03-05-25 Hour 2 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into it. Broncos Country Tonight short show post c
you Buff's edition. It's been all right here with you,
Grant Smith, Zach Seegers back there producing five six six
nine zero is the text line you want to get
involved in conversation. Had obviously a short show yesterday due
to the presidential address. Uh, and then we got a
short show tonight. We have a full show tomorrow and

(00:21):
Nick Ferguson'll be back, so we'll have a full show
tomorrow for you guys. Uh and uh, looking forward to that.
A lot of news to get to as the NFL
has had quite a few cuts today and sort of Uh,

(00:41):
we saw a lot of reporting coming out about various
different players. This team scrambled to try to get under
the salary cap in time for the start of the
league year. You know, it's it's been. It's been an
interesting day. One of the guys that we talked about
that was potentially on the Broncos radar, but I kept

(01:08):
telling you guys was highly unlikely to happen. It would
be Zach Bond, the the All Pro linebacker. He has
signed a three year deal with the Eagles and from
what I understand, it's fifty one million dollars with thirty
four guaranteed at signing another one point five million available

(01:29):
and incentives and escalators. He was on everybody's top hundred
free agency list, all that kind of stuff. Bon who's
twenty eight, had signed a one year contract with phil
A last off season after spending his first four seasons
with the Saints, and was one of the best of
his position in Vic Fangio's defensive scheme tackle one hundred
and fifty one, one hundred and fifty one tackles, three
and a half sacks, eleven tackles for lost, five forced fumbles,

(01:51):
four passes defense, and was was doing pretty well in
the postseason as well, thirty three total tackles, two picks,
a force fund multi funmber recoveries in the Eagles four
postseason games and route to winning the Super Bowl. That's
the second key contribute to the Eagles have reworked a
deal with this week. Obviously, running back Saqmon Barkley got

(02:13):
the lucrative extension earlier this week, and so now we
see Zach Bond getting his one fewer linebacker. If the
Broncos do elect to make a free agent spend at
the linebacker position one one fewer linebacker there. Some of

(02:35):
the names that were put out by Mike Cliss included
Dre Greenlaw. Of course, Nick Bolton we've talked about quite
a bit on the show, and and then Sherwood as well,
who you know, may or may not be the leader
in the clubhouse. We'll see, we'll see how that goes.
But Zach Bond officially back with the Eagles. Everybody out

(02:58):
in Indy knew that was coming. That was like to
what your worst kept secret. They were going to re
that re up that. So you know, we'll we'll see
uh end of the day. You know how uh how
the Broncos, you know, pivot if they do uh elected
go after one of these other guys and including uh
Nick Bolton. Kansas City made a trade, uh trading to

(03:20):
guard Joetuney to the the Chicago Bears. Bears continue to
uh work on that offensive line, building up that offensive
line that they have, and that's uh right in line
with what we you know, what everybody expected them to do.
You go back and look at uh the uh way

(03:44):
that the Lions sort of built their team, you can
you can see how they went out and did it.
They they built along the trenches first and uh and
then you know kind of go from there. And there's
no reason to dis believe that Ben Johnson, in being
with the Bearers, is going to change that philosophy or

(04:07):
deviate from that philosophy. Chiefs get a twenty twenty six
fourth round pick back in exchange for Tony. And this
is a trade that I think sort of benefits both teams.
I mean, I understand Kansasy's losing a good player, but
the Chiefs are moving on from one of their more
valuable players. This past year, he slid over from left
guard to try to play left tackle midway through the
season when it became clear he was the best option

(04:30):
after they went through some turnover there and an injury
Toony got his third straight Pro Bowl berth Ap first
Team All Pro second seven center row that he is
thirty two side with the Chiefs back in twenty twenty one,
after playing his first five years the Patriots, four time
Super Bowl champion, getting two in New England, two at
Kansas City. Kansas City saves sixteen million against the cap

(04:51):
making this move. Toty, who is currently entering the last
year of his contracts had to make fifteen and a
half in base salary. Chiefs also franchised guard Tray Smith.
We already knew about that, you know, trying to get
him to a long term deal. We expect that to
get done. It's the second trade that Chicago's agreed to
to beef of its offensive line. They're already uh acquiring

(05:14):
Jonah Jackson from the Rams, and obviously Ben Johnson is
familiar with Jackson from their shared time with the Lions
before he was with the Rams, and that should that
should really help out the Bears offensive line is they
continue to, you know, to build that thing out. I think, uh,
you know, the biggest thing is if you're going to
build up your young quarterback, it's making sure the protection

(05:35):
in front of them is good. And we've seen the
way that the way that the Broncos have done that here,
you know, in Sean Payton's first couple of moves, going
out there and getting Ben Powers and and Mike McGlinchey
and trying to make sure that they shore up uh
the offensive line first and foremost, and that that seems
to be that everybody off that tree sort of has

(05:58):
that same philosophy and making sure that the protection up
front is where it needs to be, and I'm with it.
I think that organizationally is a great philosophical move. Go
out there and make sure the offensive line is is
taking care of first, and then worry about everything after that.
And I know it's unsex not sexy for the fans
who want to see skill position players and you know,

(06:19):
and all this kind of stuff, but you know, end
of the day, you go out and you get the
the the trenches resolved, and you just build out from
there and you're gonna wind up being a pretty good
football team. And it's you know, we've certainly seen teams
that have had great turnarounds usually adopting that or a
similar philosophy. Last night, the Broncos signed or e'x usually tendered,

(06:44):
rather all of their exclusive rights free agents. There were
five of those, and that's j Quan mcmillion, Lucas Kroll,
Andrea Tillman, defensive lineman at Air Force Jordan Jackson, and
safety Devon Key. Obviously, those players have to sign their
tenders for getting back on the field, but they're not
able to negotiate with other clubs. So that's that's what

(07:05):
the exclusive rights you know thing does. Jakey McMillan had
to eighty one tackles, two picks, a sack, force fumbled
in seventeen games. Kroll caught nineteen passes for one hundred
and fifty two yards. Tilman had five sacks in a
rotational role, and then Jackson and Key played reserve and
special teams roles over the course of the season. It

(07:27):
remains to be seen. I think, you know, signing those contracts,
all those guys we be back for camp. The question really
is is you know if they make the team. You know,
Kroll was somebody that showed a flash here or there,
but you know, the Broncos look like they're going to
spend significant assets attempting to up the quality, the overall

(07:48):
quality of the tight end room, and he might wind
up being an odd man out. I think Andrea Tilman
is probably a pretty good bet to make this roster,
the fourth edge rusher. But you know, he was productive
and limited snap I've seen some interesting stuff out there.
You you go back and you look at it's tweets
and people talk about von Miller coming back. Doddrell Timm
was more productive than von Miller on fewer snaps, So

(08:11):
I I you know, I think he stands a pretty
good chance at at sticking around mcmillion. Jquon mcmillion was
the starting slot corner. I. Uh, he'll have the chance
to keep that in camp. I don't know if he
keeps that job or not, but we'll he'll have the
chance to keep that job in camp. And and depending
on what they bring in uh and what they're up against,

(08:33):
you know, you'll have to You'll have to kind of see,
uh where that goes. Yesterday, Devonte Adams, the Jets announced
that we're gonna be releasing Davonte Adams. The betting favorites
to sign him, believe it or not, is the Green
Bay Packers. The sports books had the Packers at plus

(08:53):
one ninety to be his next team, the team I
thought would be in the mixture of the Chargers at
plus five hundred. You got the Niners six fifty, the
Rams plus seven fifty. Steelers at nine to fifty. Believe
it or not, The Broncos are on here at plus
one thousand. Although that seems, you know, a little bit ridiculous.

(09:15):
There are people like myself who thinks he's going to
try to reunite with Aaron Rodgers. The Giants are minus
one fifty to sign Aaron Rodgers, so it could be
possible that that he is, that he goes to the
Giants in that particular scenario, and the odds on that
are much much further out. So just something to keep
your eye if you're a betting person, if you want

(09:37):
to throw a little bit at something, that might be
something to look at. Max Crosby was quoted as saying
he'd love to play with Aaron Rodgers on his podcast.
You know, I don't know. I don't know that that's
going to be the case. I can't see a scenario

(09:58):
where Rogers goes and plays for the Las Vegas Raiders,
which worked on a deal with with Crosby. Today, they
also released Gardner Minshew. Minshew, who had signed a two
year deal with the Raiders last offseason, was in ten
games with two and seven In his nine starts. Minshee

(10:18):
completed sixty six percent of his passes twenty thirteen yards,
nine touchdowns, ten picks. The quarterback has three point one
six million in salary guarantees for twenty twenty five. The
Raiders basically saved six point three million against cap by
releasing him. Minshew was a sixth round pick in twenty
nineteen to start at least two games every season since
he's been in the league. In fifty nine appearances with

(10:40):
forty six starts, Minshew has completed sixty three point three
percent of his throws, eleven nine hundred fifty yards, sixty
eight touchdowns, thirty four picks, and his teams have gone
seventeen and twenty nine in his starts. Raiders are expected
to be active at the quarterback position, with minority owner
Tom Brady taking an active role. Las Vegas course was
in on Stafford before the veteran quarterback decided to stay

(11:04):
with the Rams. The Bengals continued to clear space, ostensibly
to top off t Higgins. Let's see here. Sam Hubbard,
who was born and raised in Cincinnati, latest as college
football to Ohio State, was drafted by the Bengals. He's
now walking away from football, saying goodbye to the Bengals

(11:25):
and announced he's retiring from the NFL at the age
of twenty nine. Hubbard made one of the greatest plays
in Bengals history two years ago when he recovered a
fumble and raised ninety eight yards for the decisive touchdown
and a twenty four to seventeen win over the Ravens,
but he says he hopes he's remember mostly as someone
who made a difference to his community, saying, quote, this
city gave me a purpose beyond football. Through the Sam

(11:46):
Hubbard Foundation, I've tried to lift up Cincinnati the way
you've lifted me. Your sport and impact we have had
together have shown the community love outwigh Any Trophy and
being nominated twice for the Walter Peyton Mann of the
Year as my proudest accomplishment. Hubbard moving on from the
game of football, and he will undoubtedly be missed in Cincinnati,

(12:07):
but he is. Yeah, he's one of those one of
those fan favorites, you know, the guys that had had
a few plays here or there in big time moments.
Obviously retired a little bit young, but that's say that
frees up a little more money there in Cincinnati where
they're trying to keep the core of that offense together.

(12:29):
A lot of big news coming out of Seattle today.
I'll get to the first one here. First is Tyler
Lockett is being released. Seahawks announced they released him. Lockett
posted on social media he enjoyed being in Seattle. He
met so many great people, captured somebody great memories. Twelves
make this place meaningful. By releasing Lockett, Seattle saves seventeen

(12:52):
million against the cap he was set to have a
cap number of thirty point nine million in twenty twenty five. Lockett,
to parts of Seahawk, is the number two in franchise
history to Hall of Famer Steve Largin. In receptions, he
at six hundred and sixty one receiving yards eight five
ninety four and receiving touchdowns with sixty one. Played the

(13:13):
majority of his career under Pete Carroll. A lot of
people speculating that the Raiders could potentially be bringing him
in as they have a dearth of wide receiver talent
over there. Speaking of wide receivers, and we'll get back
to Seattle a second. After three seasons in Jacksonville, wide
receiver Christian Kirk's on the way out. We talked about that.

(13:35):
I talked about that back before the combine, and I
texted Ryan who I think I think was back on
February twenty third. I think I texted him who I
think they're going to replace him with. We'll see. But
after three seasons in Jacksonville. Christian Kirk is out. Jags
are releasing him and we'll save more than ten million
in salary cap space by releasing Kirk, who was heading
into the final season of the four year, seventy two

(13:57):
million dollar contract he signed with the Jags back in
twenty twenty two, his first season in Jacksonville. You know,
Kirk appeared to be living up to that contract. He
started all seventeen games. He had career highs and catches, yards, touchdowns.
He had what eighty four catches, eleven hundred eight yards
and eight touchdowns, But the production has declined since then.
Last year he played in just eight games at twenty

(14:20):
seven catches, three seventy nine yards, and one touchdown. The
twenty eight year old Kirk will likely have multiple offers
in free agency, though probably none as lucrative as the
contract he signed with the Jags three years ago. You know,
for a slot receiver, people always say, I'm a wet
blanket on the Broncos signed anybody for the right price.

(14:44):
I could be talked into Christian Kirk as a slock
receiver for the for the Denver Broncos, but it had
to be the right price. Betting market odds have come
out and the Giants are listed as a co favorite
to make the first overall pick, with the Titans both
have odds of minus one oh five to make the
first pick or the Giants to do that, they'd obviously
have to trade up, and they would presumably pick quarterback

(15:05):
cam Ward at the position. Giants are minus won fifty
favorites to sign Rogers. The Steelers are considered the next
team to sign Aaron Rodgers at plus two to seventy five.
That's followed by the Raiders and Titans at plus four
to fifty each. The idea of pairing cam Ward Rogers
doesn't make sense to a lot of people, but you know,

(15:26):
that's what I was told was kind of the direction
they were trying to go. Wo Aaron Rodgers, trade up
and get cam Ward Rogers would start in twenty twenty five.
The Giants struggle. At some point, they might switch to Ward,
but in terms of the short term interests of head
coach Brian Dable and gim Joe Shane, taking multiple swings
at the quarterback position is certainly certainly seems the more

(15:48):
favorable way to do things. I mean, if your entire
job depends on the idea that you are you got
to get quarterback, right, why not take multiple wax at
it and if you have if you have a surplus
there you figure it out. You know, there's it's much
better to have too many than too few. And so,

(16:10):
you know, I sort of applaud the Giants for if
they can pull this off, the aggressive effort that they're
trying to make in terms of citing a free agent,
you know, bridge quarterback and then turning around and attempting
to in some way, you know, get get the successor
for the future as well, and we'll see how that goes.
You know, there's there are you know, I mean, there

(16:35):
are stumbling blocks to getting that done. It's not say
you can't get it done, but there are some some
sort of stumbling blocks to you know, to getting some
of that stuff done. So we'll see and we'll see
how that shakes out. We'll come back, We'll get to
a little bit more of the news. There's a lot
to get to, a lot of other stuff to get
to that connects to the Broncos. You listen to Broncos
Country right here on ka Wa. Welcome back to it
Broncos Country tonight. Benjamin Albright here with you five six

(16:58):
six nine zero. You guys want to get involved in
the conversation at the A lot of stuff still to
get to. You missed any part of the first segment.
You always go to Broncos, Country Night, dot Com, slash
podcast or ever the podcast Apple, iTunes, Spotify, totally free
and awesome, my Heart radio app where we didn't nail
it there. Uh, a lot of a lot of stuff
to get to tomorrow. We will have a full show.

(17:20):
Nick Ferguson'll be back see programming note on that, you know,
instead of these short shows that are after the after
the Rockies and the Buffs, the President or whatever. So
we got a full show tomorrow night and that'll be Uh,
that'll be good. Talked a little bit earlier about Tyler
Lockett and how the Seahawks released him. Not the only

(17:40):
news coming out of Seattle today. Last week at the Combine,
Seahawks general manager John Schneider downplayed the notion that that
DK metcalf be traded. Uh. He was on with Mike
Florio and he said, really, when you look at it,
there's a lot of big name guys at every team.
There's always that like agent talk out there, So, yeah,
you guys know something I don't. Well, apparently everyone now

(18:03):
knows something and if all media reports that dk Metcalf
has asked to be traded and the Seahawks will explore it.
The news comes after conflicting reports surface last week regarding
talks between the Packers and Seahawks for a Metcalf trade.
Metcalf is entering the last year of his second contract
at a base salary of eighteen million. Unlike soon to

(18:28):
be former forty nine Ers and soon to be Commander's
receiver Deebo, Samuel Metcalf would be looking for a new
deal as part of the trade. If Metcalf is traded,
he'll become at least the seventh receiver from the twenty
nineteen draft to be shipped to a new team. Previously,
the Ravens traded Hollywood Brown to the Cardinals, The Patriots
traded in Keil Harriet, the Bears. Titans, of course, traded

(18:50):
aj Brown to the Eagles. The Jets traded Nicole Harmon
back to the Chiefs. The Steelers traded Deontay Johnson the Panthers.
At everybody knows the Niners are going to be trading
Deebo Samuel Matt Metcalf was the last player taken in
the second round of the twenty nineteen draft. As six
seasons with nine hundred or more receiving yards, three with

(19:13):
more than a thousand, and again there's been speculation because
of Pete Carroll dk Metcalf could go to the Raiders,
although if you look the last I saw that there
was significant odds on the Chargers as well. Many people
have been asking about the Broncos, and again, I look,
the Broncos made no secret of telling everybody, every media

(19:35):
person in attendance up there in Indy that they were
very satisfied with the wide receiver room and they may
look for a you know, a down roster receiver guy,
but and add something, you know, like like an alum
wizard in that in that range. But they made no
secret of the fact that they were not after top
tier type receivers. They were never in on Cooper cup
or Deebo Samuel or any of that kind of stuff.

(19:57):
And they were they were open about it. So you know,
every member of the media knows this. They were all there,
they all heard the same thing. So you know, we'll
see at the end of the day what it is
that they ultimately do. But as we you know, as

(20:17):
we look at this as it sits right now, I
would not expect the Broncos to be in, especially on
a trade for DK Metcalf. Speaking of the Raiders, they
are not waiting until next week to make their first
free agent pickup of the off season. Guard Alex Kappa
has agreed to terms with the Raiders today. His agents
announced it's a two year deal worth eleven million. Kappa,

(20:41):
who was released by the Bengals earlier this week, which
is why he's free to sign plus Vegas at this point.
He was the team starting right guard for the previous
the three previous seasons, spent three years a starter in
Tampa before moving to Cincinnati. Raiders general manager John spy
Tech was with the Bucks win Kappa was a member
of the team, so obvious connection there. Jackson Powers, Johnson,

(21:03):
Dela Parham, Jordan Meredith. So the most snaps at guard
for the Raiders in twenty twenty four ole players under
contract for twenty twenty five. And as we look at
the Raiders, I think the big thing there is what
Pete Carroll traditionally looks for, which is creating a team
that is going to be very strong up front, be
able to run a football, and of course you got

(21:24):
Chip Kelly run on the offense there, so you know
you'll see some misdirection stuff at times, but they want
to run the football and I think it's going to
be interesting to see, you know, how how they build
that thing out. Last week, Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said
the team will be selectively aggressive in free agents, whatever

(21:47):
that means. Today, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones like a different
way to describe the plan, saying I don't think aggressive
is the right word. Jerry, talked to reporters after the
Zach Martin retirement press conference, said I'm not looking at
free agency as play to fill voids. Jones said he
believes the team can fill its voice during the draft.
That approach puts even more pressure on picking of players

(22:08):
who can play right away and play well. Jerry also
said he has the bait out on trade possibilities, but
then he'll wait for other teams to come to them,
which is sort of like saying the worms on the hook,
but he's not putting the line in the water till
the fish say they're hungry. For the Cowboys fans who
are hungry for something more than what the Cowboys have
done the last thirty years. I assume today's comments are

(22:29):
probably not going to be viewed as as great news.
We talked a little bit earlier about Max Crosby and
his comments on Aaron Rodgers. Raiders general manager John Spytech
said last month that he envisions Max Crosby being a
member of the team for a long time, and the
club put something to that. Accord to multiple parts, Crosby

(22:53):
has a new three year deal set to make one
hundred and six point five million over the life of
the new deal, with nine million and guaranteed money, and
that makes him the highest paid non quarterback in the league.
There were points over the last year when Crosby's name
was floated in out of trade chatter and Crosby having
doubts about the direction of the franchise, but he said

(23:15):
he is as optimistic as ever after the Pete Carroll higher,
and that optimism is translated obviously into a big new
contract for one of the Big league's best defensive players.
Having him kind of hoping he was going to get traded,
having him in the division is a thord in the
Broncos paw. The teamail the press conference to discuss the

(23:39):
new deal. After announcing it, Pete Carroll said he's a
perfect fit for what they want to do. This is
just the starter where they want to go. General manager
John Spytek says that he thinks the deal sets a
tone for what this new era of Raiders football will
be and make it clear that the goals for the
journey that the trio will be taken together. Talking about
a conversation that he had with Max Rosby, Sell set

(24:00):
the same message and called himself extremely motivated to push
the team to the kind of success that has eluded
them for quite some time. To be honest, but the
Raiders continue to try to lay the bedrock there and
see if they can get that thing more competitive there
under Pete Carroll. The Cowboys, who we just talked about,
have cast space to sign Micah Parsons to a long
term extension. He freed up fifty six point six million

(24:24):
dollars in cap space over the last two days. They
reworked receiver Ceed Lambs contract that was Tuesday, opened up
twenty million in cap space. Now he've done the same
with quarterback Dak Prescott. My good buddy Patrick Walker of
the Dallas Cowboys dot Com says that the Cowboys restructured
his deal free up thirty six point six million. Prescott

(24:45):
has an auto conversion in his contract, authorizing the Cowboys
to restructure the deal when it wants. Lamb also has
that in this contract. Most big money veteran contracts do,
and that doesn't short the player any money, just changes
they get it or when they get it. It allows
for the team to play kapinomics in terms of moving
money around. Prescott was scheduled for a cap number of

(25:06):
a whopping eighty nine point eight nine to six million
in twenty twenty five, so it was a given that
they were going to use that mechanism and rework the deal.
The drop in this year's cap number will lead to
a nine point one to five million dollar increase in
his twenty twenty six cap number, which pushes it up
to seventy six point eight million, So another adjustment likely

(25:28):
will happen a year from now. The Cowboys have the
cap space. It's fifty four point three million, and that's
per over the cap which we prefer to use on
this show. They do not have the appetite to spend
a whole lot of money in free agency, according to
Jerry in the comments we just read from his presser earlier.

(25:50):
So there's a little bit of a contradiction there, I guess,
with Stevens saying they're going to be aggressive and Jerry
say they're not. But whatever, selective aggressive, selecttion stively aggressive.
Excuse me as the quote in free agency. They only
signed running back Royce Freeman and linebacker Eric Kendricks in
the first phrase of free agency last year, to the
consternation of many fans there in Dallas. Wednesday was a

(26:17):
big day for pre draft visits up there in Cleveland.
The Browns announced that they hosted Penn State defensive vend
Admiral Carter and a pair of Colorado teammates, cornerwide receiver
Travis Hunter and quarterback shot Or Sanders, for visits at
the team's facility. Reports this week have indicated that Miami
quarterback cam Ward will also be visiting the team later

(26:38):
this week. All of those players are projected to be
the first players off the board by most of the
mock drafts out there, so it makes sense the Browns,
who own the second overall pick, or checking all of
them out. Titans had the first pick, and they're going
to be meeting with all those same players here directly
as well. But that was, you know, certainly of interest.

(27:02):
Rams coach Sean McVay sort of slightly left the door
open for Cooper Cup to remain on the roster, saying
he would never speak in absolutes, and then today general
manager Les Sneed kind of closed the door on that
a little bit via Sarah Bishop ESPN said the Cups

(27:23):
return is the least likely outcome for the team. The
Rams have had no conversations with Cup about restructuring his deal,
which is scheduled to have a cap number of twenty
nine point eight million this coming year at a base
houry of twelve point five five. That's guaranteed. Coop went
on the trading block back in stuep a. Cup on
on the trading back in January. The most likely scenario

(27:46):
is that they're going to end up cutting him. He's
battle injuries last three seasons. He's got a roster momst
due next week, which you know provides something of a
deadline for resolution. Over the last three seasons combined, he's
played only thirty three games, twelve of those in twenty
twenty four, he caught sixty seven passes seven or ten yards,
six touchdowns, and added six receptions for ninety yards into

(28:09):
postseason games. Cup was the twenty twenty one AP Offensive
Player of the Year MVP of the Super Bowl. Had
six hundred and thirty four receptions for seven thousand, seven
or seventy six yards fifty seven touchdowns in his eight
seasons in LA. The Jaguars who cut Christian Kirk today
are who I believe are the leader in the cubhouse

(28:31):
for Cooper Cup. But again, we'll see, we'll see how
that goes. A little bit of reporting from Chris Thomason
of the Denver Gazette, and we've talked about I think
Benito and Zach Allen's extensions quite a bit here on
the show and how they need him. Broncos defensive end
Zach Allen is looking to turn a strong twenty twenty

(28:51):
four season in a new contract with the team, and
he is looking for a contract extension as the offseason
gets underway. Allen has one year aft in the three
year contract he signed with the Broncos back in twenty
twenty three, and is set to make twelve point seven
to four million with a cap hit of nineteen point
seven nine to five million per Thomason, Allan is looking

(29:11):
for a raise that woul put him in the neighborhood
of twenty five million dollars a season. Alan will turn
twenty eight this summer. Was second team Ole Pro this
past year at sixty one tackles eight and a half
sacks during the regular season. Was kind of the key
to the engine that made the Broncos defense go. Broncos
has got to figure out the extension for him and
Nick Benito, and I have a feeling they'll get both

(29:32):
those done. But that's something that we've talked about at nauseum,
you know, on on this show, and I think people
know that. I think people know both those are things
are probably coming here fairly soon. So the Rams gave
quarterback Matt Stafford's agent Jimmy Sexton, permission to speak with

(29:55):
other teams, but in the end Stafford agree to return
on an adjusted contract. Rams general made Less Sneed today
called the new deal a renewal of vows, saying, once
we sat down, it's very obviously we all want to
continue the partnership and continue chasing the same level of
greatness together. The terms of Stafford's adjusted contract are not

(30:15):
yet out there, but Sean McVay said that the Rams
are taking it one year at a time and McVeigh
anticipates revisiting Stafford's future after the twenty twenty five season.
Stafford is thirty seven and entering his seventeenth NFL season,
fifth with the Rams. Did play in sixteen games last
year and twenty touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Giants were
also tried to be in on Matt Stafford, but were

(30:38):
largely rebuffed in their pursuits. The Raiders had framework of
a contract and framework of a trade in place. Stafford
went back to La said, look, here's the number I
want to stay here. If you're not willing to meet that,
I'll go play for their number. There. Rams ultimately got
it done and there you go. And Tom Brady was
a big part of that. Obviously, that led to all

(30:58):
the so and you know, all that kind of stuff
Brady is putting in the time. The minority owner has
been heavily involved in the Raiders' overall decision making process.
He was present when Max Crosby signed his new contract today.
You know, he's he's been present in a lot of

(31:19):
trying to recruit and rebuild the culture and the Raiders brand.
In some respects, he's trying to make up for lost time.
His primary job is Fox's analyst game analyst, which pays
him thirty seven and a half million a year, keeps
him occupied on most of the days the Raiders play
their games, but he's expected to have a role in
the pursuit of free agents. However, thus far, he's over

(31:43):
too Ben Johnson. He was not able to convince him
to let go of the Chicago offer and come, and
then Matt Stafford obviously, as we just talked about, went
back to the Rams and ultimately settled there. Getting the
Max Crosby deal done is good, but it has yet
to translate to Brady being being able to recruit people

(32:04):
to the Las Vegas Raiders. And I think, you know
a lot of that. He's trying to do what John
Elway did early on with the Broncos, and that was,
you know, get you create a certain cachet with I'm
able to get these guys here and build the program

(32:24):
that way, And thus far he's not had the same
level of success that Elway had with the Broncos early on.
Doing that Brady, for his part, has been then spotted.
I don't know if you guys saw this on or not,
but he spotted wearing a ridiculous seven hundred and forty
thousand dollars diamond and yellow sapphire studded watch. People who

(32:45):
were watching the Super Bowl saw that that watch. But
he's warned a few times. It is a Jacobin Company
time piece that is four hundred and twenty four gems.
The company only produced eighteen of those watches, so they're
obviously very very rare. But you know, he wore it

(33:06):
out to the Super Bowl, and he's warned a few times.
If you ever watched look on his wrist, that it's
a diamond and yellow sapphire studded watch that is a
UH that is three quarters of a million dollars UH
in value, has a has a light blue you know,
logo and and clockhands on it, and it's not really

(33:26):
much good for telling time. It's really more of a
bracelet than anything else. Because you can't even see the
numbers on the watch dial. You has have the sort
of guess at the set, the sort of guess at
the time. So, but I don't know if you guys
have seen that one or not that. I just thought
that one was I thought that one was funny. The
Cleveland Browns Joel Bottonio, not quite ready to hang up

(33:48):
his cleats All Pro left guard, decided to return to
the Browns for a twenty twenty five season. He'd been
contemplating retirement, but Hall of Favor Joe Thomas advised him
not to unless he was absolutely positive. Buttonio has been
with the Browns his entire career. Was drafted in the
second round twenty fourteen and immediately became a mainstay as
a second team All Pro three times. So good news

(34:09):
for the Browns there, who have struggled with some of
their other news with Miles Garrett, you know, demanding a
trade and all that. And we'll see see what's able
to happen, what's able to happen there. I don't know
if they'll be able to keep Miles Garrett or not.
Then obviously they've got the number two pick, and we're
hosting Chidur and Travis today as they continue to look
and see what they're going to do with that number
two overall pick, which some have speculated they want to

(34:29):
trade out of. So we'll see, we'll see if they
even end up wind up picking at number two when
all said and done, You guys listening to Broncos country
tonight right here on Kowa Save at the Am ninety
four ONEFM News Talk Sports,