Free Agency Frenzy Day 1: Kirk Lands In Atlanta, Saquon to Philly, and more!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Boom, here it is. Here's your breaking news. Kirk Cousins
is going to the Atlanta Falcons. He is leaving Minnesota.
He is going to Atlanta.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Saquon Barkley now has a deal with the Philadelphicles.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Russell Wilson for next to no money because the Broncos
are paying him is going to Pittsburgh.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
A massive deal for Christian Wilkins, who now lands with
the Las Vegas Raiders. The Green Bay Packers are signing
Josh Jacobs.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
The Andre Swift headed to the Chicago Bera.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Three years, twenty four million dollars for Tony Pollard and
the Tennessee Titans.

Speaker 4 (00:43):
Oh my goodness, it's Insiders Christmas Day, one of the
legal tampering period, as we close in on the official
start of a new league year on Wednesday, and yes
the moon. Ooh. We're hot and heavy across the NFL,
and we are here around the NFL to document everything

(01:07):
that's happened as of four forty pm Eastern Standard time,
and we'll continue to track things as we record this show.
And like we said, we'll be doing shows all week.
So everything you need to know about this big week
on the lead calendar. We got you. Dan Hands is here,
Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, and here we go, Here we go, boys.

(01:30):
It has started, and it is a frenzy as NFL
Network advertises.

Speaker 5 (01:35):
I don't even know if we need to do a
show after that intro. We spoiled it all that. That's it,
that's it right there, Give me those bass drums and
maybe we'll just just dance.

Speaker 6 (01:43):
I thought that, you know, by doing an extra show yesterday,
which we do we did not plan to do out
of the gate, we helped ourselves that we maybe you know,
cleared the deck and like about a couple hours into today,
it is a bushel of frenzy, a tornado of news items.

Speaker 5 (01:58):
I feel blinded.

Speaker 6 (01:59):
I'm just sitting in my hotel room getting whip sawed
by the news coming Van.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
Ginkle in that opening credit. Some say that's a shot.
It's a shot at Ben Ginkle, But you know what
he's gonna.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
Do with that. Look at it this way. Mark. If
we didn't do it Sunday, surprise up, we're looking at
a killers of the flower Moon length show today Monday.
So we did take care of business and we got
ahead of it as best we could. But let's get
into it and yeah, the big move and you heard
it there off the bat was Kirk Cousins, and you

(02:31):
knew Cousins was gonna get paid handsomely. That's what Kirk
Cousins does. You also knew.

Speaker 5 (02:38):
Some balloons coming up in your room.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
What just happened where the balloons just went up on
Cessler's screen.

Speaker 5 (02:43):
I mean, it's beautiful. We're just trying to get people
to check out the YouTube. It's wonderful. I have no
idea why that would have happened. I think Randy is
part of all of this Randy focus.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
I know your team made a lateral move at running
back today in Green Bay, but we don't need to
be you know, not taking this serious. Gravitas is the
order of the day. As we get into the Kirk
Cousins conversation after a run in Minnesota that featured a
ton of production, not a lot of playoff success, but

(03:15):
on balance, Cousins, again, over his time with the Vikings,
just like in his run with Washington, proved himself to
be a answer at quarterback and a stable figure and
a well liked individual. You knew he was going to
get the bag. And on the first day of the
legal tappering period. He does, and it's from the Atlanta Falcons,

(03:35):
who agreed to a four year, one hundred and eighty
million dollar contract that came straight from his agent. His
agent broke the news, I believe, which is ouchers to
all the insiders there. So Cousins finally brings some legitimacy
to the quarterback position in Atlanta greg a team that

(03:56):
has been making incremental progress in the last couple of years,
but it was always the quarterback that was holding them back.
And while Cousins is not so far in his career
shown us that he is a super Bowl level quarterback,
a championship quarterback. Man. This is a massive upgrade and
a no brainer move I think for the Falcons.

Speaker 5 (04:16):
Yeah, I think it made sense for all sides, which
is not a hot take, but it's starting with ownership
in terms of Atlanta saying we need a quarterback, and
I think they're the ones pushing this that they made
this happen. Arthur Blank that he was just sick of
watching what he was watching and he was going to

(04:36):
make it happen. I think it also makes sense that
this is the time that Minnesota lets Kirk go and
the minute and I started really believing Kirk was going
to Atlanta was on Sunday when we just kept hearing
over and over how Minnesota's really trying. Every single report
was like, Oh, Minnesota's really trying. They're staying in it,
And it's like that those are the reports of a

(04:58):
front office that knows they're losing their guy and wants
everyone to know that they tried their hardest. And I'm
sure they had a reasonable deal, and I think they
are making a smart move. Even as Atlanta is making
a smart move in signing Kirk Cousins, I think Minnesota
is making a smart move in choosing now thirty six
years old entering next season, coming off of torn Achilles,

(05:21):
to be the time that you cut the cord and
stop giving this guy this much money. Yeah, I'm with you.
I think the time ended in Minnesota.

Speaker 6 (05:28):
And you can tell that they're team building in a
way where they're moving away potentially from Cousins, and it's
like they have to find a quarterback. But I love
the landing spot in Atlanta. I think that Cousins, you know,
he is thirty six, but if you get just three
more years of him, and I think it could be
more than that. He goes to a place that essentially
was missing only a quarterback last year, and like, if

(05:51):
you're Arthur Smith, you're thinking if you had Kirk Cousins
a year ago, everything would have been different. I think
for guys like Drake London, this is a level beyond
human trigger pulled changes your career. We might finally get
to see Kyle Pitts the way we've wanted to see him.
It's great for Bejeon Robinson. You've got Zach Robinson. I
think it's a good fit for Kirk Cousins. And like
Raheem Morris, like first year coach here in Atlanta, like

(06:14):
Lands has he came in saying we want to do this.
This was the one thing that got the last coach fired,
and they went and did it in a short order.
And I really love it Falcons fans because I think
it changes that division entirely. And it's like you plug
a quarterback into a team that probably could have made
the playoffs last year if they had gotten you know,
thirty forty percent better quarterback play.

Speaker 4 (06:34):
The Falcons ranked twenty six than points per game last year,
twenty second passing yards. So Cousins, I mean you're paying,
you're paying big time. It's one hundred million we're hearing
and guaranteed money for Cousins, So you're playing paying out
a premium that's going to come with other challenges now

(06:54):
for Atlanta moving forward. But I think this was a
move that, while making sense, also was one that was
almost like they threw their hands up and they're like,
we've tried it different ways since Matt Ryan got old,
and now we're just going to throw money at the
problem and hope that Cousins, yes, coming off a torn
achilles tendon entering his age thirty six season, will be
that guy. I thought thinking about the deal and what

(07:15):
it means in the NFC South, that the Baker deal
in Tampa Bay, to me, which I already didn't love,
it looks even a little worse now because they were
the reason they won that division at nine and eight
is because in large part Atlanta wasn't ready to make
the leap. And I think certainly the desert is going
to establish now that the Falcons are going to win

(07:37):
that division. How deep can they go or they is
this a team that can make a run in the playoffs.
We'll see, But there's pieces Greg. That's the reason why,
like you guys were always more into the Falcons than
I was. But this is a roster that is pretty
close to making a run if they just got that
competent quarterback play, and that's what Cousins.

Speaker 5 (07:55):
Does, like probably, but they're totally different now. You know,
their defense was overrated last year. They were good in
a couple like points per game and stuff like that,
but like, talent wise, they're fine. And if you kind
of look beneath the hood, as you would say Dan
and like Dvoa all this stuff, they were a mediocre defense.
It's gonna be a totally different different defense. I like
Rahim Morris as a higher We'll see how that works out,

(08:16):
like I think it'll work out, but it's a new offense.
Kirk Cousins fits well in this offense. Drake London is
a good number one? Is he a great number one?
Like we'll see. He's a nice guy to have pits
to me as a question mark. I'm not like suddenly saying, Okay,
Kyle Pitts is gonna be awesome now. Kirk Cousins is
a very up and down quarterback. Like he is a
streaky quarterback who at the end of the season looks

(08:38):
like he's very consistent, but he'll be on fire for
seven games, then he'll struggle for seven games or four
games like Vikings fans know that, and I think he
was worth the gamble. But it is funny that they
kind of spent two to three years getting out of
their old cap hell with Matt Ryan and all the
dead cap hit they hit that they had on their
cap a year ago, especially, and now they freed up

(09:01):
as much cap space almost as any team in the league,
and then you spend it all on Kirk Cousins. Before
I get to you, Mark, I do want to mention,
like what the money is. It's essentially Daniel Jones's contract,
which makes Falcons fans, I would think feel better. That's
it's like a two year ninety million dollar contract or
one hundred million dollar contract with ten million dollars more
in year three. That will be a penalty essentially, if

(09:24):
they want to give up on Kirk Cousins in year three,
they got to give up ten million dollars. But teams
have shown they're more than willing to do that. They've
done that more so, it's basically a two year contract
with like a salary cap inflation bump from what Daniel
Jones made and that's not bad. Then again, there's such
little gap between like the Daniel Joneses and the Kirk
Cousins and the Mahomes and the Lamar Jackson's of the

(09:47):
world in terms of like one makes forty five, one
makes fifty one or whatever it is that like, it's
a nice value when you have the really really great ones,
and Kirk Cousins I would not put in that category.

Speaker 4 (09:57):
I guess.

Speaker 6 (09:57):
So when you say like they like it's a different
coaching staff and they are trying to keep their jobs
and like the last they lost their job because of
poor quarterback playing, it's like you got two options in
today's NFL, Like you go get the best quarterback you
can find, or you don't. And we just saw the
Falcon Falcons team that chose to not for two or

(10:17):
three years in a row, and it's like this was
the best option. It comes with some risk. You could
also argue that Kirk Cousins was already surrounded by a
ton of talent in Minnesota, especially the wide receiver position,
so it's not like he's going from rags to riches.
But if you're the Falcons, it's like, this was the prize.
This You don't go get Gardner Minshew, you go get
Kirk Cousins and it's like and you ride with it.

(10:38):
And I think if you're a Falcons fan, you can say, like,
our team is at least they're swinging for the fences
and we'll see how it goes.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
And congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons, because I know one
thing you've been thinking about this probably immediately what came
to mind, and it is true, listeners, I do now
take your team seriously. So congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons.
The Zuzzer's in on a Falcons run in twenty four.
Speaking of Gardner Minshew's some breaking news. This will not
be the first time you hear the breaking news drop.

(11:06):
It is, after all, a free agent frenzy. Ian Rappaport
reporting that the Raiders have agreed to terms with quarterback
Gardner Minshew on a two year deal. He'll compete with
Aiden O'Connell. That doesn't blow my socks off, but I
guess yeah. I mean, I'm trying to processes as what

(11:29):
I was thinking, because Justin Fields is still out there
and his market continues to shrink, and I thought maybe
Fields in Vegas had some and I feel like Antonio
Pierce would be able to ride with that. This one
doesn't do as much for me, but it brings another
body in there.

Speaker 5 (11:44):
I mean, I guess it's smart of Gardner Minshew the
sign right after we start taping, because if this had
been like thirty minutes ago, he would be buried down
in like, you know, forty five minutes in. But now
here's the money, by the way, here's the money, jump
all the way to the top.

Speaker 4 (11:57):
Yeah, here's the money, by the way, which can tell
you where they kind of want him to be on
the roster. Two year, twenty five million dollar deal. It's
fifteen million, fully guaranteed. So wow, that tells me that, yeah,
there's your starting quarterback for the Raiders in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 5 (12:13):
I'm surprised.

Speaker 6 (12:14):
Like I mean, by the way, just let you know,
from a showman angle, I mentioned Gardner Minshew, you know,
anecdotally because I saw it in the chat and I
thought we could and you and you went right off
that perfectly.

Speaker 4 (12:25):
But I would say even better as a showman would
not Yeah, I don't mention that, No, we on this
show shot.

Speaker 5 (12:32):
No on this on this show. When you do something
of that ilk, you mention it.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
That's how it works.

Speaker 6 (12:36):
But like, uh, I we were killing other teams for
settling on mid tier quarterbacks, and I like Minshew as
a plug and play guy in a pinch, but not
as like we're gonna it's it's gonna be you know,
March and we decide he's our starter right now?

Speaker 5 (12:50):
Like is that is this? Where's the draft situation? I
think I still draft someone Dan. I disagree though that
this deal says he's a weak one starter or a
starter at all. If that guaranteed money is over two years,
that's that's like backup money or bridge starter money. It
shows that like him and Aidan O'Connell are probably competing,
but it's very possible that they add a rookie to

(13:14):
that mix too, and then once you get to next year,
it'd be even more likely than not that Minshew is
the best baker signed for last year. One year, three
million dollars.

Speaker 4 (13:25):
I get it. This is fifteen million. Fully, I think
that this is I don't know, we'll say, we're gonna
find out, but I think it's bad news for Aidan
O'Connell and it's like tells me that they're serious about
him as a starter potentially, I agree, certainly the favorite,
he's certainly the favorite. But it's a nice threading the needle.
I don't think it's that much where it's you know,

(13:45):
it's twelve point five million per year, so it's it's
above the high end backup money, but it's way below
the low end starter money for the Raiders. So I
think it's fine they they targeted him, and look, I'd
rather pay him twelve million dollars than Bake forty, Like,
no question if we're gonna kill the Baker deal for
being a little too much like this, this makes more

(14:05):
sense if you're you're in the middle, and you raise
a good point on fields and we'll get to the
other teams today. But there's been nothing on fields, and
there are just not a lot of places out there.
And I I've been personally as a Patriot, like, if
you want me to get back into the Patriots, give
me Drake May at three and fields in a trade
and just see what happens. Sure, I'm with that, I mean,
the field's. One thing that surprised me so far about

(14:27):
this offseason is that I really did think the Bears
had some leverage with fields that you know, even if
they decided to go with the quarterback in the draft,
which is obviously probably how this is going to play out,
that they would get some value back. It's looking increasingly,
you know, like the fields market is just not much
of one at all. Let's stick with the Let's stick

(14:48):
with the quarterback since we're on a roll here with them,
because we can't. We can't delay any longer because you know,
welcome to the rust Belt. Russell Wilson is also off
the board. He over in the middle of the night
we were out and about here in Austin, Texas. We're
here for the iHeart Awards, and russ Belt is a

(15:12):
thing in Pittsburgh because he signs a very low money
deal with the Steelers. And you know, we talked about
Pittsburgh with the idea that they might not be sitting
on their hands here at quarterback, even though they were
saying outwardly at the Combine and before that that they
were happy with their QB room. Here comes Russell Wilson,
Mark who is a depreciated asset. But again, and you

(15:37):
were just talking about Greg about Minshew with the money
what you get for the player. This is a signing
of Russell Wilson. Where Pittsburgh it's a what less than
two million dollars that they're paying, it's still Denver on
the hook for his massive salary. So I think it's
an upgrade. Is it a progress stopper? That's where it
becomes a conversation.

Speaker 6 (15:55):
I think I don't have a problem financially with taking
a shot at him. I think actually that's sort of
a smart move for a team that needs to upgrade
a quarterback, Like if you remove the Russell Wilson experience
out of it, I guess for me, just sort of
ruminating on this situation because again, I think it's like
he could. He's more productive than I think people think

(16:18):
over the last you know, year plus where it's like
people have written him off entirely and he can still play.
I would believe in an Arthur Smith run, heavy attack.
I don't hate it, but I would say this, like
I cannot pick a team out of thirty two NFL
teams where I would say Russell Wilson fits less with
my life experience of that team. Everything I think about

(16:38):
the Pittsburgh Steelers and everything I think about Russell Wilson.
It is like two magnets on your fridge that you
try to like press together and they rub against each
other and they don't want to meet. It's like, I
just don't see it. It's interesting, but to me, it's
a very odd fit, and I think fit matters in
the NFL. Can I think Russell Wilson like announced it
on his Instagram with a totally Russell Wilson announcement, and

(17:01):
it's just like, not how I think about what the
Pittsburgh Steelers have done for the last fifty years of
my life.

Speaker 5 (17:07):
Right, Because that announcement is kind of like, Hey, Russell
Wilson's come into town, but Russell Wilson has to make
the team. I don't consider that a total guarantee. Russell
Wilson has to win the starting job. I don't consider
that a total guarantee. When a team invests, everyone's looking
at it like, hey, they're not giving up anything. It's
worth a shot. Okay.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
Sure.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
It also means they're not trying harder at the quarterback position,
but also means that they have nothing invested in Russell Wilson.
And if he shows up to camp and Kenny Pickett,
who all those Steelers fans were so excited about after
last year, and he finished his rookie season strong, fits
a little better in the Arthur Smith system.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
Just Steelers fans, by the way.

Speaker 5 (17:46):
Fair, I was never big on Kenny Pikett. It was
a wait and see on how he finished that year.
But he could improve, Like he could show up and
be a better different player, and he could win that job.
I think he'd have a chance, or Dorn or three.
They have room here to add another player, whether it's
a rookie or someone else to the mix, like Mason

(18:07):
Rudolph coming back, Like even that wouldn't shock me. They
can do that because they didn't really give up anything
for Russell Wilson. So I hesitate to just assume that
he's the guy. He's he's the favorite, he's the most
likely guy to start. But Arthur Smith's offense is all
about like play action, middle of the field, like back
to the deep, like Russell Wilson stink said all that stuff.
So I don't know. I guess I gotta see it first.

(18:29):
I disagree.

Speaker 4 (18:30):
I think this is their quarterback and if you look
at some of the the yeah, and he.

Speaker 5 (18:37):
Also is he's the favorite, but I don't assume he
might just be.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
I just think he's the guy. I think they brought
him in and it's in line kind of with their
recent philosophy about the quarterback position and what he maybe
some of the things you're talking about with the offense
he doesn't do well, but they also have some talented
receivers and he could still throw a good deep ball
and they're going to run the ball a lot. I
actually what you're saying, Mark, I'm curious kind of what
you meant, because for some reason, like Wilson and the

(19:02):
Steelers kind of works for me in my brain. Like
I don't know why, it just it does. The Magnets
do connect for me on this, and I don't know
if he's going to be successful, but again, like he
is almost like Baker this year, where the Steelers are
getting this depreciated asset for almost nothing, and you know,
even if he's a league average quarterback then then it's

(19:22):
it's a huge win at least in terms of roster
building because of the money. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (19:27):
So, like I said, like from a football angle and
from a financial angle, I think it's a smart football
move for any team in the League, and I do
think he's has a chance to surprise people. And I
don't think they would have done this if Arthur Smith
also didn't sign off. And we've seen Arthur Smith take
quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill who were you know, thrown into a
scrap heap, and you know, reclamate their career. I would

(19:48):
so from that angle, I've known a problem. I guess
it's just aesthetics, Like it's like looking at a at
a painting. We could see it differently, like my experience
of the Pittsburgh Steelers and what I think about Russell Wilson,
like they do match, but like prove me wrong. I'm
not saying I'm right about that. It just it's an
odd fit. Like I could think of him going to
five or six other places. The Steelers to me are
just like they've always been something different.

Speaker 5 (20:10):
I'm because I'm sorry, do you mean like me me
meet because he's sort of all about himself.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
Yeah, it is. I think like this.

Speaker 6 (20:17):
I think it's also like, yeah, it's like this is
like a Mike Tomlin hard newsed defensive team, where like
the quarterback was Big Ben for twenty years. It's like
it's something about Russell Wilson is a bit of a
creation to me, and I can't separate the quarterback from
like the whole Russell Wilson Broncos and like marketing campaign.

(20:37):
And he was like in the Entourage of the movie.
It's like, it's not what I think of like a
Steelers quarterback. And and you know what, I don't have
a go I'm not I may not. We could probably
talk about it for two hours. I may not convince
you of this. It's just like it's just the way
that like a player and a team would not fit
to a sports fan. I find it to be like
the the ot it's not the fit that I would
have picked.

Speaker 4 (20:55):
You don't want to convinced me. I was just more curious,
what what you mean?

Speaker 6 (20:59):
It just strikes me as like I think they'll I
kind of surprised Mike Tomlin did it. To be honest,
I seem like a Mike Tomlin guy.

Speaker 4 (21:05):
What I do agree with what I think maybe was
you that said a last week or earlier this week,
was that he doesn't seem like a guy that would
handle being the number two very well. But I don't
think that's what he's there to do because so but
if if he is someone that's going to get supplanted.
You even mentioned Greg he might not make the team.

(21:26):
I just, yeah, we're kind of in different places on Wilson,
and maybe that's why this we're I was saying that
last night in the cab, Like Wilson is such great
catnip for like podcasters and people talking football because he
there's just he creates so many different like conversation points,
even as his play has come down.

Speaker 5 (21:44):
Yeah, to be clear, like I think that the most
likely outcome is he's their Week one starter, but he's
a thirty six year old entering a new system, and
I've just we've just seen this enough that there are
many potential outcomes and the fact that they have nothing
invested in, you know, financially in him to me, in
the fact that he might be like a bad backup
and and maybe there's too much like suggests to me

(22:07):
like there's a chance here that it just goes poorly then,
you know, on the other hand, like he is the
most big ben like quarterback in the entire NFL. They're
both divas in totally different ways. They're both very tough physically.
They both have been knocked for being maybe like a
little limited in terms of like reading the defenses early
in their career, but you know they can make some play.
So who knows. Maybe he's he's the like thirty six

(22:30):
year old version of Big Ben, which was, by the way,
still pretty good.

Speaker 6 (22:33):
We can agree on one thing, though, Dan, I think
that you know, like in that cab late at night,
you coined this the russ belt, you know, lexicon this tag,
and I think it's gonna I think it's I think
it's gonna grow.

Speaker 5 (22:45):
Well, it's gonna grow.

Speaker 4 (22:46):
I don't know if we want to, yeah, the curtain
on that one, if we want to pull it back
or not. But as people know, Mark has retired from
Twitter abruptly with a flaming screed against the analytics community
and then a a sign off and a wishing well
of all of us. It doesn't mean Marks out of
the business as a guy that can punch up some scripts.

(23:07):
Just leave it at that.

Speaker 5 (23:08):
Well, I think I think we're we're hoping the Russell
Wilson era just for content just has like a little
more pop than the russ Belt tweet got because we
were we had very high hopes. We had high hopes
that what kind of numbers that would do Dan even
added at Steelers at NFL.

Speaker 4 (23:28):
That's just that's called tagging, and that that typically leads
to further engagement. I was also catching some flak in
the are you able to pull up this tweet by
any chance? Eric Roberts on short notice? I was also
catching some flak about the photo that I chose, which, well,
what needs to be understood. We're in a uber going

(23:48):
from one establishment to another last night, and the news
breaks and the idea is, you know, in the car.
I'm not going to say where it came from because
certain members of our podcast do not tweet anymore. But
someone had mentioned, oh man, rust Belt and you know
rust Belt to do your research on the region in

(24:10):
western PA. And I at that point I'm scrambling. I'm like,
I got to get this up. We got to beat
to market the competition rust belt as a catchphrase. So
I pulled up the first photo. But I'm being told
that the photo wasn't good enough. But the engagement's okay,
so fuzzy in the Broncos thing. Yeah, you can watch

(24:30):
it on the on the YouTube now, you know, I
think you.

Speaker 6 (24:32):
Were told by our actual like social team that wanted to,
you know, elevate it and said you've picked.

Speaker 5 (24:38):
The wrong.

Speaker 4 (24:43):
Not bad engagement over seventy thousand.

Speaker 5 (24:45):
Catty, it's catchy, it'll be I think it could take time,
but I, like I said, then, I think it's possible.
Al Michaels will be welcoming us the Thursday night football
in week eight.

Speaker 4 (24:56):
Welcome to the rust Belt and it's got on. Did
you know that Russell Wilson this I was reading Barnwell
today as everyone must ranked twenty first in QBR last season,
which was one spot behind Joe Burrow. Wasn't that bad
last year? I mean twenty first is bad though, Like yeah,
but like go check where Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph

(25:17):
and every other JABBRONI playing in Pittsburgh was.

Speaker 5 (25:21):
You don't want to look at Mason Rudolph because he'll
look like he's Joe Montana. I mean he is.

Speaker 6 (25:24):
There's also like a couple incredible numbers about his season,
because like we've argued about, like his numbers look good
if you just like to looked at a box if
you landed on Earth and looked at his box score,
but for the year, but like like sixty two percent
of his passes came within five yards of the line
of scrimmage.

Speaker 5 (25:40):
That's like, that's I played. I mean, that's he doesn't
get that's a corner offense. Fron Dayton coming with him.

Speaker 4 (25:47):
All right, we're just getting started here. By the way,
I have NFL plus up on the secondary screen to
be ready with any breaking news. But let's take a break.
So quarterback news done. We're gonna dig into the running
back rooms of teams in next and it is interesting

(26:10):
there because there's some big names. Not a hot draft class.
So stay right there and we're gonna get into it.
All right, we are back. Let's get to the running
back situation. Like I said, a lot of big names
out there, and I guess, with some surprise, a lot
of them came flying off the board on the first

(26:31):
day of the legal tampering period. Let's start with Saquon Barkley,
who goes from the New York Giants to the Philadelphia Eagles.
And I could tell you, I could tell you, as
someone who has a lot of fans of friends who
are Giants fans, this one hurt. Saquon from the Giants
to the rival Eagles, stays in the division twenty six

(26:52):
million guaranteed on a three year, thirty seven million dollar contract.
So the Eagles had a big day in general, but
let's start with Saquon. Who goes there gets nice money.

Speaker 5 (27:06):
I love that the kind of analytically driven Eagles. Maybe
the team that's most associated with the numbers over the
last ten years are the team that gives Saquon Barkley
the contract, because that's the thing with moneyball, It's all
just about, like what the markets are saying. At a
certain point, running backs have become so devalued that now

(27:28):
it's come back around, and a guy like Saquon Barkley
actually is worth quite a bit. If you compare his salary,
for instance, versus like Gabe Davis today, you could make
an argument I'd rather have Gabe Davis. I think the
Eagles rightly made an argument. This is a guy who
can play all three downs for us and supercharger running
attack that already was great to like a totally different level,

(27:51):
and they didn't. I know, it sounds like it's a
lot of money, but it's really not much more than
the types of offers I think the Giants were giving
him over the last couple of years. That he just
didn't want, I think, from the New York Giants, which
is crazy. He's getting in a better situation, certainly a
better offensive line, but he basically only got two years guaranteed,
and it makes this offense crazy, Like, look for explosive

(28:12):
difference making ability at any position and don't close your
eyes to it just because you're the Eagles and you're
not supposed to like like high paid running backs. Totally agree.

Speaker 6 (28:21):
I think if you're right now listening to wfan out
in the Tri State area, this is psychological warfare because
this is a team the Eagles that stole James Bradbury
away from the Giants when they couldn't figure out what
to do with James Bradbury and the Giants for you know,
six hundred days, couldn't figure out how to solve their
issues with Saquon Barkley last year they franchised them. The

(28:44):
season's a completely lost cause. The Giants look directionless right now.
The Eagles swoop in take you know, the star running
back away from New York and they play them twice
a year. This is juicy, Like, this is the kind
of stuff when I tend to think that maybe the
NFL is like just a deep scripted operation that you
know is basically a chapter by chapter drama like this

(29:05):
is this? This fits right because now the Eagles have
taken Saquon Barkley away from the Giants. I can see
them playing each other in Week one and it's everything
you'd ever want from the NFC East revenge game.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
I love that for the ex Yeah, that's that's true, Greg.
The Eagles also take another player from New York. Bryce
Huff of the Jets goes to the Eagles on a
three year deal and he gets good money too, Greg,
So that you know, we talked about Huff, who is
has incredible pass rush production. He led the Jets with

(29:37):
ten and a half sacks and that despite being a
part time player, I think he played about forty two
percent of the snap So the Eagles projected that he
can play more than that. That they for the money
that they're paying and some other moves that they're making
on their defense, they're going to have a role for
him and we'll see if they try to turn them
into the player the Jets didn't quite think he was.
But as a Jets van, you're you're afraid you let

(29:59):
a star out the door.

Speaker 5 (30:00):
Yeah, fifty million dollars over three years. Like he's not
a run stopper. I think in their defense, they're not
going to really worry about that that much.

Speaker 4 (30:09):
They don't.

Speaker 5 (30:10):
He reminds me a lot of as on Reddick, which
makes me think a son Reddick is not going to
be on the Eagles. Both him and Josh Sweat have
been reportedly on the trade block, and you figure one,
if not both of them are gonna get dealt. And
to me, he's the more one to one comparison with Reddick,
just a guy who younger in his career maybe didn't
take advantage. And the Eagles have a good history of

(30:30):
doing this, finding these guys who have just pure pass
rush and getting great production out of them. I mean,
they're we said it coming into the week. They're not
gonna be done yet. They also gave Lannon Dickerson eighty
seven million dollars, including fifty million guaranteed their guard. Like
that's a contract actually that I think he'll see the
whole deal. But he's one of the best guards in

(30:51):
the NFL, getting twenty million dollars a year, And like
you think about that offense with Saquon too, Like that's
a fantasy football offense. J Parson, like Devonte Smith, Dallas
gotter In Berkley, and just they just want their defense
to be good enough.

Speaker 4 (31:04):
I think is the ideot.

Speaker 6 (31:04):
I think the Reddic comparison is right on because there's
numbers that you know, came out after the signing were
like Reddick played four hundred more snaps than Huff, eleven
sacks for Reddick, ten for Huff, thirteen tackles for loss
for Redick, ten for Huff. It's like the Eagles a
week ago looked like a malign team, a bit of
a talking point, and it's like they always find a
way in the offseason to figure it out, and I

(31:25):
think they found this one player that we've all looked at.
It's like, if you can turn Huff into like a
full time devastator, you've done something that not that the
Jets couldn't do, but they didn't do last year, and
you've taken you've taken something away from the Jets.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
So and the Jets they made the they were never
they never seriously negotiated with him. So they this I
think goes back a lot to their move to take
Will McDonald fifteenth overall last year, and sometimes you could
box yourself in with some of your decisions because you
took you have Huff, who's a homegrown guy, who's an
undrafted player, and you turn him into a guy that was,

(32:00):
you know, a real breakout player, and you let him
go in free agency because you have so much invested
now as a draft pick. And Will McDonald I wonder
if they could do it all over again, and if
they knew that Huff was going to make the leap
that he made this year, if they would have made
a different move in last year's draft. What else? What else?

Speaker 6 (32:20):
I've noticed that we are in these hotel rooms. We
each have the same painting on the wall, which is
i'd say slightly uncreative on behalf of the hotel. It's
a nice hotel. Not complaining about the hotel, but could
have done a little more there.

Speaker 4 (32:32):
Yeah. Well, they also didn't expect three bozos to be
recording and showing the three hotel rooms. I asked them
one more point. You're not going to get me because
I know the Eagles will now have an amazing draft
because Howie's the man. Everything else is still that was
a problem. At the end of the year. The head

(32:53):
coach is still there. The quarterback is still there, and
I know he's very talented, but the locker room seemed
like i'm and he played a role in that as well.
In my opinion, AJ Brown right now is still there
and he was moping by the end of the year.
I'm just saying, like before we look at them as
an all star team, Remember this was a team that
was in chaos by the end of last year and

(33:14):
they didn't exactly clean house, and in fact, they've lost
you know, in the center Kelsey. We also had a
retirement of Fletcher Cox, some leaders out out the door.
So to me, they're still a little wait and see
how next season begins. I just don't have that as
a no.

Speaker 5 (33:30):
I think that's fair. But you know what I like
is they deliver. Like the free agency year starts and
it's like, hey, we're going to sign the guy, the
hot shot pass rusher that we're going to take a
big chance on. Hey we're gonna sign Saquon Barkley. We'll
keep our own guy in Landon Dickersonto. It like what
we'll bring back Brandon Grahm. It's like they're always doing stuff.
And then that's to me, howie, mother, that's fair.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
The Packers are doing stuff too, So Aaron Jones and
aj Dillon have been there combo the last few years.
It's a good guy. Has been a good combo. Now
that slowed down a little bit last year. Dylan wasn't
quite where he was and he's walking as a free agent.
Aaron Jones is still a productive player, but he's injuries
have been an issue for him and he missed a
lot of last year. So the Packers, having some extra

(34:13):
money to spend now that they have a quarterback on
a rookie contract in Jordan Love, decided to go get
Josh Jacobs. So the Raiders, who had tried made an
effort to keep Raiders to keep their running back and
the rushing champion last year. Ultimately, though, the Packers went
harder for him and they land Jacobs, and in a
corresponding move, they release Aaron Jones. So now they essentially

(34:36):
swap out, as they kind of alluded to at the
beginning of the show, they swap out Jones for Jacobs.
I don't know if it makes them a better team,
to be quite honest with you, but they do, so,
you know, good luck to them. I don't know.

Speaker 6 (34:50):
I think like Jacobs is when you get the good
version of Jacobs, a violent, easy to watch runner, and
if you get that version in Green Bay, that fits
very well. Aaron Jones was incredibly important to them when
he was on the field last year. And I'm kind
of with you, Dan, like, it's not that it's apples
for apples, but a healthy Aaron Jones personally, I would

(35:13):
take over Jacob's But that's just me.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
Greg.

Speaker 5 (35:16):
Maybe you totally disagree. I don't know. No, Actually I
agree with you. I think he's getting up there. He's
twenty nine. He hasn't been able to stay on the
field as much. You know, that's been a little bit
of an issue for Jacobs too, who's like on one
year off. I think all things being equal, Aaron Jones
is better. I think they went into the day and
even signing Jacobs with the possibility that they'd have them both,
but they he was paid so much money Aaron Jones

(35:37):
that I think they just felt that was out of bounds,
and they had a number where they said, like, if
you take a pay cut down to eight million dollars something,
I'm just throwing a number out there, then we'll keep you,
and we'll keep both. And so it wouldn't surprise me
if they get in the running back market, whether it's
the draft or another free agent. But they just decided
he was getting paid too much. And Jacobs is three
years younger, and so I guess that that's a big

(35:58):
deal too.

Speaker 4 (36:00):
Yeah, if you get twenty twenty two Josh Jacobs, the
steel is gonna look amazing. He's been great every other
year and like kind of curious the other years, and
you mean like every other year.

Speaker 5 (36:09):
Yes, So now this is supposed to be a good
This should be a good year for Josh Jacobs, so other.

Speaker 4 (36:15):
Times seems if that's what they were using internally, is
their compass on this. I'm concerned about the Packers. They
also speaking of the Giants, fans and the dumps. Xavier
McKinney safety. He lands with the Packers on a four year,
sixty eight million dollar deal. So that's a lot of money.
It's a lot of scratch, a lot of guap for McKinny.
But that's a defense in the post Joe Barry world

(36:37):
that you know, needed some reinforcements in the back end,
and McKinney can deliver that.

Speaker 6 (36:42):
We just talked to Mina and she talked about the
fact that, like the Packers, and we all agree that
it seems like for Ages, they threw a ton of
money and draft picks at safety and it kind of
never worked. And like he's only twenty four years old, Like,
and I thought this was a player the Giants in
another universe might have franchised tagged when they didn't ha Saquon,
and they didn't, and they've lost two players, And I

(37:03):
think the Packers like added a piece to their defense,
someone who can be around for a long time based
on his age and his skill.

Speaker 5 (37:09):
I love McKinney. I had him really high in the
top one oh one, and he got paid because multiple
teams were after I forget who the third team was,
but I know the Eagles were in on him. There
was even a report earlier in the day that they
were going to close that deal, and so that market
went like very high for Xavier McKinney. But he is
a good young player in that defense in that secondary's

(37:30):
been a nightmare.

Speaker 4 (37:31):
All right. Here are the other running back deals that
have gone down. DeAndre Swift, So the Eagles decide to
get Barkley, so Swift goes out the door and he
lands with the Bears. So he had a nice season,
I thought after leaving Detroit and now Chicago, as they
retool their offense, most likely with a new quarterback as well,
they add a playmaker and a guy that can make

(37:52):
plays as a rusher and receiver. The Titans, they bring
in former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard. So Pollard coming
off a disappointing season in Dallas where he became the
Bell cow back and it didn't really take. So now
he lands with the Titans. And the Titans also needed
offensive line help and they get it in center Lloyd Cushionberry,

(38:13):
formerly of the Broncos. So they get a new running
back and a new center. And by the way, if
Pollard is their running back, now that means Derrick Henry is,
which we kind of expected, is going somewhere else and
now just we're waiting to see. I have a few
I have a really strong feeling about where he's gonna land.
Maybe at the end of the show we'll each share
a prediction. Going into day two ahead of the new

(38:35):
league year, Gus Edwards lands with the Chargers and the Giants.
By the way, do signed a Devin Singletary according to reports.
So that's a slew of running back moves.

Speaker 5 (38:46):
You guys got anything, Yeah, Pollard in taj Spears is
a fun backfield. I think people were a little hard
on Pollard coming off of a broken angle, But I
also think that they view Pollard as a one. B
in Tajy Spears is probably their one on A and
that I'm just a little surprised how quickly all these
guys came off the market, but that when people were
getting all excited to be like, oh, the running back

(39:07):
market is back, like it's a real thing. It's like, Okay,
they're getting paid like the same as a fairly low
level guard low or about half as much as like
a slightly above average guards, and they're getting paid the
same as like defensive you know, dotation.

Speaker 4 (39:23):
They've been prioritized on the beginning first day of free
age two, which is kind of different than the past,
it is, and.

Speaker 5 (39:28):
They're making more money than they were a year or
two ago. To be clear, DeAndre Swift people will will
probably forget this the minute this happens, but he will
always be the first player signed during the legal tamporeine period.
So congratulations to DeAndre Swift and the Chicago Bears.

Speaker 4 (39:45):
I think we used to do sandwiches on that. We
used to take predictions, which is one of the dumber
things because it's not you know, we don't have an
official time stamp on these things.

Speaker 6 (39:53):
But I like, I watched this running back market and
for me, it's the holes that creates an dan. I
I won't steal your thunder about the Dereck Henry landing spot,
but there are a couple teams out there that have
like absolute nothingness at running back right now after these moves,
and I still think Derrick Henry is the best back

(40:15):
of every one of these players. I like him more
than Saquon I like him more than Josh Jacobs. I
like him more than Aaron Jones. I just do I know.
I get the age, I get the mileage, but it's
like I cannot wait to see where he lands. I
think he's going to be also quite agitated with the
fact that he's like the eighth running back to go
off the board here. He's going to devastate someone and

(40:35):
destroy someone come September.

Speaker 5 (40:37):
It's also funny that the Harba's are now sharing players,
they share coaches, but like Gus Edward is. The first
thing he does is go from John to Jim Harbab
because Greg Roman is over there, and it's bizarre that
that's the move the Chargers made today. I do think
we're gonna get some trades, as we talked about, but
that'll be later in the week.

Speaker 4 (40:53):
I'm not going to hit the breaking news on this,
but the Giants and their fans could use some good news.
There's something floating out there right now, but let's wait
until we hear it from our guys in other news.
So we mentioned that the Raiders go and they get
Gardner Minshew and we'll see where he fits at the
end of the day in their quarterback room. But they
make a huge move mark on their defensive line, adding

(41:16):
Christian Wilkins, formerly of the Dolphins, for one hundred and
ten million, almost eighty five of that guaranteed a lot
of guaranteed money being doled out to these big time players.
So this is a huge move for the Raiders, a
team that seems to be acting in what you hear
from the coach's doing a lot of talking. He's like

(41:38):
they think they're closer than other people might think. But
there's no denying that Wilkins is a big time talent
in the middle. Is going to tag team with Max
Crosby on one of the best combos of any team
up front in the league.

Speaker 6 (41:53):
Yeah, I mean Max Crosby having to do it alone,
not onlike a Miles Garrett in years past. Before this
past season, Eveland still wrecking people. And the idea of
Wilkins in Max Crosby together is gives you, if you're
Antonio Pierce, an identity and I think that you're that's
a defensive coach. You suddenly the Raiders defense. You've got

(42:13):
to plan for Wilkins. I think if you want to
find a player like him, you would have had to
use your first round pick to get a player like him.
I'm not even sure there's a player in the draft
like him. You might have to go years till you
find someone like him. So the money's worth it. These
are rare players, and I think if you're I for me,
I know, even in the last couple of weeks, I've
been killing the idea of like a Chris Jones going

(42:33):
to a lost team or do we just don't hear
from him again for four years? That feels like the
Raiders feel like that kind of team to me, But
I'm that's just bias. Like I actually think that the
Raiders made an aggressive move here, and either you do
or don't like whoever got Christian Wilkins, their defense becomes
a completely different operation.

Speaker 5 (42:49):
I mean, he owes the Dolphins in some level, on
some level for letting him go in free agency. He
got eighty four point five million dollars guaranteed in the
in the Dolphins could have kept him for one year
twenty million dollars, so like that change that changed his life.
They have the I don't know what the word is,
like the most starting you know, we'll have to beat

(43:11):
that out, like defensive line in the league by far,
like because who annoys offensive linemen more than Christian Wilkins,
Like he gets in fights like everyone like thinks he's
sort of on the edge or over the edge and playing.
Putting him next to Max Crosby, that's just like kind
of an insane duo. They also both of them never
leave the field, Like Christian Wilkins is almost the defensive

(43:33):
tackle version of Max Crosby. You can't stay on the
field every step of fear a defensive tackle. But he's
pretty close to that. I also like Malcolm Kons there
at the end of last season. So that's three guys
like the Raiders doing something.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
I like it.

Speaker 5 (43:45):
That's the most by the way, anyone's gonna make I
think in free agency other than Kirk Cousins, it's gonna
be Christian Wilkins will go down that used to be
up sandwich prop we used to make too. Kirk Cousins,
I guess would have won it, but but Wilkins will
be second.

Speaker 4 (43:59):
The Vikings. So we mentioned Kirk Cousins is no longer
their quarterback and that leads a gaping void for that team,
but there's still other work to be done, and Jonathan
Garnard there is a nice piece of the puzzle for
them pass rusher. He goes to the Vikings for forty
two million guaranteed four for seventy six. Blake Cashern, line

(44:20):
veteran linebacker, also to Minnesota on a three year deal,
so that defense definitely needed some enforcements. So on that
side of the ball, it's been a good day in Minnesota. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (44:32):
I think he was, like again a guy who kind
of was helped out by his team, which is maybe
a red flag. I don't know, because Houston was not
in any cap struggles. They just decided, like, we don't
want to invest that much in Jonathan Garnard, but in
terms of like pressures in his age and pass rush
win rate and everything you would want, like he is
a one for one replacement for Daniel Hunter, who is

(44:54):
still out there. I think he's the top player left
on my top one on one. I did a quick
check before we started. I think players that entered the
day on the top one on one have been signed.

Speaker 4 (45:04):
But that's it.

Speaker 5 (45:04):
That means eighty are still out there, but twenty five
to thirty more were already taken off the board, like
before it even happened, as that list kept changing. But
that that's a nice move. But it showed me like
the Vikings knew they weren't getting Kirk Cousins because this
move happened right off the bat. This was one of
the very first moves of free agency. It was them
making sure that they got Jonathan Grenard.

Speaker 4 (45:23):
I mean even their decision and you know, the GM
put out a statement like you said, and the decision
that they made before last season when they decided to
break off the extension talks it seemed like the writing
was on the wall, and they want to build this
a different way. You can't really, you can't really hate
on them because when you look at what he actually did, Cousins,

(45:43):
despite all the production, they never really got close. And
now that it's time to change things up. So I
understand that it does I do have to say. I mean,
I will say it. You know, I've been waiting, you
know this, this this moment for Sam Darnold. Like you
keep on hearing whispers about Donald and the Vikings, I've
been waiting for this guy to get a fair shout
at a reboot, a proper reboot since his Jets fiasco

(46:07):
uh career, And that would work. That give me Donald
as as the QB with Kevin O'Connell, uh, and have
Justin Jefferson. Hopefully they'll get under contract. Then you guys,
if he if he bombs out of there, you guys
can bury him for it and laugh at me. But
I think that would be a nice setup for him
to potentially have his own type of Baker renaissance.

Speaker 6 (46:30):
They also have the eleventh pick. They could move up
someone like JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 5 (46:35):
I mean, some people think they might trade up with
the Patriots all the way to three and take take
one of the top.

Speaker 6 (46:41):
Right, there just has to be another There has to
be another move, like but Dan, Like, honestly, if the
the whole master plan here in two off season rebuild
was to get Sam Donald, like you've god of gotten
Sam Donald.

Speaker 4 (46:52):
It's a transition here for them. So if you go
and get a guy and maybe it works, I don't.

Speaker 5 (46:57):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (46:58):
I don't know how many transition years you get in
a row. It's like you like, they were they they
sold players on the cheap last year.

Speaker 5 (47:05):
And I know they won thirteen games and what was
supposed to be a transition year and then this this
truly was, and they were they were kind of peaking
at the moment that Cousins got hurt. I think it
was absolutely the right time to say goodbye. You got
to make tough decisions sometimes, and I think QUESSI made
it at the right time. I think the injury ended
up making it a lot easier for them to do that,

(47:26):
And I actually do think Donald would would make sense there.
But that is the ultimate team of zeus til I mean, forget,
We're not We're not doing the Vikings ever. Again, but
if never again. And Dan is the most loyal team
of any person I know. But uh, if there was
ever going to be a strong number two for Dan,

(47:47):
it is Sam Donald starting to freaking vit you always
like for some reason, I don't really know why.

Speaker 4 (47:52):
Is everyone I know as everyone knows that Jets are
testing my patients like uh like never before, and uh
if if that becomes very interesting to me, like like
my fifty percent g my, my buddy Greg who was
at the super Bowl this year is a die hard
Vikings fan, So I would even have like a buddy
that I could, you know, connect with on it. It's

(48:14):
let's just leave it out there and let it hang.

Speaker 5 (48:16):
They also signed Blake Cashman to a twenty six million
dollar deal, a linebacker who, what I think Mina mentioned
is one of her favorites. And they're definitely signing sort
of like the hipster football Twitter favorites and Grenard and Cashman.

Speaker 4 (48:29):
So you got that group there too, right, I said it.
I said you said it. You said, oh you said that.

Speaker 5 (48:37):
I mean you said that, you that he was one
of your favorite guys in free agency.

Speaker 4 (48:42):
No, I said that. I mentioned that in the news
when we set up this spiking Dan.

Speaker 5 (48:46):
Our list is still coming out, so I mean, he's
not going to be on our list.

Speaker 4 (48:48):
Coming out, yeah, tomorrow midnight.

Speaker 5 (48:51):
So we have a lot, you know, more news to
get to and everything. But are you guys a little
feeling like you're getting caught with your pants down that
all these free agents? I mean, you are literally reporting
on the biggest names of free agency signing your list
is if you are like NFL Network the first year
that they did the legal tampurine period and didn't realize

(49:12):
the big day was going to be Wednesday and not Monday.
And on Monday they only like two people on air
for four hours and they were like, haman, Hamana, we
didn't know this was going to be the big day. Well, yeah,
we feel totally confident about.

Speaker 6 (49:25):
It's coming out when it needs to come out, at
the problem out.

Speaker 4 (49:30):
When it comes out, which is on the eve of
the new league year.

Speaker 5 (49:36):
It's up for the readers to decide what they prefer,
all right, And.

Speaker 4 (49:42):
Yeah, I know everybody and I see it, and I
see it in my mentions. People don't want to hear
about Dan's always on about Darnold. It's true. I'm so
happy it is finally like I was felt like I
was seeing Mina Chimes, who everyone respects Mina Kaimes' opinion.
I'm not alone on this, no alone on the annoience.

Speaker 5 (50:01):
There's a lot of Darnald love out there in the football.

Speaker 4 (50:03):
And remember, but I remember, I was thriving that if
it ever turned out into something, just remember before everyone
else found it fashionable?

Speaker 6 (50:12):
Dan, Why would we have to remember when we will
be reminded every single show about it, like.

Speaker 4 (50:16):
Oh, you, I know you don't want this to happen,
because it's.

Speaker 6 (50:19):
Not that I don't, but it's like, like, well, I
wonder we're not going to.

Speaker 5 (50:23):
I mean, Jeremia had him number one with like a
bullet in a class with Josh Allen and Lamar Like,
there's a lot of people that are invested in Sam
Darnold Sam.

Speaker 4 (50:33):
All right, let's oh well say all right, let's take
a break and we'll roll on a right. Welcome back,
all right, diving right back in. The Jaguars are active.

(50:54):
The Jaguars have had a busy Monday here. They signed
wide receiver Gabe Davis form of the Buffalo Bills three years,
thirty nine million, eleven million. It's signing Davis, who has had,
you know, a checkered history in terms of being a
productive player, but has always been enticing as a guy
that can maybe take the next step. They also get

(51:16):
Darnell Savage in the building as well on the other
side of the ball, so the Jags mark are busy. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (51:23):
I was kind of wondering what the Jags, like, what
their plan was this offseason, and also wondering where game
Davis would would wind up.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
I don't hate it.

Speaker 6 (51:31):
I mean, I don't know what's gonna happen with Calvin Ridley,
but they kind of lack a number one wide receiver
to me, because Gabe Davis, to me, is the quintessential
sort of hot and cold guy who like he'll go
a couple of games where you're not sure he was
even on the field, but then he'll explode for one
hundred and forty two yards and be a deep threat.

Speaker 4 (51:48):
So I like it.

Speaker 6 (51:50):
For Trevor Lawrence, they've added to their offensive line as well.
It's like you've got to build around him. He's a piece,
That's what I'd say about him. He's just a piece.
It takes away from the Bills. I don't know what
the Bills are doing because I every it seems like
every couple of minutes, like the Bill, something is being
taken away from.

Speaker 5 (52:03):
Buffalo Yabe Davis. I think has a lot of potential,
but the Jaguars have tried this before. They spend a
lot of money in free agency at wide receivers to
pretty middling results. I'm assuming Calvin Ridley is gonna sign
elsewhere or they would not make this deal because you know,
Calvin Riley is a different type of player, but there's
no way they're going to do both. It was not
that expensive though. I mean, he's signing for like a

(52:25):
little less than let's say Juju signed for last year,
you know, or Jacobi Meyers signed for last year. That's
reasonable to me, but this is a boomer bust type office.
He also signed Mitch Morse from the Bills and not
yet another player from the Bills, so there's a Buffalo
to Jacksonville.

Speaker 4 (52:41):
I don't love the I don't love the signing. It
sounds like they're trying to save money because Ridley's market
got more expensive than they they wanted, you know, to
do that type of business that they were scared off
by that. And Davis like if Josh Allen couldn't make
him a thing, M Like, I know, was it a thing?

(53:03):
I know, that's what I mean, but not a consistent
force when he wasn't even seeing the number one cornerback
most weeks with Stephan Diggs already there, Like, I don't know.

Speaker 5 (53:12):
We have you've seen the analytics though he put out
on Instagram because they were pretty impressive.

Speaker 4 (53:18):
I mean, he put him out on himself.

Speaker 5 (53:21):
It actually, yeah he did. He must have gotten him
from his agency or something. But they were so overwhelmingly
good that I actually bumped him up the top one
of one just for that.

Speaker 4 (53:29):
Oh good. See it works to promote oneself. By the way,
I meant to hit this when we were talking about
the running running backs, but like I said, this is
insider Christmas. It's a high pressure business. We have a
live program on NFL Network where we have all three
of our insiders and we all know who they are.

(53:52):
It's rap Sheet, it's the Pell Raiser and Mike g Okay.
And when the Josh Jacobs news comes down, it's on
live television, and Jacobs and and Ian has it first.
And Ian takes out his phone and he kind of
pauses and he starts to say, and then he's texting

(54:14):
in real time while he's on live TV, and he
says that you know this is this is from me
and in the middle box, so it's Ceciliano in one
box Andrew hell Raiser and then Mike j You see
pell Raiser's face, He's like, give me the credit, loop
me in on the scoop Ian didn't loop him in,

(54:35):
So here was pell Raiser. Minutes later, when there was
another bit of news to announce.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
It's right, the Rams signing Colby Parkinson, the former Seahawks
tight end to a big deal three years, twenty two
point five million, including fifteen point five million dollars guaranteed
according to me and he and c I'll give you
in credit on TV And though he stiffed me on
Josh Jacobs right there, Parkinson can avoid that deal.

Speaker 5 (55:02):
What a lonely barren existence?

Speaker 4 (55:06):
Whoa not.

Speaker 5 (55:10):
Just the job? It just sounds like it's are you
ever satisfied? Are you ever?

Speaker 6 (55:15):
Do you ever go out for dinner and you're not
on your phone the entire time? Are you sleeping with
you know, your phone next to your face?

Speaker 4 (55:20):
Like?

Speaker 5 (55:21):
Are you ever a human? Do you ever swim?

Speaker 4 (55:22):
In a lake you mentioned gave Davis. By the way, Gabe,
Davis did have eight catches for two hundred and one
yards and four touchdowns in that playoff game against the
Cheaps couple of years back. I mean, if there was
a starmaking performance that you could ever bank on, you

(55:43):
would have thought that would have been in. And yet
the Bills felt comfortable letting him go, which I think
tells you a lot. And I'm not breaking news here.
You hear this all the time. There's a reason why
a lot of these signings don't work out. And the
reason is a lot of these teams made internal decisions
about these players that they weren't somebody they wanted to
keep around or not at a certain price point. But

(56:04):
the Jags go and get Davis, and we'll see.

Speaker 5 (56:07):
What happens they have Like on a two and a three,
Kirk makes more money and he's a two and maybe
Davis is a three or whatever. And for the insiders,
you know, I do want to I guess give them credit.
At some point, I don't know how it worked, but
at some point rap Sheet and pell Raiser decided, like
we have to join forces because so many of these
reports are the two of them. I don't know how

(56:27):
that how did that conversation go. I'd like to know
why isn't Mike g involved in that like thing where
they're sharing, because they do share a lot, but they
don't share all, Like what is the decision making?

Speaker 4 (56:37):
Probably I have a theory.

Speaker 5 (56:38):
Nobody knows.

Speaker 4 (56:39):
Here's the theory. My theory is that when it comes
to scoopage, like you got to have that dog in you.
M and rap Sheet and pell Raiser are both highly
competitive and there had to be some type of brokerage
behind the scenes, so neither would, you know, get upset

(57:04):
with the other and but you still see it bubble
up in moments like that on live television where it
can't be managed. Mike, on the other hand, I feel
like he doesn't have that dog in him as a newsbreaker,
Like he can do it and if he wanted to,
he could absolutely be like the other two. But he
chooses a different path in life and.

Speaker 5 (57:23):
He wants that dinner. He wants to turn off the
phone with his wife and have a nice dinner.

Speaker 4 (57:27):
That's what I think. That's what.

Speaker 6 (57:29):
Well, So when you're eighty, what when I'm not saying
good or bad on anybody.

Speaker 4 (57:32):
But that's just how I how I see it.

Speaker 5 (57:35):
This is not a common on any of them.

Speaker 6 (57:36):
But I would say that Mike Garrifolo seems completely secure
with whatever role he's chosen.

Speaker 4 (57:41):
I also think it should be said in fairness that
I would imagine that Ian and Tom enjoy having dinner
with their family too.

Speaker 6 (57:48):
I would do say that's probably true. We're not suggesting
that's not the case, all right.

Speaker 4 (57:52):
Uh, Moving on, the Panthers sign guard Robert Hunt to
a five year, one hundred million dollar deal with sixty
three million guaranteed. That seems like a lot, but that
you know, that's the guards are getting paid. Giants signed
Andrew Van Ginkel to twenty million over that's your boy, Mark,

(58:16):
that's your boy. And and also guard John Runyon gets
seventeen million guarantee guaranteed. In addition, of course, he has
to Devin single Tour Devin Singletary joining the Fray at
running back.

Speaker 5 (58:31):
I love the Hunt signing.

Speaker 6 (58:33):
I mean, the Panthers I thought were lost from a
front office perspective for years in a row. But he
had the lowest pressure rate all out of any offensive
lineman in the league last year. And you know that
whole offense needs help. I don't love Van Ginkle going
to the Giants right now. I mean I grew up
with the Giants, but it's like I want Van Ginkle

(58:53):
plugged into a Super Bowl ready operation or watching him
in January next season.

Speaker 4 (58:57):
So let me see a Van gingkle fan. Are you Mark?

Speaker 6 (59:00):
This is the least one of the He's one of
my favorite players in the league. I've mentioned this, you
know a couple of.

Speaker 4 (59:04):
What is it about? What is it about Van Ginkle
that really name your engine? Like Christmas?

Speaker 5 (59:09):
His name is sort of his whole like aura person.
Some similarities to previous Mark favorites like Toby Gerhart and
whatnot on the defensive side, But you know that's.

Speaker 6 (59:19):
Not where we're going, by the way, Just like I think,
I like I said, though, there were how many Dolphins games,
especially under Brian Floores, were like suddenly Van ginkels having
like a crazy second half where he's like blowing people
up and making plays like he just stands out to
me and it's go.

Speaker 4 (59:34):
Do it for the Giants. Its officially your guy.

Speaker 5 (59:38):
I like the Giants Giants fan should feel. The Singletary
contract to me was one of the most mystifying of
the entire day. Like I know it'll be backloaded, but
like you really didn't have to pay that much money
for Devin Singletary. I do like the Van Ginkle signing,
and I do like the John we let.

Speaker 4 (59:54):
The running back seat? Can we let one you know,
a couple of slight overpay.

Speaker 5 (01:00:00):
Clearly, like there was like seven guys that were worth
paying available and he was like the eighth or whatever,
you know what I mean. Like, and they like, if
you're gonna pay him that much money, just pay an
extra couple million to keep Saquon Barkley. That part I
didn't get, but Runyan was at a more fair price.
And the Hunt deal, it sounds crazy. Everyone was like,
whoa Robert Hunt? But when they don't put the specifics,
They didn't put the guaranteed money in the at least

(01:00:22):
in terms of how it was structured. They did say
sixty it's probably you know, the last couple of years
are fake and he's a big time player, a big
time guard, and guards are getting paid, I think just
because so many of them hit the market that are
actually quality starters, and there just aren't many positions where
like young in prime players hit the market and there
happened to be like ten guards who were playing at

(01:00:45):
a pretty high level. But like the Dolphins lost so
many players today, maybe this is the time to just
mention it. The one of the Dolphins beat writers, I
think it was Joe Shad pointed out the Dolphins need
right now after are losing all these players today, two
starting defensive tackles. Of course, they just lost Wilkins. They

(01:01:06):
also lost Banginkle, a starting cornerback. They had cut Zaving Howard,
a starting safety, Brandon Jones landed in Denver. Two starting guards,
a starting in sidelinebacker, a starting center, two heavy usage
edge players, and three backup wide receivers. That's that's what
they think the Dolphins redaate.

Speaker 4 (01:01:26):
They think they're in trouble. Now, wait till they give
two a forty million a year for like three years.

Speaker 5 (01:01:32):
Might be partly what they're saving up for it, and
they will make some signings. It's not like they're just
gonna like sit out free agency.

Speaker 6 (01:01:38):
But then also Buffalo is Buffalo has had to. I
know everyone's like the cap doesn't matter, it doesn't even exist.

Speaker 4 (01:01:43):
It's a ghost. But like that's that's the Buffalo. No
Greg says that cap does matter. No, No, I say
it's like it doesn't matter. I don't.

Speaker 5 (01:01:53):
I think either one of them is a little too simplified.

Speaker 6 (01:01:56):
But say, Buffalo has had to make some moves cap
because of the cap, They've had to make some moves
and lose some players. And it's like a year ago
it was like will every team in the AFC East
make the playoffs? It's like Buffalo is not better right
now on any level, and the Dolphins are missing like
twelve players.

Speaker 5 (01:02:12):
Not good.

Speaker 4 (01:02:12):
Really, you hate to see it. Another move at interior line,
Rams sign Jonah Jackson for thirty four million guaranteed on
a fifty one million dollar deal. Was he good last year?
Was it like? What is that?

Speaker 5 (01:02:26):
He's been very consistent, I would say throughout his career.
He definitely missed some time for Detroit last year, but
he's played a lot and always been thought of as
a good guard. That price and Kevin Dotson's price for
the Ram really surprised me. They got very similar money.
But I think they're gonna let their center Coleman Shelton,
I'm guessing leave, and they're gonna move their guard last year,

(01:02:46):
who was a rookie Steve Avila, who look great, and
move him to center and suddenly you've got on paper
one of the best interior offensive lines in the league.
They must have thought they really hit on something last
year with an interior offensive line that was playing well,
that's like their thing. That's what they decided to spend
all this cap space on, was interior offensive line. It's
pretty interesting.

Speaker 4 (01:03:07):
Well how about this mark you mentioned the Bills? What
are they? You know, are they better? Are they worse?
You know? The Dolphins? Well, how about keeping Dion Dawkins
in the building. There's some positive news in Buffalo. Was
reported first by Schefter that the Bills signed Dawkins to
a three year, sixty point five million dollar contract extension

(01:03:28):
and this has been a durable rock on their team.
Also a bit of a weird kind of story around
this one, because yesterday, I think it was.

Speaker 5 (01:03:38):
Now when was it, good morning? It was five minutes
before the news or like twenty minutes before the news
actually came out that he's resigned with the Bills.

Speaker 4 (01:03:47):
Talk about your all time shaky bits. Five minutes before
he goes on social media and basically announces his career
with Buffalo is over which I don't know who. I mean,
where the laughs are You're essentially antagonizing and bumming out
your fans in Buffalo, and then it turns out, unless

(01:04:07):
there's something more to the story, that was all just
an elaborate ruse, because then the report comes out that
he is staying indeed in Buffalo and will continue to
anchor that line.

Speaker 6 (01:04:18):
So cool, bit, bro, It's a it's a faulty bit
because there's enough players out there on Twitter, you know,
making it clear that they're learning news at the same
time that civilians are at the same time we are.
And like, I guarantee, unless he you know, set up
this like faulty bit with everyone on the roster ahead
of time, which seems unlikely because the whole thing was

(01:04:39):
sort of a mess, Like he's got teammates floating out
there thinking that he's leaving the team for a while.

Speaker 5 (01:04:44):
We so what about for like twenty minutes? You're right,
Daikwon Jones actually did respond to his tweet, being like,
what the heck man? The tweet that he sent out
was it was good while it lasted, Buffalo piece excited
for this next chapter of my football career. I wonder
if it's okay to eat Ran now. And I think
he even did a press conference today and he just
said I just woke up and felt like being a troll.

Speaker 4 (01:05:05):
You know, he just wow, Just do you ever get
it happened to me once, but I think a lot
of people can relate to it. You have a buddy
who breaks up with his girlfriend and the girlfriend sucks,
and then you kind of share that with them after
they break up, and then they get back together, and
but you've shared the information your true feelings. You know.

(01:05:28):
He also risked one of his teammates, like Stefan Diggs,
for example, being like, whatever, bro, we didn't like you anyway,
and that would have made a massive situation. I'm just saying, like,
you risked, you open the door for that scenario. You know.

Speaker 5 (01:05:42):
Yep, you might not, but no, no, you're right. And
it reminds me of people that ask you what you
think of different possible baby names before they actually name
their baby. Don't give an opinion. There's a chance that
that ends up being their baby's name, and then they
will remember that for their child's entire life. And you'll

(01:06:02):
even you know, you'll know that looking at that child there,
so you did that. This happened to you? You were
the sea name. No no, but I do know it
was a close a close friend.

Speaker 4 (01:06:12):
This happened to.

Speaker 5 (01:06:14):
Lough Sitch, classic gull time, tough stitch. Just that's like
a no win situation. Oh yeah, I don't like that name.
It's like, oh, what do you name your baby? Oh yeah,
that name I mentioned well.

Speaker 4 (01:06:23):
Also the situation just a little more context. What gets
tricky is when you're having that conversation with your buddy,
and of course this can happen with you know, the
fair Sex as well. In a reverse scenario. You you're
trying to cheer him up, and you're trying because he's
down in the dumps about it, and he's like, I
can't believe it didn't work out, and and you're like,

(01:06:44):
and you're just trying to make him feel like he
didn't lose the greatest thing he ever had. So you're
also trying to feed him from that side, and then
it all blows up in your face. So just be
careful with that baby name thing. Sure that as well.
There's a lot of minefields out there.

Speaker 5 (01:07:01):
The bills, by the way, are also bringing back aj Epanessa,
which is breaking right as we're talking.

Speaker 4 (01:07:07):
So, uh, that's.

Speaker 5 (01:07:08):
Another point in my thing that the cap is real,
but teams keeping play.

Speaker 4 (01:07:13):
My thing that the cap is real in my favor.

Speaker 5 (01:07:16):
Is like, Okay, they signed, they got rid of all
these guys in Buffalo. It's like, oh, this is this
is sad. The cap is is very hard, That's all true.
Dion Dawkins who is getting paid a lot of money
but actually still playing at a very high level that
they think will continue. They figured out a way to
change his contract around, give him even more money because
he's playing at such a high level. So if you

(01:07:37):
have players you want to keep, you keep them like
they kept Upanessa too.

Speaker 4 (01:07:41):
I'm Switzerland in the is the cap real or not?
Camp I just don't give a all right, let's let's
keep let's keep moving, Let's keep it because we must.
Michael Pittman, this works out for everybody. We didn't need
to figure out whether Mike Pittman was really good or not.
Are worth a lot of money, just let the cults

(01:08:03):
keep them, and they seem to like him. So Michael
Pittman gets a three year, forty six million dollar deal, uh,
or a three year deal forty six million of it guaranteed.
Where does that stack up, Gregie in terms of the
wide receiver market, is that tier two as to use
a Steve smithism, is that tier two money? Tier one low?
Tier one or tier two money?

Speaker 5 (01:08:23):
Yeah, it's like on that borderline. I think it'll wait
makes making like tier two money. It's perfect for Michael Pittman.
It's like a little more than the franchise tag. But
it's not like you're the man.

Speaker 4 (01:08:33):
Is Michael Pittman the Dalton line for wide receivers like
have as you're like number one.

Speaker 5 (01:08:40):
Guy for number one it's a little weird to make
number one receivers the Dalton line. But yes, for like
a number one to number two receiver, I think he
would he would be that line.

Speaker 4 (01:08:50):
Wait, do we have a new offseason series.

Speaker 5 (01:08:53):
It's time like spending the Darne universe right to say
you're a number one, then you're like in the top
you know, in theory two twenty five in the league
whatever it's gonna be. So yeah, sounds like a chore.

Speaker 4 (01:09:05):
But to the point where the Dalton line is that
at that point you don't have a solution as a
true playmaker, Mark, it's something for you.

Speaker 5 (01:09:13):
It's s'er confusing because every team needs two to three
receivers and he's not the sixteenth best receiver in the league.
Isn't that where the Jaguars are.

Speaker 6 (01:09:21):
They don't have an They don't have a number one
teams out there like the do the Titans have it?
Did you consider DeAndre Hopkins the number one?

Speaker 5 (01:09:28):
At this point? Christian Kirk looks more like the Dalton
line someone.

Speaker 4 (01:09:31):
I'm just like, this might be something to chew on.
That's all Mark, something to chew on. You want me
to say it's a fully formed idea, but something really
to get in the lab and try to see if
we could make.

Speaker 5 (01:09:41):
I will heavily consider it. While we're on the Colts,
they're sort of like, to me, one of the more
forgettable teams from the twenty twenty three seasons. Sorry, I
know you were in the mix, but once once Richardson
was hurt, it was just to me, they weren't a
fun watch. They've had those the Colts. I'm saying sorry
to the Colts.

Speaker 4 (01:09:58):
To the Cults. Yes, I think Mark was in on
the Cults as well.

Speaker 5 (01:10:02):
They've had the most boring Day one of free agency too,
which is they just resigned all their players. They resigned
Taekwon Lewis, they resigned Grover Stewart to a surprisingly big deal.
But I like Grover Stewart, and they resigned Pittman. So
it's just like Chris baal is just like we like
our guys. Let's let's stick with.

Speaker 4 (01:10:17):
Him and hopefully Richardson's healthy and and maybe we take
the leap. They comported themselves with grace and dignity considering
the injury mark.

Speaker 5 (01:10:27):
And that was my comment.

Speaker 6 (01:10:28):
And I thought that their defense was, you know, nasty
on a week to week basis, and they made the
playoffs with a backup quarterback.

Speaker 5 (01:10:35):
They didn't a lot about that team. They did not
make the playoffs, but they were felt it felt like
it was a battle. It was like the play in
game for the NBA, the battle for the fourteenth seed
in the NFL.

Speaker 4 (01:10:47):
Which they barely lost. Tough stitch for them. But Garner,
there's no such thing as barely lost. Either one or
you lost.

Speaker 5 (01:10:58):
In this case barely that it all right.

Speaker 4 (01:11:01):
We got to take one more break and then we'll
finish the news. All right, we're back, let's close this out.
This is more in the in the realm, of speculation,
but keep an eye on it because we've been talking
about wide receivers all show and that market is fast
drying up. But there are still teams out there that
are desperate to add wide receivers. So t Higgins, who

(01:11:25):
got tagged by the Bengals, their number two guy, that's
a good example. T Higgins is the number two on
his team, but I think he's almost certainly better than
Michael Pittman, right like or you know, I thines, yes,
that type of thing. So Tiggins Higgins is that type
of guy. So when he he looks around at the landscape,
he says, all right, you're gonna tag me, but you're

(01:11:46):
not willing to give me the long term deal. I request,
I request the trade, he said, he declared it. So
we'll see did they grant him that request.

Speaker 5 (01:11:57):
Well, he's a free he's a franchise tag, so he's
it's kind of funny because he's allowed to. We don't
need to get you don't need to give permission. I mean,
you get it a little early. But any team can
sign a franchise tag player he's unsigned. They just to
give up a lot, but they can. They could.

Speaker 4 (01:12:14):
But he has the tag fixed to him. Correct, Correct,
they have to give them and grant him. Grant the
team that has affixed the tag. Doesn't it preclude that
player from being in the mix and free agency with
a certain designation.

Speaker 5 (01:12:27):
Well, in theory, teams could sign him to an offer
sheet and they would have to give up two first
round picks, which everyone knows is going to be too
rich for t Higgins. So yes, I guess the Bengals
would have to give permission on some level to talk
about different trade terms. But we know how this works.

Speaker 4 (01:12:43):
They but liked with Kansas City as another example in
this realm. They're on board with this. Yes, we don't
have any indications that the Bengals are entertaining offers, but
he would like to be on the move.

Speaker 6 (01:12:54):
But the Chiefs or the Bengals could accept less than
the you know two number one like remember this happened
with Jimmy Graham back in the day. Was like they
could if they really wanted to move Higgins or it
became a thing like you can accept your different terms.

Speaker 5 (01:13:06):
Right, you can do what you want. Matt Castle, I think,
was one of those guys back in the day knowing
the Bengals they're not gonna him like declaring the trial
is right is only going to make them be like, sorry, bro,
we want you for one more year. I don't think
they're going to do anything. This makes them want.

Speaker 4 (01:13:22):
Him more, like, oh, you really want to go, You're
not going anywhere. Eric Armstead, also of the Niners. He
is expected to be released by San Francisco, so he'll
he'll enter the fray. The Commander's sign.

Speaker 5 (01:13:39):
Yes, I think he's in my top thirty of my
free agency list. I was quite surprised he was still
playing pretty well last year. They did sign Leonard Floyd
as we were taping, to a two year, twenty million
dollar contract, so they basically decided to get a similar
ish player. I know, Floyd's more of an outside guy,
but good run stopper, but for much less money than
Armstead was making. But a weird move.

Speaker 4 (01:14:00):
Weird move. I'm looking at a name right now that
I'm really I'm in trouble. I'm gonna say it right now.
The Commander's signed former Cowboys defensive end Doran This is
this One's not that he's easy. Durrance Durrance Dorance Armstrong
Darrence Armstrong thirty three million over three years, but also
center tyler.

Speaker 5 (01:14:24):
Biadaci and as Biaci as we were taping. Also our
number one or my number one out off ball linebacker
Frankie Luvu to a three year, thirty six million dollar contract,
so they're active if nothing else, and two of those
guys were dan Quinn's players in Dallas Armstrong. I thought

(01:14:45):
was is a nice value there. I really liked how
he played.

Speaker 6 (01:14:48):
Frankie Luvu is sort of for me like a Van
Gingkle type where it's like, I, I really I think
Frankie Luvu is an excellent addition, big higher constantly creating problems.

Speaker 5 (01:15:00):
Why are you making a face? I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:15:03):
I just like I like Mark's kind of nebulos guys.

Speaker 6 (01:15:09):
I got stuck watching the Panthers a lot early in
the year last year, and I just noted that, like
whenever he's writing my notes for our show, like Louvu
kept just doing things over and over, and I think
it's like a I don't know, I never I never
trust the Commanders as a landing spot, but I have
to remove what's happened my like the last twenty years
up until now.

Speaker 5 (01:15:27):
We'll see, right, these these actually seem like the sort
of like mid wattage, the solid NFL players that are
improving and in the middle of the career that you
want in free agency, very uncommanders like so I think
I think it's a nice day for the commanders. I
really liked Armstrong coming into this whole thing. He was
one of my guys that I wanted.

Speaker 4 (01:15:45):
Uh, pinch me. Patriots talk. Kendrick Bourne resigns with the
Pats nineteen million over over three years. He's coming off
in ACL, so it is an ACL, right, so hopefully
he'll be healthy and a contributor. DeVante Parker another a
big time move that they made a couple of years back,
did not work out, so he's been released. Greg I

(01:16:08):
mean Bill Belichick.

Speaker 5 (01:16:08):
Signing Devonte Parker to another contract the last offseason is
you know, one of the more regrettable moves that didn't
involve the name Juju Smith Schuster for the Patriots. Patriots
also added Antonio Gibson. Oh yeah, that's kind of fun.

Speaker 4 (01:16:24):
I do like wide receiver room is pretty rough the
last few years in general, just the decisions and the
production and the highlight plays or lack thereof.

Speaker 5 (01:16:34):
It's pretty rough. I do like them as the last
second fields option, although I wouldn't want that to stop
them from from drafting one.

Speaker 4 (01:16:42):
You know you brought up Belichick. Imagine you know Kirk
Cousins signed with Bill Belichick's team today. That would have
been cool if the Falcons made that move. But maybe
Raheem Morris will be better. All right, Eight o'clock to
light hit it. The Colts signs Aiar Franklin three years,

(01:17:02):
thirty one million. The jag signed former Bill center Mitch
Morse ten million over two years. Graham Glasgow re signed
by Detroit twenty million bucks he gets in that deal.
The Bengals bring back tight Andrew Sample on a three
year contract. The Patriots signed Antonio Gibson the running back
Cardinals signed cornerbacks Sean Murphy, Bunting and Bilal Nichols. The

(01:17:24):
Colts hang on to defensive lineman Tyquin Lewis and Grover Stewart,
and the Texans signed one time top three pick of
the lines Jeffer Kuda to a contract. They also bring
in former Titan Denico Autry.

Speaker 5 (01:17:41):
Like that Autry move, I like those, you know, Textan
seems like you're doing smart things. Very deserting.

Speaker 4 (01:17:52):
Team, a little weird to me the Grenard thing, but
they must know something that we don't.

Speaker 5 (01:17:57):
Also, if you're a fan and your team didn't make
this show, or or you're Nick Westling and you're texting us,
I mean, what are the what is the Bengals plans like?

Speaker 4 (01:18:04):
Same old stuff. Just calm down.

Speaker 5 (01:18:07):
They want a free agency. There's gonna be a lot
of more stuff that's gonna happen.

Speaker 4 (01:18:12):
The Jets signed Greg Zerline, but they bring back Greg
the leg and I think Will Lutz had a change
of heart. Should we leave that as a cliffhanger? Yes,
you need to find that out on your own.

Speaker 5 (01:18:26):
The report was he was going to go to Jacksonville
and and Sean Payton would not let his man go,
and he brought him back to Denver. Dan, you we're
gonna give us here Derrick Henry fantasy.

Speaker 4 (01:18:37):
Oh why don't we do it? When I when I
say I'll go one, two, three, go, and then we'll
all say where we think is the perfect landing spot
for Derrick Henry. Okay, well, all right, Greg, sit it
out because you can't go along with anything, all right?

Speaker 5 (01:18:52):
Me and you Mark Eddy, I to think of something
one two three go ings.

Speaker 4 (01:18:58):
Yeah, it just makes so much sense, does can't you
You talk about you were talking about Big Ben, you
were struggling with him in Pittsburgh, Like God, he just
he would. You could pour him into that Raven's purple
and it just today. You could see him running in
January and finally getting him over the hump and closing
out some ball games, and.

Speaker 6 (01:19:15):
They's Baltimore is the perfect place to pick up a veteran.
That's apparently everyone else, including the Smart Titans, have decided
we're done with this guy. And he rolls into a
Baltimore operation that probably goes two playoff games deep because
of him. I love the fit. You could see it
today and he would destroy people left and right post November.

Speaker 5 (01:19:37):
And you kind of alluded to this regarding the Giants earlier.
We have had some mild confirmation from Albert Breer that
that Brian Burns and the Panthers are in talks with
the Giants for a possible trade, but nothing finalized. And
that's been apparently going on for a while, so that

(01:19:57):
that would be a spicy meatball.

Speaker 4 (01:19:59):
I mean, you know, cave On Thibodeau, friend of the show,
is strong, but certainly took a big leap forward in
year two Thibodeaux and Burns. Okay, there you go, Giants fans,
that would be something to hang your hat on. Now
we'll see what the what the Panthers are asking for?

(01:20:19):
I mean, would that cost them geez? First round pick?

Speaker 5 (01:20:24):
I could see it. Maybe next year's first round picks.

Speaker 4 (01:20:27):
Yeah, they can't do it this year, right, It would
maybe a two this year and a one next year
and then all of a sudden, this that's all.

Speaker 5 (01:20:33):
It's like, go ahead of ourselves. It's not going to
be that much. It's not gonna be that much. I
know they turned down two first but the markets it's
different now. It's because you have to pay them right now,
and it's just different. You might be able to get
him for a two, and then I would be I
would be happy with that if.

Speaker 4 (01:20:46):
I love Panthers management turning down two first round picks
for Brian Burns.

Speaker 5 (01:20:52):
And just remember Dan, it's cave on Burns and Van Ginkel.

Speaker 4 (01:20:57):
Hmmm.

Speaker 5 (01:20:59):
Now we're now, Now we've got something going on in
New York. Things are. The tide is turned in this
very day for Singletary, because hey, you got it, you
gotta get a Singletary in the building right right off
the bat. You drafted them in Buffalo and you don't
want to pay sake.

Speaker 4 (01:21:12):
On I think unless they they're going to get a quarterback,
the Giants, I think they got to really think hard
now and checking in on Justin Fields if they haven't already,
that could be all right. All right. See, there's a
lot more to come in and as soon as we
finish this podcast, more news will break and it will

(01:21:34):
be annoying. But also we did threatened vengeance upon any
newsmakers and you know teams that break our our code
of not dropping news right after we finished recording. So
hopefully news breaks overnight at the earliest or early tomorrow,
and then we'll be back. We're getting on a board.

(01:21:54):
We're getting on a bird tomorrow, hopefully with a trophy
in hand as we go to the iHeartRadio Awards tonight.
Had a nice time last night. They had a private
party and it was you know, all the nice, nice
little crowd, intimate gathering at this really nice hotel, Saint
Cecilia Hotel here in downtown Austin, and we saw the

(01:22:15):
Black Keys, who did a nice forty five minute set
of you know, good like Heartland Americana rock. Good stomped
to it, a good kind of dirty Detroit style rock
from the Cleveland based Black Keys. Mark was enjoying himself.
Greg seemed to be okay with it. Everybody was. I
enjoyed it.

Speaker 5 (01:22:35):
What are you talking about?

Speaker 4 (01:22:36):
You had a great time? Well you you were to
You know what I noticed because I moved, I moved it.
You were on the side of the stage. And then
when I rotated around to the front of the stage
for the second half of the show, it was like, Oh,
these guys actually sound great. From the side of the stage.
You couldn't hear it as well, and I was like, ah,
Greg would have really like this.

Speaker 5 (01:22:56):
Well, you flagged us. We should have texted down. It
was only like twenty feet away, or just come come over.

Speaker 4 (01:23:01):
You seem to be because I could see you. I
had a good sight line. It was a very small gathering,
and you seem to be engrossed conversation. So I said,
I'm gonna let Greg be. But then I did. I
caught the Cess Dog's eye and I waved my arms
and Cess Dog rolls over and yeah, you know, we
had a great time.

Speaker 5 (01:23:19):
I miss quite an interesting crowd I'll leave it right there.
It's always it's always tricky at a concert. Do you
want to be on the side and have like a
direct view, you know, we were only like what twenty
feet from I remember whatever, fifteen feet from him? Or
if you're a smaller man like myself, do you want
to go in the more ass in the front and

(01:23:39):
either not be able to see or burrow your way
up to the front, which is possible when you're you know,
a troll like figure like myself. You know, there's a
lot of decisions that go into it. I just felt
like a chill night. I'm just gonna chill on the
side with a great sight line. But you're right, probably
no judgments, bro, no judgments at all. And tonight we're
gonna meet up with our old buddy Mats Tanton, who's

(01:24:00):
worked on our show in the past.

Speaker 4 (01:24:01):
He's living out here now. We're trying to get some
good Texas barbecue, and then yeah, head to the award show. Mark,
you have predicted victory for us, as I understand.

Speaker 6 (01:24:11):
I feel strongly that we will win. That's what I've
said that the feeling grows. Initially I thought we had
no chance. We're going against you know, Travis and Jason Kelsey,
who seemed to have Like America in their vice grip
at the moment. So it would be an incredible upset.
But I believe that we're that type of We're that
type of show. We've always been that type of show,
and we're hours away from a colossal American story.

Speaker 4 (01:24:35):
Now.

Speaker 5 (01:24:36):
When I found out Club says is like Us also
distributed by iHeart, but even more directly, I thought that
was possibly a bad bit of news for us. Mark
brought up this theory that we're going to win around
a couple of iHeart executives, I believe last night, and

(01:24:56):
one of the women said, you know, it's just all
about being dominated. I oh, shoot, she that.

Speaker 4 (01:25:01):
That's not a week go.

Speaker 5 (01:25:02):
That's not because I think she knows. I think she knows.

Speaker 4 (01:25:08):
I believe that we will lose. I believe that we
will will lose. Uh tight end. Will Disley agrees to
a three year, fourteen million dollar contract with the Chargers.
So Greg did not give Disley any respect h in
his free agency one oh one, but obviously the Chargers
thought highly of him. And I do believe that Jim
Harbaugh knows a little bit about ball, So heads up

(01:25:29):
on that.

Speaker 5 (01:25:29):
I mean, I agree, he just didn't make the one
oh one, I mean.

Speaker 4 (01:25:35):
Two thirteen he made us. We had a nice blurb,
I said.

Speaker 5 (01:25:38):
Colby Parkinson from the Rams, So I mean, let's not
get too crazy. I do think the Chargers are going
to be the team of the next couple of days.
By the way, maybe they'll sign the Neil Hunter. They'll
sign some like crazy players and make some trades. They're
going to do lots of crazy stuff.

Speaker 4 (01:25:52):
Mark your will, your will? Disley, Uh, what was your blurb?
Blurb was unbelievable. It's unfortunately it's going to be lost
and the edit, but that's okay. It's part of the process.

Speaker 6 (01:26:02):
I think you just have to enjoy the process and
realize that some of your better work is going to
be you know, invisible, but not to yourself.

Speaker 4 (01:26:10):
We've lost we've lost roughly twenty one hundred words of
content so far with guys coming off the board.

Speaker 5 (01:26:16):
But you guys are like Sophia Coppola's Elvis movie, was it?
Was it good?

Speaker 6 (01:26:20):
Was it? Baud?

Speaker 5 (01:26:20):
Who knows? Because an Elvis movie came out like right
before it and no one wanted another Elvis movie.

Speaker 4 (01:26:27):
I'll just go again, Mark, I got this No, just
a no, Actually I saw the Coppola.

Speaker 5 (01:26:33):
It is a solid B minus.

Speaker 4 (01:26:35):
That is Coppola. Coppola. Sorry, yeah, Coppola. All right, that's it.
That's it for this show. Yes, we'll be back. If
we have a trophy, that would be amazing. Like with
the Oscars that just happened on Sunday, they everyone gets
an Oscar right when you win, like if you win, yes,

(01:26:55):
you know, best cinematography, Like everyone on the team gets
an Oscar, right, Like we're gonna get three trophy right.

Speaker 6 (01:27:00):
Yeah, Like everyone in our building apparently, even people deep
in the IT department have Emmys, and we are the
three people without Emmys apparently in the entire building. Right,
and so yes, they give it to everyone except for us, apparently,
So this is our vengeance? Yes are you asking? Well
one of the three, one of us get a trophy
and who's I.

Speaker 5 (01:27:20):
Mean supporting actor? You know, just one guy gets it?

Speaker 4 (01:27:25):
There? Well, we could keep it in the Chris West
podcast studio, or we could kind of have a rotating
We could have Eric maybe work up an Excel spreadsheet
and we could kind of share it throughout their year.

Speaker 5 (01:27:37):
Have you know, just cut it into three parts and
we each take apart home.

Speaker 4 (01:27:43):
Yeah, well that's an option as well. Big Funk chimes
in in the chat, like the Stanley Cup. Yeah, you
take it home, you get drunk with it, you have it,
you have a good old time with your friends, and
then you hand it to the next person, hopefully without
a dent.

Speaker 6 (01:27:58):
Don't do you get it into the music? Don't they
have enough at this point? They have enough? Who the
Kelsey's they've been given, they're not going to get. You
got forty speeches. I don't like anything you do. One
interview that goes viral and now we're going to give
him awards.

Speaker 5 (01:28:15):
I think it's very popular in general.

Speaker 4 (01:28:17):
But Eric, you could hit the music literally anytime.

Speaker 5 (01:28:20):
There is a trade though. We have developing news. The
Lions are acquiring cornerback Carlton Davis from the Bucks, according
to the Pell Raiser, and he's not sharing this scoop.
He's putting this out all by himself. That's a player
who makes, you know, over fifteen million dollars a year.
That's what some deep people would consider a number one
cornerback at the Big Time Trader.

Speaker 4 (01:28:40):
You're getting played off like it's the OSCARS. Congratulations Hill.
Tomorrow he the call.

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