NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista and Mike Garafolo kick off the show with all of the latest information regarding the 2025 NFL schedule! Then, they break down the impact of Derrick Henry’s massive contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens and what it means for other top running backs pursuing new deals. Jaguars Executive VP of Football Operations Tony Boselli joins Brian Baldinger and Mike to discuss Jacksonville’s bold trade-up to draft Travis Hunter and the growing global passion for the NFL. The Insiders also react to Cam Heyward’s message to Steelers Nation, provide updates on Aaron Rodgers’ potential move to Pittsburgh, and examine QB concerns across the AFC. Plus, Omar Ruiz explains why the Los Angeles Chargers could be true Super Bowl contenders this season.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
We are exactly one hour away from the release of
the full twenty twenty five NFL schedule, and you are
in the right place to get all the details. Where
will your team open the season? Who will you be
watching over the holidays. We will tell you what we
know and what is still to be unveiled tonight. The
Ravens already unveiled a brand new contract for Derrick Henry
(00:30):
that locks up the King through twenty twenty seven. We
will break down what it means for Baltimore and what
it could mean for some other running backs waiting for
their own paydays. The Jaguars did not wait around for
Travis Hunter. They made a monster trade to snag the
two way threat at number two overall Hall of Favor.
Tony Boselli is back in Jacksonville as a team executive,
(00:52):
and E will join us tonight to tell us where
Douval goes from here. Welcome inside with the Insiders alongside
Judy but T and Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I am Tom Pelisera.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
We are now fifty nine minutes away from the release
of all two one hundred and seventy two games across
the NFL this season, and guess what we get a
few more sneak peaks at some of those big games earlier. Today,
let's start out on Thanksgiving, where the Cowboys are in
their traditional nationally televised slot this year going up against
(01:24):
a unique opponent. It's Patrick Mahomes, the defending AFC champion Chiefs.
You'll be watching that one over pie Deck, won't be
He'll actually be playing in the game, and he sounds
excited as well.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
No, I think it's cool. I mean, obviously another team
that played in the Super Bowl last year, have been
champions past few years, and quarterback being from the Dallas area,
I think it's pretty cool. Just getting to host them
here at Achant Stadium on Thanksgiving. As you said, knowing
is such a tradition with a great halftime show, I
think the NFL is going to get what they want.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Chiefs also playing on Christmas again against the and that
is not all. Netflix also has a Christmas doubleheader. It'll
be Cowboys Commanders followed by Lions and Vikings, a triple
header in all on Christmas Day and night. Then I
mentioned tune in at the top of the hour to
see the full twenty twenty five NFL schedule revealed Every game,
(02:19):
every rivalry, every rematch in every rookie debut, APM Eastern
on NFL Network, NFL dot Com, the NFL App and
streaming on NFL Plus. Richeyes and Michael Robinson, MJD and
a bunch of special guests stick around.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You do not want to miss that.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But first, we got a lot more right here on
the insiders, including a big deal for one of the
NFL's biggest and best running backs, Derrick Henry, agree to
a two year, thirty million dollar contract extension that includes
twenty five million dollars fully guaranteed over the next two
seasons that locks up Henry now in Baltimore through twenty
twenty seven. Mike, this is a frontload in two year
(02:58):
deal that Henry signed last year. It ended up one
of the best bargains in football fifteen million dollars per
year on table on paper. But the biggest thing here
is it puts Henry back in line with some of
those other top guys in this position.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
It does.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
It gets him into the original Christian McCaffrey extension territory,
which is like sixteen million that was years ago. Say
Kwon Barkley now had a bump on his deal that
averages into the twenties. But it's apples and oranges really
when you start to compare these deals that are done
on top of deals. But I can tell you this,
he was scheduled to make seven million this upcoming season.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
He doubled that.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
He now has fully guaranteed money into twenty twenty six.
You said, it ties him to the Ravens through twenty
twenty seven, the fully guaranteed money at least through twenty
twenty six. So a vote of confidence, certainly from the
Ravens that this guy is going to continue.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
To stay in shape. We know what he does to
do that.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
And it puts him in a packed payment bracket, as
we say, tax bracket about a payment bracket that.
Speaker 6 (03:54):
He probably should have gotten last year, right like we
were still in that we don't pay running backs type
of mindset, which I think we're out of now and
I think we're at back to drafting running backs highly
as well.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
That was a deal that averaged eight million dollars per season.
The Ravens are one of the teams that probably should
have given Ai more, but at least they gave him
enough to get to Baltimore. Everybody else what were you doing.
I mean, this guy was there for the taking at
a much lower number. The Ravens said that they would
bump his salary up this offseason.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
They did that.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
That certainly earns them kudos in the locker room with
the mother folks duty as well.
Speaker 7 (04:29):
Yeah, I would say, though, I know there's a tendency
to look at this and say, Wow, this is a
post thirty year old running back who got a pretty
good chunk of change here. I'm not sure we can
extrapolate a whole lot from Derrick Henry. He is one
of one. There are just not that many running backs
who are in his kind of physical condition at age
thirty one, as productive as he is at age thirty one,
(04:52):
and as central to the team that he is on
as Derrick Henry is to the Baltimore Ravens. He's a
bit of an outlier, and the same way as Saquon
Barkley is an outlier, in the same way as Christian
McCaffrey is an outlier. So yes, I think the tendency
is to look at this and say, what does this
do to the.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Running back market?
Speaker 7 (05:10):
I'm not sure if you're looking for post thirty year
old running backs that they should all be looking at
this number and thinking I'm going to get the Derrick
Henry number, because you're probably not Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Saquon Barkley, as Mike mentioned, got his deal upgraded in
the offseason. Chris McCaffery got upgraded last year and then
played in the grand total of four games while dealing
with m kelly's injuries. Here, if you look at some
of the other guys now who are up for new
contracts potentially sooner than later, not a lot of Saquon
Barkley's on that list. Certainly really productive running backs Isaiah
but Checko has played big for the Chiefs, especially in
(05:44):
the postseason. Kyron Williams, Brisol, Travis ATN and James cook
the top name on that list. Certainly you can argue
he is the best of the players on that list.
Chiming in just saying congrats, nothing else. I think congrats Handles.
It makes the statement for him. And we know that
James Cooks already said earlier this offseason the type of
number that he is looking for. Judy from the Buffalo Bills,
(06:06):
there were talks at one point. It doesn't sound like
there's been anything recent. Well, James Cook's staying away from
the Bills in the off season. This is one of
those situations. It's going to be worth tracking here in
the coming months.
Speaker 7 (06:20):
Yes, this is definitely worth watching because James Cook has
been really productive the last two seasons for the Buffalo Bills.
The question is the way the Buffalo Bills are built
and the way they play football, are they going to
pay James cooker, for that matter, any running back at
the top of the running back market. They are built
(06:40):
around Josh Allen. Right, Saquon Barkley is the engine of
the Philadelphia Eagles. Christian McCaffrey, same thing in San Francisco,
Derek Henry to a degree, same thing in Baltimore. That's
how important they are to their offenses. James Cook again,
very productive, but nowhere near as productive, for instance, as
say one was last year. And if you are the
(07:01):
Buffalo Bills, your priority is giving weapons to Josh Allen
and putting things around Josh Allen. The offense runs through
Josh Allen. He is the league MVP. He is the
person that elevates everything about that franchise. And James Cook
is a very good running back. I'm sure they'd like
to have him there. But I do think if you
(07:22):
are slotting priorities, James Cook is not the same type
of running back priority that Again, they say Quon Barkley
would be in Philadelphia.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
James Cook and his representation playing poker with the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
See if I can get a smile out of Tom.
Do you know where I'm going with this yet? No,
it doesn't yet.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
James Cook was at a poker tournament over the weekend.
You and I were on a group text with our
buddy Herbie TIOPI was giving us a heads up on
that time there. It is just hit just hit him
right there and yeah, and it didn't say much in
that situation.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
But if it's this.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Kind of stare down, this kind of poker game that
you're going to play this offseason here, I don't know
what you're gonna do to really scare the Bills.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Like Judy you mentioned it.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
I mean, you're talking about Sa Kwon Barkley and Derek
Henry being guys that are threatening the rushing record.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
That's not what the Bills are gonna do. That's not
what James Cook.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
James Cook deserves a nice payday, right, there's a nice contract.
It should get done before the start of the season,
before he puts his body on the line at that
position for one more game. Should it be in the
territory that Derek Henry just got or anywhere near what
Saquon Barkley has got.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Probably not. How close do you get?
Speaker 8 (08:30):
Right?
Speaker 5 (08:30):
That's what these negotiations should be about. But if this
number comes anywhere close to these deals that we're seeing
at the top of the running back market, I'm gonna
be very surprised.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
If you go back several years ago, James brother who
had the same agent, Delvin, ended up going through the
entire offseason. He was kind of participating during training camp,
and then ultimately they got the deal done right before
believe it was the day before the season opener. Here
we'll see if James Cook takes a similar type of tact.
I know they love him in Buffalo, but getting downe
(09:03):
to those numbers with running backs remains a complicated process.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
All right, here's what we want you to do.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
We want you to keep watching this show, the Insiders,
and then keep it locked right here at the top
of the hour.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
We are inside an hour, folks.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
The twenty twenty five NFL schedule will be revealed every game,
every rivalry, every rematch, and every rookie debut eight pm
Eastern right here, NFL Network, NFL dot Com, the NFL
App and streaming on NFL Plus. So wherever you're watching
us right now, just stay, don't move. The Jaguars are
going to move along with the Rams overseas. The Jaguars
(09:37):
used to doing this playing in Wembley. This is one
of the games that have already been revealed Rams at Jaguars. Now, look,
I'll help you with the date here. You got the
month second, so it's ten, that's October. The date is
the day is first is nineteen twenty twenty five, the
year of our Lord.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
That's what we're in right now.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
So having said all that, let us welcome in Pro
Football Hall of Famer, College Football Hall fam Jaguars Executive
VP of Football Operations Tony Vaselli joining the program right now. Tony,
the franchise has a familiarity with London. So when you
see that game, do you kind of ear market and say, Okay,
we know how we're going to structure things moving up
(10:14):
to that and we know how to handle it.
Speaker 9 (10:16):
Right.
Speaker 10 (10:17):
Yeah, We've been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 11 (10:19):
This year is a little bit differently because we're going
to play one game there and not too We've done
two the last two years, kind of got that locked
in and this year we're gonna be over there just
one time. But we have a good plan and the
team's ready and understands exactly what it takes to get
it done.
Speaker 8 (10:36):
Tony, I let's put your ear piece in so you
can hear this question loud and clear.
Speaker 10 (10:41):
I got you.
Speaker 8 (10:41):
But draft the draft, Tony, like took a whole new
level on when your general manager, yourself and Liam Callen
decided to trade up for number five to two to
get Travis Hunder So my question is a million questions
about Travis. But sometimes, Tony, you go through the pre
draft process and you identify a player and then he
(11:03):
comes into your building and you're around him, and you
go out for a rookie mini camp, and then you
see the player. Sometimes they match up, Sometimes they see expectations.
What have you seen from Travis Hunter? Because I got
a bit tone I saw him at his pro day.
I fell in love with the kid, the person, the energy,
the talent. What have you seen thus far?
Speaker 11 (11:26):
Well, First of all, ball you know this as well
as I do. We're not playing real football yet, we're
just out on the grass kind of going through and
doing individual It's a lot of insult out of education.
With that said, I'll say this, Travis Hunter and I
had high expectations. Obviously, we traded up and gave next
year's first round O our second rounder of this year
(11:47):
to go get him. We felt like he was the
best guy to be a Jaguar, and so we had
high expectations.
Speaker 10 (11:53):
He's exceeded my expectations.
Speaker 11 (11:55):
You see the athlete on the field, you see how
he moves, the change, the direction, the box control. But
it's the person that I'm most enamored with. Just the
natural leadership, the energy brings, the excitement, the smile, and
he's a tireless worker. This is a guy that wants
to be the best, and just you watch his demeanor
(12:16):
and how he approaches even just the Phase two workouts
on the field, how he approached the rookie mini camp.
This is a guy who's hungry to be the best.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
You know, I failed to introduce I was so focused
on introducing Tony I didn't introduce this guy below me
here Brian Baldinger NFL Network insider Brian Baldinger, and I
say that because he was all over the fact that
there was going to be a huge trade in the
top ten.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
He was working the phone, he had his sources. He
nailed it.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Take us back to that and that decision, though, Tony,
because you got a new GM, a first time GM,
you got a first time head coach, You're in a
new role that you're in right now, you would think
like everybody, oh, what is this button? Dude, just kind
of learning how that No, no at all, we're going atomic.
We're hitting that bright red one right now. Where did
that confidence come from for you as an entire regime.
Speaker 11 (13:09):
Well, as soon as we figured out where the bathrooms where,
we said, all right, now let's get to work. It's
time to go and build a football team. And I
love that Baldy broke that because we were sitting around
that morning and I saw an axe Baldy was, you know,
was a little clip and I'm like, okay, And I
immediately text them trying to say, okay, what do you
know and who you get it from? It was good stuff, Baldy.
(13:31):
Expect nothing but nothing but that from you. But it
was the process was. I mean, we went through the
evaluation process. You looked at the draft kind of what
we were looking for as we kind of reset and
rebuild this organization. We felt like we have a lot
of good players on the team, but also there's some
areas that we wanted to address. And and when you
have the number five pick, overall, you're trying to get
(13:53):
trying to get better, trying to get the best player,
impact player, And it was clear in our minds that
Travis Hunter is a guy we wanted.
Speaker 10 (14:00):
And it was James Gladstone. He led us.
Speaker 11 (14:02):
It was his, it was the strategy he deployed. He
came to Liam and I right after the owners meetings
and and and laid out a scenario and some thoughts
about us getting up to number two. And after discussions,
you know, between the three of us, we were all
on the same page, aligned.
Speaker 10 (14:18):
And then James wasn't executed. And once we got.
Speaker 11 (14:21):
The terms agreed to with the Cleveland, we sat down
with ownership, went through that and we were off to
the races. The biggest thing was just waiting because we
didn't It was a small group that understood what we
were doing. To keep it quiet, somehow Baldy figured out
something was going on out there, but really proud of
how we executed, how we handled it.
Speaker 10 (14:40):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 11 (14:41):
Most importantly, we got the guy that we that we
wanted in Travis Hunter.
Speaker 8 (14:45):
You know, Tony, it's it's probably ironic, not maybe not ironic.
The schedule makers serve they're smarter than AI. But you
playing the RAM and the you know, James Gladstone, Liam called,
I mean, they're all from the nest of the RAM.
It seems like everybody is drawing from something from here.
You're going internationally here, you're taking this team there on
(15:06):
the international stage.
Speaker 12 (15:07):
You've been there, You've seen this up front.
Speaker 8 (15:10):
What can I mean You've got fans all over the
world now, I mean because of what Sean has decided
to do that you're going to be the forefront of
this international program and you have what can we expect
from this team in this regime right now? Because you've
been here from the beginning, Tony, You've seen owners, coaches, gms.
Speaker 12 (15:29):
What can be.
Speaker 8 (15:29):
Special about Liam and James yourself as you take this
team abroad?
Speaker 11 (15:35):
Yeah, starting with the internationals. To Baldy, I mean, I
think you hit on it. This is something really important
to ark to our organization, to our ownershot con into
the whole franchise and for me as someone who loves
the game and I know you do too, Baldi, just
a real passion for the.
Speaker 10 (15:50):
Game of football.
Speaker 11 (15:51):
I want as many people in this world to experience
what I was able to experience and the love of
the greatest game ever invented. So it's quite an honor
for us actually to go over to London a year
and a year out to build the game of football
and obviously our brand as the Jacksonville Jaguars and it's
a new day, you know. Obviously Sead Khan made the
decisions that he did reset the whole organization from a
(16:12):
leadership standpoint, Liam Cohen as the head coach, James is
the general manager, and me and my executive vice president role.
And you know, we've said a lot of things about
we're looking for guys who are in TANSI rich, tough minded,
physical competitors that are going to go just love the
game of ball. And we feel like we've done some
really good things this year so far and our players
(16:33):
are back, there's buy in, guys are working hard, but.
Speaker 10 (16:36):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 11 (16:37):
You know that what we talk about is one thing,
but we got to go prove it on the grass
and so we're not keeping score yet right now. We're
just making decisions and trying to do the right thing
day in and day out to build a foundation and
really to give ourselves the opportunity to earn the right
to win football games come September. So we have a
lot of work, but I'll say this, I think you're
(16:58):
going to see a group of guy in this organization,
football players, coaches, everyone involves, all staff that we're going
to compete our tails off every day to be the
best we can and try to go win as many
football games as we can.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
We got to talk about the quarterback, and I'll do
it in the context of all the additions that you made,
including Liam Cohen.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
I'll count him as an edition this offseason.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
Diami Brown comes in, Travis Hunter comes in as a
wide receiver. Two editions on the offensive line are actually
a multiple editions, but two expected to start. Patrick McCary
being a big one. Bay Shall touton, don't sleep on
our guy, bay Shall Touoton Baldy. I know we're looking
at him to make an impact there as a fourth
round running back. What do you expect with all this
added around Trevor? What do you expect from him in
(17:42):
twenty twenty five?
Speaker 11 (17:44):
Yeah, first and foremost, you talk about the guys we
brought in and who might start who not. Going back
to the competitive nature, Hey, listen, guys are gonna have to
go earn their spots and we're going to go out
there in training camp. We'll find out who the best
eleven guys are. And obviously, one of the things that
this franchise did and we did as an organization, we
invested in Trevor Lawrence because we believe that he's our
(18:04):
franchise quarterback and we believe in what he can do
and that he can bring a championship and help bring
a championship to Jacksonville. So obviously we want to make
sure he's protected up front, we can run the ball,
takes some of the pressure off him.
Speaker 10 (18:17):
Adding the weapons outside.
Speaker 11 (18:18):
Obviously, Brian Thomas Junior coming back, we think he's one
of the best receivers in all of football. And then
you match that all up with Liam Cohen and I'm
excited that Liam cones our head coach. I'm also excited
that Liam Cohen's calling place because you go look at
his history and what he's done and both college into
the professional level and then just specifically last year in
(18:41):
Tampa top five offense in rush and pass and scoring.
I mean this, And he's built a staff that is
really good and really detailed, and so I think the
combination you're going to see a whole new level of
offensive production.
Speaker 10 (18:56):
That's my belief.
Speaker 11 (18:58):
We got to go prove it now, but really the
focus on surrounding Trevor, getting the right pieces around him,
trying to take some pressure off him by running the ball,
and at the end of the day, bring a great
coaching staff in that can work with Trevor because he
has to get better too. And what I love about
Trevor watching him this offseason in the role I have now,
which I get to see every day, is just the
(19:20):
competitiveness of him of wanting to be better, not satisfied,
knowing that he has to raise the bar himself, and
that kind of makes forces everyone else around him to
raise the bar. So it's a good situation right now.
Offseason has been going well. Trevor's progression. He had the
off season shoulder surgery, that's behind him. We're excited expecting
(19:41):
him to be one hundred percent healthy, ready to go
at camp and we'll be off to the races.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
We put no firm timetable, but we got a rough
timetable there and an optimistic one there from Tony Passeli.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Tony, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
Looking forward to OTA's mini camp training camp.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Before you know it, we're going to be get and going.
We're gonna be playing some of that real football you
were talking about.
Speaker 11 (20:03):
Yeah, we'll get some pads on and actually be able
to evaluate some guys and see them out on the
field playing the game of football. And Baldy, I expect
you in Jacksonville this year to come see camp with us.
Speaker 8 (20:13):
I will be there. I'll be a ok and this
summer when the pads are on, Tony.
Speaker 12 (20:18):
I'll be right next.
Speaker 10 (20:19):
Here we go.
Speaker 12 (20:19):
There you go, Well watch it together.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
You know I love Hitch.
Speaker 10 (20:23):
I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Hitching it right along with him. Appreciate it Tons.
Speaker 10 (20:28):
More than Mary. We're welcome.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
All.
Speaker 10 (20:31):
Let's go see you guys.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Now if you'l excuse us, we have to go book
some flights and hotels. Baldy and I, but when we
come back after that and this commercial break, we're gonna
talk cowboys.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Yeah, we're talking cowboys for.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
A tage and what the George Pickings trake could potentially
mean for Dallas. As we get set to hear their
schedule and just over a half an hour.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Fix they need to third and one. It's Henry racing
to the whole AfOR Henry with the first dollar way
down to.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
The thirty three, just a downhill run.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
He reads it to the backside and he's out the gate.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
Snip arm, one of the most pitious in the game.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Holy cow, try to tackle that KP No thanks, I'll
do it.
Speaker 10 (21:24):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Ravens fans can look forward to those Derrick Henry stiff
arms for at least a couple of years to come.
The Ravens today a green to terms with Derrick Henry
on a two year, thirty million dollar contract extension that
ties him to Baltimore through the twenty twenty seven season.
Henry was due just seven million dollars in the second
year of the contract he signed with Baltimore a year ago,
so he gets a big race this year. Twenty five
(21:48):
million dollars total fully guaranteed over the next two years,
getting him back in line with some of the top
running backs in the game. More schedule announcements. It's going
to be the Cowboys hosting the Chiefs this year on Thanksgiving.
Dak Prescott has already said he is a big fan
of that matchup.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
The defending AFC champs headed to Dallas.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Paulso got a tripleheader on Christmas, including two games on Netflix.
It will be Cowboys again against the Commanders in the
early window, Lions vikings also on Netflix, followed by the
nightcap of the Chiefs and the Broncos over.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
On Prime Video.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Tune in at the top of the hour tonight to
see the full twenty twenty five NFL schedule revealed. Every game,
every rivalry, every rematch, and every rookie debut eight pm
Eastern and that's just thirty one minutes from right now
on NFL NETWORKNFL dot Com, the NFL App, and streaming
on NFL Plus Richeyes, Michael Robinson, MJD holding it down
(22:51):
with all the info at eight Eastern. It's gonna be
the first Thanksgiving game for George Picketts, who spent his
first three seasons ian Pitt's before last week's blockbuster trade,
sending him to the Cowboys in exchange for in essence,
a third round draft pick. Dak Prescott, speaking for the
first time, likes the idea of coupling George with another weapon.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, we've connected, and I'm excited. I mean, you turn
on the tape and you see a guy that can
catch the football. You put the football anywhere in his vicinity,
very strong hands, more than a fifty to fifty catcher.
He thinks it's his ball when it's in the air.
And I'm excited for him. I know that we need
some help in that position. No, CD needs some help.
And I think when you have a guy like that,
and I heard George say, it's hard to double team
(23:38):
two guys, and then when you've got other guys, whether
it be for Jalen Tolbert, Mingo, guys who who have
had reps and know how to get open in the league.
But they were putting together a nice, nice group of weapons.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
George Pickens in a contract year, so a lot on
the line for him, and he'll be trying to break
quite the run of receivers after being traded away from
Pittsburgh Heavy. No, maybe not the best of results. Those
four previous players, Deontay Johnson, Chase Claypool, Antonio Bronmartavis Bryant
combined for four touchdowns with their new teams.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Three of those were.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
By Deontay Johnson last year with the Panthers, who cut him,
actually traded him in the middle of the season, then
he was cut again.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
It's a long story.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Bottom line has not gone all that well, which might
be part of the reason Cam Hayward is not ready
to freak out about this coming Steeler season.
Speaker 9 (24:31):
I think we got to look at the track record
with trading wide receivers. There's been, you know, some good
history behind this and when to do it, what to expect.
I was looking at a stat it was like, there's
only been like three receiver, three or four receivers that
made it past the rookie contracts with the Steelers. And
(24:54):
this is a PSA for all Steeler fans. Don't panic,
stay patient, We'll get the work, you know. I think
sometimes we can, you know, jump off the ship and
think the ship is sinking.
Speaker 12 (25:07):
Got work to do.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
And you know, whoever won the off season isn't gonna
win the regular season is not gonna win a Super Bowl.
So I'm locked in on that, locked in on having
a good year, and I hope my teammates are too.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Welcome back to the insiders, Tom Pila, Sero, Gudi Batista,
and Mike.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
You're a follo, Mike. I like the messaging from Cam Hayward.
There don't panic.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Even though right now the quarterback depth chart says Mason
Rudolph is at the top of it.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Here.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
All indications are Aaron Rodgers is coming. But this has
been a wild off season in Pittsburgh and they.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Are not done just yet.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
I just like every year we do the whole Tomlin's
gonna have a winning season because he always has a
winning season. And there have been some weird off seasons
recently for the Steelers, the Kenny Pickett year, where it's
like they're just gonna wait and sit there and then
take him and yeah, we'll figure out our starting quarterback.
We believe in a bunch of This is like the
ultimate of all the recent ones. Go back to Justin
Fields and Russell Wilson.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Like leap of faith, folks.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
This is the biggest leap of faith of all this
offseason so far. I mean, okay, you got the games
and the losses right, George Pickens goes away. Fine, but
you brought in DK Metcalf, but you're still letting go
of a player that can obviously make a difference, that
can win some jump balls down the field and whatnot.
They don't have a real clear vision at the quarterback
(26:26):
spot right now, Rogers is not in the.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Fold out, goes Najie Harris, Right. TJ. Watt's not getting
an extension.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
And putting some pictures up on his social media that
leads some people to believe that something crazy might happen there.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
It's not going to TJ.
Speaker 5 (26:41):
Well, I mean, that'll eventually get done and he's not
going anywhere that get rid of TJ.
Speaker 12 (26:44):
Watt.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
But just from a standpoint of like trust us, this
is maybe the biggest trust us off season that we
have seen from the Steelers to this point in time.
You say Rodgers is coming, till he's there, I don't know,
and I'll be interested to see. We got the schedule
release coming up in twenty seven minutes. How the NFL
we all handles it. Do they give him a lot
of primetime games duty like they tried to do with
the Jets when they knew Rogers was coming.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
We don't have a guarantee on that yet.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
Well, first of all, the mean Joe Green bobblehead over
a Cam Hayward's shoulder probably tells you everything you need
to know about the Steelers long history of making things work.
That's why they're so confident. I would say this with
ultra respect to Cam Hayward. The reason that the fans
are panicking is not George Pickens or even Notgie Harris
or anything else. They're panicking because you don't have a
(27:31):
quarterback and you still don't have a clear answer yet
from Aaron Rodgers. We should say though the Steeler's brass
has been consistently confident really all the way through this
that Rogers would be there. The fact that they did
not make a dramatic move in the draft to get
a quarterback up high certainly suggests they remain confident that
(27:53):
Aaron Rodgers is eventually going to be there. There's been
plenty of scuttle but about now that the schedule is
done and we're about to find out about it in
just a few minutes, that now Aaron Rodgers will sign
up with the Pittsburgh Steelers because it's too late for
the schedule makers to shift all those games into primetime
and give the Steelers a really wonky schedule. Whatever, that
(28:15):
is why people are panicking. I would say this the
track record for Mike Tomlin and the Steelers figuring it out,
even if it's not always the most beautiful way to figure.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
It out, it's pretty good.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
You got to assume they know what they're doing here,
not just with the quarterback but with pickens. They certainly
have a long track record of sending receivers packing and
not feeling the ill effects of it. We will see
there has been an enormous amount of turnover for the
Steelers this season, but it's hard not to believe in
the Pittsburgh Steelers' way of doing things because they do
(28:46):
get to the playoffs.
Speaker 10 (28:47):
An awful lot.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
They get to the playoffs, but it's also been a
long time since they won a playoff game, which is
the step that all the fans are hoping that they're
going to take here, and they've been in this year
in a year out quarterback Haarrissel, whether it's drafting them,
signing them, trading them, whatever, I would say this, Mike's
right until Aaron Rodgers actually shows up and has the
Steelers helmet on and is in camp. You can't be
(29:11):
one hundred percent certain if we just stripped this out
and just think of this logically, here, Aaron Rodgers is
down to one team. If he's gonna start right now,
barring the Saints or somebody flying in, it's the Steelers.
He took one visit. It was to the Steelers. He's
continued to talk to Mike Tomlin. He's thrown with one receiver,
it's DK Metcalf, and those guys have spent a decent
amount of time together here. There's no reason at this
(29:33):
point to believe, at least from the Steelers perspective, that
he's not coming. If they did believe that, then they'd
probably pivot, maybe see if they work on Sunday for
Kirk Cousins here. So again, is this gonna be right
before Mini Camp? Is it going to be after Mini Caamp?
Or are we gonna be sitting there in late July
on vacation and all of a sudden Aaron Rodgers SMITZ
that part, I don't know, but certainly these Steelers operating
(29:54):
like a team that believes ultimately in the end.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Forty one year old Aaron Rodgers is come or maybe not.
We'll find out.
Speaker 10 (30:01):
Let's get it, let's get it, let's get it. I
have a day, let's go, let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
Why ain't what's not?
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Stop telling your secrets on Richard Sermon podcast.
Speaker 10 (30:13):
Dudes, the palms look slick rather.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Yeah, get me quick throw and are they gonna say incomplete?
Speaker 4 (30:21):
My gosh, my goodness.
Speaker 7 (30:23):
Said, good play, good play.
Speaker 10 (30:29):
I go happing a game. I was nigh though, Well,
we score right here, it would be huge. When we
score right here, it's gonna be huge. Come on, let's
go have some enthusiasm.
Speaker 9 (30:36):
Let's go.
Speaker 10 (30:37):
That's not hut.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Here's the snap, c J looking, CJ firing downfield, touchdown.
Let's go, man, let's go.
Speaker 10 (30:46):
But again, it does harder in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pilla, Seri, Mike Garafalo,
joined once again by Brian Baldinger c J.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Stroud Baldy.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Even in a disappointing season for Hugh, you still went
back to the playoffs. They still want a playoff game here,
and they still, I would think, have to be looked
at as the team to beat within that division, especially
when you look at where we are from a quarterback
perspective around the league.
Speaker 12 (31:13):
Well, there's no question.
Speaker 8 (31:14):
I mean, it's the one team in the FCS out
that has quarterback stability and despite changes in the offensive line,
receiver injuries, changes, and coaches like, they still have prevailed.
And so that's really the challenge right now for the
other teams. Looking up at the Texans, we'll start with
the Jacksonville We just had Tony Bisselli on with Mike
and myself and he's saying, look, Trevor Lawrence has got
(31:35):
to play better. It's not just Trevor, but the fact
is Trevor Lawrence has won two of his last fifteen starts.
That's one of the reasons why there's been a coaching change,
a general manager change, a change up at the top
of Jacksonville. They're all looking up. He's got to play better. So,
you know, maybe Travis Hunter helps, maybe additions of the
offensive line helps, maybe the play calling and design of
(31:58):
Liam Cohen helps, but he's got to play better if
the team is going to compete and contend with Houston.
Speaker 12 (32:04):
And then you go to the Colts.
Speaker 8 (32:06):
Look, they have not replaced Andrew Luck yet They've gone
the veteran rout with veteran quarterbacks. They've made the draft picks.
Anthony Richardson, Can he beat out Daniel Jones? Can he
take a step up in his third year? Jamee Stiken
calling him play right there is in his third year.
They've got to get quarterbacks stability in Indianapolis. I played
there in Indianapolis. I know what Peyton Manning did, not
(32:28):
to just that franchise, but to the whole state about
their love of football. They've got to get that position
figured out because I think those other pieces there in place.
Speaker 12 (32:37):
And then one of the reasons why cam Ward.
Speaker 8 (32:40):
Was the number one pick is because Tennessee has had
tremendous instability at the quarterback position, and so they made
cam Ward.
Speaker 12 (32:49):
The first pick. They got the first pick.
Speaker 8 (32:51):
Now, can Brian's you know Callahan and his father Bill Kellen.
Can they put the line together, the run game together,
all the pieces around cam Ward right now? But that's
what they're hoping in counting on with the number one picky,
cam Award right here, that he can become possibly c J. Strout,
possibly better than CJ. Strout and get this team to
(33:12):
the playoffs the way Tamiko Ryans and CJ did in
their first year together. But it starts with quarterback stability
in that division. I think they have more instability in
that position than any other division of football right now.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
Which is why CJ.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
Stroud to me is the most intriguing of all these
quarterback situations, both because this is a team that not
only should win the division, should compete in the NFL.
It's we expected last year, and the quarterback play just
wasn't there. Was it a result of the offensive line
in front of them. You talked about the changes Laramie
Tunsell out, Kenyon Green out incomes Cam Robinson. So they
feel like they're in a better position right now with
(33:49):
their offensive line to protect him. Yeah, and there's been
a lot of injuries when it comes to his targets
that they've had to endure as well. But Nick Keley,
the new offensive coordinator, had several folks around.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
League say he's going to be really good for CJ. Stroud.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
So that was a surprising change they made at the
quarter at the coordinator position. But they did that, and
they also kept Jerrad Johnson, their quarterbacks coach on staff,
a guy that they think highly ofving a guy that's
got a.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
Good relationship with C. J. Stroud.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
So let's see that bounce back we talked about. The
Texans got the right guy at number two over number one.
Now this is still neck and neck.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Here, Let's see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Speaking of quarterback upheaval, let's talk about the Saints, who
of course had Derek Carr officially head into retirement this week,
leaving this as their quarterback depth chart. They have drafted
won three consecutive years, Jake Hater back in twenty twenty
three and the fourth Spencer Rattler last year, and Tyler
shucked the number forty zero overall pick in this year's draft.
(34:45):
They also this week signed Hunter Deckers form Iowa State
and Iowa Western Community College quarterback to round out that
depth chart. Baldi, When you draft somebody number forty overall,
you would think that's somebody you anticipate and step right
in and come.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
But how do you anticipate this playing.
Speaker 12 (35:02):
Out in New Orleans?
Speaker 8 (35:03):
Well, I mean, you know you've got a factor in
Kellen Moore coming in with a new staff. You know,
new Smyer comes in, Doug comes in from Philadelphia, brought
some of his coaches there that worked last year with
Jalen Hurts and got him on the path to become
the Super Bowl MVP. So you know, you would think
Kellen Moore not to go Latin on you here, Tom,
but maybe tabula raso, maybe just a clean slate here
(35:27):
in New Orleans right now where he's saying, let's give
everybody a chance, let's all give him the day, let's
all give him the reps, and let's make the evaluation
fair and even. But my guess is, Tyler Shuck is
is probably going to have a chance to win this job.
Speaker 12 (35:43):
With the coach that helped draft him was there to
evaluate them.
Speaker 8 (35:47):
They had their pick of the third quarterback and beyond
at number forty, and so they chose Tyler Shuck over
a lot of other names and names that we have
talked about quite a bit over the last two weeks.
So maybe he gets then, But regardless, they've got to
get that position fixed in New Orleans because it's been
outside of Derek Carr coming in and playing pretty good
(36:08):
at times but enduring some injuries, they really have not
yet replaced Drew Brees in that position in that city
long term where they can go Okay, I feel like,
you know, Baker is that guy in Tampa and they've
won that division now four or five years in a row.
Speaker 12 (36:23):
You've got to get that position fixing. So tell them
more Dug newsfiers.
Speaker 8 (36:27):
They're going to get that opportunity to evaluate these guys
day in day out, probably starting the mini camps, going
all the way through the OTAs and through the summer
before they get to week one.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Baldi, thank you very much. A lot more from you
on The Insiders coming soon.
Speaker 7 (36:41):
I'm sure welcome back to the Insiders. We are only
minutes away from the full schedule release, but we have
another sneak peek. Here's the South Pallo game. We finally
know the opponent. It is the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Versus the Chargers.
Speaker 7 (36:56):
Ooh, very nice division battle in South pallow That is
going to live on YouTube week one.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
That is the Friday game. Can't wait.
Speaker 7 (37:05):
Let's welcome in our Omar Ruiz because you know what,
the Chargers have become a musty TV omar, especially since
when Jim Harbar returned to the NFL. He executed an
incredible turnaround last season. What are we expecting in year two?
Speaker 13 (37:19):
Well, they're taken off Jim Harbaugh saying going into rookie
Minicamp last weekend that they are installing the playbook full
speed ahead, as if they just played the Houston Texans
in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
They are not starting from scratch.
Speaker 13 (37:32):
They are going from where they left off and it's
time to get on board and they are looking to elevate. Obviously,
the first few years of Justin Herbert's career, the Chargers
have been focused around surrounding him with talent. Now and
speaking with Joe Hortiz earlier, this offseason, it's about making
the team as a whole a lot better and we've
seen that by the revamp running back room. There you
(37:54):
see the headliners on these notable Chargers editions Omari and Hampton,
the first round pick and A G Harris, Trey Harris there,
Mike Williams improving the wide receiver room. We saw all
those players on display this past week. As Chargers offseason continues,
Niji Harris as productive as they've been, O'mari and Hampton,
they're expecting the same. And I think when you talk
(38:16):
about this running back room, what they've been impressed with
is the way that they're looking for them to excel
in all areas that the running backs are expected to contribute.
That's running the football and being productive with the ball
on their hands in pass protection and out of the
backfield as an option for Justin Herbert in the past game.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
So they're excited about that.
Speaker 13 (38:36):
We saw them on the field for the first time
this week, and they're looking for a lot more specifically
in sou Palo Week one against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 7 (38:44):
Probably worth remembering that in year two in San Francisco,
Harbaugh took the forty nine ers to the Super Bowl.
We will see if he can repeat that in Los Angeles.
All right, let's stay out west. Talk about the Arizona Cardinals,
who have spent an awful lot of time and focus
on their defense this offseason.
Speaker 13 (39:02):
Yeah, we saw in free agency Josh Sweat, Delvin Tomlinson,
the Headliners rebuilding that defensive front. And then the first
five draft picks of their twenty twenty five draft coming
on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously Walter now
Nolan their first round pick. They just signed Kalayas Campbell,
welcoming him back, so that big beef up front there.
(39:23):
You see those list of names, and then Will Johnson
falling to the second round right to the lapse of
those Arizona Cardinals Johnson and Denzel Burke from Ohio State,
Cody Simon, another Buck guy. All these Buck guys they've
been drafting over the last couple years. When you talk
about Paris Johnson and Marvin Harrison Junior, their top two
picks of the last two drafts, respectively. But really Jonathan
(39:46):
Gannon finally getting those pieces in place to mold the
defense the way he wants to see it. You see
them improved by four games last season. They're looking to
build on that into much more success in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
This rebuil defense will be a huge part of that.
Speaker 7 (40:01):
Judy Omar, thanks very much. The Insiders is going to
return in a moment. We are just minutes away from
the schedule release.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
We are now just minutes away from the full twenty
twenty five NFL schedule being revealed. Every game, every rivalry,
every rematch, every rookie debut joined Rich Eyes and Michael
Robinson and Maurice.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Jones drew eight pm Eastern.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
That's two minutes from right now on.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
NFL NETWORKNFL dot Com, the NFL App, and streaming on
NFL Plus. Which brings up an important question here as
we wrap up the insiders, Tom Pillicero, Judy Batista, and
Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
Judy, what debut are you.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Most excited about on this twenty twenty five sleep?
Speaker 7 (40:51):
Oh, this is so easy. Travis Hunter, wherever he is playing,
whatever position he is playing. I cannot wait to watch
a two way player in the NFL. Apparently by all accounts,
just a great guy too.
Speaker 5 (41:04):
I'm gonna stretch this one a little bit and say
it's not really debut. If Pete Carroll his return and
Chip Kelly as well, I think the Raiders are gonna
be some are gonna be fun. They're playing in an
AFC West where we don't expect them to win it,
but yeah, they'll make some noise there. Chip going back
to Philly, gonna find out when on the schedule release
show coming up here.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
The easy answer for me would be cam Ward the
number one overall pick. But how about the quarterback we
didn't see from the class of twenty twenty four. Give
me jj McCarthy in his debut, missing all those reps,
all that time, all the speculation through the offseason. Let's
see when he gets that opportunity, what he does with it,
and maybe just maybe a large portion of the country
(41:45):
might be seeing that debut. Who knows We're gonna get
all the answers revealed just moments from right now. It
is the NFL Schedule Release Show. We have been waiting
for this. There's two hundred and seventy two games. You
are going to know when and where all of them
are just seconds away. Rich Eyes and Maurice Jones, Drew
(42:06):
Michael Robinson taken Away twenty twenty five NFL Schedule Release
Show begins right now
We are exactly one hour away from the release of
the full twenty twenty five NFL schedule, and you are
in the right place to get all the details. Where
will your team open the season? Who will you be
watching over the holidays. We will tell you what we
know and what is still to be unveiled tonight. The
Ravens already unveiled a brand new contract for Derrick Henry
(00:30):
that locks up the King through twenty twenty seven. We
will break down what it means for Baltimore and what
it could mean for some other running backs waiting for
their own paydays. The Jaguars did not wait around for
Travis Hunter. They made a monster trade to snag the
two way threat at number two overall Hall of Favor.
Tony Boselli is back in Jacksonville as a team executive,
(00:52):
and E will join us tonight to tell us where
Douval goes from here. Welcome inside with the Insiders alongside
Judy but T and Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I am Tom Pelisera.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
We are now fifty nine minutes away from the release
of all two one hundred and seventy two games across
the NFL this season, and guess what we get a
few more sneak peaks at some of those big games earlier. Today,
let's start out on Thanksgiving, where the Cowboys are in
their traditional nationally televised slot this year going up against
(01:24):
a unique opponent. It's Patrick Mahomes, the defending AFC champion Chiefs.
You'll be watching that one over pie Deck, won't be
He'll actually be playing in the game, and he sounds
excited as well.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
No, I think it's cool. I mean, obviously another team
that played in the Super Bowl last year, have been
champions past few years, and quarterback being from the Dallas area,
I think it's pretty cool. Just getting to host them
here at Achant Stadium on Thanksgiving. As you said, knowing
is such a tradition with a great halftime show, I
think the NFL is going to get what they want.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Chiefs also playing on Christmas again against the and that
is not all. Netflix also has a Christmas doubleheader. It'll
be Cowboys Commanders followed by Lions and Vikings, a triple
header in all on Christmas Day and night. Then I
mentioned tune in at the top of the hour to
see the full twenty twenty five NFL schedule revealed Every game,
(02:19):
every rivalry, every rematch in every rookie debut, APM Eastern
on NFL Network, NFL dot Com, the NFL App and
streaming on NFL Plus. Richeyes and Michael Robinson, MJD and
a bunch of special guests stick around.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You do not want to miss that.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But first, we got a lot more right here on
the insiders, including a big deal for one of the
NFL's biggest and best running backs, Derrick Henry, agree to
a two year, thirty million dollar contract extension that includes
twenty five million dollars fully guaranteed over the next two
seasons that locks up Henry now in Baltimore through twenty
twenty seven. Mike, this is a frontload in two year
(02:58):
deal that Henry signed last year. It ended up one
of the best bargains in football fifteen million dollars per
year on table on paper. But the biggest thing here
is it puts Henry back in line with some of
those other top guys in this position.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
It does.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
It gets him into the original Christian McCaffrey extension territory,
which is like sixteen million that was years ago. Say
Kwon Barkley now had a bump on his deal that
averages into the twenties. But it's apples and oranges really
when you start to compare these deals that are done
on top of deals. But I can tell you this,
he was scheduled to make seven million this upcoming season.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
He doubled that.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
He now has fully guaranteed money into twenty twenty six.
You said, it ties him to the Ravens through twenty
twenty seven, the fully guaranteed money at least through twenty
twenty six. So a vote of confidence, certainly from the
Ravens that this guy is going to continue.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
To stay in shape. We know what he does to
do that.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
And it puts him in a packed payment bracket, as
we say, tax bracket about a payment bracket that.
Speaker 6 (03:54):
He probably should have gotten last year, right like we
were still in that we don't pay running backs type
of mindset, which I think we're out of now and
I think we're at back to drafting running backs highly
as well.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
That was a deal that averaged eight million dollars per season.
The Ravens are one of the teams that probably should
have given Ai more, but at least they gave him
enough to get to Baltimore. Everybody else what were you doing.
I mean, this guy was there for the taking at
a much lower number. The Ravens said that they would
bump his salary up this offseason.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
They did that.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
That certainly earns them kudos in the locker room with
the mother folks duty as well.
Speaker 7 (04:29):
Yeah, I would say, though, I know there's a tendency
to look at this and say, Wow, this is a
post thirty year old running back who got a pretty
good chunk of change here. I'm not sure we can
extrapolate a whole lot from Derrick Henry. He is one
of one. There are just not that many running backs
who are in his kind of physical condition at age
thirty one, as productive as he is at age thirty one,
(04:52):
and as central to the team that he is on
as Derrick Henry is to the Baltimore Ravens. He's a
bit of an outlier, and the same way as Saquon
Barkley is an outlier, in the same way as Christian
McCaffrey is an outlier. So yes, I think the tendency
is to look at this and say, what does this
do to the.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Running back market?
Speaker 7 (05:10):
I'm not sure if you're looking for post thirty year
old running backs that they should all be looking at
this number and thinking I'm going to get the Derrick
Henry number, because you're probably not Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Saquon Barkley, as Mike mentioned, got his deal upgraded in
the offseason. Chris McCaffery got upgraded last year and then
played in the grand total of four games while dealing
with m kelly's injuries. Here, if you look at some
of the other guys now who are up for new
contracts potentially sooner than later, not a lot of Saquon
Barkley's on that list. Certainly really productive running backs Isaiah
but Checko has played big for the Chiefs, especially in
(05:44):
the postseason. Kyron Williams, Brisol, Travis ATN and James cook
the top name on that list. Certainly you can argue
he is the best of the players on that list.
Chiming in just saying congrats, nothing else. I think congrats Handles.
It makes the statement for him. And we know that
James Cooks already said earlier this offseason the type of
number that he is looking for. Judy from the Buffalo Bills,
(06:06):
there were talks at one point. It doesn't sound like
there's been anything recent. Well, James Cook's staying away from
the Bills in the off season. This is one of
those situations. It's going to be worth tracking here in
the coming months.
Speaker 7 (06:20):
Yes, this is definitely worth watching because James Cook has
been really productive the last two seasons for the Buffalo Bills.
The question is the way the Buffalo Bills are built
and the way they play football, are they going to
pay James cooker, for that matter, any running back at
the top of the running back market. They are built
(06:40):
around Josh Allen. Right, Saquon Barkley is the engine of
the Philadelphia Eagles. Christian McCaffrey, same thing in San Francisco,
Derek Henry to a degree, same thing in Baltimore. That's
how important they are to their offenses. James Cook again,
very productive, but nowhere near as productive, for instance, as
say one was last year. And if you are the
(07:01):
Buffalo Bills, your priority is giving weapons to Josh Allen
and putting things around Josh Allen. The offense runs through
Josh Allen. He is the league MVP. He is the
person that elevates everything about that franchise. And James Cook
is a very good running back. I'm sure they'd like
to have him there. But I do think if you
(07:22):
are slotting priorities, James Cook is not the same type
of running back priority that Again, they say Quon Barkley
would be in Philadelphia.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
James Cook and his representation playing poker with the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
See if I can get a smile out of Tom.
Do you know where I'm going with this yet? No,
it doesn't yet.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
James Cook was at a poker tournament over the weekend.
You and I were on a group text with our
buddy Herbie TIOPI was giving us a heads up on
that time there. It is just hit just hit him
right there and yeah, and it didn't say much in
that situation.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
But if it's this.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Kind of stare down, this kind of poker game that
you're going to play this offseason here, I don't know
what you're gonna do to really scare the Bills.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Like Judy you mentioned it.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
I mean, you're talking about Sa Kwon Barkley and Derek
Henry being guys that are threatening the rushing record.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
That's not what the Bills are gonna do. That's not
what James Cook.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
James Cook deserves a nice payday, right, there's a nice contract.
It should get done before the start of the season,
before he puts his body on the line at that
position for one more game. Should it be in the
territory that Derek Henry just got or anywhere near what
Saquon Barkley has got.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Probably not. How close do you get?
Speaker 8 (08:30):
Right?
Speaker 5 (08:30):
That's what these negotiations should be about. But if this
number comes anywhere close to these deals that we're seeing
at the top of the running back market, I'm gonna
be very surprised.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
If you go back several years ago, James brother who
had the same agent, Delvin, ended up going through the
entire offseason. He was kind of participating during training camp,
and then ultimately they got the deal done right before
believe it was the day before the season opener. Here
we'll see if James Cook takes a similar type of tact.
I know they love him in Buffalo, but getting downe
(09:03):
to those numbers with running backs remains a complicated process.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
All right, here's what we want you to do.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
We want you to keep watching this show, the Insiders,
and then keep it locked right here at the top
of the hour.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
We are inside an hour, folks.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
The twenty twenty five NFL schedule will be revealed every game,
every rivalry, every rematch, and every rookie debut eight pm
Eastern right here, NFL Network, NFL dot Com, the NFL
App and streaming on NFL Plus. So wherever you're watching
us right now, just stay, don't move. The Jaguars are
going to move along with the Rams overseas. The Jaguars
(09:37):
used to doing this playing in Wembley. This is one
of the games that have already been revealed Rams at Jaguars. Now, look,
I'll help you with the date here. You got the
month second, so it's ten, that's October. The date is
the day is first is nineteen twenty twenty five, the
year of our Lord.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
That's what we're in right now.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
So having said all that, let us welcome in Pro
Football Hall of Famer, College Football Hall fam Jaguars Executive
VP of Football Operations Tony Vaselli joining the program right now. Tony,
the franchise has a familiarity with London. So when you
see that game, do you kind of ear market and say, Okay,
we know how we're going to structure things moving up
(10:14):
to that and we know how to handle it.
Speaker 9 (10:16):
Right.
Speaker 10 (10:17):
Yeah, We've been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 11 (10:19):
This year is a little bit differently because we're going
to play one game there and not too We've done
two the last two years, kind of got that locked
in and this year we're gonna be over there just
one time. But we have a good plan and the
team's ready and understands exactly what it takes to get
it done.
Speaker 8 (10:36):
Tony, I let's put your ear piece in so you
can hear this question loud and clear.
Speaker 10 (10:41):
I got you.
Speaker 8 (10:41):
But draft the draft, Tony, like took a whole new
level on when your general manager, yourself and Liam Callen
decided to trade up for number five to two to
get Travis Hunder So my question is a million questions
about Travis. But sometimes, Tony, you go through the pre
draft process and you identify a player and then he
(11:03):
comes into your building and you're around him, and you
go out for a rookie mini camp, and then you
see the player. Sometimes they match up, Sometimes they see expectations.
What have you seen from Travis Hunter? Because I got
a bit tone I saw him at his pro day.
I fell in love with the kid, the person, the energy,
the talent. What have you seen thus far?
Speaker 11 (11:26):
Well, First of all, ball you know this as well
as I do. We're not playing real football yet, we're
just out on the grass kind of going through and
doing individual It's a lot of insult out of education.
With that said, I'll say this, Travis Hunter and I
had high expectations. Obviously, we traded up and gave next
year's first round O our second rounder of this year
(11:47):
to go get him. We felt like he was the
best guy to be a Jaguar, and so we had
high expectations.
Speaker 10 (11:53):
He's exceeded my expectations.
Speaker 11 (11:55):
You see the athlete on the field, you see how
he moves, the change, the direction, the box control. But
it's the person that I'm most enamored with. Just the
natural leadership, the energy brings, the excitement, the smile, and
he's a tireless worker. This is a guy that wants
to be the best, and just you watch his demeanor
(12:16):
and how he approaches even just the Phase two workouts
on the field, how he approached the rookie mini camp.
This is a guy who's hungry to be the best.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
You know, I failed to introduce I was so focused
on introducing Tony I didn't introduce this guy below me
here Brian Baldinger NFL Network insider Brian Baldinger, and I
say that because he was all over the fact that
there was going to be a huge trade in the
top ten.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
He was working the phone, he had his sources. He
nailed it.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Take us back to that and that decision, though, Tony,
because you got a new GM, a first time GM,
you got a first time head coach, You're in a
new role that you're in right now, you would think
like everybody, oh, what is this button? Dude, just kind
of learning how that No, no at all, we're going atomic.
We're hitting that bright red one right now. Where did
that confidence come from for you as an entire regime.
Speaker 11 (13:09):
Well, as soon as we figured out where the bathrooms where,
we said, all right, now let's get to work. It's
time to go and build a football team. And I
love that Baldy broke that because we were sitting around
that morning and I saw an axe Baldy was, you know,
was a little clip and I'm like, okay, And I
immediately text them trying to say, okay, what do you
know and who you get it from? It was good stuff, Baldy.
(13:31):
Expect nothing but nothing but that from you. But it
was the process was. I mean, we went through the
evaluation process. You looked at the draft kind of what
we were looking for as we kind of reset and
rebuild this organization. We felt like we have a lot
of good players on the team, but also there's some
areas that we wanted to address. And and when you
have the number five pick, overall, you're trying to get
(13:53):
trying to get better, trying to get the best player,
impact player, And it was clear in our minds that
Travis Hunter is a guy we wanted.
Speaker 10 (14:00):
And it was James Gladstone. He led us.
Speaker 11 (14:02):
It was his, it was the strategy he deployed. He
came to Liam and I right after the owners meetings
and and and laid out a scenario and some thoughts
about us getting up to number two. And after discussions,
you know, between the three of us, we were all
on the same page, aligned.
Speaker 10 (14:18):
And then James wasn't executed. And once we got.
Speaker 11 (14:21):
The terms agreed to with the Cleveland, we sat down
with ownership, went through that and we were off to
the races. The biggest thing was just waiting because we
didn't It was a small group that understood what we
were doing. To keep it quiet, somehow Baldy figured out
something was going on out there, but really proud of
how we executed, how we handled it.
Speaker 10 (14:40):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 11 (14:41):
Most importantly, we got the guy that we that we
wanted in Travis Hunter.
Speaker 8 (14:45):
You know, Tony, it's it's probably ironic, not maybe not ironic.
The schedule makers serve they're smarter than AI. But you
playing the RAM and the you know, James Gladstone, Liam called,
I mean, they're all from the nest of the RAM.
It seems like everybody is drawing from something from here.
You're going internationally here, you're taking this team there on
(15:06):
the international stage.
Speaker 12 (15:07):
You've been there, You've seen this up front.
Speaker 8 (15:10):
What can I mean You've got fans all over the
world now, I mean because of what Sean has decided
to do that you're going to be the forefront of
this international program and you have what can we expect
from this team in this regime right now? Because you've
been here from the beginning, Tony, You've seen owners, coaches, gms.
Speaker 12 (15:29):
What can be.
Speaker 8 (15:29):
Special about Liam and James yourself as you take this
team abroad?
Speaker 11 (15:35):
Yeah, starting with the internationals. To Baldy, I mean, I
think you hit on it. This is something really important
to ark to our organization, to our ownershot con into
the whole franchise and for me as someone who loves
the game and I know you do too, Baldi, just
a real passion for the.
Speaker 10 (15:50):
Game of football.
Speaker 11 (15:51):
I want as many people in this world to experience
what I was able to experience and the love of
the greatest game ever invented. So it's quite an honor
for us actually to go over to London a year
and a year out to build the game of football
and obviously our brand as the Jacksonville Jaguars and it's
a new day, you know. Obviously Sead Khan made the
decisions that he did reset the whole organization from a
(16:12):
leadership standpoint, Liam Cohen as the head coach, James is
the general manager, and me and my executive vice president role.
And you know, we've said a lot of things about
we're looking for guys who are in TANSI rich, tough minded,
physical competitors that are going to go just love the
game of ball. And we feel like we've done some
really good things this year so far and our players
(16:33):
are back, there's buy in, guys are working hard, but.
Speaker 10 (16:36):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 11 (16:37):
You know that what we talk about is one thing,
but we got to go prove it on the grass
and so we're not keeping score yet right now. We're
just making decisions and trying to do the right thing
day in and day out to build a foundation and
really to give ourselves the opportunity to earn the right
to win football games come September. So we have a
lot of work, but I'll say this, I think you're
(16:58):
going to see a group of guy in this organization,
football players, coaches, everyone involves, all staff that we're going
to compete our tails off every day to be the
best we can and try to go win as many
football games as we can.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
We got to talk about the quarterback, and I'll do
it in the context of all the additions that you made,
including Liam Cohen.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
I'll count him as an edition this offseason.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
Diami Brown comes in, Travis Hunter comes in as a
wide receiver. Two editions on the offensive line are actually
a multiple editions, but two expected to start. Patrick McCary
being a big one. Bay Shall touton, don't sleep on
our guy, bay Shall Touoton Baldy. I know we're looking
at him to make an impact there as a fourth
round running back. What do you expect with all this
added around Trevor? What do you expect from him in
(17:42):
twenty twenty five?
Speaker 11 (17:44):
Yeah, first and foremost, you talk about the guys we
brought in and who might start who not. Going back
to the competitive nature, Hey, listen, guys are gonna have to
go earn their spots and we're going to go out
there in training camp. We'll find out who the best
eleven guys are. And obviously, one of the things that
this franchise did and we did as an organization, we
invested in Trevor Lawrence because we believe that he's our
(18:04):
franchise quarterback and we believe in what he can do
and that he can bring a championship and help bring
a championship to Jacksonville. So obviously we want to make
sure he's protected up front, we can run the ball,
takes some of the pressure off him.
Speaker 10 (18:17):
Adding the weapons outside.
Speaker 11 (18:18):
Obviously, Brian Thomas Junior coming back, we think he's one
of the best receivers in all of football. And then
you match that all up with Liam Cohen and I'm
excited that Liam cones our head coach. I'm also excited
that Liam Cohen's calling place because you go look at
his history and what he's done and both college into
the professional level and then just specifically last year in
(18:41):
Tampa top five offense in rush and pass and scoring.
I mean this, And he's built a staff that is
really good and really detailed, and so I think the
combination you're going to see a whole new level of
offensive production.
Speaker 10 (18:56):
That's my belief.
Speaker 11 (18:58):
We got to go prove it now, but really the
focus on surrounding Trevor, getting the right pieces around him,
trying to take some pressure off him by running the ball,
and at the end of the day, bring a great
coaching staff in that can work with Trevor because he
has to get better too. And what I love about
Trevor watching him this offseason in the role I have now,
which I get to see every day, is just the
(19:20):
competitiveness of him of wanting to be better, not satisfied,
knowing that he has to raise the bar himself, and
that kind of makes forces everyone else around him to
raise the bar. So it's a good situation right now.
Offseason has been going well. Trevor's progression. He had the
off season shoulder surgery, that's behind him. We're excited expecting
(19:41):
him to be one hundred percent healthy, ready to go
at camp and we'll be off to the races.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
We put no firm timetable, but we got a rough
timetable there and an optimistic one there from Tony Passeli.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Tony, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
Looking forward to OTA's mini camp training camp.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Before you know it, we're going to be get and going.
We're gonna be playing some of that real football you
were talking about.
Speaker 11 (20:03):
Yeah, we'll get some pads on and actually be able
to evaluate some guys and see them out on the
field playing the game of football. And Baldy, I expect
you in Jacksonville this year to come see camp with us.
Speaker 8 (20:13):
I will be there. I'll be a ok and this
summer when the pads are on, Tony.
Speaker 12 (20:18):
I'll be right next.
Speaker 10 (20:19):
Here we go.
Speaker 12 (20:19):
There you go, Well watch it together.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
You know I love Hitch.
Speaker 10 (20:23):
I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Hitching it right along with him. Appreciate it Tons.
Speaker 10 (20:28):
More than Mary. We're welcome.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
All.
Speaker 10 (20:31):
Let's go see you guys.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Now if you'l excuse us, we have to go book
some flights and hotels. Baldy and I, but when we
come back after that and this commercial break, we're gonna
talk cowboys.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Yeah, we're talking cowboys for.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
A tage and what the George Pickings trake could potentially
mean for Dallas. As we get set to hear their
schedule and just over a half an hour.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Fix they need to third and one. It's Henry racing
to the whole AfOR Henry with the first dollar way
down to.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
The thirty three, just a downhill run.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
He reads it to the backside and he's out the gate.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
Snip arm, one of the most pitious in the game.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Holy cow, try to tackle that KP No thanks, I'll
do it.
Speaker 10 (21:24):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Ravens fans can look forward to those Derrick Henry stiff
arms for at least a couple of years to come.
The Ravens today a green to terms with Derrick Henry
on a two year, thirty million dollar contract extension that
ties him to Baltimore through the twenty twenty seven season.
Henry was due just seven million dollars in the second
year of the contract he signed with Baltimore a year ago,
so he gets a big race this year. Twenty five
(21:48):
million dollars total fully guaranteed over the next two years,
getting him back in line with some of the top
running backs in the game. More schedule announcements. It's going
to be the Cowboys hosting the Chiefs this year on Thanksgiving.
Dak Prescott has already said he is a big fan
of that matchup.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
The defending AFC champs headed to Dallas.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Paulso got a tripleheader on Christmas, including two games on Netflix.
It will be Cowboys again against the Commanders in the
early window, Lions vikings also on Netflix, followed by the
nightcap of the Chiefs and the Broncos over.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
On Prime Video.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Tune in at the top of the hour tonight to
see the full twenty twenty five NFL schedule revealed. Every game,
every rivalry, every rematch, and every rookie debut eight pm
Eastern and that's just thirty one minutes from right now
on NFL NETWORKNFL dot Com, the NFL App, and streaming
on NFL Plus Richeyes, Michael Robinson, MJD holding it down
(22:51):
with all the info at eight Eastern. It's gonna be
the first Thanksgiving game for George Picketts, who spent his
first three seasons ian Pitt's before last week's blockbuster trade,
sending him to the Cowboys in exchange for in essence,
a third round draft pick. Dak Prescott, speaking for the
first time, likes the idea of coupling George with another weapon.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, we've connected, and I'm excited. I mean, you turn
on the tape and you see a guy that can
catch the football. You put the football anywhere in his vicinity,
very strong hands, more than a fifty to fifty catcher.
He thinks it's his ball when it's in the air.
And I'm excited for him. I know that we need
some help in that position. No, CD needs some help.
And I think when you have a guy like that,
and I heard George say, it's hard to double team
(23:38):
two guys, and then when you've got other guys, whether
it be for Jalen Tolbert, Mingo, guys who who have
had reps and know how to get open in the league.
But they were putting together a nice, nice group of weapons.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
George Pickens in a contract year, so a lot on
the line for him, and he'll be trying to break
quite the run of receivers after being traded away from
Pittsburgh Heavy. No, maybe not the best of results. Those
four previous players, Deontay Johnson, Chase Claypool, Antonio Bronmartavis Bryant
combined for four touchdowns with their new teams.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Three of those were.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
By Deontay Johnson last year with the Panthers, who cut him,
actually traded him in the middle of the season, then
he was cut again.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
It's a long story.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Bottom line has not gone all that well, which might
be part of the reason Cam Hayward is not ready
to freak out about this coming Steeler season.
Speaker 9 (24:31):
I think we got to look at the track record
with trading wide receivers. There's been, you know, some good
history behind this and when to do it, what to expect.
I was looking at a stat it was like, there's
only been like three receiver, three or four receivers that
made it past the rookie contracts with the Steelers. And
(24:54):
this is a PSA for all Steeler fans. Don't panic,
stay patient, We'll get the work, you know. I think
sometimes we can, you know, jump off the ship and
think the ship is sinking.
Speaker 12 (25:07):
Got work to do.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
And you know, whoever won the off season isn't gonna
win the regular season is not gonna win a Super Bowl.
So I'm locked in on that, locked in on having
a good year, and I hope my teammates are too.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Welcome back to the insiders, Tom Pila, Sero, Gudi Batista,
and Mike.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
You're a follo, Mike. I like the messaging from Cam Hayward.
There don't panic.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Even though right now the quarterback depth chart says Mason
Rudolph is at the top of it.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Here.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
All indications are Aaron Rodgers is coming. But this has
been a wild off season in Pittsburgh and they.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Are not done just yet.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
I just like every year we do the whole Tomlin's
gonna have a winning season because he always has a
winning season. And there have been some weird off seasons
recently for the Steelers, the Kenny Pickett year, where it's
like they're just gonna wait and sit there and then
take him and yeah, we'll figure out our starting quarterback.
We believe in a bunch of This is like the
ultimate of all the recent ones. Go back to Justin
Fields and Russell Wilson.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Like leap of faith, folks.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
This is the biggest leap of faith of all this
offseason so far. I mean, okay, you got the games
and the losses right, George Pickens goes away. Fine, but
you brought in DK Metcalf, but you're still letting go
of a player that can obviously make a difference, that
can win some jump balls down the field and whatnot.
They don't have a real clear vision at the quarterback
(26:26):
spot right now, Rogers is not in the.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Fold out, goes Najie Harris, Right. TJ. Watt's not getting
an extension.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
And putting some pictures up on his social media that
leads some people to believe that something crazy might happen there.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
It's not going to TJ.
Speaker 5 (26:41):
Well, I mean, that'll eventually get done and he's not
going anywhere that get rid of TJ.
Speaker 12 (26:44):
Watt.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
But just from a standpoint of like trust us, this
is maybe the biggest trust us off season that we
have seen from the Steelers to this point in time.
You say Rodgers is coming, till he's there, I don't know,
and I'll be interested to see. We got the schedule
release coming up in twenty seven minutes. How the NFL
we all handles it. Do they give him a lot
of primetime games duty like they tried to do with
the Jets when they knew Rogers was coming.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
We don't have a guarantee on that yet.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
Well, first of all, the mean Joe Green bobblehead over
a Cam Hayward's shoulder probably tells you everything you need
to know about the Steelers long history of making things work.
That's why they're so confident. I would say this with
ultra respect to Cam Hayward. The reason that the fans
are panicking is not George Pickens or even Notgie Harris
or anything else. They're panicking because you don't have a
(27:31):
quarterback and you still don't have a clear answer yet
from Aaron Rodgers. We should say though the Steeler's brass
has been consistently confident really all the way through this
that Rogers would be there. The fact that they did
not make a dramatic move in the draft to get
a quarterback up high certainly suggests they remain confident that
(27:53):
Aaron Rodgers is eventually going to be there. There's been
plenty of scuttle but about now that the schedule is
done and we're about to find out about it in
just a few minutes, that now Aaron Rodgers will sign
up with the Pittsburgh Steelers because it's too late for
the schedule makers to shift all those games into primetime
and give the Steelers a really wonky schedule. Whatever, that
(28:15):
is why people are panicking. I would say this the
track record for Mike Tomlin and the Steelers figuring it out,
even if it's not always the most beautiful way to figure.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
It out, it's pretty good.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
You got to assume they know what they're doing here,
not just with the quarterback but with pickens. They certainly
have a long track record of sending receivers packing and
not feeling the ill effects of it. We will see
there has been an enormous amount of turnover for the
Steelers this season, but it's hard not to believe in
the Pittsburgh Steelers' way of doing things because they do
(28:46):
get to the playoffs.
Speaker 10 (28:47):
An awful lot.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
They get to the playoffs, but it's also been a
long time since they won a playoff game, which is
the step that all the fans are hoping that they're
going to take here, and they've been in this year
in a year out quarterback Haarrissel, whether it's drafting them,
signing them, trading them, whatever, I would say this, Mike's
right until Aaron Rodgers actually shows up and has the
Steelers helmet on and is in camp. You can't be
(29:11):
one hundred percent certain if we just stripped this out
and just think of this logically, here, Aaron Rodgers is
down to one team. If he's gonna start right now,
barring the Saints or somebody flying in, it's the Steelers.
He took one visit. It was to the Steelers. He's
continued to talk to Mike Tomlin. He's thrown with one receiver,
it's DK Metcalf, and those guys have spent a decent
amount of time together here. There's no reason at this
(29:33):
point to believe, at least from the Steelers perspective, that
he's not coming. If they did believe that, then they'd
probably pivot, maybe see if they work on Sunday for
Kirk Cousins here. So again, is this gonna be right
before Mini Camp? Is it going to be after Mini Caamp?
Or are we gonna be sitting there in late July
on vacation and all of a sudden Aaron Rodgers SMITZ
that part, I don't know, but certainly these Steelers operating
(29:54):
like a team that believes ultimately in the end.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Forty one year old Aaron Rodgers is come or maybe not.
We'll find out.
Speaker 10 (30:01):
Let's get it, let's get it, let's get it. I
have a day, let's go, let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
Why ain't what's not?
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Stop telling your secrets on Richard Sermon podcast.
Speaker 10 (30:13):
Dudes, the palms look slick rather.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Yeah, get me quick throw and are they gonna say incomplete?
Speaker 4 (30:21):
My gosh, my goodness.
Speaker 7 (30:23):
Said, good play, good play.
Speaker 10 (30:29):
I go happing a game. I was nigh though, Well,
we score right here, it would be huge. When we
score right here, it's gonna be huge. Come on, let's
go have some enthusiasm.
Speaker 9 (30:36):
Let's go.
Speaker 10 (30:37):
That's not hut.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Here's the snap, c J looking, CJ firing downfield, touchdown.
Let's go, man, let's go.
Speaker 10 (30:46):
But again, it does harder in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pilla, Seri, Mike Garafalo,
joined once again by Brian Baldinger c J.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Stroud Baldy.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Even in a disappointing season for Hugh, you still went
back to the playoffs. They still want a playoff game here,
and they still, I would think, have to be looked
at as the team to beat within that division, especially
when you look at where we are from a quarterback
perspective around the league.
Speaker 12 (31:13):
Well, there's no question.
Speaker 8 (31:14):
I mean, it's the one team in the FCS out
that has quarterback stability and despite changes in the offensive line,
receiver injuries, changes, and coaches like, they still have prevailed.
And so that's really the challenge right now for the
other teams. Looking up at the Texans, we'll start with
the Jacksonville We just had Tony Bisselli on with Mike
and myself and he's saying, look, Trevor Lawrence has got
(31:35):
to play better. It's not just Trevor, but the fact
is Trevor Lawrence has won two of his last fifteen starts.
That's one of the reasons why there's been a coaching change,
a general manager change, a change up at the top
of Jacksonville. They're all looking up. He's got to play better. So,
you know, maybe Travis Hunter helps, maybe additions of the
offensive line helps, maybe the play calling and design of
(31:58):
Liam Cohen helps, but he's got to play better if
the team is going to compete and contend with Houston.
Speaker 12 (32:04):
And then you go to the Colts.
Speaker 8 (32:06):
Look, they have not replaced Andrew Luck yet They've gone
the veteran rout with veteran quarterbacks. They've made the draft picks.
Anthony Richardson, Can he beat out Daniel Jones? Can he
take a step up in his third year? Jamee Stiken
calling him play right there is in his third year.
They've got to get quarterbacks stability in Indianapolis. I played
there in Indianapolis. I know what Peyton Manning did, not
(32:28):
to just that franchise, but to the whole state about
their love of football. They've got to get that position
figured out because I think those other pieces there in place.
Speaker 12 (32:37):
And then one of the reasons why cam Ward.
Speaker 8 (32:40):
Was the number one pick is because Tennessee has had
tremendous instability at the quarterback position, and so they made
cam Ward.
Speaker 12 (32:49):
The first pick. They got the first pick.
Speaker 8 (32:51):
Now, can Brian's you know Callahan and his father Bill Kellen.
Can they put the line together, the run game together,
all the pieces around cam Ward right now? But that's
what they're hoping in counting on with the number one picky,
cam Award right here, that he can become possibly c J. Strout,
possibly better than CJ. Strout and get this team to
(33:12):
the playoffs the way Tamiko Ryans and CJ did in
their first year together. But it starts with quarterback stability
in that division. I think they have more instability in
that position than any other division of football right now.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
Which is why CJ.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
Stroud to me is the most intriguing of all these
quarterback situations, both because this is a team that not
only should win the division, should compete in the NFL.
It's we expected last year, and the quarterback play just
wasn't there. Was it a result of the offensive line
in front of them. You talked about the changes Laramie
Tunsell out, Kenyon Green out incomes Cam Robinson. So they
feel like they're in a better position right now with
(33:49):
their offensive line to protect him. Yeah, and there's been
a lot of injuries when it comes to his targets
that they've had to endure as well. But Nick Keley,
the new offensive coordinator, had several folks around.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
League say he's going to be really good for CJ. Stroud.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
So that was a surprising change they made at the
quarter at the coordinator position. But they did that, and
they also kept Jerrad Johnson, their quarterbacks coach on staff,
a guy that they think highly ofving a guy that's
got a.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
Good relationship with C. J. Stroud.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
So let's see that bounce back we talked about. The
Texans got the right guy at number two over number one.
Now this is still neck and neck.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Here, Let's see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Speaking of quarterback upheaval, let's talk about the Saints, who
of course had Derek Carr officially head into retirement this week,
leaving this as their quarterback depth chart. They have drafted
won three consecutive years, Jake Hater back in twenty twenty
three and the fourth Spencer Rattler last year, and Tyler
shucked the number forty zero overall pick in this year's draft.
(34:45):
They also this week signed Hunter Deckers form Iowa State
and Iowa Western Community College quarterback to round out that
depth chart. Baldi, When you draft somebody number forty overall,
you would think that's somebody you anticipate and step right
in and come.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
But how do you anticipate this playing.
Speaker 12 (35:02):
Out in New Orleans?
Speaker 8 (35:03):
Well, I mean, you know you've got a factor in
Kellen Moore coming in with a new staff. You know,
new Smyer comes in, Doug comes in from Philadelphia, brought
some of his coaches there that worked last year with
Jalen Hurts and got him on the path to become
the Super Bowl MVP. So you know, you would think
Kellen Moore not to go Latin on you here, Tom,
but maybe tabula raso, maybe just a clean slate here
(35:27):
in New Orleans right now where he's saying, let's give
everybody a chance, let's all give him the day, let's
all give him the reps, and let's make the evaluation
fair and even. But my guess is, Tyler Shuck is
is probably going to have a chance to win this job.
Speaker 12 (35:43):
With the coach that helped draft him was there to
evaluate them.
Speaker 8 (35:47):
They had their pick of the third quarterback and beyond
at number forty, and so they chose Tyler Shuck over
a lot of other names and names that we have
talked about quite a bit over the last two weeks.
So maybe he gets then, But regardless, they've got to
get that position fixed in New Orleans because it's been
outside of Derek Carr coming in and playing pretty good
(36:08):
at times but enduring some injuries, they really have not
yet replaced Drew Brees in that position in that city
long term where they can go Okay, I feel like,
you know, Baker is that guy in Tampa and they've
won that division now four or five years in a row.
Speaker 12 (36:23):
You've got to get that position fixing. So tell them
more Dug newsfiers.
Speaker 8 (36:27):
They're going to get that opportunity to evaluate these guys
day in day out, probably starting the mini camps, going
all the way through the OTAs and through the summer
before they get to week one.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Baldi, thank you very much. A lot more from you
on The Insiders coming soon.
Speaker 7 (36:41):
I'm sure welcome back to the Insiders. We are only
minutes away from the full schedule release, but we have
another sneak peek. Here's the South Pallo game. We finally
know the opponent. It is the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Versus the Chargers.
Speaker 7 (36:56):
Ooh, very nice division battle in South pallow That is
going to live on YouTube week one.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
That is the Friday game. Can't wait.
Speaker 7 (37:05):
Let's welcome in our Omar Ruiz because you know what,
the Chargers have become a musty TV omar, especially since
when Jim Harbar returned to the NFL. He executed an
incredible turnaround last season. What are we expecting in year two?
Speaker 13 (37:19):
Well, they're taken off Jim Harbaugh saying going into rookie
Minicamp last weekend that they are installing the playbook full
speed ahead, as if they just played the Houston Texans
in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
They are not starting from scratch.
Speaker 13 (37:32):
They are going from where they left off and it's
time to get on board and they are looking to elevate. Obviously,
the first few years of Justin Herbert's career, the Chargers
have been focused around surrounding him with talent. Now and
speaking with Joe Hortiz earlier, this offseason, it's about making
the team as a whole a lot better and we've
seen that by the revamp running back room. There you
(37:54):
see the headliners on these notable Chargers editions Omari and Hampton,
the first round pick and A G Harris, Trey Harris there,
Mike Williams improving the wide receiver room. We saw all
those players on display this past week. As Chargers offseason continues,
Niji Harris as productive as they've been, O'mari and Hampton,
they're expecting the same. And I think when you talk
(38:16):
about this running back room, what they've been impressed with
is the way that they're looking for them to excel
in all areas that the running backs are expected to contribute.
That's running the football and being productive with the ball
on their hands in pass protection and out of the
backfield as an option for Justin Herbert in the past game.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
So they're excited about that.
Speaker 13 (38:36):
We saw them on the field for the first time
this week, and they're looking for a lot more specifically
in sou Palo Week one against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 7 (38:44):
Probably worth remembering that in year two in San Francisco,
Harbaugh took the forty nine ers to the Super Bowl.
We will see if he can repeat that in Los Angeles.
All right, let's stay out west. Talk about the Arizona Cardinals,
who have spent an awful lot of time and focus
on their defense this offseason.
Speaker 13 (39:02):
Yeah, we saw in free agency Josh Sweat, Delvin Tomlinson,
the Headliners rebuilding that defensive front. And then the first
five draft picks of their twenty twenty five draft coming
on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously Walter now
Nolan their first round pick. They just signed Kalayas Campbell,
welcoming him back, so that big beef up front there.
(39:23):
You see those list of names, and then Will Johnson
falling to the second round right to the lapse of
those Arizona Cardinals Johnson and Denzel Burke from Ohio State,
Cody Simon, another Buck guy. All these Buck guys they've
been drafting over the last couple years. When you talk
about Paris Johnson and Marvin Harrison Junior, their top two
picks of the last two drafts, respectively. But really Jonathan
(39:46):
Gannon finally getting those pieces in place to mold the
defense the way he wants to see it. You see
them improved by four games last season. They're looking to
build on that into much more success in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
This rebuil defense will be a huge part of that.
Speaker 7 (40:01):
Judy Omar, thanks very much. The Insiders is going to
return in a moment. We are just minutes away from
the schedule release.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
We are now just minutes away from the full twenty
twenty five NFL schedule being revealed. Every game, every rivalry,
every rematch, every rookie debut joined Rich Eyes and Michael
Robinson and Maurice.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Jones drew eight pm Eastern.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
That's two minutes from right now on.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
NFL NETWORKNFL dot Com, the NFL App, and streaming on
NFL Plus. Which brings up an important question here as
we wrap up the insiders, Tom Pillicero, Judy Batista, and
Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
Judy, what debut are you.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Most excited about on this twenty twenty five sleep?
Speaker 7 (40:51):
Oh, this is so easy. Travis Hunter, wherever he is playing,
whatever position he is playing. I cannot wait to watch
a two way player in the NFL. Apparently by all accounts,
just a great guy too.
Speaker 5 (41:04):
I'm gonna stretch this one a little bit and say
it's not really debut. If Pete Carroll his return and
Chip Kelly as well, I think the Raiders are gonna
be some are gonna be fun. They're playing in an
AFC West where we don't expect them to win it,
but yeah, they'll make some noise there. Chip going back
to Philly, gonna find out when on the schedule release
show coming up here.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
The easy answer for me would be cam Ward the
number one overall pick. But how about the quarterback we
didn't see from the class of twenty twenty four. Give
me jj McCarthy in his debut, missing all those reps,
all that time, all the speculation through the offseason. Let's
see when he gets that opportunity, what he does with it,
and maybe just maybe a large portion of the country
(41:45):
might be seeing that debut. Who knows We're gonna get
all the answers revealed just moments from right now. It
is the NFL Schedule Release Show. We have been waiting
for this. There's two hundred and seventy two games. You
are going to know when and where all of them
are just seconds away. Rich Eyes and Maurice Jones, Drew
(42:06):
Michael Robinson taken Away twenty twenty five NFL Schedule Release
Show begins right now
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