Mock Drafts, Free Agency moves, a special message, and Ryan Wilson's bold predictions

Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports, joins Matt Tabeek to discuss his mock drafts, free agency excitement, and shares a few bold predictions. Matt Tabeek closes out the episode with a special message for Atlanta Falcons fans. 0:00 Intro 1:33 Topics 1:42 Rapid Fire 10:28 Mock Drafts 16:24 Atlanta Falcons Scenarios  34:30 Free Agency 40:25 Bold Predictions 53:00 Special Message from Tabeek

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome to Wow number thirty one, the thirty first
episode of Burg Noises, presented by Bows in Atlanta Falcons
podcast about football and mostly everything else. In these days,
it's mostly football. Today we are joined by a good
friend of mine, a really smart dude who has covered

(00:21):
the NFL for CBS Sports dot Com. You can find
him on Cbsports dot com and CBS Sports HQ Live.
He also is on the Pick six podcast, which is
awesome and I'm sure every NFL fan has downloaded and
listened to and if you haven't, you need to because

(00:43):
it's really really good. Ryan, you have been at CBS
Sports since two thousand and eleven, and I know that
you are so also are really smart dude. You went
to William and Mary and Carnegie Mellon, so you are
definitely the smartest guest whoever about that Bird Noises. Welcome

(01:04):
to the podcast, dude, good to see it. Thank you, Matt.
Good to talk to you, brother. I haven't talked to
you in a while. Yeah it's been been a minute,
as the kids say, but it's good to say. Yeah. Good.
How's the weather and upstate New York it's twenty degrees
right now. Um, let's see today we're recording this on
a Tuesday. On Sunday, I had to take my nine
year old to the get his hand checked out. He

(01:24):
fell down. Seth of nine year old's literally a blizzard.
So last week we had one day at fifty five
and I thought we'd turned the corner and we are
right back in the middleave. So wow. So on today's show,
we're gonna talk mock drafts, free ac get some bold
predictions from Ryan Wilson to wrap it up. But first
I want to do a little rapid fire with you. Ryan.

(01:46):
We are gonna I'm gonna give you five words or
phrases and this is always fun for us to do
so and I kind of you kind of see where
the guest's head is at too, So I'm gonna give
you those. You just say the first thing that comes
to your mind, don't worry about you know it being
you're not, you know, not suitable for work. Um, so

(02:09):
these are actually easy ones. So the Patriots in the
last twenty four hours there's they're stood in a message like, uh,
you know, I want to expand too much. But last
year you kicked them when they were down in their
back Arthur Smith. What's the person gomes with Arthur Smith.
I love the mustache, I love home depot. I think

(02:29):
he wants to win, and I think he's made that
clear in the off season. We'll just see how, you know,
the new front office, coaching staff and personnel acquisitions work out.
But he you know, don't mistake him as a nice
guy in terms of football stuff because at the end
of the day, you know, don't don't be fooled by
the smile. That was Arthur Blank, wasn't it. Oh yeah,

(02:52):
I did, Arthur Blank. Hey, bye bye, Arthur Smith. It's
important to start with the guys in the checks. Didn't
you move down the line? Yes? So yeah, Arthur Smith.
That was great for Arthur Blank. Well, Arthur Smith, I
love fed X. You got down the line. You got
down the line. H Here's the funny thing about Arthur Smith.

(03:15):
I'll make this short. He proved himself in Tennessee because
I think there were some doubters and maybe uh he
didn't deserve the job or whatever. But however he got,
he got there, he proved himself, and he parlayed that
into a well deserved pack coaching job. I think so too.
I mean you look at the job he do with
Ryan Ryan Tannehill, and then Derrick Henry really wasn't the
Derrick Henry we know until he got his hands on him.

(03:36):
So all right, let's get going. Tastom Hill's contract hilarious.
It sort of proves that the salary cap is is uh,
you know, you can it's magic. He can do with
what you want. It's sort of funny. I wish he'd
signed him to a four year, four billion dollar deal,
but I'll take four year, one forty. I'm gonna ask
you more about that in a minute. And then the
last thing is Matt Ryan, Um, he's got he's got

(04:01):
something left in the tank. I know, and I do
these mock drafts. I have a lot of times about
a second the quarterback, but I think he's got a
few more years left to prove that he's still one
of the best quarterbacks in the leak. All right, good stuff,
all right, real quick. So the Patriots one hundred and
thirty seven point five million dollars guaranteed in they in

(04:25):
less than twenty four hours. Dude, what is going on? Yeah?
I think And I said this on the Pixix podcast
Monday when we did the little free agency in the
afternoon conversation. This before the Hunter Henry news, and even
before the Kendrick Bourne news. The wide receiver, the other
wide receiver they signed. I said last year twenty twenty
twenty was Bill Belichick saying, Okay, we're down, kick us

(04:47):
go crazy, but you better get your money. He's worth Buffalo.
You better win a super Bowl because you got one year.
So Buffalo is still the best team in my division.
But yeah, I guarantee you they've been watching this closely
and thinking about how they can improve themselves. Because again,
great season for the Bills. The Patriots didn't winning seven games. Again,
even if it's someone other than Cam Newton back there,

(05:10):
I think the way this team is currently constituted is
such an upgrade over what Cam Newton didn't have last year.
And I'm still not convinced Cam Newton was healthy last year.
He looked he was a running back, but he couldn't
throw the ball. And you know, we're five years now,
we're removed from that MVP season, and I think maybe
we get a little closer to that, or at least
less of what we saw last year. And Cam and
I'm part of me wonders if all these moving and

(05:33):
shakings that the Patriots have done the last two days,
it's just more of them being laser focused. I'm trying
to get a quarterback in the draft as well, because
they filled out all these other needs, all this cap space.
So I think they're telling the rest of the league
all right, we're back. I hope you enjoyed it. Two
thoughts on what you just said. Now, we've seen two
seasons now of Cam Newton struggling to throw a little bit, right,

(05:54):
I mean his last year and Caroline he was hurt
to be fair. And then the other thing is Ryan.
How many times you know we said, hey, these guys
are they won free agency? They remember Dan Snyder in
the early days, you know he would you'd always try
to win freeds here, right, that's when you cover the
Redskins and you had hair. I remember those pictures. Thanks
for bringing that up. Yeah, And so you know, is

(06:19):
there a little bit of that too. Do we tap
the brakes a little bit here and say, Okay, they've
they've you know, they've added a ton of talent, but
it still has you still it still has to mash
and Cam is still a question mark for me. No,
that's a great point. And as has been pointed out
to me by other people, if this is at the

(06:39):
other team, we're like, we're pointing out that this is
this is insane, Like this is just as you point
out Washington football team trying to win the offseason, which
they did every year, then every year they would lose
in the regular season. And last year the Dolphins spent
one hundred and forty seven million and they missed the playoffs.
In twenty nineteen, that just spent one hundred and thirty
one million and missed the playoffs. So there's not a
great track record of teams going crazy. But I think

(07:00):
we're at the point in the process where Bill Belichick
gets at the doubt every single time. But he's missed
the Cam Newton thing didn't work out last year. They
re signed him, which I think surprised some people, myself included.
He's missed on some free agent signings over the years,
but they've been able to mask that with Tom Brady.
They couldn't mask it last year without Tom Brady. So
we'll see. I think at the end of the day,
the quarterback situation is still the most important for them,

(07:21):
but their lack of wide receivers the last two years
was you know, uncastionable. I mean, you can't play football
with no wide receivers. They got better there, They got
some edge rush help. So they got two tight ends
now yea, yeah, so Henry and John U. Yeah, and
that's after drafting two tight ends last year. So they're
going on on the tight ends. But I'm willing to

(07:42):
give them the benefit of the doubt. We'll see. I
think ultimately it just depends on Cam. As you point out, though,
So let's pivot Wells before we get start talking mocks,
because I just when I think in mock drafts, I
think and Ryan Wilson will would get into that history
in a second. But the Saints thing, at some point

(08:03):
when you when you give somebody a four year, one
hundred and forty million dollar contract all voidable, what wouldn't
every team be doing that? Or they at some point
you they're gonna have to pay for this? Is it
gonna catch up to them? And or are they just
like banking on like a sillery, a silly salary cap
number years down the road that they just won't feel

(08:25):
it as much. I mean, what explain this to me well,
the monkey wrench in the whole process was COVID nineteen,
the pandemic damping down the salary cap. So it was
one ninety eight I think coming into last year and
there's one eighty two five. I think it's what it
is right now. And yeah, the Saints, you know, that
silly money deal to take some Hill, which is funny,

(08:46):
I get it. But they also had to make some cuts.
I mean they cut Corne Alexander, they cut Manny Sanders,
they cut the North Jenkins, they cut Josh Hill, to
cut Malcolm Brown, I'm looking through the list here. They
had to let Trey Hendrickson walking free agency, so there
was some guy they had to make some tough decisions
that allow them to get Jameis Winston, which sounds funny
to say, but it's reality, and to sort of make

(09:06):
that silly deal with Taysom Hill. But I would imagine
they expected the salary cap to be two ten or
two fifteen or whatever, up from from one ninety eight,
and it went the exact opposite direction. So there are
teams having to make tough decisions. But I think at
the end of the day that you can always do
the math to make it work. We just saw the
Chiefs signed Joe Tuoney and you're like, well, the Chiefs

(09:27):
have no salary cap space. Well, they had to cut
both their tackles, so that helped them. And that's how
teams get around it. They do make tough decisions or
they can't bring players back, but it's never gonna be
the whole cell thing, or almost rarely the whole cell
thing where you have to cut twenty guys and then
you can't do anything. So the Saints aren't in great shape.
But um, and also the retirement of Drew Breeds, I
think it's going to help them after June first. I
think that's what the math works out too. But they're

(09:48):
losing guys they would presumably like to keep. But um,
they're in such a good situation personnel wise, and you know,
the season come off of that, it doesn't feel quite PayPal.
As say, if you're the Texans, who don't appear to
know what they're doing personnel wise and don't have a
ton of character stary cap space. Well, you know who's

(10:10):
loving what's happening in New Orleans right now is or
Falcons fans. They're they're you know, when you see Taysom
Hill signed for four year, one hundred forty million and
all these cuts, no no tears in Atlanta, UT. So
let's let's pivot to mock drafts. And so obviously you're
gonna have to rethink your your Patriots pick now. Um

(10:35):
so when when Ryan Wilson, you've been doing these, you
do a ton and I don't even know what the
number is. What what what are you up to this
year so far? I'm up to verse and twenty eight.
I do when every week, starting with the start of
the college football season, and it sounds insane because it
is insane, but people absolutely and you know this, you
do mock drafts, people absolutely eat it up, typically very angrily,

(10:58):
but you know that's to the point, and that's why
you do it. So is it nuts to do it
every week? Yeah? It is. It probably doesn't make a
lot of sense. And it's what you find yourself doing
is having to mix things up just for the sake
of mixing things up, even if you don't necessarily think
that will happen. But it's also a good exercise for
me because I sort of, over the course of the season,
know what the needs are for the team. See how
they change see which players are playing well for the

(11:19):
NFL teams, and maybe that changes how you view who
they may want once April gets here. But yeah, so
I've been doing this is version twenty eight and you know,
just like Groundhog Day verse and twenty nine will come
out next week. Yeah. I think I may have been
at CBS when we started going every week and then
during the season. So part of me feels a little

(11:40):
guilt and a little joy in this. This is part
of your fault, that's right. So when you're putting this,
obviously you want to talk when you're well, you tell
us when you put it together, what is the method
to the madness? What is tell us how you make
you know, tell us how the sausage comes together? And

(12:03):
is it just is it based on rumors? Is it
based on the headlines? Is it based on team needs?
All of the above? Do you try to you know,
kind of throw things out there that might kind of
arouse some people, all of the above? What is it?
And I want to talk about your your most recent one. Yeah,
so it literally starts the day after the draft. I

(12:23):
put out a mop draft. They went on for the
next season. The day after the most current mop drafts
I did are the most current actual draft. So I
did that in early May, and that's based on guys
that most for the most part, you know, are most
a lot of quarterbacks who returned and guys who returned
who were going to be Day one, Day two guys.
So you sort of go from that. And that's been
the summer. I watch about one hundred guys to get

(12:44):
a head start on the college football season about who
to know, and then I'll talk to some some teams
and some scouts in August about what they're looking at,
and that's how I start the season. So I'll go
every week, and I usually don't start bug and scouts
again until like November December, after they've seen everyone because
they're driving around, they have things to do, they don't

(13:06):
need someone harassing them. And then you occasional't get text
about a guy. And so throughout the course of the
coage football season, it's me watching college football on Saturday.
It's just like everyone else and getting to feel mostly
for the quarterbacks. And then I'll start watching that year's
tape and about November around Thanksgiving, and then right on

(13:27):
through till April, and it's just I think that's really important,
that the amount of time that you do put into
it and the actual studying that you do, Like I
had Matt Miller on here, yeah and yeah, and I
just think that you guys people take for granted the
amount of work that you put into these things that

(13:48):
you're not using some mock draft generator here that you
found online. Here's the thing and when you like when
you were CBS, I was writing the whole bunch. I
write a lot less. Now here's how my days are
to clean now if I'm not doing like HQ video stuff,
which I do a good bit of for non free
agency draft season, but I spend my days. I get

(14:08):
up and I'm usually watching I have a list of
guys that I want that I need to see, and
I watch four or five guys and then that's what
I do. I write them up. And here's my thing. Like,
if you're just doing like if you are an NFL writer,
you don't have time to do this, and you do
mock drafts in the spring, that's awesome. I love that idea,
But you're probably not watching two hundred three hundred guys

(14:30):
because you don't have time. But this is my like,
I'm the draft guy. So I have to make sure
I know who these guys are. I don't. One of
my biggest fears is, you know, being a fraud. I
don't want to say I know something about someone and
don't know them. So if that means having to watch
three games of some Division three guy who has a
chance to be drafted, then that's just you know, there

(14:50):
are worse jobs. As my dad, you should say, you
could be digging ditches. So I'm happy to do it.
So I love it's Actually it was a nice to
change a pace in terms of what I was doing. Yes,
but yeah, that's how I spend the most of my time.
It's not particularly glamorous, and I'll be honest. I've had
a lot of help from people inside the business and
the media and a lot of people that work for
teams that have been extremely helpful to me. And you know,

(15:13):
that's part of it, building relationships and and you know,
trying to because here's my thing, and it's a pretty
good selling point for me as a media person. When
I talked to NFL teams, I always say when I'm
introduced myself, I don't want to break any I don't
care about what you guys are doing on Sundays. I
don't care about how your roster looks. I don't want
to break any news. I just want to bounce off you.

(15:35):
College players don't have questions about and to a person.
Whenever I've reached out to people and they they've gone
back to me, they've been more than happy to do it.
So I love that. Yeah, I'm sure they do because
I don't. I mean, they're helping me out without question.
I always say to them if there's anything I can do,
if you let me know. I don't know what it
would be, but I'm not asking for anything in terms
of them having to put themselves on the line because

(15:57):
they're telling secrets out of school. I don't care about, Like,
that's not my job. My job is to be Adam
Schefter or Jason lackomfor. My job is to be able
to evaluate these kids, and if I see something, I
want to be able to confirm it or have explained
to me why someone else feels differently. And that's the
great thing. By the mocks rafts. People feel differently about
every pick. And I know that I know Falcons fans
do because every time I put a quarterback at number four.

(16:18):
I get a lot of tweets about how it's how
I'm the dumbest person I'm planning at Earth. So I'm
well aware of that what you're not. So let's just
talk about when you're picking a number four in general.
Forget about Atlanta at this point. That's a pretty attractive
position for a lot of reasons. Right you get a
top five pick, it's attractive to other teams that have needs.

(16:43):
You could parlay that into more picks. When you think
about the salary cap situation, that might be attractive. But
right now, you have an organization Ryan who has a
new GM, new coach. They've missed the playoffs last three
years sevenay nine, seven nine and four and twelve. You know,

(17:06):
they had to come in here and obviously present a
plan for short term success and long term success. So
you don't want to like say, hey, we're going to
just pull the band aid off and kick the can
down the road and or that kind of thing. You
want to generate some excitement and you want to you've
still got some pieces here. So when you look at Atlanta, now,

(17:26):
do you think that they trade up, stay put, trade down?
Which one of those scenarios do you think is the
most likely, and then walk me through what you think
you know could happen if they for instance, if you
think that they would seriously trade up with who and
for whom kind of thing. So when you look at

(17:48):
the Falcons right now, just based on where we are,
today's news, where we are in free agency, what do
you think they do? I think right now, I don't
think trading up is that attractive an option at number
four unless you truly love one of these quarterbacks. And
there's so much split decision on these quarterbacks after Trevor
Lawrence that it's hard to tell how a NFL teams feel.

(18:09):
I mean, I've talked, I've talked to teams that people
think I'm crazy, but they actually like Mac Jones better
than Justin Fields and trade Lance because there's a higher
floor with Matt Jones. You know what you're getting. Trey
Lance and Justin Fields are incredibly athletic, haven't played a
ton of football. Matt Jones probably isn't gonna suddenly go
out there and running four four. He's gonna be the
guy that he is, a pocket passer, Whereas Justin Fields
has room to grow in terms of processing and Trey

(18:31):
Lance hasn't played a ton, he only played one season,
didn't play last year. But the athleticism both those guys
is insanely off the charts and exactly what you look for.
So all that said, I don't know where the Falcons
are in that conversation. Now. I just talked Earli about
Matt Ryan, thinking he has a couple more years left
to play, so some of the Falcons, I probably stay
put number one unless someone wants to trade up, in
which case you moved down four or five or six,

(18:53):
or haven't many picks and stockpile a bunch of picks
and continue, as you point out Matt, to rebuild the roster,
and primarily on defense, but obviously there or needs on
offense as well. But I don't think if I'm the Falcons,
I trade up for either whether it's Zack Wilson or
Justin Fields. Maybe someone trades up to two for the
Jets and they moved down, or someone trades up for

(19:15):
three for the Falcons and they moved down and you
miss out on that quarterback. That's the decision you have
to make if you're the Falcons. As a new GM,
a new head coach, do you want to roll with
Matt Ryan. Do you want to bring someone in like
the Packers deal with Jordan Love and have them just
sit there because you're not trading Matt Ryan this year.
There's just salary cappts. It's not feasible. So that's that's
what they're gonna have to figure out. And this, you know,
it's worth noting, but it's also worth adding the caveat

(19:37):
next year's draft class or wide receiver. As we sit
here isn't lights out, but every year two or three
or four guys come along that we didn't expect. Joe
Burrow last year's act, Wilson this year. So there could
certainly be players that come along next year. If you're
planning and saying, hey, I don't I think we should
a quarterack now because next year's classesn't look great. That
always changes, but that could be a conversation that teams
are having about whether to move up or stay pook.

(20:00):
When you look at Terry Fondo, he came up through
the Saints, he was under Mickey Loomis. Does that shed
any light and you know what they might do? Obviously
having Sean Payton there too is a big factor, But
does that shed any light on what they might do
you think or no. I think we should look forward

(20:21):
to the trade for Taysom Hill and give him four year,
one hundred forty million dollars contract all boy one. Let's
hope he handles the salary cap. Let'spe he handles the
salary cap a little better than the Saints do. But
I would imagine the trade off of winning all those
football games might be one worth making. I think a
lot of teams would do that. That's said, the Valgains
were in the Super Bowl not too long ago, so
they're not that far away. It just feels like their

(20:42):
defense hasn't been up to snuff. And I look back
at that Super Bowl game. That defense actually played one
of the best games of the year that year. They
were on the field of Harry Call for ninety nine snaps.
And at some point you're gonna wear down against Tom Brady,
even though for the most part they wore him out,
and just at the end they weren't able to hold on.
And it wasn't the Defensi's fault. You know, we don't

(21:03):
need to reopen that wound. But I think, yeah, yeah,
it'll be interesting to see what font no brains based
on what the experiences you had. I think it's important
to not although not necessarily necessary, but it's important to
have people players front office guys who come from winning
cultures because that's what you want to continue to to

(21:23):
push forward. So um, yeah, I don't have a real
finger on the pulse of what FONTO might be thinking.
But and we don't know yet Free Agency because they
haven't done a whole bunch, so just kind of parted ways. Yeah, well,
what the fight, what the sort of find out altogether?
All right, Well, I'm going to nail you down on
this one real quick, so let's just talk about those

(21:44):
three picks ahead of the Falcons. Just your gut right now?
You think Jacksonville goes and does what Trevor Lawrence, So
I think that's a done deal. I don't. I mean,
they don't take Trevor Lawrence as Pee Prisco or your
former co worker. My coworker now said that Urban Myers
should be fired on the spot, So I think that's
something like that. Come on, I know, right. So the

(22:05):
funny thing is Ebon Meyer went to Trevor Launces pro
day and was front and center. You can see him everywhere.
Trey Lance had this part day last week and Eban
Meyer was off given a Prescott. He wasn't there. He's
not doing that, so I think that's a done deal. Yeah,
all right, pick two Jets head coach. They made some
moves and free HC two. Yeah, this is where things

(22:25):
get really interesting. They got they got a wide receiver.
Who they get? Let me check real quick about this.
Uh Corey? Yeah, they got Corey Davis. That's right. So
they got Corey Davis. They got Karl Lawson the edge rusher,
got Jared Davis out of the linebacker from Detroit. So yeah,
they're making moves. I like the defensive pickups. You mentioned
Robert Solo. He's an offensive guy. But I think that

(22:46):
this is where the draft starts. Are they gonna roll
with Sam Arnold who they have Hendrick for another year
and then can franchise with the soda side or fifth
year option if they want. Are they going to draft
a quarterback whether Sack Wilson or Justin Fields or even
Trey Lance at number two? If you do, can you
move seem Donald? I think that's that's it critically important.
Or do you trade down? Is there a team that
wants to trade up? To number two to get one

(23:08):
of these quarterbacks. My gut has been throughout the process
if you're the Jet to trade down and stick with
Sam Donald, because I think we don't know how six
and first one hundred. They have a ton of cap space.
They've used some of that already. Sam Donald hasn't been great,
but I mean he's had his hands tied behind his
back and had Adam Gase not really work out Greg

(23:28):
Williams to the other side of the ball, not really
working out his defensive coordinator. They're both gone. I just
wonder if you put an offense around him, get another
offensive lineman to book in McKay beck in last year's
first round pick. They signed Corey Davis, they have Denzel
Mens from last year, They have Jameson Crowder. I mean,
they could be They could make some noise. The issue,
of course, is that the Patriots are I've already won

(23:49):
the offseason. We'll see how that translates into the regular season.
But I think if you draft Zack Wilson or Justin Fields,
you're gonna have to play him because he's a number
two overall pick. That's just how it works. Is it fair,
Is it smart? Not necessarily, but I don't know if
Samuel's even gonna be in the roster if you do that.
So I think right now the Jets trying to trade down, okay,
and presumably someone who trades up is going for a quarterback. Yeah. Um.

(24:13):
And then Miami there was are you were you on
the you know, trade to train er No? Um for
DeShawn Watson? Absolutely, And I'm on that train for just
about everybody except for Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. Probably.
I mean, I would trade. If I'm the Seahawks, I'm
trading trading Russell Wilson for Deshaun Watson. It's probably a

(24:36):
pretty it's a much closer trade. But um, if you're
the Packards, are you trading Deshaun Watsonburg and Rodgers? You're
certainly thinking about it. Aaron Rodgers, is he gonna play
another five years? He'd be probably good. So maybe that's
a another name you add to the list of don't trade.
But it's a small list. But yeah, so, but I
think you know Chris Gert the GM and end up,
Brian Floor the coach of right, he's no longer there,

(25:01):
so if he's in fact there guy. You can draft
a wide receiver here, you can draft an offensive lineman.
I love Jamar Chase at LSU, but I do wonder. Yeah,
yeah's drafting a wide receiver that high hasn't typically worked
out in recent years. I think you actually have to
go back to Julio the last time it really worked out,
and that's when the Falcons traded up to get him.
But we've had guys going to top Calvin really too.
I think may have been in top ten picks that right, No, no,

(25:23):
he was. He was in the twenties yea, yeah, okay,
so yeah, not Calvin really so. But even last year,
I mean, Henry Rugson's first wide receiver drafted, he didn't
go till twelfth and thirteenth, and then the fifth wide
receiver was Justin Jefferson at twenty two fourteen hundred receiving yards.
So you can take Jamar Chase there, and I don't
think anyone will good. Yeah, he's pretty good. Anyone will
knock him for taking Jamar Chase there. But if you
could trade down again, get more picks, go for it. Yeah, okay,

(25:49):
so that puts you so that's too. So I'm assuming
if you trade down that's another quarterback off. So we're
saying probably Zach Wilson probably listening to you, maybe either
Mac Jones or or Trey Lance. Right, Yeah, I don't
know if mac Jones will go that high. I think
he's a top of high and I know some teams

(26:09):
think he's a top ten guy, but he may end
up going in the fifteen range. Um, okay, that makes sense.
But I think, yeah, the first three guys Lawrence in
some combination, after Lawrence and Zack Wilson, probably justin fields. Okay,
So that gives you know, if Atlanti sit there for
they can they could pick the pinay sewell, they could

(26:34):
pick Kyle Pitts. They could still if one of the
quarterbacks is there, I forgot. I forgot justin We didn't
we didn't talk about justin fields. So it would probably
be I'm guessing after Lawrence it would be what justin fields,
Zach Wilson, Zach Wilson justin fields kind of thing. So
Trey Lance could be there, Mac Jones could be there.
The best offensive lineman is still available, which I know

(26:57):
you have this week pay going to the Falcons. Correct. Yeah,
In fact, I think that's the first time I have
to in twenty eight min drafts that have had them
taken an offensive lineman that high. Typically it's been an
edge rusher, cornerback, someone on defense. And then recently the
last six weeks or so, I've had them taking I

(27:18):
think even the last month or so, I had them
taken Kyle Pitts for the first time, which I absolutely love.
Kyle Pitts the tight end out of Florida at number four.
And when I first did if, Falcon's fans were extremely
angry because like, well, well, you don't like Hayton Hurst.
It's like, no, I like Hatyte Hurst a lot, but
he on his one year left on his deal, and
there's no other tight ends on the roster. And not
only that, Kyle Pitts is not tied end. He's just

(27:38):
a guy who's called a tight end who can line
up anywhere. He's basically Darren Waller. And if you think
Matt Matt Ryan would like to throw the Darren Waller,
that ain't a bad place to get him at number
four because he could end up being the first past
receiver to go off the board. That's how special he
is and how much he's much more of a short
thing in my mind than these wide receivers, even though
like a lot of his wide receivers. But I think

(27:59):
it's a consideration of four. But again, they need a
lot of defensive help. But that's said, while you need
a X rush help, there's not gonna be an ed
rusher that goes that high. There's not one worth it.
So if you're not going to be a player in
free agency, and they haven't been yet with the edge rushers, um,
you can take Penay Suel. Now you might say, well,
we drafted Caleb McGary and Chris Listram in the first
round a couple of years ago, and we still have Matthews.

(28:20):
But you could kick Caleb Garret McGary inside. I don't
know what the plans are, but you can never have
enough good offensive lineman. And I think, and I was
saying this to every buddy Will Brentson who I work with. Um,
my lasting memory of Matt Ryan the last few years
is him just getting absolutely obliterated behind the line of scrimmage,
like hes a ton of hits three years. Yeah, So

(28:41):
I mean, keep drafting offensive line until you get it
figured out, because you're gonna get the man killed. And
Pinay sewell Is. He's a fantastic athlete after that last year,
but I think he has a chance to be special.
And you don't see a lot of mock draft at
least number four have the Falcon's targeting offensive lineman. But
it's sort of a need, especially as you point out,
if Matt Ryan is just getting beaten play after play

(29:01):
after play, well, yeah, they're gonna need a left guard.
They had Matt Hennessey. Um, well, we don't know what's
going to happen with Alex Mack and so right, you
just look at they haven't been able to run the
ball consistently efficiently since seventeen maybe you know when they
had the they were bounced in the playoffs at Philly,

(29:25):
and you know since then they've been in the lower
quartile of the league rushing. So the question is to you,
then you take You gotta take the best player available, right.
No one remembers your needs, right, They always remember the
player you passed up on. So is it Kyle Pitts
or is it Penney Swell? To you, that's a great question,

(29:45):
I think. Oh so, uh, let me double check. I
did three round Monck Draft last week, so I want
to see what I had the Falcons doing. Um, So
last week when I get three round Monck draft, I
hadn't taking Cole Pits. I think he is the best
player available there if even if Penasol was there. And
the second round I had him taking Jeremiah was a

(30:05):
Kormoa who's a linebacker slash safety hybrid type. He's sort
of a Jeremy Chin type. He's sort of a Isaiah
Simmons type, so he can do a lot of things
for you. He's probably too small to play the linebacker
full time. And then the third round had him picking
kellymon the quarterback out of tex Sam, who I really
really really like. Now that ain't a need, but um
he's a I don't think they have a backup quarterback

(30:27):
on the roster, do they? No, Yeah, Matt Shaw retired
and St Banker they've partnered ways with, so yeah. So
I mean, you know, at some point you gotta figure
that out and you don't have to draft the guy
in the third round. But he's a guy who can
come in and play like he can start in spot duty.
Early on m he hit a really solid career tech Sam. So,
but again in round three, you might want to circle

(30:47):
backing at offic to tackle or certainly keep addressing the defense.
It's probably pretty rare that you see a mock draft
that has two of the first three picks going offense
for the for the Falcons. But I think cal Pets
to answer your question, is the best player on the
board at four, even if Seoul is there and Peney
Suel may offer more upside and only say that because
the tide end class is not very deep, you can

(31:09):
find some officsive tackles in round two and round three
that can help you out pretty quickly. Okay. The other
thing to think about, too, is not for this pick,
but if you were to trade down and still stay
in the top ten possibly or in the top fifteen.
You know, you talk about the defense, they do need

(31:29):
an edge rusher, they do need, you know, the back
end is they need a safety they too, at least one,
and they need another corner possibly they need they need
you know, Todd Gurley and Brian Hill are going to
be free agents, so we know what Arthur Smith likes
to do. You know, he he keeps talking about adapt

(31:51):
being adaptable and having smart players, but when you look
at what he did in Tennessee, he had Derrick Henry too,
so he knows he doesn't have Derrick Henry here, But
can you go find it Derrick Henry? Can you trade down?
Could you possibly trade down and pick up a top
corner and get a Travis Etian or Naja Harris. I mean,

(32:14):
but you're, like you said, you're you're passing up on
a really really good football player. For I do like
where you're thinking, though. If you trade down and you
can get a ntch rusher at ten or twelve or fifteen,
whether it's greg or Soo not grat, I wouldn't take
him that high. Actually, Zizo Glari, Quitty Pay. Those are
guys that like a lot boogie bashmango. Even later in
the first round. If you trade down and do that,

(32:36):
you could take someone like Javonte Williams out of U
and C with pick thirty five. And I love I
love those Carolina Backs, oh my gosh. And they are
just terrorizing teams. If you want an idea, if you're
listening of what that Caroless Carolina Backs and do, just
go watch the Carolina of Miami highlights and they ran
all over and listen, Miami has two dudes up front.

(32:57):
They're gonna get drafted Jayalen Phillips and probably the first
round edge rusher. That's the guy that I mean. He
would make a lot of sense for the Falcons fifteen
or later, probably in round one. Quincy Brochet and the
other side is probably gonna be a Day two, maybe
day three pick. They have some players and they got
absolute steamroll. But Jamata Williams some people like him as
the number one back, which is you know, we don't
hear a lot of that, but usually Travis e teen

(33:19):
as you mentioned, or Naja Harris. But Javonta Williams is
right there in the mix. If you got him at
thirty five or even traded down and we're able to
get him in the if he's there in the high forties,
maybe I don't know if you want to wait around,
but yeah, I like the idea of trading down the
first round, getting edge rusher and then taking Javata Willams
a thirty five because you're you're you're doing some things there. Yeah,
I really like that too. And I just I think

(33:39):
those running backs, I think there's a handful of running
backs that are worth you know, low first round two
of them, and then I think those Carolina Backs are
definitely Day two guys. Round two guys probably really really good.
And I have watched that Miami game and that one
run down the sideline, if he could have kept his balance,

(34:02):
it would have gone down. Is one of the greatest
college football runs, like in the last I don't know,
five ten years. It was really good. It was. And
just when you watch that Carolina sideline, they lost their
minds Um, all right, well that's that. That is helpful.
We kind of see, you know how you kind of
put this together in the brains behind it, which is

(34:22):
fascinating for draft knicks um or Eric Ka hates that.
Eric k CBS hates that term draft knicks. Um, let's
go to let's pivot to free agency. Uh, this is
really interesting because when you have a little to no
salary cap room, which the Falcons are in that boat.

(34:44):
We just talked about the Saints, and you you're charged with,
you know, putting a team out there that can excite
the fan base. Um, what kind of players can Falcons
fans in your mind expected team to sign. Is it
gonna be a lot of these guys that are gonna

(35:05):
um that are just maybe second tier, third tier guys.
Or guys that maybe want to bet on themselves, Ryan,
that want to sign that one year deal, that think
they think they can come to Atlanta, um and and
and get that one year deal and parlay it into
a big year um and then in that in that case,
isn't there a lot of teams that are trying to
recruit players now? For that is do you think there's

(35:26):
some recruiting going on? Oh? Yeah, absolutely, it's you know,
legal tampering, which is always funny. Legal speeding. Uh if
you if that's what I tell the cop, I know
I was legally speeding, it's okay. Well, the funny thing
is you look at salary cap space right now, according
to spot track, the Falcons are still eight million in
the red and they have till Wednesday. I think all
the teams do that are in the red to get compliance.

(35:47):
So they still have some some moves to make, so
they're they're they're up against it, and I think you're
exactly right. I think they're going to be looking for
bargain basement solutions, which look a lot of good teams.
Do you know we always talk about it again referring
back to Washington in their heyday when they would just
crush the offseason. They would sign three guys for whatever.
You know, forty percent of the salary cap was, but

(36:08):
they forgot about roster spots forty two to fifty three,
and that's where you make your money. Those guys don't
make a lot of money, and that's where you fill
out the roster. The guys that can come in when
guys inevitably get hurt, that are starters and you don't
see such a drop off. So that's what you're looking
for right now, and that's where all these pro scouts
make their money because you're sifting through guys, and it

(36:30):
gets easier for the teams as we as the days passed,
because the money's getting spent by the big teams that
have in the sary cap space, and then everyone else
is just sorting through, you know, basically the the loss
and found been at at TJ max or whatever. That's
that's where we're at. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
You can you can sometimes find bargains there, and I
think you're right. I think from the play from the

(36:51):
team perspective, they'll do that. From the player's perspective, they
may want to bet on themselves they may want to
find these one year deals. When the salary cap goes
up next year, they can part that into a big
money deal. We saw to some degree Tehron Matthew do
that he signed that one year deal with the Texans.
I think it was for seven million dollars. You forget
that he played for the Texans, but he did. Then
he went to Kansas City, went to back to back

(37:12):
Seawer Bulls, and he's making what he deserves to make.
But he had to bet on himself in a non
COVID year. Sometimes that happens, and I think that's whether
you're the Falcons or the Rams or the Steelers. I'm
the Steelers. Howhere they're in the situation. They haven't been
able to do anything. They lost Budd Deprie, they about
to lose Jujus Misshuse. They lost Matt Feiler, who was
an undrafted free agent who was going to be their

(37:33):
starting right tackle. He signed a big money deal with
the Charters, and they've been able to sign one guy
that cost them a couple million dollars to boast their
secondary But at the end of the day, the reality
is you're gonna lose players. And we talked about it
with the Saints a little bit. They're in better shape.
I think that the Steelers are, but the Falcons have
some decisions to make it get under the cap even

(37:53):
by Wednesday. And then and you talked about all Lenisa
had just a few minutes ago, and then figuring out
how to address those kneeds, whether it's through the draft
or through whatever money they can stripe together a free agency.
And that also goes back to another point that you
were sort of hitting at. If you don't have any
money in free agency, you have the number four overall pick,
you do might want to trade down only to get
some some bodies and bodies who can contribute, not a

(38:15):
bunch of seventh round picks, but you know, trade down
from four to whatever eighteen nineteen twenty, get some picks
of guys that can contribute right away and contribute relatively cheat. Yeah,
it's you. You have to really believe in your plan
at that point, right, I mean, because you're going to
take a lot of heat. If you pass up on
the quarterback, You're going to take up take a lot

(38:35):
of heat if you pass up on you know, if
Kyle Pitts ends up being the next Travis Kelsey. Yeah,
and so that's something that you know, again, that's something
they have to believe in their plan. And then you know,
if Matt plays another year, if Matt you know, if
this is you know, somebody had said, you know, I

(38:56):
think Jason lack of Forward said this might be the
farewell to or for Matt and Julio this year, or
Matt Miller may have said that. But the idea that
you didn't think ahead and get a quarterback. So there's
a there's gonna be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking here,
like just like been in any team. But it's it's
gonna be really fascinating to see how it plays out. Ryan.

(39:17):
I just that number four pick and what they do,
it's going to end. What they do here before Mark
seventeenth is going to be so telling. Um. Yeah, and
it really begins with number four or number two. It
begins with Matt, Ryan, So you know what they end
up if they believe they can win for five more
years with Matt, which if they protect them and give

(39:40):
them some weapons and get a defense. I can see that. Yeah, No,
that's right, I'm right there with you. But unfortunately play
in a division where we're gonna get Brady is currently
residing and the Buccaneers have done a lot to keep
their guys, which is also concerning if you're in the
in the NFC South and not based in Tamma Bay.
But I think it be interesting. We don't know what

(40:00):
the pants I'm gonna do it eight they need a quarterback.
We don't know what the Saints are gonna do. They
have Jamis under a country from one year, and you know,
we laughed about the Tystom Hill. But how's James gonna play?
I think he'll do okay, but he and maybe the
sort of the bad news for Falcons fans is that
Drew Brees wasn't good last year. He probably should retire.
He couldn't throw the ball down the field. So maybe
Jamis it's a slide upgrade. That sounds crazy to say

(40:22):
he's gonna make worst decisions, so maybe it's fine. I
think okay with that. All right, Well this is perfect
because you're venturing into my bold predictions. So I'm gonna
give you four and then I want you to give
us one on your own, and that's where we're gonna
wrap this thing up. So give me one draft prospect.
Since you're you're I think you're on your seventh rounders.

(40:43):
Now your profiles. Give me one draft prospect that you
think will end up falling on Day one. Oh, so
let's see. I mentioned Gregor So, the ed rusher out
of Miami. I think he may in this partly because
he didn't play this year, but there are questions about
out his not his size. He's six seven, but he's
a little skinny lower half, so he's a guy that

(41:04):
could fall. I don't Naja Harris could slip a little bit.
I think I like Naja Harris better than most teams.
I think they'll probably prefer a ten just because of
the athleticism and running backs aren't necessarily that that's sexy
in terms of falling out of the first round, so
that's not a huge surprise. And another I'll mention another
wide receiver, Rondel Moore, who I think the media is

(41:25):
probably higher on how to Purdue than NFL team, but
only because he just played in seven games the last
few years. But he is so explosive. He is he
has sort of Tyreek tendencies. He's not Tyreek kill hasn't
played a lot of durability issues. But if he's on
good Lord, he's unstuffole, but so he Those are some
names that might fall out of the first round, probably

(41:47):
because the media are higher on them than NFL teams
actually are. All right, flip side, who's a name that
you think could end up surprising in a team reaching
on or just going a lot higher than everyone's thinking.
Daniel Jones or someone someone like, yeah, Daniel Jones six overall,
that was a certainly a surprise. So Greg knews from

(42:07):
the cornerback out of Northwestern. You don't hear a lot
about Northwestern football, but they could have two first round guys.
And ushawns Later the left tackle who opted out when
Greg knwsom, who's the cornerback who played really well this year.
He's the guy that could slip into the first round
or move into the first round. Teams know he's good,
the media is not quite as high on him. Jam
And Davis the linebacker round of Kentucky, and he also

(42:27):
plays with the cornerback Kelvin Joseph who was an LSU transfer.
Those guys both had really good seasons. Those are two
guys that could sneak around the first round area that
we haven't heard a lot about and what you find
out is this sort of funny. I'm like, where are
these guys coming from? I haven't heard of these guys.
They both play SEC. Greg Newsom plays obviously in Northwestern?

(42:50):
How am I hearing about these guys? And well you
find is his NFL teams don't want you to hear
about him. They're not when they you ask about guys,
they purposely don't mention certain guys because they're trying to
keep it quiet because look, man fair, not right or wrong.
NFL teams read the internet just like the rest of us.
Are on twitters like the rest of us. They see
they're affected by you know, draft related tweech, just like

(43:11):
the rest of us. So that's sort of you know,
that's something also have to sift through. So those are
three guys that have a chance to sneak into the
first round. I mean Teras Marshall, the wide receiver at LSU,
might do it. I think he still has some things
to improve in terms of being more consistent, but he's
a big target, he can move. Played really well last
twenty nineteen with that LSU team with Joe Burrow opted
out this year before the Alabama game. That sort of

(43:32):
raised some questions, but maybe that's the guy that sneaks
into the first round too interesting the Saints in twenty
twenty one, you were starting to talk a little bit
about that. What do you expect from the Saints? Do
you are they gonna roll with Jamis? Is it gonna
be Jamis and Taysom or do you think Sean Payton
still got something up as sleeve? Well? In a three

(43:53):
round mock draft I did last week and week before
I had them taken Kyle Trask in the second round.
The quarterback got of Florida. He doesn't have a great arm,
doesn't move well. It sounds like Drew Brees to me,
played really well. He hadn't played a ton of football
until he took over for Phelipe Franks in twenty nineteen.
But I think they rolled Jamis. I think that's the plan.
We've heard Sean Payton talk him up. Sean Payton's talked
about other things, and you're like, all right, I don't

(44:15):
take you seriously, and you know, come on for real
with Tayston Hill and but I think Jamis is going
to be their guy. I don't know if James, Yeah,
I don't know if Jamis would have come back if
he had an opportunity to start somewhere else without something
close to an assurance. So I think they're gonna roll
with Jamis and see what happens. And maybe I'll put
you this way, Matt, I think Jamis in New Orleans

(44:36):
is a better situation than Cam in New England last year.
I think that Jamis has more upside than Cam simply
because he can throw the ball, like we don't know
I Cam could throw the ball, and this she'll be
better for Kim, I would imagine. But last year we
were just projecting a lot. Oh, Cam's gonna be healthy,
He'll be fine. We'll turns out he didn't appear to
be hundred percent. I think James will be okay. Yeah,
And I think the Saints they you know, you talked

(44:57):
about some of the losses they in some the cuts
and free acy so far, but they still have a
lot of good parts. Um all right, last one and
then I'm gonna have you give us one the Falcons
twenty twenty one record. Ran. I know it's super early.
We haven't even star free andc. We haven't we haven't
even hit the draft, But give us, give us where

(45:20):
you think the Falcons land in the NFC South and
just their overall record. You think so you said four
and twelve, seven to nine seventy nine, s I write
the last three? Yep, yep, all right. I think Arthur Smith.
I think he's actually really good hire. The thing about
coaching hires is how did these coaches transition from being
a coordinator, which is typically what they come from were

(45:41):
they're really good, to being a manager, which is basically
less about the X and I's more about motivating these
players to do what you want to do. So that'll
be the true test. But I think i'll give I'll
give Arthur Smith eight and eight. I think that's realistic.
It's not super exciting for Falcons fans. You're talking wild card.
Maybe that's true, that's right, and you play, oh and

(46:04):
I don't know if we're win the seventeen games, that's
gonna mess up that you can't go five, right, I
forgot about seventeen, So eight and yes, sir, they're going
eight and a half and eight and a half. I'm
still going to stick with the five hundred schedule, and
I think I think that's a that's a good start,
and for a first year coacht that dealt with nothing
in the way of salary cap space, a ton of questions,
especially on defense. If they can figure out what to

(46:25):
go eight and eight, that's a step in the right direction. Yeah,
I think that would be great. You can me because
that would mean depending on how those eight wins come
come November December, they're relevant, They're the fan that's that's
what you want. So and that would just be when
you think about the slow starts this team has had

(46:46):
the last few years, that would be something. So definitely
I think they would take that. Um all right, you
give us, just give us a wonky wild bold prediction
from Ryan Wilson could be about any anything doesn't have
to be Falcons. What do you think? What is something
that in the back of your mind you think is

(47:06):
going to happen that isn't just getting a lot of
play right now? Twelve months from now, Matt, you and
I both will have afros. That is my what's that club?
What's that club that they do the follicles? Or no,
who was it the linebacker for the Bears Locker did it?
That's right? Or Lacquer? Yeah he did. I gotta look

(47:27):
up his company. That's right. That's not my bowl prediction.
That's just a wishful thinking. Hopefully we'll be there one day.
Hopefully we'll be a little long enough to see that
happen in my ball prediction. And I've been sort of
saying this for months now and people think I'm crazy,
but I'm gonna keep rolling with it. I'm gonna own it.
Matt Jones is gonna be a top ten pick, and
he could go as high as eight, I feel like
to the Panthers. The Panthers were on the coaching staff
at the Senior Bowl, they got a posting personal look

(47:49):
at him. Again, I mentioned Matt Jones isn't particularly sexy
as a quarterback in today's NFL, but twenty years ago
he's probably a top five pick because he's a traditional
pocket passer and accurate those a deep ball. Well, um,
he was better at Alabama than two. I've talked to
people at Albam Alabama that don't disagree with that, and
for some reason we give to a pass two is

(48:09):
not that athletic who doesn't run around like Lamar Jackson,
Kyler Murray, Um even Rust Wilson. Really, but I think
that it's a great point. Mac Jones is incredibly smart.
He can run your offense sooner rather than later. I
think he's the most NFL ready quarterback to play after
Trevor Lawrence, and I think he's going to be a
top ten pick. Now he'll probably go around three, but
I'm gonna own it. Whatever happens happens. He's athletic though,

(48:33):
he's athletic enough enough, and he's he's fiery too. I
mean you look at him and he's got the parted
hair and everything like that. But what was his nickname,
like Mace and Roe or something like that. I like it,
but you know, he's a fiery guy. He's athletic enough.
And then people actually criticize him Ryan because he had

(48:54):
NFL weapons around him. Well so did two, Oh so
did two? And I had a Scott text me this.
He said Joe Burrow did too. No one was yelling
about Joe Burrow having all the weapons, and that's right.
I think it's sort of weird the Matt Jones, but
I think it's compared to Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Trey Lance,
all guys who can, Zach Wilson, all guys who are athletic, strong,

(49:16):
armed all the things that Matt Jones isn't. But Matt
Jones just makes place. So if you're okay with that,
he's not a bad bad prize. So I think, uh,
he's not. He's he's a he's a less athletic Joe Burrow.
Joe Burrow moves around a lot. Joe Burrow holds holds
a ball a lot longer than Matt Jones did. Um.
Matt Jones gets rid of the ball pretty quickly. He

(49:37):
has a little Matt Ryan in his game, like he's
he's smart. He doesn't have Matt Ryan's arm, but he
gets the ball out where he needs to go. He
understands defenses. He's rarely confused, unlike Joe Burt. Like I
just said, he doesn't hold the ball. He's much better
processor than tuah. Um. And look here here's something. When
DeVante Smith and Jalen Widdle said they they'll take Matt

(49:58):
Jones over Touah, I'm a sort of roll with that.
Oh yeah, they didn't say that publicly. They said that
to in meetings reportedly, so they weren't just saying it
just to be saying it. So you know that gets
your tension as well. Yeah, I don't know how our
fan base would feel about that. Maybe there's because I
had there's a say I had Mac Jones going I've
had Mac Jones going forward to the Falcons, and the

(50:19):
amount of hate on that on that sweet is a
rival only by Mac Jones going to the Panthers at eight,
by the Panthers Saints. See, I like that too. I
think just Joe Brady and yeah, I'm with you. But
I'll say this, there is a large contingent of Falcons
fans that still missed the Michael Vickiers. That's still you know,

(50:44):
they still think that he was the guy, the best
all time here under center. They want a they love
that swag, they love that excitement, they want that back.
I get that and enamored with Deshaun Watson, who you know,
it's from up the road here. So now listen to
Shaun Watson. He's better than anyone in the draft class.

(51:04):
I would take him. Maybe if you're the Jaguars, you
don't trade Trevor Lawrence, but everybody else you think long
and hard about it, but I would I would think
about trading numb one overall picked for Deshaun Watson. So
the Falcon's definitely forth. They couldn't they would. I don't
think they have the fire party to get him, but
I love that. What would it take like two twos, twos,
two ones and some starters. I mean, well, I think

(51:25):
like if I'm the Texans, the conversation starts with three
ones and a player. Um, I know that the Texas
GM Nicossario doesn't want to be the guy who trades Deshaun.
You also don't want any the guy who makes Deshaun
stood out and you get nothing for him. So there's
some math to figure out there. But I think if
I'm the Texans, have more levers now that they're going
to have as we get closer to the draft, So
you would like to see the move on this, but

(51:46):
I don't. It's gonna be an interesting serian contest. Ryan Wilson,
thank you so much for finally coming on Bird Noises,
coming out this podcast, and you don't one thing I
ask all the guests here, and I'm just gonna ask
you because you're just I You always make me laugh.
What do you think of the name bird Noises? You know,

(52:07):
it's funny. It reminds me of uh. I think there's
a second on NPR and Friday's called bird noises A
serious I think it's called bird noise at the check
because sometimes during the car you're driving and it's literally
a guy playing bird noises and telling you about them.
So that's the first thing I thought about it. So
that's pretty funny. I was, I haven't heard of the intro.
You should have bird noises to start the we do
every time we say the word bird noises. It's like

(52:30):
that falcon screech in the stadium. Oh so it's this
Sam's job. He has to put in the bird noises
every time the podcast our start producer. Yeah, no, no, no,
Sam thought he was done, and right here, Sam, bird noises,
shifting gusts, they're going button button, But uh, do you
like it? Then? Do you like the name? And of
course you listen to NPR, Yeah, of course you do. Yeah,

(52:52):
that was that was the easiest layup of the conversation. Hey,
great saying you always great talking to him. Thank you, Matt.
It was a lot of fun. Brother, Hey Falcons fans,
Matt to beak here. I have a special announcement today.
After four years as the digital managing editor Atlanta Falcons

(53:14):
dot Com, and the great people of the Atlanta Falcons,
and the great people of Georgia welcoming me and my
family to Georgia. They say, all good things must come
to an end. And it's with a very very heavy
heart that I sign off for the last time on

(53:37):
Bird Noises. And this is my final week here. No
more straight from the Beak, no more to Beaks takes,
no more wildly important power rankings, no more mock drafts.
But I have had an absolute blast getting to know
all of you, reading your letters. I'm not gonna get

(53:59):
you poked up reading your letters, seeing your pictures people
all over the world. We've sent care packages, we've sent tickets,
we've sent hope. Hopefully we've made Falcons fans for life.
That was you know, the number one priority for me
when I came in was to get to know you,
Excite you about the Falcons, make you feel like you're

(54:23):
part of this with me every single morning over coffee.
I loved every minute of it. But you know it's uh.
I got opportunities in front of me, and you know,
life is full of change and you have to embrace it.
And so there's been a lot of change the last
year and COVID is affected as all, and we've all

(54:48):
had personal losses, me with with my father, and you know,
you just look at life a little bit differently and
it's hard, but it's it's a part of life. And
I just want you to know that I love you
all and appreciate you all, and we'll miss you all,
but I will be like I always have been a

(55:09):
huge Atlanta Falcons fan, rooting for you all. And I
hope you all stay in touch with me on Twitter
and on social media, send me notes. I'll still make predictions,
I'll still talk to you, but I will always miss
you and forever be grateful for all the love and
support you've shown me. Thank you,