NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport break down all the major storylines from minicamp, including Aaron Rodgers officially signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Packers releasing longtime CB Jaire Alexander, and the Texans picking up former Browns RB Nick Chubb. Marc Ross and Steve Wyche join to examine how Stefon Diggs will fit into the Patriots' offense, while Jeffri Chadiha analyzes Malaki Starks’ expected impact on the Ravens' defense. Later, Marc and Steve break down the quarterback battle brewing in Cleveland, and Michael F. Florio shares his fantasy forecast for the AFC West. Plus, Marc, Steve, and Jeffri discuss why the Eagles' offense must stay elite to make another Super Bowl run.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's now officially official, Aaron Rodgers is a Steeler. Ahead
of the team's mini camp that begins on Tuesday, how
will the four time NFL MVP look on his first
day in black and gold? And beyond will break down
the Enigma's arrival in Pittsburgh. The Eagles also kick off
their mini camp on Tuesday, another small step towards their
(00:30):
big goal of going back to back. Our Jeff Shedeah
and Mark Ross will be here to tell you the
keys to another potential Super Bowl run in Philly. It's
also almost time to start thinking about how you're going
to make a run in fantasy. Mike left Florio has
answers tonight on which AFC West players you should be targeting.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It's never too soon.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Welcome inside with the insiders alongside Ian Rappaport I am
Tom Pellis. We are eighty seven days out from kickoff
to the twenty twenty five NFL season, which means Ian
has plenty of time to find a new shirt. Twenty
five teams are in mandatory mini camps this week. We
(01:14):
have a ton going on, so let's get right into it.
Starting out down in Houston, where they made a big
name edition official.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Within the past hour.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It is the veteran running back Nick Chubb, who passed
his fiscal and agreed to a one year deal. Ian
Chubb is twenty nine years old. We'd always had multiple
major injuries, but the money here suggests they envisioned him
having a real role in that offense.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, as far as the money goes in, you're right, Tom.
Within the last hour or so, this has been signed.
An officially official Nick Chubb passed his physical a member
of the Houston Texas. The deal one year, two point
five million dollars, much of that fully guaranteed, has a
chance to make five million dollars, which were a veteran
running back on a new team.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
He's really a sign that they believe, not just he's.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Gonna make the team, obviously he's gonna make the team,
but going to really contribute. And really the Houston Texans
they already have Joe Mixon. Obviously they cj Stroud running
that offense, but when they dealt with some injuries, they
struggled a little bit last year. What this is is
excellent depth, excellent depth with one of the best leaders
in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Certainly, this is someone the Cleveland Morolds have to replace
in the.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Locker room and a physical presence alongside Mixon in a
way that will absolutely help this offense. I know it's June,
but this is an important signing for the Texans, regardless
of the time of year.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Beginning of something new for Nick Chubb in Houston, the
end of a saga for Jyr Alexander in Green Bay.
After months of discussions about a trade or a restructure contract,
the Packers now plan to release Alexander.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
They're all going.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
President CEO Mark Murphy said it well, Ian Alexander is
a great player. He just hasn't been available over the
past couple of years.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
No, this has been something the Green Bay Packers have
been waiting on and dealing with and really trying to
figure out over the course of the last couple of months.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Ever since.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I reported during the combine that the agent for JayR Alexander,
John Thornton, had permission by the Green Bay Packers to
see if there was interest out there for a trade.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
There was interest.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
There were talks between the Packers and a couple of
different teams, but the salary fifteen point three million dollars
just proved to be too much. The Packers would have
liked to get something for him. Alexander would have liked
to stay on the same salary. None of those things
were possible in the end. Officially now they did. In fact,
release in Brian Gudikuz has released a statement thanking him
(03:43):
for his service.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
One of the best corners in the NFL when healthy.
Now for sure going to have a new home.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So one former Pro Bowl cornerback now officially a free agent.
Another Pro Bowl cornerback awaiting his faith. The Jalen Ramsey
saga continuing in Miami, where their mandatory mini camp opens
up on Tuesday. It's been nearly two months and after
all parties agreed and acknowledge publicly that they're going to
pursue a fresh start, yet no trade to this point.
And until that happens, it sounds like Ramsey's going to
(04:13):
stay away.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah, Rams are going to stay away. A rare player
not making an appearance in mandatory mediicamp. Players hate to
incur these fines. That's a lot of money, and the
hundreds of thousands of dollars. You got to be serious,
you got to be real, you gotta be willing to
take it. Jalen Ramsey no doubt. As we know he's
been through it is all of those things. Still one
of the better cornerbacks in the NFL, multi time Pro bowler.
(04:38):
Certainly seems like a split is headed now. I know
there's been interest from several different teams. The Rams, Tom
do seem to be at least the team to watch.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
His former team.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
They got a lot of love for Jaalen Ramsey. It's
been a couple of years that has not dissipated. It's
just an unbelievably difficult deal to do because he's due
twenty one million dollars. Mike de dovs eat some salary
to get a better draft pick. They might have to
to do a deal. But it appears, I would say
almost certainly that a split is coming for Ramsey and
the Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
You know we had talked about in a while. Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You might have heard he has now officially signed his
contract with Pittsburg. It is one year, thirteen point sixty
five million. He can make up to nineteen point five
million dollars with incentives. That is still a significant deal
for Rogers at this point, Ian although about half what
he would have been making with the Jets. We finally
got to look at Aaron Rodgers on the practice field
(05:32):
wearing number eight on Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
What do we expect?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And we're going to hear from him too, which will
be really interesting. I mean, we have seen Aaron Rodgers speak,
we heard his explas, has done several different things on
the Pat mcaveee show.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Now it's final. He has been through the offseason, He's
dealt with the personal issues.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
How much light is he going to shd on what he.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Has dealt with?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
How much light is he going to shed what may
or may not have been on his finger in the
form of a ring.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I don't know. I have questions.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I'm sure the Steelers media chorus questions, Well, we're gonna
get all that from Aaron Rodgers. But yes, definitely took
not less money because I don't know who else was
in the mix to offer this much for Rodgers, but
took a salary far below you you would expect a
Hall of Fame, future Hall of Famer, veteran, decorated quarterback
(06:20):
to take in part because this is the kind of
year where it's like Rogers is jumping aboard a team
that is already really good.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
He's trying to embrace all parts of it, which you.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
See right there at a Steelers sanctioned charity event. Wants
to help the team load up around him as they
did with DK Metcalf, and they are still trying to do.
Rogers now officially signed, So maybe we'll stop wondering if
and now we'll start talking about how the Steelers get
further in the playoffs than they have the last several seasons.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Aaron Rodgers Finally, I'm sure at that golf tournament getting
to meet some of his new teammates for the first time.
One guy that he has spent a lot of time
around is DK Metcalf recreating the step brothers. Did we
just become best friends? Yep, moment in that golf cart
right there they've been throwing out in California. Now it's
a matter of all those other players, both on and
off the field, getting to know a guy who certainly
(07:10):
they have seen from afar draw headlines just for being
a four time NFL MVP, but well, let's just say
a lot of other reasons over recent years as well.
Speaking of headlines, we've also been talking about TJ. Watt,
his uncertain status with the Pittsburgh steel he's under contract
for this year.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
He's doing about.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Twenty one million dollars, but ian's about half of the
going rate right now for top ed rushers. They've been
working on extension. They're not there yet. How does this
play out? Not just in the coming days where certainly
we'll find out whether or not TJ Watch shows up
to Midiicamp, but also as we run up the training camp.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, and the.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Next big hurdle, the next big deadline, next big benchmark
is does TJ Watch show up?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Players rarely incurred the find the mandatory mini camp, especially
because mandatory Minichamp D day is like two days Tom Mchurki,
you really do, and it's sort of just attendance plus
a little bit of on field work. So players hate
to get fined unless they are trying to show teams
I am serious about a new deal? Does TJ wide
Right now? We've only heard from in a social media
(08:14):
post where gave up the peace sign. How serious is
he about wanting a new contract? It is something the
Steelers are working on. Doesn't feel to me at least
right now, famous last words to be imminent. I just
know he's doing a big raise that market is going
up dramatically and he deserves all of the monies.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Are the Steelers going to get there in time?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Or are they going to do what they often do, Tom,
which is way to write up against the start of
the season to do a deal.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
We'll find out a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
This week.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
With Aaron Rodgers joining TJ. Watt in Pittsburgh. At least
Kirk Cousins as a quarterback without a home. So for
the moment, his home is still somewhat improbably Atlanta, which
was in twenty seven point five million dollars fully guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
The Falcons kickoff their mini camp Ian on Tuesday. It
sounds like Cousins plans to be there and with him
all the awkwardness that that might entail.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, but get used to the awkwardness, Tom, because this
is what it's going to be like.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I also expect him to show up, and there's no
real reason for him not to. He's under contract, they
paid him a lot of money. It's going to be
like one hundred million dollars essentially over two years. So
I would expect him to show up, maybe take some reps,
do his thing, and then everyone goes away for the summer.
We have another crack at this thing, which is try
to figure out is kirk Cousins going to be on
(09:34):
the Falcons team as the backup which is something I expect,
or or are they going to trade him and just
move on and get someone else to take on some
of the money. And then if you do get someone
else to take on the money, is it actually worth it?
Like if the Falcons could save like let's say five
or six million dollars, I don't know, just pick a number,
it doesn't matter what it is, but get a backup
who's not as ready to play, and then they actually
(09:55):
have to play that backup.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Was it worth it to save the money?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
These are very real questions for a Falcons team that
seems ready to win and compete when they're going to
have to tackle over the next couple.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Of months, and if they were to wait too long
to potentially work out a kirk Cousin's trade, trying to
wait for an injury to happen in training camp or
the preseason, even the regular season. Kirk Cousins, who has
at no trade cause also going to get to a
certain point and say I don't think I want to
accept that trade. A lot of things that can still
play out there. Twenty four team starting mini camp on Tuesday.
(10:28):
One started today. It was the new England Patriots. They've
got a new coach, they've not got new players, and
that coach Mike Frable had some things to say about
some big stories, including the status of Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
Figure out where everything is and what his role is
and making sure that as we add those situations the
third down and no huddle in the red zone, that
he's staying up on it. It's working hard in his rehab.
When he can certain drills he can be out there,
and there's certain drills that he won't be. But I
think he's engaged and uh, they're they're you know, I
(11:03):
like his energy.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
Yeah, he seems like, you know, awesome teammate. You know,
he's he's my next door to my locker locker mate,
so he's you know, one down from beside me. You know,
we talk all the time. He's a veteran of this league.
He's made a lot of plays, playing a lot of
big time games. So just an awesome voice for uh,
for the receiver room, for this offense. He's playing some
playoff games. He's had some big games, and I think,
you know, once he kind of recovers and just get
(11:25):
back out there. I'm looking forward to you'll be able
to you know, throw them foo footballs and uh just
it's always good having a guy like that in your team.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Let's welcome in our Steve Whites and Mark Ross to
the conversation.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Ian.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I'm going to start with you. Stefan Diggs has had
an interesting several weeks. Certainly had a good time Memorial
Day weekend, then came in participated OTAs the following week,
watching him moving around, no brace on that knee, and
then here in Mike Frable's words, it seems like we're
at least tracking in a good direction for Stefan Diggs
in Foxboro.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, Steven Diggs has done a lot more than force
all of us to go to YouTube and and google
I'm on a boat, which I think is what was
really the main story for Diggs this entire offseason until
he hit the field. And for those are unfamiliar with
Stefan Diggs as a practice player, let.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Me just tell you it is awesome. It is beautiful.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
It is something that is so cool to wats I'll
never forget the first time I was at Bill's camp
and I watched Von Diggs practice. I mean, this is
a guy who works insanely hard on this route, running
every rep is as hard as it can be and
as precise as it can But he is an excellent, excellent.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Practice player, and that's what you want.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
What you want is for him to be on the
practice field, to be as productive as he's going to
be either in practice and eventually in games, and show
everyone that Diggs is far more than the guy who
was on a boat doing all those things that you
just would rather not talk about in May, in June
or really ever. This is a player they've invested in heavily.
He does seem to be on a good track, guys
(12:52):
to get back from his ACL injury, and so who
needs to be a key member of this offense to
help Drake May an other thrive and what has to
be a bounce back year for New England.
Speaker 7 (13:03):
Yeah, yeah, I mean they went on got Stefan Digs
to help Drake May because this is a player.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
To me, this offseason is very big for him.
Speaker 7 (13:08):
Because of course Mike ra Abel the new head coach, but
then Josh McDaniels comes back in as the offensive coordinator.
This is a tough offense to learn, and Drake may
as much as he showed individual promise last year, I
mean really some good things.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
He was three and nine as a starter. Three and
nine is not going to work again this year.
Speaker 7 (13:24):
They've got to add to the win total and just
look at the way the track he's on and the
moves that they've made this offseason.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
He's got the biggest window for growth.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
Of all those standout rookie qbs last year, except for
maybe Michael Pennix, who didn't play as much as some
of those other players.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So this is a really big offseason for him.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
Also when you see how the Patriots start their season
with Las Vegas, at Miami, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and in three
straight road games starting with a game at Buffalo, so
he's got to get into and maybe Stefan Diggs coming
back as soon as.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
He possibly can.
Speaker 7 (13:54):
You know, we'll see, but he's got to be sharper
than everyone out there to get used to a lot
of new things, including a tough start to the schedule.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Mark.
Speaker 8 (14:02):
Yeah, look, Steve, I expect Drake made to make a
huge lead if anybody watched the Patriots last year, he
kind of was a one man show and they did
not have much talent at all on either side of
the ball. And I think the Patriots did a wonderful
job this offseason. First of free agency, they had the
money to spend, and they spent it on proven players
that are playmakers, Milton william of, Carlton Davis, there at
(14:23):
Harold Landry, Stefan Diggs who we talked about. But then
in the draft they went and crushed it in the
draft there with Will Campbell and then Treveon Henderson, the
running back out of Ohio State. So I expect Drake
may number one to get better just because of Rabel's presence.
They got the foundation of a head coach who can
win playoff games, and then they just have so much
(14:44):
more talent around him now than what they had last year.
So he doesn't have to say, man, I've got to
go into each one of these games and win this.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
All by myself. So not just those big names.
Speaker 8 (14:56):
They made some sneaky good signings too, like a mccollins
as well. I expect this Patriots team not only to
improve on that win total, but maybe even completely flip
that around that one loss record, come up there against the.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Bills and say here we come. We're ready.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Drake May now has as many weapons around him as
Mark Ross has plants around him from wherever he's coming from.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I count four in the background.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
That's almost an entire receiving crew. Mark and Steve, thank
you very much. A lot more from you guys to
come on this show. We also got news today out
of Indianapolis, where the Colts announced the expected details on
the transition of team ownership from their late owner and CEO,
Jim Rsey, who passed away last month at age sixty five.
His three daughters will all be members of ownership, with
(15:42):
Carly Ersay Gordon serving as the owner of the team,
the controlling owner of the club as well as the CEO.
Get more of the NFL with NFL Plus. They connected
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Relive your favorite moments from the twenty twenty fourth season
(16:04):
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Terms and conditions apply. Twenty five teams in mini camps
this week. Ravens on the shortlist of teams have their
mini camp next week, but they are still on the
field for OTAs their first round draft pick. Malachi Starts
(16:26):
talked about his transition to the NFL.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
I think the biggest thing for me is the landmarks.
So the field is completely different than college. And when
I first got here, I could feel myself like they
would say if my job was at the numbers, I
was going to the college numbers, but I was missing
the league numbers. So just being able to work on that,
you know, stay after practice and just watch a lot
of tape and just kind of reprogram myself into this
(16:50):
is where I'm supposed to be at has been the
challenging thing. But it's getting a lot better with all
the help and you know, all the rep said I'm
getting is huge in my development.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Welcome back to the Insiders.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Tom Pilacero, Mark Ross, se Wicher, Mack Jeffrey Jenia joining
the show as well. Jeffrey I bumped into Malachi Starts
like three separate times in Green Bay during draftleek. He's
one of those guys who immediately see it there lights
up the room on the field, though, what type of
impact you envision he can have.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
As a rookie. Well, the Ravens are super excited about
what he can bring to that defense.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
And we forget they finished strong last year, but the
first half of the season with that second deary with
a lot of broken coverages, big plays given up, and
so defensive coreator zach Orr was talking about Malakaia Starts recently.
He loves the vision of this guy with Kyle Hamilton,
in fact that you've seen already in the train in
OTA's with the way they're communicating, the way Hamilton is
(17:42):
giving him knowledge about how to play in this defense,
and they know that he brings great versatility to it.
Zach Orr talked about just the fact that Starts has
the ability to play inside and outside and nickel and
slot and don all these different things.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Though.
Speaker 9 (17:56):
They love being able to move guys around Mark in
that secondary and having this player, this Malachi Starts here
is going to make this defense a lot better for
a Ravens team that wants to get over that hump.
Speaker 8 (18:06):
No doubt, Jeff, there was no more Ravens pick than
Malachi Starts going there.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
But also Ravens pick was that second round pick Mike Green,
who they got there.
Speaker 8 (18:14):
In the bottom of the second who was really a
top fifteen type talent. And I think he can have
an equally, if not more of an impact than.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Even Malachi Starts.
Speaker 8 (18:22):
Because even though the Ravens were second in the league
in sacks last year, it was really by committee where
seventeen different guys had one sacker more, led by thirty
four Crol Kyle Van Noyd with twelve and a half.
You can't expect him to replicate that. So really, Mike
Green could be that guy with you talked about zach
Or finding his groove and it was with all the
different blitzes that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Got people home.
Speaker 8 (18:44):
Well, now you have a guy in Mike Green who
I think can just go out there and say, Mike,
just go get us buckets like you did leading the
FBS with seventeen sacks at Marshall really stepped up his
game against Ohio.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
State and at the Senior Bowl as well.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
So I think the impact that Mike Green can have
on that Ravens pass rush that did it by committee
and by exotic blitz's is going to make this defense
even better this year.
Speaker 10 (19:08):
Steve.
Speaker 7 (19:08):
I would love that mark because he's a rotational player
right now, Like you said, they got a bunch of
good frontline players in front of them, and Jeff, you're
talking about Malachai Starks.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Let's go back to zach Or.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
The second year defensive coordinator, because Jeff, you talked about
how good they were on the final game. From Week
eleven all the way through the end of the season,
they were the top defense in the NFL after being
the worst pass defense the first week's one through ten,
they're giving up ten points fewer. But Ken zach Orr
build on that because remember, a lot of the credit
(19:38):
for that improvement went once Baltimore went out and hired
former defensive coordinator Dean Peas as a consultant, so Pee's
got a lot of that credit.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Peace is still consulting.
Speaker 7 (19:49):
A little bit with the team, but this is going
to be more on zach Or to build with some
of the talent. You guys talked about some of the
foundation that he helped establish last year, so let's see
if he can continue to emerge again. He's a very
young defensive coordinator. He's in his second year, but this
is where he's really got to put his stamp on things,
Otherwise the credit may continue going elsewhere instead of to
(20:11):
some instead of the Orr, who a lot of people
feel is a very promising coach.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
A lot to take in with that Ravens defense, particularly
if you're, oh, no, a team in the division who's
got four different quarterbacks all competing to see who's going
to be the starter in twenty twenty five, Stick around
everybody exactly this. We are going to talk about the Browns, Yes,
Dor Sanders, Dylan Gabriel, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson,
anybody else they might have signed today as well. Where
do we stand right now in the competition be QB
(20:41):
one in Cleveland. We'll discuss it next on the incepts.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
No shendor Sanders so far.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
And not only is it going to fall to twenty
one in Pittsburgh, but there's no backstop after twenty one.
Speaker 11 (21:00):
Mike Collins on the phone, is Shador Sanders on the
other end of the line. If it doesn't happen here,
when does it happen tonight?
Speaker 1 (21:07):
If at all, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Derek Herman.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
The New York Giants have just rolled down the New
York Giants select Jackson Dark Green Bay.
Speaker 10 (21:20):
Are you ready for a Round two?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
The New Orleans Saints select Tyler Shunn.
Speaker 11 (21:26):
Here come the Raiders sixty eighth overall? Could this be
the Shadoor Sanders Colman?
Speaker 7 (21:32):
The Las Vegas Raiders select Darien Porter.
Speaker 11 (21:36):
The Steelers are back on the clock again.
Speaker 7 (21:38):
The Pittsburgh Stealing select Caleb Johnson.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
The Seattle Seahawks has selected quarterback Alabama Jalen Miroe.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
The Cleveland Browns select Dylan Gabriel.
Speaker 11 (21:52):
Two more quarterbacks not named Shadoor Sanders.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
What's the story with Sanders?
Speaker 12 (21:56):
Literally everybody at home is asking the same question.
Speaker 11 (21:59):
I've never seeing a top twenty pick on the draft
board when we started Day three. I have no earthly
idea why he's still out there.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Here's the Cleveland Browns pick. Is this the moment?
Speaker 9 (22:09):
With the one hundred and forty four pick, the Cleveland
brown select Chore Senior.
Speaker 11 (22:16):
Waiting to hear his name is over, Shador Sanders is
a Cleveland Brown Can't make it up.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I can't remember a lot of quarterback rooms like this one.
Two draft picks, both mid round players. One they traded
for former first round pick and Kenny Pickett, a forty
year old former first round pick in Joe Flacco. Of course,
Deshan Watson still there to getting paid more than all
those guys combined, but an all luckily not available to
play during the twenty twenty five NFL season. Welcome back
(22:45):
to the Insiders, Tom Pill with sero Ian, Robbord, Mark Ross,
Steve witch Ian. I start with you because this is
one of those moments. Okay, we t'll talk as much
about fifth round draft picks here, but every step the
Shador Sanders takes becomes a thing where do we actually
stand so far?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
For you? First of all, that rip was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
That list of highlights from the draft when every single
other player on God's Green Earth was drafted except for
Chador Standers. That was internal. That was the longest draft
highlight we've ever ran, and it felt so much longer
sitting through it, Like you think, it's ridiculous for the
amount of people who have asked us if Aaron Rodgers
is signing with the Steelers, one hundred times more people
(23:30):
asked during that two and a half day span of
when Shador Standers was going to get drafted and who
is going to draft him.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
It was unbelievable. It ended up being the Browns and
now we are here.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
So as far as where they stand, you know, he's
taken reps, he's doing things.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Seems like it's been fine.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
No major red flags, no crazy highlights, a couple of
nice throws, a couple of things you'd like to have back.
So basically like every single other rookie that is doing
anything right now, it's just the difference is this is
the one we're discussing. And if you're the Cleveland Browns guys,
and you knew that you were taking a lottery ticket
like Shador Sanders, where either you're gonna cash it in
(24:07):
big in two years and everyone's gonna be rich, or
you're gonna just tear it up and go cool. Just
spend a dollar in the next one. This is going
to be the most talked about lottery ticket. We've seen
it a lot in a long time. So he's gonna
play just like all the rookies. Will either prove it
or he isn't. The difference is just right now, the
treatment we are giving it and the amount of eyes
that are on Shadoor Sanders.
Speaker 8 (24:29):
Yeah, he might be the most talked about fifth round
pick in the history of the NFL, because we're going
to keep talking about it and discussing it, and this
is not going to be determined anytime soon. As Ian said,
they're going to go into training camp once they start
playing real games, and even training camp is a real
games at preseason games aren't real games anymore. But at
least he'll get a taste of it, so we'll get
(24:50):
more and more of this. And really, for the Browns
and Chador, it's all right there in front of him.
Go beat out the guy that got drafted in front
of you, Go beat out of Kenny Pickett, who's on
his third team already. And then Joe Flacco seems to
be the air A pair to take the job. But
here it is in front of you. Shador Sanders to
go win it. But Steve the bigger question I have overall.
I know the quarterback position is getting all the talk
(25:12):
because of uniqueness, but the Browns overall talent when you
just look top to bottom, they're really lacking in a
lot of talent at the playmaker position on the defensive
side of.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
The ball outside of Miles Garrett.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
So I think we're missing out on a lot of that,
like where is Cleveland going to compete overall with the Ravens,
with the Bengals of their own division.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
So that's the big questions I've got.
Speaker 7 (25:33):
Yeah, and outside of Jerry Judy wide receiver, Davin a
Joku at tight end, I mean, that's still whoever's playing
quarterback is you really gonna have to figure some things
out as well. But you know, I know we're sitting
here talking about Seworth Sands, but what about Dylan Gabriel.
I mean, this is a guy who had sixty three
college starts. We haven't heard much about him at all,
and this is somebody When you talk about what Kevin
Stefanski does offensively, it is timing, it is rhythm, and
(25:56):
it is getting to the ball accurately, the same things
we're hearing about Hide or Sanders.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
That is something that Dylan Gabriel does very very well.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
So it's just going to be intriguing to see how
they split the reps and how they evaluate these quarterbacks,
because all things being equal, then what do they do?
I mean is can you picket someone that some team
is going to trade for? Are they going to keep for?
Are they going to cut one and who will the
odd man out be. I mean, if it's should Wear Sanders,
that would be as big of a story as what
we're talking out about right now. So, you know, Ian
(26:24):
you talk about the long drawn out process and this
being a lottery ticket. The one thing that Cleveland did
is next year they assure themselves of getting a first
round draft pick where they can go get a quarterback
if none of these guys work out. So this is
such an intriguing situation with the Browns have done. But
in terms of the short term, this is going to
be daily conversation what we're doing inside training camp and
everything else leading up to the regular season.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, really what the Browns that is lead themselves with
multiple outs, Right, Like, maybe Dylan Gabriel becomes the third
round lottery ticket that they all sort of think should
or Sanders is. Maybe it ends up as Shadoor as
they start. Maybe Kenny Pickett, who you know, I think
is has acclimated at times to this new system, maybe
he ends up being the one kicking into gear and
(27:08):
to training.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Can't be right if it's none of these guys.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
They got an extra first rounder next year to go
up and get a quarterback. Or just you know, kind
of rebuild this team. The other The other thing I
would say, Tom is preseason games are always really, really fun,
especially the early part where you get to see like
the good players against the good players. Brown's preseason games
are gonna be, as they say, lit, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
They're going to be all in on Brown's preseason games.
It's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
And the jersey with another row on all three got
all three Browns preseason games live right here on NFL Networks.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Is fifty two days away from the Hall of Fame.
Game football is that close, fellas.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
They want me to.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
But don't talk about this forever, baby, I want to
play in front of the player you put it going
in TV? In my what's the game?
Speaker 9 (28:02):
Right?
Speaker 6 (28:04):
The homes in the pocket floats a fast test?
Speaker 12 (28:09):
That's all the time you're gonna throw a quicks fast.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Does underestimate how tough Patrick Mahomes is Super Bowl test?
I let's go. No, it's the Super Bowl fifty eight.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Every day go down, every day You've gone for the
top of dog too.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Mahomes right for the end zone. But god shay, it's
a super Bowl fifty seven. What's that touchdown legendary. Man,
I can't say anything. I want to get three though,
no argument.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
It is number one for Patrick Mahomes quarterback in this game.
When it comes to real life fantasy, maybe not so much.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Kind of.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
One of the weird things in this world is that
Patrick Mahomes, as you see right there, the third best
fantasy quarterback projected for the twenty twenty five season in
the am West.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Let's get a little more in this, bringing our good
friend Michael F.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Flourio, who spent a lot of the day catching strays
from Bill Belichick's girlfriend and other people erroneously listing his
name on tweets and then having to go back and say,
hey man, that's actually not this floy at the other
four you We.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Don't need to get into that.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Let's get into this fantasy projections as we've been going
division by division. Tell me about the Kansas City Chiefs
for you.
Speaker 12 (29:26):
You saw there, Mahomes is projected for the third most
points in his division.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Third.
Speaker 12 (29:30):
That's because last year Mahomes averaged the fewest air yards
pertempt of all quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
That should never be when.
Speaker 12 (29:39):
You have Patrick Mahomes and the deep ball needs to
get back into this offense. Matt Naggey himself has said
so this offseason, and if that happens, Mahomes' upside is
just as high as it always is, but he is
going at a cheaper cost than ever before. And if
Mahomes gets right, it means good things for everyone else
in this offense, including Rashid Rice, who's scored over seventeen
(30:01):
fantasy points in all three of his full games last year.
He is the highest upside of any Kansas City wide receiver.
Xavier Worthy got better and better as the year went on.
We saw in the Super Bowl he has that field
stretching capability, so he is an upside wide receiver too,
and then Marquise Brown. He's not even a top sixty
fantasy wide receiver in early drafts. Right now he is
completely free upside. And I'm higher on Isaiah Pachecko than
(30:24):
most here I know. Last year, he didn't look like
himself when he came back. He wasn't himself, But we
saw Tony Pollard have this same injury. It sapped him initially,
but once he had some time to recover, he's back
to himself. So I'm high on Isaiah Pachecko and he
is super cheap, and then Travis Kelce, I don't know
if I.
Speaker 10 (30:42):
Want to do that.
Speaker 12 (30:42):
Last year looked like it might have been the first
signs of a decline.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah, but you know, in the playoffs, so probably find me.
That's now we're talk about. We're talking about fantasy.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I was intrigued by the fall screen that we showed
right at the beginning of this.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Boon Nick's the.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Seventh best projected core as it pertains to fantasy.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
That's kind of fascinating to me.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Take me through the Denver Broncos and where they stand
as it pertains to fantasy.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Bo Nick should be.
Speaker 12 (31:12):
Drafted as a top ten fantasy quarterback. He brings top
five upside here. In fact, he hit the third most
touchdowns and fifth most Fantasy points ever by a rookie QB.
The only other rookie QB to throw and run for
as many yards as he did was Cam Newton, and
Cam Newton is the greatest QB rookie and Fantasy of
all time.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
RJ.
Speaker 12 (31:33):
Harvey, though, is generating a ton of hype here, and
it's easy to see why. Sean Payton's lead running back
has averaged eighty six targets per year since twenty seventeen,
with over fifty in every year going back to twenty ten.
So Harvey brings RB one upside, but you could draft
him as an RB two. Just hope they don't sign
(31:54):
another back there, and if bo Nicks is playing well,
it means good things for Courtland's who was the seventh
best Fantasy wide receiver from Week eight on last year,
but he is just underappreciated right now he is being
drafted as a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Three.
Speaker 12 (32:10):
I also like Evan Ingram here, who could be the
number two target. We know Sean Payton loves to feed
his tight ends when he has a good one. And
then if you're going a little bit deeper here, Marvin
Mims Junior and Pat Bryant.
Speaker 10 (32:22):
Are some late round dart throws worth taking.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
You know how these segments are good. Besides the fact
that they're just good, they kind of remind you who's
on the team. It's like, oh, Evan Ingram on the Broncos,
I kind of forgot about that.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
That's interesting. Signing very Sean Payton.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Take me through the Los Angeles Chargers and their remade
group of skill guys.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Where do they stand?
Speaker 12 (32:41):
Look, you could call me Sonny Weaver Junior here because
for me, it is lad McConkie. No matter what I know,
he's going in the second round in early drafts right now,
I don't care because he was top five in Fantasy
points per target and yards per route last year and
he was one of the very best wide receivers against
man coverage all as a rookie, and rookie got a
(33:01):
little bit slow out the gate, so.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
He could break out this year.
Speaker 12 (33:05):
Justin Herbert last year was fourth in passing yards from
Week six on. You're going to hear all summer that
the Chargers love to run the ball, and they do,
but it doesn't mean that Justin Herbert doesn't bring upside
in this offense.
Speaker 10 (33:19):
And right now he is going as a QB two.
Speaker 12 (33:22):
If he plays well, that makes Trey Harris a sleeper.
But the big question here is going to be about
Omarion Hampton, their first round rookie running back.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
They drafted him.
Speaker 12 (33:31):
He is being drafted in fantasy right now as a
top fifteen fantasy running back and.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
He has the potential to live up to that.
Speaker 12 (33:38):
The question, though, is how much is Naji Harris going
to eat into that workload? Because for me, it's a
question of how much and not will he be involved,
because I very much shall think Naji Harris will be
a thing in this offense.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
You want to talk about great running backs with high expectation. Cool,
I'm glad you did. Let's talk about the Raiders. Where
do they stack? Including running back Uproba is gonna get
drafted pretty.
Speaker 12 (34:01):
Highly, yeah, Ash and Jensy went sixth overall in the
NFL draft.
Speaker 10 (34:06):
He might go earlier in fantasy drafts.
Speaker 12 (34:08):
We all know the talent is there and he should
see a ton of volume as Pete Carroll loves to
feed his RB one and Chip Kelly's offenses have finished
top seven in rushing.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Attempts in three of his four years.
Speaker 12 (34:21):
So I have Jens ranked as my RB four my
early rankings, behind Saquon Gibbs and Bijon and that is
Gino Smith goes there, which is a huge thing for
this offense.
Speaker 10 (34:32):
Look, Gino is more is what he is in fantasy.
Speaker 12 (34:35):
A depth piece AA bench quarterback, but he is better
than any QB that they had on this roster last year,
which helps elevate everyone in this offense. He also throws
to the slot a lot which helps brock Bauers and
Jacoby Myers. And speaking of brock Bowers, he is the
most yards and Fantasy points ever by a rookie tight end,
(34:55):
most catches by a rookie, regardless of position, and this
is a big QB upgrade for him. He is the
obvious tight end one that you have to take in
round two if you want. Jacoby Myers, though, does get
a little overlooked in this offense, and I think he's
been overlooked for years in fantasy. So if you want
a nice backup wide receiver in the double digit rounds,
Jacoby Myers is a name you should be targeting.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
Shoot at third. Brock Bowers.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Last year I had the chance. I had Kelsey at
my keeper leg. I'm like, I got Kelsey. I'll be fine.
I'm going to be kicking myself for the next ten
years or so.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Sound like for you. Thank you very much for joining us.
Great stuff.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
As always, twenty five teams kickoff mandatory mini camps this week,
including the champs. The Philadelphia Eagles will be out there
for mini camp beginning on Tuesday, another small step forward
as they begin what they hope to be a successful
Super Bowl title defense. Welcome back to the insiders, Tom Pilli, Sero,
(35:50):
Jeffrey Chadia, Mark Ross, and Steve White. Jeffrey, I'll start
with you here. Cooper dejen one of the many breakout
stars for the Eagles during the Super Bowl a year ago.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
How finol do you envision his role changing in year two?
Speaker 9 (36:04):
Well, Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was putting the idea out
of the gene.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Moving to safety and base defenses, which.
Speaker 9 (36:12):
Was an interesting idea given that he's a corner by nature.
But there was talk of him playing safety when he
came into the league, and he was so good as
a nickel back that they're not going to take him
away from that spot. The te years figuring out how
do the other guys fit in around him. They'd love
to keep him at corner in base defenses, but if
other guys emerged, he can go to safety. If he
needs to be at corner because other guys can't play there,
(36:34):
he'll do that, But Fangio made it clear they don't
play a lot of base defense anyway. This guy's most
successful as a slot corner. He's made his name doing
that as a rookie, and you saw the big plays
he made there in the Super Bowl, So mark this
defense is going to be just found no matter where
Cooper Degene ends up.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Well, that's secondary right now. Jeff is really the strength
of the team.
Speaker 8 (36:53):
And let's not forget Cooper de Gene and all those
guys are feasting because of that pass rush was really
destroying teams, particularly Super Bowl but also the whole entire
playoff run where they.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Had seventeen sacks.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
They only had forty one in the regular season, which
was nineteenth in the league. So a lot of question
marks for me with the loss of Josh Swett, the
loss of Milton Williams, the loss of Brandon Graham, three
of their top five pass rushers from the regular season,
So they're going to be counting on a lot of
Nolan Smith who's coming off an injury, jalenx Hunt stepping
up young players like that in the Joe Moo and
(37:25):
we'll see with Jahadd Campbell, the rookie out of Alabama,
the versatile rookie, where he comes in the mix if
he provides some pass rush as well. So a lot
of different options, but a lot of guys that really
have to step up. But that secondary really is the
holding it together right now, Steve.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
And as long as that offense can.
Speaker 8 (37:42):
Roll the way they do and put thirty points on
the board with the blake that defensive really had the
big one or two plays a game to win games,
you have.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
The best thing.
Speaker 7 (37:49):
And the biggest thing that happened to the Eagles was
this offseason the owners voting not to ban the tush push.
This is something now where they can keep their identity
because they didn't change any frontline players on their offense.
So they got the best offensive line in football, they
got the best running back in football, and now they
can go into certain situations regardless of where they are
on the field, knowing they've got two plays in the
(38:11):
pocket on third and four down if they have to
go there, if they don't convert on the touch push.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
But to add to the.
Speaker 7 (38:17):
Power game, this is why I'm loving the Eagles right now.
Let's not forget they signed former Packers running back aj
Dillon to back up Sakwan Barkley. The Quadzilla and Quadzilla
light in the backfield together.
Speaker 10 (38:30):
Now.
Speaker 7 (38:30):
Dylan missed a lot of time last year with a
neck injury, but we know he's a power running back,
and Mark and Jeff I would not doubt this offense
putting both of them in the backfield at some time,
either split or the full back I formation with a
lead blocker going straight power, because that's what they've done,
and now that they know that there are a lot
(38:51):
of teams that were trying to cut off their strength
in the touch push, they are going to really be
playing some of that Ram ram Rod type of football
with those big running backs as well.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Sekwon aj Dillon Jalen hurts.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
We'll see how the Eagles do in twenty twenty five,
but that is the best one two three punch for
squats that I've ever seen in the NFL. Gentlemen, Thank
you all very much. We will talk to you again soon.
It's Mini camp time, which means it's time to unveil
an annual tradition. Let's have a bunch of rookies try
to paint their team logo. Yes, as usual, the results
(39:27):
are hilarious. Stick around check it out next on The Insiders.
The weight is over and the countdown to kickoff has begun.
Single game tickets for the twenty twenty five NFL season
are on sale now. Visit NFL dot com slash tickets
(39:47):
to purchase tickets today. Tickets are available through the NFL
ticket network including ticket Masters, Geek, and Sports Illustrated Tickets.
Texans fans can buy tickets to watch a lot of
players are now also including Nick Chubb officially passive fiscal
and signing a one year deal worth up to five
million dollars. The latest member really interesting Houston backfield, alongside
(40:12):
Joe Mixon. Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pellicero and
Ian Rappaport. Thankfully, in our early days covering this league,
there were no such rights of passage as the one
that NFL rookie players now have to go through because
for several years running now, all top rookies have been
asked to take on a certain art project, drawing their
(40:33):
team's logos.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Let's take a look, yiky.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Ready, this is Caleb Johnson, Shadori Sanders, Jayalen Burrow, Aston,
jenc Chivis, Hunder Jackson and Jaguars Cam War.
Speaker 10 (40:43):
I can't look at the picture.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Yes, I can't look at my pants.
Speaker 10 (40:47):
The last time I painted was like Junior High.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Still one there.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
I would say, I'm a ten painter.
Speaker 10 (40:57):
You got dron logan first, I know how the green eyeball.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
Oh, I'm so bad.
Speaker 10 (41:01):
I don't even know what that is. Just a good
eye over here.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm with just
John's son.
Speaker 10 (41:08):
Wait, how do you do like this glue stuff?
Speaker 2 (41:10):
This is the glue? Haven't used glue? Like?
Speaker 4 (41:12):
This is those five It's not about what the outside
look like, what's on the inside.
Speaker 10 (41:19):
Jalen Melro probably struggled. I'm scared about this one.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Oh, like this is awful.
Speaker 6 (41:28):
Guys, you got your raider right here, Haig Qualdi fashion.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Yeah, I'll frame this with the signature though. This will
go for probably about two bands.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
The winner there, I think clearly Cam Scattaboo, although the
ny Giants logo is short of a cheat codean.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
I mean Travis Hunter actually did like an actual jaguar
as usual, he made everything look very easy. Some of
the other one it might be good football players just
not good, but just really bad, terribly bad, awful bad.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
You know, you know what I thought was great was
that the guys drawing the Raiders logo Ashton Jen t
Jack Fash. They just made that raider look so nice.
He just looked happy to be there. It was happy
to be here. We're back tomorrow, seven Eastern see it.
It's now officially official, Aaron Rodgers is a Steeler. Ahead
of the team's mini camp that begins on Tuesday, how
will the four time NFL MVP look on his first
day in black and gold? And beyond will break down
the Enigma's arrival in Pittsburgh. The Eagles also kick off
their mini camp on Tuesday, another small step towards their
(00:30):
big goal of going back to back. Our Jeff Shedeah
and Mark Ross will be here to tell you the
keys to another potential Super Bowl run in Philly. It's
also almost time to start thinking about how you're going
to make a run in fantasy. Mike left Florio has
answers tonight on which AFC West players you should be targeting.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It's never too soon.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Welcome inside with the insiders alongside Ian Rappaport I am
Tom Pellis. We are eighty seven days out from kickoff
to the twenty twenty five NFL season, which means Ian
has plenty of time to find a new shirt. Twenty
five teams are in mandatory mini camps this week. We
(01:14):
have a ton going on, so let's get right into it.
Starting out down in Houston, where they made a big
name edition official.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Within the past hour.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It is the veteran running back Nick Chubb, who passed
his fiscal and agreed to a one year deal. Ian
Chubb is twenty nine years old. We'd always had multiple
major injuries, but the money here suggests they envisioned him
having a real role in that offense.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, as far as the money goes in, you're right, Tom.
Within the last hour or so, this has been signed.
An officially official Nick Chubb passed his physical a member
of the Houston Texas. The deal one year, two point
five million dollars, much of that fully guaranteed, has a
chance to make five million dollars, which were a veteran
running back on a new team.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
He's really a sign that they believe, not just he's.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Gonna make the team, obviously he's gonna make the team,
but going to really contribute. And really the Houston Texans
they already have Joe Mixon. Obviously they cj Stroud running
that offense, but when they dealt with some injuries, they
struggled a little bit last year. What this is is
excellent depth, excellent depth with one of the best leaders
in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Certainly, this is someone the Cleveland Morolds have to replace
in the.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Locker room and a physical presence alongside Mixon in a
way that will absolutely help this offense. I know it's June,
but this is an important signing for the Texans, regardless
of the time of year.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Beginning of something new for Nick Chubb in Houston, the
end of a saga for Jyr Alexander in Green Bay.
After months of discussions about a trade or a restructure contract,
the Packers now plan to release Alexander.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
They're all going.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
President CEO Mark Murphy said it well, Ian Alexander is
a great player. He just hasn't been available over the
past couple of years.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
No, this has been something the Green Bay Packers have
been waiting on and dealing with and really trying to
figure out over the course of the last couple of months.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Ever since.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I reported during the combine that the agent for JayR Alexander,
John Thornton, had permission by the Green Bay Packers to
see if there was interest out there for a trade.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
There was interest.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
There were talks between the Packers and a couple of
different teams, but the salary fifteen point three million dollars
just proved to be too much. The Packers would have
liked to get something for him. Alexander would have liked
to stay on the same salary. None of those things
were possible in the end. Officially now they did. In fact,
release in Brian Gudikuz has released a statement thanking him
(03:43):
for his service.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
One of the best corners in the NFL when healthy.
Now for sure going to have a new home.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So one former Pro Bowl cornerback now officially a free agent.
Another Pro Bowl cornerback awaiting his faith. The Jalen Ramsey
saga continuing in Miami, where their mandatory mini camp opens
up on Tuesday. It's been nearly two months and after
all parties agreed and acknowledge publicly that they're going to
pursue a fresh start, yet no trade to this point.
And until that happens, it sounds like Ramsey's going to
(04:13):
stay away.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah, Rams are going to stay away. A rare player
not making an appearance in mandatory mediicamp. Players hate to
incur these fines. That's a lot of money, and the
hundreds of thousands of dollars. You got to be serious,
you got to be real, you gotta be willing to
take it. Jalen Ramsey no doubt. As we know he's
been through it is all of those things. Still one
of the better cornerbacks in the NFL, multi time Pro bowler.
(04:38):
Certainly seems like a split is headed now. I know
there's been interest from several different teams. The Rams, Tom
do seem to be at least the team to watch.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
His former team.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
They got a lot of love for Jaalen Ramsey. It's
been a couple of years that has not dissipated. It's
just an unbelievably difficult deal to do because he's due
twenty one million dollars. Mike de dovs eat some salary
to get a better draft pick. They might have to
to do a deal. But it appears, I would say
almost certainly that a split is coming for Ramsey and
the Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
You know we had talked about in a while. Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You might have heard he has now officially signed his
contract with Pittsburg. It is one year, thirteen point sixty
five million. He can make up to nineteen point five
million dollars with incentives. That is still a significant deal
for Rogers at this point, Ian although about half what
he would have been making with the Jets. We finally
got to look at Aaron Rodgers on the practice field
(05:32):
wearing number eight on Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
What do we expect?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And we're going to hear from him too, which will
be really interesting. I mean, we have seen Aaron Rodgers speak,
we heard his explas, has done several different things on
the Pat mcaveee show.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Now it's final. He has been through the offseason, He's
dealt with the personal issues.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
How much light is he going to shd on what he.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Has dealt with?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
How much light is he going to shed what may
or may not have been on his finger in the
form of a ring.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I don't know. I have questions.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I'm sure the Steelers media chorus questions, Well, we're gonna
get all that from Aaron Rodgers. But yes, definitely took
not less money because I don't know who else was
in the mix to offer this much for Rodgers, but
took a salary far below you you would expect a
Hall of Fame, future Hall of Famer, veteran, decorated quarterback
(06:20):
to take in part because this is the kind of
year where it's like Rogers is jumping aboard a team
that is already really good.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
He's trying to embrace all parts of it, which you.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
See right there at a Steelers sanctioned charity event. Wants
to help the team load up around him as they
did with DK Metcalf, and they are still trying to do.
Rogers now officially signed, So maybe we'll stop wondering if
and now we'll start talking about how the Steelers get
further in the playoffs than they have the last several seasons.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Aaron Rodgers Finally, I'm sure at that golf tournament getting
to meet some of his new teammates for the first time.
One guy that he has spent a lot of time
around is DK Metcalf recreating the step brothers. Did we
just become best friends? Yep, moment in that golf cart
right there they've been throwing out in California. Now it's
a matter of all those other players, both on and
off the field, getting to know a guy who certainly
(07:10):
they have seen from afar draw headlines just for being
a four time NFL MVP, but well, let's just say
a lot of other reasons over recent years as well.
Speaking of headlines, we've also been talking about TJ. Watt,
his uncertain status with the Pittsburgh steel he's under contract
for this year.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
He's doing about.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Twenty one million dollars, but ian's about half of the
going rate right now for top ed rushers. They've been
working on extension. They're not there yet. How does this
play out? Not just in the coming days where certainly
we'll find out whether or not TJ Watch shows up
to Midiicamp, but also as we run up the training camp.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, and the.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Next big hurdle, the next big deadline, next big benchmark
is does TJ Watch show up?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Players rarely incurred the find the mandatory mini camp, especially
because mandatory Minichamp D day is like two days Tom Mchurki,
you really do, and it's sort of just attendance plus
a little bit of on field work. So players hate
to get fined unless they are trying to show teams
I am serious about a new deal? Does TJ wide
Right now? We've only heard from in a social media
(08:14):
post where gave up the peace sign. How serious is
he about wanting a new contract? It is something the
Steelers are working on. Doesn't feel to me at least
right now, famous last words to be imminent. I just
know he's doing a big raise that market is going
up dramatically and he deserves all of the monies.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Are the Steelers going to get there in time?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Or are they going to do what they often do, Tom,
which is way to write up against the start of
the season to do a deal.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
We'll find out a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
This week.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
With Aaron Rodgers joining TJ. Watt in Pittsburgh. At least
Kirk Cousins as a quarterback without a home. So for
the moment, his home is still somewhat improbably Atlanta, which
was in twenty seven point five million dollars fully guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
The Falcons kickoff their mini camp Ian on Tuesday. It
sounds like Cousins plans to be there and with him
all the awkwardness that that might entail.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, but get used to the awkwardness, Tom, because this
is what it's going to be like.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I also expect him to show up, and there's no
real reason for him not to. He's under contract, they
paid him a lot of money. It's going to be
like one hundred million dollars essentially over two years. So
I would expect him to show up, maybe take some reps,
do his thing, and then everyone goes away for the summer.
We have another crack at this thing, which is try
to figure out is kirk Cousins going to be on
(09:34):
the Falcons team as the backup which is something I expect,
or or are they going to trade him and just
move on and get someone else to take on some
of the money. And then if you do get someone
else to take on the money, is it actually worth it?
Like if the Falcons could save like let's say five
or six million dollars, I don't know, just pick a number,
it doesn't matter what it is, but get a backup
who's not as ready to play, and then they actually
(09:55):
have to play that backup.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Was it worth it to save the money?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
These are very real questions for a Falcons team that
seems ready to win and compete when they're going to
have to tackle over the next couple.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Of months, and if they were to wait too long
to potentially work out a kirk Cousin's trade, trying to
wait for an injury to happen in training camp or
the preseason, even the regular season. Kirk Cousins, who has
at no trade cause also going to get to a
certain point and say I don't think I want to
accept that trade. A lot of things that can still
play out there. Twenty four team starting mini camp on Tuesday.
(10:28):
One started today. It was the new England Patriots. They've
got a new coach, they've not got new players, and
that coach Mike Frable had some things to say about
some big stories, including the status of Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
Figure out where everything is and what his role is
and making sure that as we add those situations the
third down and no huddle in the red zone, that
he's staying up on it. It's working hard in his rehab.
When he can certain drills he can be out there,
and there's certain drills that he won't be. But I
think he's engaged and uh, they're they're you know, I
(11:03):
like his energy.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
Yeah, he seems like, you know, awesome teammate. You know,
he's he's my next door to my locker locker mate,
so he's you know, one down from beside me. You know,
we talk all the time. He's a veteran of this league.
He's made a lot of plays, playing a lot of
big time games. So just an awesome voice for uh,
for the receiver room, for this offense. He's playing some
playoff games. He's had some big games, and I think,
you know, once he kind of recovers and just get
(11:25):
back out there. I'm looking forward to you'll be able
to you know, throw them foo footballs and uh just
it's always good having a guy like that in your team.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Let's welcome in our Steve Whites and Mark Ross to
the conversation.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Ian.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I'm going to start with you. Stefan Diggs has had
an interesting several weeks. Certainly had a good time Memorial
Day weekend, then came in participated OTAs the following week,
watching him moving around, no brace on that knee, and
then here in Mike Frable's words, it seems like we're
at least tracking in a good direction for Stefan Diggs
in Foxboro.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, Steven Diggs has done a lot more than force
all of us to go to YouTube and and google
I'm on a boat, which I think is what was
really the main story for Diggs this entire offseason until
he hit the field. And for those are unfamiliar with
Stefan Diggs as a practice player, let.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Me just tell you it is awesome. It is beautiful.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
It is something that is so cool to wats I'll
never forget the first time I was at Bill's camp
and I watched Von Diggs practice. I mean, this is
a guy who works insanely hard on this route, running
every rep is as hard as it can be and
as precise as it can But he is an excellent, excellent.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Practice player, and that's what you want.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
What you want is for him to be on the
practice field, to be as productive as he's going to
be either in practice and eventually in games, and show
everyone that Diggs is far more than the guy who
was on a boat doing all those things that you
just would rather not talk about in May, in June
or really ever. This is a player they've invested in heavily.
He does seem to be on a good track, guys
(12:52):
to get back from his ACL injury, and so who
needs to be a key member of this offense to
help Drake May an other thrive and what has to
be a bounce back year for New England.
Speaker 7 (13:03):
Yeah, yeah, I mean they went on got Stefan Digs
to help Drake May because this is a player.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
To me, this offseason is very big for him.
Speaker 7 (13:08):
Because of course Mike ra Abel the new head coach, but
then Josh McDaniels comes back in as the offensive coordinator.
This is a tough offense to learn, and Drake may
as much as he showed individual promise last year, I
mean really some good things.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
He was three and nine as a starter. Three and
nine is not going to work again this year.
Speaker 7 (13:24):
They've got to add to the win total and just
look at the way the track he's on and the
moves that they've made this offseason.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
He's got the biggest window for growth.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
Of all those standout rookie qbs last year, except for
maybe Michael Pennix, who didn't play as much as some
of those other players.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So this is a really big offseason for him.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
Also when you see how the Patriots start their season
with Las Vegas, at Miami, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and in three
straight road games starting with a game at Buffalo, so
he's got to get into and maybe Stefan Diggs coming
back as soon as.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
He possibly can.
Speaker 7 (13:54):
You know, we'll see, but he's got to be sharper
than everyone out there to get used to a lot
of new things, including a tough start to the schedule.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Mark.
Speaker 8 (14:02):
Yeah, look, Steve, I expect Drake made to make a
huge lead if anybody watched the Patriots last year, he
kind of was a one man show and they did
not have much talent at all on either side of
the ball. And I think the Patriots did a wonderful
job this offseason. First of free agency, they had the
money to spend, and they spent it on proven players
that are playmakers, Milton william of, Carlton Davis, there at
(14:23):
Harold Landry, Stefan Diggs who we talked about. But then
in the draft they went and crushed it in the
draft there with Will Campbell and then Treveon Henderson, the
running back out of Ohio State. So I expect Drake
may number one to get better just because of Rabel's presence.
They got the foundation of a head coach who can
win playoff games, and then they just have so much
(14:44):
more talent around him now than what they had last year.
So he doesn't have to say, man, I've got to
go into each one of these games and win this.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
All by myself. So not just those big names.
Speaker 8 (14:56):
They made some sneaky good signings too, like a mccollins
as well. I expect this Patriots team not only to
improve on that win total, but maybe even completely flip
that around that one loss record, come up there against the.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Bills and say here we come. We're ready.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Drake May now has as many weapons around him as
Mark Ross has plants around him from wherever he's coming from.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I count four in the background.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
That's almost an entire receiving crew. Mark and Steve, thank
you very much. A lot more from you guys to
come on this show. We also got news today out
of Indianapolis, where the Colts announced the expected details on
the transition of team ownership from their late owner and CEO,
Jim Rsey, who passed away last month at age sixty five.
His three daughters will all be members of ownership, with
(15:42):
Carly Ersay Gordon serving as the owner of the team,
the controlling owner of the club as well as the CEO.
Get more of the NFL with NFL Plus. They connected
throughout the offseason with twenty four to seven football news
and coverage on NFL Network and with NFL Plus Premium.
Relive your favorite moments from the twenty twenty fourth season
(16:04):
with game replays and access to NFL player sets with
NFL Pro. Subscribe today at plus dot NFL dot com.
Terms and conditions apply. Twenty five teams in mini camps
this week. Ravens on the shortlist of teams have their
mini camp next week, but they are still on the
field for OTAs their first round draft pick. Malachi Starts
(16:26):
talked about his transition to the NFL.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
I think the biggest thing for me is the landmarks.
So the field is completely different than college. And when
I first got here, I could feel myself like they
would say if my job was at the numbers, I
was going to the college numbers, but I was missing
the league numbers. So just being able to work on that,
you know, stay after practice and just watch a lot
of tape and just kind of reprogram myself into this
(16:50):
is where I'm supposed to be at has been the
challenging thing. But it's getting a lot better with all
the help and you know, all the rep said I'm
getting is huge in my development.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Welcome back to the Insiders.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Tom Pilacero, Mark Ross, se Wicher, Mack Jeffrey Jenia joining
the show as well. Jeffrey I bumped into Malachi Starts
like three separate times in Green Bay during draftleek. He's
one of those guys who immediately see it there lights
up the room on the field, though, what type of
impact you envision he can have.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
As a rookie. Well, the Ravens are super excited about
what he can bring to that defense.
Speaker 9 (17:21):
And we forget they finished strong last year, but the
first half of the season with that second deary with
a lot of broken coverages, big plays given up, and
so defensive coreator zach Orr was talking about Malakaia Starts recently.
He loves the vision of this guy with Kyle Hamilton,
in fact that you've seen already in the train in
OTA's with the way they're communicating, the way Hamilton is
(17:42):
giving him knowledge about how to play in this defense,
and they know that he brings great versatility to it.
Zach Orr talked about just the fact that Starts has
the ability to play inside and outside and nickel and
slot and don all these different things.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Though.
Speaker 9 (17:56):
They love being able to move guys around Mark in
that secondary and having this player, this Malachi Starts here
is going to make this defense a lot better for
a Ravens team that wants to get over that hump.
Speaker 8 (18:06):
No doubt, Jeff, there was no more Ravens pick than
Malachi Starts going there.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
But also Ravens pick was that second round pick Mike Green,
who they got there.
Speaker 8 (18:14):
In the bottom of the second who was really a
top fifteen type talent. And I think he can have
an equally, if not more of an impact than.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Even Malachi Starts.
Speaker 8 (18:22):
Because even though the Ravens were second in the league
in sacks last year, it was really by committee where
seventeen different guys had one sacker more, led by thirty
four Crol Kyle Van Noyd with twelve and a half.
You can't expect him to replicate that. So really, Mike
Green could be that guy with you talked about zach
Or finding his groove and it was with all the
different blitzes that.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Got people home.
Speaker 8 (18:44):
Well, now you have a guy in Mike Green who
I think can just go out there and say, Mike,
just go get us buckets like you did leading the
FBS with seventeen sacks at Marshall really stepped up his
game against Ohio.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
State and at the Senior Bowl as well.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
So I think the impact that Mike Green can have
on that Ravens pass rush that did it by committee
and by exotic blitz's is going to make this defense
even better this year.
Speaker 10 (19:08):
Steve.
Speaker 7 (19:08):
I would love that mark because he's a rotational player
right now, Like you said, they got a bunch of
good frontline players in front of them, and Jeff, you're
talking about Malachai Starks.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Let's go back to zach Or.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
The second year defensive coordinator, because Jeff, you talked about
how good they were on the final game. From Week
eleven all the way through the end of the season,
they were the top defense in the NFL after being
the worst pass defense the first week's one through ten,
they're giving up ten points fewer. But Ken zach Orr
build on that because remember, a lot of the credit
(19:38):
for that improvement went once Baltimore went out and hired
former defensive coordinator Dean Peas as a consultant, so Pee's
got a lot of that credit.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Peace is still consulting.
Speaker 7 (19:49):
A little bit with the team, but this is going
to be more on zach Or to build with some
of the talent. You guys talked about some of the
foundation that he helped establish last year, so let's see
if he can continue to emerge again. He's a very
young defensive coordinator. He's in his second year, but this
is where he's really got to put his stamp on things,
Otherwise the credit may continue going elsewhere instead of to
(20:11):
some instead of the Orr, who a lot of people
feel is a very promising coach.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
A lot to take in with that Ravens defense, particularly
if you're, oh, no, a team in the division who's
got four different quarterbacks all competing to see who's going
to be the starter in twenty twenty five, Stick around
everybody exactly this. We are going to talk about the Browns, Yes,
Dor Sanders, Dylan Gabriel, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson,
anybody else they might have signed today as well. Where
do we stand right now in the competition be QB
(20:41):
one in Cleveland. We'll discuss it next on the incepts.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
No shendor Sanders so far.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
And not only is it going to fall to twenty
one in Pittsburgh, but there's no backstop after twenty one.
Speaker 11 (21:00):
Mike Collins on the phone, is Shador Sanders on the
other end of the line. If it doesn't happen here,
when does it happen tonight?
Speaker 1 (21:07):
If at all, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Derek Herman.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
The New York Giants have just rolled down the New
York Giants select Jackson Dark Green Bay.
Speaker 10 (21:20):
Are you ready for a Round two?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
The New Orleans Saints select Tyler Shunn.
Speaker 11 (21:26):
Here come the Raiders sixty eighth overall? Could this be
the Shadoor Sanders Colman?
Speaker 7 (21:32):
The Las Vegas Raiders select Darien Porter.
Speaker 11 (21:36):
The Steelers are back on the clock again.
Speaker 7 (21:38):
The Pittsburgh Stealing select Caleb Johnson.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
The Seattle Seahawks has selected quarterback Alabama Jalen Miroe.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
The Cleveland Browns select Dylan Gabriel.
Speaker 11 (21:52):
Two more quarterbacks not named Shadoor Sanders.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
What's the story with Sanders?
Speaker 12 (21:56):
Literally everybody at home is asking the same question.
Speaker 11 (21:59):
I've never seeing a top twenty pick on the draft
board when we started Day three. I have no earthly
idea why he's still out there.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Here's the Cleveland Browns pick. Is this the moment?
Speaker 9 (22:09):
With the one hundred and forty four pick, the Cleveland
brown select Chore Senior.
Speaker 11 (22:16):
Waiting to hear his name is over, Shador Sanders is
a Cleveland Brown Can't make it up.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I can't remember a lot of quarterback rooms like this one.
Two draft picks, both mid round players. One they traded
for former first round pick and Kenny Pickett, a forty
year old former first round pick in Joe Flacco. Of course,
Deshan Watson still there to getting paid more than all
those guys combined, but an all luckily not available to
play during the twenty twenty five NFL season. Welcome back
(22:45):
to the Insiders, Tom Pill with sero Ian, Robbord, Mark Ross,
Steve witch Ian. I start with you because this is
one of those moments. Okay, we t'll talk as much
about fifth round draft picks here, but every step the
Shador Sanders takes becomes a thing where do we actually
stand so far?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
For you? First of all, that rip was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
That list of highlights from the draft when every single
other player on God's Green Earth was drafted except for
Chador Standers. That was internal. That was the longest draft
highlight we've ever ran, and it felt so much longer
sitting through it, Like you think, it's ridiculous for the
amount of people who have asked us if Aaron Rodgers
is signing with the Steelers, one hundred times more people
(23:30):
asked during that two and a half day span of
when Shador Standers was going to get drafted and who
is going to draft him.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
It was unbelievable. It ended up being the Browns and
now we are here.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
So as far as where they stand, you know, he's
taken reps, he's doing things.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Seems like it's been fine.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
No major red flags, no crazy highlights, a couple of
nice throws, a couple of things you'd like to have back.
So basically like every single other rookie that is doing
anything right now, it's just the difference is this is
the one we're discussing. And if you're the Cleveland Browns guys,
and you knew that you were taking a lottery ticket
like Shador Sanders, where either you're gonna cash it in
(24:07):
big in two years and everyone's gonna be rich, or
you're gonna just tear it up and go cool. Just
spend a dollar in the next one. This is going
to be the most talked about lottery ticket. We've seen
it a lot in a long time. So he's gonna
play just like all the rookies. Will either prove it
or he isn't. The difference is just right now, the
treatment we are giving it and the amount of eyes
that are on Shadoor Sanders.
Speaker 8 (24:29):
Yeah, he might be the most talked about fifth round
pick in the history of the NFL, because we're going
to keep talking about it and discussing it, and this
is not going to be determined anytime soon. As Ian said,
they're going to go into training camp once they start
playing real games, and even training camp is a real
games at preseason games aren't real games anymore. But at
least he'll get a taste of it, so we'll get
(24:50):
more and more of this. And really, for the Browns
and Chador, it's all right there in front of him.
Go beat out the guy that got drafted in front
of you, Go beat out of Kenny Pickett, who's on
his third team already. And then Joe Flacco seems to
be the air A pair to take the job. But
here it is in front of you. Shador Sanders to
go win it. But Steve the bigger question I have overall.
I know the quarterback position is getting all the talk
(25:12):
because of uniqueness, but the Browns overall talent when you
just look top to bottom, they're really lacking in a
lot of talent at the playmaker position on the defensive
side of.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
The ball outside of Miles Garrett.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
So I think we're missing out on a lot of that,
like where is Cleveland going to compete overall with the Ravens,
with the Bengals of their own division.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
So that's the big questions I've got.
Speaker 7 (25:33):
Yeah, and outside of Jerry Judy wide receiver, Davin a
Joku at tight end, I mean, that's still whoever's playing
quarterback is you really gonna have to figure some things
out as well. But you know, I know we're sitting
here talking about Seworth Sands, but what about Dylan Gabriel.
I mean, this is a guy who had sixty three
college starts. We haven't heard much about him at all,
and this is somebody When you talk about what Kevin
Stefanski does offensively, it is timing, it is rhythm, and
(25:56):
it is getting to the ball accurately, the same things
we're hearing about Hide or Sanders.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
That is something that Dylan Gabriel does very very well.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
So it's just going to be intriguing to see how
they split the reps and how they evaluate these quarterbacks,
because all things being equal, then what do they do?
I mean is can you picket someone that some team
is going to trade for? Are they going to keep for?
Are they going to cut one and who will the
odd man out be. I mean, if it's should Wear Sanders,
that would be as big of a story as what
we're talking out about right now. So, you know, Ian
(26:24):
you talk about the long drawn out process and this
being a lottery ticket. The one thing that Cleveland did
is next year they assure themselves of getting a first
round draft pick where they can go get a quarterback
if none of these guys work out. So this is
such an intriguing situation with the Browns have done. But
in terms of the short term, this is going to
be daily conversation what we're doing inside training camp and
everything else leading up to the regular season.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, really what the Browns that is lead themselves with
multiple outs, Right, Like, maybe Dylan Gabriel becomes the third
round lottery ticket that they all sort of think should
or Sanders is. Maybe it ends up as Shadoor as
they start. Maybe Kenny Pickett, who you know, I think
is has acclimated at times to this new system, maybe
he ends up being the one kicking into gear and
(27:08):
to training.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Can't be right if it's none of these guys.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
They got an extra first rounder next year to go
up and get a quarterback. Or just you know, kind
of rebuild this team. The other The other thing I
would say, Tom is preseason games are always really, really fun,
especially the early part where you get to see like
the good players against the good players. Brown's preseason games
are gonna be, as they say, lit, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
They're going to be all in on Brown's preseason games.
It's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
And the jersey with another row on all three got
all three Browns preseason games live right here on NFL Networks.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Is fifty two days away from the Hall of Fame.
Game football is that close, fellas.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
They want me to.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
But don't talk about this forever, baby, I want to
play in front of the player you put it going
in TV? In my what's the game?
Speaker 9 (28:02):
Right?
Speaker 6 (28:04):
The homes in the pocket floats a fast test?
Speaker 12 (28:09):
That's all the time you're gonna throw a quicks fast.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Does underestimate how tough Patrick Mahomes is Super Bowl test?
I let's go. No, it's the Super Bowl fifty eight.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Every day go down, every day You've gone for the
top of dog too.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Mahomes right for the end zone. But god shay, it's
a super Bowl fifty seven. What's that touchdown legendary. Man,
I can't say anything. I want to get three though,
no argument.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
It is number one for Patrick Mahomes quarterback in this game.
When it comes to real life fantasy, maybe not so much.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Kind of.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
One of the weird things in this world is that
Patrick Mahomes, as you see right there, the third best
fantasy quarterback projected for the twenty twenty five season in
the am West.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Let's get a little more in this, bringing our good
friend Michael F.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Flourio, who spent a lot of the day catching strays
from Bill Belichick's girlfriend and other people erroneously listing his
name on tweets and then having to go back and say,
hey man, that's actually not this floy at the other
four you We.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Don't need to get into that.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Let's get into this fantasy projections as we've been going
division by division. Tell me about the Kansas City Chiefs
for you.
Speaker 12 (29:26):
You saw there, Mahomes is projected for the third most
points in his division.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Third.
Speaker 12 (29:30):
That's because last year Mahomes averaged the fewest air yards
pertempt of all quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
That should never be when.
Speaker 12 (29:39):
You have Patrick Mahomes and the deep ball needs to
get back into this offense. Matt Naggey himself has said
so this offseason, and if that happens, Mahomes' upside is
just as high as it always is, but he is
going at a cheaper cost than ever before. And if
Mahomes gets right, it means good things for everyone else
in this offense, including Rashid Rice, who's scored over seventeen
(30:01):
fantasy points in all three of his full games last year.
He is the highest upside of any Kansas City wide receiver.
Xavier Worthy got better and better as the year went on.
We saw in the Super Bowl he has that field
stretching capability, so he is an upside wide receiver too,
and then Marquise Brown. He's not even a top sixty
fantasy wide receiver in early drafts. Right now he is
completely free upside. And I'm higher on Isaiah Pachecko than
(30:24):
most here I know. Last year, he didn't look like
himself when he came back. He wasn't himself, But we
saw Tony Pollard have this same injury. It sapped him initially,
but once he had some time to recover, he's back
to himself. So I'm high on Isaiah Pachecko and he
is super cheap, and then Travis Kelce, I don't know
if I.
Speaker 10 (30:42):
Want to do that.
Speaker 12 (30:42):
Last year looked like it might have been the first
signs of a decline.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah, but you know, in the playoffs, so probably find me.
That's now we're talk about. We're talking about fantasy.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I was intrigued by the fall screen that we showed
right at the beginning of this.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Boon Nick's the.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Seventh best projected core as it pertains to fantasy.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
That's kind of fascinating to me.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Take me through the Denver Broncos and where they stand
as it pertains to fantasy.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Bo Nick should be.
Speaker 12 (31:12):
Drafted as a top ten fantasy quarterback. He brings top
five upside here. In fact, he hit the third most
touchdowns and fifth most Fantasy points ever by a rookie QB.
The only other rookie QB to throw and run for
as many yards as he did was Cam Newton, and
Cam Newton is the greatest QB rookie and Fantasy of
all time.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
RJ.
Speaker 12 (31:33):
Harvey, though, is generating a ton of hype here, and
it's easy to see why. Sean Payton's lead running back
has averaged eighty six targets per year since twenty seventeen,
with over fifty in every year going back to twenty ten.
So Harvey brings RB one upside, but you could draft
him as an RB two. Just hope they don't sign
(31:54):
another back there, and if bo Nicks is playing well,
it means good things for Courtland's who was the seventh
best Fantasy wide receiver from Week eight on last year,
but he is just underappreciated right now he is being
drafted as a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Three.
Speaker 12 (32:10):
I also like Evan Ingram here, who could be the
number two target. We know Sean Payton loves to feed
his tight ends when he has a good one. And
then if you're going a little bit deeper here, Marvin
Mims Junior and Pat Bryant.
Speaker 10 (32:22):
Are some late round dart throws worth taking.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
You know how these segments are good. Besides the fact
that they're just good, they kind of remind you who's
on the team. It's like, oh, Evan Ingram on the Broncos,
I kind of forgot about that.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
That's interesting. Signing very Sean Payton.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Take me through the Los Angeles Chargers and their remade
group of skill guys.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Where do they stand?
Speaker 12 (32:41):
Look, you could call me Sonny Weaver Junior here because
for me, it is lad McConkie. No matter what I know,
he's going in the second round in early drafts right now,
I don't care because he was top five in Fantasy
points per target and yards per route last year and
he was one of the very best wide receivers against
man coverage all as a rookie, and rookie got a
(33:01):
little bit slow out the gate, so.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
He could break out this year.
Speaker 12 (33:05):
Justin Herbert last year was fourth in passing yards from
Week six on. You're going to hear all summer that
the Chargers love to run the ball, and they do,
but it doesn't mean that Justin Herbert doesn't bring upside
in this offense.
Speaker 10 (33:19):
And right now he is going as a QB two.
Speaker 12 (33:22):
If he plays well, that makes Trey Harris a sleeper.
But the big question here is going to be about
Omarion Hampton, their first round rookie running back.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
They drafted him.
Speaker 12 (33:31):
He is being drafted in fantasy right now as a
top fifteen fantasy running back and.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
He has the potential to live up to that.
Speaker 12 (33:38):
The question, though, is how much is Naji Harris going
to eat into that workload? Because for me, it's a
question of how much and not will he be involved,
because I very much shall think Naji Harris will be
a thing in this offense.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
You want to talk about great running backs with high expectation. Cool,
I'm glad you did. Let's talk about the Raiders. Where
do they stack? Including running back Uproba is gonna get
drafted pretty.
Speaker 12 (34:01):
Highly, yeah, Ash and Jensy went sixth overall in the
NFL draft.
Speaker 10 (34:06):
He might go earlier in fantasy drafts.
Speaker 12 (34:08):
We all know the talent is there and he should
see a ton of volume as Pete Carroll loves to
feed his RB one and Chip Kelly's offenses have finished
top seven in rushing.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Attempts in three of his four years.
Speaker 12 (34:21):
So I have Jens ranked as my RB four my
early rankings, behind Saquon Gibbs and Bijon and that is
Gino Smith goes there, which is a huge thing for
this offense.
Speaker 10 (34:32):
Look, Gino is more is what he is in fantasy.
Speaker 12 (34:35):
A depth piece AA bench quarterback, but he is better
than any QB that they had on this roster last year,
which helps elevate everyone in this offense. He also throws
to the slot a lot which helps brock Bauers and
Jacoby Myers. And speaking of brock Bowers, he is the
most yards and Fantasy points ever by a rookie tight end,
(34:55):
most catches by a rookie, regardless of position, and this
is a big QB upgrade for him. He is the
obvious tight end one that you have to take in
round two if you want. Jacoby Myers, though, does get
a little overlooked in this offense, and I think he's
been overlooked for years in fantasy. So if you want
a nice backup wide receiver in the double digit rounds,
Jacoby Myers is a name you should be targeting.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
Shoot at third. Brock Bowers.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Last year I had the chance. I had Kelsey at
my keeper leg. I'm like, I got Kelsey. I'll be fine.
I'm going to be kicking myself for the next ten
years or so.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Sound like for you. Thank you very much for joining us.
Great stuff.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
As always, twenty five teams kickoff mandatory mini camps this week,
including the champs. The Philadelphia Eagles will be out there
for mini camp beginning on Tuesday, another small step forward
as they begin what they hope to be a successful
Super Bowl title defense. Welcome back to the insiders, Tom Pilli, Sero,
(35:50):
Jeffrey Chadia, Mark Ross, and Steve White. Jeffrey, I'll start
with you here. Cooper dejen one of the many breakout
stars for the Eagles during the Super Bowl a year ago.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
How finol do you envision his role changing in year two?
Speaker 9 (36:04):
Well, Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was putting the idea out
of the gene.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Moving to safety and base defenses, which.
Speaker 9 (36:12):
Was an interesting idea given that he's a corner by nature.
But there was talk of him playing safety when he
came into the league, and he was so good as
a nickel back that they're not going to take him
away from that spot. The te years figuring out how
do the other guys fit in around him. They'd love
to keep him at corner in base defenses, but if
other guys emerged, he can go to safety. If he
needs to be at corner because other guys can't play there,
(36:34):
he'll do that, But Fangio made it clear they don't
play a lot of base defense anyway. This guy's most
successful as a slot corner. He's made his name doing
that as a rookie, and you saw the big plays
he made there in the Super Bowl, So mark this
defense is going to be just found no matter where
Cooper Degene ends up.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Well, that's secondary right now. Jeff is really the strength
of the team.
Speaker 8 (36:53):
And let's not forget Cooper de Gene and all those
guys are feasting because of that pass rush was really
destroying teams, particularly Super Bowl but also the whole entire
playoff run where they.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Had seventeen sacks.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
They only had forty one in the regular season, which
was nineteenth in the league. So a lot of question
marks for me with the loss of Josh Swett, the
loss of Milton Williams, the loss of Brandon Graham, three
of their top five pass rushers from the regular season,
So they're going to be counting on a lot of
Nolan Smith who's coming off an injury, jalenx Hunt stepping
up young players like that in the Joe Moo and
(37:25):
we'll see with Jahadd Campbell, the rookie out of Alabama,
the versatile rookie, where he comes in the mix if
he provides some pass rush as well. So a lot
of different options, but a lot of guys that really
have to step up. But that secondary really is the
holding it together right now, Steve.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
And as long as that offense can.
Speaker 8 (37:42):
Roll the way they do and put thirty points on
the board with the blake that defensive really had the
big one or two plays a game to win games,
you have.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
The best thing.
Speaker 7 (37:49):
And the biggest thing that happened to the Eagles was
this offseason the owners voting not to ban the tush push.
This is something now where they can keep their identity
because they didn't change any frontline players on their offense.
So they got the best offensive line in football, they
got the best running back in football, and now they
can go into certain situations regardless of where they are
on the field, knowing they've got two plays in the
(38:11):
pocket on third and four down if they have to
go there, if they don't convert on the touch push.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
But to add to the.
Speaker 7 (38:17):
Power game, this is why I'm loving the Eagles right now.
Let's not forget they signed former Packers running back aj
Dillon to back up Sakwan Barkley. The Quadzilla and Quadzilla
light in the backfield together.
Speaker 10 (38:30):
Now.
Speaker 7 (38:30):
Dylan missed a lot of time last year with a
neck injury, but we know he's a power running back,
and Mark and Jeff I would not doubt this offense
putting both of them in the backfield at some time,
either split or the full back I formation with a
lead blocker going straight power, because that's what they've done,
and now that they know that there are a lot
(38:51):
of teams that were trying to cut off their strength
in the touch push, they are going to really be
playing some of that Ram ram Rod type of football
with those big running backs as well.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Sekwon aj Dillon Jalen hurts.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
We'll see how the Eagles do in twenty twenty five,
but that is the best one two three punch for
squats that I've ever seen in the NFL. Gentlemen, Thank
you all very much. We will talk to you again soon.
It's Mini camp time, which means it's time to unveil
an annual tradition. Let's have a bunch of rookies try
to paint their team logo. Yes, as usual, the results
(39:27):
are hilarious. Stick around check it out next on The Insiders.
The weight is over and the countdown to kickoff has begun.
Single game tickets for the twenty twenty five NFL season
are on sale now. Visit NFL dot com slash tickets
(39:47):
to purchase tickets today. Tickets are available through the NFL
ticket network including ticket Masters, Geek, and Sports Illustrated Tickets.
Texans fans can buy tickets to watch a lot of
players are now also including Nick Chubb officially passive fiscal
and signing a one year deal worth up to five
million dollars. The latest member really interesting Houston backfield, alongside
(40:12):
Joe Mixon. Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pellicero and
Ian Rappaport. Thankfully, in our early days covering this league,
there were no such rights of passage as the one
that NFL rookie players now have to go through because
for several years running now, all top rookies have been
asked to take on a certain art project, drawing their
(40:33):
team's logos.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Let's take a look, yiky.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Ready, this is Caleb Johnson, Shadori Sanders, Jayalen Burrow, Aston,
jenc Chivis, Hunder Jackson and Jaguars Cam War.
Speaker 10 (40:43):
I can't look at the picture.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Yes, I can't look at my pants.
Speaker 10 (40:47):
The last time I painted was like Junior High.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Still one there.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
I would say, I'm a ten painter.
Speaker 10 (40:57):
You got dron logan first, I know how the green eyeball.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
Oh, I'm so bad.
Speaker 10 (41:01):
I don't even know what that is. Just a good
eye over here.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm with just
John's son.
Speaker 10 (41:08):
Wait, how do you do like this glue stuff?
Speaker 2 (41:10):
This is the glue? Haven't used glue? Like?
Speaker 4 (41:12):
This is those five It's not about what the outside
look like, what's on the inside.
Speaker 10 (41:19):
Jalen Melro probably struggled. I'm scared about this one.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Oh, like this is awful.
Speaker 6 (41:28):
Guys, you got your raider right here, Haig Qualdi fashion.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Yeah, I'll frame this with the signature though. This will
go for probably about two bands.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
The winner there, I think clearly Cam Scattaboo, although the
ny Giants logo is short of a cheat codean.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
I mean Travis Hunter actually did like an actual jaguar
as usual, he made everything look very easy. Some of
the other one it might be good football players just
not good, but just really bad, terribly bad, awful bad.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
You know, you know what I thought was great was
that the guys drawing the Raiders logo Ashton Jen t
Jack Fash. They just made that raider look so nice.
He just looked happy to be there. It was happy
to be here. We're back tomorrow, seven Eastern see it.
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