NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport, and Judy Battista deliver the latest on top defensive stars negotiating new contracts and report on the ongoing efforts to secure new stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders. Cam Wolfe joins to analyze the evolving dynamic between Kirk Cousins and rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. Marc Ross chats with Tom about breakout candidates poised for a big leap this season, and Sara Walsh catches up with Judy to share her insights from Buccaneers minicamp. Later, fantasy expert Adam Rank drops some under-the-radar division winners to keep an eye on. Judy flags the NFL storylines fans are blowing out of proportion—and the ones flying under the radar. To close it out, Marc and Adam return for a fun round of Fantasy vs. Reality.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Training camps are just about a month away, and the
drama continues surrounding some top pass rushers. When and how
much should the likes of Michael Parsons, TJ. Watt, and
Trey Hendrickson get paid? We will tell you the latest.
It's easy to pick favorites to win divisions, especially as
we're sitting here in June, not at the rank. He
(00:22):
has some sleepers for you tonight, he says, just might
raise a banner in twenty twenty five. Could some of
those teams be led by young quarterbacks? Well, Mark Ross
is going to be here as well. He's got some
names that he says are guaranteed, yes, guaranteed to improve
in twenty twenty five. Welcome inside with the Insiders alongside
(00:47):
Ian Rappaport and Judy Battista, I am Tom Peliserro. We
are eighty days out from kickoff to the twenty twenty
five NFL season. All but four teams around the league
have now wrapped up their off season programs, which means
at the moment, we've still got a lot of football
players on baseball fields. That's where Miles Garrett was yesterday
(01:09):
for Father's Day, celebrating in Arlington, back near his hometown,
throwing out the first pitch alongside his father, Miles Garrett,
who chose to wear a Rangers jersey and some very
large pants. I'm sure quite what's going on. They're not
a bad pitch, Dad, maybe could have been a little
(01:29):
better on the grab. Miles demand to reset the pass
rushing market earlier this offseason, also shared some thoughts on Michaeh.
Parsons cashing in.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You can deserve whatever he's earned. I mean, guys, special
more thing. Got the chance to train with him, and
you know, I've seen it work out. They got see
Hya tech the waves running. No, he's no, one hundred
percent committed to his craft and getting better every day.
And someone produced on the field and has that little
dedication to the game. You know you should. You know
(02:01):
you should get every pennies over.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So a lot of items on the offseason checklist here Ian,
but a huge one. It's in Dallas. It is Michael Parsons.
Tell me where we stand right now with a Cowboys
team that never is in a huge rush to do
these deals and one of the top edge players in
the game.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
In fact, Michael Parsons said himself recently that he believes
the Cowboys are costing themselves money by not doing this
deal early. But it just does not seem like that
is going to happen. And look, you take a landscape
of these deals, you'll understand where things are. And it
does make sense that Micah Parsons would be last. Have
no doubt that most of the other players, if they
(02:41):
were to do interviews, just like Miles Garrett, would at
least acknowledge that it would make sense if Micah Parsons
ended the offseason began the season as the highest paid
non quarterback in the NFL. In fact, at this point,
I would be surprised if it did not happen. So yes,
as Miles Garrett said, Micah Parsons deserves everything he could
possibly get. He has owed a ton of money by
(03:01):
the Dallas Cowboys. It is going to be a lot.
In fact, they had some initial negotiations, not with his agent,
David Mulligeto, but with Parsons himself where the numbers they
discussed were high, We're really high. Deal did not get
done and they really haven't made progress since then. But
Miles Garrett is going to make a lot, a lot
of money a young player in his prime ready for
a second contract. That makes sense. For TJ Watt, another
(03:24):
top edge rusher, he's in the market for a new deal,
who has had negotiations with his team and his agent
for potentially a new deal. This is a little more complicated.
No one doubts that TG Watt has been one of
the best players of football for the better part of
the last decade, but he is going for his third deal,
and obviously at the end last year maybe didn't quite
look like the dominant force that he did earlier on
(03:47):
in his career. Not saying he's slowing down. I'm just
saying it's more complicated to do a third deal. Maybe
he comes in just under these guys. Either way, we're
going to see some edge rushers make huge, huge paydays
before the season.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And unlike Michael Parsons and TJ. Watt, who've been trying
to outshoot that Miles Garrett forty million dollars per year contract,
Trey Hendrickson is not looking to reset the market, but
he does want to be paid fairly. When you compare
that to some of the other deals that got done
in the offseason, whether that was the Max Crosby extension
with the Raiders, whether that was Danil Hunter on another
basically fully guaranteed one year extension that carries him through
(04:23):
twenty twenty six. We know this because Treandderdson has said
a lot of this publicly. He wants a new deal.
He's not going to play on the old one, which
shows him a little over sixteen million dollars in twenty
twenty five. He also wants a multi year extension, not
another one year type of a deal. He wants some
level of security after last year when he initially requested
a trade in twenty twenty four, we're sending it played
(04:43):
it out led the league in Sex. He wants to
get paid fairly for his status. There has been nothing new,
Let's be clear about that in recent days. The sides
have remained engaged for quite some time. There is a
pathway here for them to get something done. However, we
are not there just yet. As for Aiden Hutchinson, we
haven't talked about as much. The young star pass rusher
(05:05):
from the Lions, of course, had a really gruesome injury
that ended his twenty twenty four season. We've all seen
the videos of him online. He's running, he's not quite
cutting and doing things at the full football level, but
full anticipation he's going to be ready to go. And
if you're in Hutchinson, there's absolutely no rush here because
as you're getting healthy, as you're showing that you are
(05:26):
the same guy again, you're waiting on TJ. Watt and
Michael Parsons to get paid and then saying I'm a
lot younger than TJ. Watt, I'm as good as Michael Parsons.
Let's let all of this stuff fall into play. So
it does not sound like there's been anything ramping up
on the Aiden Hutchinson front just yet, Judy. But once
we see those Michael Parsons and Wat deals get done
(05:47):
at some point, it might even behoove the Lions to
just say, Okay, before the price goes up anymore, let's
get something done.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Well.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
There are non pass rushers in line for a contracts too,
actually two of them at the New York Jets. Gardner
the cornerback and receiver Garrett Wilson, both of them in
line for contracts, both top ten picks in the twenty
twenty two draft, and both have made clear, especially Garrett
Wilson in recent days, that they want to be Jets
for life. What makes this situation so intriguing is these
(06:17):
were draft picks of the previous regime. There has been
a total regime change at the New York Jets this offseason,
and Aaron Glenn has really stressed the idea of culture
change and people who want to be here. Aaron Glenn
wanted to be the Jets head coach. He wants players
who want to be Jets Sauce. Gartner has made it clear.
(06:38):
He showed up to the off season program this year
and showed up to Mini caamp to make the point
that he wants to be here, he wants to be
a Jet, and Garrett Wilson said he wants to be a.
Speaker 6 (06:48):
Jet for life.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
That was always a bit of a question, especially for
Garrett Wilson, who showed some frustration especially during the Aaron
Rodgers tenure, but certainly the presence of his former college
teammate Justin Fields team to have revived Garrett Wilson. Going
to be interesting to see where their contracts come in
because the market has exploded, especially at wide receiver. Very
(07:08):
curious to see what the numbers are for those two
and if they can get them done this offseason.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's what happens when you have record salary cap spikes too,
which is just naturally there's more money into the marketplace,
and so the numbers are going to go up. We
just listened three of them. Ed Rusher got reset in
this offseason. Wide receiver got reset this off season. Corner
got reset multiple times. Show did tight End. It was
Trey McBride who got a nineteen million dollars per year contract,
then George Kittle on his third deal with the forty
(07:34):
nine hours leap Frog. McBride listening to Kittle earlier today,
he's happy and hopes Moore continue to reset that bark.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
The only way for the Titan market to continue to
grow is if everybody's getting paid.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
That's that's the only way to do it.
Speaker 7 (07:49):
You can't just have one guy do it and then
it just sits for three or four years, because then
you're stuck and it's stagnant.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
No one's getting paid.
Speaker 7 (07:55):
So we want everybody, like I want everybody to have
great seasons. When Titan you first started, I think the
top of the mark was fifteen and now we're almost twenty.
So like we're continually growing it, and you know, as
a tight end and as a position who does everything. Yeah,
I think we should be making more money, but we're
working on it.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
You take a look at the highest paid tight ends
in the NFL right now, That top of that market
nineteen million. That is about half of the top of
the wide receiver market, with Jamar Chase coming over the
top of that. In the course of this offseason, George
Kittle's teammates, some got paid, some moved on. One guy
we haven't talked about a whole lot because for once
there's not any dramas running him is Trent Williams. He
(08:36):
of course had the contract situation last year through the
course of training camp. Here. He is thirty six years
old at this point, but he told reporters last week
I would love to play it until I'm forty. Definitely
not retiring with something left on the table, Judy, Which
is good news for all of us who have been
going year to year wondering if Trent Williams can retire
at any second. Also really good news for Kyle Shannon
(08:59):
to continue to have one of the best blind side
protectors in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
Right Trent Williams is about to be thirty seven in
just a few weeks, but he is still playing at
an elite elite tackle level. He only played in eleven
games last season. Into Week eleven he had the injury
that ended his season, but PFF still had him rated
as the sixth best tackle in the league. He only
gave up one stack last year because of the injury.
(09:24):
He didn't get voted on All Pro, but that snapped
a streak of three straight seasons as an All Pro,
so he is still playing at a top tackle level.
Last season, a lot of things went wrong for the
San Francisco forty nine ers, but in seasons before that,
you could see the difference in the offense when Trent
Williams was off the field. He is a critical part
(09:45):
of the way that offense goes. It is great news
that he wants to play until he's forty. Also, I
wonder if, philosophically, if we're going to have to continue
having this conversation the way guys take care of their
bodies now, the things we know about rest and recovery,
are we going to see more players, even guys like
Trent Williams, pushing into their forties.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Kalais Campbell getting very close here, dude. He turns thirty
nine before week one of the twenty twenty five NFL season.
He is back in Arizona after several other stops. He
said recently, I enjoyed passing knowledge. There's no point for
me to die with all of it.
Speaker 6 (10:21):
Ian.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Anytime we're invoking death before retirement, you know a guy's
getting up there in years. We all love Kalayis Campbell, though,
one of the great characters, one of the great human
beings in the game, and still one of the biggest
dudes that you don't want to see, just probably not
for seventy snaps a game anymore.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
No, and that's not really who he is anymore. It's
more of like a thirty or thirty five snap guy.
Still can be really, really productive, which no doubt he
showed that several times last year. The sacks are still there,
the pressures are still there, the leadership is still there.
And Kalay's Camill makes a great point here. Every year
in the offseason, there's been a point me to say,
(10:58):
is Kalays Camo gonna retire? In fact, Tom, I remember
you and I were sharing a car with Klay's Cambo
on the way to a Super Bowl pregame show when
he was on NFL Network one year. It was like
two or three years ago, and I remember wondering, how
is I going to quietly bring up, like, hey, are
you retiring? I think he's played three seasons since then.
He might never retire. But the best thing that a
guy like Kalays Campbell can do forget about the pressures
(11:22):
in the side, it's pass on the knowledge to the
young guys. These are the kinds of things that can
stick with young defensive linemen or even young linebackers, anyone
getting after a quarterback for years to come. This is
sort of his role now to be an elder statesman
and still be pretty good on the field.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Lane Johnson started to sneak up that list as well,
now thirty five years old, as he gets ready for
another season with the Philadelphia Eagles. He said recently that
I feel like I'm getting closer to maybe my peak
than he was early in his career, or even at
twenty nine or thirty. He's now a ton of injuries, obviously,
but coming off his sixth Pro Bowl. Now big deal
for Howie Roseman is those lifetime e goes Fletcher Cox,
(12:01):
Jason Kelsey, Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson as long as he
is still willing to get himself back out onto the field,
which sometimes is a battle expecting to be doing it
in Philadelphia. The state of Missouri certainly hopes that they
have done enough to keep the Chiefs in their side
of Kansas City for life. Missouri Governor's Missouri's governor this
(12:21):
week signing legislative package that includes hundreds of millions of
dollars in financial aid to keep the Chiefs in Kansas City.
The other Kansas City, the one that's actually in the
state called Kansas, has been trying to build a new
dobed stadium. Now the ball is officially in the Chief's
court in terms of what comes next. As for the
potential new Commander's stadium in the District of Columbia, council
(12:45):
members delayed approval of funds for a new Commander's stadium
at the RFK Stadium site. All part of the bureaucracy
that goes on when you're talking about being able to
build multi billion dollars stadium projects. Certainly, there are a
lot of people, maybe more in the White House, who
would like to have the Commanders back in old d C.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Michael Pennix is throwing for the Atlanta Falcons. That is
a good side, especially when he's doing one of those
nice slow mo ones with a tight spiral writing close
to his face where you just know it is OTA's
in mini caamp a staple of this time of year.
That said, when you do regular speed on Michael Pennix,
that thing absolutely flies a rocket for an arm and
(13:25):
so on. The Falcons are expecting huge, huge thing things
from this season and exactly why we're always talking about
the Falcons quarterbacks. Anyway, let's chicken in with Pennix and
Kirk Cousins to see how their spring was going.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Michael's going to do great. He's going to have a
great career. He's off to a great start. He's got
all the all the tangibles and intangibles you need to
be successful. And I'm just here to support him, you know,
as he needs it.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Man.
Speaker 8 (13:54):
Just getting better, you know, being better than I was
last year, being better than I was yesterday and today,
you know, each and every day, just working on improving,
you know, on the field, off the field, build a connections,
relationships with my teammates. You know, it's a lot of
different aspects that going to that, you know, in order
for you know, this team to have the season that
we want to have. To see.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Ian Rapperboard here, Judy Batista now joined by our good
friend Cam Wolf. So Cam, you saw the beautiful, beautiful
Michael Pennix, Hightch you listen to this sound. You know
a ton about this Atlanta Falcons situation. It's a complicated one.
We've talked a lot about the Atlanta Falcons quarterback group,
not because of Penix, but because the highest paid backup
(14:37):
maybe in NFL history is still there as well. What's
the dynamic going to be like in this Atlanta Falcons
quarterback room?
Speaker 9 (14:45):
And I spoke with one Falcons coach who said last
week's mini camp appearance for kirk Cousins was essentially what
they think is gives them confidence this will work into
the fall.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Kirk Cousins was not a distraction at all.
Speaker 9 (14:56):
He handled the media well, he was talking with Michael
Pennix's practice, but largely he assimilated into the background.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
This is Michael Penix's team.
Speaker 9 (15:05):
And as kirk Cousins said also in that presser.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
We're moving forward. We're moving forward.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
Without this idea that there's a trade still out there
waiting for us. As we've looked around the league after
Aaron Rodgers signed with the Steelers, there's no starting job
just waiting there for Kirk Cousins, and so both sides
essentially said, we're going to have to make this work.
Kirk Cousins is not going to make a huge issue here,
and for Michael Pennix, he's focused on making this his team.
And what's been interesting about his process is they've got
(15:32):
him with some of the Falcons legendary quarterbacks throughout the offseason.
I'm told Raheem Morris got him with Matt Ryan multiple
times in person, on the phone try to help him
with this prep of being that franchise quarterback. Michael Vick
also stopped by practice about a week and a half
ago to pour into Michael Pennocks as well. And so
this is his team and his big thing is I
(15:54):
want to show the leadership to the entire team, not
just my offense. He's had lunches, he's had golf outings,
really trying to show the genuine relationships he thinks, says
need to need it to take over this team. And
one big beneficiary that will be Drake London. He had
over three hundred and fifty yards in the last three
games that Michael Pennock's played together. He joked this week,
if people think that Drake London still underappreciate it, they
(16:16):
won't after this season. So his focus is on making
sure Drake London and the Falcons eat.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
I don't think anybody thinks Kirk Cousins is the type
to make a scene. But you could just see in
that little clip we showed you of his meeting with reporters,
you could hear this sort of deflation and disappointment in
his voice the resignation. I am still very curious to
see if he remains on the roster, if a trade
does not develop somewhere along the line, if somebody does
not get hurt and need a starting caliber quarterback like
(16:46):
Kirk Cousins, what happens if Michael Pennick struggles at any
point this season, what will the dynamic be then if
there are calls for a quarterback change in Atlanta, that's
really going to be a test of the Atlanta coaching staff.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
All right, Cam, we could talk.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
About quarterbacks all day. We like to pretend that they're
the only thing that matters. They are not the only
thing that matters. What other factors are important for the
Falcons going into this offseason.
Speaker 9 (17:10):
Yeah, a huge factor of the Falcons twenty five season
is how early their defensive rookies will be able to contribute.
And look, they went all in on this draft, getting
a Jalen Walker James Pierce off the edge early on.
I'm told there's real hope that their top four rookies
on the defense side can get significant roles, if not
starting roles this season. And you got Jalen Walker who's
(17:32):
going to be the hybrid linebacker edge rusher, and James
Pierce off the edge. You also got Xavier Watts at
safety and Billy Bowman who's going to play nickel corner
for them. And Raheem Morris talked about an intentionality in
getting them clear roles. Look, this was a team that
had thirty first in sacks last year. They know they
need a little bit of explosion, a little bit speed
off the edge, and early signs have been that Jalen
(17:54):
Walker and James Pierce can provide that. Early Raheem went
as far as calling Jalen W. Walker a future captain
already after just two months with the Falcons, and one
key part of their development is going to be the
vets in the room. And I want to shout out
to Jesse Bates because now that Grady Jared's in Chicago,
Jesse Bates is now that undisputed face of the defense
(18:15):
and he's already taken multiple of these rookies under his wing.
He's has multiple iPads every meetings trying to show how
to study the techniques that are needed and really answering
any questions you need for these rookies because he knows
they're going to need them to be able to make
that division, that playoff run. If they think they can
make this.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Year, they are going to need those rookies to come
on quickly if they are going to pressure the Tampa
Bay Box in the NFC South Cam we know you
are probably going to be at a lot of those games.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Thank you very much. Tom.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Time now for a front office view with our guy
Mark Ross. Mark, you got a new call him up
NFL dot com slash Ross looking at players guaranteed to
improve in twenty twenty five. So get your full George
Jimmer on with me. Here. Tell me what one of
the guys on that list. Packers linebacker Eddrin Cooper, Edrian Cooper,
who was.
Speaker 10 (19:08):
My favorite player coming out of the draft last season,
started out training camp banged up, missed three games, only
played forty five percent of the defensive snaps last year. Tom,
But when he played, he showed that he was a
menace and racking up You see the stats right there.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
And most importantly, it was just the explosiveness.
Speaker 10 (19:28):
That jumps out out at you when I watched him,
same way it was when he was in college with
a full season being on the field as the starter.
This guy has all Pro potential, Tom.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And then my next.
Speaker 10 (19:40):
Guy would be Brian Burns from the New York Football Giants.
There who played well last year, had eight and a
half sacks, most pressure, most tackles he's had in his career.
Dexter Lawrence Reckon shot there in the middle with nine sacks.
But now here comes Abdul Carter and Abdul Carter, who
(20:01):
I thought was the best pass rusher coming out since
Michael Parsons, very similar that. I think the way the
Giants will use Abdul Carter all around.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
You got Dex Lawrence in.
Speaker 10 (20:10):
The middle, which will cost a lot of one on
one matchups for Brian Burns, who I think will absolutely
feast on either side left, right, in or left and
with Abdul Carter getting so much attention moving him around
and Dex Lawrence in the middle. And then my last
guy would be the quarterback CJ. Stroud from the Houston Texans.
We all know how he jumped on the scene as
(20:32):
the offensive rookie of the Rookie of the Year and
then had a little dip last year. But despite that,
they still won ten games, they still won a division,
they still won a playoff game, and that shows you
the power of a franchise quarterback of not just piling
up stats but saying I can lead this team to wins.
I think they totally revamped the offensive line. He got sacked,
(20:55):
I mean so much last year. They brought in a
new group of youngers receivers in the draft there from
Iowa State, the big tackle ursery out of Minnesota. I
think we'll jump in there and start eventually. And I
think really that Nick Chubb signing with he and Mix
and if Nick chubbs anything close, that running game is
going to be super powerful tom So c J. Stroud
is going to bounce back look like he did as
a rookie.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
I'm writing all these down Edrin Cooper, Brian Burn, c. J. Stroud.
You like the way they look, Mark Ross guarantees it, Mark,
thank you very much. More from you, Ian. Just a
bit coming up after this though, Let's head down to
the NFC South, where could there finally be a challenger
to the Bucks in that division. Sarah Walsh was at
Fock's minicamp. Next she'll be with us for her biggest
(21:40):
takeaway on the perpetual NFC South Champs. That's next on
the Insiders.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
The weight is over and the countdown to kickoff has begun.
Single game tickets for the twenty twenty five season are
on sale now. Visit NFL dot com slash tickets to
purchase tickets today. Tickets are available through the NFL ticket network,
including Ticketmaster, Sea Geek, and Sports Illustrated Tickets. One of
the teams you can buy tickets for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
(22:16):
They were on the field for mini camp last week,
so they are already on summer vacation. You see a
little slow mo action here on maybe regular speed action too,
little Baker Mayfield. Again, the Bucks are already on vacation,
but Sarah Walsh is not on vacation. She is joining
us here tonight to discuss the Tampa Bay Bucks. She
(22:37):
knows this team about as well as anybody, all right, As.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
We said, Sarah, they are already.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
On the beach, although they could be on the beach
any day really in Tampa. What are the takeaways from
their mini camp.
Speaker 11 (22:49):
I think what we learned, Judy, is what we already
thought we were going to see when you looked at
this roster on paper.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
And that's the fact that the.
Speaker 11 (22:56):
Receivers group is completely stacked for this Tampa team, because
you already have the two Pro Bowlers and Mike Evans
and Chris Godwin Junior, by the way, that is a
name change.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
He's going by.
Speaker 11 (23:04):
Godwin Junior now is a nod to his father. And
then you already had Jalen McMillan, who is an emerging
star now going into his second season. They added first
rounder of Mecca Abuka in this draft. They also added
a speedster and Tess Johnson. And so Mike Evans, who
has been around, has seen a lot of football. He
is entering his twelfth season. Here's what he had to
say about his receivers room after more than a decade
(23:27):
in this league.
Speaker 12 (23:29):
I say it every year, but we always get great
players to come in. So it's been very fortunate for
me in my career to be around a lot of
great young players, and they've added to their room tremendously.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
They're already very polished.
Speaker 12 (23:41):
Already in Mecca's really strong hands, super smart to his speed,
quickness without specifically on.
Speaker 6 (23:47):
A Mecca with one skup of ball in his hands,
were really able to do like making keeping is.
Speaker 12 (23:51):
Oh, he looks like a running back, but I mean
he catches like Chris Gowa like he's He's very polished,
very well rounded player.
Speaker 11 (23:59):
Evans, but also say that the fact that these new
guys are not only just really good, but really hungry,
he says, it motivates him to be even hungrier despite
how long he has played. Now, Evans know is going
to end up in the Hall of Fame when his
career is over. Keep this in context, though, right he's
their number one receiver. When Chris Godwin Junior was lost
for the year because of an ankle injury last season,
(24:19):
it was Godwin Junior that was leading the league in receptions.
And then you go late in the year and it
was Jalen McMillan, who was just a rookie who had
seven touchdowns in his last five games.
Speaker 6 (24:30):
If Godwin Junior.
Speaker 11 (24:31):
Is healthy, healthy, if McMillan continues to do what they think,
and you add these new guys who are already are
making some people open their eyelids down here in Tampa,
Mike Evans might be right about this being the best
receiving room that he has ever been a part of Judy.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
Despite that, Sarah, I feel like the Tampa Bay Box
still don't get as much respect as they deserve. They
are like perpetual underdogs even though they just keep winning
the division. How do they change that narrative in the
post Tom Brady era.
Speaker 11 (25:03):
I think it's probably changing this year. Going into the season.
The Bucks have now won the NFC South four years
in a row. No team has ever won that division
five years in a row. Baker Mayfield said at this
training camp, if you are not trying to get better,
you are not going to survive. Now, Baker has put
up career numbers in his first year in Tampa, even
(25:23):
better number in his second.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Year in Tampa.
Speaker 11 (25:25):
And now, as we were talking about this loaded receivers group,
you've got a run game that they didn't have in
Bucky Irving. I don't think anyone is discounting the Bucks.
I mean this is a potent offense. They've got every
starter returning, including every member that started on that offensive line.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
That is huge.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
The question mark Judy have been over on defense, and
Todd Bowles pointed out that it's safety that is probably
going to be the most heavily competed for position during
training camp. Antoine Winfield junior Tike Smith expected to be
the starters, but then there's guys after that.
Speaker 6 (25:56):
They depth there.
Speaker 11 (25:57):
Sheilah Sanders is the name that is fighting for a spot.
Bull's last piece of advice before these guys headed off
into vacation was be ready to roll and don't be
working out indoors because that is not going to work
when you return here in this Florida heat for training camp.
They might be still underdogs nationally, but this offense was
so good last season. I don't think that there is
(26:18):
any more slipping under the radar in this post Tom
Brady era, Judy.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
It might also be time to stop calling it the
post Tom Brady era, because this will be the third
season post Tom Brady.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
They only had Tom Brady.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
For three seasons, so we might get to call it
maybe the Baker Mayfield era.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
So I think that's thank you very much. Tom.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
The Bucks just keep winning the division, which means everybody
else has to get used to losing. Well. Chuba Hubbard
among others this week saying Panthers are singing tired of it.
I think we're the closest we've ever been to a
playoff run. For more on that, let's bring in our
buddy Adam Rank, who's got some thing to say about
sleeper candidates to win divisions around the NFL. Let's start
(27:05):
out right there in the NFC South. Rank, Are the
Panthers the team? Do you think people might be sleeping
on here?
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Well?
Speaker 13 (27:13):
I do like that Chuba Hubbard has goals. Similarly, I
have a goal of breaking eighty. I don't know if
either one of those things will happen this season, but
I do really like the Carolina spanthers chances of winning
the NFC South this year. As as a matter of fact,
I believe they're going to break through. Last season. They
made some great strides when they rebuilt the interior of
(27:34):
their offensive line, and Bryce Young went from being benched
in favor of Andy Dalton playing some really good football
down the stretch, and there were times where it looked
like Bryce Young was that guy that they thought he
was going to be when he was the number one
overall pick in the draft. And for this season, they
brought in Tech McMillan to give him a viable option
to go along with Xavier Leggett. And defensively, Dan Morgan
(27:58):
did a nice job grabbing a pair of edge rushers
in the second and third run who should make an impact.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
And there's Ted McMillan right there.
Speaker 13 (28:06):
I know our buddy Steve Smith Senior didn't like him
as much, but I still think it could be a
really good wide receiver. And it's also somebody should look
at it in fantasy too, But we can talk about
that at another point.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Let's head out to the AFC West here rank who
is a sleeper to win that division.
Speaker 13 (28:22):
I don't know if they count as a sleeper because
they won they did make the playoffs last year, but
it's the Denver Broncos who are very good. At the
end of last season and again they got into the playoffs.
I know a lot of teams were happy they didn't
have to face the Bengals, but they were in the playoffs.
And when we sit here and everybody, you know, while
we sit here and we celebrate bo Nicks, who had
the most passing yards of all rookie quarterbacks last season,
(28:45):
it's really the defense that stands out to me. The
defense was already pretty good. Then you go out there
and you add Dre Greenlaw, Telllona Hufunga, you bring in
Barren some of the other guys to a great to
a defense that was already become very good. And it's
interesting though, because when you look at the AFC West,
this is easily the most difficult division in football. You
(29:08):
have four excellent head coaches who have had success in
this league, and I would say that every team, including
the Raiders, should feel like they have a real opportunity
to go out and win the AFC West. My pick
is the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
All right, one more here AFC northrank who is a
sleeper to win that division?
Speaker 13 (29:27):
Again, I don't know how much of a sleeper this counts,
but I love the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, obviously they've got
some things to clean up, especially on the defensive side
of the football. The defense was a problem a year ago,
they fired the defensive coordinator. But now they're going through
a thing where they're trying to figure out what they're
going to do with Trey Hendricks said. Now there are
reports that it sounds like talks are getting resumed.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
You would know more than me.
Speaker 13 (29:50):
They need to figure out what they're doing with Shamar
Stewart as well, and then they have to find a
replacement for Jermaine Pratt. They have a lot of things
going on the they need to fix defensively.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
But you know what they did the right thing.
Speaker 13 (30:03):
Jamar Chase is there, t Higgins is there, Joe Burrow
is there. There is still a huge opportunity for this
team offensively that I think that if they just tweak
a couple of things defensively, they don't need to be
the eighty five Bears, they don't need to be the
two thousand Ravens.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Just make us stop here or there.
Speaker 13 (30:22):
That should be enough for the Bengals to win a
lot of games and to get into the playoffs this season.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Get board of.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
The NFL with NFL Plus. Stay connected throughout the offseason
with twenty four to seven football news and coverage on
NFL Network and with NFL Plus Premium Real live your
favorite moments from the twenty twenty four season with game
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Subscribe today at Plus dot NFL dot Com. Terms and
(30:49):
conditions apply as they do. It's so many things in
our life. Welcome back to the Insiders E rapport here, Judiebatista,
right over there, Judy, you have a great story on
NFL dot com. Literally right now, see the thing right
under our faces. That's where you go NFL dot com
slash Batista to get all the different storylines. And you
(31:09):
do a great job of really coaching us and how
to think. So let's start right there. Give us some
NFL storylines that I absolutely cannot overreact to.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Right this is storylines coming out of mini camps that
we should not be overreacting to. Let's start with how
the quarterback competition in Cleveland looked during mini camp. This
is something that is going to play out during training
camp during the preseason.
Speaker 6 (31:37):
We're going to be counting reps.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
Then we're going to be seeing which of the rookie
quarterbacks looks like he's moving ahead of the other. Also,
keep in mind, Joe Flacco has been in Cleveland. He
has had success with Kevin Stefanski. So when they are
divvying up reps, perhaps they don't need to give quite
as many to Joe Flacco because they know what he
can do, especially early in training camp. Maybe later on
(32:01):
they will want to get him ready if he's going
to be the starter for the start of the regular season.
But this is going to be an evolving competition. Four
quarterbacks in camp, two rookies in camp. We will see
much later in the summer how this breaks down, all right.
Similarly in Jacksonville, Travis Hunter, we're all obsessed with him
(32:23):
and how Travis Hunter is going to play two positions
or will he play two positions. During the spring, he
was practicing at both positions, receiver and cornerback on separate days,
and so of course we all fell into the trap.
We were counting how many days he was spending at
wide receiver, how many at cornerback. The Jaguars have made
it clear they see him as a wide receiver first.
(32:45):
He wants to play both, of course, but this is
going to be a fluid situation, not just during training camp,
not just during the preseason, not just during his rookie season.
Perhaps throughout his entire career how much he plays at
each position.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
So calm down, breathe deeply.
Speaker 5 (33:02):
We're going to see a lot of Travis Hunter at
both wide receiver and cornerback. And finally, in New England,
everybody take a deep breath about Stefan Diggs and his
adventures on the boat. Was that video of him partying
on a boat great?
Speaker 1 (33:18):
No?
Speaker 5 (33:19):
It was not, especially since new head coach Mike Rapel
has spent a whole lot of time talking about making
good decisions. That one didn't really strike anybody as a
great decision. Having said that, Stepan Diggs then showed up
at OTA's and at Mini caamp and Rabel praised how
engaged he was with the team and his energy, and
the Patriots need him. They need a veteran presence in
(33:42):
that wide receiver room. They have really been lacking in
playmakers at wide receiver the last few seasons. It has
shown they need him there for Drake May's development. Far
more important about Stephan Diggs is how he is progressing
from the ACL injury he suffered last season and when
he will be fully clear to practice completely with the Patriots.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Yeah, still not all the way there yet for the Patriots,
hopefully at some point during training. Get but you're right,
talk all we want about the boat. This is a
guy who has to absolutely be a big time, big
time weapon for them. Okay, now, you gave us these
storylines we shouldn't overreact to. How about the storylines that
need a little more attention than we are currently giving it.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
Well, I think we're going to have to give a
lot of attention to the Anthony Richardson situation in Indianapolis
with the ac joint soreness, perhaps a reaggravation of that
injury that he had.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
Earlier in his career.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
This is a really important thing because one of the
reasons why Anthony Richardson is involved in a quarterback competition
in Indianapolis is because he can't stay on the field.
His durability has been a huge problem. The guy looks
completely indestructible, just look at it, and he is huge,
but he's missed a ton of games in his first
two seasons in the NFL, so they don't know about
(35:03):
his durability. They brought in Daniel Jones, a player who,
to be honest, when you talk to some people around
the league thought had a pretty good chance of winning
that quarterback competition anyway, and now certainly is in a
much better position to win that competition, especially because coach
Shanstikeen would not put a timeline on one. Anthony Richardson
might be available to resume practice he did not participate
(35:26):
in mini camp.
Speaker 6 (35:27):
We will see what it.
Speaker 5 (35:28):
Looks like as we get closer to training camp. But
this is certainly a setback for Anthony Richardson.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, certainly, as he threw a ton during the spring,
probably more than he has ever thrown, then showed the
effects of that by not participating in Mantua, Minica. You
hope by training camp he's okay, but I think it's
fair to say taking nothing at his face right now, Judy,
thank you very much, great stuff.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
As always, if you're a fan of an NFL team
that took a running back or signed one to compliment
the one already in place, you love the depth. If
you're a fantasy player, you're already pulling out your hair
of which one of these guys should I take when
my drafts roll around in July and August. Hopefully it
(36:10):
didn't already happen, because that would make you a degenerate
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Telli, Sero, Ian Rappaport,
Mark Ross, and Adam Rank. We're gonna play a whole
game right now called Fantasy versus Reality, where we'll it
each you guys chime in on some of these situations
here from both the fantasy and reality perspective. I'll start
with you hear Rank. Of those rookie running backs, who's
(36:32):
the one you think will outplay his fantasy draft position.
I'm doing the fantasy part of this. I wish somebody
would have told I'm kidding.
Speaker 13 (36:40):
I like our J Harvey, and I know a lot
of people will be out there. I've already hit up on.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Twitter with this or like what opening JK d I
know JK.
Speaker 13 (36:48):
Dobbins is there, and there's a very real possibility that
this turns into the Camani Vidal fiasco that happened last season.
But I'm pretty optimistic because Sean Payton did use a
remium draft pick on bringing in R. J. Harvey, and
I know that the lazy thing would be to be like, wow,
this is Alvin Kamara. However, we've seen what Sean Payton
(37:09):
does with guys who fit certain molds. I mean It's
one of the reasons why Bo Knicks did so well
last year, and that's why R. J. Harvey is gonna
do so well this season.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
All Right, that was good fantasy. Now let's get to reality. Mark,
I will hit you on this. Give me a young
running back now outperform his real life draft status.
Speaker 10 (37:33):
Well, we've got to go with Trayvon Henderson, who got
taken thirty eighth there in the second round. Some thought
he was the first round talent, and I thought he
was too, And I think he'll play like a first
round talent.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Number one.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
He saw.
Speaker 10 (37:43):
Ramandre Stevenson is there, but Antonio Gibson was supposed to
be the receiving portion of that one to two punch.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Well he didn't live up to that.
Speaker 10 (37:50):
So I think immediately Henderson will be making an impact
in the past game, and then I think eventually it
he'll take over as the number one back from Ramandre
just because he is that talented. Drake may will be
a lot better. Will Campbell's are only offensive line. Tre
Von Henderson's going to crush it like a first round pick.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Rank coming back to you here, a wide receiver who
will outplay his fantasy draft position well.
Speaker 13 (38:14):
I've been told to keep this brief, so I will
say Trey Harris for a too pronged approach. Number one talent.
He's a downfield playmaker when he's healthy. I know he's
battled some injuries, but when he's healthy and available on
the field, he is tremendous down the field. And there's
also an opportunity. The LA Chargers are led by lad
McConkey as their number one target getter. I'm not going
(38:35):
to be shocked when Trey Harris is number two on
that list in targets.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
I really wasn't all that quick rank. All right, mark
one more for you. Give me a real life receiver
who is expected to outperform his real life draft status.
Speaker 10 (38:51):
Well, that's got to be Jack Besch going out there
to the Raiders. We know brock Bauer is going to
get all the attention to the past game. He took
a singenty up there for a reason. Give him a
ton of ca But Jack besh And thinks walking in
there he might be the best receiver on the team already.
I'm sorry to go, but this guy has done nothing
but just play big and catch balls at TC. Who
knows how to get open plays?
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Physical.
Speaker 10 (39:13):
He's going to bring that attitude there to the Raiders.
They're going to be paying attention to Brock, They're gonna
be paying attention to Genti. And here comes Jack Besh
with a ton of catches, more so than some guys
in the first round, Mark rank.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Thank you very much. More from you guys soon. I
am sure coming up after this though. We're all coming
off of Father's Day here. There have been some very
famous fathers and sons, including the Slaters, the McCaffrey's, among others.
Here what were some of our favorites that we saw
together this past weekend. We'll tell you after this on
the insiders. That'd be Father's Day from the NFL to
(39:57):
you and these special dads in your life, Ernest Zones,
Drew Locke, among others, celebrating out there in Seattle. Dak
Prescott just became a father again very recently. Look at
that little peanut on the left right there for the
Cowboys quarterback Quinn Williams. A proud girl dad showing off
right there at last year's Pro Bowl games and to
(40:20):
a tongue of my law and a photo that if
you start looking at, where is there a giant metal
slide on top of a football field indoors will become
somewhat mine bending. But let's just focus right there on
the father Lee Love Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom pelisera,
Judy Batista, and Ian Rappaport, who always is very prolific
(40:42):
on holidays, but particularly ian prolific social media wise on
Father's Day.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Ah, Yes, it was a lovely Father's Day. So here's
what we did. We went to the Mets game. And
if you know anything about the Mets, they are currently awesome.
And there we are right there on the jumbo chh on.
Hello Rappaport family. There's Jude dancing, there's Max dancing.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
There's me.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I'm dancing, but I'm just sitting and I'm waving to
the crowd. Surely a nice moment. The whole family was there.
There's Leah with a very cool retro Metz. Jersey loved that.
We're not going to talk about the score here, right,
It wasn't like nine to nothing. It doesn't matter. The
Mets are so good this year. There's Max hanging out,
there's my large shoda that I was drinking with, Jude
(41:25):
and his amazing hat. We had a ball at the
Mets game.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Again.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
We're not going to talk about the score because the
Mets have won so much this year, just not exactly
anything recently and certainly not while we were there.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
Judy, any special shoutouts from your end here, shout out
to Anthony mccaren, my husband, great dad. We went to Broadway,
we saw the great gats Feet yesterday and then we
went out to dinner. So we were following the Mets
game on our phones. We should full disposure. They were
swept this weekend. There was a terrible weekend. Ian not
(41:59):
doing what he should. What's been doing at that game?
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yeah, we got fifteen seconds left. Can you show us
the dance you were doing in that photo, just so
we get the full visual?
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Yeah, all right, So what I was doing when the
photo was going, Now, don't cut me off here, I'm
gonna show you right now.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Hold on, get me one more second. I'm gonna get
ready to
Training camps are just about a month away, and the
drama continues surrounding some top pass rushers. When and how
much should the likes of Michael Parsons, TJ. Watt, and
Trey Hendrickson get paid? We will tell you the latest.
It's easy to pick favorites to win divisions, especially as
we're sitting here in June, not at the rank. He
(00:22):
has some sleepers for you tonight, he says, just might
raise a banner in twenty twenty five. Could some of
those teams be led by young quarterbacks? Well, Mark Ross
is going to be here as well. He's got some
names that he says are guaranteed, yes, guaranteed to improve
in twenty twenty five. Welcome inside with the Insiders alongside
(00:47):
Ian Rappaport and Judy Battista, I am Tom Peliserro. We
are eighty days out from kickoff to the twenty twenty
five NFL season. All but four teams around the league
have now wrapped up their off season programs, which means
at the moment, we've still got a lot of football
players on baseball fields. That's where Miles Garrett was yesterday
(01:09):
for Father's Day, celebrating in Arlington, back near his hometown,
throwing out the first pitch alongside his father, Miles Garrett,
who chose to wear a Rangers jersey and some very
large pants. I'm sure quite what's going on. They're not
a bad pitch, Dad, maybe could have been a little
(01:29):
better on the grab. Miles demand to reset the pass
rushing market earlier this offseason, also shared some thoughts on Michaeh.
Parsons cashing in.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You can deserve whatever he's earned. I mean, guys, special
more thing. Got the chance to train with him, and
you know, I've seen it work out. They got see
Hya tech the waves running. No, he's no, one hundred
percent committed to his craft and getting better every day.
And someone produced on the field and has that little
dedication to the game. You know you should. You know
(02:01):
you should get every pennies over.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So a lot of items on the offseason checklist here Ian,
but a huge one. It's in Dallas. It is Michael Parsons.
Tell me where we stand right now with a Cowboys
team that never is in a huge rush to do
these deals and one of the top edge players in
the game.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
In fact, Michael Parsons said himself recently that he believes
the Cowboys are costing themselves money by not doing this
deal early. But it just does not seem like that
is going to happen. And look, you take a landscape
of these deals, you'll understand where things are. And it
does make sense that Micah Parsons would be last. Have
no doubt that most of the other players, if they
(02:41):
were to do interviews, just like Miles Garrett, would at
least acknowledge that it would make sense if Micah Parsons
ended the offseason began the season as the highest paid
non quarterback in the NFL. In fact, at this point,
I would be surprised if it did not happen. So yes,
as Miles Garrett said, Micah Parsons deserves everything he could
possibly get. He has owed a ton of money by
(03:01):
the Dallas Cowboys. It is going to be a lot.
In fact, they had some initial negotiations, not with his agent,
David Mulligeto, but with Parsons himself where the numbers they
discussed were high, We're really high. Deal did not get
done and they really haven't made progress since then. But
Miles Garrett is going to make a lot, a lot
of money a young player in his prime ready for
a second contract. That makes sense. For TJ Watt, another
(03:24):
top edge rusher, he's in the market for a new deal,
who has had negotiations with his team and his agent
for potentially a new deal. This is a little more complicated.
No one doubts that TG Watt has been one of
the best players of football for the better part of
the last decade, but he is going for his third deal,
and obviously at the end last year maybe didn't quite
look like the dominant force that he did earlier on
(03:47):
in his career. Not saying he's slowing down. I'm just
saying it's more complicated to do a third deal. Maybe
he comes in just under these guys. Either way, we're
going to see some edge rushers make huge, huge paydays
before the season.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And unlike Michael Parsons and TJ. Watt, who've been trying
to outshoot that Miles Garrett forty million dollars per year contract,
Trey Hendrickson is not looking to reset the market, but
he does want to be paid fairly. When you compare
that to some of the other deals that got done
in the offseason, whether that was the Max Crosby extension
with the Raiders, whether that was Danil Hunter on another
basically fully guaranteed one year extension that carries him through
(04:23):
twenty twenty six. We know this because Treandderdson has said
a lot of this publicly. He wants a new deal.
He's not going to play on the old one, which
shows him a little over sixteen million dollars in twenty
twenty five. He also wants a multi year extension, not
another one year type of a deal. He wants some
level of security after last year when he initially requested
a trade in twenty twenty four, we're sending it played
(04:43):
it out led the league in Sex. He wants to
get paid fairly for his status. There has been nothing new,
Let's be clear about that in recent days. The sides
have remained engaged for quite some time. There is a
pathway here for them to get something done. However, we
are not there just yet. As for Aiden Hutchinson, we
haven't talked about as much. The young star pass rusher
(05:05):
from the Lions, of course, had a really gruesome injury
that ended his twenty twenty four season. We've all seen
the videos of him online. He's running, he's not quite
cutting and doing things at the full football level, but
full anticipation he's going to be ready to go. And
if you're in Hutchinson, there's absolutely no rush here because
as you're getting healthy, as you're showing that you are
(05:26):
the same guy again, you're waiting on TJ. Watt and
Michael Parsons to get paid and then saying I'm a
lot younger than TJ. Watt, I'm as good as Michael Parsons.
Let's let all of this stuff fall into play. So
it does not sound like there's been anything ramping up
on the Aiden Hutchinson front just yet, Judy. But once
we see those Michael Parsons and Wat deals get done
(05:47):
at some point, it might even behoove the Lions to
just say, Okay, before the price goes up anymore, let's
get something done.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Well.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
There are non pass rushers in line for a contracts too,
actually two of them at the New York Jets. Gardner
the cornerback and receiver Garrett Wilson, both of them in
line for contracts, both top ten picks in the twenty
twenty two draft, and both have made clear, especially Garrett
Wilson in recent days, that they want to be Jets
for life. What makes this situation so intriguing is these
(06:17):
were draft picks of the previous regime. There has been
a total regime change at the New York Jets this offseason,
and Aaron Glenn has really stressed the idea of culture
change and people who want to be here. Aaron Glenn
wanted to be the Jets head coach. He wants players
who want to be Jets Sauce. Gartner has made it clear.
(06:38):
He showed up to the off season program this year
and showed up to Mini caamp to make the point
that he wants to be here, he wants to be
a Jet, and Garrett Wilson said he wants to be a.
Speaker 6 (06:48):
Jet for life.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
That was always a bit of a question, especially for
Garrett Wilson, who showed some frustration especially during the Aaron
Rodgers tenure, but certainly the presence of his former college
teammate Justin Fields team to have revived Garrett Wilson. Going
to be interesting to see where their contracts come in
because the market has exploded, especially at wide receiver. Very
(07:08):
curious to see what the numbers are for those two
and if they can get them done this offseason.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's what happens when you have record salary cap spikes too,
which is just naturally there's more money into the marketplace,
and so the numbers are going to go up. We
just listened three of them. Ed Rusher got reset in
this offseason. Wide receiver got reset this off season. Corner
got reset multiple times. Show did tight End. It was
Trey McBride who got a nineteen million dollars per year contract,
then George Kittle on his third deal with the forty
(07:34):
nine hours leap Frog. McBride listening to Kittle earlier today,
he's happy and hopes Moore continue to reset that bark.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
The only way for the Titan market to continue to
grow is if everybody's getting paid.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
That's that's the only way to do it.
Speaker 7 (07:49):
You can't just have one guy do it and then
it just sits for three or four years, because then
you're stuck and it's stagnant.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
No one's getting paid.
Speaker 7 (07:55):
So we want everybody, like I want everybody to have
great seasons. When Titan you first started, I think the
top of the mark was fifteen and now we're almost twenty.
So like we're continually growing it, and you know, as
a tight end and as a position who does everything. Yeah,
I think we should be making more money, but we're
working on it.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
You take a look at the highest paid tight ends
in the NFL right now, That top of that market
nineteen million. That is about half of the top of
the wide receiver market, with Jamar Chase coming over the
top of that. In the course of this offseason, George
Kittle's teammates, some got paid, some moved on. One guy
we haven't talked about a whole lot because for once
there's not any dramas running him is Trent Williams. He
(08:36):
of course had the contract situation last year through the
course of training camp. Here. He is thirty six years
old at this point, but he told reporters last week
I would love to play it until I'm forty. Definitely
not retiring with something left on the table, Judy, Which
is good news for all of us who have been
going year to year wondering if Trent Williams can retire
at any second. Also really good news for Kyle Shannon
(08:59):
to continue to have one of the best blind side
protectors in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
Right Trent Williams is about to be thirty seven in
just a few weeks, but he is still playing at
an elite elite tackle level. He only played in eleven
games last season. Into Week eleven he had the injury
that ended his season, but PFF still had him rated
as the sixth best tackle in the league. He only
gave up one stack last year because of the injury.
(09:24):
He didn't get voted on All Pro, but that snapped
a streak of three straight seasons as an All Pro,
so he is still playing at a top tackle level.
Last season, a lot of things went wrong for the
San Francisco forty nine ers, but in seasons before that,
you could see the difference in the offense when Trent
Williams was off the field. He is a critical part
(09:45):
of the way that offense goes. It is great news
that he wants to play until he's forty. Also, I
wonder if, philosophically, if we're going to have to continue
having this conversation the way guys take care of their
bodies now, the things we know about rest and recovery,
are we going to see more players, even guys like
Trent Williams, pushing into their forties.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Kalais Campbell getting very close here, dude. He turns thirty
nine before week one of the twenty twenty five NFL season.
He is back in Arizona after several other stops. He
said recently, I enjoyed passing knowledge. There's no point for
me to die with all of it.
Speaker 6 (10:21):
Ian.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Anytime we're invoking death before retirement, you know a guy's
getting up there in years. We all love Kalayis Campbell, though,
one of the great characters, one of the great human
beings in the game, and still one of the biggest
dudes that you don't want to see, just probably not
for seventy snaps a game anymore.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
No, and that's not really who he is anymore. It's
more of like a thirty or thirty five snap guy.
Still can be really, really productive, which no doubt he
showed that several times last year. The sacks are still there,
the pressures are still there, the leadership is still there.
And Kalay's Camill makes a great point here. Every year
in the offseason, there's been a point me to say,
(10:58):
is Kalays Camo gonna retire? In fact, Tom, I remember
you and I were sharing a car with Klay's Cambo
on the way to a Super Bowl pregame show when
he was on NFL Network one year. It was like
two or three years ago, and I remember wondering, how
is I going to quietly bring up, like, hey, are
you retiring? I think he's played three seasons since then.
He might never retire. But the best thing that a
guy like Kalays Campbell can do forget about the pressures
(11:22):
in the side, it's pass on the knowledge to the
young guys. These are the kinds of things that can
stick with young defensive linemen or even young linebackers, anyone
getting after a quarterback for years to come. This is
sort of his role now to be an elder statesman
and still be pretty good on the field.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Lane Johnson started to sneak up that list as well,
now thirty five years old, as he gets ready for
another season with the Philadelphia Eagles. He said recently that
I feel like I'm getting closer to maybe my peak
than he was early in his career, or even at
twenty nine or thirty. He's now a ton of injuries, obviously,
but coming off his sixth Pro Bowl. Now big deal
for Howie Roseman is those lifetime e goes Fletcher Cox,
(12:01):
Jason Kelsey, Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson as long as he
is still willing to get himself back out onto the field,
which sometimes is a battle expecting to be doing it
in Philadelphia. The state of Missouri certainly hopes that they
have done enough to keep the Chiefs in their side
of Kansas City for life. Missouri Governor's Missouri's governor this
(12:21):
week signing legislative package that includes hundreds of millions of
dollars in financial aid to keep the Chiefs in Kansas City.
The other Kansas City, the one that's actually in the
state called Kansas, has been trying to build a new
dobed stadium. Now the ball is officially in the Chief's
court in terms of what comes next. As for the
potential new Commander's stadium in the District of Columbia, council
(12:45):
members delayed approval of funds for a new Commander's stadium
at the RFK Stadium site. All part of the bureaucracy
that goes on when you're talking about being able to
build multi billion dollars stadium projects. Certainly, there are a
lot of people, maybe more in the White House, who
would like to have the Commanders back in old d C.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Michael Pennix is throwing for the Atlanta Falcons. That is
a good side, especially when he's doing one of those
nice slow mo ones with a tight spiral writing close
to his face where you just know it is OTA's
in mini caamp a staple of this time of year.
That said, when you do regular speed on Michael Pennix,
that thing absolutely flies a rocket for an arm and
(13:25):
so on. The Falcons are expecting huge, huge thing things
from this season and exactly why we're always talking about
the Falcons quarterbacks. Anyway, let's chicken in with Pennix and
Kirk Cousins to see how their spring was going.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Michael's going to do great. He's going to have a
great career. He's off to a great start. He's got
all the all the tangibles and intangibles you need to
be successful. And I'm just here to support him, you know,
as he needs it.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Man.
Speaker 8 (13:54):
Just getting better, you know, being better than I was
last year, being better than I was yesterday and today,
you know, each and every day, just working on improving,
you know, on the field, off the field, build a connections,
relationships with my teammates. You know, it's a lot of
different aspects that going to that, you know, in order
for you know, this team to have the season that
we want to have. To see.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Ian Rapperboard here, Judy Batista now joined by our good
friend Cam Wolf. So Cam, you saw the beautiful, beautiful
Michael Pennix, Hightch you listen to this sound. You know
a ton about this Atlanta Falcons situation. It's a complicated one.
We've talked a lot about the Atlanta Falcons quarterback group,
not because of Penix, but because the highest paid backup
(14:37):
maybe in NFL history is still there as well. What's
the dynamic going to be like in this Atlanta Falcons
quarterback room?
Speaker 9 (14:45):
And I spoke with one Falcons coach who said last
week's mini camp appearance for kirk Cousins was essentially what
they think is gives them confidence this will work into
the fall.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Kirk Cousins was not a distraction at all.
Speaker 9 (14:56):
He handled the media well, he was talking with Michael
Pennix's practice, but largely he assimilated into the background.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
This is Michael Penix's team.
Speaker 9 (15:05):
And as kirk Cousins said also in that presser.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
We're moving forward. We're moving forward.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
Without this idea that there's a trade still out there
waiting for us. As we've looked around the league after
Aaron Rodgers signed with the Steelers, there's no starting job
just waiting there for Kirk Cousins, and so both sides
essentially said, we're going to have to make this work.
Kirk Cousins is not going to make a huge issue here,
and for Michael Pennix, he's focused on making this his team.
And what's been interesting about his process is they've got
(15:32):
him with some of the Falcons legendary quarterbacks throughout the offseason.
I'm told Raheem Morris got him with Matt Ryan multiple
times in person, on the phone try to help him
with this prep of being that franchise quarterback. Michael Vick
also stopped by practice about a week and a half
ago to pour into Michael Pennocks as well. And so
this is his team and his big thing is I
(15:54):
want to show the leadership to the entire team, not
just my offense. He's had lunches, he's had golf outings,
really trying to show the genuine relationships he thinks, says
need to need it to take over this team. And
one big beneficiary that will be Drake London. He had
over three hundred and fifty yards in the last three
games that Michael Pennock's played together. He joked this week,
if people think that Drake London still underappreciate it, they
(16:16):
won't after this season. So his focus is on making
sure Drake London and the Falcons eat.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
I don't think anybody thinks Kirk Cousins is the type
to make a scene. But you could just see in
that little clip we showed you of his meeting with reporters,
you could hear this sort of deflation and disappointment in
his voice the resignation. I am still very curious to
see if he remains on the roster, if a trade
does not develop somewhere along the line, if somebody does
not get hurt and need a starting caliber quarterback like
(16:46):
Kirk Cousins, what happens if Michael Pennick struggles at any
point this season, what will the dynamic be then if
there are calls for a quarterback change in Atlanta, that's
really going to be a test of the Atlanta coaching staff.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
All right, Cam, we could talk.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
About quarterbacks all day. We like to pretend that they're
the only thing that matters. They are not the only
thing that matters. What other factors are important for the
Falcons going into this offseason.
Speaker 9 (17:10):
Yeah, a huge factor of the Falcons twenty five season
is how early their defensive rookies will be able to contribute.
And look, they went all in on this draft, getting
a Jalen Walker James Pierce off the edge early on.
I'm told there's real hope that their top four rookies
on the defense side can get significant roles, if not
starting roles this season. And you got Jalen Walker who's
(17:32):
going to be the hybrid linebacker edge rusher, and James
Pierce off the edge. You also got Xavier Watts at
safety and Billy Bowman who's going to play nickel corner
for them. And Raheem Morris talked about an intentionality in
getting them clear roles. Look, this was a team that
had thirty first in sacks last year. They know they
need a little bit of explosion, a little bit speed
off the edge, and early signs have been that Jalen
(17:54):
Walker and James Pierce can provide that. Early Raheem went
as far as calling Jalen W. Walker a future captain
already after just two months with the Falcons, and one
key part of their development is going to be the
vets in the room. And I want to shout out
to Jesse Bates because now that Grady Jared's in Chicago,
Jesse Bates is now that undisputed face of the defense
(18:15):
and he's already taken multiple of these rookies under his wing.
He's has multiple iPads every meetings trying to show how
to study the techniques that are needed and really answering
any questions you need for these rookies because he knows
they're going to need them to be able to make
that division, that playoff run. If they think they can
make this.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Year, they are going to need those rookies to come
on quickly if they are going to pressure the Tampa
Bay Box in the NFC South Cam we know you
are probably going to be at a lot of those games.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Thank you very much. Tom.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Time now for a front office view with our guy
Mark Ross. Mark, you got a new call him up
NFL dot com slash Ross looking at players guaranteed to
improve in twenty twenty five. So get your full George
Jimmer on with me. Here. Tell me what one of
the guys on that list. Packers linebacker Eddrin Cooper, Edrian Cooper,
who was.
Speaker 10 (19:08):
My favorite player coming out of the draft last season,
started out training camp banged up, missed three games, only
played forty five percent of the defensive snaps last year. Tom,
But when he played, he showed that he was a
menace and racking up You see the stats right there.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
And most importantly, it was just the explosiveness.
Speaker 10 (19:28):
That jumps out out at you when I watched him,
same way it was when he was in college with
a full season being on the field as the starter.
This guy has all Pro potential, Tom.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And then my next.
Speaker 10 (19:40):
Guy would be Brian Burns from the New York Football Giants.
There who played well last year, had eight and a
half sacks, most pressure, most tackles he's had in his career.
Dexter Lawrence Reckon shot there in the middle with nine sacks.
But now here comes Abdul Carter and Abdul Carter, who
(20:01):
I thought was the best pass rusher coming out since
Michael Parsons, very similar that. I think the way the
Giants will use Abdul Carter all around.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
You got Dex Lawrence in.
Speaker 10 (20:10):
The middle, which will cost a lot of one on
one matchups for Brian Burns, who I think will absolutely
feast on either side left, right, in or left and
with Abdul Carter getting so much attention moving him around
and Dex Lawrence in the middle. And then my last
guy would be the quarterback CJ. Stroud from the Houston Texans.
We all know how he jumped on the scene as
(20:32):
the offensive rookie of the Rookie of the Year and
then had a little dip last year. But despite that,
they still won ten games, they still won a division,
they still won a playoff game, and that shows you
the power of a franchise quarterback of not just piling
up stats but saying I can lead this team to wins.
I think they totally revamped the offensive line. He got sacked,
(20:55):
I mean so much last year. They brought in a
new group of youngers receivers in the draft there from
Iowa State, the big tackle ursery out of Minnesota. I
think we'll jump in there and start eventually. And I
think really that Nick Chubb signing with he and Mix
and if Nick chubbs anything close, that running game is
going to be super powerful tom So c J. Stroud
is going to bounce back look like he did as
a rookie.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
I'm writing all these down Edrin Cooper, Brian Burn, c. J. Stroud.
You like the way they look, Mark Ross guarantees it, Mark,
thank you very much. More from you, Ian. Just a
bit coming up after this though, Let's head down to
the NFC South, where could there finally be a challenger
to the Bucks in that division. Sarah Walsh was at
Fock's minicamp. Next she'll be with us for her biggest
(21:40):
takeaway on the perpetual NFC South Champs. That's next on
the Insiders.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
The weight is over and the countdown to kickoff has begun.
Single game tickets for the twenty twenty five season are
on sale now. Visit NFL dot com slash tickets to
purchase tickets today. Tickets are available through the NFL ticket network,
including Ticketmaster, Sea Geek, and Sports Illustrated Tickets. One of
the teams you can buy tickets for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
(22:16):
They were on the field for mini camp last week,
so they are already on summer vacation. You see a
little slow mo action here on maybe regular speed action too,
little Baker Mayfield. Again, the Bucks are already on vacation,
but Sarah Walsh is not on vacation. She is joining
us here tonight to discuss the Tampa Bay Bucks. She
(22:37):
knows this team about as well as anybody, all right, As.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
We said, Sarah, they are already.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
On the beach, although they could be on the beach
any day really in Tampa. What are the takeaways from
their mini camp.
Speaker 11 (22:49):
I think what we learned, Judy, is what we already
thought we were going to see when you looked at
this roster on paper.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
And that's the fact that the.
Speaker 11 (22:56):
Receivers group is completely stacked for this Tampa team, because
you already have the two Pro Bowlers and Mike Evans
and Chris Godwin Junior, by the way, that is a
name change.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
He's going by.
Speaker 11 (23:04):
Godwin Junior now is a nod to his father. And
then you already had Jalen McMillan, who is an emerging
star now going into his second season. They added first
rounder of Mecca Abuka in this draft. They also added
a speedster and Tess Johnson. And so Mike Evans, who
has been around, has seen a lot of football. He
is entering his twelfth season. Here's what he had to
say about his receivers room after more than a decade
(23:27):
in this league.
Speaker 12 (23:29):
I say it every year, but we always get great
players to come in. So it's been very fortunate for
me in my career to be around a lot of
great young players, and they've added to their room tremendously.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
They're already very polished.
Speaker 12 (23:41):
Already in Mecca's really strong hands, super smart to his speed,
quickness without specifically on.
Speaker 6 (23:47):
A Mecca with one skup of ball in his hands,
were really able to do like making keeping is.
Speaker 12 (23:51):
Oh, he looks like a running back, but I mean
he catches like Chris Gowa like he's He's very polished,
very well rounded player.
Speaker 11 (23:59):
Evans, but also say that the fact that these new
guys are not only just really good, but really hungry,
he says, it motivates him to be even hungrier despite
how long he has played. Now, Evans know is going
to end up in the Hall of Fame when his
career is over. Keep this in context, though, right he's
their number one receiver. When Chris Godwin Junior was lost
for the year because of an ankle injury last season,
(24:19):
it was Godwin Junior that was leading the league in receptions.
And then you go late in the year and it
was Jalen McMillan, who was just a rookie who had
seven touchdowns in his last five games.
Speaker 6 (24:30):
If Godwin Junior.
Speaker 11 (24:31):
Is healthy, healthy, if McMillan continues to do what they think,
and you add these new guys who are already are
making some people open their eyelids down here in Tampa,
Mike Evans might be right about this being the best
receiving room that he has ever been a part of Judy.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
Despite that, Sarah, I feel like the Tampa Bay Box
still don't get as much respect as they deserve. They
are like perpetual underdogs even though they just keep winning
the division. How do they change that narrative in the
post Tom Brady era.
Speaker 11 (25:03):
I think it's probably changing this year. Going into the season.
The Bucks have now won the NFC South four years
in a row. No team has ever won that division
five years in a row. Baker Mayfield said at this
training camp, if you are not trying to get better,
you are not going to survive. Now, Baker has put
up career numbers in his first year in Tampa, even
(25:23):
better number in his second.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Year in Tampa.
Speaker 11 (25:25):
And now, as we were talking about this loaded receivers group,
you've got a run game that they didn't have in
Bucky Irving. I don't think anyone is discounting the Bucks.
I mean this is a potent offense. They've got every
starter returning, including every member that started on that offensive line.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
That is huge.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
The question mark Judy have been over on defense, and
Todd Bowles pointed out that it's safety that is probably
going to be the most heavily competed for position during
training camp. Antoine Winfield junior Tike Smith expected to be
the starters, but then there's guys after that.
Speaker 6 (25:56):
They depth there.
Speaker 11 (25:57):
Sheilah Sanders is the name that is fighting for a spot.
Bull's last piece of advice before these guys headed off
into vacation was be ready to roll and don't be
working out indoors because that is not going to work
when you return here in this Florida heat for training camp.
They might be still underdogs nationally, but this offense was
so good last season. I don't think that there is
(26:18):
any more slipping under the radar in this post Tom
Brady era, Judy.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
It might also be time to stop calling it the
post Tom Brady era, because this will be the third
season post Tom Brady.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
They only had Tom Brady.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
For three seasons, so we might get to call it
maybe the Baker Mayfield era.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
So I think that's thank you very much. Tom.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
The Bucks just keep winning the division, which means everybody
else has to get used to losing. Well. Chuba Hubbard
among others this week saying Panthers are singing tired of it.
I think we're the closest we've ever been to a
playoff run. For more on that, let's bring in our
buddy Adam Rank, who's got some thing to say about
sleeper candidates to win divisions around the NFL. Let's start
(27:05):
out right there in the NFC South. Rank, Are the
Panthers the team? Do you think people might be sleeping
on here?
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Well?
Speaker 13 (27:13):
I do like that Chuba Hubbard has goals. Similarly, I
have a goal of breaking eighty. I don't know if
either one of those things will happen this season, but
I do really like the Carolina spanthers chances of winning
the NFC South this year. As as a matter of fact,
I believe they're going to break through. Last season. They
made some great strides when they rebuilt the interior of
(27:34):
their offensive line, and Bryce Young went from being benched
in favor of Andy Dalton playing some really good football
down the stretch, and there were times where it looked
like Bryce Young was that guy that they thought he
was going to be when he was the number one
overall pick in the draft. And for this season, they
brought in Tech McMillan to give him a viable option
to go along with Xavier Leggett. And defensively, Dan Morgan
(27:58):
did a nice job grabbing a pair of edge rushers
in the second and third run who should make an impact.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
And there's Ted McMillan right there.
Speaker 13 (28:06):
I know our buddy Steve Smith Senior didn't like him
as much, but I still think it could be a
really good wide receiver. And it's also somebody should look
at it in fantasy too, But we can talk about
that at another point.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Let's head out to the AFC West here rank who
is a sleeper to win that division.
Speaker 13 (28:22):
I don't know if they count as a sleeper because
they won they did make the playoffs last year, but
it's the Denver Broncos who are very good. At the
end of last season and again they got into the playoffs.
I know a lot of teams were happy they didn't
have to face the Bengals, but they were in the playoffs.
And when we sit here and everybody, you know, while
we sit here and we celebrate bo Nicks, who had
the most passing yards of all rookie quarterbacks last season,
(28:45):
it's really the defense that stands out to me. The
defense was already pretty good. Then you go out there
and you add Dre Greenlaw, Telllona Hufunga, you bring in
Barren some of the other guys to a great to
a defense that was already become very good. And it's
interesting though, because when you look at the AFC West,
this is easily the most difficult division in football. You
(29:08):
have four excellent head coaches who have had success in
this league, and I would say that every team, including
the Raiders, should feel like they have a real opportunity
to go out and win the AFC West. My pick
is the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
All right, one more here AFC northrank who is a
sleeper to win that division?
Speaker 13 (29:27):
Again, I don't know how much of a sleeper this counts,
but I love the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, obviously they've got
some things to clean up, especially on the defensive side
of the football. The defense was a problem a year ago,
they fired the defensive coordinator. But now they're going through
a thing where they're trying to figure out what they're
going to do with Trey Hendricks said. Now there are
reports that it sounds like talks are getting resumed.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
You would know more than me.
Speaker 13 (29:50):
They need to figure out what they're doing with Shamar
Stewart as well, and then they have to find a
replacement for Jermaine Pratt. They have a lot of things
going on the they need to fix defensively.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
But you know what they did the right thing.
Speaker 13 (30:03):
Jamar Chase is there, t Higgins is there, Joe Burrow
is there. There is still a huge opportunity for this
team offensively that I think that if they just tweak
a couple of things defensively, they don't need to be
the eighty five Bears, they don't need to be the
two thousand Ravens.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Just make us stop here or there.
Speaker 13 (30:22):
That should be enough for the Bengals to win a
lot of games and to get into the playoffs this season.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Get board of.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
The NFL with NFL Plus. Stay connected throughout the offseason
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(30:49):
conditions apply as they do. It's so many things in
our life. Welcome back to the Insiders E rapport here, Judiebatista,
right over there, Judy, you have a great story on
NFL dot com. Literally right now, see the thing right
under our faces. That's where you go NFL dot com
slash Batista to get all the different storylines. And you
(31:09):
do a great job of really coaching us and how
to think. So let's start right there. Give us some
NFL storylines that I absolutely cannot overreact to.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Right this is storylines coming out of mini camps that
we should not be overreacting to. Let's start with how
the quarterback competition in Cleveland looked during mini camp. This
is something that is going to play out during training
camp during the preseason.
Speaker 6 (31:37):
We're going to be counting reps.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
Then we're going to be seeing which of the rookie
quarterbacks looks like he's moving ahead of the other. Also,
keep in mind, Joe Flacco has been in Cleveland. He
has had success with Kevin Stefanski. So when they are
divvying up reps, perhaps they don't need to give quite
as many to Joe Flacco because they know what he
can do, especially early in training camp. Maybe later on
(32:01):
they will want to get him ready if he's going
to be the starter for the start of the regular season.
But this is going to be an evolving competition. Four
quarterbacks in camp, two rookies in camp. We will see
much later in the summer how this breaks down, all right.
Similarly in Jacksonville, Travis Hunter, we're all obsessed with him
(32:23):
and how Travis Hunter is going to play two positions
or will he play two positions. During the spring, he
was practicing at both positions, receiver and cornerback on separate days,
and so of course we all fell into the trap.
We were counting how many days he was spending at
wide receiver, how many at cornerback. The Jaguars have made
it clear they see him as a wide receiver first.
(32:45):
He wants to play both, of course, but this is
going to be a fluid situation, not just during training camp,
not just during the preseason, not just during his rookie season.
Perhaps throughout his entire career how much he plays at
each position.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
So calm down, breathe deeply.
Speaker 5 (33:02):
We're going to see a lot of Travis Hunter at
both wide receiver and cornerback. And finally, in New England,
everybody take a deep breath about Stefan Diggs and his
adventures on the boat. Was that video of him partying
on a boat great?
Speaker 1 (33:18):
No?
Speaker 5 (33:19):
It was not, especially since new head coach Mike Rapel
has spent a whole lot of time talking about making
good decisions. That one didn't really strike anybody as a
great decision. Having said that, Stepan Diggs then showed up
at OTA's and at Mini caamp and Rabel praised how
engaged he was with the team and his energy, and
the Patriots need him. They need a veteran presence in
(33:42):
that wide receiver room. They have really been lacking in
playmakers at wide receiver the last few seasons. It has
shown they need him there for Drake May's development. Far
more important about Stephan Diggs is how he is progressing
from the ACL injury he suffered last season and when
he will be fully clear to practice completely with the Patriots.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Yeah, still not all the way there yet for the Patriots,
hopefully at some point during training. Get but you're right,
talk all we want about the boat. This is a
guy who has to absolutely be a big time, big
time weapon for them. Okay, now, you gave us these
storylines we shouldn't overreact to. How about the storylines that
need a little more attention than we are currently giving it.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
Well, I think we're going to have to give a
lot of attention to the Anthony Richardson situation in Indianapolis
with the ac joint soreness, perhaps a reaggravation of that
injury that he had.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
Earlier in his career.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
This is a really important thing because one of the
reasons why Anthony Richardson is involved in a quarterback competition
in Indianapolis is because he can't stay on the field.
His durability has been a huge problem. The guy looks
completely indestructible, just look at it, and he is huge,
but he's missed a ton of games in his first
two seasons in the NFL, so they don't know about
(35:03):
his durability. They brought in Daniel Jones, a player who,
to be honest, when you talk to some people around
the league thought had a pretty good chance of winning
that quarterback competition anyway, and now certainly is in a
much better position to win that competition, especially because coach
Shanstikeen would not put a timeline on one. Anthony Richardson
might be available to resume practice he did not participate
(35:26):
in mini camp.
Speaker 6 (35:27):
We will see what it.
Speaker 5 (35:28):
Looks like as we get closer to training camp. But
this is certainly a setback for Anthony Richardson.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, certainly, as he threw a ton during the spring,
probably more than he has ever thrown, then showed the
effects of that by not participating in Mantua, Minica. You
hope by training camp he's okay, but I think it's
fair to say taking nothing at his face right now, Judy,
thank you very much, great stuff.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
As always, if you're a fan of an NFL team
that took a running back or signed one to compliment
the one already in place, you love the depth. If
you're a fantasy player, you're already pulling out your hair
of which one of these guys should I take when
my drafts roll around in July and August. Hopefully it
(36:10):
didn't already happen, because that would make you a degenerate
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Telli, Sero, Ian Rappaport,
Mark Ross, and Adam Rank. We're gonna play a whole
game right now called Fantasy versus Reality, where we'll it
each you guys chime in on some of these situations
here from both the fantasy and reality perspective. I'll start
with you hear Rank. Of those rookie running backs, who's
(36:32):
the one you think will outplay his fantasy draft position.
I'm doing the fantasy part of this. I wish somebody
would have told I'm kidding.
Speaker 13 (36:40):
I like our J Harvey, and I know a lot
of people will be out there. I've already hit up on.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Twitter with this or like what opening JK d I
know JK.
Speaker 13 (36:48):
Dobbins is there, and there's a very real possibility that
this turns into the Camani Vidal fiasco that happened last season.
But I'm pretty optimistic because Sean Payton did use a
remium draft pick on bringing in R. J. Harvey, and
I know that the lazy thing would be to be like, wow,
this is Alvin Kamara. However, we've seen what Sean Payton
(37:09):
does with guys who fit certain molds. I mean It's
one of the reasons why Bo Knicks did so well
last year, and that's why R. J. Harvey is gonna
do so well this season.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
All Right, that was good fantasy. Now let's get to reality. Mark,
I will hit you on this. Give me a young
running back now outperform his real life draft status.
Speaker 10 (37:33):
Well, we've got to go with Trayvon Henderson, who got
taken thirty eighth there in the second round. Some thought
he was the first round talent, and I thought he
was too, And I think he'll play like a first
round talent.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Number one.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
He saw.
Speaker 10 (37:43):
Ramandre Stevenson is there, but Antonio Gibson was supposed to
be the receiving portion of that one to two punch.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Well he didn't live up to that.
Speaker 10 (37:50):
So I think immediately Henderson will be making an impact
in the past game, and then I think eventually it
he'll take over as the number one back from Ramandre
just because he is that talented. Drake may will be
a lot better. Will Campbell's are only offensive line. Tre
Von Henderson's going to crush it like a first round pick.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Rank coming back to you here, a wide receiver who
will outplay his fantasy draft position well.
Speaker 13 (38:14):
I've been told to keep this brief, so I will
say Trey Harris for a too pronged approach. Number one talent.
He's a downfield playmaker when he's healthy. I know he's
battled some injuries, but when he's healthy and available on
the field, he is tremendous down the field. And there's
also an opportunity. The LA Chargers are led by lad
McConkey as their number one target getter. I'm not going
(38:35):
to be shocked when Trey Harris is number two on
that list in targets.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
I really wasn't all that quick rank. All right, mark
one more for you. Give me a real life receiver
who is expected to outperform his real life draft status.
Speaker 10 (38:51):
Well, that's got to be Jack Besch going out there
to the Raiders. We know brock Bauer is going to
get all the attention to the past game. He took
a singenty up there for a reason. Give him a
ton of ca But Jack besh And thinks walking in
there he might be the best receiver on the team already.
I'm sorry to go, but this guy has done nothing
but just play big and catch balls at TC. Who
knows how to get open plays?
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Physical.
Speaker 10 (39:13):
He's going to bring that attitude there to the Raiders.
They're going to be paying attention to Brock, They're gonna
be paying attention to Genti. And here comes Jack Besh
with a ton of catches, more so than some guys
in the first round, Mark rank.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Thank you very much. More from you guys soon. I
am sure coming up after this though. We're all coming
off of Father's Day here. There have been some very
famous fathers and sons, including the Slaters, the McCaffrey's, among others.
Here what were some of our favorites that we saw
together this past weekend. We'll tell you after this on
the insiders. That'd be Father's Day from the NFL to
(39:57):
you and these special dads in your life, Ernest Zones,
Drew Locke, among others, celebrating out there in Seattle. Dak
Prescott just became a father again very recently. Look at
that little peanut on the left right there for the
Cowboys quarterback Quinn Williams. A proud girl dad showing off
right there at last year's Pro Bowl games and to
(40:20):
a tongue of my law and a photo that if
you start looking at, where is there a giant metal
slide on top of a football field indoors will become
somewhat mine bending. But let's just focus right there on
the father Lee Love Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom pelisera,
Judy Batista, and Ian Rappaport, who always is very prolific
(40:42):
on holidays, but particularly ian prolific social media wise on
Father's Day.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Ah, Yes, it was a lovely Father's Day. So here's
what we did. We went to the Mets game. And
if you know anything about the Mets, they are currently awesome.
And there we are right there on the jumbo chh on.
Hello Rappaport family. There's Jude dancing, there's Max dancing.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
There's me.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I'm dancing, but I'm just sitting and I'm waving to
the crowd. Surely a nice moment. The whole family was there.
There's Leah with a very cool retro Metz. Jersey loved that.
We're not going to talk about the score here, right,
It wasn't like nine to nothing. It doesn't matter. The
Mets are so good this year. There's Max hanging out,
there's my large shoda that I was drinking with, Jude
(41:25):
and his amazing hat. We had a ball at the
Mets game.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Again.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
We're not going to talk about the score because the
Mets have won so much this year, just not exactly
anything recently and certainly not while we were there.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
Judy, any special shoutouts from your end here, shout out
to Anthony mccaren, my husband, great dad. We went to Broadway,
we saw the great gats Feet yesterday and then we
went out to dinner. So we were following the Mets
game on our phones. We should full disposure. They were
swept this weekend. There was a terrible weekend. Ian not
(41:59):
doing what he should. What's been doing at that game?
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yeah, we got fifteen seconds left. Can you show us
the dance you were doing in that photo, just so
we get the full visual?
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Yeah, all right, So what I was doing when the
photo was going, Now, don't cut me off here, I'm
gonna show you right now.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Hold on, get me one more second. I'm gonna get
ready to
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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