March 4, 2025 • 43 mins
NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo join forces to deliver the biggest football headlines of the day. The quartet discusses Sam Darnold’s future coming off of the news that he will not be franchise tagged by the Minnesota Vikings. The Insiders also acknowledge the historic contract extension that Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley landed on Tuesday. Then, Brian Baldinger joins the show to break down two top prospects: Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Colorado’s Travis Hunter. And later, Jane Slater explains why the Dallas Cowboys restructured WR CeeDee Lamb’s contract. On the tail end of the show, Steve Wyche joins to weigh the possibilities that QB Brock Purdy gets a contract extension with the 49ers.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Sam Darnold is poised to hit the open market if
the Vikings don't lock him up first, but it has
been a sort of the right place for free agency's
top QB. We will tell you the latest as the
franchise tag deadline passes with very little action. DeVante Adams
also is hitting the market and the six time Pro
Bowl wide receiver can sign with a new team right now.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We will break down what that market.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Could look like for Adams and whether it could preview
Aaron Rodgers destination as well. And while the Eagles are
still on top of the world, now Saquon Barkley is
on top of the running back market. We will show
you all the reasons Saquon got paid again. Here's a
look at a few of them right there. Welcome inside
(00:54):
with the insiders alongside Ian Rappaport, Judy Matista and a
Natalie Dress Mike Gara. I am Tom Pelvisero. The franchise
tag deadline has now passed. Were six days out, just
six days, less than six days from the start of
the free agent negotiating window. And who exactly is hitting
the market? Just about everybody, because almost no one got tagged.
(01:17):
The fewest franchise tags since nineteen ninety four. It is
just the two that we've already told you about in
recent days. T Higgins getting tagged at a rate of
about twenty six point two million dollars, a higher rate
than most wide receivers with a cost because it's the
second straight tag on Higgins as the Bengals try to
work out a new deal, while Trey Smith the Chiefs
(01:40):
Stan Altgard also got tag set to earn twenty three
point four million dollars. Last time only two players got
the tag was indeed, thirty one years ago, when the
Vikings tag defensive tackle Henry Thomas and the Steelers tag
tight end Eric Creed. If you're saying who Vikings fans
would remember, they did not, however, tag that guy right there,
Sam Darnold, who helped lead the Vikings to fourteen wins
(02:03):
last regular season before all those last couple of games
did not go particularly well. However, as Ian and I
told you last night, the sides remain in communications to
see if potentially there is a deal that works for
both sides. I said it Ian back on Super Bowl
Sunday'll repeat it here. There's not been another situation that
I can think of like this where we have a
(02:25):
twenty seven year old Pro Bowl quarterback coming off his
best season on a one year deal, and also a
twenty two year old first round draft pick from a
year ago who missed all the reps that he would
have gotten during the season because of injury. It's a
lot of different moving parts. Obviously, the Vikings didn't feel
like a tag in trade was going to materialize. But
what are the chances that the Vikings, one way or
(02:46):
another can wrap up Sam Darnold and keep him as
their starter for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I would describe it as a pretty realistic chance that
the Vikings can lock this up, keep Darnald home at
least reboot for one more year, and then have this
is next year. If do you want to keep Donald
or do you want to roll with JJ McCarthy, that
obviously is the best case scenario for the Vikings, and
you're right they did consider a potential tagg and trade
option just rolling with JJ. There the market for Donald
(03:15):
from other teams giving him a forty million dollar contract
plus draft compensation, that that was something that was not there,
and then you know, I would say moving on from
him completely doesn't seem like it's in the in the
card either for the Vikings, at least they don't want
it to be so where they are is below the tag.
(03:35):
Wanting to keep Donald around, wanting to use him again
as a one year placeholder. Well, JJ McCarthy gets ready,
and I would say, considering that Donald played his best
football with the Vikings, him returning there and then getting
a big time paid a next year makes sense. Obviously,
had the last two games gone differently, this would probably
have gotten a whole different direction for Donald.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Yeah, it feels like this would have been a much
different conversation if those last two games had gone much differently.
But still, you come away from last season thinking that
the Vikings are probably the best spot for.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Sam Donald right now.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
He had a career renaissance there, he had great coaching there,
He's obviously got.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Great receivers there, and you're right.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
If he stays there for another year while JJ McCarthy
gets some work behind him, then he can launch into
free agency fully formed and see what the contract is. However,
if they can't get a deal done in these next
few days before free agency opens, then it'll be really
interesting to see what the market looks like for Sam Donald,
(04:39):
because there's certainly a number of teams who badly need
starting quarterbacks. He is a starting quarterback who had for
the most part, an outstanding season last year. It would
be really interesting to see how the market would go
for Sam Donald right now.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Yeah, Sam Donald's still the bell of the ball, I
would say when it comes to free agent quarterbacks and
trade possibilities, I just don't know that it's maybe where
we thought it was, certainly before those last couple of
games as Ian alluded to where it's like, well, he's
going to make forty million plus, which did not sound
crazy once Dak got to sixty, right, Like, forty is
(05:16):
reasonable for a Pro Bowl quarterback who's still in the
prime of his career. Sam Darnold is gonna have to
ask himself a question. Do I want to take less
to stay in Minnesota, where I've got maybe the best
targets that I'm going to see, maybe the best offensive
system that I'm going to see, maybe the best coaching
staff offensively that I'm going to see. Or do I
(05:39):
want to go elsewhere and get guarantees into year two?
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Do I want to.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Stack another prove it year on top of a prove
it year like next year's prove it year would be
I could beat out JJ McCarthy again number one and
number two, I can play well all the way through.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
If not played better at the end.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Of the year, He's gonna have to ask himself that question,
probably in the next couple of days, because after that
then the Vikings have to work on contingency plans, which
Daniel Jones is an in house contingency plan to re
up him and those other options that are out there potentially.
So it's going to be an interesting couple of days
for Sam Donald and the Vikings here, but still a
real possibility.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
That he ends up back there in Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The full focus for the Vikings all along has been
how do we put a championship caliber roster around the quarterbacks,
same reason the kirk Cousins ultimately walked to the Falcons.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
The number got too great.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Those last two games, rough as they were, particularly the
Lions game, in a way made things more possible for
the Vikings to potentially get a deal done with Sam
Darnold as supposed to if he's getting paid forty plus
million dollars someplace else. They simply weren't going to be
able to compete with that. One guy did get paid
today again, I feel like we just did that. It
was Sakuon Barkley, who less than one year ago got
(06:48):
a three year contract from the Philadelphia Eagles, and Howie Roseman,
in light of what he has called the greatest season
by an offensive skill player in NFL history, did something
you never see happen, which is ripped the deal with
two years remaining and gave a new contract to Saquon Barkley.
It's a two year extension worth upwards of forty million dollars,
ties him to the Eagles duty for another four years
(07:10):
and sixty seven million dollars total. This is big time
money and not a surprise that an organization that has
had the philosophy, Hey, it's Mike, just ducking in. There's
one phone shot we should use that one of the
back of Saquon's head, Mike. It does something that the
Eagles have liked to do, which is their core players,
reward them, keep them around. And now they've got essentially
(07:31):
Judy Saquon the rest of his prime locked up in Philly, right.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
They've got him walked up until twenty twenty eight when
he will be in his early to mid thirties. Most
of all, what this did is it rewarded Sequon Barkley
for his extraordinary season.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Right. They gave him some guaranteed money. It locks him up.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
It sends quite a signal to that locker room, and
it really sends quite a signal to Sekwon Barkley about
how very important he is to that organization.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I like the move.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Why not reward the guys who did such extraordinary work
for you. Don't forget he came in there at a
number that he wasn't thrilled with. He took the offer
that was there. The Eagles extended themselves. Now they're giving
him more to show their appreciation for all of this
that we're watching right now, for what a key part.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
He was of that Super Bowl run.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
Sorry, Judy, we talked about this at four o'clock. I
actually did the math live on the air. If you
add the forty one to what was already on the books.
Because the Eagles are looking at this like we got,
say Kwon Barkley basically for below market value is what
twelve million in change last year And everybody said, well,
the running back market's depressed, but he and Derrick Henry are.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
Pushing it back up. So now you redo the deal.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
Now you gain the respect of everybody in that locker
room because they know what he means. We already saw
some players on social media reacting to this and saying,
you know, well deserved. So you gain credibility inside that
locker room. You make Saquon happy as well. We know
how much happier he is with his restart than he
was early in his career.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
And it helps with the flow of the money. I mean,
Howie Roseman has done this repeatedly.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Aj Brown got an extension early into what was already
a good deal for him a couple of years ago.
So this is all about how they're willing to kind
of manage the flow of money and manage the salary
cap and push some stuff into the future. Over a
five year deal, this is now going to average like
sixteen and a half million dollars per year, which is where.
Speaker 6 (09:34):
The running back, the top of the running back market was.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
There's another extension from Christian McCaffrey on top of that
at like nineteen So there's no apples to apples comparison here.
But the long and short of it is that Saquon
Barkley proved his worth this year, and I think I
proved my worth on Super Bowl Sunday.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
Here is the reverse angle. I was talking long enough
for the control room to grab this. Amazing.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
This is the reverse angle of what you just saw
a couple of years ago, Saquon having his child.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
It's the Lombardi Trophy. Unbelievable.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
I mean, just the camera angle there, Tom say, in
the back of his head, I thought I was in
position A right there inside.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
Of guys with vists and full on video cameras. Nailed
it as usual.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Saquon just a little bit too fast for whoever's trying
to catch him, including Mike and his mediocre cell phone.
There's actually two other parts of this. One is that
this was going to be an issue eventually, when someone
comes in Saquon market otherwise outperforms their contract, they're going
to want a new deal. So next year, after next season,
this was going to become a thing. When are the
Eagles going to pay Saquon? When are they going to
(10:37):
reward him? It's over now, he's been paid, he's been rewarded.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
All that is over.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Eagles very proactive and making sure that that is the
case the other The part of this is, and you
guys talked about it, the running back market has now
been completely rebuilt. Right when you have the Christian McCaffer
at nineteen, you have Saquon Barkley at twenty point six.
Those are the new money numbers, but those are the
numbers that agents are going to go buy. In other words,
when a running back is trying to do a new deal,
(11:02):
Let's say I don't know Derrick Henry for the Baltimore Ravens,
you know that it's going to try to be around
where Saquon is, and you look at some of the
other young running backs. James Cook was retweeting us thank
you very much, James, about how interesting this is and
the type of good businesses is. Kiren Williams with the
Rams wants a big bag as well, no doubt deserves it,
(11:22):
but this strengthens his case for all of the young
running backs coming up. The road has now been paved
with the gold of Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey. Other
running backs who actually, finally for the first time in
a while, are getting paid with their worth.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Mike, I will say, I apologize, I only caught the
tail end where I saw you behind from the back angle.
You had this money shot there as he's looking into
the camera. Some would call it your second best photography
work in the month of February in the NFL. Davante Adams,
by the way, is now a free agent, officially released
on the transaction, where earlier today this was a expected move. Yes,
(12:03):
they had tried to see whether or not potentially they
could get some trade action on DeVante Adams, But even
going back three years when Adams signed the contract a
lump sum do thirty six million dollars with close to
a thirty million dollars cap number for the Jets this season,
he was never going to see that money. There is
something left though, Judy two DeVante Adams. You saw flashes
of it last season. Where does he end up?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
There's no question there is still guests in that tank.
We saw that.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
As miserable as the Jets season was last year, there
were still moments that DeVante Adams took your breath away.
So there will certainly be teams interested in him. I
think the first question is is he going to wait
to see where Aaron Rodgers lands? That is obviously with
the pattern before the Jets. We will see if that
plays out. That could take a while. But in the
(12:51):
case of DeVonta Adams, there are going to be teams
that need wide receivers, right, I mean the Chargers, for example,
need a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
The Steelers need a wide receiver.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
And he is a free agent now he could sign
like now if he wants to.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
I mean, while we're on the air.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
That would actually be great if he did that, But
there will be a market for him.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
He can still play. I am intrigued to see if
he waits for Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:13):
I think.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Look, DeVante's got other goals and other quarterbacks that he
likes to By the way, I mean, Derek Carry left
Aaron Rodgers to go with Derek Carr a couple of
years ago, so I wouldn't.
Speaker 6 (13:23):
Necessarily tie him to Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
I think he's got goals to potentially win a Super
Bowl as well, and potentially could see some options open
up here in the next couple of days and weeks.
The question, Judy is how long does Rogers take right.
If it's an immediate type thing, well, then he's got
that information.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
At his disposal.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
If not, and this drags on and we could see
some quarterbacks, whether it's Rogers or and I do believe
it's gonna be the case with Kirk Cousins, kind of
take it up to the draft, if not through the
draft as well.
Speaker 6 (13:51):
So I'm gonna have to keep an eye on that
if that's the case.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Certainly with Rogers, Ada's gonna make his decision well before that.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
We'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Aaron Rodgers one, of course, the big names still available
in free agency. Where could he land A bunch of
teams looking for starting quarterbacks can be an option for
the Pittsburgh Steelers can't roll that out at this stage,
so they have said publicly that their focus has been
going into the offseason, and this is from the ownership
level on down, is to try to get one of
their two quarterbacks from last season back in the fold
(14:20):
for twenty twenty five. Justin Field started early in the
season after Russell Wilson was dealing with injury that he
suffered during the conditioning drill on the first day of
training camp. Eventually, Russ Gott healthy Fields was benched. Russell
Wilson came in and played really well ian for a
couple of months before the entire Steelers team did not
play well down the stretch of that season. Where do
(14:40):
we stand right now, with both those quarterbacks just six
days out from being able to speak with other teams,
or at least their agents would in free agency.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Well, it does seem like it's going down the direction
of these Steelers signing one of these quarterbacks. I believe
it was Omar Kanu told Judy that that was the plan,
was the most likely starting quarterback options from within their
locker room. As far as I can tell, based on
the sources I've spoken with, it is more likely that
Justin Fields is the next quarterback of the Pittsburgh Stealers
rather than Russell Wilson. And you know Wilson played last year.
(15:13):
He played fine. Obviously it was good until the end
of the season when nothing was good. But Justin Fields
does represent the upside and the team was good when
he was playing. It was a perfect no. But it
does seem like there's some thought inside the building of
rebooting with Justin Fields, giving him the full season, giving
him the resources around him, and then seeing I still
think we are we don't know what Justin Fields is
(15:35):
going to be, which we've seen some highlights. We've seen
some signs, we haven't seen all of it. Maybe the
Steelers give it one more chance, say all right, can
Justin Fields be the franchise guy? And you know, I
don't get the sense they're going to break the bank
for a quarterback, but a nice little bridge quarterback deal
could be in the coming for Fields and the Steelers.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
When you see these highlights and you go back and
you remember how it was such a weird season for
the Pittsburgh Steelers at the quarterback. I mean up and
down from training camp where Russ was in the pole
position to getting hurt to Justin Field's taking you over
and Fields like, oh, we're seeing a little bit here,
and then they're kind of riding that and Mike Tomlins says,
I'm gonna stand on an island and make the move
(16:16):
and you guys are gonna have to deal with it
and figure it out.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
And they looked like they were starting to figure it out.
And then by the end of the season it was like, yeah, we.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Think Russell Wilson's pretty much done, if not here in
the NFL period period. But I do remember going back
through all that early in the season, the thought was,
you know, keep it small for Justin Fields, like, don't have.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Him think in his head he's got to do too much.
And the more he plays and the more confidence he gets.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
The more you can expand it, the more you can
give him a little bit more free reign. So when
Ian says, like we haven't seen the full Justin Fields,
you wonder what it would have looked like if he
continued to be the starting quarterback in Pittsburgh, And if
that winds up being the case here in this upcoming
season West.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And if indeed they bring back one of those quarterbacks,
even the guy as young as Justin Fields, I would
anticipate this is going to be a shorter term type
of a deal. It's going to be much more long
the lines of a Sam Darnold contract than the big
contracts that we see in other places, which also would
retain the flexibility for Pittsburgh to look, maybe even in
this year's draft, to see if they could also take
another swing at their quarterback of the future. Right, Ian, Judy,
(17:17):
Mike stick around a lot more from you as this
show rolls on, did we mention there was a lot
of franchise tag action, Only two players tag for the
first time, since nineteen ninety four. We would add a third,
but Osa Odigiezua and the Cowboys agree to terms just
hours before the deadline on a four year, eighty million
dollar contract that includes fifty eight million dollars guaranteed for
(17:38):
those people who may not have watched as much Cowboys
as most of the country does. OsO Diggizu a highly
effective interior player, one of the league leaders in quarterback
pressures among interior defensive linemen last season.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
He is still young.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Going on to a second contract would have been along
with the Eagles Milton Williams, one of the top two
defensive tackles headed too free agency. Instead, he is sticking
in Dallas, where we find our Jane Slater. This was
a fascinating deal here, Jane, because the way that agents
generally look at this is, hey, if I get tagged
at twenty five point one million this year, I mean
(18:12):
the second tag next year is going to be like
twenty nine million. I'm making fifty five over two. I'm
not going to do a deal for less than that.
He ends up coming back to Dallas for four years
and eighty million. There's not a big pay bump above it.
He gets some security though, and the Cowboys for once
moved quickly here and retain some flexibility as they head
into free agency.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
Well, I think, as I've seen it reported, with the
way they structured is actually really friendly to the Cowboys
in that first year.
Speaker 9 (18:38):
And of course he gets that signing bonus.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
And as much as we were tough on the Cowboys
last year about waiting until you get to camp to restructure,
which is something they like to do when Dallas sort
of move that money down. They told us last year
that the credit cards had essentially been they've been over
spending and they needed to do a good better job
of getting the balance sheet better. Well, they did it
(19:00):
last year, kind of proved some of the growing pains
of that, and they get this one done before they
even get to the tag deadline. As I said, you
get you know Osa Digezua, who I was told is
a third down player, He's a three technique guy. They
are extremely excited about having him in the building because
what this gives them is flexibility heading into the draft.
(19:20):
You know, the one thing I was talking to some
of the Cowboys folks at Combine, I said, where do
you guys really see yourself focusing? And you know it
sounds like you would want to go running back or
wide receiver. I was told that they're going to be
really focusing in the trenches here, and so by shoring
up your defensive tackle with OSA gives you the flexibility
where you don't necessarily have to go defensive line, although
(19:41):
they still could do that, but.
Speaker 9 (19:42):
You also could focus on the offensive line.
Speaker 8 (19:44):
With Zach Martin of course announcing his retirement. But this
is what Cowboys fans and those covering the Cowboys have
sort of asked the Cowboys to do for years.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
Here.
Speaker 8 (19:54):
Quit dragging these things out, get the deals done, give
yourself some flexibility heading into the draft camp had lo
and behold they did it today, and so I will
tell you that my timeline that is typically full of
Cowboys fans saw this as a small little victory and
Dallas fans need something, especially after Luca.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Definitely helps when you get the deal done at a
team friendly number. By the way, Matt Eberflus back is
defensive coordinator. Defensive tackles really important in his scheme, so
I'm sure Flus was celebrating somewhere inside the Star today. Jane,
Thank you very much more from you in just a
little bit, because the Cowboys also are free enough some
cap space, not cash seedee. Lamb is still getting paid
(20:33):
every dollar he was due, but did restructure his contract.
There's gonna be a lot of that going on. We're
on the NFL. Jane'll have details on that in just
a little bit. Meanwhile, the NFL Draft now less than
two months away? How is that possible? Abduel Carter's wait
to find out his NFL destination will not last much longer.
Brian Boldinger has got some thoughts on where Abdul should go,
(20:54):
maybe even number one overall. Baldi's with us next on
the Insiders.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
The Titans have the number one pick, and they're considering
only the best. When you have the number one pick,
that's what.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
You get to do.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
So Abdul Carter, the Penn State Edge, one of the
top prospects, if not the top prospects in the entire draft.
That is visiting the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, also visiting
the Browns this week.
Speaker 9 (21:24):
He's going to do a lot.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Of things for this He is a very good player,
and when teams are drafting all the way up high,
what they want to do is check out the very
very good players. He's so good that so many of
our mock drafts Lands Zeroline, Bucky Brooks, Danel Jeremiah all
believe he is going to be the top selection to
the Tennessee Titans. Chad Reuter believes he's going to the
Patriots at number four. Would that be an upset?
Speaker 6 (21:46):
Maybe?
Speaker 9 (21:46):
Actually?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
But all in there is where we're looking at with
Abdull Carter. Despite the fact that a little bit of
a foot injury at the combine, he should be fine.
Welcome in our good friend Brian Baldinger, along with our
other good friend Gudie Batista Baldy, you are film guru
as loyal viewers of the show. No, So just tell
(22:07):
me why should I believe those mock drafts and think
that Abdul Carter is going number one.
Speaker 7 (22:14):
Well, he came out of LaSalle High School in Philadelphia
and walked onto the campus at Penn State and started
right away for three straight years. I mean, he's an
advanced student. He's been healthy. I know the foot out
there is a concern, but he's basically been a three
year starter and he's an advanced pass rusher. I mean
he's got all the moves you look for he can
spin on you, he can go speed to power, he
can dip on you. And you can play him in
(22:37):
a variety of positions. You can play him in a
four point stance, stand him up in linebacker, play him
off the ball inside. He's got a lot of versatility
to his game and he can win one on one.
Is at a premium position. A pass rusher, his job
to affect the quarterback. I will say this though, and
I know we were number eleven. I know he played
(22:57):
at Penn State, but this is not my Parsons. Michael
Parsons has unusual abilities. You never see him on the ground.
His balance is he's a cat on a marble table,
is what he is like. You can't get him off
his feet. So I don't think he's Micah. But he
is a very talented player, all right.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
The other headline name near the top of this draft,
Travis Hunter, cornerback, wide receiver, whatever you want to list
him as. What'd you glean about him at the combine?
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Baldy Well, I mean, Travis is just an electric athlete.
And you know, before you get to the movement and
the study of the tape and all that duty, you know,
you talk to Dion, you talk to Warren Sapp, you
talk to guys in the program. This guy loves football
and that's the best thing you can say about now.
One thing that Prime told me is, look, when we
(23:50):
get to the NFL level. You know, college teams are
playing a play every fourteen sixteen seconds, like he's not
getting proper rest in between plays, and a lot of cases,
he's going to get that chance in the NFL. I
think he is your starting corner, and I think he
can shut down. He's excellent man coverage, he's excellent at
playing the ball in the air. And then I just
(24:10):
think you start building the packages for him. I mean,
he watch his final game against BYU. He was the
only player that looked like they belong in the NFL.
In that game, he was electric as soon as he
touches the ball, like he just explodes with the ball
in his hands. So he's that dynamic player and I
think he's going to get a lot of offensive touches.
(24:31):
But I think he's a starting corner and a big
time starting corner. Day one in the NFL, we.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Got about six no doubt about it. Down Go ahead, Judy,
I'm sorry, No, go ahead?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Ian yeah, so, Baldy, we appreciate you as always looking
forward to seeing what position Travis Hunter plays and also
where he ends up getting drafted. We did have a
big time deal today. No franchise tag for this guy,
but a big time deal today.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Osa Odiggy Zoola gets paid. Is our good friend.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Jane Slater described it very nice, team friendly deal from
the Dallas Cowboys. You now have a lot more money
to spend in free agency. How selectively aggressive will they be?
Speaker 6 (25:15):
Tune in to find out.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Welcome back to the Insiders, as we have been telling you.
Osa's deal is done, four years, eighty million dollars, fifty
eight million dollars guaranteed, selective aggressiveness, up and running in Dallas.
Our Jane Slater is back to discuss more about the Cowboys,
and Mike Carafalo is also back with me.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Gudy Batista. All right, Jane, they've been kind of busy
at the start.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
They got the OSA deal done and they also reworked
cde Lamb's contract.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Tell us about that, Judy.
Speaker 8 (25:50):
I think selectively aggressive is a much better pr tactic
than all in, but it does feel like they're a
little bit more all in than they were last year.
Speaker 9 (26:00):
I got the sense just listening.
Speaker 8 (26:01):
To them when they talked to Schottenheimer at his instructory
press conference and even guys at the combine, they took.
Speaker 9 (26:10):
Maybe a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.
Speaker 8 (26:11):
Not so many people last year frustrated with the way
they put together this roster, waiting too long to get
guys done.
Speaker 9 (26:19):
Well, this year, they're not waiting. We told you earlier Osa.
Speaker 8 (26:22):
They beat the tag deadline, got him a deal that
first year pretty team friendly, and then they went to
Ceedee Lamb. They asked him to restructure his deal, and
he looks like he's all in. He put out a
tweet today when somebody basically asked him about this, and
as he acknowledged he wants to win, it's going to
take more than just himself. I think this team was
(26:43):
really frustrated to see how last season went. Obviously there
were a lot of injuries, but I think there was
a little bit of frustration with the way the front
office approached this thing.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
Now, they told us last year, as I.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Explained earlier in the show, that the credit cards that
they had overspent, that they needed to clear things out,
sort of reset things, and then it was Stephen Jones,
who at the combine said they're going to be selectively
aggressive in the free agent market. Well, they've created what
twenty five million dollars in cap space.
Speaker 9 (27:12):
With some of these moves today.
Speaker 8 (27:14):
That allows them to be both selectively aggressive in free
agency but also gives them a shot to really get
the best picks in the draft and not force.
Speaker 9 (27:23):
Their hand at things.
Speaker 8 (27:24):
I did ask about that rumor floating that the Cowboys
might move up for that first round pick. Somebody kind
of laughed at me in the Cowboys building and said
a lot of rumors out there about the Cowboys, but
that one definitely one of the more curious ones.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
CD asked about on Access about restructuring, said, Hey, it's
about more than just me here.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
This just be clear. He's getting all his money.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
This was just a standard restructor standard moving of the
money for cap purposes. Only tomorrow, Zach Martin will officially retire. So, Jane,
the Cowboys have to figure out how to make up
for a Hall of Fame guard who is moving Uh,
moving on. You don't get Hall of famers to plug
in like that, So how do they go about moving
(28:07):
on with or without Zach Martin.
Speaker 8 (28:12):
Look, it's been tough, Mike, you know, And you know,
I'd kind of joked with someone at the combine this week,
you know, what might the year of look like without
if you had gone out and gotten Dereck Henry? And
they said, do you think Dereck Henry would have had
that much success around.
Speaker 9 (28:24):
That offensive line?
Speaker 8 (28:24):
And when they said that, it wasn't a slight on
the offensive line. It's just the injuries were an issue.
They have at least done a really good job in
recent years at the position flex. But when you watch
Zach Martin go down, I was, you know, there, I
saw it. It looked like it was this innocuous injury.
And he got pretty emotional when he was talking about
Travis Frederick in conversation that he had had about when
(28:46):
Travis decided to hang it up, and you got the.
Speaker 9 (28:48):
Sense that the writing was on the wall.
Speaker 6 (28:50):
You know.
Speaker 8 (28:51):
Earlier I said, by at least addressing OSA, defensive line
is an area that they're going to approach in this draft,
and so is the offensive line. But at least by
shoring up OSA, it gives you a little bit more
flexibility to approach that offensive line.
Speaker 9 (29:04):
And a couple of names that are.
Speaker 8 (29:05):
Getting thrown out right now and not to someone from
a lot.
Speaker 9 (29:08):
Of teams that are interested in some of these offensive linemen.
Speaker 8 (29:10):
You know, Alabama guard Tyler Booker, Texas laft tackle Kevin Banks.
And one that stands out to me for no other
reasons that it's just the Cowboys way, the Ohio State
tackle Josh Simmons. It was Ian Rockport who reported that,
you know, he's got that knee injury that if it
wasn't for the knee injury, probably would have been a
top five pick, but he's expected to go in Week one.
Cowboys love of value like that, and so that one
(29:33):
certainly looks really really interesting to me. We've seen them
roll the dice on guys like that before and seen
it work out for them, So we'll keep an eye
on this one.
Speaker 9 (29:41):
I still would be interested see if they.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
Go after wide receiver running back despite what I'm being
told that they are still going to focus on the trenches.
Ashton Gent he really wants to come to Dallas. He
is a homegrown product. But it does seem like they
realize that, you know, when you look at this division,
they've really got to address the trenches.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
The guys that filled in last year.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
Brock Hoffman the guard he resigned, he was an exclusive
rights free agent. There's Baldy's breakdowns of him. If you
didn't see that late last year. Baldi loved with hesell
from brock Hoffman, so he could be part of the
solution inside for the Cowboys as well. Jane Slater, thank
you very much for your insight. As always, we talked
(30:23):
about this earlier in the program. The Steelers more likely
to resign Justin Fields over Russell Wilson.
Speaker 6 (30:28):
So Fields is the priority.
Speaker 5 (30:30):
But if Field's heads elsewhere and there are teams interested,
we keep here in the Jets could then they then
bring back Russell Wilson. We'll see both guys slated to
be free agents, but the Steelers have made it clear
they would like to bring back at least one. Maybe
it'll be Fields, We'll see Brian Baldinger. No matter who
that quarterback winds up being, we know the Steelers' identity.
(30:50):
We know what they want that identity to be, that is.
Speaker 6 (30:52):
Running the football.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
Your thoughts on where this Pittsburgh running back running game
and the entire offense really stands at this point?
Speaker 7 (31:00):
You know, Mike, I feel like I'm just channeling Chuck
Nole here, like let's just let's control the tempo, let's
take care of the football. Like that's where the Steelers
are going. They are incredibly excited about the rookie center
last year, Zach Frazier. They feel like they've really found
that guy. They're super excited about getting Troy Fatano back,
you know, and plugging him in to go with Isaac
(31:21):
Salemalo Jones. You know, even Mason McCormick played really well
at guard last year. And then the guy that they're
really excited about in the run game is Darnell Washington
and what he can be almost the third tackle with
his size and so regardless, you know, and I know
the reports out there. Ian has said it yourself, maybe
justin field, just the guy. I mean, it would fit
(31:41):
perfect if the Steelers really leaned on the running game.
In fact, last year, Mike, they were one of only
five teams that actually ran it more than they threw
it a year ago, so they were on pace last year.
They didn't get enough out of the passing game, but
they can address that. But I think that's gonna be
the foundation this offensive line that they've spent really three
years trying to put together when they get title back.
(32:04):
And really this is what Arthur Smith does as an
offensive coordinator. He's been an offensive line coach, he was
with Joe Gibbs, He's coached tight ends. I mean they
want to lead on the run game. Probably that man
Jalen Warren comes back. I'm not sure about Najie at
this point, but a lot of good running backs in
this draft, and I think whatever.
Speaker 6 (32:22):
They do a quarterback.
Speaker 7 (32:26):
The way that they want to focus and concentrat on offense,
I think would help any quarterback they plug it in play.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
Yeah, Nigie Harris a free agent, Jalen Moore, and he
deserves a big payday himself at some point. He is
like a bowling ball sometimes in space with what he's
able to do. He's a dual threat guy that they
use both in the run game and the pass game.
Arthur Smith, with a full season to justin fields, I
want to see it. I want to see what it
could look like in the upper trajectory that they think
could be there. Brian Baldinger, thank you very much as
(32:53):
always for the insight.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Tom already big moves this offseason for the forty nine
ers who trade away one of the stalwarts of their
recent successful run, Deebo Samuel to the Commanders for a
fifth round draft pick. There Also, as Ian is reported
open to trading Brandon Ayuk. So generally players do a
lot of money, who aren't healthy, love a tough to neal.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Never say never. I do know two things. The forty
nine ers.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Want to get Brock Purdy locked up for the long haul,
and Steve Weoitsch is now joining us to talk about
it here on The Insiders with me, Tom Pelicero and
Judy Batista. Steve, we know that they have had initial
negotiations right now with Brock Purdy.
Speaker 6 (33:31):
Where do we stand, Well, Tom, it looks like that
wheel is in motion now, you know.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
Gentle manager John Lynch, and speaking to reporters, wouldn't put
a timetable on it. We know the Niners tend to
try to get deals done right around the start of
training camp, but it seems like they want to get
this one done much sooner than that. Lynch did not
give really any ideas in terms of how far along
they are other than the thing they've had just initial talk.
But the commitment to Purdy is there. We heard it
(33:56):
from their owner, Jed York. So people are wondering how
much are they going to pay him. It seems like
he's going to get probably the market rate. I mean,
why would he take a lesser rate when everybody else.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
Is getting a certain number.
Speaker 10 (34:05):
The bigger things that are going to happen for pretty
with Deebo Samuel possibly being gone and Ayuk Christian McCaffrey's
getting back. Lynch also said they want to get an
extension done with George Kittle at some point, putting no
timetable on that. Plus left tackle Trent Williams will be
coming back. You can kind of see some of this
coming last year when they drafted wide receiver Ricky Pearsall
(34:26):
out of the University of Florida. In terms of the
receiving corps, they still need to address of things on
the offensive line and of course defensively.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
They've got a lot of free agents.
Speaker 7 (34:34):
Guys.
Speaker 10 (34:34):
They're drafting eleventh overall, which is the highest since they
took since they drafted the quarterback Trey Lance third overall
just a few years ago.
Speaker 4 (34:47):
Steve, there is so much news out of San Francisco
and actually out of Los Angeles in this division, but
actually this division is really settled in some very critical ways, right.
Speaker 10 (34:58):
Well, it really is, Judy, because you know, when I
was looking through a lot of things, this is the
only division the NFC West where there's not either coach
or quarterback upheaval. Now that Matthew Stafford is is gonna
come back to the Los Angeles Rams, so you're gonna
have Perty and Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco Stafford and
McVeigh in La Kyler Murray again in Arizona, and in Seattle,
you're gonna have McDonald Gino Smith. So all of these
(35:21):
things could make the NFC West going into the season
potentially the most competitive because we've seen Arizona double its
win total from four to eight over the previous two seasons.
Seattle was ten and seven, same record as the Rams
lose out on a tie breaker, and the forty nine
Ers we know they've been one of the best teams
in the NFL last year six and eleven, last in
(35:41):
the NFC West. But again, some of the things we
talked about with how they can keep the nucleus together
and build on it, they could be back in the mix,
so that stability overall could make this the Gauntlet Division
heading into the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
All right, take a look at this one here, because
we had at the scouting combine this year ninety ebies
nine that ran a sub four four forty yard dash
at the combine, the fourth most at a single combine.
Speaker 6 (36:14):
Since twenty twenty three. That can't be right.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
There hadn't been that many combines two thousand and three.
A little bit of a typo here, fourth most since
two thousand and three, and we had none that ran
a This isn't none ran a sub or whatever word
used for above a four to six or slower zero.
Speaker 6 (36:35):
Back in two thousand and four, we had eight this year. None.
Speaker 5 (36:39):
I'm getting through this Ian with the speed, with a
speed of an offensive tackle, and speaking of offensive lineman, yes,
Baldy's here. You know when Ian does this stuff, it's
like incredibly awkward.
Speaker 6 (36:53):
And then I just won off them right here, cleaning
up Baldy.
Speaker 5 (36:56):
Okay, let's talk about your top safety prospect, and let's
do it a little quicker than I just did that
right there.
Speaker 7 (37:03):
Well, let's just start with George's Malachai Starks, right. I
don't know what he said about him during the broadcast
or whatever. But I mean, this is a three year starter.
Well you know, we're starting on a team that won
a national championship in two thousand and twenty three. And
everything you like about him, you know, he's a good tackler.
He reminds me actually a lot of Brian Branch who
came out of Alabama now a star player with the
(37:24):
Detroit Lions. But you know, the one thing he can
do he can cover, Like he drops down in three
receiver sets. He's a cover safety and you get plenty
of chances to do that. And honestly, if your safeties
can't cover, they're a little bit limited in how you
use them. And so I see that right here he
is like I'm not play right there. I mean he's
covering that spray fade down the field.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
That's pretty nice.
Speaker 7 (37:47):
And so I just feel he's experienced, he's a good tackler.
I think he understands the game. He's been well coached,
He's played with a lot of guys that are in
the NFL right now. I feel like he's NFL ready
to step in and play David at that position.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Baldy to watch starts make that played down the sideline
that looks like a corner. I mean, we see, we
saw so many safeties running like corners here at the
COMBAI tell me another safety prospect, a fast one that
you're intrigued by.
Speaker 7 (38:16):
Well, I mean, here's a corner. I mean, you know,
you got to look at Max Harston, you know, I
mean he's a corner from Kentucky. He only played five
games this year. He ran the fastest forty. We're talking
about forties. He ran a four to two eight. He
was blistering in all of the drills, you know, but
you go back he only played five games, had injury,
but you go back, you know, twenty twenty three he
started thirteen games. For him, you can see the break
(38:38):
on the ball. You can see his long speed when
people are you know, taking a go ball shot on him,
and how he's able to run with them. And then
you can see him at Kentucky you know, really play man.
Speaker 6 (38:49):
You know where he's.
Speaker 7 (38:50):
Really pressed inside leverage or you can see him plays owned.
So he's got experience in both. But he's got the
foot speed you need to play on the outside. I
would say tackling could still be a little better, you know,
a little more solid, and then that can be worked on.
But I think the ball skills and the foot speed
and the eyes, I think he's got quick eyes.
Speaker 6 (39:11):
I think that's all there for Max Harriston.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Great stuff, Baldy, appreciate your breakdowns on these draft process.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
He did it faster or.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Too, unlike Mike who took forever to do really bad
math before. This segment certainly will not be headed to
the Broadcasting Hall of Fame, but this is where we are, Baldy,
thank you very much for joining us. As always, great
stuff today. One of the things that everybody loves is monopoly, right,
I mean, do we not love monopoly?
Speaker 6 (39:39):
Are you the thimble? Are you the horse?
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Are you the jaguar?
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Are you the the jaguars? A piece of monopoly?
Speaker 3 (39:46):
I don't know what is going on, but we're gonna
find out in this next segment.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Please please stick with us, please.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
There are a lot of fast teams at the twenty
twenty five Scouting Combine, none faster than Mad Max Harston
from Kentucky, who blazed that forty yard dashing four point
two eight seconds, just a little bit under my time.
Jim Ursa also posted this was a record attendance here
at the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium over thirty thousand,
(40:22):
plus media redentials over sixteen hundred. The latter definitely felt true,
especially if you have walked into the wrong bar around
eight many you got off the entire one more coffee
shods three big day for Walter Peyton.
Speaker 6 (40:36):
Look at sharp right there? Send you some sweetness on
March fourth.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
Also, it's Fat Tuesday? Now, why do we have to
send the offensive lineman to the parade on Fat Tuesday?
I feel like there's subliminal messaging here and I am
not comfortable with it. I think we should just call
it Everybody Matters Tuesday. The Jacksonville Jaguars released something new
that might catch some of your eye.
Speaker 6 (41:01):
Here their own version of Monopoly.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
It's Monopoly Jacksonville Edition is available for purchase now, which
all brings us into a very important question.
Speaker 6 (41:12):
What piece do you play with in Monopoly?
Speaker 3 (41:16):
First, of all sixteen hundred creditiers, there were some media
members there hanging around without credentials. That's a whole different
story for another day. My favorite piece is a thimble.
Here's why it speaks to me as far as the
old school nature of my life. It's simple, it's strong,
and they don't really exist anymore.
Speaker 6 (41:34):
So when you see a.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Thimble, you're like, wow, I really appreciate this thing. I
play as the thimble. I'm terrible about it, Judy.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
I used to play as with the iron, which I
don't even think is part of the game anymore.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Monthly because I like to lean, is it not types?
Speaker 5 (41:51):
No, Well, I've played the kids Yeah. I played the
kids Edition with my kids, and it's like you're the
dog or the bird or whatever like that. Here's what
I love about the kids edition. The adult edition could
you could take loans and stuff so the game would
never end. But the kids Edition you run out of money. Sorry, kid,
you're done. No loan, it's fast too.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Student or credit card and children about crippling debt and
what happens if you default on a market, which the
only way to really truly learn that lesson is to
go until eventually you're nothing but promisory notes and you
have no money left whatsoever.
Speaker 6 (42:31):
Ian great point two.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Sometimes sixteen undred plus credentials not enough, it turns out
for a lot of people, in order to get a
credential you have to have a real job. You know,
everybody's got problems stick around. We a lot more action
to come throughout this week here on The Insiders, the
final countdown six days away from the free agent negotiating window.
NVIL Network wall to wall covers, including right here on
(42:54):
The Insider seven pm Easter Time. We're back tomorrow for Ian,
Judy and Mike. I'm tom see you, yeah, I
Sam Darnold is poised to hit the open market if
the Vikings don't lock him up first, but it has
been a sort of the right place for free agency's
top QB. We will tell you the latest as the
franchise tag deadline passes with very little action. DeVante Adams
also is hitting the market and the six time Pro
Bowl wide receiver can sign with a new team right now.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We will break down what that market.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Could look like for Adams and whether it could preview
Aaron Rodgers destination as well. And while the Eagles are
still on top of the world, now Saquon Barkley is
on top of the running back market. We will show
you all the reasons Saquon got paid again. Here's a
look at a few of them right there. Welcome inside
(00:54):
with the insiders alongside Ian Rappaport, Judy Matista and a
Natalie Dress Mike Gara. I am Tom Pelvisero. The franchise
tag deadline has now passed. Were six days out, just
six days, less than six days from the start of
the free agent negotiating window. And who exactly is hitting
the market? Just about everybody, because almost no one got tagged.
(01:17):
The fewest franchise tags since nineteen ninety four. It is
just the two that we've already told you about in
recent days. T Higgins getting tagged at a rate of
about twenty six point two million dollars, a higher rate
than most wide receivers with a cost because it's the
second straight tag on Higgins as the Bengals try to
work out a new deal, while Trey Smith the Chiefs
(01:40):
Stan Altgard also got tag set to earn twenty three
point four million dollars. Last time only two players got
the tag was indeed, thirty one years ago, when the
Vikings tag defensive tackle Henry Thomas and the Steelers tag
tight end Eric Creed. If you're saying who Vikings fans
would remember, they did not, however, tag that guy right there,
Sam Darnold, who helped lead the Vikings to fourteen wins
(02:03):
last regular season before all those last couple of games
did not go particularly well. However, as Ian and I
told you last night, the sides remain in communications to
see if potentially there is a deal that works for
both sides. I said it Ian back on Super Bowl
Sunday'll repeat it here. There's not been another situation that
I can think of like this where we have a
(02:25):
twenty seven year old Pro Bowl quarterback coming off his
best season on a one year deal, and also a
twenty two year old first round draft pick from a
year ago who missed all the reps that he would
have gotten during the season because of injury. It's a
lot of different moving parts. Obviously, the Vikings didn't feel
like a tag in trade was going to materialize. But
what are the chances that the Vikings, one way or
(02:46):
another can wrap up Sam Darnold and keep him as
their starter for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I would describe it as a pretty realistic chance that
the Vikings can lock this up, keep Darnald home at
least reboot for one more year, and then have this
is next year. If do you want to keep Donald
or do you want to roll with JJ McCarthy, that
obviously is the best case scenario for the Vikings, and
you're right they did consider a potential tagg and trade
option just rolling with JJ. There the market for Donald
(03:15):
from other teams giving him a forty million dollar contract
plus draft compensation, that that was something that was not there,
and then you know, I would say moving on from
him completely doesn't seem like it's in the in the
card either for the Vikings, at least they don't want
it to be so where they are is below the tag.
(03:35):
Wanting to keep Donald around, wanting to use him again
as a one year placeholder. Well, JJ McCarthy gets ready,
and I would say, considering that Donald played his best
football with the Vikings, him returning there and then getting
a big time paid a next year makes sense. Obviously,
had the last two games gone differently, this would probably
have gotten a whole different direction for Donald.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Yeah, it feels like this would have been a much
different conversation if those last two games had gone much differently.
But still, you come away from last season thinking that
the Vikings are probably the best spot for.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Sam Donald right now.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
He had a career renaissance there, he had great coaching there,
He's obviously got.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Great receivers there, and you're right.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
If he stays there for another year while JJ McCarthy
gets some work behind him, then he can launch into
free agency fully formed and see what the contract is. However,
if they can't get a deal done in these next
few days before free agency opens, then it'll be really
interesting to see what the market looks like for Sam Donald,
(04:39):
because there's certainly a number of teams who badly need
starting quarterbacks. He is a starting quarterback who had for
the most part, an outstanding season last year. It would
be really interesting to see how the market would go
for Sam Donald right now.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Yeah, Sam Donald's still the bell of the ball, I
would say when it comes to free agent quarterbacks and
trade possibilities, I just don't know that it's maybe where
we thought it was, certainly before those last couple of
games as Ian alluded to where it's like, well, he's
going to make forty million plus, which did not sound
crazy once Dak got to sixty, right, Like, forty is
(05:16):
reasonable for a Pro Bowl quarterback who's still in the
prime of his career. Sam Darnold is gonna have to
ask himself a question. Do I want to take less
to stay in Minnesota, where I've got maybe the best
targets that I'm going to see, maybe the best offensive
system that I'm going to see, maybe the best coaching
staff offensively that I'm going to see. Or do I
(05:39):
want to go elsewhere and get guarantees into year two?
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Do I want to.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Stack another prove it year on top of a prove
it year like next year's prove it year would be
I could beat out JJ McCarthy again number one and
number two, I can play well all the way through.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
If not played better at the end.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Of the year, He's gonna have to ask himself that question,
probably in the next couple of days, because after that
then the Vikings have to work on contingency plans, which
Daniel Jones is an in house contingency plan to re
up him and those other options that are out there potentially.
So it's going to be an interesting couple of days
for Sam Donald and the Vikings here, but still a
real possibility.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
That he ends up back there in Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The full focus for the Vikings all along has been
how do we put a championship caliber roster around the quarterbacks,
same reason the kirk Cousins ultimately walked to the Falcons.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
The number got too great.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Those last two games, rough as they were, particularly the
Lions game, in a way made things more possible for
the Vikings to potentially get a deal done with Sam
Darnold as supposed to if he's getting paid forty plus
million dollars someplace else. They simply weren't going to be
able to compete with that. One guy did get paid
today again, I feel like we just did that. It
was Sakuon Barkley, who less than one year ago got
(06:48):
a three year contract from the Philadelphia Eagles, and Howie Roseman,
in light of what he has called the greatest season
by an offensive skill player in NFL history, did something
you never see happen, which is ripped the deal with
two years remaining and gave a new contract to Saquon Barkley.
It's a two year extension worth upwards of forty million dollars,
ties him to the Eagles duty for another four years
(07:10):
and sixty seven million dollars total. This is big time
money and not a surprise that an organization that has
had the philosophy, Hey, it's Mike, just ducking in. There's
one phone shot we should use that one of the
back of Saquon's head, Mike. It does something that the
Eagles have liked to do, which is their core players,
reward them, keep them around. And now they've got essentially
(07:31):
Judy Saquon the rest of his prime locked up in Philly, right.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
They've got him walked up until twenty twenty eight when
he will be in his early to mid thirties. Most
of all, what this did is it rewarded Sequon Barkley
for his extraordinary season.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Right. They gave him some guaranteed money. It locks him up.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
It sends quite a signal to that locker room, and
it really sends quite a signal to Sekwon Barkley about
how very important he is to that organization.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I like the move.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Why not reward the guys who did such extraordinary work
for you. Don't forget he came in there at a
number that he wasn't thrilled with. He took the offer
that was there. The Eagles extended themselves. Now they're giving
him more to show their appreciation for all of this
that we're watching right now, for what a key part.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
He was of that Super Bowl run.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
Sorry, Judy, we talked about this at four o'clock. I
actually did the math live on the air. If you
add the forty one to what was already on the books.
Because the Eagles are looking at this like we got,
say Kwon Barkley basically for below market value is what
twelve million in change last year And everybody said, well,
the running back market's depressed, but he and Derrick Henry are.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
Pushing it back up. So now you redo the deal.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
Now you gain the respect of everybody in that locker
room because they know what he means. We already saw
some players on social media reacting to this and saying,
you know, well deserved. So you gain credibility inside that
locker room. You make Saquon happy as well. We know
how much happier he is with his restart than he
was early in his career.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
And it helps with the flow of the money. I mean,
Howie Roseman has done this repeatedly.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Aj Brown got an extension early into what was already
a good deal for him a couple of years ago.
So this is all about how they're willing to kind
of manage the flow of money and manage the salary
cap and push some stuff into the future. Over a
five year deal, this is now going to average like
sixteen and a half million dollars per year, which is where.
Speaker 6 (09:34):
The running back, the top of the running back market was.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
There's another extension from Christian McCaffrey on top of that
at like nineteen So there's no apples to apples comparison here.
But the long and short of it is that Saquon
Barkley proved his worth this year, and I think I
proved my worth on Super Bowl Sunday.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
Here is the reverse angle. I was talking long enough
for the control room to grab this. Amazing.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
This is the reverse angle of what you just saw
a couple of years ago, Saquon having his child.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
It's the Lombardi Trophy. Unbelievable.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
I mean, just the camera angle there, Tom say, in
the back of his head, I thought I was in
position A right there inside.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
Of guys with vists and full on video cameras. Nailed
it as usual.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Saquon just a little bit too fast for whoever's trying
to catch him, including Mike and his mediocre cell phone.
There's actually two other parts of this. One is that
this was going to be an issue eventually, when someone
comes in Saquon market otherwise outperforms their contract, they're going
to want a new deal. So next year, after next season,
this was going to become a thing. When are the
Eagles going to pay Saquon? When are they going to
(10:37):
reward him? It's over now, he's been paid, he's been rewarded.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
All that is over.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Eagles very proactive and making sure that that is the
case the other The part of this is, and you
guys talked about it, the running back market has now
been completely rebuilt. Right when you have the Christian McCaffer
at nineteen, you have Saquon Barkley at twenty point six.
Those are the new money numbers, but those are the
numbers that agents are going to go buy. In other words,
when a running back is trying to do a new deal,
(11:02):
Let's say I don't know Derrick Henry for the Baltimore Ravens,
you know that it's going to try to be around
where Saquon is, and you look at some of the
other young running backs. James Cook was retweeting us thank
you very much, James, about how interesting this is and
the type of good businesses is. Kiren Williams with the
Rams wants a big bag as well, no doubt deserves it,
(11:22):
but this strengthens his case for all of the young
running backs coming up. The road has now been paved
with the gold of Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey. Other
running backs who actually, finally for the first time in
a while, are getting paid with their worth.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Mike, I will say, I apologize, I only caught the
tail end where I saw you behind from the back angle.
You had this money shot there as he's looking into
the camera. Some would call it your second best photography
work in the month of February in the NFL. Davante Adams,
by the way, is now a free agent, officially released
on the transaction, where earlier today this was a expected move. Yes,
(12:03):
they had tried to see whether or not potentially they
could get some trade action on DeVante Adams, But even
going back three years when Adams signed the contract a
lump sum do thirty six million dollars with close to
a thirty million dollars cap number for the Jets this season,
he was never going to see that money. There is
something left though, Judy two DeVante Adams. You saw flashes
of it last season. Where does he end up?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
There's no question there is still guests in that tank.
We saw that.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
As miserable as the Jets season was last year, there
were still moments that DeVante Adams took your breath away.
So there will certainly be teams interested in him. I
think the first question is is he going to wait
to see where Aaron Rodgers lands? That is obviously with
the pattern before the Jets. We will see if that
plays out. That could take a while. But in the
(12:51):
case of DeVonta Adams, there are going to be teams
that need wide receivers, right, I mean the Chargers, for example,
need a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
The Steelers need a wide receiver.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
And he is a free agent now he could sign
like now if he wants to.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
I mean, while we're on the air.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
That would actually be great if he did that, But
there will be a market for him.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
He can still play. I am intrigued to see if
he waits for Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:13):
I think.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Look, DeVante's got other goals and other quarterbacks that he
likes to By the way, I mean, Derek Carry left
Aaron Rodgers to go with Derek Carr a couple of
years ago, so I wouldn't.
Speaker 6 (13:23):
Necessarily tie him to Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
I think he's got goals to potentially win a Super
Bowl as well, and potentially could see some options open
up here in the next couple of days and weeks.
The question, Judy is how long does Rogers take right.
If it's an immediate type thing, well, then he's got
that information.
Speaker 6 (13:40):
At his disposal.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
If not, and this drags on and we could see
some quarterbacks, whether it's Rogers or and I do believe
it's gonna be the case with Kirk Cousins, kind of
take it up to the draft, if not through the
draft as well.
Speaker 6 (13:51):
So I'm gonna have to keep an eye on that
if that's the case.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Certainly with Rogers, Ada's gonna make his decision well before that.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
We'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Aaron Rodgers one, of course, the big names still available
in free agency. Where could he land A bunch of
teams looking for starting quarterbacks can be an option for
the Pittsburgh Steelers can't roll that out at this stage,
so they have said publicly that their focus has been
going into the offseason, and this is from the ownership
level on down, is to try to get one of
their two quarterbacks from last season back in the fold
(14:20):
for twenty twenty five. Justin Field started early in the
season after Russell Wilson was dealing with injury that he
suffered during the conditioning drill on the first day of
training camp. Eventually, Russ Gott healthy Fields was benched. Russell
Wilson came in and played really well ian for a
couple of months before the entire Steelers team did not
play well down the stretch of that season. Where do
(14:40):
we stand right now, with both those quarterbacks just six
days out from being able to speak with other teams,
or at least their agents would in free agency.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Well, it does seem like it's going down the direction
of these Steelers signing one of these quarterbacks. I believe
it was Omar Kanu told Judy that that was the plan,
was the most likely starting quarterback options from within their
locker room. As far as I can tell, based on
the sources I've spoken with, it is more likely that
Justin Fields is the next quarterback of the Pittsburgh Stealers
rather than Russell Wilson. And you know Wilson played last year.
(15:13):
He played fine. Obviously it was good until the end
of the season when nothing was good. But Justin Fields
does represent the upside and the team was good when
he was playing. It was a perfect no. But it
does seem like there's some thought inside the building of
rebooting with Justin Fields, giving him the full season, giving
him the resources around him, and then seeing I still
think we are we don't know what Justin Fields is
(15:35):
going to be, which we've seen some highlights. We've seen
some signs, we haven't seen all of it. Maybe the
Steelers give it one more chance, say all right, can
Justin Fields be the franchise guy? And you know, I
don't get the sense they're going to break the bank
for a quarterback, but a nice little bridge quarterback deal
could be in the coming for Fields and the Steelers.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
When you see these highlights and you go back and
you remember how it was such a weird season for
the Pittsburgh Steelers at the quarterback. I mean up and
down from training camp where Russ was in the pole
position to getting hurt to Justin Field's taking you over
and Fields like, oh, we're seeing a little bit here,
and then they're kind of riding that and Mike Tomlins says,
I'm gonna stand on an island and make the move
(16:16):
and you guys are gonna have to deal with it
and figure it out.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
And they looked like they were starting to figure it out.
And then by the end of the season it was like, yeah, we.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Think Russell Wilson's pretty much done, if not here in
the NFL period period. But I do remember going back
through all that early in the season, the thought was,
you know, keep it small for Justin Fields, like, don't have.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Him think in his head he's got to do too much.
And the more he plays and the more confidence he gets.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
The more you can expand it, the more you can
give him a little bit more free reign. So when
Ian says, like we haven't seen the full Justin Fields,
you wonder what it would have looked like if he
continued to be the starting quarterback in Pittsburgh, And if
that winds up being the case here in this upcoming
season West.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And if indeed they bring back one of those quarterbacks,
even the guy as young as Justin Fields, I would
anticipate this is going to be a shorter term type
of a deal. It's going to be much more long
the lines of a Sam Darnold contract than the big
contracts that we see in other places, which also would
retain the flexibility for Pittsburgh to look, maybe even in
this year's draft, to see if they could also take
another swing at their quarterback of the future. Right, Ian, Judy,
(17:17):
Mike stick around a lot more from you as this
show rolls on, did we mention there was a lot
of franchise tag action, Only two players tag for the
first time, since nineteen ninety four. We would add a third,
but Osa Odigiezua and the Cowboys agree to terms just
hours before the deadline on a four year, eighty million
dollar contract that includes fifty eight million dollars guaranteed for
(17:38):
those people who may not have watched as much Cowboys
as most of the country does. OsO Diggizu a highly
effective interior player, one of the league leaders in quarterback
pressures among interior defensive linemen last season.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
He is still young.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Going on to a second contract would have been along
with the Eagles Milton Williams, one of the top two
defensive tackles headed too free agency. Instead, he is sticking
in Dallas, where we find our Jane Slater. This was
a fascinating deal here, Jane, because the way that agents
generally look at this is, hey, if I get tagged
at twenty five point one million this year, I mean
(18:12):
the second tag next year is going to be like
twenty nine million. I'm making fifty five over two. I'm
not going to do a deal for less than that.
He ends up coming back to Dallas for four years
and eighty million. There's not a big pay bump above it.
He gets some security though, and the Cowboys for once
moved quickly here and retain some flexibility as they head
into free agency.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
Well, I think, as I've seen it reported, with the
way they structured is actually really friendly to the Cowboys
in that first year.
Speaker 9 (18:38):
And of course he gets that signing bonus.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
And as much as we were tough on the Cowboys
last year about waiting until you get to camp to restructure,
which is something they like to do when Dallas sort
of move that money down. They told us last year
that the credit cards had essentially been they've been over
spending and they needed to do a good better job
of getting the balance sheet better. Well, they did it
(19:00):
last year, kind of proved some of the growing pains
of that, and they get this one done before they
even get to the tag deadline. As I said, you
get you know Osa Digezua, who I was told is
a third down player, He's a three technique guy. They
are extremely excited about having him in the building because
what this gives them is flexibility heading into the draft.
(19:20):
You know, the one thing I was talking to some
of the Cowboys folks at Combine, I said, where do
you guys really see yourself focusing? And you know it
sounds like you would want to go running back or
wide receiver. I was told that they're going to be
really focusing in the trenches here, and so by shoring
up your defensive tackle with OSA gives you the flexibility
where you don't necessarily have to go defensive line, although
(19:41):
they still could do that, but.
Speaker 9 (19:42):
You also could focus on the offensive line.
Speaker 8 (19:44):
With Zach Martin of course announcing his retirement. But this
is what Cowboys fans and those covering the Cowboys have
sort of asked the Cowboys to do for years.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
Here.
Speaker 8 (19:54):
Quit dragging these things out, get the deals done, give
yourself some flexibility heading into the draft camp had lo
and behold they did it today, and so I will
tell you that my timeline that is typically full of
Cowboys fans saw this as a small little victory and
Dallas fans need something, especially after Luca.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Definitely helps when you get the deal done at a
team friendly number. By the way, Matt Eberflus back is
defensive coordinator. Defensive tackles really important in his scheme, so
I'm sure Flus was celebrating somewhere inside the Star today. Jane,
Thank you very much more from you in just a
little bit, because the Cowboys also are free enough some
cap space, not cash seedee. Lamb is still getting paid
(20:33):
every dollar he was due, but did restructure his contract.
There's gonna be a lot of that going on. We're
on the NFL. Jane'll have details on that in just
a little bit. Meanwhile, the NFL Draft now less than
two months away? How is that possible? Abduel Carter's wait
to find out his NFL destination will not last much longer.
Brian Boldinger has got some thoughts on where Abdul should go,
(20:54):
maybe even number one overall. Baldi's with us next on
the Insiders.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
The Titans have the number one pick, and they're considering
only the best. When you have the number one pick,
that's what.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
You get to do.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
So Abdul Carter, the Penn State Edge, one of the
top prospects, if not the top prospects in the entire draft.
That is visiting the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, also visiting
the Browns this week.
Speaker 9 (21:24):
He's going to do a lot.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Of things for this He is a very good player,
and when teams are drafting all the way up high,
what they want to do is check out the very
very good players. He's so good that so many of
our mock drafts Lands Zeroline, Bucky Brooks, Danel Jeremiah all
believe he is going to be the top selection to
the Tennessee Titans. Chad Reuter believes he's going to the
Patriots at number four. Would that be an upset?
Speaker 6 (21:46):
Maybe?
Speaker 9 (21:46):
Actually?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
But all in there is where we're looking at with
Abdull Carter. Despite the fact that a little bit of
a foot injury at the combine, he should be fine.
Welcome in our good friend Brian Baldinger, along with our
other good friend Gudie Batista Baldy, you are film guru
as loyal viewers of the show. No, So just tell
(22:07):
me why should I believe those mock drafts and think
that Abdul Carter is going number one.
Speaker 7 (22:14):
Well, he came out of LaSalle High School in Philadelphia
and walked onto the campus at Penn State and started
right away for three straight years. I mean, he's an
advanced student. He's been healthy. I know the foot out
there is a concern, but he's basically been a three
year starter and he's an advanced pass rusher. I mean
he's got all the moves you look for he can
spin on you, he can go speed to power, he
can dip on you. And you can play him in
(22:37):
a variety of positions. You can play him in a
four point stance, stand him up in linebacker, play him
off the ball inside. He's got a lot of versatility
to his game and he can win one on one.
Is at a premium position. A pass rusher, his job
to affect the quarterback. I will say this though, and
I know we were number eleven. I know he played
(22:57):
at Penn State, but this is not my Parsons. Michael
Parsons has unusual abilities. You never see him on the ground.
His balance is he's a cat on a marble table,
is what he is like. You can't get him off
his feet. So I don't think he's Micah. But he
is a very talented player, all right.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
The other headline name near the top of this draft,
Travis Hunter, cornerback, wide receiver, whatever you want to list
him as. What'd you glean about him at the combine?
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Baldy Well, I mean, Travis is just an electric athlete.
And you know, before you get to the movement and
the study of the tape and all that duty, you know,
you talk to Dion, you talk to Warren Sapp, you
talk to guys in the program. This guy loves football
and that's the best thing you can say about now.
One thing that Prime told me is, look, when we
(23:50):
get to the NFL level. You know, college teams are
playing a play every fourteen sixteen seconds, like he's not
getting proper rest in between plays, and a lot of cases,
he's going to get that chance in the NFL. I
think he is your starting corner, and I think he
can shut down. He's excellent man coverage, he's excellent at
playing the ball in the air. And then I just
(24:10):
think you start building the packages for him. I mean,
he watch his final game against BYU. He was the
only player that looked like they belong in the NFL.
In that game, he was electric as soon as he
touches the ball, like he just explodes with the ball
in his hands. So he's that dynamic player and I
think he's going to get a lot of offensive touches.
(24:31):
But I think he's a starting corner and a big
time starting corner. Day one in the NFL, we.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Got about six no doubt about it. Down Go ahead, Judy,
I'm sorry, No, go ahead?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Ian yeah, so, Baldy, we appreciate you as always looking
forward to seeing what position Travis Hunter plays and also
where he ends up getting drafted. We did have a
big time deal today. No franchise tag for this guy,
but a big time deal today.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Osa Odiggy Zoola gets paid. Is our good friend.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Jane Slater described it very nice, team friendly deal from
the Dallas Cowboys. You now have a lot more money
to spend in free agency. How selectively aggressive will they be?
Speaker 6 (25:15):
Tune in to find out.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Welcome back to the Insiders, as we have been telling you.
Osa's deal is done, four years, eighty million dollars, fifty
eight million dollars guaranteed, selective aggressiveness, up and running in Dallas.
Our Jane Slater is back to discuss more about the Cowboys,
and Mike Carafalo is also back with me.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Gudy Batista. All right, Jane, they've been kind of busy
at the start.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
They got the OSA deal done and they also reworked
cde Lamb's contract.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Tell us about that, Judy.
Speaker 8 (25:50):
I think selectively aggressive is a much better pr tactic
than all in, but it does feel like they're a
little bit more all in than they were last year.
Speaker 9 (26:00):
I got the sense just listening.
Speaker 8 (26:01):
To them when they talked to Schottenheimer at his instructory
press conference and even guys at the combine, they took.
Speaker 9 (26:10):
Maybe a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.
Speaker 8 (26:11):
Not so many people last year frustrated with the way
they put together this roster, waiting too long to get
guys done.
Speaker 9 (26:19):
Well, this year, they're not waiting. We told you earlier Osa.
Speaker 8 (26:22):
They beat the tag deadline, got him a deal that
first year pretty team friendly, and then they went to
Ceedee Lamb. They asked him to restructure his deal, and
he looks like he's all in. He put out a
tweet today when somebody basically asked him about this, and
as he acknowledged he wants to win, it's going to
take more than just himself. I think this team was
(26:43):
really frustrated to see how last season went. Obviously there
were a lot of injuries, but I think there was
a little bit of frustration with the way the front
office approached this thing.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
Now, they told us last year, as I.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Explained earlier in the show, that the credit cards that
they had overspent, that they needed to clear things out,
sort of reset things, and then it was Stephen Jones,
who at the combine said they're going to be selectively
aggressive in the free agent market. Well, they've created what
twenty five million dollars in cap space.
Speaker 9 (27:12):
With some of these moves today.
Speaker 8 (27:14):
That allows them to be both selectively aggressive in free
agency but also gives them a shot to really get
the best picks in the draft and not force.
Speaker 9 (27:23):
Their hand at things.
Speaker 8 (27:24):
I did ask about that rumor floating that the Cowboys
might move up for that first round pick. Somebody kind
of laughed at me in the Cowboys building and said
a lot of rumors out there about the Cowboys, but
that one definitely one of the more curious ones.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
CD asked about on Access about restructuring, said, Hey, it's
about more than just me here.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
This just be clear. He's getting all his money.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
This was just a standard restructor standard moving of the
money for cap purposes. Only tomorrow, Zach Martin will officially retire. So, Jane,
the Cowboys have to figure out how to make up
for a Hall of Fame guard who is moving Uh,
moving on. You don't get Hall of famers to plug
in like that, So how do they go about moving
(28:07):
on with or without Zach Martin.
Speaker 8 (28:12):
Look, it's been tough, Mike, you know, And you know,
I'd kind of joked with someone at the combine this week,
you know, what might the year of look like without
if you had gone out and gotten Dereck Henry? And
they said, do you think Dereck Henry would have had
that much success around.
Speaker 9 (28:24):
That offensive line?
Speaker 8 (28:24):
And when they said that, it wasn't a slight on
the offensive line. It's just the injuries were an issue.
They have at least done a really good job in
recent years at the position flex. But when you watch
Zach Martin go down, I was, you know, there, I
saw it. It looked like it was this innocuous injury.
And he got pretty emotional when he was talking about
Travis Frederick in conversation that he had had about when
(28:46):
Travis decided to hang it up, and you got the.
Speaker 9 (28:48):
Sense that the writing was on the wall.
Speaker 6 (28:50):
You know.
Speaker 8 (28:51):
Earlier I said, by at least addressing OSA, defensive line
is an area that they're going to approach in this draft,
and so is the offensive line. But at least by
shoring up OSA, it gives you a little bit more
flexibility to approach that offensive line.
Speaker 9 (29:04):
And a couple of names that are.
Speaker 8 (29:05):
Getting thrown out right now and not to someone from
a lot.
Speaker 9 (29:08):
Of teams that are interested in some of these offensive linemen.
Speaker 8 (29:10):
You know, Alabama guard Tyler Booker, Texas laft tackle Kevin Banks.
And one that stands out to me for no other
reasons that it's just the Cowboys way, the Ohio State
tackle Josh Simmons. It was Ian Rockport who reported that,
you know, he's got that knee injury that if it
wasn't for the knee injury, probably would have been a
top five pick, but he's expected to go in Week one.
Cowboys love of value like that, and so that one
(29:33):
certainly looks really really interesting to me. We've seen them
roll the dice on guys like that before and seen
it work out for them, So we'll keep an eye
on this one.
Speaker 9 (29:41):
I still would be interested see if they.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
Go after wide receiver running back despite what I'm being
told that they are still going to focus on the trenches.
Ashton Gent he really wants to come to Dallas. He
is a homegrown product. But it does seem like they
realize that, you know, when you look at this division,
they've really got to address the trenches.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
The guys that filled in last year.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
Brock Hoffman the guard he resigned, he was an exclusive
rights free agent. There's Baldy's breakdowns of him. If you
didn't see that late last year. Baldi loved with hesell
from brock Hoffman, so he could be part of the
solution inside for the Cowboys as well. Jane Slater, thank
you very much for your insight. As always, we talked
(30:23):
about this earlier in the program. The Steelers more likely
to resign Justin Fields over Russell Wilson.
Speaker 6 (30:28):
So Fields is the priority.
Speaker 5 (30:30):
But if Field's heads elsewhere and there are teams interested,
we keep here in the Jets could then they then
bring back Russell Wilson. We'll see both guys slated to
be free agents, but the Steelers have made it clear
they would like to bring back at least one. Maybe
it'll be Fields, We'll see Brian Baldinger. No matter who
that quarterback winds up being, we know the Steelers' identity.
(30:50):
We know what they want that identity to be, that is.
Speaker 6 (30:52):
Running the football.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
Your thoughts on where this Pittsburgh running back running game
and the entire offense really stands at this point?
Speaker 7 (31:00):
You know, Mike, I feel like I'm just channeling Chuck
Nole here, like let's just let's control the tempo, let's
take care of the football. Like that's where the Steelers
are going. They are incredibly excited about the rookie center
last year, Zach Frazier. They feel like they've really found
that guy. They're super excited about getting Troy Fatano back,
you know, and plugging him in to go with Isaac
(31:21):
Salemalo Jones. You know, even Mason McCormick played really well
at guard last year. And then the guy that they're
really excited about in the run game is Darnell Washington
and what he can be almost the third tackle with
his size and so regardless, you know, and I know
the reports out there. Ian has said it yourself, maybe
justin field, just the guy. I mean, it would fit
(31:41):
perfect if the Steelers really leaned on the running game.
In fact, last year, Mike, they were one of only
five teams that actually ran it more than they threw
it a year ago, so they were on pace last year.
They didn't get enough out of the passing game, but
they can address that. But I think that's gonna be
the foundation this offensive line that they've spent really three
years trying to put together when they get title back.
(32:04):
And really this is what Arthur Smith does as an
offensive coordinator. He's been an offensive line coach, he was
with Joe Gibbs, He's coached tight ends. I mean they
want to lead on the run game. Probably that man
Jalen Warren comes back. I'm not sure about Najie at
this point, but a lot of good running backs in
this draft, and I think whatever.
Speaker 6 (32:22):
They do a quarterback.
Speaker 7 (32:26):
The way that they want to focus and concentrat on offense,
I think would help any quarterback they plug it in play.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
Yeah, Nigie Harris a free agent, Jalen Moore, and he
deserves a big payday himself at some point. He is
like a bowling ball sometimes in space with what he's
able to do. He's a dual threat guy that they
use both in the run game and the pass game.
Arthur Smith, with a full season to justin fields, I
want to see it. I want to see what it
could look like in the upper trajectory that they think
could be there. Brian Baldinger, thank you very much as
(32:53):
always for the insight.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Tom already big moves this offseason for the forty nine
ers who trade away one of the stalwarts of their
recent successful run, Deebo Samuel to the Commanders for a
fifth round draft pick. There Also, as Ian is reported
open to trading Brandon Ayuk. So generally players do a
lot of money, who aren't healthy, love a tough to neal.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Never say never. I do know two things. The forty
nine ers.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Want to get Brock Purdy locked up for the long haul,
and Steve Weoitsch is now joining us to talk about
it here on The Insiders with me, Tom Pelicero and
Judy Batista. Steve, we know that they have had initial
negotiations right now with Brock Purdy.
Speaker 6 (33:31):
Where do we stand, Well, Tom, it looks like that
wheel is in motion now, you know.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
Gentle manager John Lynch, and speaking to reporters, wouldn't put
a timetable on it. We know the Niners tend to
try to get deals done right around the start of
training camp, but it seems like they want to get
this one done much sooner than that. Lynch did not
give really any ideas in terms of how far along
they are other than the thing they've had just initial talk.
But the commitment to Purdy is there. We heard it
(33:56):
from their owner, Jed York. So people are wondering how
much are they going to pay him. It seems like
he's going to get probably the market rate. I mean,
why would he take a lesser rate when everybody else.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
Is getting a certain number.
Speaker 10 (34:05):
The bigger things that are going to happen for pretty
with Deebo Samuel possibly being gone and Ayuk Christian McCaffrey's
getting back. Lynch also said they want to get an
extension done with George Kittle at some point, putting no
timetable on that. Plus left tackle Trent Williams will be
coming back. You can kind of see some of this
coming last year when they drafted wide receiver Ricky Pearsall
(34:26):
out of the University of Florida. In terms of the
receiving corps, they still need to address of things on
the offensive line and of course defensively.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
They've got a lot of free agents.
Speaker 7 (34:34):
Guys.
Speaker 10 (34:34):
They're drafting eleventh overall, which is the highest since they
took since they drafted the quarterback Trey Lance third overall
just a few years ago.
Speaker 4 (34:47):
Steve, there is so much news out of San Francisco
and actually out of Los Angeles in this division, but
actually this division is really settled in some very critical ways, right.
Speaker 10 (34:58):
Well, it really is, Judy, because you know, when I
was looking through a lot of things, this is the
only division the NFC West where there's not either coach
or quarterback upheaval. Now that Matthew Stafford is is gonna
come back to the Los Angeles Rams, so you're gonna
have Perty and Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco Stafford and
McVeigh in La Kyler Murray again in Arizona, and in Seattle,
you're gonna have McDonald Gino Smith. So all of these
(35:21):
things could make the NFC West going into the season
potentially the most competitive because we've seen Arizona double its
win total from four to eight over the previous two seasons.
Seattle was ten and seven, same record as the Rams
lose out on a tie breaker, and the forty nine
Ers we know they've been one of the best teams
in the NFL last year six and eleven, last in
(35:41):
the NFC West. But again, some of the things we
talked about with how they can keep the nucleus together
and build on it, they could be back in the mix,
so that stability overall could make this the Gauntlet Division
heading into the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
All right, take a look at this one here, because
we had at the scouting combine this year ninety ebies
nine that ran a sub four four forty yard dash
at the combine, the fourth most at a single combine.
Speaker 6 (36:14):
Since twenty twenty three. That can't be right.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
There hadn't been that many combines two thousand and three.
A little bit of a typo here, fourth most since
two thousand and three, and we had none that ran
a This isn't none ran a sub or whatever word
used for above a four to six or slower zero.
Speaker 6 (36:35):
Back in two thousand and four, we had eight this year. None.
Speaker 5 (36:39):
I'm getting through this Ian with the speed, with a
speed of an offensive tackle, and speaking of offensive lineman, yes,
Baldy's here. You know when Ian does this stuff, it's
like incredibly awkward.
Speaker 6 (36:53):
And then I just won off them right here, cleaning
up Baldy.
Speaker 5 (36:56):
Okay, let's talk about your top safety prospect, and let's
do it a little quicker than I just did that
right there.
Speaker 7 (37:03):
Well, let's just start with George's Malachai Starks, right. I
don't know what he said about him during the broadcast
or whatever. But I mean, this is a three year starter.
Well you know, we're starting on a team that won
a national championship in two thousand and twenty three. And
everything you like about him, you know, he's a good tackler.
He reminds me actually a lot of Brian Branch who
came out of Alabama now a star player with the
(37:24):
Detroit Lions. But you know, the one thing he can
do he can cover, Like he drops down in three
receiver sets. He's a cover safety and you get plenty
of chances to do that. And honestly, if your safeties
can't cover, they're a little bit limited in how you
use them. And so I see that right here he
is like I'm not play right there. I mean he's
covering that spray fade down the field.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
That's pretty nice.
Speaker 7 (37:47):
And so I just feel he's experienced, he's a good tackler.
I think he understands the game. He's been well coached,
He's played with a lot of guys that are in
the NFL right now. I feel like he's NFL ready
to step in and play David at that position.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Baldy to watch starts make that played down the sideline
that looks like a corner. I mean, we see, we
saw so many safeties running like corners here at the
COMBAI tell me another safety prospect, a fast one that
you're intrigued by.
Speaker 7 (38:16):
Well, I mean, here's a corner. I mean, you know,
you got to look at Max Harston, you know, I
mean he's a corner from Kentucky. He only played five
games this year. He ran the fastest forty. We're talking
about forties. He ran a four to two eight. He
was blistering in all of the drills, you know, but
you go back he only played five games, had injury,
but you go back, you know, twenty twenty three he
started thirteen games. For him, you can see the break
(38:38):
on the ball. You can see his long speed when
people are you know, taking a go ball shot on him,
and how he's able to run with them. And then
you can see him at Kentucky you know, really play man.
Speaker 6 (38:49):
You know where he's.
Speaker 7 (38:50):
Really pressed inside leverage or you can see him plays owned.
So he's got experience in both. But he's got the
foot speed you need to play on the outside. I
would say tackling could still be a little better, you know,
a little more solid, and then that can be worked on.
But I think the ball skills and the foot speed
and the eyes, I think he's got quick eyes.
Speaker 6 (39:11):
I think that's all there for Max Harriston.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Great stuff, Baldy, appreciate your breakdowns on these draft process.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
He did it faster or.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Too, unlike Mike who took forever to do really bad
math before. This segment certainly will not be headed to
the Broadcasting Hall of Fame, but this is where we are, Baldy,
thank you very much for joining us. As always, great
stuff today. One of the things that everybody loves is monopoly, right,
I mean, do we not love monopoly?
Speaker 6 (39:39):
Are you the thimble? Are you the horse?
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Are you the jaguar?
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Are you the the jaguars? A piece of monopoly?
Speaker 3 (39:46):
I don't know what is going on, but we're gonna
find out in this next segment.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Please please stick with us, please.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
There are a lot of fast teams at the twenty
twenty five Scouting Combine, none faster than Mad Max Harston
from Kentucky, who blazed that forty yard dashing four point
two eight seconds, just a little bit under my time.
Jim Ursa also posted this was a record attendance here
at the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium over thirty thousand,
(40:22):
plus media redentials over sixteen hundred. The latter definitely felt true,
especially if you have walked into the wrong bar around
eight many you got off the entire one more coffee
shods three big day for Walter Peyton.
Speaker 6 (40:36):
Look at sharp right there? Send you some sweetness on
March fourth.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
Also, it's Fat Tuesday? Now, why do we have to
send the offensive lineman to the parade on Fat Tuesday?
I feel like there's subliminal messaging here and I am
not comfortable with it. I think we should just call
it Everybody Matters Tuesday. The Jacksonville Jaguars released something new
that might catch some of your eye.
Speaker 6 (41:01):
Here their own version of Monopoly.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
It's Monopoly Jacksonville Edition is available for purchase now, which
all brings us into a very important question.
Speaker 6 (41:12):
What piece do you play with in Monopoly?
Speaker 3 (41:16):
First, of all sixteen hundred creditiers, there were some media
members there hanging around without credentials. That's a whole different
story for another day. My favorite piece is a thimble.
Here's why it speaks to me as far as the
old school nature of my life. It's simple, it's strong,
and they don't really exist anymore.
Speaker 6 (41:34):
So when you see a.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Thimble, you're like, wow, I really appreciate this thing. I
play as the thimble. I'm terrible about it, Judy.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
I used to play as with the iron, which I
don't even think is part of the game anymore.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Monthly because I like to lean, is it not types?
Speaker 5 (41:51):
No, Well, I've played the kids Yeah. I played the
kids Edition with my kids, and it's like you're the
dog or the bird or whatever like that. Here's what
I love about the kids edition. The adult edition could
you could take loans and stuff so the game would
never end. But the kids Edition you run out of money. Sorry, kid,
you're done. No loan, it's fast too.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Student or credit card and children about crippling debt and
what happens if you default on a market, which the
only way to really truly learn that lesson is to
go until eventually you're nothing but promisory notes and you
have no money left whatsoever.
Speaker 6 (42:31):
Ian great point two.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Sometimes sixteen undred plus credentials not enough, it turns out
for a lot of people, in order to get a
credential you have to have a real job. You know,
everybody's got problems stick around. We a lot more action
to come throughout this week here on The Insiders, the
final countdown six days away from the free agent negotiating window.
NVIL Network wall to wall covers, including right here on
(42:54):
The Insider seven pm Easter Time. We're back tomorrow for Ian,
Judy and Mike. I'm tom see you, yeah, I
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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