Free Agency Grades: NFC Edition

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Oh, and welcome back to another episode of the On
the Sideline Podcast with Jackson and Kyle. I am Jackson,
and I'm joined here as always by the man who
thinks they should ban every play but the push push Kyle. Kyle,
how's it going, Uh?

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Doing fantastic? Yeah. I saw a bunch of rules pop
up today. I guess that's one of them. I didn't
read too much into it. I just saw two big ones,
but uh, you know, it should be an interesting, uh
interesting discussion amongst those what is it the owners meetings?

Speaker 1 (01:10):
I guess yeah, at some point, I mean that sounds right,
I said yes, but I could be wrong.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Whatever, We'll see how they go through their process. The
one I liked the Lions proposed, uh they proposed to.
One I did not like, But one that I did
like was the getting rid of automatic first downs for uh,
for defensive holding. I'm all all totally in favor of
that one.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
I go back and forth on it all the time,
because the issue is then there's a ton of incentive
to just commit holding if you get beat, right, they
at least you're like giving up a first down. I
think if they do that, then they'd have to change
it to a ten yard penalty, Like, yeah, I think
I agree, But I like the division one more. But

(01:54):
that's been something that's been in the work, that's been
talked about for a while. But yeah, I don't know.
I like the wild card teams, uh having being the
home team if they have the better record than the
division winner more.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, so, uh you know, and you know me, I mean,
I I think I think I'm totally again. Maybe it's
just because I'm an NFC Syuth fan, but I'm totally
in favor of Like I like regular seasons mattering. I
don't want a basketball situation where no one even cares
in the regular season because they already know that they're
you know, it doesn't matter. I want I want want
it to matter.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Well, it does matter still, it's just that, you know,
it would matter more in my opinion, because the team
that wins more game gets the home field advantage.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
But my thing is, like I think that the I mean,
so what is the actual I didn't like, we're gonna
go uh here because we have a lot of lot
to get into, but uh, what is the I'm trying
to what is the actual rule? Is it? Is it one?
It's not one through seven seaton, right, it's just that whoever.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Uh yeah, So basically, division winners still clinch playoff spots.
It's just that if the wildcard team that plays the
division winner has a has a better record, then they
host the get they host the playoff game.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, if you're gonna do it that way, that's the
way to do it. I think. I still I just
like the idea of I like, I like division winning
a division mattering more.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, Yeah, I mean I get it. I don't know,
I'm all for abolishing divisions, but you know, I'm I'm
I'm too too modern with that.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
I guess, well, you think that you get rid of
playoffs altogether.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, best team at the end of the regular season winch.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Chiefs have one, I guess, not three straight, but they
they've probably won their first Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Right, yeah, pretty much, So good for them. You know,
they haven't had enough wins lately, so I'm all for it.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Yeah, Kyle, we have an interesting show to get into.
We're gonna go over the entire NFC. We're gonna give
grades for every NFC team. Uh So, let's just get
into it. I say, after you know, five minutes of
rambling about new rules. And let's start off with the
Dallas Cowboys. The most interesting team to talk about, right,
I mean, they've just been making big swing after big swing.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
We were waiting for a big swing. Honestly, it felt
like this team was due for maybe a big swing
in free agency. They had some money to spend, which
didn't feel like it was the Cowboys for the last
few seasons, and it was very quiet, very very quiet.
They they did their work pre free agency with signing
Osa Adighizua to an extension for four years eighty million dollars,

(04:25):
and then after that it was pretty pretty quiet. I
think everybody else came in under twenty million dollars for
their entire length of contracts. So not a lot happening
for Dallas. And the big thing is like for a
huge regression season. I don't think they got better, and
they still have a big, gaping hole at their number
two receiver spot. We'll see if it's addressed in the draft.
You know, these are only one week into free agency

(04:47):
grades essentially, so a lot still can change. But for me,
this is a d I think this team didn't get
better at a time chance that they actually had to
maximize or maybe extend a window that we that may
not even be open.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I think I'm gonna I'm
gonna go see minus because I ultimately kind of agree.
I think the reason why we're maybe not gonna be
as hard as other people is just like what, there's
only so much dick and maneuver at this point, right, Like,
like they spent they locked up so many of their players.
I do like the uh, the you know signing you
brought up earlier. I'm not gonna I pronounce that name,
but I like that signing. Uh, you know. I mean

(05:22):
the stat that I saw that is funny is the
last time the Cowboys signed a free agent over six
million dollars it was Greg Hardy in twenty fifteen. Like
that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, what a time that was. Couldn't have happened to
a better guy? Yeah yeah, I mean, I guess the
big thing is the issue for this team is they
needed like two guys, right, Like, if they were gonna
make a splash, it would have been for like it
very obviously felt like it would have been for Javon
Holland and a cup And it's like, okay, you miss

(05:54):
on those guys, there's not really you know, this wasn't
a great free agency receiver class, so like there's an
option you can go to. There is still like a
Stefan Digg's option on the table. If they decide to
go that and you know, let the brothers together, that'd
be fun because they very clearly need another receiver option
on this team.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
But yeah, I just think that they they need another
player at that position, and that was that should have
been priority number one for me, and they didn't address.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
It, right, Yeah, or at least haven't yet. Are you
ready for a ker Elam bounce back uh bounce back year.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
I mean they gotta they need bounce back years from
their own corners.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, so probably for the best there, Yeah, probably fair
And obviously it would start with just Prescott's staying healthy.
But let's move on two D Giants and Kyle. I
like what the Giants have done so far. At least
now they still have the quarterback question hanging over them,
which could be could very much change this grade. But
right now, I'm gonna go with A. I think I'll
go a B plus year. I like Paulson Adbo, I

(06:54):
like Jevon Holland.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah, I like those players a lot. I mean,
this was a horrible second year last year. Liked Did
Dexter Lawrence make the All Pro team? I can't remember,
but anyway, he was close to it. And this defense
was still horrible, just because the back end of this
defense was just, you know, just asking for touchdowns to
be scored. So it was definitely a much needed thing

(07:17):
that they were going to address those positions. Uh. And
they got the best safety on the market and they
got one of the best one of the better corners
on the market at least, So they got a good
player at all both positions. That's gonna help tremendously. And
not only that, I mean, I think this is the
best deal. The three years, forty five million dollars. You
probably wanted a little more longer term for such a
young player in Holland, But as far as value signings go,

(07:40):
that's up there some of the best, right That's one
of the best free agent signings of the week. That
was because you know, this was a guy they were
talking about for maybe an eighty million dollar contract and
forty million dollar guaranteed. They signed um for forty five
million dollars.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
Total.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
I thought that was a really good job by them.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, completely agree. You know, someone says no QB. But
wait a second. They still got Tommy Devido.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, nothing to worry about there, and they still have
the option of the draft. There's still a couple of
free agents out there. I think that they're going to
bring in multiple My thing is, I think they're gonna
bring in multiple quarterbacks unless those quarterbacks go one two
and they got to figure something else out. I still
think multiple quarterbacks will be in this room by the
start of next season.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well, I mean, I don't. I don't. I think, to me,
this is my head cannon, and I'm probably way wrong
about this, but this is what's going on in my
head is I feel like both teams would prefer Aaron Rodgers,
the Giants and the Steelers, and Aaron Rodgers is gonna
wait four months to make a decision, And I feel
like Russell Wilson's kind of cool with wherever he ends up,
and it's just waiting for Rogers to make the decision.
And then Jamis Winston's gonna decide with Cleveland in the mix,

(08:47):
like he'll just go into which the third team.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably the case. So
you think they're getting one of the three guys at least.
Do you think Rogers wants to go to the Giants?

Speaker 1 (08:59):
I don't maybe or does he just want a job
I can't get in his head. Yeah, I think he
might just like, sure, he'll play, you know, thirty million
dollars to go play football for the Giants.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's uh. I don't know why
I would be waiting around for it. You know, I
kind of feel what Cameron Hayward's saying with his I
guess on this podcast he was saying about it. So
it'll be very interesting to see how that plays out.
But I still think they're gonna get a couple guys.
I would rather get a rookie and Jamis. Honestly I
rather would, but you know, see what happens.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah, so that's kind of why I say it remains
to be. We'll see how things. You know, it's it's
a good grade for now. What was your grade? Hey? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (09:39):
I thought it was good.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, yeah, good grade for now, but we could could
go down the next week if if things go very wrong.
Let's go to Eagles, who have I mean, they've just
been kind of getting blood dry here if they needed to.
You know, they were going to lose some players. They
had a lot of guys who were on expiring contracts.
They only only paid some of them. That's just kind
of a situation. Were at losing guys like joshwat and

(10:02):
Milton Williams. They also lose players we didn't expect them
to lose, like Darius lagh and like CJ. Garner Johnson.
So I think that well, I would ultimately say, like
some losses were expected, I think this was more than
I was expecting. So I am gonna go with a
D grade for the foot off your Eagles.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
I also have a D. I think this is a
tough free agency for them. I think that you know,
you're looking at a lot of guys here that are
now having to be replaced. I mean, the strength of
this team last season was how deep they were, no
doubt about it, right like they had you know, you
could have done the Eagles backup defensive players and it
was still been a really good defense. Like you said,

(10:40):
we expected some of that depth to be kind of
taken from because they had free agents to pay. And
you know, if you're gonna say glass half full. They
viewed their priority number one is Zach Bond, and they
got Zach Bond. But you know, you're you're going with
a new edge rusher at start to go to go
opposite Nolan Smith, a new defensive tackle next to Jalen
Harder and Jordan Davis rotating in and out, and then

(11:03):
you have a new secondary guy after years of trying
to figure out that secondary position, uh situation. You know
you have a new guy going next to Queenio Minchell
and Cooper Degen and at safety with red Blankenships. So
there's gonna be a lot of moving parts here. That
being said, I also think it's kind of in Vic Fangio.
I trust and I also trust the development, so I'm

(11:24):
not overly worried about it. But they definitely got worse,
and that's why it's a D for me.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yeah, I think I think they'll be fine. I think
that they still have a great cheer. They're probably still
favorites in the NFC. Right, It's not like they moved
moved in need know that much backwards. But again, when
you're a Super Bowl champion, usually you're gonna get a
little worse. Didn't love the Kenyon Green.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Uh trade, it's just bizarre, like they it just felt
like they didn't need to do that.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
But I'm not sure why I changed for him and
Dorian Thompson Robinson. Again, they know things I don't. I
trust that organization, but that those are both head scratches.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
If if if they turn Kenny Ingrad into a good
offensive lineman, that offensive line coach deserves a head coach job,
no doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, it's just just one of those like, uh, I
don't know, like you're just like testing the water, seeing
seeing how good you can uh thing, what you can do.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, I need a challenge myself. This is the new challenge.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, okay, McKay beckon getting him good, like okay, whatever,
Like you know, he's got he had all the physical
you know, he had all that talent. Let's get uh,
let's be Kenyon Green.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah. It's a it's a big risk. For sure, we'll see,
you know, they're taking a chance on of guys like
Josh J two to see if they can pan out.
But you know, for the most part, this is gonna
be a lot of internal development. I don't want to
see a lot of these free agency signings except for Bond.
Like I said, who they're bringing back as guys that
are like gonna move the needle a whole lot.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, well, let's move on. Let's talk some balls here, Kyle.
The Washington Commanders also known as the Balls who you know,
they made a lot of big splash moves. They you know,
added eyes like Deebo Samuel and Laramie Tunsel. They had
a lot of money to spend. What did you think
about this? What is your grade?

Speaker 2 (13:08):
It was hit or miss from me. You know, I
thought they did some things really well. I thought they
you know, is Deebo Samuel washed up? We'll see. I
still think he's got some something left in the tank.
He obviously is a hurt a lot, but I think
they bought him at a pretty low value and got
good value for that. They brought zach Ertz back, who
you know, might have been their most consistent weapon last

(13:30):
season at times. He worked really well with Jayden Daniels.
I thought that was important, and they get him a
blindside protector and Laramy Tunzel on what I thought was
really good trade too, So that was awesome work. I
really like that stuff. The issue is is that you
could argue both sides of this that you know, Dan
Quinn is a defensive guru, and he got this team
to punch above its weight at times on defense last

(13:52):
season and performed well. But you could also look at
what this team was lacking on the way to the
Super Bowl. You know, a surprise run of the Nfcchampionship,
was getting key stops at the end of game some
or in the in those big games, especially against Philadelphia
and that NFC Championship game, and this defense just didn't
get better in my opinion. You know, I bringing back
Bobby Wagner is nice. You know, they're taking some flyers

(14:15):
on guys like Dietrich Wise, Jonathan Jones, and Will Harris,
but nothing that really moves the needle for me. So
that's why I have it to see because I think
there was some good work, but I think they could
have done a little more to help that defense.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah I'm a little higher than you. I'm C C
plus for me, but I'm kind of right around where
you're at, because, yeah, they got better, and we expected
them to get better. But again, the point of the
grades is not how much better did you get, It's
how did you maximize your value from what you were
able to do. And I think that neither one of
us are owners of a juwan Kin law Jersey.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
No, no, we are not. Yeah, that was not a
huge fan of that one at all either. So and
that was the big free agent signing on defense. So
we'll see how it works out. I think they're gonna
draft a lot defensively too. Would you be shocked that
this is the best offensive football next year?

Speaker 1 (15:07):
No, No, I mean it was. It was one of
the best offensive the football last year. I mean it's
it's it's great and they added to that. I mean,
you know, I think my logic was your offense is
already great, help out your defense. They didn't really see
it that way, but uh, you know, I mean, we'll
see how it goes. You're right, it's gonna be I
think I would be surprised if them or Detroit aren't
the best offense at least in the in the NFC.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, it'll be very interesting. I mean, I guess there's
there is logic to the idea. You know, we say
it all the time, like you know, you can't you
rarely see those teams spend you know, one hundred million
dollars in free agency and end up winning the Super Bowl.
It's just really hard to do that. And maybe from
their perspective, they're looking at it like, let's just add
some pieces to this defense and then build on our strength.

(15:52):
And their strength last season was their offense, because it's
not like they're gonna go and build an elite defense
overnight with free agency. So I guess, like understand the
logic to it to a certain extent. I just would
have liked to see one guy, you know, one guy,
like why couldn't they just top that Javon Holland off
or why couldn't they go get one of those corners.
You know, there are several good corners in free agency,
and this team just didn't have any good corners last year,

(16:14):
So why couldn't they just go and get one of
those guys as well? You know, it just feels like
they could have got one piece and spent the money
on that, and they just I felt like they could
have done a little bit more.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Hey, don't disrespect Mikey Sandis trail of the good slock
corner coach.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Loock corners count slock corners count. You're right, my bad
outside corners.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
You know, that's what I meant, yes, uh no, very fair.
They could have, but maybe they just trust their guys
in the room, or they trust A Lottimore's gonna step up.
Things like that. I mean, we'll see how it goes.
Let's move on, let's go to the AFC or some
the NFC North. Now, le's stop about the Bears, who
had a eventful, uh I would say, eventful free agency

(16:53):
period as they added not just three new interior offensive linemen,
they also added Grady Jarrett and Dale Dagabo. The Jared
in Odigobo signings aren't my favorite, but I do think
that really I liked all of their interior moves, so
I'm gonna give this a B.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, I have it as an a like. Look, I
know that Grady Jarrett's probably passed his prime a little bit,
but I still think there's a decent player there, even
if it's a little bit of an overpay. But you know,
part of the luxury of having a rookie quarterback is
you can afford some overpays. You know, they don't have
to worry about extending Caleb Williams during this Grady Jarrett
contract or at least while he has guaranteed money. Either

(17:31):
so it's something they can kind of take advantage of
and saying we're gonna get a good player at maybe
a little bit above his value because we have to
pay it to get him, but we're gonna get a
good player in the building. And I think he's gonna help.
And I think Grady Jarrett still is a decent player,
even if he's not the elite guy he was.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
So I like that.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
And then yeah, I mean, it was just very clear
Ben Johnson came into this thing and identified what he
wanted as the problem and how he was gonna find
the solution. So they go for veteran interior offensive lineman
to fix this situation. And it's gonna be fascinating to
see what the Bears look like next year, because you know,
there's a lot of analytics people that said this offensive

(18:08):
line was not as bad as people cracked it up
to be during the season, and that Caleb and this
offensive play calling honestly for a larger extent too, were
two of the bigger problems with this uh with this
offense last year. And we'll see. I mean, I think
that there were some you know, gripes with the offensive line,
especially the interior because like guys like Tevin Jenkins just

(18:29):
kept getting hurt and he was good when he played,
he just keeps getting hurt. So, you know, getting guys
who feel like they're they're durable, They're gonna come in
and they're gonna do the job. Plus Ben Johnson is
the play caller. I mean, they've basically addressed all of
their issues immediately, and by you know what is it
March nineteen, that feels like they fixed everything that felt
very wrong for Chicago last year.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
I still have some receiver concerned with that. And again,
I don't think they needed to throw, you know, by
one of these receiving contracts because there wasn't a great
one there. But I would just say I still think
there's some concern there.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
I could agree with that, but I mean, I think
a lot of that is also going to be Johnson
working internal development with guys like Romandonza who struggled in
his first year, and seeing what he can get out
of those guys because you know, there's still talented players
between him, Cole comment, DJ Moore, that sort of thing.
They just have to see if they can get it
all to work. Because I don't think the play callers

(19:23):
last year, had a plan for plan of action with
these guys.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah, definitely possible. Let's move on. Let's go to the
Detroit Lions. Who are you know, a team that's coming
off of a you know what Commerce championship game two
years ago and then the one seed last year ultimately
did not have the playoffs that they wanted. They signed
Dan Skipper, which he just has to be a Lion
for life, you know. They released Zanarius Smith, and really,

(19:52):
I didn't do a ton of key moves, but one
of the biggest ones was signing DJ Reed, a move
I really liked and I think could be really helpful
for them. They didn't have a lot of leeway here,
but they made some small moves that I think are effective.
So it's gonna be another bee for me.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, it's a bee for me as well. I think
there could be a very much a upgrade from Carlton Davis,
who I do like, to DJ Reid for sure. I
think having him in the building, I think he's a
bit of a better cover corner, even though I think,
you know, Davis does a lot and Manda Man stuff
that I think is very hard to match. But still,
in general, DJ Read's very good. He's very good lockdown corner,

(20:28):
and I think it should be very helpful for them.
I would have liked one more pass rusher, but at
the same time, like they're just gonna hope Aidon Hudginson
doesn't have another freak injury and this Stephens should be
really good. I think so. I like what they did overall.
I think it's a bee and I think they upgraded
that position for sure.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yeah. The best thing the Lions have this offseason is
for alder players to get healthy. They have a chunk
of time that people can get healthy hopefully. Yeah, I mean,
think about Carlton Davis is like, I don't I don't
know if I think reads. I mean, they're both great players,
but you know, Carlton Davis has injury history, right, and
you're getting someone who hopefully will stay healthy.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah. This number one corner thing has just been a
rotating door for them at this point, right, because they
go from Cam Sutton to Carlton Davis to JJ Reid
and every year it feels like they're upgrading and it
hasn't really landed the way that they wanted. I think
Carlton Davis was pretty good last year, but like you
said the injuries didn't help, so they're hoping this is
definitely a big step forward for that for that position,

(21:23):
because it's definitely been the weakest spot of this team
of the last couple of years.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
I mean, I will say, like the Lion's defense was
pretty good before it got hurt last year, Like when
Aiden Hutchinson was out there, like the first chunk of
the year, it was playing well like it, you know,
mostly shut down Tampa Bay when they played like it
like it, you know, it's mostly shut down the Rams
when they played it was just once the injury stacked up,
Like again, the Lions did what they did last year
and now are essentially adding a defensive player of the

(21:49):
year in Aiden Hutchinson.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
It kind of feels like it was the lost defensive
player of the year for him. Not that Patrick stan
wasn't amazing, he deserved it, but it definitely felt like
that was just brewing to be Aiden Hutchinson's season.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah, but we'll see, I mean the Lions season. And
are we worried about the Lions?

Speaker 2 (22:09):
No, I mean no, to an extent. I really want
to see what this looks like with the new coordinators.
You know, M hmm. I think that's just gonna be
a huge thing. Like how do these new coordinators step in?
And you know, those the coordinators that they were replacing
were two of the best in the game and two
of the most highly you know, highly rated in the game.

(22:29):
So replacing those guys is going to be really difficult.
But as far as the roster goes that, like you said,
I still think Philadelphia is the favorite in the NFC. Like,
I still think that Detroit's roster when it's healthy is
probably better. Right now. I think I would say it's
a better roster right now.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
Interesting, it's they're both very good. I think I would
give the edge to the team that I've seen do it.
But like, yeah, I mean you can you know, uh,
you can make the argument for sure. Let's move on.
Let's go to the Green Bay Packers, who uh didn't
do a lot. They the kind of the two key
signings were Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs. Feels like they

(23:05):
kind of over Aaron Banks. Want is just weird because
they have five offensive linemen that thought they fought good with,
So why did they add another guy unless they're giving
up on uh the player to draft him. The first
round last year. I don't know, uh, but I like
to day Hobbs signings, so I'm just gonna give this
a seat.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
Yeah, I kind of feel the same way. And it's
another one where I feel like they could have maybe
gone for another wide receiver. But you know, again, this
wasn't a great receiver receiving receiver free agency class, so
maybe they just didn't fall in love with any of
the options they had on the table. Maybe they could
still come back with another guy like Stefon Diggs who
is still on the market. But yeah, the Bank's contract

(23:44):
is a little weird unless they just whatever metric they use,
and they must value him a lot more than others
I feel like, because not only was it a weird
signing because it feels like they have options at that position,
but they also paid a lot for him, you know,
kind of overpaid for him in a bit in my perspective.
So that's gonna be a very interesting one. And like
you said, assuming Hobbs gets healthy, he's gonna be a

(24:05):
really good slot corner again, and that's gonna help this
secondary who who made some huge strides I thought last season.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, I agree. I like key RAN's comment saying f
minors for trying to ban a play soft franchise. Yeah,
a lot of people. I did say I went back
to push. Yeah, I'll just say I went back and
check the Uh you know, the Eagles did not run
the toush push against the Packers in the playoff game
that they played.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
They were too scared of him.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
I guess didn't, you know, So I don't know if
this is being sore loser if they never ran that play.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah, I don't know. Definitely a weird one, but uh,
you know, I guess everyone's tired of it. So do
you think it's gonna pass? I don't think it's gonna
pass anyways.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
I don't know. I don't know. I honestly have no idea.
I don't know how the NFL views it.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, I mean, obviously some teams don't like it, but again,
it just feels like it's one of those things where
teams don't like it because others are better at it.
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
Well, yeah, I mean, I think again, you don't. I
don't like it because I think it's a boring play.
I also think teams don't like it because it feels like
it's an unstoppable play. It feels like it's something that
there's not really a thing you can do about it.

Speaker 2 (25:18):
But nobody was looking the band the QB sneak when
Brady was just the lead at it, Like, I just
don't know, we.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
Should have been We should that that should have been
a band play too.

Speaker 2 (25:27):
Oh geez, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
I just like the quarterback sneak. I just think it's
a boring play. I think you have to hand the
ball off or run a quarterback draw. That's I just
think a sports are entertainment.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
But so what the quarterback can't run under center basically
for a yeats basically Yeah, yeah, right, huh I mean,
I guess I don't know that that feels like it's
doing too much there.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
I don't know. We have these all these other restrictions
of things you can't do. You can't block into a
certain area. If you're going this way, we could make
it work.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah, that's fair. Let's move on to the Vikings. I'm
gonna go close my door real quick because my dog
pushed it open.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
But uh, okay, yes, okay, So Minnesota Vikings, who you
know again a team that kind of did a lot
of weird moves, I feel, so let they let Sam
Donald walk and that's kind of a key, I think
thing to talk about because they you know, this is
something you've done for two years in a row. Now

(26:27):
is they've let a capable quarterback walk in free agency,
trusting that that spending cap space on other players would
help more. They also lost cambin them, who's a good
safety for them, so they didn't add really through the trenches,
which was kind of a little surprising for me. But
they spent a lot of money, uh you know, building there.

(26:48):
They also want to have four draft picks coming up.
So I don't know what to make of this Vikings team.
To be honest, I again, you kind of just trust
that they know what they're doing at this point. They
you know, they added to On Hargrave, They added Ryan Kelly,
Jonathan Allen. I think those are good players and not
you know, crazy amounts of money. So I don't know all.

(27:08):
I think I'm gonna just talk over in circles until
I end up on a seat. I'm an a, oh okay, well,
explain to me.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
I think this team did a really good job of
preserving its money. It's got one of the most talented
rosters in the league, and it got better. They like
you said, this team desperately needed some help on the
interior offensive line. You kind of saw that get decimated
in their last two games of the year that they
both lost. They address that issue. They bring back Byron Murphy,
a guy they really valued last season who had a
career year for them. They added another corner on the

(27:40):
chief who I thought played very well at times that
in Isaiah Rodgers. They bring back Aaron Jones who was
helpful to the offense. And then they add guys that
I think could be uh you know, I think a
guy like Javon Hargrave could have a really good bounced
back season for this team too, in this Brian Flores system. Obviously,
he got hurt last season, so that played a huge part,
but I think it was also he didn't quite live

(28:01):
up to his San Francisco contract that he got. I
wouldn't be surprised if he has a bounced back season.
All that being said, they made the They keep making
the move that we keep saying every team should make,
which is not paying the average quarterback good quarterback money.
So why should we criticize them for continue were making

(28:22):
the same move that we keep saying every team should
do if they're in that position. So they they were
talking about before the season starting JJ McCarthy anyways, it
seemed like he was gonna get the job before he
got hurt. They're still banking on JJ McCarthy being their guy,
and they have a good cheap quarter or what they
think is a good, young, cheap quarterback on a rookie contract,
and they're maximizing this roster. This roster is loaded, This

(28:45):
roster is gonna be really, really good. I wouldn't be
surprised that this is a double digit win team, especially
if the Vikings are you know, if JJ McCarthy hits,
this is a contender.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
Absolutely, Yeah, you know what you're You're right, You've definitely
talked to me to it. I think the reason why
I was just kind of giving it a little of
lower grade at first was the Jonathan Allen and the
uh Javon Hargrave. They're both over thirty and they're both
getting a lot of money, and Hargrave is coming off
an injury. I think that's that's those are some concern
to be had, but you're right, I should be giving
a lot of extra credit for stam Darnold being willing

(29:14):
to let him walk, And I do like again, Will
Fries and uh and Ryan Kelly adding them to this
already on paper, really good offensive line. Like yeah, that's
a really those are really good move. So yeah, you know,
you're right, my grade should be high.

Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yeah, So I do like that. You know, I think
they need to add another pass rusher, possibly in the draft.
And then I mean they're they're probably gonna need a
backup quarterback as well, but you know they're banking on
JJ McCarthy and you know, I have no reason not
to trust this team so far. Plus, I think a
lot of quarterbacks are gonna be really good when they
have Aaron Jones, this offensive line, TJ. Howkinson and oh yeah,

(29:49):
Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. You know a lot of
quarterbacks are probably gonna come into this situation and be
at least pretty good.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah. Absolutely. I guess the one question is usually if
you make a move like this, you kind of know
your quarterback. Like when the Seahawks moved off of Russell
Wilson for Gino Smith, we were all like, what are
they doing? But like they at least knew Geno Smith.
They saw him in practice all the time. You don't
really get that here because JJ McCarthy was injured for
the whole year.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
They saw him in camp at least, you know, you
got a little bit.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yeah, but yeah, but you haven't gotten anything since then.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, I mean it's been a long time, that's for sure.
But you know, they did their scouting, they did their vetting,
and they, like I said, I mean, it very much
seemed like JJ McCarthy was gonna start Week one last
year until his injuries. So they still clearly feel like
that's gonna be the case. And it came out today
that they weren't interested in Aaron Rodgers, so it seemed
like they're kind of just doubling down on the situation

(30:43):
right now.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
That's totally just the thing people are saying because of
Brett Farv, Right, no one would ever this would it
would not even be a thing like It's just it's
totally Brett farr.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
If they went into the season with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback,
would you have been would you have said this is
a better team or worse team? Then with JJ McCarthy
then last season with Sam Donald.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
I guess, oh, worse. I mean that's yeah. I mean,
even like all the wonkiness aside, I think Sam Donald
was better last year than Aaron Rodgers was.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
Yeah, I think i'd agree with that. Could Aaron Rodgers
be better in this situation? Maybe? I don't know.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Yes, sure that's possible, but I don't know. I wouldn't.
I'd go of JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
Yeah, I would too, So I'm a fan of it.
I'm believing in JJ right now. And like I said,
he's got a great situation to go in. This is
gonna be awesome for a young quarterback.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
Yeah. Well, speaking of young quarterbacks, talk about Michael Pennix
Junior and the Atlanta Falcons, who had a quiet offseason. Again,
unlike these other rookie quarterback teams, they unfortunately are paying
Kirk Cousins and they had decided to keep him, it
seems like, which is another interesting decision, but they it
kind of makes some sense because they wouldn't actually save

(31:53):
that much money by, uh by getting rid of Cousins,
because essentially they would have to push money down the
road either way because all of the contract would go
to this year if they cut him now. So it's
a weird maft thing. But essentially they're not saving that
much money to get rid of Cousins that they decided
to keep him. But then you have, you know, I

(32:13):
mean what they lost a great year in Drew dolmen
which I think would have been nice to have they
added Leonard Floyd. I don't know, I'll say a C
minus because I would have rather found a way to
keep Drew dolmend instead of adding Leonard Floyd. But yeah,
that that's kind of warm. They didn't have a lot
of maneuver maneuver ability here.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
Yeah, I have a ded just because, like man, I
don't know, like they tried this last year with Judo
and they still haven't really fixed this pass for a situation.
I'm not really believing Leonard Floyd's gonna come in and
help fix it, you know, they bring you know, Mike
Cueses in and divine the Oblo. But like, I don't know,
this defense still feels like it has too many holes.

(32:52):
I don't know if they did enough. And obviously the
biggest problem is that they had their backup quarterback is
making that much money, So it's it's it's complicated and
probably unfair, but yeah, that's why I have it a D.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, overlap six to one eight with a super chat.
I have a better mushed ash than Kyle replaced him
with me. This is overlap the moderator. Uh wow, Kyle,
those are fighting words.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
I like how it was originally he just wanted to
come on the show, and now he wants to uh house.
It seems like lately I win one championship and all
of a sudden, everyone's coming for the king. Hey, what's
going on here?

Speaker 1 (33:27):
What I had to deal with for all these years? Kyle?

Speaker 2 (33:29):
I know it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
Michael says, I can feel Jackson's Carolina hey coming. You
are right, You're absolutely correct. That is gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
It's on the horizon.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Yeah. Oh, you didn't think I was gonna say, Oh,
you know what, I'm a huge fan of paying treyvon
Moriy fifteen million a year. You didn't think that was
gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Oh gosh, all right, should we get into it? Then?

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Sure? We can just jump there. You know, we don't
have too much else to add about.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
The players, and you know it's not much to do.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, I mean, listen, this is a it's it's a
D minus for me, this is not a good job.
This is they added talent, yes they did, but like
Trayvon moor Higg and Trey Shawn Wharton are getting in
my opinion, too much money and and they haven't really
done anything once again to help out Bryce Young. So no,
I'm not a fan of this, uh of what they've done.

(34:19):
I like the coach, I like Bryce Young. I think
they can still continue like some of the young players
that they have, but ultimately I would have liked to
see them add more. If they're gonna go defense, I
would like to see him at least due to the
new Eland Patriots thing get you know, if you're gonna
overpay overpay for like players who are better than just
like solid.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
Yeah, uh yeah it's tough. I mean I I did
see minus Like, Look, this defense is gonna be better
next year, I think hard.

Speaker 1 (34:50):
To get a lot worse. I mean, Derek Brown being
back is gonna make this team way better, Like this
team is gonna be better than Newer.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
Last year, right at least. I mean, yeah, it's a
lot of there are names on the on the sheet now,
but yeah, I just uh, it is a very expensive
defense that I don't think got a whole lot better,
but I think it will be better. So I guess, like,
if that's your criteria, then sure you can grate it
a little bit higher. But uh yeah, I mean like

(35:16):
like you got that, you got Ricodaldough, who you know,
I actually think is a pretty good back. I don't
think that's a bad deal at all, getting him one
year for three million dollars. You know, I thought he
was a decent player, So you add that piece, But like,
how could they not get one receiver? Like how can
they not just like where was like the even like
a Matt Collins or something like that? Could they not

(35:37):
get one guy? Like you know, we still have you
know what is his name, Jalen Coker and you know,
Adam Thielen. That's what you're going into, is your one
two one two condo combo. I don't love it. I
don't love it.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yeah, And this is the team that, like, again, what
we keep saying, like, hey, not a great receiver room.
They could have done something. There's there's something You're right,
there's things that could have been could have been done
to add and again we don't know. Maybe teams don't
want to go play for Carolina because they've been bad
for a while, or people don't want to play for
Carolina because they've been bad for a while. Sure that's
a possibility, but yeah, I mean that's that's another that is,

(36:15):
you know, they had a little bit of money, they
had a decent you know, decent amount of mind to
work with. They added a couple of solid defensive players.
I don't get how they're in any better situation than
they were entering the offseason. Okay, they've gotten a little better,
but they're not. It has not moved the needle enough
for me.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
It doesn't definitely doesn't move the needle. This team has
to have an active draft. They have to get add
some playmakers otherwise it's a disaster. Yeah, you have to
add playmakers in the off season. So we'll see. You know,
this is this is obviously grading after one week. We
didn't love the first week of signings. Maybe they can
get some things done on the fringes, but they definitely

(36:52):
need a weapon or two. And like I said, this
wasn't an awesome receiver draft, so it's tough to it's
tough to grade it that way. But you know, they
could have coughed up the money for DK Metcalf. They
could have, you know, gone for somebody else. They could
have added one of those top end guys, and they
weren't able to do that. And then it still feels
like this this offense is going to have some struggles.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah, I have. Uh and Michael in the chat said, uh,
you are you know what, now that you say it,
you have changed my opinion on it. You are actually
both correct D minus is the correct take. That's what
Michael said. So, uh, yeah, thanks for agreeing with me.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
Michael. Yeah, yeah, I mean Carolina fans are coming around
to us.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
That's okay, yeah, exactly. That joke will not work for
the uh the audio only listeners, but that's okay.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
No. No, I'm a big NC State Wolfpack football guy.
They're fun. You know, you got a good coach. I
like that. That's nothing.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
Nothing against the states of North and South Carolina.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
I don't know. It kind of seems like you do
a bias here. Why is it both they're only North Carolina.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
I don't know. Good they're called Carolina.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
Yeah, you can't claim both states, you get one. That's
how it works. I bet more South Carolina fans are
like Falcons fans than like Panthers fans. I'd be interested
to actually see that. We'll see I don't know interesting.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
Yeah, Okay, well we'll we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll dive into that.
Let's move on to the New Orleans Saints who decided
to add uh, you know, they did add players again.
The Saints who are the team we always talk about
when we say the cap isn't real because they consistently,
uh you know, find ways to add players, Justin Reid

(38:31):
being the kind of key one and resigning Chase Young
to a decent deal as well. They did lose paulse
and Adebo. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what the
Saints like where the Saints are going, I don't know
how you get like I think, I do think they
need to rebuild. I also don't think that if you
need to rebuild, you should sign zero players. Like I
think it's still okay to add a Justin Reid uh

(38:52):
or you know, I like Justin Reid enough. I like
I Actually I'm one of the few people that thinks
the Chase Young is a pretty good player. That's a
crazy like a great uh free agency period. But I'm
gonna go see minus uh.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
I think it's to see. I'll give it a solid seed.
Like you said, like did they over Yeah, I don't know.
They got good players. That's I'm okay with it. You know,
if they got good players, I'm fine with it. You know.
I kind of like this Granderson Young combo kool aid
McKinstry looks like he's gonna step into the number one
corner rule. I like that with Reed and Matthew behind him,
that's a really good safety do it too. Not really

(39:31):
sure what their plan is for the second corner to
be determined, but look, I think they got a couple
of pretty good players, and I think that's gonna help.
Like you said, they don't need to sign nobody because
of that, So we'll see how it plays out. This
team still has a ton of holes, and they still
have a lot of you know, money, you know, salary
problems that they have to figure out, but none of

(39:51):
these players on its surface or issues against the salary cap.
They got all these guys in at pretty good deals.
I don't think anybody felt like an overpay to me.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah, I think some people will dislike the Chase Young
signing because he's just like a hot button topic.

Speaker 2 (40:06):
I mean, the worst thing that happened to him is
he became just like a pretty good player and he
was typed to be like the best, so that it's tough.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
And he also had like a bunch of like what
like multiple torn acl injuries, Like sometimes like that affects players,
like I think we it's we all every time someone
gets injured, we're all like, oh my god, I wonder
if don't be able to play as good again, and
then we completely forget about that, and then if three
years from now they're bad, we're like, what happened to him?

Speaker 2 (40:29):
Yeah? Yeah, it's tough. I mean, like he came in
with so much expectations that it is almost impossible to
meet unless you turn into like Miles Garrett.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
And that was that was the prospect he was supposed
to be. Like he was like that level of prospect.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah, I mean it was so it's a tough situation
to overcome. But yeah, he has been a solid football
players entire career. There's nothing wrong with a you know,
Chase Young.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yeah, I agree. Let's I think part of what hurts
him too was just he doesn't get sacks. He's one
of those guys who just doesn't like his pressure to
sack rate isn't very high.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
Yeah. I mean, you know, people, you know, the analytics
movement will not catch up. That's the problem. You know,
people are gonna ignore it. Errol Landry is a better
player than Chase Young.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
Sure. Uh yes, according to Tom the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
my favorite team and me, I don't think I'm being
a homer here when I say I think we had
a really good free agency. Signing Chris Godwin to only
twenty two million a year for three years is very good.
Resigning Lavonte David who is just content to take these
one year deals for his whole career. It seems even

(41:40):
like Ben Brettison, who isn't my favorite player. I think
you keeping the offensive line together, I get it. And
I actually like the Hassan Reddick move. So yeah, I'm
a big fan of this free and even the strong Shepherd,
nice role player keeping him So yeah, this is an
a for me.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
So just to be clear. Jackson Krueger, the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers fan, gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a the
Carolina Panthers a D minus. And I think he said
the Saints and the Falcons were c minuses. Is that correct?

Speaker 1 (42:08):
Yes, because clearly that's biased and not the fact that
these Saints, Panthers, and Falcons are all organizations that maybe
don't make the best decisions.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
Uh. Okay, no, I'm just kidding. I agree with you
though this was an a I did like it. I
liked the punter. I like, you know, bringing Goblin back.
I mean, the fact that they got Godwin when he
was being offered thirty million dollars a year, I mean,
is insane. So they get him back at a pretty
good deal given what was offered on the table. I
think that's good. You know, David obviously comes back. He's

(42:39):
a legend, he's a Hall of Famer. Getting him back
at a good money at a good salary, too, is important.
I don't know if like, like, this team desperately needed
a pass rusher last season, and they didn't really have
a lot of moves to make because of their salary
constraints at at this point, so there wasn't a whole
lot they could do, and taking a flyer and a
guy like at that price point, you weren't gonna get

(43:02):
a player with more of a resume than Hassan Reddick.
So I definitely have no problem with it. I would
not be surprised if he has a bounce back season.
I also just wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work
out either, So we'll see. But I think it's a
really good, you know, low risk, high reward situation because there's,
like I said, there's just not many edge rushers with
that resume that become available as a free agent for

(43:23):
fourteen million dollars.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
Yeah, it's very It rands me a lot of the
Baker Mayfield deal, where it's like, at the time, I
remember saying, like the Bake Mayfield deal, It's like, I
don't know if it's gonna work out, but if it
does work out, everyone's gonna say, well, of course it
worked out. There's a clear, like in hindsight thing you
could put together. I'm like, oh, who's only bad this
year because he was it was Carolina, and then he
was only bad the year after because or the year

(43:45):
before because of injury. Like this is definitely, uh, it's
one of those situations.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Yeah. The big thing going into this season, like I said,
they did a really good job doing what they can
given their salary cap situation. The big thing going into
the season is just gonna be replacing the off as
a coordinator. That is the toughest thing, because it seemed
like they had a really good thing going with Liam Cohene.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
Yeah, and they hired from within. I'm hopeful it'll work out.
But you're right, that is that is the big concern
because I agree, you know, William Holmes a really good,
really good coordinator. So yeah, so again, just to recap
NFC style, Bucks were awesome, every other team horrible.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
Yeah, so just make sure every everyone in the NFC
styles make sure to comment on that.

Speaker 1 (44:24):
Hey, I didn't even pick the Buccaneers to win the
division the past two years. Okay, I'm at least only
slightly biased. I think that's that's my slogan, slightly biased.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
Well, there is a YouTube channel already called slightly biased,
so you can't take that of them.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
Oh no, okay, I'm gonna hope i'll get copyright infringed.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
He's a he's a great Mavericks follow so if you
want to check out his videos, he's very funny. But anyhow, yeah, anyway,
that's fine. So yeah, let's move on.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
Okay, Well, condolence is there, but yeah, let's move on
to the Arizona Cardinals final division to talk about here
as the Arizona Cardinals. The big move was Josh Sweat,
who I couldn't believe that's all he got after seeing
some of these contracts, you have to imagine part of
why he wanted to take that deal was because just
of the you know, going to a situation that he's

(45:12):
had success him before were with the you know, the
head coach of the Cardinals who was defensive coordinator for
Sweat when he arguably had his best year. That should help,
and Sweat's been very good without him as well. Again,
some smaller moves here, they signed your guy Dalvin Tomlinson. Uh,
there's you know, some some litterer things here. They didn't
I don't think they you know, had avoid they kind

(45:34):
of avoided any like horrible things going wrong. So yeah,
ultimately it's they didn't do a lot. But I'm gonna
also give this an A because I liked the Josh
Sweat move, and it's like it's a small it's again,
they didn't have as much resources, but I think they
made it most of them.

Speaker 2 (45:48):
Yeah, didn't have much resources. Indeed, that's why it's an
A for me too. But This defensive line is way better.
I mean, how many times that we're talking about how
how we didn't expect much from this defense because they
didn't have the personnel, they didn't have the players, and
now you're adding Josh Wett and Dalvin Tomlins into it. Absolutely,
it's a nate for me. I really liked that group.
I think this pass rush all of a sudden got

(46:09):
a lot better this offseason, and I think that should
help the rest of the group in general. They still
got good safeties back there in Jalen Thompson and Buddha Baker,
and then you have Murphy Bunting obviously, who you know,
probably is the number one corner, but they're gonna put
him out there anyways, you know. But having a pass
rush to help those guys out is going to be tremendous,
I think. And yeah, I like this Cardinals team a

(46:30):
lot more. I think they maybe could have done a
little bit more to get better, but they got a
lot better defensively. And you know, I wouldn't be surprised
still long off season, Well, I'll have the right to
change my mind in August. I wouldn't be surprised that
this is the second best team in the division next season.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
Kyle Jaln Milrose Pro day time for forty time just
came out. Do you have any guesses.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
He's got to be like four to four or something, right.

Speaker 1 (46:58):
He's not four to three seven.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
That was pretty close. But yeah, yeah he is. Uh,
he's quick. Have you watched him?

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah? Yeah, I like him? You do, Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Mean you catch him on the right day. He looks
really really good. H he looks like the NFL quarterback
he watched the Michigan game last year. You're not gonna
like him as much. And there's a lot of big
games that he struggled in, so we'll see. I think
he's got some He's got some tantalizing tools, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
Yeah, definitely a project. I just uh not to get
too into our you know, and which by way and
what In two weeks we'll be doing our our our
draft stuff that two weeks from today will be the
top ten quarterbacks video. But uh yeah, I mostly feel
like it's weird to me that he gets talked about
it like not even a guy you draft in the
second round and then Anthony Richardson is drafted fourth overall.

(47:50):
Not to state that they're the same, but just feels
like there's the shouldn't be that much of a gap
between them.

Speaker 2 (47:55):
Yeah, it does definitely feel like that way sometimes. But
the Anthony Richardson thing was just to low sample size,
where we've seen this guy play starting quarterback for the
last two seasons, and I mean like they were also
asking him to switch to receiver before he took over
with the starting quarterback spot. Yeah, it's it's a it's
a it'll it'll be uh, you know, there's just more

(48:16):
tape on him, and I think that worked out for him,
or it worked out for against him compared to guys
like Trey Lance and Anthony Richardson for sure.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
Yeah, let's go to the Los Angeles Rams. We got
the Cardinals, right, was anything else need to say?

Speaker 2 (48:30):
No, Like I said, I really like it. I think
I think that they could be sneakily, very very good
next season. I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
Yeah, so let's go to the Rams. Than who kind
of their big thing was letting Cooper Cup go. They
also made sure they kept Matthew Stafford in the building.
They also traded John Jackson, who they never really found
a way to use last year. But the big thing
was adding DeVante Adams. It's a move I like. I
think I'm maybe a little colder on it than some
other people, But I still I still like this. I

(49:00):
like what they did. I'm gonna give this a beat.

Speaker 2 (49:03):
Yeah, I liked it a lot. I'm actually going a
let's one up it. I think that I like Cooper
Cup a lot. I still think there's more left in
the tank than people are giving him credit for. Even
though he did take a step back last season. Devontae
Adams is an upgrade right now. Man. I mean, I
think they got a better receiver at that position. They
have the best receiver due in the league, maybe not
going in next season. I really like that duo. You know,

(49:27):
I like Puna Ford who they bring. You know, who
they're bringing in from the Chargers. He had a good
season last year. And then you know they you know,
reinforced this offensive line, bringing in Coleman Shelton and obviously
bringing back with Leric Jackson. I like this group overall.
I think they did a really good job. This isn't
a This is a team building on some of its strengths.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
Yeah, I mean I get it. I listen, Adams was
really good last year. He is, you know, thirty two
years old, and you are paying a good amount of
money to him. He's a you know, very good player.
But that's just that's the concern I have.

Speaker 2 (50:02):
There's concern, but you know, two year deal, twenty six
million guaranteed, so you know, there's it. It's another one
that feels like, would you have rather given DeVante Adams
that contract or traded a fifth round pick for Deebo Samuel?

Speaker 1 (50:16):
I would have rather gone Davantanna. No, it's a good
I mean, and we're gonna be I you know, it's
a good it's a good. Uh, it's a good decision.
I'm just not like quite into slam dunk territory that
it seems like everyone else is.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
Yeah, I mean, I get it. There's definitely some risk,
but you know, playing across Pukinnakua in this in this offense,
I think, uh, I think, what's his face? Uh? Sean
McVay is gonna do a lot better for Devonte Adams
than Nathaniel Hackett from last season, that's my take.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Possibly, yeah, because and Adams still had over one thousand
yards last year, but he wasn't quite elite Davante Adams.
That we've seen, but still very good.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Yeah, I yeah, yeah, I mean it was it's still
very good. Like you said, what did you have two
hundred and fifty yards the last game of the season,
like he could still bring it obviously.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Yeah, yeah, no, uh, it's it. It's a it. We'll
see how it goes, but should be interesting. But yeah, Okay,
a couple of teams left to talk about. Let's go
to forty nine Ers. I've been going first on a
lot of these, so I don't let me. I'll kick
it off to you. What were you What was your
thoughts on a forty nine ers who have lost a
lot of players here?

Speaker 2 (51:18):
Yeah, uh so they they had to clear a lot
of this house. It feels like clear a lot of mishouse. Yeah,
clean house, that's what I meant. Okay, they cleaned house
a lot here, and uh yeah, I mean they're they're
signings were DeMarcus Robinson and.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
Mac Jones there one.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
Now that one feels like they're gonna start on this team.
This forty nine Ers seems still has a lot of talent.
Like I'm not going to take that away from them.
I'm not gonna act like this is a team that
all of a sudden is talent less. But it's an
F like this is a team that I think it
feels like took a substantial back step back this season.
You know, I think they got some serious holes in
their team. They dealt with a ton of injuries last year.

(51:59):
There's a lot of excuse this is why they didn't
make the playoffs. But it's gonna be even harder to
overcome all that stuff next year when they don't have
a Telenohufunga, when they don't have a dra green Law,
when they don't have a Deebo Samuel. They're obviously banking
on some internal development with guys like Ricky Pearsoll. Maybe
they're keeping Brandon Nayuk. I mean there is talk of
a trade with that as well, So we're gonna see

(52:20):
how that all plays out going in the next season.
But yeah, I think they got worse. It's an F
for me.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
Wow, Okay, uh yeah, I mean I'm not quite there
because you know, I will say they were found a
lot of those guys you mentioned for most of the
year last year, as well, right, because a lot of
the guys they're letting walk are and we kind of
criticized the FY nine ers for having these teams that
these guys who are so injury prone, Like, I'm sorry,
but well, I still like the dra Green Lass signing

(52:46):
for Denver. I'm not gonna hate on a team for
not resigning guy after they totter Achilles like that, just
like that's a scary thing. I understand not doing that.
I think you are correct though, where it's like, did
they have to lose all of these players? Like, Okay,
this was going to have to happen, did you have
to go all this way? So from a strictly like
where were you last year? Where are you this year?

(53:08):
You're correct with an F, But I think, like I'm
going to go with like a D plus. I don't
think this was a disaster in terms of the decision
they actually made. Yeah, I mean I get it, like
some of the decisions aren't bad on the surface, but
like I mean, if you pull up their lineup right now,
I'm on, pff, let's pull up their depth chart. So
their lineup right now, their defensive line, which, yeah, some

(53:29):
of those guys disappointed a little bit in Leonard Floyd
and Javon Hargrave.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
But they're starting next season with Nick Bosa obviously very good,
Drake Jackson at the other edge spot, Jordan Elliott who
was PFF's ninety seventh graded defensive tackle, and who is
this guy, Kevin Gibbons. Yeah, that's their defensive line for
next season right now, going into the remainder of the

(53:53):
off season. And it doesn't get much better beyond that too. Like,
I think that their corners are very weak without obviously
Ward two. It's okay, but it's not great. You know,
they're working weaker at the safety position like this is
until we see some change. I mean, like Fred Warner,
Nick Bosa terrific players, but they're asking a lot of
heavy lifting from those two guys. This could be a

(54:15):
bottom tier defense with two elite players at elite positions
in Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, it could be a bad,
bad defense.

Speaker 1 (54:24):
Yeah, no, I mean it's they're in a tough spot. Again,
I'm not I think we both agree on that part. Like, yeah,
I mean, they they had I think they kind of
went all in last year thinking like, hey, we just
nearly went I mean, they went to overtime in a
Super Bowl two years ago, so they said, let's let's
try and make sure we can kind of get that
going a lot of players got hurt in contract years
and they let most of those players go. Uh but

(54:46):
I still I kind of agree where it's like did
you have and and they kind of were in a
weird spot too, where it's like, okay, debos, like you
look at all the moves Deebo Samuel, like Okay, sure,
in hindsight, maybe keep him, but like he's choking out
your long snapper, like you kind of have to move on.
So it's just like the totality of the of what
happened is an issue. But from a move perspective, Hey

(55:08):
you got Pro Bowl MVP Mac Jones on the roster.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
Yeah, I mean, look I get it, like maybe you
needed to clean some house anyways, maybe you needed to
change some of these guys out, But it also means
you could probably bring in some replacements too, right, Like,
it just feels like that they could have done something else.
They got two backups, Like neither one of those guys
are starting for this team. Obviously Mac Jones isn't starting,
so like, you know, it just feels like that they

(55:36):
could have brought in somebody else, Like obviously the financial
situation is what it is they couldn't get anybody, but
you could have got some level of upgrade at some
of those spots, or even like replacement level players at
those spots. Like I just look at this defense. I
don't really see the pathway for this defense being good
next season unless they add like two or three guys
on the fringes that really change things.

Speaker 1 (55:56):
Yeah, and it is worth mentioning they could sign somebody's guys,
have to let all of them walk too. So I
get the I get the I totally get the critiques.
I just think, like I mean, offseason still has some
time left. I guess the one thing I would say,
but again I'm giving it a negative grade. Like I
agreed that this was not an ideal situation.

Speaker 2 (56:14):
Would you put it at as C minus or A D?

Speaker 1 (56:17):
I said D plus D plus okay, which sounds better
than C minus.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
Anyway. Yeah, would you say them are Arizona right now
just based off of what the rosters are right now?

Speaker 1 (56:31):
I don't know if I would take San Francisco over anybody,
or I don't know if I would take anybody over
San Francisco. I don't know what to make of this
like this team.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
Yeah, yeah, I guess I agree with that.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
I think, I mean, this offense.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
Is very good if everyone's healthy, but it's very much
if everyone's healthy.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
I think I probably lean Arizona right now, but I
think that the forty nine ers have a higher Super
Bowl odds.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
I think I agree with that too, Like if everything
goes right to make the play over, then for sure.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
Yeah, that's kind of kind of where I'm at. One
team left to talk about in the NFC before next
week we may do the AFC, And this is an
interesting thing to talk about. Kyle. The Seattle Seahawks, who
were very busy this off season. So first they trade
away Gino Smith, and we're all kind of like, oh, okay,
they're doing you know, they're doing an NBA thing. They're rebuilding,
trying to get a good draft pick. No, they then

(57:24):
re sign or not resigned. They sign Cooper Cup or
Sam Darnold. Excuse me, my mouth isn't working. But then
they did sign Cooper Cup later as well, after trading
DK Metcalf. So they've added some players, They've gained a
couple of picks. I guess the question is how much
did they actually move the needle here? Though? Cooper Cup,
you kind of brought it up earlier. I don't mind

(57:44):
that signing at all. But also I don't think he's
dk Metcalf at this point in his career, and he's
a lot older, so I don't really know what to
make of all of these moving parts. So right now,
I'm just sticking with a Seed.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
It's a seem minus for me. I agree with you, like,
we'll see, but it's gonna look a lot different. You know,
I have no idea what this often is gonna look like.
You know, I like Cooper Cup, but you know, he's
stepping into a much different situation. It feels like immediately
with a different quarterback, as a different in a different role.
They have two receivers now at their top two receiver spots.

(58:20):
I think we're better in the slot. So I'm gonna
be see. I'm gonna be interested to see how that
works too, with him and Jackson spit in Jigbo. You know,
obviously they add marclet As vald As Scantling. You know, Uh,
he had a very good year last year for the Saints, unexpectedly,
but you know, we'll see. Uh. You know, DeMarcus Lawrence
has had some good years maybe he could bring a
pass rush, you know, influence to this team. So there

(58:43):
are some things I like there, but overall, like I
don't know. I I get he was better last season.
I've accepted that he was very good last year. I
think they downgraded a quarterback even though they got younger.
And we'll see, you know, I don't think it's gonna
be as easy as a situation to deal with in
this room, with this team than it was last year,

(59:04):
when he had one of the better offensive play callers
in the league and just talent across the board to
throw to. And he's going to a much different situation.
I think he's gonna struggle. I mean, we'll see. I'm
if I I could be the last time Donald skeptic
on the on the planet, but I'm gonna be a
skeptical of it right now and we'll see how it
works out. So yeah, c minus.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
One thing I'm really concerned about with Donald is he
likes to hold onto the ball for a while, and
he kind of had time to do that up until
the you know, the last couple of games when they
or the playoff game. He lost both the tackles. For
most of the season, they had uh, you know, one
tackle hurt, but still I am concerned about you know,
right now, you know the two guards that they have
slated to start out of seventy seven eligible PFF guards

(59:50):
seventy seven eligible guards. According to PF grades, they rank
seventy second in seventy seven. So that's not ideal the
guard play right now if you don't have as you know,
it's not as he to get rid of get the
ball of your hands if you have to, you know,
get the ball to your hands quickly. Could we see
Jet Sam Donald re emerge. I hope not, but that
that is the concern. Uh So, yeah, I get the critics,

(01:00:11):
I get the I think you're you're fooling yourself. If
you say I know what Sam Donald is. If you
say I know Sam Donald's great, you're fooling yourself. If
you say I know Sam Donald's thanks, You're fooling yourself.
We just don't know. We don't have enough information yet.

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
Yeah, and it's gonna be interesting. You know, I have
been Smith and Jigba's biggest fan. You know, I've spoken
about him very highly on this podcast several times. But
it's not the same thing as thrown to him. As
it is justin Jefferson. Man, that's just gonna be a
lot different and having that safety valve. I think he's
very good. He's not that good though, uh So it's
gonna be a lot different. And yeah, I just think

(01:00:46):
that there's a lot of things he has to overcome,
a lot of adjustments he has to make. Where he
was in a pretty good situation, I thought for the
majority of last season until they had those injuries on
the offense of the line, as you alluded to, you know,
And yeah, I just think overall it's going to be
very interesting because you know, they didn't pay nothing of
these defensive players either. You know, it wasn't like terribly
expensive for DeMarcus Lawrence and Ernest Jones, but like, you know,

(01:01:10):
those are guys who didn't play very well last season,
were expensive or not expensive, but like at least getting
paid something. You know, it's not nothing against the salary cap.
So it's gonna be very interesting to see what the
Seahawks team looks like next season. I think it's a
slight step back, but you know, maybe there's potential for
a small step forward.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
The flip side is Geno smithis thirty five if he
you know, there's a chance and this is a massive,
massive upgrade as well.

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
Yeah, yeah, there is a very It definitely feels like
there is a chance for a higher ceiling in this situation.
But you know, there's still a lot of risk involved
with the whole thing. And you know, obviously trading DK Metcalf,
they felt like they did what they had to do there,
and yeah, so there's a lot of variables going in
the Seahawks. This feels like a very much a wildcard
team in that it's just unknown going into next season.

Speaker 1 (01:01:56):
Still, yeah, I would give them a wild card team,
but their strength of schedule unfortunately, isn't strong enough. Nice,
thank you, thank you. Proud of that one. All right, Kyle,
that is our show. Let him know where you can
find us on Twitter before we head out.

Speaker 2 (01:02:13):
Yeah, make sure to follow us on Twitter. That is
at Jackson Kruger. Make sure to follow me at by
Kyle gronin it. Make sure to follow the account page
at on the Sideline JK. That is that on the
Sideline JK.

Speaker 1 (01:02:22):
And of course, if you like audio only podcast anywhere
get your podcast, you can search on the Sideline podcast.
It should be available there. Kyle to lightning our back.

Speaker 2 (01:02:31):
Yeah, good for you.

Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
Yeah cool? Where if we went? We're only two points
behind the Panthers and we have a game in hand.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
Yeah. I stopped watching hockey this season. I'm doone.

Speaker 1 (01:02:43):
Hey, the Bruins are in seventh place. They can come back.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
It's team stinks, it's over. The run is over. I'm
not enjoying the season. I'm ready to it forward to end.
You enjoy the playoffs. I won't be watching.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
You're not going to root for Brad Marshan to win
and win another cup?

Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
No, I will not, No, I will not. I will
not be rooting for the Florida Panthers. You know, thank
you Marshawn. You're a legend. You're one of my favorite
hockey players of all time. I'm not gonna watch the
Florida Panthers any more than I have to.

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
Okay, okay, understood? Yeah, yeah, Kyle, good do once? Do
you want to talk about basketball to cheer yourself up?
Or would that make you more sad?

Speaker 2 (01:03:29):
I mean it's whatever. Like, I think it's a very
exciting season, you know. I think Cleveland and Oklahoma City
look very good and we're gonna see if they can
do it. In the playoffs. That's the most interesting thing
about the season is what's viewed as the best two
teams in the league right now are two teams that
haven't done it before, so they're gonna have to prove
it to us essentially.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
Well, that's the weird thing for me. I was looking
at this the other day and I'm like, wait, the
Cavaliers and the thunder are top, Like the Rockets are
second seed. Like that's you know, for someone who CAJU
watched basketball, but those were all surprises.

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
Yeah, everyone's counting the Rockets and Grizzlies, and I don't
think they're necessarily wrong. You know, Like if you watch
the Rockets, like they're good, hard defensive team, they're young,
they're athletic, and they close a lot of games with
fran van Vliet running the offense, and like that's just
not gonna The recipe for that working in the playoffs

(01:04:20):
is just very slim, you know. The chances of that
working is very slim, you know, especially when you're going
against teams with like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Lebron James,
Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, like Anthony Edwards even like
that's just a different caliber of opponents, So everyone's rightfully skeptical.
I kind of think the Lakers are the second best

(01:04:42):
team in the last but you know, we'll see, we'll see.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
Yeah, Magic have been disappointed.

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
Brutal season. I mean, they spend money on Contavious Cobble
Pope to try and fix the offense with shooting, and
I mean he's been horrible. I mean he's been one
of the worst players on like on a per million
dollar basis, per dollar basis, I guess he's been just dreadful.
The guy they replaced him with in Denver's having a
breakout season two. He's been much better than him, honestly.

(01:05:12):
And then that's to mention all the injuries. You know,
they their three best players are, you know, Pala Bankaro,
Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs, and they've all missed extended
stretches with now Jalen Sugs out for the year. So
brutal season. Just got to kind of shake it off
and hope you bounce back. They definitely need some offensive
juice though. They should go get They need to go
get somebody, even if it's like a Trey Young, somebody,
they gotta get somebody.

Speaker 1 (01:05:33):
Yeah, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll see. But yeah, Kyle, uh,
I mean pop thoughts already, get out of here.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
Let's get out of here. I feel like I'm good.

Speaker 1 (01:05:42):
So yeah, okay, Yeah, we talked. We talked about it all.
We got all the NFC. We talked about Brad Marshaan
and how you're rooting for him in the Panthers to
win a cop. We covered everything.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
No, no, don't don't guess like me.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Okay, I will not gass like you again. Thank you
everybody for watching or listening, and we won't gass like
you podcast listeners either, we promise. Thank you again. We
do appreciate it, and until next time, have a good one. Peace,