
that year, certainly in hindsight, but even at the time
it wasn't a great quarterback class. And now they're in
another quarterback class that maybe second round it makes sense,
but you don't get credit for a swinging.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
This lets me getting some comps though, right they're gonna
get some comps with I think Fields getting the contract
that he got, they'll get it. I would have guess,
probably get a third round pick on that, so they'll
have some they'll have some extra picks going dan morph. Shoot,
he got fifty million guaranteed over two years. I'm sure
that's a third or fourth round pick next year, So
they'll have some extra ammunition next year if they want
to be really really.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
All I'm saying is it's like baseball. You don't get
credit for swinging and missing. Yeah, they tried for Sam Darnold.
But if they had a better infrastructure and if they
had actually gotten a deal done, then we would have
given them some credit. Let's give credit to the Rams
at least I will. I know you don't like it
when you're your crossdown rival, you know you're with the Chargers.
That's bitter. Gets a bitter, right, Yeah, gets a great
deal done Because to me, this DeVante Adams contract could
(27:12):
have as much of an impact and who is winning
playoff games as any of these free agent deals, and
they ultimately chose him over Cooper Cup, not at that
much more money than Cooper Cup was on the books
for What did you think about this move?
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Yeah, it was interesting. I mean because there are some
similarities as players. I think Davante's got a little bit
more quickness at this point as they're both are getting
a little bit older. But you know, I think it's
someone that's going to be able to win outside, that's
going to be able to win in the red zone.
And I think, you know, him paired up with Matthew
Stafford is a you know, I don't see how he's
(27:48):
not ultra productive. Look at the numbers that he put
up last year. I think he's going to be an
easy ninety catches uh in this offense with him and
Pooka Nakua. Yeah, I think it's a I think it's
a great fit. I don't know that you would have
got your value out of out of DeVante Adams if
he goes somewhere with mediocre quarterback play, I'd be like, Ah,
that didn't really make a lot of sense. But when
(28:09):
you're trying to push and you've got all this young
talent on defense and you just want a little bit
more on offense, Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
And it's a team that at this point probably just
assumes they're going to nail every draft pick that they
do have. They did send it an extra second away
last year, so they're missing one pick, but they have
just hit pick after pick the last couple of years
less need on a hot streak. We mentioned the Viking.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
I like Poona Ford too. Man. Yeah, poon of Ford
was a good signing. I obviously saw all his games
last year. He played great for the Tick.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, and it's exactly what they need because they have
those great edge rushers but need a little beef inside.
The Rams will be one of the NFC favorites next year?
Will the Vikings be? If JJ McCarthy is their Week
one starting quarterback, I would argue yes, because I think
the rest of the roster is outstanding and the weaknesses
you mentioned the interior offensive line for Arnold. They bring
(29:01):
in the Colts interior offensive line and Ryan Kelly and
Will Fries and there's some risk there. Kelly's a little
bit older, but good players. And then on the defensive side,
you spend a lot of money in terms of Hard
Grave and Jonathan Allen. This this team like three hundred
million dollars in contract. Do you like this as as
a build around a young quarterback like JJ?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Yeah? And I think you know people will look at
it and go Okay. The reason they want aggressive in
free agency is because they you know, you know, not
having to pay the quarterback now with JJ the other
reason they want aggressive in free agency. Don't have any
draft picks, so they needed to go out and solve
their issues and solve their problems during free agency. So
I thought that made a lot of sense how aggressive
they were along the line of scrimmage. And you know,
(29:44):
we'll see, maybe they can slide down, trade out, trade
down in the first round, try and recoup some of
the picks that they've lost over the last few years.
But that, to me is another reason why that team
was ultra aggressive and doing what they did.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
And we'll see if what happens with Aaron Rodgers. But
I am convinced that he's he's just hoping he can
get them interested, and that's why he's stretching this thing
out because he knows that would be the best situation
for him. Just just go down to Minnesota, Like what
is there? Is there a team you would want Rogers
to go to?
Speaker 3 (30:13):
By the way, well, I mean, I gosh, I just
can't the Minnesota thing. I can see it. I could
see him trying to talk Kevin O'Connell into it, being like, look, JJ,
maybe he gets there, but I'm there right now. I
can see Aaron's sales pitch to him. I just don't
see how this benefits JJ in any way, shape or form. Like,
I don't think it makes any sense from that standpoint. So,
(30:35):
you know, I would be surprised if that's what ultimately
ended up happening for me. You know, who's desperate for him?
That the two teams, the Giants and the Steelers. Man
if I was Aaron Rodgers, I think the Giants have
a little more firepower with neighbors, you know, that would
be kind of fun. But you know, hey, Pittsburgh, it's
a you know, that's a team that's that's done a
(30:55):
lot of winning over the years and still has some
some start.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Yeah, that's fight. That's fighting.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Where that you say the DK and George who I've said, Yeah,
DK and George, just you know, pair it up together,
perfect match.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
I would like Rogers and Pittsburgh just for the content,
And that's I'm just selfish. I just feel like it'd
be good podcast fodder to Tomlin Rogers with that organization,
give it to me. I have been skeptical about much
of the Ryan Poles era, and that skepticism has been
born out because every off season Bears fans who are
just the most optimistic and zealous like fans. I love them.
(31:30):
They always think the Bears are going to be awesome
year after year. This is the first year where I'm
kind of in on it. They spent big in free agency.
They signed Drew Dolman as the center. We talked about
the trades that they've made at the guard position. Let's
listen to Ryan Poles, their general manager, and how he
looks at the free agency spending.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Yeah, this really opens the whole board for us.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
So we're gonna be able to sit back and kind
of look and say, what's the best thing to do
for the Chicago Bears and who's the best player that
can impact. So we got some some tough decisions and
a lot of film to watch between now and the draft.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I don't think that was GM speak. That makes a
lot of sense to me. When I look at their
depth chart now, I don't see huge screaming needs. I
feel like they can attack like whoever they want. Where
would you go?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
DJ, Yeah, I've mentioned a couple options there. I think
Ashton gent comes into play a big time. When you've
kind of fixed a lot of the offensive line, you
could make a case they could still go out and
get an upgrade at left tackle. But Ashton Genty to
you know, play behind this front that can create, should
be able to create some push. I would be fun.
That would be a lot of fun to watch him
(32:36):
with Kayleb Williams and Romadoonze that kind of little triplets
grow up together. So I love that option I've mentioned,
which is a little bit out of the box when
you already have a tight end in Cole Comet. But
Tyler Warren. Tyler Warren to me, just live in twelve
personnel and you've got a creative play caller. You could
have a lot of fun with him now that you've
addressed that interior the offensive line, and that just goes
(32:57):
to you know, what they were saying there is that
they're they're freed up. So literally, just take the best
available player, somebody that's going to come in and make
an impact for your team. So yeah, I'm excited about
the Bears. I'm excited to watch that team next year,
maybe more so than any other, to see, you know,
what type of step Caleb makes and really to see
what kind of offense Ben Johnson's gonna run, because it's
(33:18):
not going to be the same thing you had in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
I feel differently about Ben Johnson just from watching him
handle the public duties of being a coach in some
of those videos in the building. He just he's convinced me,
like he just seems like a dude, and now I
think he's the key guy in the organization. But Ryan
Pulse has done a good job I think building up
their players this offseason, and Drew Dolman was a good example.
(33:40):
Do you think, like just looking at the offensive lineman
and free agency and thinking about you just mentioned the
Dan Moore contract, Aaron Banks was a guy who got
just an exceptional amount of money and there was only
a couple guys out there. It's just a reminder these
offensive linemen now that you have to draft them early,
(34:01):
even more than I think anytime that I've seen at
the NFL level, it really feels like it's quarterback and
then offensive line, and that includes the interior offensive line.
If Drew Dolman and Aaron Banks are making defensive tackle,
defensive end type of money, like to me, there is
an even bigger premium to get those guys in the draft,
and maybe those guys get pushed up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
Yeah, and I think it's a developmental position too. You know,
with the offensive line, what you get year one can
be drasticly different, different once you get to three, four five,
they just accumulate all that knowledge and it's a different
game from college to the NFL. So, man, that's why
when you get these guys out to the market, they're
usually plug and play and you don't have to You
(34:44):
can kind of set it and forget it right, just
set the lineup through them in there and go fix
something else some of the problem that you might have.
So that's why you're seeing these guys get paid. The
other thing is these teams all have so much money. Man,
there's the TV money in the salary cap exploding the
two things. It led to a lot of guys, a
lot of really good players getting you know, extensions where
(35:04):
they are early. And what it did is now you've
got a market that maybe's not loaded with talent, but
teams are flush with cash. So it's good to be
a you know, a mid level to a little bit
above a mid level player because the team's like, well
we've got it, we might as well spend it.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Half the league has more than thirty million dollars in
cap space and ten or eleven teams have forty million.
The Patriots, after all this spending, still have about one
hundred million dollars in There's too much gap space. I
actually think teams long term planning have gotten caught a
little flat footed that they have too much some of
these teams and teams like the Eagles and the Ravens
who are spending on good players and spending to the cap,
(35:41):
that's really the way to do it.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Can I can? I? Can I hijack this right because
you just mentioned the Eagles, Because I was talking to
somebody in the league of a coach about this the
other day. I said, you know, the Eagles are fascinating
because it almost feels like they're taking an NBA approach,
which is they're paying their stars right, and you look
at the exodus of players. They have some good players,
Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, like good players that walked out.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Of the Gardner Johnson they traded.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Yeah. So, but what they've done is they've said, Okay,
we've got our piles of money, we're gonna put it
into the stars and then the rest we're going to
really we have a really good scouting staff. We're going
to scout our butts off with all these guys leaving,
we're playing the comp pit games. So they're gonna have
a million picks this year and next year based off
what's happened, you know, over the last couple of years.
So they're gonna then try and surround those stars with
(36:29):
a bunch of cheap, young, talented players, and they hit
in the draft. It's like, I think the Rams are
the other team that's they won the Super Bowl with
that NBA approach and now you know, you've seen them
hit on all these young players. The Eagles have hit
on young players. It's an interesting formula out there to
try and do.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
That and also filling the gaps with some really low
cost free agents. You know, they bring in aj Dillon
as a backup running It's just these are the shots,
but there's almost no risks you bring in outa they
brought in who is the cornerback from from the Giants
that they brought in for for very Yeah, uh, Dori Jackson,
(37:08):
who I've always thought is an underrated player, but now
he's at the point where he's a distressed asset and
you could see him stepping in kind of like they
did with Isaiah Rodgers, who got a nice deal elsewhere
in free agency, and they just plug them into their system.
And I'm convinced.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
I was talking. I was talking to a coach about,
you know, certain teams and organizations, the Eagles being one
of them. And this was the great point that he
brought up, is if you're going to go on in
one of these one year, you know, prove it deals.
He was like, do you want to go to a
one o'clock Sunday team? He's like, and he was, and
I don't want to throw, Like I won't throw the
team he mentioned under the bus, but it's like he
mentioned one of those NFC South teams and he was like,
(37:42):
you want to go there play at one o'clock every
every Sunday, or you can go to a team like
the Eagles play, you know, be on the national stage.
You're in the you're in the four o'clock window. If
you're not in the four o'clock window, you're playing Sunday night,
Monday night, big stages, big games, everybody's watching, everybody's paying attention.
You're seven sad you get with the Philadelphia Eagles, you're
gonna end up being more valuable than the seven sacks
(38:03):
you might get in the NFC South is what he
was mentioning. And I don't know if any if a
lot of people think like that, but I'm telling you
that message is being sent to players and to try
and entice them on these you know, short term deals.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
They should be. I mean, if you're an offensive lineman,
you can go to Jeff Stoutland University and suddenly you're
gonna get a bigger contract than free agency who didn't
get a bigger contract? I mentioned Aj Dillon at running back,
Like the running back position people thought might get two
SD up because of safe aud.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Loaded in the class of free agents. Is not that right?
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Yeah, your Chargers sign Naj Harris for a nice deal
five million dollars. They did not have to spend much
for a guy who who can have a big workload
for really, the only running back who got paid was
Aaron Jones thirteen million dollars guaranteed. He's had a great career.
But none of these guys got more than one year
of guaranteed money. Some of them are two years deal,
but they're just they're just one year flyers. So the
(38:57):
running back come up didn't really happen, but safety and
off linebacker did. I'm just gonna list a few of
these guys. These safeties got paid. Javon Holland, Dravon Morigg,
cam binam Talamea, whufunga, they all got paid. Justin Reid
did okay. And then the off ball linebacker Zach Bond
was kind of the guy that the Eagles decided we're
not going to let him go, and then the rest
of the market fell in line. Really good deals for
(39:18):
Nick Bolton and Drake Greenlow and Jamie and Sherwood. So
a little bit of a comeback for the off ball
linebackers in the safety So I have two positions I
feel like I have been a little ignored lately.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Now well, two positions in the draft that aren't super
deep and talented either. So I think that is a
little bit of the impact there. And I also, you know,
as we discussed in the last one, you know you
have a pressing need, a glaring need off the ball linebacker.
You can take one early, but odds are you're not
going to be happy with what you get your one,
maybe not even happy with with what you get your two.
(39:49):
That takes time to get good play out of that position.
It's a lot to learn, it's a lot to take in.
So if you need somebody to come in and plug
and play, man, go to the veteran route. Twenty more
to come here on forties and free agents. Will be
right back after this. We are back on forties and
(40:11):
free agencies.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
All right, let's wrap the show. And I truly have
no clue how long we've gone. Him just having such
a good time talking to my new best friend DJ,
the one partnership that matters in his life. Now, let's
let's talk about who's still out there. Of my top
one oh one free agents, I should have I should
have listened to you. I don't know if you told
(40:33):
me to rank Asante Samuel Junior lower, but he was
the one cornerback I had ranked high that hasn't gotten
his money yet. Amari Cooper is up there. Aaron Rodgers
is the best quarterback option. Cam Robinson is a plug
and play type of tackle, even if he's not, you know,
way above average. Stefan Diggs some other names, Aziz Ojalari
Khalayis Campbell, Tevin Jenkins is visiting the Seahawks so they
(40:54):
might sign him to help them out at the interior
offensive line. Is there anyone out there for free agency
that stands out to you?
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Well? I mean I think looking at this list, you know,
and I won't name the guys, but like the medical
is a big part of that too, for for why
some of these guys are still sitting out there and
the concerns that exist there. So that's that's the hard
thing when you're putting one of those lists together, Greg,
and I see it on the draft side of things
with a few guys as well, is that there's you know,
there's gonna be metal medical information that we're not privy
to that can impact that. Look to me, I think
(41:27):
you're talking about a lot of of cheap deals, incentives
or that's the buzzword at this point in free agency,
short term incentive heavy deals. But I don't see anything
on that list that gets me super super fired up.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Dang, that's rude. Bro Cooper Cup not on that list
a little bit below just because I feel like he's
a he's a helpful player right now.
Speaker 3 (41:51):
What do you what do you think? What do you
think he's going to get? Greg?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Ten million dollars a year? Maybe twelve like two.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
He's gonna get more than that. He's going to get
more than that.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
He wants. More than that is the reporting out there.
Maybe it's fifteen million a year that he wants, so
maybe it's some fake I.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Think he'll get fifteen. I think he'll get fifteen.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Okay, if that happens, I bet it's mostly guaranteed just
for one year, and the guarantees are closer to twelve
thirteen million dollars in that first year. But we'll see you.
You've shown you are an insider. I'm going to throw
out some teams. I think you have a little work
to do some teams. You know, we mentioned the Patriots
(42:30):
haven't done a lot on offense, so maybe they have
work to do. In the draft, didn't you expect the
Bengals to rebuild that defense a little bit? And all
they've done is bring back some of their rotational guys
like a Joseph Assai and a bj Hill. Not a
lot coming out of Cincinnati other than they're not trading
Trey Hendrickson.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
Do you do allowances with your kids, Greg.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
I know I really don't. I should I should, So it's.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
This generation we don't do with ours either, but we
have I had an allowance growing up. Did you have
an allowance?
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Yes? And I laugh about it because I've said many times, Okay,
we're gonna start an alliance, you're gonna start doing chores,
You're gonna do this or that, and then it never
ends up happening. That's why I'm laughing.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
So here's the analogy. So you were kids and mom,
I want a new bike, you know because our generation
we actually rode bikes, and she, okay, we got to
save up for it. Then okay. Then we would go,
you know, go to the toy store and be like, oh,
I think I want to buy that video games. You
can buy the video game, but I thought you were
saving up for the bike. You get, you get the
video game, you don't get the bike. The bike in
(43:31):
this case are those two wide receivers and potentially Trey Hendrickson,
And so there's not they're not buying a lot of
video games in free agency when you're saving up for
the bike.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
And I get that, but this was a team whose
defense completely collapsed. They had a good defensive coordinator in
lou An Arumo. So you can't tell me that you're
gonna get better just by getting rid of a defensive
court and maybe they needed new blood there. That's fine,
that decision was made. But if their big plan to
get better is just bring back the guys that we
had but at way more money, that doesn't seem like
(44:02):
a recipe.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
The big plan big their big plan, their big plan.
As we hired Al Golden, who should know the college
game early, really well, haven't just come out of there
as a defensive coordinator. We've already talked about two teams.
We've already spent half this podcast praising the Rams and
the Eagles for how well they've drafted on the defensive
side of the ball and how they flip that roster
over a couple of years of good drafting. That's that's
(44:23):
the blueprint. The Bengals are going to pay their offensive stars,
and they're going to rely on the draft, and they're
coaching to identify and develop cheap young draft draft picks
on the defensive side of the way.
Speaker 1 (44:35):
I thought the Cardinals would be a little more aggressive
and freegency, and I think they're one of those teams
you kind of mentioned with the Patriots and the Steelers
that maybe just lost some of the bidding They did
spend some money on Josh Sweat. They brought in Dalvin Thomlinson,
but I thought they'd add a little more juice. Jaguars
is the same. But I heard their GM speaking that
they are really planning on these draft picks coming in
and playing right away. And then, you know, I look
(44:59):
at it team like who out there is there anyone
that that you that stands out to you that just
hasn't necessarily done enough? Because I look at a team
like the Texans and they've been aggressive in taking that
offensive line apart. Interesting, there's a lot of risk there
in what they're doing around C. J. Stroud and then
building up their defense instead.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Yeah, I mean, look, I don't I don't know how
the offensive line comes together there. I mean they have
a lot of holes in the boat there. Titus Howard,
I believe they said you'll play left right, so he'll
Conck go over and play left tackle. You know, I could,
I could get excited about him. I think he's got
(45:41):
a chance to be a solid left tackle. He's very talented.
It doesn't always come together for him, but there is
talent there. But man, they got it. They got a
lot of work to do. On the rest of that front,
And man, that's a I don't know, if you look
at the draft, you never want to have a you know,
you never want to have that pressure in and be
locked in and loaded on one specific need that you
(46:03):
must fix. But man, they have got to go heavy
on the offensive line and they've got a hit that
that was interesting to tunsl To me, they must have
just been really tired and wanted to change kind of
the culture of that offensive line. Alo was the penalties.
There was something maybe it was work ethic related. I
don't want to speculate, but that was bizarre for where
(46:25):
they are as a team to make that move, unless
they just felt it was addition by subtraction, because that
one they got a lot, they got a lot of
work to do.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
And they did get a couple of picks, and they
could be thinking, like Seattle that Nick Cayley comes in
as the offensive coordinator and the scheme improves the offensive line.
But that was a bold, bold move by Nick Asario
and Demko Ryans. By the way, we talked about cup.
If you're watching on NFL network, who knows, by the
time you see this, maybe they're looking at my top one.
(46:52):
Oh one the GM's out there. He could be a Saint,
he could be on one of the teams. All these
players are just up for grabs, and it slowed down
the free agency frenzy, but it's still happened. In DJ.
We got a while before the draft. I'm looking forward
to this journey with you. It's gonna be Thursday's moving forward.
But you know, we had to move it around because
(47:12):
you're the big star of the show.
Speaker 3 (47:15):
Well, I'm gonna be out of a Big twelve combine
next week, but I'll still be doing the show. Okay,
I'm working.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (47:21):
I want to be in Dallas, but this is gonna
keep okay.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
So DJ will have great new information from the Big
twelve Pro Days combine. I love that they are doing that.
That is it for forties and free agents. We still
got what six seven weeks before the draft. It's gonna
be fun being on this journey and seeing how it
all lines up together.
Speaker 3 (47:41):
We'll see you heay, keep up the average work, Greg.
Proud of you, buddy.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
Thanks DJ.
Welcome to forties and free Agents, where we marry up
the draft and free agency. And it's been quite a week.
I'm Greg Rosenthal. My friend Daniel Jeremiah has been celebrating
his anniversary. I'm glad you got that out of the way, DJ,
because I don't want to hear about eisen or Bucky Brooks.
This is the only partnership that matters to you.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, I'm committed to this partnership. Not committed enough to
make that two hour drive after a vacation, but I
am committed to it, at least via this online video
communication setup that we have.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, a lot has been going down this week, and
we'll get into some of the big free agency moves.
You were all over it last week with like Gino
leaving Seattle. But before we kind of go with what
we like the most, I thought we'd look at how
the top of the draft has been affected by free agency,
and we could just go through the first picks, starting
(01:01):
with Tennessee, and I wonder if you agree with me
or not the way they built up this offensive line.
And then the quarterback that they sign in free agency
is Brandon Allen, Who's who's a backup at best or
a number three type of pick. Does that make you
think they're looking a little more at cam Ward than
maybe people thought a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I think you can logically get to that point when
you look at what they've done and they've you know,
brought in some veteran offensive lineman. Now in terms of
you know, how much better they're going to be and
where there's some overpays in there, that's another conversation, you know,
Greg with with what they added. But you know, Kevin Zeitler,
I don't know that that's you know, a three year move.
That's something for the next year or two to help,
(01:41):
you know, you would think a young quarterback to kind
of get assimilated into the league. Man Dan Moore got
way more money than I ever anticipated he was going
to get coming out of Pittsburgh to be their left tackle.
So they fortify, you know, in their in their way
of doing it, they fortify the offensive line, and you
can make a strong case for that. I would just
say that, you know, there's nothing coming up out of Tennessee,
(02:01):
but in talking to people around the league, there still
is an expectation that Tennessee's playing a little more of
the long game here. Don't rule out a quarterback there
at one. But also I still think they would be
intrigued to at least listen to what offers are out
there with them not sliding out of the top three,
so that would I wouldn't rule that out just yet.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So that makes sense to me. But how long of
a game can you play? If you're Brian Callahan. They
didn't win a lot of games last year. You don't
want to go through another year like that. It was
really the quarterback signing when they could have There's a
lot of good backup, real bridge type quarterbacks available, and
they signed Brandon Allen as their guy. I'm like, Okay, well.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I don't know that that was a destination for a
lot of folks. I mean, if you look at the
free agents that had a chance to be a starter
and to be a starter for several years or even
via the trade options that were available. I don't know
that that Sam Donald was interested in going to Tennessee,
is what I'm getting at.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Okay, you pushed me off that take, but I'm still
going to stay there, all right. So the Browns in
Freezer haven't really done a lot. They got that Miles
Garrett deal done at just huge money and otherwise they're
picking around the edges they I mean, the worst take
I saw all week was that Kenny Pickett somehow says
(03:19):
something about this draft class and I'm thinking.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
They're out on a quarterback now because they got Kenny
in the in the fold, they're good to go.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Come on. I mean, if Kenny Pickett's competing and he
believes he competes, he's competing, I gotta think it's for
a backup job. And and Kirk Cousins could still shake
loose there as a potential quarterback. Do you think they'll
be looking quarterback early? Let's you know, who knows they
could trade up from two to one.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah. Well they also just you know, had Russell Wilson
in their building where they're at least intrigued by, and
Kirk Cousins is still out there potentially down the line
for for them to get. So there are some other
options there. And I think we talked about this on
the last episode. But I do know that the Browns
have done their homework not just on the top of
the quarterback class, but the entirety of the quarterback class.
(04:04):
So if they're not in love you know, with what's
going to be there for them, you know, between the quarterbacks.
Then you know, maybe they're sitting there saying, ah, well,
we'll take we'll take some of these veteran options we have.
Can you PICKTT maybe it's a Russell Wilson. We'll get it,
you know, get you through the year.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Guy.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We're gonna kind of push that long term need to
next year. But then we'll use this top pick to'll
get a big time impact player so that that's something
that they could do and then just take a flyer
on a quarterback on day two. You know who's interesting
to you. If you don't think there's that much of
a gap between the second and say the fourth quarterbacks
in this draft class, then they just take the premier
player there at at two, or you know, sit and
(04:43):
wait for that quarterback option that would be there on
date number two.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah. I go back to what you said on on
your warm up podcast, Move the Sticks. I feel like
that was that was you in the minor leagues and
just getting ready for this one. And you you made
the point when Miles Garrett asked for that trade that
he might have been doing them a favor because then
trade wouldn't have been as unpopular.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I no blood on their hands. I thought it was
a reset moment. There's and this is again, we could
go a thousand different directions. This is what I love
about this show. And I heard you talking about this
the other day because I had a long flight home
and I did listen to you and mina kind of
Banny about a lot of the free agency stuff, which
is a good pod, good episode. But there's like some
organizations who are you know, quote unquote running it back
(05:23):
versus maybe taking an opportunity to reset, and let's just
kind of maybe not tear it down, but let's make
some tweaks and let's kind of let's look a little
bit more long term. I thought the Browns were in
that situation with Miles giving them a get out of
jail free card, you know, by requesting a trade that
they could have had a haul and try and collect
picks for next year. But they decided to, you know,
(05:43):
not only to not do that, they decided to extend
them and put them right at the very tippy top
of the market. So I don't know that that makes
Cleveland a little bit tricky to figure out with the
way they're doing business right now and bringing in these
veteran quarterbacks is I think they believe they're much closer
than maybe the team that's picking number two overall should
be thinking.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Well, it also might be something where what's best for
the organization doesn't match up with the needs of who's
trying to keep their jobs. Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanci
coming off that kind of year, they want to win now,
So maybe thinking about the deep future without Michael Miles Garrett,
that's not helping out your team at all.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
But man, they don't the most interesting team. Let's move Okay,
let's know.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I'm just saying, the most exciting thing you did was
Mully Collins. By the way, I noticed that was Mina
Kimes podcast that you listened to. It was not mine
NFL Daily, So that that's sticking in my craw a
little bit. The Giants are the most interesting in free agency.
They attack the secondary with Paulson Adebo and they you know,
go at the safety.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Right the wrongs from the safety decision of not too
long ago.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I thought Joe Shane doesn't. He only spends on premium
draft positions. That's why they left Xavier McKinney. Go, uh,
now they're looking at Aaron Rodgers, They're they're looking at
Russell Wilson. Are they the team maybe most likely to
to trade up for them quarterback?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah? To me, that makes the most sense. I always
look at trade, you know, opportunities as who is the
who's the most I don't want to say desperate, but
who has the most urgency. And of those teams up
there in the top three, who has the most urgency
to go get the top quarterback in the draft? I
think without question it's the New York Giants. So I
was looking it up Gregan. Historically, to go up to
(07:23):
number one four quarterback, there's a premium, and for the
most part, most of those trades require a twenty percent overpay.
I don't think you're going to have to do that
this year. I don't. And so if we were to
just look at a five to ten percent overpay, which
is still you know what the price would be of
doing business. This is what a trade would look like.
If the Giants were to try and get all the
(07:45):
way up to number one, it would cost them a
third pick. Obviously, it would cost them there two this year,
which is pick number thirty four and it would cost
them their two next year. So when you look at
those resources that, I mean, it's not cheap by any stretch.
But if you're a Giants and you have a regime
that needs to win right now, are you going to
(08:05):
really worry about a two this year and a two
next year? I just I think you'd be the most
aggressive of those teams wanting to get up to number one.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense to me. And yeah,
I don't know if they're just hoping that Aaron Rodgers
sends out the bat signal and he arrives there. Adding
him and a rookie quarterback does not make a lot
of sense to me. The Patriots don't have to worry
about that. They got the best young rookie quarter you know,
quarterback in the entire league in Drake May. I'd still
take him over Jaden Daniels. I don't care. And I
(08:35):
thought they would add some protection for him. And they
signed Morgan Moses, which if you listen to forties and
free agents, that was one of the names I threw
out there, just a guy to at least take one
tackle spot. But otherwise they really didn't address offense. It's
all about the.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
He tried, man. I think they tried. I think they
tried on Ronnie Stanley and just came up short. They
tried on Godwin. They threw them literally gobs of money,
much more than he ended up getting where he stayed.
So they swung and they and they weren't able to land.
But I actually like what they did from the standpoint
(09:08):
of you've got all this space. You know, you've got
tons of room. So if there's not you know, we're
not going to reach for the fourth fifth tackle that
we're going to be looking to replace a year from now.
What's the point of doing that. You're better off just
plugging some holes on the defensive side of the ball
with really good players, which you know, Harold Landry was
that was a little more expensive than I thought, but
you know the rest of those I like what they
(09:30):
did defensively. And so what that does Greg, and that's
why we do this show is because it's marrying free
agency in the draft. Now they could free themselves up
to go heavy, heavy offense in the draft, starting with
where they are where they could they'll have their choice
at the top offensive lineman where they're picking. If Travis
Hunter were to somehow be there, you take him, and
now you've give Drake May a big time weapon. So
(09:50):
I think they're freed up. I think in free agency,
I give you credit because the Patriots did a good
job of free themselves up for the offense.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I love what you said there that you just are
almost assuming if they take Travis Hunter, he would be
a wide receiver at least for that team. You have
Carlton Davis and Christian Gondales. That is an identity on defense.
I love the Carlton Davis signing. It ended up being
basically the same that a Debo guy and DJ Reid.
They were all in the same area. There was actually
five quarterbacks and maybe they're just picking off my top one,
(10:17):
O one, five of my top six. They've all basically
got the same contract Byron Murphy, Tarvarius Ward to Debo,
Carlton Davis, and he fits what they want to do.
I'm with you. I liked Milton Williams. If you're going
to spend a lot of money in free agency, do
it for a young defensive lineman that can get better
and better, and it frees them up. The Jaguars they
didn't go quite as aggressive as I expected in free agency.
(10:39):
They said they have slots on their team that they
want to fill with draft picks. And then finally you
look at the Raiders who end up getting Gino Smith.
Feels like that takes them out of any cheddur Sanders
market if he's available there. Otherwise they've been relatively quiet.
Do you think they're an A and gent team? They
(11:01):
could use another wide receiver? Who knows? What do you
think about the Raiders where they're at right now?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, I do agree with you. It sounds weird to
say you got a thirty four year old quarterback in
the building, so you're for sure out of trying to
find your future quarterback. But when you just look at
at Pete's age where he is, the fact that they
chose him as their coach to go, it feels like
they want to try and get better right now. So
you've got Geno in place, You've got a steady veteran quarterback,
so now you're freed up a little bit in the draft.
(11:28):
You look at some of the other needs that they
would have, you know, just getting another weapon, whether that's
at running back or at wide receiver. They need an
explosive playmaker to pair up with Bowers and so yeah,
I think ash and Genty comes into play there. You know,
you look at the wide receivers. That's a little early
for the wide receivers for me in this draft. But
you could easily kind of slide back a little bit
(11:49):
and potentially be a trade down team. But yeah, I
think that does. You know, I think that does pull
them out of the of the shud Or Sanders market,
which is going to make him one of the more
fascinating players because I think the you know, the Jets
signing and you know, look at what they did with Fields,
I don't see I think they're gonna give him a
little runway there. I don't think they're gonna bring him
to the young quarterback. So it's it's interesting to see
(12:11):
where shood Or could go. I think the Giants. If
the Tennessee sticks and picks, I could see the Giants
being in play for shoot Or. But if he gets
past the Giants at three, then it becomes really interesting.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah. Then I then I look at the Saints at
nine as a team that I just feel like needs
need some hope for the future at that position. I
would be with that. I was driving up to the
desert with with my son. We were gonna watch and
watch some tennis when the Geno Smith you know thing
happens and I in my immediate reaction was like DJ's
coming for these insiders. If you listen to forties and
(12:42):
free Agents, you kind of you had Geno on the move.
You have so much more info than you let out there. DJ.
I want to bring that out of you and I
want rap seat to be mad at you by the
end of this podcast in nine weeks.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
You know it's my favorite though? Is it's not Ian?
Just like insiders as a as an entire community, when
somebody from outside the club tries to come in and well, man,
if you're wrong, they will, they will rally, and they
will they will punish you in a big, big way.
They get even if you're right.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
They don't even want it if you're Oh no, he
doesn't he doesn't know anything. How could anyone else know anything?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Hey? By the way, can I call you on the
carpet for a second? Grig As the president of the
Geno Smith Fan Club and as someone who's a member
of the Sam Darnold Fan Club, I don't know that
I'm the president but I'm probably on the board of directors.
This is what I don't understand because I've heard a
lot of people. I've heard you say, I've heard a
lot of people say, oh, it's a step down, you know,
(13:40):
Gino to Sam. And my question is, isn't Geno Sam?
Isn't I mean Geno's first good year came as a
thirty one year old. That was that was the first
time he got an opportunity. What happened? He bounced around.
We always knew he had ability. He was a first
round talent, you know, coming out first second round talent
who had all these tools but just needed to get
in the right situation. Now he's got the knowledge to go,
(14:02):
he still has the ability there. And then at thirty
one he gets the opportunity and goes with it. And
then all of a sudden, it's like Sam does the
same thing at what twenty six, twenty seven, gets his
you know, first real supporting cast and he takes off
and it's like, well, no, that was a one off,
that'll never ever happen again. I just I think you're
you're talking about Geno Smith seven years younger. That's what
the that's what the uh Seattle Seahawks did. They're like,
(14:24):
we can go with Gino at thirty four and pay
him this money, or we can take the same contract
and give it to Gino Junior, who's seven years younger.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Well, Gino, didn't, you know, melt under the brightest of lights.
And maybe he's not a scheme dependent. I do think
he's shown more as like an upper tier processor. He
just throws such a pretty ball. But I know Darnold
is very talented too. Since you're bringing it up that
that's a fair point.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Arnold Chier, last year's as good as of a year
as Gino's had.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That that's that's absolutely true. He was in the perfect
situation since since you're bringing up Seattle here, I just
didn't love by the.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Way, by the way, by the way, I love how
the Vikings supporting cast gets all the credit. But then
when they can't block anybody in the in the game
against the Rams, that it's all Sam's fault. But nonetheless,
go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, and they they attacked the interior line. Well, we'll
get to what the bike, which is weird because they
had a perfect team.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
I don't know why they felt the need to redo
the offensive line because it was. It was an all
star team.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But just when you when you watch those those Geno
throws to the to the middle of the midfield, you
gotta just admit it's pretty and you're right. Darnald could
keep developing and maybe he's the better fit for that system.
But I just felt like John Schneider's trying to have
his cake and eat it too. They didn't really want
Geno Smith back, and when he spoke to the media
to defend saying, hey, we tried, we made an offer
to him, and we never heard back from him, It's like,
(15:41):
we know what you're doing here, and he kind of
blamed it on DK Metcalf. Hey, he didn't want to
be here. We want the guys that were here. They
wanted to do a reset. I give him credit because
I think it was a bold move and they're standing
behind it. They got to be absolutely right about it.
While we're talking Seahawks, let's talk about another guy they
brought in to Marcus Lauren, so instead of spending on
the interior offensive line. Another thing I didn't love from
(16:03):
Schneider was he said, hey, we wanted to bring in
Will Fries, but we wanted him to take a physical
and another team just blew us out of the water
money wise, so that that's what happens in free agency.
You can't get irresponsible. And so they didn't end up
getting the interior alignment that ends up going to Minnesota.
In the end, they spend that money on DeMarcus Lawrence.
Let's listen to Lawrence in his first day in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
You know, Dallas is my home.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I made my home there.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
You know, my family lives there. You know I'm forever
going to be there.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
But you know, I know for sure I'm not going
to win a super Bowl there. So yeah, oh man.
And so Lawrence throws that out there. It didn't seem
like he had planned to say that. He just said
it because that was how he was feeling. He's like,
oh man, I just said that. And then Michaeh. Parsons
responds on Twitter. He says that this is what rejection
(16:53):
and envy looks like. This is some clown stuff. And
what I liked even better is he left this tweet up.
And eventually Lawrence responds, calling me a clown won't change
the fact that I told the truth. These standing ten
tones on this, maybe if you spent less time tweeting
and more time winning. I wouldn't have left. I'm actually
(17:14):
taking some real takeaways from this that all's not right
there in the in the Cowboys locker room, Like, did
you take something from this DJ?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's not great? Yeah, I mean, even though it's a
former player. Yeah, And I think there's been a lot
of speculation out there. I know from going out there
to training camp, there was a lot of talk around
Michael Parsons, which was Okay, Hey, the Dak deal's gonna
get done, the Ceedee Lamb deal get done. I don't
know about Micah. I'm curious to see if they'll, you know,
if they'll you know, make that long term commitment there.
(17:45):
So I think there's you know, there's always a little
kernel of truth in some of this stuff. So I'm
sure there was some frustration. And it's not just a
Marcus Lawrence on Hey, you know, was Micah, you know,
focus on all the right stuff all the time? I
mean I think that you could take that from that
by Micah pars is a heck of a player, and
there's not many people on the planet they can do
all the stuff he can do. So you got to
stactor that in too.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
I've said he's the best just pure pass rusher that's
come into the league, I think since I've covered the league,
which is about to talk.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
He reminded me I got a lot of flak because
when he was just starting to get to play more
on the edge, and I was like, man, if they
committed to let him play on the edge full time,
like he gives me Derek Thomas vibes like just watching
him rush, and it was like that was a little
People thought it was a little rich, but when you
see him, he's got some unique ability.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Man, well they're gonna have to pay him, and they're
now going to have to pay him more than Miles
Garrett Mabe. Maybe they won't have to and they'll just
welcome the drama. What do you think about what the
Seahawks did in free agency? So I mentioned, you know,
they take the risk in terms of Sam Darnold. It's
a fifty five million dollar guaranteed contract. Actually that the
deal is very similar to what Baker first signed with
(18:53):
Tampa for what Gino first signed in Seattle. This is
a bridge quarterback money. They're not really invested past this
year if they didn't have to, Very similar to the
Derek Carr contract that he first signed with the Raiders,
where he only ended up staying one more year. But
they spend that money on DeMarcus Lawrence. They spend a
lot of money on John Reid, who had a good
year for them last year. They bring back Ernest Jones,
(19:14):
one of the many off ball linebackers that gets paid.
They don't really spend on the offensive line. They bring
in mvs. Marcus Valdez scanting on the offensive side. Does
that make you think they're they're going more towards the
draft here? And is this a case where sometimes a
defensive coach ends up just like worrying about his side
of the ball a little more than the other side
(19:34):
of the ball.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
What do you think, Well, a couple of things, you know,
and this is dangerous when you're doing this, when news
could break at any moment. But as we're recording this,
nothing's happened here. But a couple moves that make sense
to me. I thought Cooper Cup made a lot of
sense for them to give them just a reliable, dependable
pass catcher, always going to be where he's supposed to be,
going to catch everything. I thought he could compliment, you know,
(19:55):
you can move him around a little bit. With him
and JSN, you've got two really smart, heady plays, So
that one makes sense there. Garrett Bradbury reuniting with Sam Darnold.
I know Bradbury struggles a little bit with power, but
in the run game he's really good. Can get up
and climb the second level, cut guys off, all that stuff.
So just having the relationship there with Sam, I thought
that one would make some sense. But you know, the
(20:17):
interior of the offensive line is you know, that would
be my greatest concern right now, and that's not just
going to be solved with with a move like that.
They're gonna have to they're gonna have to draft and
they're gonna have to hit. And I think some part
of what we saw with the DeMarcus Lawrence thing is
not just to help the defense. Again, Greg, I think
it all Mary's together with the draft and they're thinking, man,
(20:38):
there's going to be a run on these defensive linemen
in the first round. There's a ton of them, and
so they can sit out the you know, they don't
want to be on the middle to tail end of
the d lineman run when they might be able to
get near the top of the interior offensive line run
with where they're picking, so that that made some sense
to me.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And you saw the vision the Mike McDonald defense late
in the seas and was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
And if you look, christ Joan's a big part of that. Man,
I'm glad that that was a great signing. And we
said it last week. He's one of those players like
what the heck? Why is he getting bounced around the
league like this? This guy plays well everywhere he goes.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I love I love the fit. I have a
hard time finding a weakness on that defense. So if
they had snuck into the playoffs they wound up with
ten wins last year, I think, you know, they would
have been a dangerous type of team. And they're hoping
Clint Kubiak can help fix the offensive line. In terms
of the talent, and I did note Schneider also said, hey,
our coaches they he likes some of the talent that's there.
(21:34):
They've drafted guys in the middle rounds Christian Haynes and
Anthony Bradford, and so it's one another case where I
think they're betting on John Schneider right or wrong. And
he's done a great job there overall over the years,
they're really trusting him his vision at quarterback, developing some
of his players, and he's working in concert with Mike McDonald.
(21:55):
But he's got he's got the juice in that building,
kind of like DJ's got the juice on this show.
Let's take a quick break, you know.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Hold on, hold on real quick, before you get to
the break, real quick, real quick. This team's twenty eight
in the league in rushing yards Seattle. Their backs are
so much better than that. That tells you again they've
got to get offensive line. Grey's abel go get him,
just go do it in the.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
First four do it? Okay, I like that pick, and
you know according I've watched some of the mocks, including
you talking out there. He might not even make it
all the way to Seattle, but if he does, he
would be a fantastic pick there. All right, we're going
to take a quick break. We're going to come back.
We're going to talk about some of the teams, some
of the moves that we like the best in free agency,
and yes, how that all fits with the draft. Back
(22:38):
in a minute. Good to have DJ back on California soil,
even if he didn't want to come up to Inglewood.
All right, we talked before the break about the Seahawks
and what they did in terms of bringing in people.
Let's talk about one of the guys that they that
(23:00):
they sent out. DK Metcalf goes to the Steelers, very
unstealer like move. Not only that they gave up the
draft pick, well you know, a second round pick that
that's good business for DK Metcalf, but they gave him
a four year, one hundred and thirty two million dollar extend.
And when you look at him and Pickens on the
same team, do you think they're at all duplicative.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Their redundancy department of redundancy is that?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Yeah, they kind of win in similar ways, right, I
mean they're.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Different, don't I don't see how. I don't see George
Pickens there. I mean, well, look, we've got a long
time before we get to the to the start of
the season, and maybe they decide to let these guys
partner up and pair up. But to me, it does
feel like there's they're very similar. They're going to ask
to do similar things. To me, it makes sense. And
I don't know, maybe it's maybe it's your Patriots, Greg,
(23:52):
but you know, I would think there would be somebody
that would be willing to cough up a third round
pick for for George Pickens. But I just to me,
I feel like DK Metcalf was brought in with the
hope that he could kind of do what you know,
Aj Brown did when he went from the Titans to
the Eagles, which was, you know, immediately infuse some much
needed playmaking into that offense. And he's still in his prime,
(24:15):
he's still young. For as long as he's been in
the league. He came in the league really young. So
I understand that how he fits individually in there, I
don't understand how he and George worked together. I just
don't see that as as a great pairing and a
great fact knows, maybe I'll be maybe I'll be proved
wrong when it's all said and done, But that to
me felt more like a replacement than a compliment.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Right because he's still got two years left George Pickens
on his rookie deal, but they haven't had to declare
whether they give him the fifty year option. So maybe
that is something I hadn't really thought about it that
happens during the draft before the draft, that could be
a situation to watch and then isn't it a little
weird team building wise that you're investing all this and
you're wide receiver and you don't have a quarterback. At
(24:59):
some point, aren't they going to take a little bit
of heat for not having any post bend plan that
that works.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I know, I mean, I think this is the challenge.
I think that they took their swing. I think they
took their swing on Sam Donoald. They tried to get
it to make it work, and he chose to go
to Seattle, so you know, you can't. It's like what
we were saying with the Patriots and some of the
you know, issues and holes that remain for them on offense.
You don't get everybody you want. You don't snap your
fingers and they all decide they want to come play
(25:26):
for you. But they have a major, major, major quarterback
issue right now, you know. And maybe there's a short
term band aid, a forty one year old band aid.
They can put on it for a year or two,
but eventually they're going to have to hit on one,
and they're going to have to hit on one in the draft.
And this year there's some intriguing guys those Day two quarterbacks.
They could be a team I wouldn't I wouldn't put
(25:48):
it past them. Maybe they are a team that slides
down a little bit, trades down, get some extra picks
to fill some other holes, and then maybe they take
a swing on that second group of quarterbacks a little
earlier than people think. But they have to they have
to keep swinging. Man, they tried with Kenny Pickett. Didn't work.
You know, They've they've got to keep swinging and and
find that because you're in a division when you've got
(26:09):
Burrow and Lamar like, it's hard. You're literally bringing knife
to a gunfight. You know, you've got to find a
way to hit on a court.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Well, they keep trying to swing in the wrong years
for it. Pickett was a little bit of a reach
that year, certainly in hindsight, but even at the time
it wasn't a great quarterback class. And now they're in
another quarterback class that maybe second round it makes sense,
but you don't get credit for a swinging.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
This lets me getting some comps though, right they're gonna
get some comps with I think Fields getting the contract
that he got, they'll get it. I would have guess,
probably get a third round pick on that, so they'll
have some they'll have some extra picks going dan morph. Shoot,
he got fifty million guaranteed over two years. I'm sure
that's a third or fourth round pick next year, So
they'll have some extra ammunition next year if they want
to be really really.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
All I'm saying is it's like baseball. You don't get
credit for swinging and missing. Yeah, they tried for Sam Darnold.
But if they had a better infrastructure and if they
had actually gotten a deal done, then we would have
given them some credit. Let's give credit to the Rams
at least I will. I know you don't like it
when you're your crossdown rival, you know you're with the Chargers.
That's bitter. Gets a bitter, right, Yeah, gets a great
deal done Because to me, this DeVante Adams contract could
(27:12):
have as much of an impact and who is winning
playoff games as any of these free agent deals, and
they ultimately chose him over Cooper Cup, not at that
much more money than Cooper Cup was on the books
for What did you think about this move?
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Yeah, it was interesting. I mean because there are some
similarities as players. I think Davante's got a little bit
more quickness at this point as they're both are getting
a little bit older. But you know, I think it's
someone that's going to be able to win outside, that's
going to be able to win in the red zone.
And I think, you know, him paired up with Matthew
Stafford is a you know, I don't see how he's
(27:48):
not ultra productive. Look at the numbers that he put
up last year. I think he's going to be an
easy ninety catches uh in this offense with him and
Pooka Nakua. Yeah, I think it's a I think it's
a great fit. I don't know that you would have
got your value out of out of DeVante Adams if
he goes somewhere with mediocre quarterback play, I'd be like, Ah,
that didn't really make a lot of sense. But when
(28:09):
you're trying to push and you've got all this young
talent on defense and you just want a little bit
more on offense, Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
And it's a team that at this point probably just
assumes they're going to nail every draft pick that they
do have. They did send it an extra second away
last year, so they're missing one pick, but they have
just hit pick after pick the last couple of years
less need on a hot streak. We mentioned the Viking.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
I like Poona Ford too. Man. Yeah, poon of Ford
was a good signing. I obviously saw all his games
last year. He played great for the Tick.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, and it's exactly what they need because they have
those great edge rushers but need a little beef inside.
The Rams will be one of the NFC favorites next year?
Will the Vikings be? If JJ McCarthy is their Week
one starting quarterback, I would argue yes, because I think
the rest of the roster is outstanding and the weaknesses
you mentioned the interior offensive line for Arnold. They bring
(29:01):
in the Colts interior offensive line and Ryan Kelly and
Will Fries and there's some risk there. Kelly's a little
bit older, but good players. And then on the defensive side,
you spend a lot of money in terms of Hard
Grave and Jonathan Allen. This this team like three hundred
million dollars in contract. Do you like this as as
a build around a young quarterback like JJ?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Yeah? And I think you know people will look at
it and go Okay. The reason they want aggressive in
free agency is because they you know, you know, not
having to pay the quarterback now with JJ the other
reason they want aggressive in free agency. Don't have any
draft picks, so they needed to go out and solve
their issues and solve their problems during free agency. So
I thought that made a lot of sense how aggressive
they were along the line of scrimmage. And you know,
(29:44):
we'll see, maybe they can slide down, trade out, trade
down in the first round, try and recoup some of
the picks that they've lost over the last few years.
But that, to me is another reason why that team
was ultra aggressive and doing what they did.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
And we'll see if what happens with Aaron Rodgers. But
I am convinced that he's he's just hoping he can
get them interested, and that's why he's stretching this thing
out because he knows that would be the best situation
for him. Just just go down to Minnesota, Like what
is there? Is there a team you would want Rogers
to go to?
Speaker 3 (30:13):
By the way, well, I mean, I gosh, I just
can't the Minnesota thing. I can see it. I could
see him trying to talk Kevin O'Connell into it, being like, look, JJ,
maybe he gets there, but I'm there right now. I
can see Aaron's sales pitch to him. I just don't
see how this benefits JJ in any way, shape or form. Like,
I don't think it makes any sense from that standpoint. So,
(30:35):
you know, I would be surprised if that's what ultimately
ended up happening for me. You know, who's desperate for him?
That the two teams, the Giants and the Steelers. Man
if I was Aaron Rodgers, I think the Giants have
a little more firepower with neighbors, you know, that would
be kind of fun. But you know, hey, Pittsburgh, it's
a you know, that's a team that's that's done a
(30:55):
lot of winning over the years and still has some
some start.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Yeah, that's fight. That's fighting.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Where that you say the DK and George who I've said, Yeah,
DK and George, just you know, pair it up together,
perfect match.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
I would like Rogers and Pittsburgh just for the content,
And that's I'm just selfish. I just feel like it'd
be good podcast fodder to Tomlin Rogers with that organization,
give it to me. I have been skeptical about much
of the Ryan Poles era, and that skepticism has been
born out because every off season Bears fans who are
just the most optimistic and zealous like fans. I love them.
(31:30):
They always think the Bears are going to be awesome
year after year. This is the first year where I'm
kind of in on it. They spent big in free agency.
They signed Drew Dolman as the center. We talked about
the trades that they've made at the guard position. Let's
listen to Ryan Poles, their general manager, and how he
looks at the free agency spending.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Yeah, this really opens the whole board for us.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
So we're gonna be able to sit back and kind
of look and say, what's the best thing to do
for the Chicago Bears and who's the best player that
can impact. So we got some some tough decisions and
a lot of film to watch between now and the draft.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I don't think that was GM speak. That makes a
lot of sense to me. When I look at their
depth chart now, I don't see huge screaming needs. I
feel like they can attack like whoever they want. Where
would you go?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
DJ, Yeah, I've mentioned a couple options there. I think
Ashton gent comes into play a big time. When you've
kind of fixed a lot of the offensive line, you
could make a case they could still go out and
get an upgrade at left tackle. But Ashton Genty to
you know, play behind this front that can create, should
be able to create some push. I would be fun.
That would be a lot of fun to watch him
(32:36):
with Kayleb Williams and Romadoonze that kind of little triplets
grow up together. So I love that option I've mentioned,
which is a little bit out of the box when
you already have a tight end in Cole Comet. But
Tyler Warren. Tyler Warren to me, just live in twelve
personnel and you've got a creative play caller. You could
have a lot of fun with him now that you've
addressed that interior the offensive line, and that just goes
(32:57):
to you know, what they were saying there is that
they're they're freed up. So literally, just take the best
available player, somebody that's going to come in and make
an impact for your team. So yeah, I'm excited about
the Bears. I'm excited to watch that team next year,
maybe more so than any other, to see, you know,
what type of step Caleb makes and really to see
what kind of offense Ben Johnson's gonna run, because it's
(33:18):
not going to be the same thing you had in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
I feel differently about Ben Johnson just from watching him
handle the public duties of being a coach in some
of those videos in the building. He just he's convinced me,
like he just seems like a dude, and now I
think he's the key guy in the organization. But Ryan
Pulse has done a good job I think building up
their players this offseason, and Drew Dolman was a good example.
(33:40):
Do you think, like just looking at the offensive lineman
and free agency and thinking about you just mentioned the
Dan Moore contract, Aaron Banks was a guy who got
just an exceptional amount of money and there was only
a couple guys out there. It's just a reminder these
offensive linemen now that you have to draft them early,
(34:01):
even more than I think anytime that I've seen at
the NFL level, it really feels like it's quarterback and
then offensive line, and that includes the interior offensive line.
If Drew Dolman and Aaron Banks are making defensive tackle,
defensive end type of money, like to me, there is
an even bigger premium to get those guys in the draft,
and maybe those guys get pushed up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
Yeah, and I think it's a developmental position too. You know,
with the offensive line, what you get year one can
be drasticly different, different once you get to three, four five,
they just accumulate all that knowledge and it's a different
game from college to the NFL. So, man, that's why
when you get these guys out to the market, they're
usually plug and play and you don't have to You
(34:44):
can kind of set it and forget it right, just
set the lineup through them in there and go fix
something else some of the problem that you might have.
So that's why you're seeing these guys get paid. The
other thing is these teams all have so much money. Man,
there's the TV money in the salary cap exploding the
two things. It led to a lot of guys, a
lot of really good players getting you know, extensions where
(35:04):
they are early. And what it did is now you've
got a market that maybe's not loaded with talent, but
teams are flush with cash. So it's good to be
a you know, a mid level to a little bit
above a mid level player because the team's like, well
we've got it, we might as well spend it.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Half the league has more than thirty million dollars in
cap space and ten or eleven teams have forty million.
The Patriots, after all this spending, still have about one
hundred million dollars in There's too much gap space. I
actually think teams long term planning have gotten caught a
little flat footed that they have too much some of
these teams and teams like the Eagles and the Ravens
who are spending on good players and spending to the cap,
(35:41):
that's really the way to do it.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Can I can? I? Can I hijack this right because
you just mentioned the Eagles, Because I was talking to
somebody in the league of a coach about this the
other day. I said, you know, the Eagles are fascinating
because it almost feels like they're taking an NBA approach,
which is they're paying their stars right, and you look
at the exodus of players. They have some good players,
Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, like good players that walked out.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Of the Gardner Johnson they traded.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Yeah. So, but what they've done is they've said, Okay,
we've got our piles of money, we're gonna put it
into the stars and then the rest we're going to
really we have a really good scouting staff. We're going
to scout our butts off with all these guys leaving,
we're playing the comp pit games. So they're gonna have
a million picks this year and next year based off
what's happened, you know, over the last couple of years.
So they're gonna then try and surround those stars with
(36:29):
a bunch of cheap, young, talented players, and they hit
in the draft. It's like, I think the Rams are
the other team that's they won the Super Bowl with
that NBA approach and now you know, you've seen them
hit on all these young players. The Eagles have hit
on young players. It's an interesting formula out there to
try and do.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
That and also filling the gaps with some really low
cost free agents. You know, they bring in aj Dillon
as a backup running It's just these are the shots,
but there's almost no risks you bring in outa they
brought in who is the cornerback from from the Giants
that they brought in for for very Yeah, uh, Dori Jackson,
(37:08):
who I've always thought is an underrated player, but now
he's at the point where he's a distressed asset and
you could see him stepping in kind of like they
did with Isaiah Rodgers, who got a nice deal elsewhere
in free agency, and they just plug them into their system.
And I'm convinced.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
I was talking. I was talking to a coach about,
you know, certain teams and organizations, the Eagles being one
of them. And this was the great point that he
brought up, is if you're going to go on in
one of these one year, you know, prove it deals.
He was like, do you want to go to a
one o'clock Sunday team? He's like, and he was, and
I don't want to throw, Like I won't throw the
team he mentioned under the bus, but it's like he
mentioned one of those NFC South teams and he was like,
(37:42):
you want to go there play at one o'clock every
every Sunday, or you can go to a team like
the Eagles play, you know, be on the national stage.
You're in the you're in the four o'clock window. If
you're not in the four o'clock window, you're playing Sunday night,
Monday night, big stages, big games, everybody's watching, everybody's paying attention.
You're seven sad you get with the Philadelphia Eagles, you're
gonna end up being more valuable than the seven sacks
(38:03):
you might get in the NFC South is what he
was mentioning. And I don't know if any if a
lot of people think like that, but I'm telling you
that message is being sent to players and to try
and entice them on these you know, short term deals.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
They should be. I mean, if you're an offensive lineman,
you can go to Jeff Stoutland University and suddenly you're
gonna get a bigger contract than free agency who didn't
get a bigger contract? I mentioned Aj Dillon at running back,
Like the running back position people thought might get two
SD up because of safe aud.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Loaded in the class of free agents. Is not that right?
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Yeah, your Chargers sign Naj Harris for a nice deal
five million dollars. They did not have to spend much
for a guy who who can have a big workload
for really, the only running back who got paid was
Aaron Jones thirteen million dollars guaranteed. He's had a great career.
But none of these guys got more than one year
of guaranteed money. Some of them are two years deal,
but they're just they're just one year flyers. So the
(38:57):
running back come up didn't really happen, but safety and
off linebacker did. I'm just gonna list a few of
these guys. These safeties got paid. Javon Holland, Dravon Morigg,
cam binam Talamea, whufunga, they all got paid. Justin Reid
did okay. And then the off ball linebacker Zach Bond
was kind of the guy that the Eagles decided we're
not going to let him go, and then the rest
of the market fell in line. Really good deals for
(39:18):
Nick Bolton and Drake Greenlow and Jamie and Sherwood. So
a little bit of a comeback for the off ball
linebackers in the safety So I have two positions I
feel like I have been a little ignored lately.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Now well, two positions in the draft that aren't super
deep and talented either. So I think that is a
little bit of the impact there. And I also, you know,
as we discussed in the last one, you know you
have a pressing need, a glaring need off the ball linebacker.
You can take one early, but odds are you're not
going to be happy with what you get your one,
maybe not even happy with with what you get your two.
(39:49):
That takes time to get good play out of that position.
It's a lot to learn, it's a lot to take in.
So if you need somebody to come in and plug
and play, man, go to the veteran route. Twenty more
to come here on forties and free agents. Will be
right back after this. We are back on forties and
(40:11):
free agencies.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
All right, let's wrap the show. And I truly have
no clue how long we've gone. Him just having such
a good time talking to my new best friend DJ,
the one partnership that matters in his life. Now, let's
let's talk about who's still out there. Of my top
one oh one free agents, I should have I should
have listened to you. I don't know if you told
(40:33):
me to rank Asante Samuel Junior lower, but he was
the one cornerback I had ranked high that hasn't gotten
his money yet. Amari Cooper is up there. Aaron Rodgers
is the best quarterback option. Cam Robinson is a plug
and play type of tackle, even if he's not, you know,
way above average. Stefan Diggs some other names, Aziz Ojalari
Khalayis Campbell, Tevin Jenkins is visiting the Seahawks so they
(40:54):
might sign him to help them out at the interior
offensive line. Is there anyone out there for free agency
that stands out to you?
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Well? I mean I think looking at this list, you know,
and I won't name the guys, but like the medical
is a big part of that too, for for why
some of these guys are still sitting out there and
the concerns that exist there. So that's that's the hard
thing when you're putting one of those lists together, Greg,
and I see it on the draft side of things
with a few guys as well, is that there's you know,
there's gonna be metal medical information that we're not privy
to that can impact that. Look to me, I think
(41:27):
you're talking about a lot of of cheap deals, incentives
or that's the buzzword at this point in free agency,
short term incentive heavy deals. But I don't see anything
on that list that gets me super super fired up.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Dang, that's rude. Bro Cooper Cup not on that list
a little bit below just because I feel like he's
a he's a helpful player right now.
Speaker 3 (41:51):
What do you what do you think? What do you
think he's going to get? Greg?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Ten million dollars a year? Maybe twelve like two.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
He's gonna get more than that. He's going to get
more than that.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
He wants. More than that is the reporting out there.
Maybe it's fifteen million a year that he wants, so
maybe it's some fake I.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Think he'll get fifteen. I think he'll get fifteen.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Okay, if that happens, I bet it's mostly guaranteed just
for one year, and the guarantees are closer to twelve
thirteen million dollars in that first year. But we'll see you.
You've shown you are an insider. I'm going to throw
out some teams. I think you have a little work
to do some teams. You know, we mentioned the Patriots
(42:30):
haven't done a lot on offense, so maybe they have
work to do. In the draft, didn't you expect the
Bengals to rebuild that defense a little bit? And all
they've done is bring back some of their rotational guys
like a Joseph Assai and a bj Hill. Not a
lot coming out of Cincinnati other than they're not trading
Trey Hendrickson.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
Do you do allowances with your kids, Greg.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
I know I really don't. I should I should, So it's.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
This generation we don't do with ours either, but we
have I had an allowance growing up. Did you have
an allowance?
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Yes? And I laugh about it because I've said many times, Okay,
we're gonna start an alliance, you're gonna start doing chores,
You're gonna do this or that, and then it never
ends up happening. That's why I'm laughing.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
So here's the analogy. So you were kids and mom,
I want a new bike, you know because our generation
we actually rode bikes, and she, okay, we got to
save up for it. Then okay. Then we would go,
you know, go to the toy store and be like, oh,
I think I want to buy that video games. You
can buy the video game, but I thought you were
saving up for the bike. You get, you get the
video game, you don't get the bike. The bike in
(43:31):
this case are those two wide receivers and potentially Trey Hendrickson,
And so there's not they're not buying a lot of
video games in free agency when you're saving up for
the bike.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
And I get that, but this was a team whose
defense completely collapsed. They had a good defensive coordinator in
lou An Arumo. So you can't tell me that you're
gonna get better just by getting rid of a defensive
court and maybe they needed new blood there. That's fine,
that decision was made. But if their big plan to
get better is just bring back the guys that we
had but at way more money, that doesn't seem like
(44:02):
a recipe.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
The big plan big their big plan, their big plan.
As we hired Al Golden, who should know the college
game early, really well, haven't just come out of there
as a defensive coordinator. We've already talked about two teams.
We've already spent half this podcast praising the Rams and
the Eagles for how well they've drafted on the defensive
side of the ball and how they flip that roster
over a couple of years of good drafting. That's that's
(44:23):
the blueprint. The Bengals are going to pay their offensive stars,
and they're going to rely on the draft, and they're
coaching to identify and develop cheap young draft draft picks
on the defensive side of the way.
Speaker 1 (44:35):
I thought the Cardinals would be a little more aggressive
and freegency, and I think they're one of those teams
you kind of mentioned with the Patriots and the Steelers
that maybe just lost some of the bidding They did
spend some money on Josh Sweat. They brought in Dalvin Thomlinson,
but I thought they'd add a little more juice. Jaguars
is the same. But I heard their GM speaking that
they are really planning on these draft picks coming in
and playing right away. And then, you know, I look
(44:59):
at it team like who out there is there anyone
that that you that stands out to you that just
hasn't necessarily done enough? Because I look at a team
like the Texans and they've been aggressive in taking that
offensive line apart. Interesting, there's a lot of risk there
in what they're doing around C. J. Stroud and then
building up their defense instead.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Yeah, I mean, look, I don't I don't know how
the offensive line comes together there. I mean they have
a lot of holes in the boat there. Titus Howard,
I believe they said you'll play left right, so he'll
Conck go over and play left tackle. You know, I could,
I could get excited about him. I think he's got
(45:41):
a chance to be a solid left tackle. He's very talented.
It doesn't always come together for him, but there is
talent there. But man, they got it. They got a
lot of work to do. On the rest of that front,
And man, that's a I don't know, if you look
at the draft, you never want to have a you know,
you never want to have that pressure in and be
locked in and loaded on one specific need that you
(46:03):
must fix. But man, they have got to go heavy
on the offensive line and they've got a hit that
that was interesting to tunsl To me, they must have
just been really tired and wanted to change kind of
the culture of that offensive line. Alo was the penalties.
There was something maybe it was work ethic related. I
don't want to speculate, but that was bizarre for where
(46:25):
they are as a team to make that move, unless
they just felt it was addition by subtraction, because that
one they got a lot, they got a lot of
work to do.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
And they did get a couple of picks, and they
could be thinking, like Seattle that Nick Cayley comes in
as the offensive coordinator and the scheme improves the offensive line.
But that was a bold, bold move by Nick Asario
and Demko Ryans. By the way, we talked about cup.
If you're watching on NFL network, who knows, by the
time you see this, maybe they're looking at my top one.
(46:52):
Oh one the GM's out there. He could be a Saint,
he could be on one of the teams. All these
players are just up for grabs, and it slowed down
the free agency frenzy, but it's still happened. In DJ.
We got a while before the draft. I'm looking forward
to this journey with you. It's gonna be Thursday's moving forward.
But you know, we had to move it around because
(47:12):
you're the big star of the show.
Speaker 3 (47:15):
Well, I'm gonna be out of a Big twelve combine
next week, but I'll still be doing the show. Okay,
I'm working.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (47:21):
I want to be in Dallas, but this is gonna
keep okay.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
So DJ will have great new information from the Big
twelve Pro Days combine. I love that they are doing that.
That is it for forties and free agents. We still
got what six seven weeks before the draft. It's gonna
be fun being on this journey and seeing how it
all lines up together.
Speaker 3 (47:41):
We'll see you heay, keep up the average work, Greg.
Proud of you, buddy.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
Thanks DJ.
Hosts And Creators
Gregg Rosenthal
Daniel Jeremiah
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