NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista and Mike Garafolo share insight into the Vikings’ commitment to J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback and what it means for Aaron Rodgers’ pending decision. The team analyzes rule proposals submitted by NFL teams and speaks with UCLA LB Carson Schwesinger about his preparation for the NFL Draft. The Insiders also provide an update on contract extension discussions between LB Micah Parsons and the Cowboys. Jeffri Chadiha and Brian Baldinger stop by to break down some of the biggest moves of the offseason. Plus, they share breaking news that the Texans and Danielle Hunter have agreed to a massive contract extension, making him the NFL’s second-highest-paid defensive end!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's March nineteenth and Aaron Rodgers still has not revealed
where he's headed for the twenty twenty five season, but
we now know where he's not landing anytime soon. We
will tell you the latest on the fallout for the Vikings,
the Steelers, and the Giants as the weight continues. Could
the push be getting brilliantly shoved the side in twenty
(00:28):
twenty five? The Packers proposal is now official. Will break
down the pros, the cons, and the chances that that
play right. There could be no more Hey, while Michael
Parsons is still waiting for a record payday at a
time that plenty of others are getting theirs. Jerry Jones,
where exactly is Jerry in his checkbook? We got sixty
(00:51):
minutes here, maybe we can find him. Welcome inside with
the Insiders alongside Judy Batista and Mike Garafol. I am
Tom Pelissero. We've got a lot of action, folks. We've
still got a lot of quarterback jobs that remain up
for grabs. We've got draft action. Carson Swessinger, a top
prospect out of UCLA, is.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Going to be joining us in just a little bit
on this show.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
But let's start out with the news of the day,
and of course it does have something to do with
Aaron Rodgers. As I reported this morning, the Vikings have
been rejecting multiple trade calls about JJ McCarthy and telling
other teams they are rolling with McCarthy as their quarterback.
That of course means that while the Vikings still plan
(01:36):
to add a veteran quarterback, they are not pursuing Aaron
Rodgers at this time. So if Rodgers is going to
sign anytime soon, which certain people might be rooting for,
at this point, his options now focused squarely on the
Steelers and the Giants. Mike, we know that Kevin O'Connell
and Aaron Rodgers have a long standing relationship. They're both
(01:58):
Cali guys quarterbacks. They've known each other for fifteen years
since so connell was a backup quarterback in the league.
There was a lot of dialogue, there's a lot of
respect between the two. But as part of that dialogue,
it has been now been made clear to Aaron Rodgers
that this is not the direction that.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
We are going. That then has a.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Ripple effect across a lot of people, including JJ McCarthy.
Get his opportunity right now, to show he's ready for
this job.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
What more do we know?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
So it didn't happen last week, and the weekend was
sort of a reset and a getaway for a number
of teams and some players and some agents, and we
sort of reconvened on Monday and started to make calls,
started to feel around for when this decision from Aaron
Rodgers would come, and got the sense that it may
not be anytime soon, that it could be a while.
Now this is before this Viking's latest development time that
(02:47):
you put out there today. If the Vikings had said, like, yeah, dude,
you want to be our quarterback, he would jump at
the chance. But that hasn't happened, and so this is
still feeling like something that's going to take a while.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
So get comfortable.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And there's no real great rush for the Giants or
the Steelers here. I mean, I would say the first
pressure point would probably be around the draft. Like you
could even go through the start of offseason workouts, that's
not a big deal, but right around the draft, you
kind of want to know who's going to be your
starting quarterback for this upcoming season. So Rogers has got
a few options here. One he can wait until the
Vikings maybe change their mind. He could wait for that
(03:24):
no indication that's going to happen anytime soon. He can
sign with the Giants, he can sign with the Steelers,
he can retire, or he can just wait for whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
See what happens in trading camp during the preseason. Somebody
gets hurt, needs a quarterback. Hey here, I am. He
has given no indication as to which of those options
he's got ranked in which ordered Judy, But the Steelers
and the Giants remaining patient here while they wait for
an answer.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Well, first of all, from the Viking side, this always
seemed like the most likely and the most logical conclusion
that they would go forward with JJ McCarthy. He's the
first round. They liked him, they liked what they saw
before he got hurt. Time to get him on the field,
So that part makes a lot of sense. What it
means for Aaron Rodgers and all of the other teams
(04:11):
is more waiting.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Again.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Nothing that happens with the Vikings short of the Vikings saying, hey,
come and be our starting quarterback, which doesn't appear to
be happening. Nothing short of that really affects Aaron Rodgers
timeline at all. If he wants to think about this,
let it play out a little more, see if any
more suitors emerge, see if anybody gets hurt. Even if
(04:35):
he goes past the draft, we are all looking at
the draft as the tipping point, because of course teams
would want to know what their quarterback plans are going
into the draft. Yeah, but if he doesn't like his options,
I mean, he can wait around and see if somebody
gets hurt in training camp. I'm reminded that when Brett
Farv went to the Vikings unretired and went to the Vikings, I.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Believe that did not happen until August.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
If I remember that was a wild summer, I believe
that did not happen until August. So, you know, I
really really hope we're not still talking about this in August.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
But there's just no.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Deadline that creates pressure on Aaron Rodgers unless the teams
say to him, listen, we've got to have an answer,
and that certainly doesn't appear to be on the horizon.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
August eighteenth, Judy, That was the day that Brett Farr
finally signed. In two thousand and nine, some of us
were working at the Green Bay presscazet and commuting to
cover that in man Cato, Minnesota, before he actually showed
up in Minnesota. I will say this too for JJ McCarthy,
because a lot of this does revolve around him here.
He missed all last season after meniscus surgery. There's not
a lot of precedent for a first round pick missing
(05:44):
an entire year of reps, forget starting missing the entire
year of practice reps here. But everything I've been told
is the knee is a non issue at this point.
He's recovered well, he's up to two or seven tutor
nine pounds. He's put that weight back on here, he's
working out the facility and he looks great. That went
a four time NFL MVP quarterback calls and says, hey,
I'd like to play for you.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It won't cost you much.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
You'd be negligent in your duty not to at least
sit there think through it. The Vikings have done that.
They're planned right now rolling forward with JJ McCarthy. As
for the Steelers, well, they've had a lot of different
things on their minds. There has been dialogue between Aaron
Rodgers and various members of the organization. They've looked at veterans,
they signed Mason Rudolph and end up close look at
(06:25):
that guy, Jalen Milroe and Alabama Pro day today. In fact,
Mike Tomlin, gm Omar Khan as well as their quarterbacks
coach Tom Arth, I'm told, had dinner last night with
Jalen Milroe ahead of Alabama's Pro Day, one of the
many quarterbacks vying for all those slots that are going
to come during draft week, behind the probable first pick,
(06:47):
which of course is cam Ward. As you take a
look at Bucky Brook's rankings, he's staying steadfast, which Shader
Sanders ahead of cam Ward as the top quarterback. Again,
every board is going to be different across the NFL.
You see Jalen Milroe right there, slotting in at fourth.
Some people have compared Jalen Milroe to another former Alabama quarterback,
Jalen Hurts, who's made a name for a lot of things,
(07:09):
been to a couple of Super Bowls, won a Super
Bowl MVP. Let's be honest, your average fans' is like, oh,
that's the guy they pushes, but when they need the yard, yes,
that's him. He does that very very well. It helps
to be an Olympic caliber powerlifter like Jalen Hurts to
make that play go, which is why the Eagles have
executed better than anybody else and also why there have
been calls in various areas judy to ban that play.
(07:34):
Not because specifically the Eagles are this good at it,
but there have been safety concerns that have been raised.
There were concerns about that just doesn't look like a
football play. Now, for the first time, the Packers have
put up the paper. We've got a proposal, still got
to be voted on. It still us to pass to
ban the tush push.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
What do we think, Well, first of all, this proposal
is coming from the team, not from the competition committee.
We will get competition committee proposals few days. But this
is a proposal that we knew was coming from back
in the combine, and we told you this back in
the combine. Well, it looks like a play that would
be dangerous. There is simply no injury data on this play.
(08:12):
There haven't knock on wood, there haven't been injuries associated
with this play, as crazy as that seems. And so
usually when you see big rules changes get pushed in
the NFL, it gets a push because of injury situations.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Well, that's not the case here.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
So this is basically a proposal to ban a play
based on a it doesn't really look like a football play.
There's some people in the NFL who feel that way,
and b it looks like it should be dangerous, so
shouldn't we ban it? But again, there's no injury data
to back it up. Certainly, coming out of the combine
in Indianapolis, I did not get the sense that there
(08:49):
was a ton of support for banning the play. There
are a lot of coaches, frankly, who say, listen, we
just got to learn how to stop it. That's on
everybody else. That's not the Philadelphi. The Eagles fault that
they're so.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Good at this.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
We will see if things change when they get together
in a meeting room.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
One thing to.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
Remember it is owners who vote on rules changes, not coaches.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
You know why there's not enough support Judy to ban
the play because the number of teams needed to bote
They all run the play themselves too as well. Now
the Eagles are seemingly the best at it, and that
seems to frustrate a number of people. You know where
I stand on this. We had a debate at the combine,
and it's a good thing Ian's not here because I
would eat his lunch or dinner.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
It's seven or nine on.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
The East Coast.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Again in this debate, because the doesn't look like a
football play. Stuff doesn't hold up the injury stuff, which
is you know, that's an objective thing. You can look
at the numbers and Nick Sirianni said, we've run the
play more than anybody.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
We haven't had an.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Injury on it.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
There was one injury in the Super Bowl where Chris
Jones was going sideways while twenty one other people in
the field were going forward and it resulted in a
neck injury.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
So don't do that. I understand why you try.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
It, but don't do that moving forward, and maybe you
won't get your guys hurt.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
That's kind of where it stands.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
I don't sense the momentum. I think it's going to
be discussed at the league meeting. I don't sense that
this play is going to be banned heading into twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
But we'll say.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I talked to a defensive coordinator at the combine who
was saying the way that you would have to craft
this rule. If you were going to outlaw it was
you had to introduce a time element. In other words,
you don't want to ban every time an offensive lineman
runs ten yards down the field and shoves somebody forward.
You have to figure out, Okay, how do you codify
that to say, this is how to ban the Thwschwitsch. Well,
if you look at the rule, it says immediately at
the snap, push or throw his body against a teammate.
(10:35):
That's the way the Packers wrote the rule. As Judy said,
the competition committee proposals historically have a much higher hit
rate in terms of actually being passed, but the fact
the team proposes it usually means there's enough conversation here.
Does it even get to a vote. We'll find out
at the league meeting, which is just over a week away.
There was also an interesting by law change proposed by
(10:55):
the Detroit Lions earlier today, and something we've talked about
for a long time, which is the idea of having
teams that are wild cards and have better records than
division winners in the same conference, allowing them to be
seated solely by record, which in the case of that
Rams Vikings game that ended up being played in Arizona
because of the wildfires wasn't truly a home field advantage,
(11:16):
but the Vikings would have ended up with a higher
seed and not been knocked all the way down to
the number five seed and a wild card after losing
their Week eighteen game against the Lions. It is, Mike,
a very interesting proposal. It's also not something that's had
a great deal of support because owners who like to
get the extra checks to come to hosting a playoff
(11:37):
game for one thing, think hey, you win the division,
you should get the playoff game. But it is something
that certainly has been discussed in the past.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well, I mean, listen, you may be that owner of
a team that would then get a home game because
of it. So it kind of get a give and
take on that one. But there are a lot of
traditionalists traditionalists around the league, in front offices, in ownership positions.
I know John Mara with the Giants has been a
launch advocate of you win the division, you should get
the seating that comes with it, and the home game
(12:05):
as well, and I know he's got a lot of
other folks who think that way. This is how the
playoffs were seated in twenty twenty four, and I know
we've got a shot of what NFL research provided us.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Here you go, this is how it would be.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
So it would have been Eagles, Rams, Vikings, Buccaneers and
Commanders Packers as the wild card games would have juggled them.
The only thing that would have changed in the AFC
is that the Chargers would have hosted the Texans instead
of vice versa. Would have been the same there. I
don't just like the touch push thing. I don't sense
the momentum here for this one. I know there are
(12:40):
a lot of folks that like the spirit of the
idea from the Lions, which it's kind of weird too
that the Lions are proposing this in a year where
their division rivals were the ones that got hosed because
of the seating. But I don't think that there's enough
support right now for this one. Is this something that
we continue to discuss down the line and maybe get
it someday. Perhaps I just don't think we're there yet, Judy.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
I would be shocked if this past.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
I've covered the NFL for twenty five years, and every
few years this pops up, and the answer is the same.
They do not want to devalue winning the division because
that would devalue division games, and that devalues the rivalries
that are within divisions. They don't want to do that
for obvious reasons. They like that competitiveness within the division,
(13:27):
and they feel that taking away a home game then
penalizes you, doesn't give you the reward for winning the
division that you deserve a reward for winning the division.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Their response to all of.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
This is, you want to host a home game, go
win the division. Don't worry about the record, Go win
your division. That's the answer it's always been. I would
be surprised if you could get twenty four owners to
vote to change this. This has been a long held
feeling in the NFL among owners. John Marra, as you mentioned,
is one of them, but there are many many others
(14:02):
who feel the reward for winning a division is to
host a home game. You do not want to give
away those home games. That's a reward and you deserve it.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Plus see.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
If you took that away, how would the Texans host
their annual three thirty Eastern Saturday Wildcard playoff games. Some
traditions just aren't meant to be broken. Carson Swsenger coming
into number five in Bucky Brook's top five linebacker prospects.
Right there, one of the many names you could hear
included the linebacker position called in the early stages of
(14:35):
the NFL Draft, with kicks off thirty six weeks from
tonight in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Carson now kind enough to
give us a little bit of time here on the
Insiders with me, Tom Pellicero and Brian Baldier. Carson, you're
in this final countdown, man, it's a little over five
weeks away until draft weekend. Just take me inside what
it's like to be you, the way that you're preparing,
(14:56):
and just kind of where your headspace is at right now.
Speaker 6 (14:59):
Yeah, I think like you said, I mean, it's closing in,
but it's also exciting, of course. I mean this is
something I've worked for my whole life, and you know,
it's it's great to see how everything's working out.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
So really just through this.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
Whole process, just trying to take in every moment and
and really enjoy the process.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Parson, you really popped this year.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
You had a great season, and I thought one of
the reasons, and it came under a lot of there's
traditionalists didn't like U c L. A and USC going
to the Big Ten. But I'm watching you against Penn
State in Nebraska and Iowa. I thought it was a
big deal for you going into and playing those schools,
playing some of those some of.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Those caliber programs.
Speaker 7 (15:42):
I thought it really helped bring the best out of
your fifteen tackles against Penn State.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
What did you think going into the Big Ten this year?
Speaker 6 (15:49):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of talk about all
the different conferences and the difference, But the way I
was I was viewing it, at the end of the day,
you're still going in and playing football, and especially when
you're playing the linebacker position. There's talk about which which
conference is the most physical, which you know, heavier passes,
things like that, But at the end of the day,
you're playing linebacker, you're expecting a physical game. So you know,
(16:13):
definitely a lot more run heavy in the Big Ten
as opposed to the Pac twelve. But the goal was
just to go out there, play a physical brand of football,
play fast, and you.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Know, go out there and make plays.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Every NFL scout right now is body typing guys and
making comparisons and their reports, trying to figure out, Okay,
what historic player do I compare Carson Schwestinger to in
your mind, is there a player or players to your
game resembles or at least that you try to kind
of model some things and take from their games put
into yours.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Definitely, I think, you know, maybe maybe too much of
a classic answer, but the go to, especially for a
linebacker like me, is Luke Keikley would be one of
the first ones I talked about just just his IQ
of the game, but on top of that, the physicality
and the flip that's the switch that flips when he
gets on gets on the field is something that I
(17:05):
try and emulate. And then along with that you got
other guys like Milano and Fred Warner and Roquan who
are just always around the ball. And that's one of
the things, you know, I try and be, regardless of
what the play is, you know, finish finished by the ball,
and good things happen when when you're around the ball.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Parson, you just.
Speaker 7 (17:24):
Mentioned Keith Lee, Fred Warner, roquand pretty I mean the
elite of the elites. Okay, but it's interesting because I
always think the greatest compliment you can give to a
linebacker is he finds the football. And when I watch
your tape. That's what I see. I see a guy
that knows how to find the football. Is it film study?
Is it instinct for you? Is it what is it
(17:45):
about you that no matter what the formation, prestat motion,
you can find the football.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I think it's a little bit of everything.
Speaker 6 (17:52):
I mean, I've been playing since playing football since I
was three years old.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
That's just a natural feeling you have, and it's been something.
Speaker 6 (17:59):
I mean, it doesn't matter or what sport I'm playing,
I'm somehow always around the ball. It's something that's that's
been a part of me since I was a kid.
And then the other half is that film study where
you're prepared. You know almost where the ball is going
before they even snap the ball, which definitely helps put
you in the right places. And then the last bit
of it is just you got to want to get
to the ball. And that's just when you're on the
field one hundred percent every play until the whistle's going,
(18:20):
and that's going to get you in the right spot
a lot of the time.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
To Carson, you're doing, I believe your own pro day workout.
It's coming up here in a couple of weeks. Whether
it's a how you're going to time or what you
want to show. What are the things that are going
to jump out to the people who are at that
pro day.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
I think what I'm really looking to show is just
the athleticism. Didn't really have the chance to show it
at the carbine and pro Day, but that's really the
goal here is to go out there run fast and
show the short area speed as well with the shuttles,
and I was able to get a jump at the
combine to show a little bit of it, but you know,
(18:56):
go out there do the broad as well, and then
and then just move well out throughout any position drills
we're planning on doing as well.
Speaker 7 (19:04):
Carson, I rounded up your vertical jump to forty inches
just so you know. I just gave you a forty
all right, It sounds a little better than thirty nine
and a half.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
What was up? What was tell me inside.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
Some of the discussions you had at the combine with teams,
what they wanted to find out about you? Was it
just you know what this formation is? Because I always
feel like if you know the formation, you know the play,
and it's just it just sort of becomes like that
after a while.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
What did they want to pull out of you in
some of these meetings with you.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Yeah, there's there's pretty a pretty wide range of what
they're asking, you know. Some of it's just you know,
personality questions and how you grew up. But when they
really get in the ball, it's it's knowing the football
IQ aspects, the recall on on what we were running
during during the year and and how those plays worked out.
A lot of times they'll pull up pull up film
(19:53):
from the year and just want you to explain, you know,
what the call is and what you're doing. And you know,
even add into the that week who we're playing. If
we're playing Penn State, you know the look they were
giving us and what we were expecting. So really a
lot of that.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Carson last thing before I let you go here. I'm
sure you've seen a lot of interesting stuff in this interview,
but I've mainly just been fixated on sterrnigger hair. That
is some significant flow you've got going, presumably after a
long day where you've been working out. Is there are
you using like a horse shampoo? Can you give it
the secret to having that type of flow at this
hour of the day.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
I will say the shampoo is I'm pretty particular about
I don't do too much else, but I only use
a Mica shampoo and conditioner, which is a pretty rare brand.
I gotta go and walk into an alta. I can't
get it at Targets, so you know, I'm walking into
an alta. There's no other guys in there. But you know,
sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And you got an endorsement coming your way. We'll make
sure that they get that clip. Carson, best the luck
man over these next thirty six days, hope to hear
your name called very early in Greeny, Green Bay. We
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Thank you very much, Thanks Carson.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Carson Schwestinger one of the many names you will here
called during the NFL Draft, presented by Bud Light. It's
coming to Green Bay and it's your chance to witness
the future of the game for free. Experience the history
of Lambofield, see the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl rings,
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April twenty fourth in Green Bay. Register for free entry
(21:30):
go to NFL dot com slash Draft Access Today. Michael
Parsons did not have to wait very long to hear
his name called Once upon a time has had to
wait a while to hear his name called up to
get that record breaking extension that he anticipates getting at
some point. What's the hold up and where do those
negotiations go from here? We'll discuss that and a lot
(21:52):
more as the Insiders rolls on. The bar has been
set for highest paid non quarterback in the NFL again,
first Miles Garrett than Jamar Chase at a little over
forty million dollars per year, numbers that are relevant to
(22:14):
Micah Parsons, although, as our Jane Slater reported earlier today,
no meaningful contract talks yet between the Cowboys and their
star pass rusher about a new deal. Welcome back to
the Insiders, Tom Pillicero, Judy Batista, and Mike Girafolo. Mike,
Nothing happens quickly in Dallas, particularly not the record type
(22:37):
contract extensions. So to that end, we're kind of following
history here. Where do we stand?
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Max Cosby Miles Garrett, Although the Garrett one, we thought
maybe that might take a while, but Max, rely, Miles Garrett, TJ.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Watt, MICHAEH.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Parsons, The four pass rushers that we expected to reset
the market here in this off season. Here and all along,
I had been hearing people say, well, Mike is gonna
go last, right, like he's the young guy, uh, the
one that can really hit it big, the one like
he wants to see everybody else, all the veterans kind
of get their money, and then boom, there's our aiming
point for where we want to be when we really
(23:15):
get into these negotiations. I agree with Jane, does not
appear that there have been any meaningful conversations regarding Micah
Parsons and the Cowboys right now. So this is something
I sort of had earmark for closer to the start
of the regular season. It's the start of training camp
and then it's the start of the regular season. Those
are the two mile posts when it comes to these deals,
because you don't want to necessarily practice without that deal
(23:36):
in place, and then at that point, you don't want
to necessarily play without the deal in place. That's kind
of the timeline that I've been looking for on this one.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
I feel like the theme of this offseason has been
teams that get ahead of the contracts and get ahead
of the market, and teams that wait, and we've seen all.
We've seen both. We saw Jamar Chase finally get done.
Good for him, Good for the Bengals to get done.
Of course, if they had gotten it done last year,
they probably would not have had to spend nearly as
much as they had to spend this year. The situation
(24:08):
with Michael Parsons recalls what happened last off season when
the Cowboys were trying to get some big contract extensions
done too, and they waited and waited.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
That's fine.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
The market kept going up, and then we got ever
so close to.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
The season starting.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
I mean literally, Dak Prescott's deal got done on the
morning of the season opener. You do wonder how much
of a toll that takes on the players in terms
of their concentration and their focus, and you certainly know
how much it takes in terms of dollars for the
teams that can't get them done early. Michael Parsons deserves
(24:44):
to be the next person who is the highest paid
non quarterback, so you can't blame him for wanting to wait.
Of course, he wants to go last. But if you're
the Dallas Cowboys, you are just watching the market go up,
up and up just like you did last offseason. It's
a very curious way to go about doing business for
the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And I would also go back to what we reported
on Super Bowl Sunday, which is that there have been
real internal conversations about does it make sense to pay
another player when you already got back at the top
CD near the top, and now have another player at
the top of the market, Or to potentially trade my
co caparsions for a boatload of picks and inject your
roster with a lot of other help at different positions here,
(25:24):
So a lot of different moving parts still over the
next four or five Cowboys fans hope not six.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Months, because that gets us into the.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Regular season here.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
And oh, by the way, Aiden Hutchinson also eligible for
an extension. He's got to be loving everything that he's
seeing at this point.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Mike, Yes, Tom, thank you very much. You can't win
championships in the offseason when it comes to free agency.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
That might be true, but you know what you can do.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
You can move up the nfl dot Com post free
agency power rankings. And that's what the Bears did, fortifying
their offensive line and making moves elsewhere along the roster
to help klebwilliam and to also try to fortify that
defense for Ben Johnson in his first year as the
coach of the Bears, moved up to sixteen from what
I am told, Jeffrey Chedia joining Brian Baldinger and myself
(26:11):
here to discuss his favorite Offsee this article is not
even up yet, right, this is a preview. I get
my daughter's sentences today for school. One of the words
was preview. See Carvin, this is a preview. No stay
up there, stay up there, But we go to preview
your article, Jeffrey on your favorite offseason moves that.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
We're going to start with.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Which one is your favorite of the offseason moves?
Speaker 8 (26:32):
He just saw Chicago Bears, and I'll start there because
it's a two pronged favorite move here with the hiring
of Ben Johnson and the rebuilding of that offensive line. Mike,
I love the Ben Johnson higher. I thought he was
the best coaching candidate of the offseason. He comes in,
he can fix that offense, get Caleb Williams going it
was a home run for the Bears and getting him,
but then going out and rebuilding that offensive line, and
(26:55):
we know what that offensive line meant to Ben Johnson's
offense in Detroit. It's going to allow him to avoid
the sack problems they had last year with Caleb Williams
getting sacked sixty eight times. It's going to allow his
offense to use those skilled players they got in the
offseason in Baldy. This team is on the rise for
a reason.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
I agree, Jeff, and I think it's you know, the
number one story right now going to the offseason, much
like you're writing in your preview. But you know, honestly,
Ben Johnson can't do any of the things he wants
to do out of his playbook and the concepts and
the ideas, and you know the playmaking ability of some
of his talent without a good offensive line. So to
(27:33):
get that, at least on paper fixed right now, where
Caleb Williams can stand back there for three seconds, If
you can get three seconds to diagnose what the defense
is doing, it would go with the ball. I mean,
I think that's where it starts. Detroit had one of
the top three offense lines. Well, Ben Johnson has been there.
It has been a big part of why they were
(27:54):
the number one offense in football last year and why
they scored so many points. So I think to get
that fix, to get Ben in now, I think they
can start to inject the ideas that Ben Johnson has
had and one of the reasons why he's been a
leading coaching candidate for the last two seasons.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
One of the most intriguing moves Jonah Jackson, a big
free agent for the Rams last year. The Bears trade
for him, give him extra year on his deal and
seven million fully guaranteed next season added on as well.
So a lot of faith in Jackson, who played with
Ben Johnson up there in Detroit. Moving on, we're going
to talk about the defensive side of the ball on
this one because I know you like something that the
(28:32):
Eagles did that they don't usually do, and that's pay
a linebacker.
Speaker 8 (28:36):
And that's why I love it, Mike. I love that
they went out and they paid Zach Bond, a player
who came in Unharro did last season a rotational pass
rush in New Orleans, and Big Fangiel takes this guy
and turns him into an all Pro linebacker. He was
an essential part of the defense that was number one
in the league all year. And when you think about
the idea of the Eagles breaking trends. It did it
last year and going out and putting a lot of
(28:58):
money in sat Kwon Buckley's pocket. They didn't usually pay
running backs to go and do this for Zach. Bond
telled me that they really believe in Well, we're going
to pay our stars. But two when I was to
be behold into what we've done in the past, we're
going to do what's best for our team, and keeping
Zach Bond here baldy is what's best for the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Well, the fact is Jeff, they could not deny his production.
He was lead. I thought he was the defensive player
of the year.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
No, you know nothing against Patrick Certan and winning the award,
But if you count the postseason twenty one games in all,
he had one hundred and eighty four tackles, six fours fumbles,
and he showed up every week and he was the
undisputed leader of that defense.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And it was technically and fundamentally sound. Real quick.
Speaker 7 (29:37):
I remember when Vic Fangio was the linebacker coaching the
Dome Patrol in New Orleans, you know, with Sam Mills
and Patrick Swelling and Ricky Jackson, and I felt like
this was a guy that could have been the leader
of the Dome Patrol. He was of the Eagles. They
were the best defensive football last year and the big
reason why the play of Zach Bond.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Zack b went from a one year, three point five
million dollar deal to a three year deal averaging seventeen
million dollars per year. We should all be so lucky
as to get those kinds of raises. But you know,
Wat Jeffrey today, to make your case for a race
by giving us a third off season move that you.
Speaker 8 (30:15):
Like, I'll go with Jonathan Allen signing with the Minnesota Vikings.
And the Vikings have been looking forward interior year presidence
on their defensive line for a long time, maybe going
back to the days of Sheldon Richardson, and they got
it with this guy. You know, I know, Jonathan Allen's
at thirty years old, but he's been to two Pro Bowls.
He's had sixteen and a half sacks in those two
years when he was a Pro Bowl player, and he's
been a high pressure guy the last six years of
(30:39):
his career. And so you add him to a defense
that brought in Jonathan Gernard last season, and Andrew Van
Gink was able to come off the edge of great pressure.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Baldy.
Speaker 8 (30:47):
This defense is going to be a record group for
Brian Flores's coming season.
Speaker 7 (30:50):
Well, he was already you know, at the top of
the charts last year, jeff in takeaways, and you know,
they kept a lot of their personnel that was responsible
for it, but you know, a lot of it was,
you know, these third down defenses that Flores would put
up there, and it's kind of gimmicky a little bit,
who's coming, who's not coming. I think if they want
to just play base defense right now with a Jonathan
(31:12):
Allen go with you know, a Javon Hargrave who also
they signed in free agency to go with Van Kako
and Grenard, Like, I feel like if they want to
just play based defense and rush forward the way the
Eagles did in the Super Bowl this year and get
home with four, they can do that if they want.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
If they want to.
Speaker 7 (31:28):
Throw a bunch of junk at the line of scrimmage
and play you know, blit zero behind it, they still
have that option. But I think they can play a
lot more traditional styles of defense now that they've fixed
that defense attack the position.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
So congratulates two O the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Vikings went to beef up on that defensive line. Did
that with Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave also on the
offensive side as well. NFL dot Com backslash first read
or Chidi I think both will take you where you
want to go. When this article gets posted. What time tomorrow,
I don't know. Log on at twelve oh one am.
Keep eating Refresh all day long until you find it.
Thank you, Jeffrey Chidiya.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
It's been quite an off season for Justin Field to here.
He is in Morocco. He was there on a vacation.
I don't know, but a bunch of other football players.
I believe he was there when the other good part
of his off season began. He got signed by the
New York Jets to be their starting quarterback. There he
is arriving at the Jets facility in Florim Park, which
(32:27):
I like. Florm Park. It's definitely not Morocco. From the desert.
Let's take you to the deep sea, where our man
around the World, Brian Baldinger was today. Baldy was diving.
I heard him talk about how great the visibility was,
and frankly, these pictures definitely show that amazing visibility. Amazing
GoPro by Brian Baldinger. Let's bring Baldy. This is incredible.
(32:54):
Let's welcome back Brian Baldinger and Mike Garrifalo. We're going
to get to the that was amazing. I want to
get to the diving video later, Baldy, but first let's
talk about some of these off season moves. Let's start
with Justin Fields and how he's going to fit in
the New York Jets.
Speaker 7 (33:11):
Well, Judy, I'm a big fan of Marrakesh and of
Justin Fields together. I mean, everybody should go. I mean,
it's beyond exotic, but it's fine. But I will say
that I've always been a fan of Justin Fields coming
out of Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I was a fan.
Speaker 7 (33:26):
You know, in Chicago he averaged six pointy two yards
a rush, and you know, for five different games Aaron
Glenn had to defend Justin Fields and he saw how
difficult it was.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I didn't think Pittsburgh used him properly last year.
Speaker 7 (33:39):
And I think when you look at Tanner Instrom and
the new offensive coordinator in New York, I think you've
got to use him as a bona fide runner and
use him as a weapon. From that standpoint, I think
it'll open up things for Breece Hall and Brailn Allen
and Ziadavs, the running backs there.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
I think they've got work to do in the offensive line.
Speaker 7 (33:58):
But I think there's real POTENTI here for Justin because
he's never been really in a stable place or place
that had a great offensive line. He did get off
to a good start last year and then kind of
oddly went back to Russell Wilson after he got up
to a great start and was playing error free football.
But I think he's got a chance to flourish. I mean,
he knows in that building right now he's the guy.
(34:21):
And I don't know that he felt like that in
Pittsburgh even when he was starting. I don't think you
felt like that, and there was always change. In Chicago,
I feel like they found their guy. He's young, and
there's a lot to build around him and his talent.
So I'm pretty bullish on what Justin Fields can do
in New York this year.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Aaron Glenn, when he was in Detroit, you know, they
made the trade for Jared Goff, and we thought, well,
there's a bridge quarter and no bridge quarterback right that
guy is the Highway in Detroit, justin field, same kind
of thing, like we got that, Well, here's your bridge
go to if he can get the same kind of
deal where you don't have to spend the draft pick
on a quarterback because you got your guy and he
winds up being your guy for an extent the period.
That's the best possible scenario for Aaron Glenn. A reasonable
(35:03):
deal at twenty million a year. Again, reasonable when you're
talking about quarterbacks. Speaking of quarterbacks, and a guy that
got slightly better let's say about fifteen million or so
better Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks. What do you
like about the fit here between Donald and what they're
going to do up there with Clint Kubiak as the OC.
Speaker 7 (35:21):
You know, Mike, I always think like these quarterbacks like
Sam and Baker and others, like they have to go
to rehab after they get off to a bad.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Start in places.
Speaker 7 (35:29):
And I thought rehab for Sam started in San Francisco
with Kyle Shanahany Clint Kubiak when he was the quarterback
coach there. And I thought, just the year playing Scout team,
playing Week eighteen, I thought Sam really learned a lot
and I think reuniting with Clinton. Now in Seattle, with
Mike McDonald the head coach, I feel like this can
(35:50):
be a new beginning for Sam Now. Obviously in Minnesota
things went well for the first fifteen to sixteen weeks
of the season, but I found the feeling like this connection.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
That he has with Clint's a good start. Right now.
Speaker 7 (36:02):
They've got some team building to do around Sam and
that offense, but now that they've got him locked up here,
start building.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
We'll see the draft.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
I think they'll address it in the draft or the receivers, offensive.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Line give him some help.
Speaker 7 (36:15):
But I think it's a good start being reunited within Kubiak.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
All right.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
The move that cleared the way for Sam Darnold in Seattle,
I think one of the stunners of the off season
so far. The trade Gino Smith going to the Las
Vegas Raiders.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
How's that fit?
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Well?
Speaker 7 (36:33):
I think it's going to be good because I was
around Chip Kelly when he first came to Philadelphia Joey
back in twenty thirteen. He got off to a great start,
and really his ideas about tempo inside outside receivers. Some
of the staples of his offense, like Gino played at
West Virginian for Dana Holgerson. He played in basically the
(36:53):
same offense in college, where a ward tells you what
the offense is. You can get the plays snapped off
and sixteen to eighteen seconds if you want to, if
you need to. So I think he can play that
up tempto style because he has played in it before.
So I think Chip coming back to the NFL, he's
learned a little bit about how to protect your quarterback
a little bit better than he did h He's learned
(37:17):
from some formations and tight ends things he didn't have
when he.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Was at Oregon or maybe his first year in Philadelphia.
Speaker 7 (37:25):
I think he's learned a lot since then. I think
it's a good fit for Gino. I think he's going
to play well in his offense. It's going to ask
him to play fast, and that's Chip's offense. That's just
a staple of what he does, and I think Gino's
capable of doing it.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
One of the few moves that the Raiders have made
so far this offseason as they try to rebuild with
Pete Carroll in.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Charge, breaking news, another pass rusher has just cashed in.
This time it's Danil Hunter, who has agreed to terms
with the Texans on a one year, thirty five point
six million dollar contract extent and that now makes him
the NFL's second highest paid defensive end. He gets a
raise to thirty two million this season, and almost all
(38:07):
of the fifty five point one million that he's due
through twenty twenty six is now fully guaranteed. Also potentially
here this could also form a grown work for getting
a Trey Hendrickson deal done in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
I mean, while the.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Big twelve welcomed over two hundred prospects and nearly three
hundred scouts to their two day conference pro day event
in Frisco, Texas, our Ret Lewis, Daniel Jeremiah, and Bucky
Brooks are there.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Hello, Insiders.
Speaker 9 (38:36):
Rett Lewis, Daniel Jeremiah, and Bucky Brooks here with you
from the Ford Center, home of the Cowboys today, of course,
home with a Big twelve pro day where we saw
the offensive lineman and defensive lineman hit.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
The field first.
Speaker 9 (38:47):
DJ, you stood out to you here on day one.
Speaker 10 (38:48):
I'm gonna go with Conrad O'Toole from Utah. It doesn't
have a ton of production from the fall, but man
what a workout. He ran a four to six six
forty excellent three cone time as well. So you get
a chance to watch and go to the testing. You
see him run here, real smooth.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Fluid easy.
Speaker 10 (39:04):
That wasn't just in the forty and in the three cone.
Also just watching him move around, everything he did looked
effortless and it looks smooth. So someone helped himself and
it's going to give himself an opportunity at the next level.
Speaker 11 (39:15):
Well, guys, I'm gonna go with the Arizona standout Jonah
seven A continue to put the exclamation point of what
has been a really solid pre draft process form When
you think about what he has been able to display,
this guy that can play outside and inside, the versatility.
When you look at the tape, you see the IQ,
You see the toughness and the physicality that you want
to see. But out here we want to see the
movements heels. Could he move around, can he make this transitions?
(39:38):
Is he someone that can play outside maybe at right tackle,
or is he destined to make a move interior. I
think he really helped himself with what he's done throughout
the process, particularly what he was able to do with
a Big twelve Prodame.
Speaker 9 (39:49):
Yeah, guys, I'll go back to the defensive line group
and talk about one of the players we saw from Baylor,
Trevin Maay, who's kind of played up and down the
defensive line for Davi Randa said, they've used them, you know,
at nose, they've used them at the three tech, They've
used them as a five at times. He checked in
at just about two hundred and seventy seven pounds and
I'll run in a four to seven forty today. So
(40:12):
I think as a guy that you want to, you know,
maybe can pack a little bit more weight on and
then put them on the interior that defensive line, and
you could be talking about a player that definitely catches
the eye of some talent evaluators here at the Big
twelve Pro Day. So those are the big guys right Tomorrow,
Day two of the Big twelve Pro Day, we're going
to talk about the quarterbacks, the running backs, the wide receivers.
(40:33):
Kind of a loaded skill group, especially at running back,
and we shall get a chance to talk to Bucky.
I know you're looking forward to this. You see him
down on the field. Coach Prime Dion Sanders and his
son Shader Sanders, one of the very top prospects in
this draft class, going to be here in attendance, and
we look forward to chatting with them. But again, Big
twelve Pro Day, Day two, one o'clock Eastern. We'll see
(40:55):
you tomorrow right here from Frisco, Texas.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
A few players bigger and Super Bowl fifty nine. The
DeVante Smith on that touchdown from Jalen Hurts. But have
you've seen it, well, there's a different way you can
see it, and you will not be able to unsee it.
We'll explain next on the Insiders.
Speaker 10 (41:20):
We score snover call you.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Just call it.
Speaker 10 (41:25):
For the Eagles.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
It is verse to ten and they take over in
chief's territory of the forty six yard line.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Church chart exactly how the Eagles get it back. We're
going to run some plot maybe s down.
Speaker 4 (41:52):
We score snover. This must have taken for ever to do.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
The best part of that and not the work by
fabou Brick is nailing the Nick Sirianni strut in stop motion.
We'll see you tomorrow.
It's March nineteenth and Aaron Rodgers still has not revealed
where he's headed for the twenty twenty five season, but
we now know where he's not landing anytime soon. We
will tell you the latest on the fallout for the Vikings,
the Steelers, and the Giants as the weight continues. Could
the push be getting brilliantly shoved the side in twenty
(00:28):
twenty five? The Packers proposal is now official. Will break
down the pros, the cons, and the chances that that
play right. There could be no more Hey, while Michael
Parsons is still waiting for a record payday at a
time that plenty of others are getting theirs. Jerry Jones,
where exactly is Jerry in his checkbook? We got sixty
(00:51):
minutes here, maybe we can find him. Welcome inside with
the Insiders alongside Judy Batista and Mike Garafol. I am
Tom Pelissero. We've got a lot of action, folks. We've
still got a lot of quarterback jobs that remain up
for grabs. We've got draft action. Carson Swessinger, a top
prospect out of UCLA, is.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Going to be joining us in just a little bit
on this show.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
But let's start out with the news of the day,
and of course it does have something to do with
Aaron Rodgers. As I reported this morning, the Vikings have
been rejecting multiple trade calls about JJ McCarthy and telling
other teams they are rolling with McCarthy as their quarterback.
That of course means that while the Vikings still plan
(01:36):
to add a veteran quarterback, they are not pursuing Aaron
Rodgers at this time. So if Rodgers is going to
sign anytime soon, which certain people might be rooting for,
at this point, his options now focused squarely on the
Steelers and the Giants. Mike, we know that Kevin O'Connell
and Aaron Rodgers have a long standing relationship. They're both
(01:58):
Cali guys quarterbacks. They've known each other for fifteen years
since so connell was a backup quarterback in the league.
There was a lot of dialogue, there's a lot of
respect between the two. But as part of that dialogue,
it has been now been made clear to Aaron Rodgers
that this is not the direction that.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
We are going. That then has a.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Ripple effect across a lot of people, including JJ McCarthy.
Get his opportunity right now, to show he's ready for
this job.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
What more do we know?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
So it didn't happen last week, and the weekend was
sort of a reset and a getaway for a number
of teams and some players and some agents, and we
sort of reconvened on Monday and started to make calls,
started to feel around for when this decision from Aaron
Rodgers would come, and got the sense that it may
not be anytime soon, that it could be a while.
Now this is before this Viking's latest development time that
(02:47):
you put out there today. If the Vikings had said, like, yeah, dude,
you want to be our quarterback, he would jump at
the chance. But that hasn't happened, and so this is
still feeling like something that's going to take a while.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
So get comfortable.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And there's no real great rush for the Giants or
the Steelers here. I mean, I would say the first
pressure point would probably be around the draft. Like you
could even go through the start of offseason workouts, that's
not a big deal, but right around the draft, you
kind of want to know who's going to be your
starting quarterback for this upcoming season. So Rogers has got
a few options here. One he can wait until the
Vikings maybe change their mind. He could wait for that
(03:24):
no indication that's going to happen anytime soon. He can
sign with the Giants, he can sign with the Steelers,
he can retire, or he can just wait for whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
See what happens in trading camp during the preseason. Somebody
gets hurt, needs a quarterback. Hey here, I am. He
has given no indication as to which of those options
he's got ranked in which ordered Judy, But the Steelers
and the Giants remaining patient here while they wait for
an answer.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Well, first of all, from the Viking side, this always
seemed like the most likely and the most logical conclusion
that they would go forward with JJ McCarthy. He's the
first round. They liked him, they liked what they saw
before he got hurt. Time to get him on the field,
So that part makes a lot of sense. What it
means for Aaron Rodgers and all of the other teams
(04:11):
is more waiting.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Again.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Nothing that happens with the Vikings short of the Vikings saying, hey,
come and be our starting quarterback, which doesn't appear to
be happening. Nothing short of that really affects Aaron Rodgers
timeline at all. If he wants to think about this,
let it play out a little more, see if any
more suitors emerge, see if anybody gets hurt. Even if
(04:35):
he goes past the draft, we are all looking at
the draft as the tipping point, because of course teams
would want to know what their quarterback plans are going
into the draft. Yeah, but if he doesn't like his options,
I mean, he can wait around and see if somebody
gets hurt in training camp. I'm reminded that when Brett
Farv went to the Vikings unretired and went to the Vikings, I.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Believe that did not happen until August.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
If I remember that was a wild summer, I believe
that did not happen until August. So, you know, I
really really hope we're not still talking about this in August.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
But there's just no.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Deadline that creates pressure on Aaron Rodgers unless the teams
say to him, listen, we've got to have an answer,
and that certainly doesn't appear to be on the horizon.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
August eighteenth, Judy, That was the day that Brett Farr
finally signed. In two thousand and nine, some of us
were working at the Green Bay presscazet and commuting to
cover that in man Cato, Minnesota, before he actually showed
up in Minnesota. I will say this too for JJ McCarthy,
because a lot of this does revolve around him here.
He missed all last season after meniscus surgery. There's not
a lot of precedent for a first round pick missing
(05:44):
an entire year of reps, forget starting missing the entire
year of practice reps here. But everything I've been told
is the knee is a non issue at this point.
He's recovered well, he's up to two or seven tutor
nine pounds. He's put that weight back on here, he's
working out the facility and he looks great. That went
a four time NFL MVP quarterback calls and says, hey,
I'd like to play for you.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It won't cost you much.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
You'd be negligent in your duty not to at least
sit there think through it. The Vikings have done that.
They're planned right now rolling forward with JJ McCarthy. As
for the Steelers, well, they've had a lot of different
things on their minds. There has been dialogue between Aaron
Rodgers and various members of the organization. They've looked at veterans,
they signed Mason Rudolph and end up close look at
(06:25):
that guy, Jalen Milroe and Alabama Pro day today. In fact,
Mike Tomlin, gm Omar Khan as well as their quarterbacks
coach Tom Arth, I'm told, had dinner last night with
Jalen Milroe ahead of Alabama's Pro Day, one of the
many quarterbacks vying for all those slots that are going
to come during draft week, behind the probable first pick,
(06:47):
which of course is cam Ward. As you take a
look at Bucky Brook's rankings, he's staying steadfast, which Shader
Sanders ahead of cam Ward as the top quarterback. Again,
every board is going to be different across the NFL.
You see Jalen Milroe right there, slotting in at fourth.
Some people have compared Jalen Milroe to another former Alabama quarterback,
Jalen Hurts, who's made a name for a lot of things,
(07:09):
been to a couple of Super Bowls, won a Super
Bowl MVP. Let's be honest, your average fans' is like, oh,
that's the guy they pushes, but when they need the yard, yes,
that's him. He does that very very well. It helps
to be an Olympic caliber powerlifter like Jalen Hurts to
make that play go, which is why the Eagles have
executed better than anybody else and also why there have
been calls in various areas judy to ban that play.
(07:34):
Not because specifically the Eagles are this good at it,
but there have been safety concerns that have been raised.
There were concerns about that just doesn't look like a
football play. Now, for the first time, the Packers have
put up the paper. We've got a proposal, still got
to be voted on. It still us to pass to
ban the tush push.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
What do we think, Well, first of all, this proposal
is coming from the team, not from the competition committee.
We will get competition committee proposals few days. But this
is a proposal that we knew was coming from back
in the combine, and we told you this back in
the combine. Well, it looks like a play that would
be dangerous. There is simply no injury data on this play.
(08:12):
There haven't knock on wood, there haven't been injuries associated
with this play, as crazy as that seems. And so
usually when you see big rules changes get pushed in
the NFL, it gets a push because of injury situations.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Well, that's not the case here.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
So this is basically a proposal to ban a play
based on a it doesn't really look like a football play.
There's some people in the NFL who feel that way,
and b it looks like it should be dangerous, so
shouldn't we ban it? But again, there's no injury data
to back it up. Certainly, coming out of the combine
in Indianapolis, I did not get the sense that there
(08:49):
was a ton of support for banning the play. There
are a lot of coaches, frankly, who say, listen, we
just got to learn how to stop it. That's on
everybody else. That's not the Philadelphi. The Eagles fault that
they're so.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Good at this.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
We will see if things change when they get together
in a meeting room.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
One thing to.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
Remember it is owners who vote on rules changes, not coaches.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
You know why there's not enough support Judy to ban
the play because the number of teams needed to bote
They all run the play themselves too as well. Now
the Eagles are seemingly the best at it, and that
seems to frustrate a number of people. You know where
I stand on this. We had a debate at the combine,
and it's a good thing Ian's not here because I
would eat his lunch or dinner.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
It's seven or nine on.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
The East Coast.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Again in this debate, because the doesn't look like a
football play. Stuff doesn't hold up the injury stuff, which
is you know, that's an objective thing. You can look
at the numbers and Nick Sirianni said, we've run the
play more than anybody.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
We haven't had an.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Injury on it.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
There was one injury in the Super Bowl where Chris
Jones was going sideways while twenty one other people in
the field were going forward and it resulted in a
neck injury.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
So don't do that. I understand why you try.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
It, but don't do that moving forward, and maybe you
won't get your guys hurt.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
That's kind of where it stands.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
I don't sense the momentum. I think it's going to
be discussed at the league meeting. I don't sense that
this play is going to be banned heading into twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
But we'll say.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I talked to a defensive coordinator at the combine who
was saying the way that you would have to craft
this rule. If you were going to outlaw it was
you had to introduce a time element. In other words,
you don't want to ban every time an offensive lineman
runs ten yards down the field and shoves somebody forward.
You have to figure out, Okay, how do you codify
that to say, this is how to ban the Thwschwitsch. Well,
if you look at the rule, it says immediately at
the snap, push or throw his body against a teammate.
(10:35):
That's the way the Packers wrote the rule. As Judy said,
the competition committee proposals historically have a much higher hit
rate in terms of actually being passed, but the fact
the team proposes it usually means there's enough conversation here.
Does it even get to a vote. We'll find out
at the league meeting, which is just over a week away.
There was also an interesting by law change proposed by
(10:55):
the Detroit Lions earlier today, and something we've talked about
for a long time, which is the idea of having
teams that are wild cards and have better records than
division winners in the same conference, allowing them to be
seated solely by record, which in the case of that
Rams Vikings game that ended up being played in Arizona
because of the wildfires wasn't truly a home field advantage,
(11:16):
but the Vikings would have ended up with a higher
seed and not been knocked all the way down to
the number five seed and a wild card after losing
their Week eighteen game against the Lions. It is, Mike,
a very interesting proposal. It's also not something that's had
a great deal of support because owners who like to
get the extra checks to come to hosting a playoff
(11:37):
game for one thing, think hey, you win the division,
you should get the playoff game. But it is something
that certainly has been discussed in the past.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well, I mean, listen, you may be that owner of
a team that would then get a home game because
of it. So it kind of get a give and
take on that one. But there are a lot of
traditionalists traditionalists around the league, in front offices, in ownership positions.
I know John Mara with the Giants has been a
launch advocate of you win the division, you should get
the seating that comes with it, and the home game
(12:05):
as well, and I know he's got a lot of
other folks who think that way. This is how the
playoffs were seated in twenty twenty four, and I know
we've got a shot of what NFL research provided us.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Here you go, this is how it would be.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
So it would have been Eagles, Rams, Vikings, Buccaneers and
Commanders Packers as the wild card games would have juggled them.
The only thing that would have changed in the AFC
is that the Chargers would have hosted the Texans instead
of vice versa. Would have been the same there. I
don't just like the touch push thing. I don't sense
the momentum here for this one. I know there are
(12:40):
a lot of folks that like the spirit of the
idea from the Lions, which it's kind of weird too
that the Lions are proposing this in a year where
their division rivals were the ones that got hosed because
of the seating. But I don't think that there's enough
support right now for this one. Is this something that
we continue to discuss down the line and maybe get
it someday. Perhaps I just don't think we're there yet, Judy.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
I would be shocked if this past.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
I've covered the NFL for twenty five years, and every
few years this pops up, and the answer is the same.
They do not want to devalue winning the division because
that would devalue division games, and that devalues the rivalries
that are within divisions. They don't want to do that
for obvious reasons. They like that competitiveness within the division,
(13:27):
and they feel that taking away a home game then
penalizes you, doesn't give you the reward for winning the
division that you deserve a reward for winning the division.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Their response to all of.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
This is, you want to host a home game, go
win the division. Don't worry about the record, Go win
your division. That's the answer it's always been. I would
be surprised if you could get twenty four owners to
vote to change this. This has been a long held
feeling in the NFL among owners. John Marra, as you mentioned,
is one of them, but there are many many others
(14:02):
who feel the reward for winning a division is to
host a home game. You do not want to give
away those home games. That's a reward and you deserve it.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Plus see.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
If you took that away, how would the Texans host
their annual three thirty Eastern Saturday Wildcard playoff games. Some
traditions just aren't meant to be broken. Carson Swsenger coming
into number five in Bucky Brook's top five linebacker prospects.
Right there, one of the many names you could hear
included the linebacker position called in the early stages of
(14:35):
the NFL Draft, with kicks off thirty six weeks from
tonight in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Carson now kind enough to
give us a little bit of time here on the
Insiders with me, Tom Pellicero and Brian Baldier. Carson, you're
in this final countdown, man, it's a little over five
weeks away until draft weekend. Just take me inside what
it's like to be you, the way that you're preparing,
(14:56):
and just kind of where your headspace is at right now.
Speaker 6 (14:59):
Yeah, I think like you said, I mean, it's closing in,
but it's also exciting, of course. I mean this is
something I've worked for my whole life, and you know,
it's it's great to see how everything's working out.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
So really just through this.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
Whole process, just trying to take in every moment and
and really enjoy the process.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Parson, you really popped this year.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
You had a great season, and I thought one of
the reasons, and it came under a lot of there's
traditionalists didn't like U c L. A and USC going
to the Big Ten. But I'm watching you against Penn
State in Nebraska and Iowa. I thought it was a
big deal for you going into and playing those schools,
playing some of those some of.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Those caliber programs.
Speaker 7 (15:42):
I thought it really helped bring the best out of
your fifteen tackles against Penn State.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
What did you think going into the Big Ten this year?
Speaker 6 (15:49):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of talk about all
the different conferences and the difference, But the way I
was I was viewing it, at the end of the day,
you're still going in and playing football, and especially when
you're playing the linebacker position. There's talk about which which
conference is the most physical, which you know, heavier passes,
things like that, But at the end of the day,
you're playing linebacker, you're expecting a physical game. So you know,
(16:13):
definitely a lot more run heavy in the Big Ten
as opposed to the Pac twelve. But the goal was
just to go out there, play a physical brand of football,
play fast, and you.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Know, go out there and make plays.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Every NFL scout right now is body typing guys and
making comparisons and their reports, trying to figure out, Okay,
what historic player do I compare Carson Schwestinger to in
your mind, is there a player or players to your
game resembles or at least that you try to kind
of model some things and take from their games put
into yours.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
Definitely, I think, you know, maybe maybe too much of
a classic answer, but the go to, especially for a
linebacker like me, is Luke Keikley would be one of
the first ones I talked about just just his IQ
of the game, but on top of that, the physicality
and the flip that's the switch that flips when he
gets on gets on the field is something that I
(17:05):
try and emulate. And then along with that you got
other guys like Milano and Fred Warner and Roquan who
are just always around the ball. And that's one of
the things, you know, I try and be, regardless of
what the play is, you know, finish finished by the ball,
and good things happen when when you're around the ball.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Parson, you just.
Speaker 7 (17:24):
Mentioned Keith Lee, Fred Warner, roquand pretty I mean the
elite of the elites. Okay, but it's interesting because I
always think the greatest compliment you can give to a
linebacker is he finds the football. And when I watch
your tape. That's what I see. I see a guy
that knows how to find the football. Is it film study?
Is it instinct for you? Is it what is it
(17:45):
about you that no matter what the formation, prestat motion,
you can find the football.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I think it's a little bit of everything.
Speaker 6 (17:52):
I mean, I've been playing since playing football since I
was three years old.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
That's just a natural feeling you have, and it's been something.
Speaker 6 (17:59):
I mean, it doesn't matter or what sport I'm playing,
I'm somehow always around the ball. It's something that's that's
been a part of me since I was a kid.
And then the other half is that film study where
you're prepared. You know almost where the ball is going
before they even snap the ball, which definitely helps put
you in the right places. And then the last bit
of it is just you got to want to get
to the ball. And that's just when you're on the
field one hundred percent every play until the whistle's going,
(18:20):
and that's going to get you in the right spot
a lot of the time.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
To Carson, you're doing, I believe your own pro day workout.
It's coming up here in a couple of weeks. Whether
it's a how you're going to time or what you
want to show. What are the things that are going
to jump out to the people who are at that
pro day.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
I think what I'm really looking to show is just
the athleticism. Didn't really have the chance to show it
at the carbine and pro Day, but that's really the
goal here is to go out there run fast and
show the short area speed as well with the shuttles,
and I was able to get a jump at the
combine to show a little bit of it, but you know,
(18:56):
go out there do the broad as well, and then
and then just move well out throughout any position drills
we're planning on doing as well.
Speaker 7 (19:04):
Carson, I rounded up your vertical jump to forty inches
just so you know. I just gave you a forty
all right, It sounds a little better than thirty nine
and a half.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
What was up? What was tell me inside.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
Some of the discussions you had at the combine with teams,
what they wanted to find out about you? Was it
just you know what this formation is? Because I always
feel like if you know the formation, you know the play,
and it's just it just sort of becomes like that
after a while.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
What did they want to pull out of you in
some of these meetings with you.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Yeah, there's there's pretty a pretty wide range of what
they're asking, you know. Some of it's just you know,
personality questions and how you grew up. But when they
really get in the ball, it's it's knowing the football
IQ aspects, the recall on on what we were running
during during the year and and how those plays worked out.
A lot of times they'll pull up pull up film
(19:53):
from the year and just want you to explain, you know,
what the call is and what you're doing. And you know,
even add into the that week who we're playing. If
we're playing Penn State, you know the look they were
giving us and what we were expecting. So really a
lot of that.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Carson last thing before I let you go here. I'm
sure you've seen a lot of interesting stuff in this interview,
but I've mainly just been fixated on sterrnigger hair. That
is some significant flow you've got going, presumably after a
long day where you've been working out. Is there are
you using like a horse shampoo? Can you give it
the secret to having that type of flow at this
hour of the day.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
I will say the shampoo is I'm pretty particular about
I don't do too much else, but I only use
a Mica shampoo and conditioner, which is a pretty rare brand.
I gotta go and walk into an alta. I can't
get it at Targets, so you know, I'm walking into
an alta. There's no other guys in there. But you know,
sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And you got an endorsement coming your way. We'll make
sure that they get that clip. Carson, best the luck
man over these next thirty six days, hope to hear
your name called very early in Greeny, Green Bay. We
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Thank you very much, Thanks Carson.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Carson Schwestinger one of the many names you will here
called during the NFL Draft, presented by Bud Light. It's
coming to Green Bay and it's your chance to witness
the future of the game for free. Experience the history
of Lambofield, see the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl rings,
and meet NFL players and legends. The NFL Draft starts
April twenty fourth in Green Bay. Register for free entry
(21:30):
go to NFL dot com slash Draft Access Today. Michael
Parsons did not have to wait very long to hear
his name called Once upon a time has had to
wait a while to hear his name called up to
get that record breaking extension that he anticipates getting at
some point. What's the hold up and where do those
negotiations go from here? We'll discuss that and a lot
(21:52):
more as the Insiders rolls on. The bar has been
set for highest paid non quarterback in the NFL again,
first Miles Garrett than Jamar Chase at a little over
forty million dollars per year, numbers that are relevant to
(22:14):
Micah Parsons, although, as our Jane Slater reported earlier today,
no meaningful contract talks yet between the Cowboys and their
star pass rusher about a new deal. Welcome back to
the Insiders, Tom Pillicero, Judy Batista, and Mike Girafolo. Mike,
Nothing happens quickly in Dallas, particularly not the record type
(22:37):
contract extensions. So to that end, we're kind of following
history here. Where do we stand?
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Max Cosby Miles Garrett, Although the Garrett one, we thought
maybe that might take a while, but Max, rely, Miles Garrett, TJ.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Watt, MICHAEH.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Parsons, The four pass rushers that we expected to reset
the market here in this off season. Here and all along,
I had been hearing people say, well, Mike is gonna
go last, right, like he's the young guy, uh, the
one that can really hit it big, the one like
he wants to see everybody else, all the veterans kind
of get their money, and then boom, there's our aiming
point for where we want to be when we really
(23:15):
get into these negotiations. I agree with Jane, does not
appear that there have been any meaningful conversations regarding Micah
Parsons and the Cowboys right now. So this is something
I sort of had earmark for closer to the start
of the regular season. It's the start of training camp
and then it's the start of the regular season. Those
are the two mile posts when it comes to these deals,
because you don't want to necessarily practice without that deal
(23:36):
in place, and then at that point, you don't want
to necessarily play without the deal in place. That's kind
of the timeline that I've been looking for on this one.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
I feel like the theme of this offseason has been
teams that get ahead of the contracts and get ahead
of the market, and teams that wait, and we've seen all.
We've seen both. We saw Jamar Chase finally get done.
Good for him, Good for the Bengals to get done.
Of course, if they had gotten it done last year,
they probably would not have had to spend nearly as
much as they had to spend this year. The situation
(24:08):
with Michael Parsons recalls what happened last off season when
the Cowboys were trying to get some big contract extensions
done too, and they waited and waited.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
That's fine.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
The market kept going up, and then we got ever
so close to.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
The season starting.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
I mean literally, Dak Prescott's deal got done on the
morning of the season opener. You do wonder how much
of a toll that takes on the players in terms
of their concentration and their focus, and you certainly know
how much it takes in terms of dollars for the
teams that can't get them done early. Michael Parsons deserves
(24:44):
to be the next person who is the highest paid
non quarterback, so you can't blame him for wanting to wait.
Of course, he wants to go last. But if you're
the Dallas Cowboys, you are just watching the market go up,
up and up just like you did last offseason. It's
a very curious way to go about doing business for
the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And I would also go back to what we reported
on Super Bowl Sunday, which is that there have been
real internal conversations about does it make sense to pay
another player when you already got back at the top
CD near the top, and now have another player at
the top of the market, Or to potentially trade my
co caparsions for a boatload of picks and inject your
roster with a lot of other help at different positions here,
(25:24):
So a lot of different moving parts still over the
next four or five Cowboys fans hope not six.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Months, because that gets us into the.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Regular season here.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
And oh, by the way, Aiden Hutchinson also eligible for
an extension. He's got to be loving everything that he's
seeing at this point.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Mike, Yes, Tom, thank you very much. You can't win
championships in the offseason when it comes to free agency.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
That might be true, but you know what you can do.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
You can move up the nfl dot Com post free
agency power rankings. And that's what the Bears did, fortifying
their offensive line and making moves elsewhere along the roster
to help klebwilliam and to also try to fortify that
defense for Ben Johnson in his first year as the
coach of the Bears, moved up to sixteen from what
I am told, Jeffrey Chedia joining Brian Baldinger and myself
(26:11):
here to discuss his favorite Offsee this article is not
even up yet, right, this is a preview. I get
my daughter's sentences today for school. One of the words
was preview. See Carvin, this is a preview. No stay
up there, stay up there, But we go to preview
your article, Jeffrey on your favorite offseason moves that.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
We're going to start with.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Which one is your favorite of the offseason moves?
Speaker 8 (26:32):
He just saw Chicago Bears, and I'll start there because
it's a two pronged favorite move here with the hiring
of Ben Johnson and the rebuilding of that offensive line. Mike,
I love the Ben Johnson higher. I thought he was
the best coaching candidate of the offseason. He comes in,
he can fix that offense, get Caleb Williams going it
was a home run for the Bears and getting him,
but then going out and rebuilding that offensive line, and
(26:55):
we know what that offensive line meant to Ben Johnson's
offense in Detroit. It's going to allow him to avoid
the sack problems they had last year with Caleb Williams
getting sacked sixty eight times. It's going to allow his
offense to use those skilled players they got in the
offseason in Baldy. This team is on the rise for
a reason.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
I agree, Jeff, and I think it's you know, the
number one story right now going to the offseason, much
like you're writing in your preview. But you know, honestly,
Ben Johnson can't do any of the things he wants
to do out of his playbook and the concepts and
the ideas, and you know the playmaking ability of some
of his talent without a good offensive line. So to
(27:33):
get that, at least on paper fixed right now, where
Caleb Williams can stand back there for three seconds, If
you can get three seconds to diagnose what the defense
is doing, it would go with the ball. I mean,
I think that's where it starts. Detroit had one of
the top three offense lines. Well, Ben Johnson has been there.
It has been a big part of why they were
(27:54):
the number one offense in football last year and why
they scored so many points. So I think to get
that fix, to get Ben in now, I think they
can start to inject the ideas that Ben Johnson has
had and one of the reasons why he's been a
leading coaching candidate for the last two seasons.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
One of the most intriguing moves Jonah Jackson, a big
free agent for the Rams last year. The Bears trade
for him, give him extra year on his deal and
seven million fully guaranteed next season added on as well.
So a lot of faith in Jackson, who played with
Ben Johnson up there in Detroit. Moving on, we're going
to talk about the defensive side of the ball on
this one because I know you like something that the
(28:32):
Eagles did that they don't usually do, and that's pay
a linebacker.
Speaker 8 (28:36):
And that's why I love it, Mike. I love that
they went out and they paid Zach Bond, a player
who came in Unharro did last season a rotational pass
rush in New Orleans, and Big Fangiel takes this guy
and turns him into an all Pro linebacker. He was
an essential part of the defense that was number one
in the league all year. And when you think about
the idea of the Eagles breaking trends. It did it
last year and going out and putting a lot of
(28:58):
money in sat Kwon Buckley's pocket. They didn't usually pay
running backs to go and do this for Zach. Bond
telled me that they really believe in Well, we're going
to pay our stars. But two when I was to
be behold into what we've done in the past, we're
going to do what's best for our team, and keeping
Zach Bond here baldy is what's best for the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Well, the fact is Jeff, they could not deny his production.
He was lead. I thought he was the defensive player
of the year.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
No, you know nothing against Patrick Certan and winning the award,
But if you count the postseason twenty one games in all,
he had one hundred and eighty four tackles, six fours fumbles,
and he showed up every week and he was the
undisputed leader of that defense.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And it was technically and fundamentally sound. Real quick.
Speaker 7 (29:37):
I remember when Vic Fangio was the linebacker coaching the
Dome Patrol in New Orleans, you know, with Sam Mills
and Patrick Swelling and Ricky Jackson, and I felt like
this was a guy that could have been the leader
of the Dome Patrol. He was of the Eagles. They
were the best defensive football last year and the big
reason why the play of Zach Bond.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Zack b went from a one year, three point five
million dollar deal to a three year deal averaging seventeen
million dollars per year. We should all be so lucky
as to get those kinds of raises. But you know,
Wat Jeffrey today, to make your case for a race
by giving us a third off season move that you.
Speaker 8 (30:15):
Like, I'll go with Jonathan Allen signing with the Minnesota Vikings.
And the Vikings have been looking forward interior year presidence
on their defensive line for a long time, maybe going
back to the days of Sheldon Richardson, and they got
it with this guy. You know, I know, Jonathan Allen's
at thirty years old, but he's been to two Pro Bowls.
He's had sixteen and a half sacks in those two
years when he was a Pro Bowl player, and he's
been a high pressure guy the last six years of
(30:39):
his career. And so you add him to a defense
that brought in Jonathan Gernard last season, and Andrew Van
Gink was able to come off the edge of great pressure.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Baldy.
Speaker 8 (30:47):
This defense is going to be a record group for
Brian Flores's coming season.
Speaker 7 (30:50):
Well, he was already you know, at the top of
the charts last year, jeff in takeaways, and you know,
they kept a lot of their personnel that was responsible
for it, but you know, a lot of it was,
you know, these third down defenses that Flores would put
up there, and it's kind of gimmicky a little bit,
who's coming, who's not coming. I think if they want
to just play base defense right now with a Jonathan
(31:12):
Allen go with you know, a Javon Hargrave who also
they signed in free agency to go with Van Kako
and Grenard, Like, I feel like if they want to
just play based defense and rush forward the way the
Eagles did in the Super Bowl this year and get
home with four, they can do that if they want.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
If they want to.
Speaker 7 (31:28):
Throw a bunch of junk at the line of scrimmage
and play you know, blit zero behind it, they still
have that option. But I think they can play a
lot more traditional styles of defense now that they've fixed
that defense attack the position.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
So congratulates two O the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Vikings went to beef up on that defensive line. Did
that with Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave also on the
offensive side as well. NFL dot Com backslash first read
or Chidi I think both will take you where you
want to go. When this article gets posted. What time tomorrow,
I don't know. Log on at twelve oh one am.
Keep eating Refresh all day long until you find it.
Thank you, Jeffrey Chidiya.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
It's been quite an off season for Justin Field to here.
He is in Morocco. He was there on a vacation.
I don't know, but a bunch of other football players.
I believe he was there when the other good part
of his off season began. He got signed by the
New York Jets to be their starting quarterback. There he
is arriving at the Jets facility in Florim Park, which
(32:27):
I like. Florm Park. It's definitely not Morocco. From the desert.
Let's take you to the deep sea, where our man
around the World, Brian Baldinger was today. Baldy was diving.
I heard him talk about how great the visibility was,
and frankly, these pictures definitely show that amazing visibility. Amazing
GoPro by Brian Baldinger. Let's bring Baldy. This is incredible.
(32:54):
Let's welcome back Brian Baldinger and Mike Garrifalo. We're going
to get to the that was amazing. I want to
get to the diving video later, Baldy, but first let's
talk about some of these off season moves. Let's start
with Justin Fields and how he's going to fit in
the New York Jets.
Speaker 7 (33:11):
Well, Judy, I'm a big fan of Marrakesh and of
Justin Fields together. I mean, everybody should go. I mean,
it's beyond exotic, but it's fine. But I will say
that I've always been a fan of Justin Fields coming
out of Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I was a fan.
Speaker 7 (33:26):
You know, in Chicago he averaged six pointy two yards
a rush, and you know, for five different games Aaron
Glenn had to defend Justin Fields and he saw how
difficult it was.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I didn't think Pittsburgh used him properly last year.
Speaker 7 (33:39):
And I think when you look at Tanner Instrom and
the new offensive coordinator in New York, I think you've
got to use him as a bona fide runner and
use him as a weapon. From that standpoint, I think
it'll open up things for Breece Hall and Brailn Allen
and Ziadavs, the running backs there.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
I think they've got work to do in the offensive line.
Speaker 7 (33:58):
But I think there's real POTENTI here for Justin because
he's never been really in a stable place or place
that had a great offensive line. He did get off
to a good start last year and then kind of
oddly went back to Russell Wilson after he got up
to a great start and was playing error free football.
But I think he's got a chance to flourish. I mean,
he knows in that building right now he's the guy.
(34:21):
And I don't know that he felt like that in
Pittsburgh even when he was starting. I don't think you
felt like that, and there was always change. In Chicago,
I feel like they found their guy. He's young, and
there's a lot to build around him and his talent.
So I'm pretty bullish on what Justin Fields can do
in New York this year.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Aaron Glenn, when he was in Detroit, you know, they
made the trade for Jared Goff, and we thought, well,
there's a bridge quarter and no bridge quarterback right that
guy is the Highway in Detroit, justin field, same kind
of thing, like we got that, Well, here's your bridge
go to if he can get the same kind of
deal where you don't have to spend the draft pick
on a quarterback because you got your guy and he
winds up being your guy for an extent the period.
That's the best possible scenario for Aaron Glenn. A reasonable
(35:03):
deal at twenty million a year. Again, reasonable when you're
talking about quarterbacks. Speaking of quarterbacks, and a guy that
got slightly better let's say about fifteen million or so
better Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks. What do you
like about the fit here between Donald and what they're
going to do up there with Clint Kubiak as the OC.
Speaker 7 (35:21):
You know, Mike, I always think like these quarterbacks like
Sam and Baker and others, like they have to go
to rehab after they get off to a bad.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Start in places.
Speaker 7 (35:29):
And I thought rehab for Sam started in San Francisco
with Kyle Shanahany Clint Kubiak when he was the quarterback
coach there. And I thought, just the year playing Scout team,
playing Week eighteen, I thought Sam really learned a lot
and I think reuniting with Clinton. Now in Seattle, with
Mike McDonald the head coach, I feel like this can
(35:50):
be a new beginning for Sam Now. Obviously in Minnesota
things went well for the first fifteen to sixteen weeks
of the season, but I found the feeling like this connection.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
That he has with Clint's a good start. Right now.
Speaker 7 (36:02):
They've got some team building to do around Sam and
that offense, but now that they've got him locked up here,
start building.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
We'll see the draft.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
I think they'll address it in the draft or the receivers, offensive.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Line give him some help.
Speaker 7 (36:15):
But I think it's a good start being reunited within Kubiak.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
All right.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
The move that cleared the way for Sam Darnold in Seattle,
I think one of the stunners of the off season
so far. The trade Gino Smith going to the Las
Vegas Raiders.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
How's that fit?
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Well?
Speaker 7 (36:33):
I think it's going to be good because I was
around Chip Kelly when he first came to Philadelphia Joey
back in twenty thirteen. He got off to a great start,
and really his ideas about tempo inside outside receivers. Some
of the staples of his offense, like Gino played at
West Virginian for Dana Holgerson. He played in basically the
(36:53):
same offense in college, where a ward tells you what
the offense is. You can get the plays snapped off
and sixteen to eighteen seconds if you want to, if
you need to. So I think he can play that
up tempto style because he has played in it before.
So I think Chip coming back to the NFL, he's
learned a little bit about how to protect your quarterback
a little bit better than he did h He's learned
(37:17):
from some formations and tight ends things he didn't have
when he.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Was at Oregon or maybe his first year in Philadelphia.
Speaker 7 (37:25):
I think he's learned a lot since then. I think
it's a good fit for Gino. I think he's going
to play well in his offense. It's going to ask
him to play fast, and that's Chip's offense. That's just
a staple of what he does, and I think Gino's
capable of doing it.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
One of the few moves that the Raiders have made
so far this offseason as they try to rebuild with
Pete Carroll in.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Charge, breaking news, another pass rusher has just cashed in.
This time it's Danil Hunter, who has agreed to terms
with the Texans on a one year, thirty five point
six million dollar contract extent and that now makes him
the NFL's second highest paid defensive end. He gets a
raise to thirty two million this season, and almost all
(38:07):
of the fifty five point one million that he's due
through twenty twenty six is now fully guaranteed. Also potentially
here this could also form a grown work for getting
a Trey Hendrickson deal done in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
I mean, while the.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Big twelve welcomed over two hundred prospects and nearly three
hundred scouts to their two day conference pro day event
in Frisco, Texas, our Ret Lewis, Daniel Jeremiah, and Bucky
Brooks are there.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Hello, Insiders.
Speaker 9 (38:36):
Rett Lewis, Daniel Jeremiah, and Bucky Brooks here with you
from the Ford Center, home of the Cowboys today, of course,
home with a Big twelve pro day where we saw
the offensive lineman and defensive lineman hit.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
The field first.
Speaker 9 (38:47):
DJ, you stood out to you here on day one.
Speaker 10 (38:48):
I'm gonna go with Conrad O'Toole from Utah. It doesn't
have a ton of production from the fall, but man
what a workout. He ran a four to six six
forty excellent three cone time as well. So you get
a chance to watch and go to the testing. You
see him run here, real smooth.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Fluid easy.
Speaker 10 (39:04):
That wasn't just in the forty and in the three cone.
Also just watching him move around, everything he did looked
effortless and it looks smooth. So someone helped himself and
it's going to give himself an opportunity at the next level.
Speaker 11 (39:15):
Well, guys, I'm gonna go with the Arizona standout Jonah
seven A continue to put the exclamation point of what
has been a really solid pre draft process form When
you think about what he has been able to display,
this guy that can play outside and inside, the versatility.
When you look at the tape, you see the IQ,
You see the toughness and the physicality that you want
to see. But out here we want to see the
movements heels. Could he move around, can he make this transitions?
(39:38):
Is he someone that can play outside maybe at right tackle,
or is he destined to make a move interior. I
think he really helped himself with what he's done throughout
the process, particularly what he was able to do with
a Big twelve Prodame.
Speaker 9 (39:49):
Yeah, guys, I'll go back to the defensive line group
and talk about one of the players we saw from Baylor,
Trevin Maay, who's kind of played up and down the
defensive line for Davi Randa said, they've used them, you know,
at nose, they've used them at the three tech, They've
used them as a five at times. He checked in
at just about two hundred and seventy seven pounds and
I'll run in a four to seven forty today. So
(40:12):
I think as a guy that you want to, you know,
maybe can pack a little bit more weight on and
then put them on the interior that defensive line, and
you could be talking about a player that definitely catches
the eye of some talent evaluators here at the Big
twelve Pro Day. So those are the big guys right Tomorrow,
Day two of the Big twelve Pro Day, we're going
to talk about the quarterbacks, the running backs, the wide receivers.
(40:33):
Kind of a loaded skill group, especially at running back,
and we shall get a chance to talk to Bucky.
I know you're looking forward to this. You see him
down on the field. Coach Prime Dion Sanders and his
son Shader Sanders, one of the very top prospects in
this draft class, going to be here in attendance, and
we look forward to chatting with them. But again, Big
twelve Pro Day, Day two, one o'clock Eastern. We'll see
(40:55):
you tomorrow right here from Frisco, Texas.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
A few players bigger and Super Bowl fifty nine. The
DeVante Smith on that touchdown from Jalen Hurts. But have
you've seen it, well, there's a different way you can
see it, and you will not be able to unsee it.
We'll explain next on the Insiders.
Speaker 10 (41:20):
We score snover call you.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Just call it.
Speaker 10 (41:25):
For the Eagles.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
It is verse to ten and they take over in
chief's territory of the forty six yard line.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Church chart exactly how the Eagles get it back. We're
going to run some plot maybe s down.
Speaker 4 (41:52):
We score snover. This must have taken for ever to do.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
The best part of that and not the work by
fabou Brick is nailing the Nick Sirianni strut in stop motion.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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