March 7, 2025 • 44 mins
On this episode of Chargers Weekly, Bolts radio play-by-play announcer Matt “Money” Smith and Chargers legend Jahleel Addae recap the latest news involving LA and the entire NFL. In a wide-ranging full preview of 2025 free agency, the hosts break down the wide receiver market headlined by Davante Adams, the news that Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf reportedly requested a trade, and how the Bolts’ free agency plans will influence their options in the NFL Draft. They also discuss the importance of left tackle Rashawn Slater as he is eligible for a contract extension, how the Chargers should look to fill out the cornerback room, and who could be added to the offensive line this offseason.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Late fifteen to ten, touched up Welcome to Chargers Weekly.
Back at the Bolt. The following the combine, Jalil leda
here with me and Jalil as we go post combine,
a lot of movement. Obviously, we start with the biggest news,
(00:22):
Joey Bosa no longer a charger just man. We talked
to joe Ortie's about it on Chargers Weekly. Brought up
how much everybody loves Joey, how they would try to
figure out if they could make something work. And I
think ultimately it's something that we address multiple times here
in the off season. You see the thirty six million
dollar number to bring him back, the twenty five million
in cap savings, if you move on, you took a
(00:42):
pickup last year, was there a way to do it again?
And it just kind of always felt like this is
where we were gonna end up.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, you said we touched base on it and just
looking at the numbers, right, the numbers didn't really.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Fair on Joey's side.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Obviously I came in with Joey. I came for Joey
obviously three years before him. I came in when he
was a rookie and he came in turned of the league.
He's done so much for the Chargers organization, He's done
so much for that bolt the teammate he is. Obviously
he was hampered with injuries, but this is the way
he plays the game, right, It's one hundred percent injury
(01:17):
rate type sport. We all know that. And I wish
Joey nothing but the best. Obviously, he's a great dude,
great teammate, friend of mine. But business is business. You know,
we talk on this podcast and we always say one
thing for sure that this is a business at the
end of the day, and the Chargers made the right
move for the organization, and Joey will have a plethora
of people to choose from coming.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Up here soon.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, no doubt. And he should look when healthy. He's
quite simply in the conversation as the best all around
you know, Miles hard to touch Miles Garret when you're
talking aout rushing past. But I think when you talk
about an all around defensive end when Joey is healthy,
it's pretty hard to step to what he's capable of doing. Unfortunately,
his body's betrayed him. Like you said, he's always played
all out, He's always coming to camp ready. He's always
(02:00):
been in shape. Like, there's nothing bad you can say
about the guy other than somebodies are all right with football,
somebody's aren't, and it just kind of depends. And sadly
these last few years it's been a rough go. But
like you said, wishing the best, I think we all
kind of have a pretty good idea of where he'd
like to go, of course, you know, and if they
can make it work out, I hope it. You know.
(02:21):
I don't think there's anybody that wishes anything ill upon Joey,
And if it's with his brother at the forty nine
ers and they can make that happen, then I would
wish that upon him and that they have great success
and he rediscovers something where he's able to stay healthy
and you know, can perform. But like you said, the
business of it is twenty five million bucks added to
the available cast space and the thirty six that you're
(02:42):
not paying out. And for me, what that just, what
that shows is just take it from here on this
side of the ball and then right on the other
side of the ball, it's just going to go right
into Rashaun Slater's pocket like that. It just to me,
that's got to be the number one already of this
offseason is just getting that thing done, and it's gonna
(03:05):
be a huge number. And I think getting that twenty
five million off the books of Joey's can help that
become facilitated.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And when you look at it, you're like, hey, it's
literally on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's a great analogy that you made.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
But listen, Rayshawn Slater is the best or not one
of the best left tackles in the game.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
He can play on both sides.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Obviously, having Justin Herbert behind center, you have to have
a brick wall in front of him. And listen, the
Chargers have enough and they've done enough, and we've seen
him do enough with less on defense right.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Week in and week out.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Right, But one thing is for sure is that they're
gonna Justin is gonna get pressured over and over again.
And the way you keep him from being pressured is
you got to protect him. Right one plus one egals
two doesn't egals three doesn't eqal four.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Let's keep it simple.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
We got to pay the guys who are going to
be there on Sundays, who are going to make sure
that Justin doesn't get hit.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Look who's the most important person in the Chargers organization.
It's Justin Herbert. And I would assume if he thought
there was any issue, if Rashaun Slater wasn't going to
get extended and wasn't going to be here for the
next four to five years, depending on which contract he wants,
he's probably going to be in that office. He's going
to be sitting in that chair opposite George. He's his
desk saying, what are we doing here? Man? What? What?
(04:17):
What's what's the problem? Now? What are we thinking? How
much do we have in cas We got ninety five
million bucks in cab space and you're telling me I
can't take took his look if I don't know Rayshawn's agent,
But if I'm his agent, if I'm on the phone
with Joe, I'll just say, hey, look, you know where
this starts. Like he's he's an all pro and he's
in the conversations a buzz left tackle, so you know,
tackles are tackles. Tristan Wurf's got twenty eight point one
(04:40):
twenty five last year. Well, the bidding starts at twenty
eight point twenty five.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Oh, that's that's that's how it goes.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
How would go That's how it works. And then it's
up to Rashawn, I think in the Chargers to figure
out if it's the Pina Suol contract which is four years,
or if it's the Tristan Worf's contract and it's five years.
All these guys are the same age. You know, Penae
is twenty five, Tristan's twenty for Shawna is twenty six.
So if I'm the Chargers, I want it to be
five years. Say that that is not a that is
(05:07):
not a position that I want to mess around with.
You saw it firsthand last year with the draft with
Joe Alt and Latham and Fuaga and Fortani and the
list just went on and on and on. And you're
going to see it again this draft with Will Campbell
and Membo and it's gonna in Banks and that is
and you're going to see Gray Zabel in the first
round and Tyler Booker in the first round, and it
(05:27):
is just going to be another seven to eight offensive
lineman because the league has recognized that it's just mandatory
to protect your quarterback.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Protect your quarterback, and then you're building the trenches, and
you look at just off schedule a little bit. When
you talk about offensive line, I don't know, you protecting
your quarterback, you're creating lanes to run.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Like look at say Kwon Barklay and the deal that
he just got.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Obviously he's he's one of one at the running back position,
but he's you're not going anywhere without offensive line.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
They're stacked across the.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Border in that offense line, pensive line up.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, and they're creating increases, They're creating lanes for him
to run and allow him to do his thing once
he get into the second level, and that's where he's
a game breaker. So when you invest in your offensive line,
when you're invest in the trenches, it's not only protecting
your quarterback, but it's opening your offense in so many
different ways.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And I think you know, when you look at what's
sort of the conversation around the Chargers has been in
free agency, what's it been, it's been center, it's been guard.
In the draft, it's been center, it's been guard. The
last thing you need to do is add left tackle
to that for some whatever, for whatever reason that may be.
And I'll say this, and I know this is going
(06:30):
to be incredibly unpopular. But just you mentioned business like
as a as a businessman. If I'm looking at okay, wait,
I get paying my quarterback fifty million bucks because I
can see all the number ten jerseys here. Of course
I get. And we'll get into this in a second,
trading for DK Metcalf and handing him thirty million bucks
because when he's running sixty yards with that body catching touchdowns,
(06:54):
I know what it's going to feel like inside Sofi
State the fan and I don't. I don't mean this
as a sh shot. The fan doesn't connect with a
left tackle. They don't. They're not gonna wear number seventy jerseys.
They're not. But they don't understand how that the past
a Metcalf doesn't happen. If Slater's not out there needing
zero help, you don't need to chick. I'll never forget
(07:16):
that rep. It was like two years I think it
was his rookie year and I can't remember who. I
think it was against San Francisco when Chips were down,
everybody was hurt. It was a primetime game. I think
it was a Thursday night football game, or maybe a
Sunday night football game, but it was a primetime game
and I was like, oh, we really got this in primetime.
All these guys are hurt, and they almost pulled it
(07:38):
off and there was a rep and it was either
against both I think it might have been against Bosa
that Austin came over to chip and he knocked Slater
off the block and the guy got a pressure and
Slater lost it. And from that moment forward.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I want no help.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
There were no more chips. You got in my way.
Don't come over here and help me shut out. And
that's that's who Slater is. I mean, that's and and
that's why I get the business side, like, wait a minute,
are we am I gonna sell any more season tickets
because I give Rashawn Slater twenty nine million? No, you're not,
but you are because you're gonna end up winning. You're
gonna win and it's gonna make Herbert that much better
(08:14):
of a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So it's you always talk about offensive lineman being the
like unselfish players on the team, right dating back to
high school.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Right, everyone wants to score.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Everyone wants to they're naming the paper, they want you
want the line like you want to, Hey, look at me,
Look at me.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I did. But offensive lineman don't get that, right.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
They do the dirty work, they do the grunt work,
and they never get a praise for it. But hey,
in the NFL, you do, you get a big fat check, exactly,
And that's all that matters.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Right now. He's gonna get a check.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
He's gonna he's gonna be able to take care of
his family, generational and not only that, he deserves it
the way the body of work that he's put on
the field, the body of work that he's done playing
the left tackle, which is the hardest position in the
NFL other than playing cornerback.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
On the island, it's it's similar, right cornerback and left tackle.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
You're both on an island.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
You're on the island against the most freakish guys defensive
end and a wide receiver in the world. Right, So
he's worth every penny. Like you said, you're not going
to see his jerseys in the stands. It's not going
to be flashy. But when you look at it from
a business mindset, when you look at it from the
top down, it makes the most sense.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
It's funny you bring that up. I never really kind
of thought of it that way. But they're both going backwards.
They both have to react. They don't get to be
the aggressor. They have to be the reactor. And they're
doing it against the most freakish athletes on the field.
And that's why you're going to get at least twenty
eight point twenty five million bucks a year and protect
the most important asset in this organization for the next
(09:33):
five years. So I would love to see, you know,
there's so let's let's get into this. There's two things
that I would love to see get done. I know
everybody kind of once the Jets released Davante Adams, they're
getting into that idea. I'm not as if that's what
they choose to do. Great, I get it, But as
soon as this DK thing came out, it's like that
this lines up. Now, now DK lines up. He's twenty seven.
(09:55):
I think D seven DK more than than DeVante. Yeah,
for me, it does, just because I I think I
think from an age and an explosiveness standpoint. Don't get
me wrong, Like Davante is a tactician, he is as
good as anybody out there. But DK, it's just you
know what I mean, it's of course it's.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
That he's he listened, he's Julio times two and size,
that's what I mean, right, So he's.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Julio in height, but he had probably weighs about ten
to fifty more pounds and muscle.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And he's right and he's out.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
All you see his knees and elbows when he's coming back, right,
So I get it. I understand. I just DK's muster.
I'm not taking anything from him. You have to game plan,
but I think you have to game plan just a
little bit more for DeVante Adams.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's me. But longevity.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
You might get Davante for maybe two right right, whereas
DK you can get.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Him for four for bringing him in. He's gonna be like.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Him and Justin will be playing together for a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And McConkey and McConkie, and that's what That's the other
thing too, is I think about you know, what's a
wide receiver room, right, It's it's a basketball team, it's
point guard, it's power forward, it's a it's a swing
it's you know. So just to me, the matchup, the
matchup that a defense would have to come up with
to contend with DK as the X, and that that
vertical threat along with McConkie in the slot underneath like that,
(11:13):
it just feels and then all of a sudden you
drop an explosive back in the backfield from this draft
and it's just like, Okay, last year we went out
there with what and this year you're going out there
with let's just say it's Omar and Hampton, right, or
it's Quin Shawn Judkins, like it's Brazil. It's September fifth. Yeah,
and you see the offensive break huddle and here's d
(11:34):
K at the X, McConkie at the slot. You know,
Q at the Z. Let's say, or it's a beautiful
or maybe it's like a Westbrook, a Kine or something
like that at the Z. And and you've got Omar
and Hampton standing behind Justin Herbert. Maybe it's even now
I'm really gonna get craw about Mason Taylor at tight end.
You know what I'm saying Like that to me is like,
(11:55):
hey man, it's.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
All attainable to what you're saying. It's all attainable.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And I don't I don't want people to forget about Q
because I've been there, Like listen, yeah, you can say
what you want, but I've been in these two different
camps with Q, and I've seen his explosiveness.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I want to see him stretch the field more, right,
I don't even want to see drags. I don't want
to see.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
So when you have DeVante Adams, you've got a guy
that can run every route tree. Then you have Makonki
in the inside and he can play outside if you
need him to. But he's a shippy guy on the
inside still can take the top off from the slot right,
And then you have Q on the outside who's explosive.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
He's a fast guy who can take the top off.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I don't I mean, you can't go wrong with either, right,
I know you love him, you're loving Metcalf, but short term.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, my only fear with Q is I just think
it's now been two years. I'm not saying it can't change,
but I think we feel like we know what his
strengths are. You know what I mean. It's that quick
those quick drags, it's those quick slants. It feels like
when they've asked him to be that player that you're describing, right,
it doesn't quite track it as well. It doesn't feel
like those fifty to fifty but for whatever reason, we
(12:55):
look at the body and we see it and we're like, okay, yeah,
that but like, man, when he gets that ball and
and that he makes that first move and he's leaving
the defender on the dust, it's like, okay, yeah, that's
that's it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And I don't know what it is because I'm like,
I keep going back to his rookie year. It was
when Keenan and Mike Williams was here with him, and
arguably you can ask anybody who's in that camp, you've
seen it.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
He was.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
He probably had the most explosive camp out of all
those guys, right, So I know it's in there. So
I'm saying I'd rather not get two of him in DK.
Not saying that he's the same player as DK. I'm
just saying, as far as stretching the field where DeVante
Adams is, can he can stretch this?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
So you think, you know, I think the question is
is Q and X because to me, he's a Z.
I think you've got to move him. I think you've
got to get him off the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I think you've I think he's I think he's a Z.
I think he's a Z. I think he's a Z.
I don't really.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I would rather having a DK or DeVante backside one
on one, getting those backside one on ones. But a
lot of times when you have a backside one on
one guy in three by one formations, A lot of
times on the defensive side, we say, if that's a
guy back there, we're gonna have this covered of quarters. Yeah,
but the safety backs is going to face to backside, right,
We're not even gonna look at number three. We'll probably
have the mike carry three and certain we'll put.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Our body over three to make it seem like we're
on three.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
But if that's a guy back there, we're doubling him
with the front side safety.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So let's let's let's do this exercise. Which which receiver
do you think is best for maconky Because mccaky to
me is a one. I think he is a one.
He's a one. But I think it's because he is
so unique in his skill set and all the different
things he can do. And I think kind of, like
I said, I I don't want to come out the
wrong way, but I kind of have a vision of
what Q can do best. I don't have a vision
(14:33):
of what mconky can do best because he can do
it all. He can do it all, and it's like,
so which of those guys is when you want to
put it all together, do you think, like make the
case for DeVante, you know, combined with mconkey versus DK
combined with McConkey, and how those two would look different
based on their skill sets.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I just think that Devonte can do it all.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
I think he can stretch the field, and I think
he can run your intermediate routes with mconki, run one
two stacks with him, and they can do high low
combinations versus d K. I don't think he's Yeah, he's
a big body, he can run digs and stuff, but
he doesn't have the same wiggle as DeVante.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
He's more of a.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
He'll stretch the field, he'll make contested catches and maybe
he can't. But if I'm doing it right, so right
now I'm going to Vante mcconki and then I'm having Q.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
That's just what I That's what I like.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's what I'm saying. I could make the case for
the people listening watch that for you. Look, you know
like of a lot more about this than I do.
Why that that combo works because, like I said, it's
not about one, it's about it's it's why Joe Burrow
is like, hey, I gotta have tea, right, I know that,
you know, And I think all the people that are
all he's not a one and you're gonna pay him
one money. And for Burrow, it's like, yeah, but but
Jamar is not Jamar without tea. When I have tea
(15:44):
and I have Jamar and I have GASICKI and I've
got these three pieces, that's how this works. And I
think that's sort of the key.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
And don't get me wrong, I played I played Davante,
and I've played DK.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I rather hit Davante. DK is a man free, He's
a man.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I just think that with And I don't know, maybe
I'm saying this because DK's second half of his season
last year, he kind of fell off, and I don't
know if it was game plan. I don't know if
him and Gino didn't have the correct, you know, chemistry.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
But it's wherever Davante goes. He makes plays.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
At the Raiders, he made plays at the Packers, he
made play traded to the jet Slate, he made plays
like he's he's going to be productive regardless. And I
just seen DK that kind of and I'm not saying
that he's he has fallen off.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
At any means.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I just his second half how he kind of disappeared
in the offense for the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I don't see DeVante doing that in nobody's offense.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah, I think I don't. Yeah, And you know, I mean,
there is no sport that is, you know, more attached
to circumstance than football because there's so many moving pieces,
there's so many agendas, and it just got sideways on
the Seahawks in every imaginable way, imaginable way in that
second half. So I don't know what was going on there.
The one thing I do know, though, is you've got
the relationship right withsanjre Laal and the fact that there
(16:56):
was his wide receiver coach up there, and see how
it helped make DK d ks And he's here and
we saw what he was able to do and improving
Q from year one to year two with McConkey and
making him not just you know, one of the best
rookie receivers, but one of the best slot receivers in
the league all season long. So I think there's something
special there too, of course. And now you're DK Metcalf
(17:17):
and you got Justin Herbert, and I think about Mike
Williams and how good you know, big Mike was, And
now I think about getting sort of a younger, more
explosive version of Mike, and DK, yeah, bigger, and.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He's He's what you want them to look like when
you step off the bus, right.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
They don't like a you know, it's like you got
Oh wait, I got this quarterback with that arm and
that wide receiver with that body combined, and I got
to figure out how to contend with that. That's and
I think, look, there's the compensation for DeVante is just money.
The compensation for DK is it's going to cost you
a pretty healthy chunk of draft capital. If I had
(17:55):
to guess, you know, I would say, you know, I
would go into that and say, hey, we'll give you
our two, We'll give you fifty five. You know. You
think about what they got for DBot was I think
a fifth from Washington.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
So they they got a bag of chips.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah, so this is not going to be that. This
is this, and it's not going to be the aj
Brown one and a three they're not going to get
that for DK when you have to immediately hand over
thirty million dollars a year. Now they're not getting a one.
So I think if you offer them a two, if
they push back a little bit and you know, want
a little more than I would say, all right, we'll
give it to this year, we'll give you our two.
Next year, you give us your three, and that way
(18:30):
maybe you can get that to work out. Because then
sort of the way I go into it, Julia, as
I look at this draft and coming back from the combine,
everybody that I've talked to said, the middle class is
so strong, like just right when you get out of
that elite, you know, we got thirteen, we got sixteen,
Like that didn't I don't think I talked to anyone
that had more than sixteen first round grades. They're like,
(18:54):
but right after that, man, I got a mass of players.
So now you're sitting at twenty two and somebody glides right,
and now you just trade into that. So think about
the Kenneth Murray deal, the Tom Telesco made right when
he jumped back in I think it was twenty six
is where Kenneth got picked and he gave up his
three and his two and he got a That's what
I'm talking about. When you get that too. Whether it's
Jacksonville who's got two threes and you take their two
(19:16):
and their three, they're higher of the two threes. You
know the I got the calculator here, the twenty second
pick is worth seven hundred and eighty points. So you
talk about let's say it's Jacksonville who wants to bolster
their offensive line. They got up get this right for
Trevor Lawrence. This year, it's Liam Cohen. That's it. So
they have thirty six and seventy. Those two picks come
(19:36):
out to five forty and seventy is two. For there
you go, it's exactly seven hundred and eighty points like
that's so that's kind of what we're talking about, where
if you do trade your two, just trade out of
your one, get a high two, and now you've essentially
got dk and three picks, Whereas the Chargers third round pick,
I think it is eighty six, and now you have
(19:57):
three picks in the top eighty six in a draft
that everybody's talking about being very heavy in that middle class.
So I think before you you know, people draft picks
have to become players. Man. Of course, they're just picks
until there's a player attached to it. So don't get
too freaked out about moving off fifty five and oh
fifty five could have been this, could have been, this
could yeah, well it also could be a player that
(20:18):
doesn't work out out. We feel pretty good about DK
panning out, so.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
And once again charge the nation. I am for DK.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yeah, I know, you.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Know both of them. Listen for both of them, right, you.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Can be for one more than the other. It's totally fine.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, it's totally totally fine. So those I bring those up,
and we spent quite a bit of time on that
because I think, to me, those are that would be
my priority one and priority two before Monday rolls around,
before this thing gets legal, tampering gets underway, and all
these contracts start flying around for free agents, and you've
got to figure out, is it Drew Dolman, is it
(20:52):
Will Fries is it? You know, you kind of get
a little bit further down in that offensive line ranking.
Is it Aaron Banks? Is it Ryan Kelly? Like I
would love to have those two things sorted out immediately,
just so I know what the money is like. If
you can trade for DK, talk to his agent, how
much does he want? What's the org Davante? What do
(21:12):
you want? What's that number look like? And then you
get Slater squared away? Now you know, okay, we've got
whatever it is right now that they have, I should
hit up OTC.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And so if you have with so money, if we
go receiver right's DK or Davante and we locked in Slater?
Where are you seeing us at twenty two as far
as position.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Yeah, I think to me, to me, I think so
then so then here we go. So now we have
to before we get to that like then we have
to get to free agency. Right, what's available? How much
can you afford? You know, like I talked about, is
it is Juwan Johnson reality at tight end? What does
that number look like? You know Herbert's former tight end
at Oregon? Is that a friendly number? Does that an
(21:54):
ingram get released by the Jaguars? And now can you
do the whole Disley Ingram? Here's my pass catching tight end,
here's my black tight end. And now I don't have
to worry about tight end. I think, I think for
people that are holding their breath and expecting the Chargers
to go out and you know, make a sign, you know,
and I know they're not going to because they've been franchised.
(22:14):
But like the whole tray Smith and the t Higgins conversations, like,
that's not how that's not how Baltimore operates, it's not
how Harba operates. Like to me, it's let's spread it,
let's build depth, let's fill holes, and then we can
go into the draft and draft wherever we want. So
I agree, you know, I think that's the thing, right, So, like,
what are you thinking at twenty two? Let's just assume
(22:36):
they're able to do that. Build depth. You can take
best player, is there someone in particular?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
If you can build depth, you know through like let's say,
if you can build.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Depth through free agency, right, which I think is the
best way to do it.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Right, I think, Yeah, don't break the bank.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Just don't break the bank. Build depth.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Get a placeholder, yes, get the guys in the positions
and fill the slots that you need. I don't think
you in fancy you don't address a running back. I
don't think that there's not enough.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, I do think you bring JK back for sure.
For sure, if you can get that right.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Right, but then if you don't address running back and Freegancy,
which I'm highly confident that the Chargers won't, you got
to go running back in the draft.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, you gotta go running back at twenty two.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, at twenty two, you think, I think even if
let's say Hampton's off the board, so you have no
genty you have no Hampton. Now you're kicking around the
idea of taking Quinchawn Jenkins at twenty two.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Where you think, I think so, dude, I think so
if you feel the tight end position, if you if
you get the ribber CV you want right, feel the
tight end position and you lock in Slater, it's either
you go twenty two running back or you go or
if you go a guard right. That's that's that's my mindset.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah, and I think, you know, I think the question
with running back for people that are like, oh, it's
it's it's not a value picking stuff. Like one of
the when when I was at the Combine, I don't
remember who it was that brought it up, but they
made a great point and they said it might have
been DJ who said it said, the only time where
you can really maximize value at running back is when
(24:02):
you're ready, like if you're ready to go, like the
Ravens are ready to go, like that Eagles are ready
to go. Look at the difference of Saquan as the
fourth pick on a mediocre Giants team where he's rushing
for twelve hundred and fifty yards and eight touchdowns and
they win seven to nine games, and then you drop
him behind the best offensive line in the league with
a team that's ready to win the Super Bowl, and
(24:24):
the guy rushes for two thousand yards and was darn
near a Super Bowl a playoff MVP. So if we
feel like the Chargers are at that point where that
depth is built up, you feel good about year two
under this coaching staff, and I do, then that's where
your point makes sense because guess what you draft the
running back in the first round. Well, now you've got
(24:44):
a low number on a fifty year option and you've
got two franchise tags. So if you want, you got
that guy for seven years of control in the prime
of their careers. And that's where it makes sense as
opposed to later rounds where you only get him for four.
You don't get the fifty year option. Now you've got
to go to franchise tags and and it speeds up
the clock of year. So yeah, the first round certainly
(25:07):
makes sense. I just want to get to it because
it was, like.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
You said, it does matter who's there, yes, right if?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, I think if Omari and Hampton's there, it's a
very real conversation because he is a freak show dude.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
I mean most are saying most are saying they like
him more than gentee.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Some dude, yeah, which I'm not quite sure if I
agree with that. I had I had a scout tell
me that I've said this on multiple shows now and
I don't want to keep saying it, but when he
said it, it just stopped me in my tracks. He's like, dude,
he's LT.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I was like, who's LT?
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Ashton Genty He's like that offensive line was not great, man,
and that dude made that out of that, And I
was like, oh, that's something now. And because we didn't
see him catch the ball like LT, and that's that's
what separated.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
L a purpose.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yeah, he's like a receiver out there. I don't know,
so that's but anyway, it would be Hampton. I think
when you get behind Hampton Quinn, Shawn Jenkins, Caleb Johnson's
a big back, Dylan Sampson's you're more explosive. There's a
lot of buzz on RJ. Harvey for he's a smaller guy.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
I know he won't go first round, but that skataboo.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
I know, Hey, dude, the guy jump thirty nine and
a half inches. Man, So that lets you know the
explosiveness is I would like him.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I would I just like him.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
I just like I would love it.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I just like him on tape.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, it's he's not going to run the fastest forty
and that's probably why he didn't run this forty. But
when you watch a ballplayer, you watch a guy with
confidence who toast the rut.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
I mean, he's him.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Yeah, So let's say so that's let's say you do
that trade out of the point. Let's say you do
that trade out at twenty two and now you and
let's just say it's with darn it, where's my tankathon stuff? Jacksonville,
New England. If they want to get up in there,
let's say Luther Burdens sliding or Matthew Golden sitting there.
We know how much they want to receive and they
don't get DeVante, they don't get DK. Then you can
(26:55):
take you know, New England's thirty eight and sixty nine,
and now you've got thirty eight and fifty five. At
thirty eight, you can now go out and get let's
just see what gosh. I don't think Gray's Abel will
be there. I don't know, because you know, right now,
like the center class is so thin that people are
talking about just converting guards to centers at this point.
(27:17):
Tate Ratledge of Georgia, obviously Grazebel, we've talked about it.
I don't think he'll be there. He's he freaking came
out of the combine like he's going. I don't know
if we'll be there at twenty two at this point
for the chargers. So I think you go ahead and
you get your you can get your guard or your
interior linement at that spot or the tight end, and
then you can get like you said you want Scataboo.
(27:38):
Now you get him maybe at fifty five, and we
are really going through this. This is a ridiculous pot
at this point. But that's that's what free agency is, right,
It's a wish list. It's it's sort of you know,
and look, I think there's a reason why. Here's here's
the one wild card two for this year, twenty four
million dollar jump. Everybody's got money. Of course, everybody's got money.
(28:02):
So that's you know, for people that were like, wow,
you did Elijah Molden already, and man, you got a
little bit more than I thought. Eighteen million bucks on
six million, it's like, don't want them to get to
the market.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
That's yeah, you don't. You don't want him to get
to the market.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And it's totally different if you would assigned him with
the Salard cap six five years ago.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
We always talked about.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
It goes up every year, so you can't look sometimes
you get look at the numbers, but you got to
look at him to what it's worth with the Salard
cap going up six million now is different than six
million back in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Right, Right, it's not the same, Right, it's not the same.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
It doesn't it an eighty million dollar cap exactly.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
It doesn't hit the same, right.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
So but I do think that was probably a big
part of the calculus is let's you know, let's not
let this guy get to market. We know how important
he is. Uh, in order for us to do what
we want to do on defense, that's rotation, keep Derwin
it on the line of scrimmage as a slot defender,
as a big nickel, as a dimebacker. You've got to
have those two guys on the top, you do. And
(28:58):
that's where the value for Elijah comes in. Like that's
the other thing too, with the draft and ten picks
that the Chargers have is we you know, we've talked
about this before, but you get out of there and
I'm talking to guys about sixth round picks and seventh
round picks and I'm like, man, just think about the
fact they got two corners in the fifth round and
what this team was able to do and identifying talent.
(29:20):
And like the one that I keep telling people is,
you know, for those that were like, oh, what about
your fourth round pick a boy B And it's like
we knew coming into the year, they said he's not
going to be playing that this is a traits is
a this is a bet on the com that we
think this is a guy we're going to be able
to develop. So you're almost adding a pick this year
at the defensive line position, someone who was productive at
(29:42):
the Alabama But they felt like needed a little bit
of seasoning, right.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
And that's the thing about it when you look typically
when you're looking at the draft, right your first three
draft picks, you're like, Okay, these are guys that are
going to come in and make impacts right now, right
your fourth round, your fifth round, and it's almost like, okay,
we're ga teams, special teams. There's gonna be these are
gonna be guys who who we have to develop, who
we have to you know, kind of massage and get
(30:07):
them to where we want them to be. So to
have yeah, you might say what happened to the fourth round,
but for the two fifth rounders to hit like they did,
that allows the charges not to have to address the
cornerback position.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So heavily right now, right, So you can't look at
it like that.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
I always say, like being an undrafted player, I've been
in this league and I played, and I seen fourth
rounders get cut. I've seen fifth rounders get cut. I've
seen sixth rounders get cut. So most of the time
when you're after that third, like I said, it's more
of an experiment.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
It's almost it's what did your scouts do their job right? Right?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
How good was your scouting department when you hit the
fourth round and on.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Yeah, they're another thing that came up. I wish I
could remember who brought it up, but I was talking about,
you know you have cam Hart, you have targeted still,
do you need to get a veteran corner.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
I thank you, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So I brought that up. I was like, you know,
do you just bring back Christian Fulton? He played well
when he was healthy. Is it that's simple? Do go
out shopping to get a you know, I don't know
who DJ Reid is, obviously, like I think the number
one guy would slay just got cut something like that.
And person made an interesting point. He said, think about
(31:15):
how your what your cornerback position has been in the
past and how it performed this year. What does that
tell you? And I didn't know where he was going.
And he's like Clink is such a good coach and
Jesse Minner is such a good coordinator that that's where
they can get away with it. He's like he goes
in every team, every really good team has that position
(31:35):
group where they don't spend money, they draft, they develop
and they know, okay, I can save money here and
I'm gonna be able to spend it. Here, he goes
into me, that's corner on this team with those coaches
and with this scheme, he goes So for me, I
would just draft two more guys in the fourth or
the fifth round, because why would I doubt that they
(31:59):
can't do it again? And when every single whether it
was safety with Chris O'Leary and Marcus May and any
guy that they dropped in or Eli Apple who came
in a corner and played forty seven Lady Jackson, Yeah,
Eddie jack Clearly these guys know what they're doing. So
for me, I'm not going to spend any money. They're sorry, guys.
I apologize.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
And when you said that question before, I didn't mean
to cut you off, but it was I was gonna
go along the lines of it's a it's about what
your defense acts as certain positions to do right. Like
you said, this defense is one of the defenses where
they can get away with it a corner. When I
was at the Houston Texans, we ran a certain defense
and it was a cover I think it was Cover
four right and the middle linebacker and certain cover fours.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
They would say, hey, you know what you got to
run with number three.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Right, if we're gonna double the backside with the backside safety,
you have to run with number three. And that defense,
they never made none of their linebackers run with verticals, right,
so you know that you don't need a linebacker who's
super super athletic to play in that defense. Right now,
if you go to another defense where I was with
Gus Bradley, no I will linebacker had to run with
the vertical to three. So you're gonna go into the draft, Yeah,
(33:04):
I still feel it's it's all about It's all about
the system, right, So you're gonna as a front office.
The front office and knowing what the coaches want and
what they're doing on the in the schematic side is
big because you can't just draft the guy because yeah
he's six y four, he's two thirty, but does he
fit in the system?
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Right, So like that's a great point that you made.
This defense. It allows the corners are good.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah, they're good. Yeah. And it's funny too because they're
both the two guys they took are so different. You know,
dam Hart was just straight traits, a little bit of injury.
Knew maybe a little bit needed some development. Hard, still
just a dog competitor, ballhawk, and it's like they took
them and guess what, they both worked. So that's like
when I think about the players that are that are
(33:50):
being circled and they're like, hey, man, explosive combine, unbelievable player.
I don't know why, but I feel like he's gonna slip,
like Jaday Barron at Texas man his go. So it's like, okay, dude,
you invest that first round pick in someone who's sort
of I think the cop makes sense to me a
Trent McDuffie, where you think he's a slop, but if
you need to put him outside, he's gonna be fine.
(34:12):
Not a big dude, but he's gonna be fine. He's
too smart, he's too good, he's too instinctive for it
not to work. And then I'm like, okay, so does
that make sense or is it like no, we'd be
better off, you know, drafting the guard there or the
center there, and then we'll just we'll get we'll get
the corners that'll just come in the later round.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
So that's and the thing about Tarhee, like sorry, I'm
still on this topic. He reminds me of a guy
played with by.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
The name of Casey Hayward.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Oh yeah, very like the ball finds him and it
was just like that with Casey. You can play Casey
on the inside. They played Tarhebe on the inside. This year,
you can play Casey on the outside. They played Tarheb
on the outside. He's one of those guys where he's
supposed to run with the vertical, he's supposed to run
with the post, but then he sees that the seven
route is coming and he falls off and picks off
the seventh round.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Did we coach him up to do that? No.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
If he did not do it would have been opened. Yes,
But he fell off and he made the play, right.
That's kind of who he is. That's kind of he's
like a he's a gambler and he and it pays
off for him.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Yeah. Man, look, and I think there is you know,
that's like the mentality of the corner position. Right. There's
guys that just won't gamble, they're afraid to get burned
and it limits them. And then there's those that gamble.
Sometimes they lose and they just move on. That's like, yeah,
whatever got burned on that one mental note, you know,
back to the next rep and it feels like tarheeb
(35:28):
Is is kind of in that and it's funny, like
we had him on I think.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Were you were.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I was where we were talking about his first p
I call and he was like, yeah, man, he goes,
I kind of because I didn't. He goes. The thing
that sucks is I didn't have to do it. He's like,
I got beat. But I like when I reached out,
I was like, do I need to do this? And
he goes, and then all of a sudden, the flag
came out. I was like, God, I didn't need to
do it. But it's like you could tell that he
was processing, like, hey, mental note, man, Now moving forward.
(35:54):
I kind of know. You know, now that I've kind
of taken that rep, I can file that away and
move forward.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
It's a fine line when you're a dB and you're
chasing and that receiver's eyes are getting big and you're
like do I need to PI him? And you hear
the roar of the crowd and you're like, it's a
ball coming. I don't want to look back.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
I don't know. Yeah, So I've been there. I understand.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
I think also just kind of to to move a
little bit here as we're kind of getting toward the
end of this. You're gonna get an extra draft pick
as well, as far as I'm concerned, and that's Junior Colson.
Like Junior unfortunately got I mean, we saw those a
few of those moments in training camp and all you
gotta do a stand next to the guy and.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
You're like, like, he's bid different.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yeah, And so the idea that he barely played last
year and you still even saw some flashes and those
limited snaps that he had. But the idea that Junior
could come in be healthy and now you got he
and Dayan in the middle of the field, Like, that's
gonna be nasty. I don't think you can. You can't
overstate how big of an impact that could have with
those two guys out there for a full seventeen games
(36:53):
if Junior can stay healthy and Dayon continues to add
to what was already an incredible second season for him.
So that's something to keep in mind when it comes
to free agency. And now with the release of Joey
there's one Obviously I had a huge oversight, shame on me,
but you know, I think it makes signing Khalil even
more imperative, Like right now, your edge room with Khalil's
(37:14):
a free agent is Tullian bud. I mean, that's that's it.
That's your whole edge room. So you know that's again
I keep going back to it. So and that's why
I brought up Okay, so Slater twenty eight and a
half million, I'm bringing in dk or you're bringing in DeVante.
Dk is gonna be thirty million. DeVante's gonna be twenty
five million. Now Khalil's gonna there's gonna be a market
out there for Khalil. Now, you may have softened it
(37:36):
a little bit by putting Joey out there helping yourself,
but Khalil's probably a twenty million dollar a year player.
So now, yeah, you got ninety million bucks, but thirty here,
thirty there. Now we're down to you know, now you're
down to thirty and now you're twenty and now I
think you're in that mode of are we We're probably
bring a lot of these guys back and hope you
(37:57):
can continue to get value out of tier Tar and
Poona Ford and Morgan Fox and Christian Fulton and that
whole defensive side of the football. There's still a couple
of levers they can pull. There's still you know, I
don't want to name names because I don't want to,
you know, take money out of these guys pockets. But
I think there's no I'm not. I think there's still
(38:18):
I can think of two levers that'll they'll give you
about thirteen to fourteen million more dollars that I could
totally envision kind of being levers that they would pull
based on what you know. If it's just hey, this
is what we have, this is what's out there in
free agency for a similar price point. What do you
want to do. Okay, let's pull that lever and then
you know, this is what we have, this is what
(38:39):
we think we the grade we have in draft, pull
that lever, and I think those are things that you
can always do. And then obviously that's you know, that's
also not talking about, you know, the magic that Ed
maguire makes year after year when you're moving money around
and creating cash. All that stuff is also available.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
I agree with your money, you get it around on
the head. Dude.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Yeah, So interesting times. So hopefully when we're back next week,
we're talking about a Slater extension and free agency, we're
talking about Khalil Mack being back with the team, and
hopefully some of these key pieces, you know, like we said,
I've got to believe they want to bring back Poonaford,
they want to bring back Tier Tart. I would imagine
those two are right up there with Khalil, you know,
(39:17):
behind Elijah Molden and trying to get some of those
things squared away. We know they already got Tucker Fisk
back in the fold. I thought he played really well
last year as a young player, and that's the style
of tight end that they like to play with. So
it'll be interesting. Next week's gonna there's gonna be a
lot of things moving around. The combine was fun and
it's fun to kind of project, you know, who they
(39:39):
might be interested in at twenty two. We've talked about
running backs Quinn, Shawn Jenkins, Marion Hampton. We've talked about
tight ends a little bit, Colston Lovelin if he's there,
doesn't feel like Tyler Warren is going to be there.
We've talked about interior lineman Gray Zabel, Tyler Booker, the
two big names. I think Zabel coming out of the
combine feels like he's gonna maybe himself ahead a booker,
(40:01):
which I didn't think was possible. But certainly, you know,
you think about Alabama versus Nordak State and it's like really,
and it's like yeah, really in talking to people down there.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Really offensive line, it doesn't it doesn't matter, no, when
you look.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
At big schools quickly, when you look at big schools
and you look at you know, it's skill position, skill position,
and the difference between a big school and a smaller
school is usually the trenches, right right. So if you
see a guy at a small school, Eric Fisher, I
played with number one overall draft pick at Central Michigan,
if he goes to the senior ball, if he goes
(40:35):
to the combine and he holds his own he doesn't
need to run fast forty, he doesn't need to have
it's can he block the man in front of him?
Is he a road grader? Is can he make seams?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
Can he?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
So when you look at the offensive line position, whether
it's the interior, where it's the exterior, at the tackle position,
a lot of times you see a lot of small
school guys getting drafted early who go on to have
a lot of success in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
And that's what theay. Did you know he did it
at the Senior Bowl and he showed up at the
Combine and was an absolute monster. So there's that wide
receiver is super interesting. With the four three nine forty
that Matthew Golden ran, I think that clearly, with the
production and the tape at Texas, that puts him square
in play at twenty two. T Mac is. You know,
(41:21):
the people are dogging on on t Mac out of
Arizona because of the you know, he's not going to
run a forty. He may not run a forty at
his pro day and they're worried about that.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
I've seen enough enough.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Yeah, and he ain't gonna be there. I can't imagine
he'll be there. So there's that position defensive side of
the ball. We haven't even talked at all, really, but
I mean you're talking about an incredibly deep group we
talked to. We talked about Kenneth Grant out of Michigan,
about Nolan out of out of Mississippi State. There's Derek
(41:51):
Harmon out of Oregon who's been called a Chris Jones clone.
I mean, there's there's a lot there as well on
that defensive side of the ball that they can get into.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Op for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
It is going to be exciting. This is the best
time of the year. Former player too, Sorry, yeah, former player, Now,
I remember these I remember this time. I remember going
into free agency. I remember calling my age and every
every other hour like hey, what are you hearing?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Do take it personally?
Speaker 2 (42:15):
You try not to because I always throw this word
out there it's a business, but as a player, you
do like, hey, this team values me here versus I
feel that my values here. Well, well I'm going to
show them when we play them. Right, this is a
team that didn't want to bring me in at this
certain price, and this is the team that believed in me.
So when we when we cross paths, I'm gonna I
got a little extra fuel for you know, I got
(42:37):
a little extra fuel for you. So that's how it is.
Man's it's it's an exciting time. It's going to be
in a time where these guys get to make money
who changed, you know, their life and their family's life
and generations that come after them exactly. So it's it's
it's an awesome time of year. It's and as a fan,
as a fans watching at home, it's obviously you feel
so tied in with your your favorite organization that you know,
(42:58):
every pick, every trade, every you know, everything that's being
done from here on out, it affects you personally, which.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
We know it does so exactly. Well, just kind of
going through the breaking news here since we started doing this.
Bengals grant Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade. Defense
was terrible last year. Yeah, so I guess if you're
bringing back Tea and Kasiki and Jamar to make Joe
Burrow happy, you're gonna have to sacrifice somewhere else it.
(43:26):
Like I said, it's a very deep draft on that
side of the ball, so maybe that's kind of how
they're viewing that. Right. He's an incredible player, led the
league in sacks last year. You have forty nine ers
gonna cut Javon Hargrave. You know what, that's a perfect
illustration of sometimes you go out and you signed the
big name free agent and doesn't always fit the way
it did in the other spot. And that certainly was
(43:48):
the case for hard Grave going from from pitt to
the forty nine ers, and I think that's where it was, right.
Didn't he go from or was there a stop in
between there I'm not sure Philly anyway.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
I think it was Philly.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, I think it was the second stop, and then
he made his way out there. So anyway, Yeah, that's
the latest that I can tell. I'll just refresh over
here one more time so we don't miss anything that
we need to start kicking around us, right, Nothing there,
nothing there, yep. I think we're all good man, all right,
Julia will be back in a week. A lot more
news is going to be squared away by then, whether
(44:22):
it's extensions for Slater free agency signings in the legal
tampering period, trades that were being made, I would imagine
we'll have a lot of news come a week from today.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
I'm excited, man, Thank you me both.
Speaker 1 (44:35):
All right, Thanks everybody for tuning in. Please comment, like, subscribe.
We love getting in those comments on the YouTube and
trying to engage with all of you, so please don't
hold back on that. This has been Chargers week. We'll
be back next week.
Late fifteen to ten, touched up Welcome to Chargers Weekly.
Back at the Bolt. The following the combine, Jalil leda
here with me and Jalil as we go post combine,
a lot of movement. Obviously, we start with the biggest news,
(00:22):
Joey Bosa no longer a charger just man. We talked
to joe Ortie's about it on Chargers Weekly. Brought up
how much everybody loves Joey, how they would try to
figure out if they could make something work. And I
think ultimately it's something that we address multiple times here
in the off season. You see the thirty six million
dollar number to bring him back, the twenty five million
in cap savings, if you move on, you took a
(00:42):
pickup last year, was there a way to do it again?
And it just kind of always felt like this is
where we were gonna end up.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, you said we touched base on it and just
looking at the numbers, right, the numbers didn't really.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Fair on Joey's side.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Obviously I came in with Joey. I came for Joey
obviously three years before him. I came in when he
was a rookie and he came in turned of the league.
He's done so much for the Chargers organization, He's done
so much for that bolt the teammate he is. Obviously
he was hampered with injuries, but this is the way
he plays the game, right, It's one hundred percent injury
(01:17):
rate type sport. We all know that. And I wish
Joey nothing but the best. Obviously, he's a great dude,
great teammate, friend of mine. But business is business. You know,
we talk on this podcast and we always say one
thing for sure that this is a business at the
end of the day, and the Chargers made the right
move for the organization, and Joey will have a plethora
of people to choose from coming.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Up here soon.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, no doubt. And he should look when healthy. He's
quite simply in the conversation as the best all around
you know, Miles hard to touch Miles Garret when you're
talking aout rushing past. But I think when you talk
about an all around defensive end when Joey is healthy,
it's pretty hard to step to what he's capable of doing. Unfortunately,
his body's betrayed him. Like you said, he's always played
all out, He's always coming to camp ready. He's always
(02:00):
been in shape. Like, there's nothing bad you can say
about the guy other than somebodies are all right with football,
somebody's aren't, and it just kind of depends. And sadly
these last few years it's been a rough go. But
like you said, wishing the best, I think we all
kind of have a pretty good idea of where he'd
like to go, of course, you know, and if they
can make it work out, I hope it. You know.
(02:21):
I don't think there's anybody that wishes anything ill upon Joey,
And if it's with his brother at the forty nine
ers and they can make that happen, then I would
wish that upon him and that they have great success
and he rediscovers something where he's able to stay healthy
and you know, can perform. But like you said, the
business of it is twenty five million bucks added to
the available cast space and the thirty six that you're
(02:42):
not paying out. And for me, what that just, what
that shows is just take it from here on this
side of the ball and then right on the other
side of the ball, it's just going to go right
into Rashaun Slater's pocket like that. It just to me,
that's got to be the number one already of this
offseason is just getting that thing done, and it's gonna
(03:05):
be a huge number. And I think getting that twenty
five million off the books of Joey's can help that
become facilitated.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And when you look at it, you're like, hey, it's
literally on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's a great analogy that you made.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
But listen, Rayshawn Slater is the best or not one
of the best left tackles in the game.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
He can play on both sides.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Obviously, having Justin Herbert behind center, you have to have
a brick wall in front of him. And listen, the
Chargers have enough and they've done enough, and we've seen
him do enough with less on defense right.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Week in and week out.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Right, But one thing is for sure is that they're
gonna Justin is gonna get pressured over and over again.
And the way you keep him from being pressured is
you got to protect him. Right one plus one egals
two doesn't egals three doesn't eqal four.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Let's keep it simple.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
We got to pay the guys who are going to
be there on Sundays, who are going to make sure
that Justin doesn't get hit.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Look who's the most important person in the Chargers organization.
It's Justin Herbert. And I would assume if he thought
there was any issue, if Rashaun Slater wasn't going to
get extended and wasn't going to be here for the
next four to five years, depending on which contract he wants,
he's probably going to be in that office. He's going
to be sitting in that chair opposite George. He's his
desk saying, what are we doing here? Man? What? What?
(04:17):
What's what's the problem? Now? What are we thinking? How
much do we have in cas We got ninety five
million bucks in cab space and you're telling me I
can't take took his look if I don't know Rayshawn's agent,
But if I'm his agent, if I'm on the phone
with Joe, I'll just say, hey, look, you know where
this starts. Like he's he's an all pro and he's
in the conversations a buzz left tackle, so you know,
tackles are tackles. Tristan Wurf's got twenty eight point one
(04:40):
twenty five last year. Well, the bidding starts at twenty
eight point twenty five.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Oh, that's that's that's how it goes.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
How would go That's how it works. And then it's
up to Rashawn, I think in the Chargers to figure
out if it's the Pina Suol contract which is four years,
or if it's the Tristan Worf's contract and it's five years.
All these guys are the same age. You know, Penae
is twenty five, Tristan's twenty for Shawna is twenty six.
So if I'm the Chargers, I want it to be
five years. Say that that is not a that is
(05:07):
not a position that I want to mess around with.
You saw it firsthand last year with the draft with
Joe Alt and Latham and Fuaga and Fortani and the
list just went on and on and on. And you're
going to see it again this draft with Will Campbell
and Membo and it's gonna in Banks and that is
and you're going to see Gray Zabel in the first
round and Tyler Booker in the first round, and it
(05:27):
is just going to be another seven to eight offensive
lineman because the league has recognized that it's just mandatory
to protect your quarterback.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Protect your quarterback, and then you're building the trenches, and
you look at just off schedule a little bit. When
you talk about offensive line, I don't know, you protecting
your quarterback, you're creating lanes to run.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Like look at say Kwon Barklay and the deal that
he just got.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Obviously he's he's one of one at the running back position,
but he's you're not going anywhere without offensive line.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
They're stacked across the.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Border in that offense line, pensive line up.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, and they're creating increases, They're creating lanes for him
to run and allow him to do his thing once
he get into the second level, and that's where he's
a game breaker. So when you invest in your offensive line,
when you're invest in the trenches, it's not only protecting
your quarterback, but it's opening your offense in so many
different ways.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And I think you know, when you look at what's
sort of the conversation around the Chargers has been in
free agency, what's it been, it's been center, it's been guard.
In the draft, it's been center, it's been guard. The
last thing you need to do is add left tackle
to that for some whatever, for whatever reason that may be.
And I'll say this, and I know this is going
(06:30):
to be incredibly unpopular. But just you mentioned business like
as a as a businessman. If I'm looking at okay, wait,
I get paying my quarterback fifty million bucks because I
can see all the number ten jerseys here. Of course
I get. And we'll get into this in a second,
trading for DK Metcalf and handing him thirty million bucks
because when he's running sixty yards with that body catching touchdowns,
(06:54):
I know what it's going to feel like inside Sofi
State the fan and I don't. I don't mean this
as a sh shot. The fan doesn't connect with a
left tackle. They don't. They're not gonna wear number seventy jerseys.
They're not. But they don't understand how that the past
a Metcalf doesn't happen. If Slater's not out there needing
zero help, you don't need to chick. I'll never forget
(07:16):
that rep. It was like two years I think it
was his rookie year and I can't remember who. I
think it was against San Francisco when Chips were down,
everybody was hurt. It was a primetime game. I think
it was a Thursday night football game, or maybe a
Sunday night football game, but it was a primetime game
and I was like, oh, we really got this in primetime.
All these guys are hurt, and they almost pulled it
(07:38):
off and there was a rep and it was either
against both I think it might have been against Bosa
that Austin came over to chip and he knocked Slater
off the block and the guy got a pressure and
Slater lost it. And from that moment forward.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I want no help.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
There were no more chips. You got in my way.
Don't come over here and help me shut out. And
that's that's who Slater is. I mean, that's and and
that's why I get the business side, like, wait a minute,
are we am I gonna sell any more season tickets
because I give Rashawn Slater twenty nine million? No, you're not,
but you are because you're gonna end up winning. You're
gonna win and it's gonna make Herbert that much better
(08:14):
of a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So it's you always talk about offensive lineman being the
like unselfish players on the team, right dating back to
high school.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Right, everyone wants to score.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Everyone wants to they're naming the paper, they want you
want the line like you want to, Hey, look at me,
Look at me.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I did. But offensive lineman don't get that, right.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
They do the dirty work, they do the grunt work,
and they never get a praise for it. But hey,
in the NFL, you do, you get a big fat check, exactly,
And that's all that matters.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Right now. He's gonna get a check.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
He's gonna he's gonna be able to take care of
his family, generational and not only that, he deserves it
the way the body of work that he's put on
the field, the body of work that he's done playing
the left tackle, which is the hardest position in the
NFL other than playing cornerback.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
On the island, it's it's similar, right cornerback and left tackle.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
You're both on an island.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
You're on the island against the most freakish guys defensive
end and a wide receiver in the world. Right, So
he's worth every penny. Like you said, you're not going
to see his jerseys in the stands. It's not going
to be flashy. But when you look at it from
a business mindset, when you look at it from the
top down, it makes the most sense.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
It's funny you bring that up. I never really kind
of thought of it that way. But they're both going backwards.
They both have to react. They don't get to be
the aggressor. They have to be the reactor. And they're
doing it against the most freakish athletes on the field.
And that's why you're going to get at least twenty
eight point twenty five million bucks a year and protect
the most important asset in this organization for the next
(09:33):
five years. So I would love to see, you know,
there's so let's let's get into this. There's two things
that I would love to see get done. I know
everybody kind of once the Jets released Davante Adams, they're
getting into that idea. I'm not as if that's what
they choose to do. Great, I get it, But as
soon as this DK thing came out, it's like that
this lines up. Now, now DK lines up. He's twenty seven.
(09:55):
I think D seven DK more than than DeVante. Yeah,
for me, it does, just because I I think I
think from an age and an explosiveness standpoint. Don't get
me wrong, Like Davante is a tactician, he is as
good as anybody out there. But DK, it's just you
know what I mean, it's of course it's.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
That he's he listened, he's Julio times two and size,
that's what I mean, right, So he's.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Julio in height, but he had probably weighs about ten
to fifty more pounds and muscle.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
And he's right and he's out.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
All you see his knees and elbows when he's coming back, right,
So I get it. I understand. I just DK's muster.
I'm not taking anything from him. You have to game plan,
but I think you have to game plan just a
little bit more for DeVante Adams.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's me. But longevity.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
You might get Davante for maybe two right right, whereas
DK you can get.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Him for four for bringing him in. He's gonna be like.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Him and Justin will be playing together for a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
And McConkey and McConkie, and that's what That's the other
thing too, is I think about you know, what's a
wide receiver room, right, It's it's a basketball team, it's
point guard, it's power forward, it's a it's a swing
it's you know. So just to me, the matchup, the
matchup that a defense would have to come up with
to contend with DK as the X, and that that
vertical threat along with McConkie in the slot underneath like that,
(11:13):
it just feels and then all of a sudden you
drop an explosive back in the backfield from this draft
and it's just like, Okay, last year we went out
there with what and this year you're going out there
with let's just say it's Omar and Hampton, right, or
it's Quin Shawn Judkins, like it's Brazil. It's September fifth. Yeah,
and you see the offensive break huddle and here's d
(11:34):
K at the X, McConkie at the slot. You know,
Q at the Z. Let's say, or it's a beautiful
or maybe it's like a Westbrook, a Kine or something
like that at the Z. And and you've got Omar
and Hampton standing behind Justin Herbert. Maybe it's even now
I'm really gonna get craw about Mason Taylor at tight end.
You know what I'm saying Like that to me is like,
(11:55):
hey man, it's.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
All attainable to what you're saying. It's all attainable.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And I don't I don't want people to forget about Q
because I've been there, Like listen, yeah, you can say
what you want, but I've been in these two different
camps with Q, and I've seen his explosiveness.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I want to see him stretch the field more, right,
I don't even want to see drags. I don't want
to see.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
So when you have DeVante Adams, you've got a guy
that can run every route tree. Then you have Makonki
in the inside and he can play outside if you
need him to. But he's a shippy guy on the
inside still can take the top off from the slot right,
And then you have Q on the outside who's explosive.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
He's a fast guy who can take the top off.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I don't I mean, you can't go wrong with either, right,
I know you love him, you're loving Metcalf, but short term.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, my only fear with Q is I just think
it's now been two years. I'm not saying it can't change,
but I think we feel like we know what his
strengths are. You know what I mean. It's that quick
those quick drags, it's those quick slants. It feels like
when they've asked him to be that player that you're describing, right,
it doesn't quite track it as well. It doesn't feel
like those fifty to fifty but for whatever reason, we
(12:55):
look at the body and we see it and we're like, okay, yeah,
that but like, man, when he gets that ball and
and that he makes that first move and he's leaving
the defender on the dust, it's like, okay, yeah, that's
that's it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And I don't know what it is because I'm like,
I keep going back to his rookie year. It was
when Keenan and Mike Williams was here with him, and
arguably you can ask anybody who's in that camp, you've
seen it.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
He was.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
He probably had the most explosive camp out of all
those guys, right, So I know it's in there. So
I'm saying I'd rather not get two of him in DK.
Not saying that he's the same player as DK. I'm
just saying, as far as stretching the field where DeVante
Adams is, can he can stretch this?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
So you think, you know, I think the question is
is Q and X because to me, he's a Z.
I think you've got to move him. I think you've
got to get him off the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I think you've I think he's I think he's a Z.
I think he's a Z. I think he's a Z.
I don't really.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I would rather having a DK or DeVante backside one
on one, getting those backside one on ones. But a
lot of times when you have a backside one on
one guy in three by one formations, A lot of
times on the defensive side, we say, if that's a
guy back there, we're gonna have this covered of quarters. Yeah,
but the safety backs is going to face to backside, right,
We're not even gonna look at number three. We'll probably
have the mike carry three and certain we'll put.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Our body over three to make it seem like we're
on three.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
But if that's a guy back there, we're doubling him
with the front side safety.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So let's let's let's do this exercise. Which which receiver
do you think is best for maconky Because mccaky to
me is a one. I think he is a one.
He's a one. But I think it's because he is
so unique in his skill set and all the different
things he can do. And I think kind of, like
I said, I I don't want to come out the
wrong way, but I kind of have a vision of
what Q can do best. I don't have a vision
(14:33):
of what mconky can do best because he can do
it all. He can do it all, and it's like,
so which of those guys is when you want to
put it all together, do you think, like make the
case for DeVante, you know, combined with mconkey versus DK
combined with McConkey, and how those two would look different
based on their skill sets.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I just think that Devonte can do it all.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
I think he can stretch the field, and I think
he can run your intermediate routes with mconki, run one
two stacks with him, and they can do high low
combinations versus d K. I don't think he's Yeah, he's
a big body, he can run digs and stuff, but
he doesn't have the same wiggle as DeVante.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
He's more of a.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
He'll stretch the field, he'll make contested catches and maybe
he can't. But if I'm doing it right, so right
now I'm going to Vante mcconki and then I'm having Q.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
That's just what I That's what I like.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's what I'm saying. I could make the case for
the people listening watch that for you. Look, you know
like of a lot more about this than I do.
Why that that combo works because, like I said, it's
not about one, it's about it's it's why Joe Burrow
is like, hey, I gotta have tea, right, I know that,
you know, And I think all the people that are
all he's not a one and you're gonna pay him
one money. And for Burrow, it's like, yeah, but but
Jamar is not Jamar without tea. When I have tea
(15:44):
and I have Jamar and I have GASICKI and I've
got these three pieces, that's how this works. And I
think that's sort of the key.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
And don't get me wrong, I played I played Davante,
and I've played DK.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I rather hit Davante. DK is a man free, He's
a man.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I just think that with And I don't know, maybe
I'm saying this because DK's second half of his season
last year, he kind of fell off, and I don't
know if it was game plan. I don't know if
him and Gino didn't have the correct, you know, chemistry.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
But it's wherever Davante goes. He makes plays.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
At the Raiders, he made plays at the Packers, he
made play traded to the jet Slate, he made plays
like he's he's going to be productive regardless. And I
just seen DK that kind of and I'm not saying
that he's he has fallen off.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
At any means.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I just his second half how he kind of disappeared
in the offense for the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I don't see DeVante doing that in nobody's offense.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah, I think I don't. Yeah, And you know, I mean,
there is no sport that is, you know, more attached
to circumstance than football because there's so many moving pieces,
there's so many agendas, and it just got sideways on
the Seahawks in every imaginable way, imaginable way in that
second half. So I don't know what was going on there.
The one thing I do know, though, is you've got
the relationship right withsanjre Laal and the fact that there
(16:56):
was his wide receiver coach up there, and see how
it helped make DK d ks And he's here and
we saw what he was able to do and improving
Q from year one to year two with McConkey and
making him not just you know, one of the best
rookie receivers, but one of the best slot receivers in
the league all season long. So I think there's something
special there too, of course. And now you're DK Metcalf
(17:17):
and you got Justin Herbert, and I think about Mike
Williams and how good you know, big Mike was, And
now I think about getting sort of a younger, more
explosive version of Mike, and DK, yeah, bigger, and.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He's He's what you want them to look like when
you step off the bus, right.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
They don't like a you know, it's like you got
Oh wait, I got this quarterback with that arm and
that wide receiver with that body combined, and I got
to figure out how to contend with that. That's and
I think, look, there's the compensation for DeVante is just money.
The compensation for DK is it's going to cost you
a pretty healthy chunk of draft capital. If I had
(17:55):
to guess, you know, I would say, you know, I
would go into that and say, hey, we'll give you
our two, We'll give you fifty five. You know. You
think about what they got for DBot was I think
a fifth from Washington.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
So they they got a bag of chips.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah, so this is not going to be that. This
is this, and it's not going to be the aj
Brown one and a three they're not going to get
that for DK when you have to immediately hand over
thirty million dollars a year. Now they're not getting a one.
So I think if you offer them a two, if
they push back a little bit and you know, want
a little more than I would say, all right, we'll
give it to this year, we'll give you our two.
Next year, you give us your three, and that way
(18:30):
maybe you can get that to work out. Because then
sort of the way I go into it, Julia, as
I look at this draft and coming back from the combine,
everybody that I've talked to said, the middle class is
so strong, like just right when you get out of
that elite, you know, we got thirteen, we got sixteen,
Like that didn't I don't think I talked to anyone
that had more than sixteen first round grades. They're like,
(18:54):
but right after that, man, I got a mass of players.
So now you're sitting at twenty two and somebody glides right,
and now you just trade into that. So think about
the Kenneth Murray deal, the Tom Telesco made right when
he jumped back in I think it was twenty six
is where Kenneth got picked and he gave up his
three and his two and he got a That's what
I'm talking about. When you get that too. Whether it's
Jacksonville who's got two threes and you take their two
(19:16):
and their three, they're higher of the two threes. You
know the I got the calculator here, the twenty second
pick is worth seven hundred and eighty points. So you
talk about let's say it's Jacksonville who wants to bolster
their offensive line. They got up get this right for
Trevor Lawrence. This year, it's Liam Cohen. That's it. So
they have thirty six and seventy. Those two picks come
(19:36):
out to five forty and seventy is two. For there
you go, it's exactly seven hundred and eighty points like
that's so that's kind of what we're talking about, where
if you do trade your two, just trade out of
your one, get a high two, and now you've essentially
got dk and three picks, Whereas the Chargers third round pick,
I think it is eighty six, and now you have
(19:57):
three picks in the top eighty six in a draft
that everybody's talking about being very heavy in that middle class.
So I think before you you know, people draft picks
have to become players. Man. Of course, they're just picks
until there's a player attached to it. So don't get
too freaked out about moving off fifty five and oh
fifty five could have been this, could have been, this
could yeah, well it also could be a player that
(20:18):
doesn't work out out. We feel pretty good about DK
panning out, so.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
And once again charge the nation. I am for DK.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yeah, I know, you.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Know both of them. Listen for both of them, right, you.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Can be for one more than the other. It's totally fine.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, it's totally totally fine. So those I bring those up,
and we spent quite a bit of time on that
because I think, to me, those are that would be
my priority one and priority two before Monday rolls around,
before this thing gets legal, tampering gets underway, and all
these contracts start flying around for free agents, and you've
got to figure out, is it Drew Dolman, is it
(20:52):
Will Fries is it? You know, you kind of get
a little bit further down in that offensive line ranking.
Is it Aaron Banks? Is it Ryan Kelly? Like I
would love to have those two things sorted out immediately,
just so I know what the money is like. If
you can trade for DK, talk to his agent, how
much does he want? What's the org Davante? What do
(21:12):
you want? What's that number look like? And then you
get Slater squared away? Now you know, okay, we've got
whatever it is right now that they have, I should
hit up OTC.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
And so if you have with so money, if we
go receiver right's DK or Davante and we locked in Slater?
Where are you seeing us at twenty two as far
as position.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Yeah, I think to me, to me, I think so
then so then here we go. So now we have
to before we get to that like then we have
to get to free agency. Right, what's available? How much
can you afford? You know, like I talked about, is
it is Juwan Johnson reality at tight end? What does
that number look like? You know Herbert's former tight end
at Oregon? Is that a friendly number? Does that an
(21:54):
ingram get released by the Jaguars? And now can you
do the whole Disley Ingram? Here's my pass catching tight end,
here's my black tight end. And now I don't have
to worry about tight end. I think, I think for
people that are holding their breath and expecting the Chargers
to go out and you know, make a sign, you know,
and I know they're not going to because they've been franchised.
(22:14):
But like the whole tray Smith and the t Higgins conversations, like,
that's not how that's not how Baltimore operates, it's not
how Harba operates. Like to me, it's let's spread it,
let's build depth, let's fill holes, and then we can
go into the draft and draft wherever we want. So
I agree, you know, I think that's the thing, right, So, like,
what are you thinking at twenty two? Let's just assume
(22:36):
they're able to do that. Build depth. You can take
best player, is there someone in particular?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
If you can build depth, you know through like let's say,
if you can build.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Depth through free agency, right, which I think is the
best way to do it.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Right, I think, Yeah, don't break the bank.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Just don't break the bank. Build depth.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Get a placeholder, yes, get the guys in the positions
and fill the slots that you need. I don't think
you in fancy you don't address a running back. I
don't think that there's not enough.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, I do think you bring JK back for sure.
For sure, if you can get that right.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Right, but then if you don't address running back and Freegancy,
which I'm highly confident that the Chargers won't, you got
to go running back in the draft.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, you gotta go running back at twenty two.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, at twenty two, you think, I think even if
let's say Hampton's off the board, so you have no
genty you have no Hampton. Now you're kicking around the
idea of taking Quinchawn Jenkins at twenty two.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Where you think, I think so, dude, I think so
if you feel the tight end position, if you if
you get the ribber CV you want right, feel the
tight end position and you lock in Slater, it's either
you go twenty two running back or you go or
if you go a guard right. That's that's that's my mindset.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah, and I think, you know, I think the question
with running back for people that are like, oh, it's
it's it's not a value picking stuff. Like one of
the when when I was at the Combine, I don't
remember who it was that brought it up, but they
made a great point and they said it might have
been DJ who said it said, the only time where
you can really maximize value at running back is when
(24:02):
you're ready, like if you're ready to go, like the
Ravens are ready to go, like that Eagles are ready
to go. Look at the difference of Saquan as the
fourth pick on a mediocre Giants team where he's rushing
for twelve hundred and fifty yards and eight touchdowns and
they win seven to nine games, and then you drop
him behind the best offensive line in the league with
a team that's ready to win the Super Bowl, and
(24:24):
the guy rushes for two thousand yards and was darn
near a Super Bowl a playoff MVP. So if we
feel like the Chargers are at that point where that
depth is built up, you feel good about year two
under this coaching staff, and I do, then that's where
your point makes sense because guess what you draft the
running back in the first round. Well, now you've got
(24:44):
a low number on a fifty year option and you've
got two franchise tags. So if you want, you got
that guy for seven years of control in the prime
of their careers. And that's where it makes sense as
opposed to later rounds where you only get him for four.
You don't get the fifty year option. Now you've got
to go to franchise tags and and it speeds up
the clock of year. So yeah, the first round certainly
(25:07):
makes sense. I just want to get to it because
it was, like.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
You said, it does matter who's there, yes, right if?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, I think if Omari and Hampton's there, it's a
very real conversation because he is a freak show dude.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
I mean most are saying most are saying they like
him more than gentee.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Some dude, yeah, which I'm not quite sure if I
agree with that. I had I had a scout tell
me that I've said this on multiple shows now and
I don't want to keep saying it, but when he
said it, it just stopped me in my tracks. He's like, dude,
he's LT.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I was like, who's LT?
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Ashton Genty He's like that offensive line was not great, man,
and that dude made that out of that, And I
was like, oh, that's something now. And because we didn't
see him catch the ball like LT, and that's that's
what separated.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
L a purpose.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yeah, he's like a receiver out there. I don't know,
so that's but anyway, it would be Hampton. I think
when you get behind Hampton Quinn, Shawn Jenkins, Caleb Johnson's
a big back, Dylan Sampson's you're more explosive. There's a
lot of buzz on RJ. Harvey for he's a smaller guy.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
I know he won't go first round, but that skataboo.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
I know, Hey, dude, the guy jump thirty nine and
a half inches. Man, So that lets you know the
explosiveness is I would like him.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I would I just like him.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
I just like I would love it.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I just like him on tape.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, it's he's not going to run the fastest forty
and that's probably why he didn't run this forty. But
when you watch a ballplayer, you watch a guy with
confidence who toast the rut.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
I mean, he's him.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Yeah, So let's say so that's let's say you do
that trade out of the point. Let's say you do
that trade out at twenty two and now you and
let's just say it's with darn it, where's my tankathon stuff? Jacksonville,
New England. If they want to get up in there,
let's say Luther Burdens sliding or Matthew Golden sitting there.
We know how much they want to receive and they
don't get DeVante, they don't get DK. Then you can
(26:55):
take you know, New England's thirty eight and sixty nine,
and now you've got thirty eight and fifty five. At
thirty eight, you can now go out and get let's
just see what gosh. I don't think Gray's Abel will
be there. I don't know, because you know, right now,
like the center class is so thin that people are
talking about just converting guards to centers at this point.
(27:17):
Tate Ratledge of Georgia, obviously Grazebel, we've talked about it.
I don't think he'll be there. He's he freaking came
out of the combine like he's going. I don't know
if we'll be there at twenty two at this point
for the chargers. So I think you go ahead and
you get your you can get your guard or your
interior linement at that spot or the tight end, and
then you can get like you said you want Scataboo.
(27:38):
Now you get him maybe at fifty five, and we
are really going through this. This is a ridiculous pot
at this point. But that's that's what free agency is, right,
It's a wish list. It's it's sort of you know,
and look, I think there's a reason why. Here's here's
the one wild card two for this year, twenty four
million dollar jump. Everybody's got money. Of course, everybody's got money.
(28:02):
So that's you know, for people that were like, wow,
you did Elijah Molden already, and man, you got a
little bit more than I thought. Eighteen million bucks on
six million, it's like, don't want them to get to
the market.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
That's yeah, you don't. You don't want him to get
to the market.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And it's totally different if you would assigned him with
the Salard cap six five years ago.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
We always talked about.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
It goes up every year, so you can't look sometimes
you get look at the numbers, but you got to
look at him to what it's worth with the Salard
cap going up six million now is different than six
million back in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Right, Right, it's not the same, Right, it's not the same.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
It doesn't it an eighty million dollar cap exactly.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
It doesn't hit the same, right.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
So but I do think that was probably a big
part of the calculus is let's you know, let's not
let this guy get to market. We know how important
he is. Uh, in order for us to do what
we want to do on defense, that's rotation, keep Derwin
it on the line of scrimmage as a slot defender,
as a big nickel, as a dimebacker. You've got to
have those two guys on the top, you do. And
(28:58):
that's where the value for Elijah comes in. Like that's
the other thing too, with the draft and ten picks
that the Chargers have is we you know, we've talked
about this before, but you get out of there and
I'm talking to guys about sixth round picks and seventh
round picks and I'm like, man, just think about the
fact they got two corners in the fifth round and
what this team was able to do and identifying talent.
(29:20):
And like the one that I keep telling people is,
you know, for those that were like, oh, what about
your fourth round pick a boy B And it's like
we knew coming into the year, they said he's not
going to be playing that this is a traits is
a this is a bet on the com that we
think this is a guy we're going to be able
to develop. So you're almost adding a pick this year
at the defensive line position, someone who was productive at
(29:42):
the Alabama But they felt like needed a little bit
of seasoning, right.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
And that's the thing about it when you look typically
when you're looking at the draft, right your first three
draft picks, you're like, Okay, these are guys that are
going to come in and make impacts right now, right
your fourth round, your fifth round, and it's almost like, okay,
we're ga teams, special teams. There's gonna be these are
gonna be guys who who we have to develop, who
we have to you know, kind of massage and get
(30:07):
them to where we want them to be. So to
have yeah, you might say what happened to the fourth round,
but for the two fifth rounders to hit like they did,
that allows the charges not to have to address the
cornerback position.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So heavily right now, right, So you can't look at
it like that.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
I always say, like being an undrafted player, I've been
in this league and I played, and I seen fourth
rounders get cut. I've seen fifth rounders get cut. I've
seen sixth rounders get cut. So most of the time
when you're after that third, like I said, it's more
of an experiment.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
It's almost it's what did your scouts do their job right? Right?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
How good was your scouting department when you hit the
fourth round and on.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Yeah, they're another thing that came up. I wish I
could remember who brought it up, but I was talking about,
you know you have cam Hart, you have targeted still,
do you need to get a veteran corner.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
I thank you, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So I brought that up. I was like, you know,
do you just bring back Christian Fulton? He played well
when he was healthy. Is it that's simple? Do go
out shopping to get a you know, I don't know
who DJ Reid is, obviously, like I think the number
one guy would slay just got cut something like that.
And person made an interesting point. He said, think about
(31:15):
how your what your cornerback position has been in the
past and how it performed this year. What does that
tell you? And I didn't know where he was going.
And he's like Clink is such a good coach and
Jesse Minner is such a good coordinator that that's where
they can get away with it. He's like he goes
in every team, every really good team has that position
(31:35):
group where they don't spend money, they draft, they develop
and they know, okay, I can save money here and
I'm gonna be able to spend it. Here, he goes
into me, that's corner on this team with those coaches
and with this scheme, he goes So for me, I
would just draft two more guys in the fourth or
the fifth round, because why would I doubt that they
(31:59):
can't do it again? And when every single whether it
was safety with Chris O'Leary and Marcus May and any
guy that they dropped in or Eli Apple who came
in a corner and played forty seven Lady Jackson, Yeah,
Eddie jack Clearly these guys know what they're doing. So
for me, I'm not going to spend any money. They're sorry, guys.
I apologize.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
And when you said that question before, I didn't mean
to cut you off, but it was I was gonna
go along the lines of it's a it's about what
your defense acts as certain positions to do right. Like
you said, this defense is one of the defenses where
they can get away with it a corner. When I
was at the Houston Texans, we ran a certain defense
and it was a cover I think it was Cover
four right and the middle linebacker and certain cover fours.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
They would say, hey, you know what you got to
run with number three.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Right, if we're gonna double the backside with the backside safety,
you have to run with number three. And that defense,
they never made none of their linebackers run with verticals, right,
so you know that you don't need a linebacker who's
super super athletic to play in that defense. Right now,
if you go to another defense where I was with
Gus Bradley, no I will linebacker had to run with
the vertical to three. So you're gonna go into the draft, Yeah,
(33:04):
I still feel it's it's all about It's all about
the system, right, So you're gonna as a front office.
The front office and knowing what the coaches want and
what they're doing on the in the schematic side is
big because you can't just draft the guy because yeah
he's six y four, he's two thirty, but does he
fit in the system?
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Right, So like that's a great point that you made.
This defense. It allows the corners are good.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah, they're good. Yeah. And it's funny too because they're
both the two guys they took are so different. You know,
dam Hart was just straight traits, a little bit of injury.
Knew maybe a little bit needed some development. Hard, still
just a dog competitor, ballhawk, and it's like they took
them and guess what, they both worked. So that's like
when I think about the players that are that are
(33:50):
being circled and they're like, hey, man, explosive combine, unbelievable player.
I don't know why, but I feel like he's gonna slip,
like Jaday Barron at Texas man his go. So it's like, okay, dude,
you invest that first round pick in someone who's sort
of I think the cop makes sense to me a
Trent McDuffie, where you think he's a slop, but if
you need to put him outside, he's gonna be fine.
(34:12):
Not a big dude, but he's gonna be fine. He's
too smart, he's too good, he's too instinctive for it
not to work. And then I'm like, okay, so does
that make sense or is it like no, we'd be
better off, you know, drafting the guard there or the
center there, and then we'll just we'll get we'll get
the corners that'll just come in the later round.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
So that's and the thing about Tarhee, like sorry, I'm
still on this topic. He reminds me of a guy
played with by.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
The name of Casey Hayward.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Oh yeah, very like the ball finds him and it
was just like that with Casey. You can play Casey
on the inside. They played Tarhebe on the inside. This year,
you can play Casey on the outside. They played Tarheb
on the outside. He's one of those guys where he's
supposed to run with the vertical, he's supposed to run
with the post, but then he sees that the seven
route is coming and he falls off and picks off
the seventh round.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Did we coach him up to do that? No.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
If he did not do it would have been opened. Yes,
But he fell off and he made the play, right.
That's kind of who he is. That's kind of he's
like a he's a gambler and he and it pays
off for him.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Yeah. Man, look, and I think there is you know,
that's like the mentality of the corner position. Right. There's
guys that just won't gamble, they're afraid to get burned
and it limits them. And then there's those that gamble.
Sometimes they lose and they just move on. That's like, yeah,
whatever got burned on that one mental note, you know,
back to the next rep and it feels like tarheeb
(35:28):
Is is kind of in that and it's funny, like
we had him on I think.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Were you were.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I was where we were talking about his first p
I call and he was like, yeah, man, he goes,
I kind of because I didn't. He goes. The thing
that sucks is I didn't have to do it. He's like,
I got beat. But I like when I reached out,
I was like, do I need to do this? And
he goes, and then all of a sudden, the flag
came out. I was like, God, I didn't need to
do it. But it's like you could tell that he
was processing, like, hey, mental note, man, Now moving forward.
(35:54):
I kind of know. You know, now that I've kind
of taken that rep, I can file that away and
move forward.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
It's a fine line when you're a dB and you're
chasing and that receiver's eyes are getting big and you're
like do I need to PI him? And you hear
the roar of the crowd and you're like, it's a
ball coming. I don't want to look back.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
I don't know. Yeah, So I've been there. I understand.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
I think also just kind of to to move a
little bit here as we're kind of getting toward the
end of this. You're gonna get an extra draft pick
as well, as far as I'm concerned, and that's Junior Colson.
Like Junior unfortunately got I mean, we saw those a
few of those moments in training camp and all you
gotta do a stand next to the guy and.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
You're like, like, he's bid different.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yeah, And so the idea that he barely played last
year and you still even saw some flashes and those
limited snaps that he had. But the idea that Junior
could come in be healthy and now you got he
and Dayan in the middle of the field, Like, that's
gonna be nasty. I don't think you can. You can't
overstate how big of an impact that could have with
those two guys out there for a full seventeen games
(36:53):
if Junior can stay healthy and Dayon continues to add
to what was already an incredible second season for him.
So that's something to keep in mind when it comes
to free agency. And now with the release of Joey
there's one Obviously I had a huge oversight, shame on me,
but you know, I think it makes signing Khalil even
more imperative, Like right now, your edge room with Khalil's
(37:14):
a free agent is Tullian bud. I mean, that's that's it.
That's your whole edge room. So you know that's again
I keep going back to it. So and that's why
I brought up Okay, so Slater twenty eight and a
half million, I'm bringing in dk or you're bringing in DeVante.
Dk is gonna be thirty million. DeVante's gonna be twenty
five million. Now Khalil's gonna there's gonna be a market
out there for Khalil. Now, you may have softened it
(37:36):
a little bit by putting Joey out there helping yourself,
but Khalil's probably a twenty million dollar a year player.
So now, yeah, you got ninety million bucks, but thirty here,
thirty there. Now we're down to you know, now you're
down to thirty and now you're twenty and now I
think you're in that mode of are we We're probably
bring a lot of these guys back and hope you
(37:57):
can continue to get value out of tier Tar and
Poona Ford and Morgan Fox and Christian Fulton and that
whole defensive side of the football. There's still a couple
of levers they can pull. There's still you know, I
don't want to name names because I don't want to,
you know, take money out of these guys pockets. But
I think there's no I'm not. I think there's still
(38:18):
I can think of two levers that'll they'll give you
about thirteen to fourteen million more dollars that I could
totally envision kind of being levers that they would pull
based on what you know. If it's just hey, this
is what we have, this is what's out there in
free agency for a similar price point. What do you
want to do. Okay, let's pull that lever and then
you know, this is what we have, this is what
(38:39):
we think we the grade we have in draft, pull
that lever, and I think those are things that you
can always do. And then obviously that's you know, that's
also not talking about, you know, the magic that Ed
maguire makes year after year when you're moving money around
and creating cash. All that stuff is also available.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
I agree with your money, you get it around on
the head. Dude.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Yeah, So interesting times. So hopefully when we're back next week,
we're talking about a Slater extension and free agency, we're
talking about Khalil Mack being back with the team, and
hopefully some of these key pieces, you know, like we said,
I've got to believe they want to bring back Poonaford,
they want to bring back Tier Tart. I would imagine
those two are right up there with Khalil, you know,
(39:17):
behind Elijah Molden and trying to get some of those
things squared away. We know they already got Tucker Fisk
back in the fold. I thought he played really well
last year as a young player, and that's the style
of tight end that they like to play with. So
it'll be interesting. Next week's gonna there's gonna be a
lot of things moving around. The combine was fun and
it's fun to kind of project, you know, who they
(39:39):
might be interested in at twenty two. We've talked about
running backs Quinn, Shawn Jenkins, Marion Hampton. We've talked about
tight ends a little bit, Colston Lovelin if he's there,
doesn't feel like Tyler Warren is going to be there.
We've talked about interior lineman Gray Zabel, Tyler Booker, the
two big names. I think Zabel coming out of the
combine feels like he's gonna maybe himself ahead a booker,
(40:01):
which I didn't think was possible. But certainly, you know,
you think about Alabama versus Nordak State and it's like really,
and it's like yeah, really in talking to people down there.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Really offensive line, it doesn't it doesn't matter, no, when
you look.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
At big schools quickly, when you look at big schools
and you look at you know, it's skill position, skill position,
and the difference between a big school and a smaller
school is usually the trenches, right right. So if you
see a guy at a small school, Eric Fisher, I
played with number one overall draft pick at Central Michigan,
if he goes to the senior ball, if he goes
(40:35):
to the combine and he holds his own he doesn't
need to run fast forty, he doesn't need to have
it's can he block the man in front of him?
Is he a road grader? Is can he make seams?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
Can he?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
So when you look at the offensive line position, whether
it's the interior, where it's the exterior, at the tackle position,
a lot of times you see a lot of small
school guys getting drafted early who go on to have
a lot of success in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
And that's what theay. Did you know he did it
at the Senior Bowl and he showed up at the
Combine and was an absolute monster. So there's that wide
receiver is super interesting. With the four three nine forty
that Matthew Golden ran, I think that clearly, with the
production and the tape at Texas, that puts him square
in play at twenty two. T Mac is. You know,
(41:21):
the people are dogging on on t Mac out of
Arizona because of the you know, he's not going to
run a forty. He may not run a forty at
his pro day and they're worried about that.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
I've seen enough enough.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Yeah, and he ain't gonna be there. I can't imagine
he'll be there. So there's that position defensive side of
the ball. We haven't even talked at all, really, but
I mean you're talking about an incredibly deep group we
talked to. We talked about Kenneth Grant out of Michigan,
about Nolan out of out of Mississippi State. There's Derek
(41:51):
Harmon out of Oregon who's been called a Chris Jones clone.
I mean, there's there's a lot there as well on
that defensive side of the ball that they can get into.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Op for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
It is going to be exciting. This is the best
time of the year. Former player too, Sorry, yeah, former player, Now,
I remember these I remember this time. I remember going
into free agency. I remember calling my age and every
every other hour like hey, what are you hearing?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Do take it personally?
Speaker 2 (42:15):
You try not to because I always throw this word
out there it's a business, but as a player, you
do like, hey, this team values me here versus I
feel that my values here. Well, well I'm going to
show them when we play them. Right, this is a
team that didn't want to bring me in at this
certain price, and this is the team that believed in me.
So when we when we cross paths, I'm gonna I
got a little extra fuel for you know, I got
(42:37):
a little extra fuel for you. So that's how it is.
Man's it's it's an exciting time. It's going to be
in a time where these guys get to make money
who changed, you know, their life and their family's life
and generations that come after them exactly. So it's it's
it's an awesome time of year. It's and as a fan,
as a fans watching at home, it's obviously you feel
so tied in with your your favorite organization that you know,
(42:58):
every pick, every trade, every you know, everything that's being
done from here on out, it affects you personally, which.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
We know it does so exactly. Well, just kind of
going through the breaking news here since we started doing this.
Bengals grant Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade. Defense
was terrible last year. Yeah, so I guess if you're
bringing back Tea and Kasiki and Jamar to make Joe
Burrow happy, you're gonna have to sacrifice somewhere else it.
(43:26):
Like I said, it's a very deep draft on that
side of the ball, so maybe that's kind of how
they're viewing that. Right. He's an incredible player, led the
league in sacks last year. You have forty nine ers
gonna cut Javon Hargrave. You know what, that's a perfect
illustration of sometimes you go out and you signed the
big name free agent and doesn't always fit the way
it did in the other spot. And that certainly was
(43:48):
the case for hard Grave going from from pitt to
the forty nine ers, and I think that's where it was, right.
Didn't he go from or was there a stop in
between there I'm not sure Philly anyway.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
I think it was Philly.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, I think it was the second stop, and then
he made his way out there. So anyway, Yeah, that's
the latest that I can tell. I'll just refresh over
here one more time so we don't miss anything that
we need to start kicking around us, right, Nothing there,
nothing there, yep. I think we're all good man, all right,
Julia will be back in a week. A lot more
news is going to be squared away by then, whether
(44:22):
it's extensions for Slater free agency signings in the legal
tampering period, trades that were being made, I would imagine
we'll have a lot of news come a week from today.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
I'm excited, man, Thank you me both.
Speaker 1 (44:35):
All right, Thanks everybody for tuning in. Please comment, like, subscribe.
We love getting in those comments on the YouTube and
trying to engage with all of you, so please don't
hold back on that. This has been Chargers week. We'll
be back next week.
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