Free Agency... How's it going?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome in. This is the Sideline Shuffles. Today. We're gonna
talk a little bit about free agency, some teams that
I like so far, some teams that I have some
questions for, and of course, because i'm repping the Lions
twenty four to seven, we'll take a little bit of
a look at the Detroit Lions and what they have
pulled off to this point as well to what I

(00:36):
describe as just the first phase of free agency. Right,
I've got five phases in my free agency. You've got
when free agency opens in March through the draft. Right,
we're in the slow part of that phase right now,
the big signings are done. Maybe you're filling out your
roster a little bit, signing a couple of your own guys,
But for the most part, we're not gonna hear anything

(00:58):
big in the free agent field until after the draft.
Now at the end of November, at the end of April,
excuse me, and then we'll hit the second phase of
free agency, that post draft phase of free agency. Maybe
we're looking for a couple veterans, maybe we're just looking
to fill out that ninety man roster. Right then we

(01:19):
go into that third phase of free agency, that's that
post cut right camps closed, teams are cutting guys. You're
trying to pick up maybe a guy or two from
another team's roster, fill in the back end of your roster. Right.
Then you've got the fourth phase of free agency. Fourth
phase of free agencies during the season, right before the

(01:40):
trade deadline. Here's a couple guys you pick up here
and there. Maybe you've got some injuries, a couple early
things happen, you've got to readjust and then the fifth
phase of free agency. That's that post trade deadline. Okay,
now we've had too many injuries. We're picking up some
guys that have been sitting on the streets. We're trying

(02:00):
to stay competitive and fill out the roster. Maybe we're
you know, a guy away from where a playoff team
had an injury, had to pick up a guy, right,
So those little little last little bits of signing guys
at the very end of the season, those are the
five phases as I see it. Right now, there's I

(02:23):
don't know about five teams that I kind of like
what they're doing. There's about five teams, maybe six teams
where I'm like, okay, okay, I'm trying I'm trying to understand.
I'm trying to get behind it. You know, you're trying
to build some things, but maybe I don't understand the

(02:45):
philosophy or the guys you chose to be a part
of that. So in the conversation, we'll look at, you know,
maybe where the salary cap numbers are, We'll look at
who the teams have signed so far, and I'll kind
of give my thoughts. So you know, what if they
got better in my opinion? And who am I. I'm

(03:07):
a podcast. I'm a guy sitting at home. I'm like
everybody else. I'm not a GM. I'm not sitting in
these rooms. I'm not the financial person sitting in on
these conversations with all these different teams. Right, So the
teams that I'm going to talk about that I like
so far and what they're doing Buffalo, Baltimore, Denver, Washington,

(03:32):
and Minnesota. Again, I'm not including Detroit and the teams
I like so far or the teams that I have
questions for. They're just gonna be a side conversation. So again,
the teams I like so far, Buffalo, Baltimore, Denver, Washington,
and Minnesota. So looking at what those teams did. We'll
just start with Buffalo. We'll go through it. We got

(03:54):
three AFC teams, we got two NFC teams. I mean
Uffalo signed a large handful of guys, right. I like
what they did with Josh Allen. That is the contract
well deserved and for the twenty five, twenty six year
old guy. Look, can you can life be much better
for that young man right now? He's playing high NFL football,

(04:18):
one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He just
got paid. He's real close to breaking into that Super
Bowl conversation. Not to mention the man just got engaged
to Haley Stanford like, go ahead, you got that Marvel
money now in the family too. I like them paying

(04:41):
Khalil Shakure. I think the addition of Joey Bosa was
a good one. He's gonna give you more off the
edge than von Miller was able to. You re signed
some of your own and Greg Roussou. You bring in
Larry Ogan Ogan, Jobi right, he signs the one year,
eight million dollar contract. You bring back Tamar Hamlin, You

(05:08):
got Josh Palmer in. I like what they've done on
the running back room with Drayton Evans and Ty Johnson.
It's just solid, and it's more so solid because you've
locked up the quarterback, the linebacker Terrell Bernard comes in.
It's just they didn't reach right. They didn't go out

(05:31):
and spend money on guys they didn't need to, and
they didn't have a lot of money to begin with.
I mean, if I look at their salary cap, they're
sitting at about two point two million right now that
is left to spend. And this is based on overthecap
dot COM's numbers. A little over two million left in

(05:53):
the in the in the bank right now. You still
gotta sign your draft class three guys at the edge,
so you're gonna have that rotation. I mean, some of
these could be camp bodies, Kendrick Green, Michael Hoaked. But
I like what they've done. I like where they're headed.

(06:16):
I like what this as far as team needs. Look,
we all thought last year that wide receiving core was
gonna be a problem. They proved to us otherwise. We
know they've got the starting running back. Now they've got
some guys that they can put in their rotation. Right
this is a team that's a passing league. You bring
in the edges, you bring in ogun Joe By in

(06:38):
the defensive tackle group. You sign some one year deals
that gives you flexibility in what you're doing Baltimore. Baltimore
is a team that early on they weren't spending money.
Everybody's like, oh, Baltimore's not doing anything, and they really didn't. Okay,
Cooper Rush as your backup quarterback, DeAndre Hopkins, that veteran

(07:01):
first down catcher, maybe a quarterback fifty to fifty guy
in the red zone, end zone type guy. He's gonna
help that wide receiver room just being a veteran presence.
Tylan Wallace. You bring in a re signed Patrick yccart,
your three hundred and fifty pounds full back, you re

(07:23):
signed your offensive lineman. You keep Ronnie Staley in town.
That's huge. You're only a couple pieces away. Now we'll see.
I think they're gonna go heavy in a draft on defense.
But again, here's a team. They didn't need to go
out and spend a bunch of money. They didn't need
to go crazy trying to trace any chase anything. They've

(07:44):
only got about eleven point two left on the cap.
So shrewd moves these top teams that are good year
in and year out. You look at what Denver's done.
They took a leap last year right this team started

(08:05):
gaining confidence, started playing together. I wouldn't have brought Jared's
to him back as my backup personally, but I get it.
You bring in an Evan Ingram. Now you've got that
pass catching tight end that you can put in Sean
Payton's system. Right, You've got some guys that can block
at the position, so great. Now you've got the pass
catching guy who's gonna help your other receivers because he's

(08:26):
gonna open up the field because now you can't play
the same defenses. Now you're pulling a safety, you're pulling
a nickel, or you're pulling a linebacker out of the box.
You're presenting a target across the middle of the field.
For a young quarterback. You bring in a Matt Perk
and re sign him resigned DJ Jones. You bring in

(08:47):
a Dray green Law, who, if healthy, is one of
the best linebackers in the league, if he stays healthy,
if he comes off his achilles, which we saw him
get a couple of plays last year for San Francisco
coming off, and then they kind of shut him down
for the year. I think he had some tenderness in
the knee. But if Dre Greenlaw is healthy, man resign

(09:10):
stand bring in a Funga, a safety who just wants
to hit, who just wants to be in the box,
who plays like a linebacker, physical, tough, solid tackler, new punter.
Resign your long snapper. But you're getting pieces now that

(09:33):
fit in to the systems that are there. Denver is
an aggressive defense. You bring in Dray Greenlaw and Telenoah Haufunga.
You're going aggressive. You're staying aggressive. You're gonna be physical.
You're letting people know we are coming to punch you

(09:53):
in the mouth. And if we stay healthy, you damn
will better look out for us. That's what the Denver
Broncos are projecting right now. Look out for us. You
know our coach, you saw what our young quarterback did
last year. We've given them a few more pieces now.
I think they need to solidify the offensive line a
little bit more. I think they need to do something

(10:16):
in that running back room. That's dramatic. But I'm liking
what Denver's doing right now. You jump over to the
NFC side of things, Washington, here's a team that made
a big lead, a team that's got the Super Bowl

(10:38):
champions in their division, a team that's exciting, a team
that other players now want to be a part of.
We saw this with Detroit, and Washington has signed like
damn near everybody on the free agent market. Between their
guys and guys that have come in, they've signed what
just notably two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen,

(11:00):
twenty twenty two to twenty four. Twenty six players have
either signed or been traded to Washington since free agency.
Starting resigned Marcus Meureau to great, great, great great, Resigned
Jeremy Nichols, re signed Noel Brown, bring in Michael Gallup
who sat out last year. Resigned kJ Osborne. Trade for

(11:24):
Deebo Samuel Weapon to add to that offense. Resigned Zach Ertz,
resigned John Bates. Right, you trade for Jeremy Tunzel, who's
gonna come in and if he's not leading the league
in penalties, he's gonna be a solid left tackle. Nate
Herberg signs resigned Kellen Farrell, Eddie Goldman signs. Get you

(11:51):
some defensive tackle depth. Sheldon Day comes in, Javon Kinlaw
comes in just a rotation of guys. Bobby Wagner comes back,
Nick Bellore, Will Harris signs up, more of a Nickel
type safety corner guy, but impressive these This is a

(12:14):
group of guys that want to be there, that fit
that culture, that are going to do their thing in
that system like what they're doing. And in Minnesota, I
hate calling out Minnesota as being another NFC North team
as a rival to my Lions. But Aaron Jones resigns.

(12:35):
You bring in Jordan Mason to be a backup or
another running back in that system. You get a Rondelle Moore,
different set. You bring in a Ryan Kelly, He's still
got something left. You added Jonathan Allen on the defensive end,
taking him from Washington right. Another guard, and Will Freeze
joins up. Javon Hargrave joins up from San Francisco. Byron

(12:57):
Murphy re signs. That was huge. Jeff Akuda can be
a rotational player. Isaiah Rogers, theo Jackson Harrison Smith stays
on as a veteran as a coach. On the field,
your punter re signs, they had, look, we're hitting the trenches.

(13:17):
We know what the other teams in our division possessed.
We know who the Packers are. We know what the
Lions did last year. We know what Chicago's trying to do.
We were fifteen and two last year as well. Now
we'll see what they do at quarterback. Hopefully they don't
go with and Aaron Rodgers. They give it to JJ
McCarthy and figure it out because the team's talented enough
to let it ride. Now, teams that I've got questions with,

(13:42):
can we start with the Miami Dolphins? Can we start
with the Miami Dolphins. I don't know what they're doing.
I don't understand it. It's not like they were this
team who just could pick and choose who they needed
to add and who to let go. They weren't this
top team that was just injuries or a couple of

(14:02):
players away. Zach Wilson's your backup quarterback. Now, don't get
that move, Alexander Mattison. Don't get that move. You let
guys go that were better than Alexander Madison. You didn't
get better with your wide receiver pickups and dwaynees Gridge
and Nick Westbrook, Faraoh Brown comes in his tight end.

(14:28):
You resign some of your guys, which is good because
you're clearly not a place a lot of players want
to go. Detroit loses Melifano. They have him listed as
a corner for Miami. He's a safety. So I don't
see how these moves, these this collection of moves made

(14:51):
Miami better in any way. kJ Britt comes in, Tyrrell
Dotson resigned, Ardi Burns comes in, But how are they
better than they were last year with some of these moves?
I don't see it. And this is a team that

(15:12):
in Miami went freezency started. Sure, they didn't have a
lot of money. Right they're sitting at like fifteen million
or something like that currently, Miami's sitting at Actually they
probably had more I guess when they started, because they're
sitting at about seventeen point nine right now. Then you

(15:32):
look at teams like New England and Chicago. New England
started with like one hundred and one million dollars to spend,
Chicago had like, I don't know, twenty million dollars to
spend or something, and right now the Bears are at
like sixteen million. They still have to spend, so they've
done pretty good. The Patriots are sitting at like eighty
as far as their cap space. But then you look

(15:52):
at who these teams brought in New England. Okay, big spenders.
Woo spent a lot of money. Joshua Do he's trying
to play for everybody. Matt Collins. He comes over from Buffalo. No,
he wasn't in Buffalo. Where'd he played last year? I

(16:15):
do not remember where he played? Bring him over? Okay,
he's a solid like three or four receiver. Austin Hooper resigns. Okay,
Morgan Moses three years, twenty four dollars million for Morgan
Moses guy at the end of his career. Wes Sweitzer,

(16:35):
Garrett Bradbury coming over from Minnesota. Klevon Chase on one year,
five million dollar Dear, let's see if you can prove yourself.
Harold Landry. I loved you when we were in Tennessee together. Bud,
come play for me again. I'll give you three years,
forty three and a half million dollars even though you

(16:57):
haven't done much. Milton Williams big monster contract. Is he
going to live up to those numbers? Outside of Philadelphia?
He was the top free agent on the market, right,
gave him huge money, But you have to wonder was
part of his production being part of that defensive front.

(17:20):
Now that he's the guy on that defensive front in
New England and I can schematically try to take you
out with two or three guys. Are you going to
live up to those big numbers? Carlton Davis, look, another
Detroit guy broke his jaw. He fit the culture great.
But three years, sixty million dollars for Carlton Davis, who's

(17:43):
really best in man? I guess we'll see Roberts plane like,
you go sign these monster contracts one hundred million dollars,
sixty million dollars, forty three million dollars. But are you
gonna get the returns? I don't know. I don't see

(18:08):
it for New England. I think they needed to spend
money in other ways. I hope it works out for him.
I like Milton Williams. I like Carlton Davis. I like
a robertspilet. Morgan Moses is a little long. I like
Mac Collins right, Garrett Bradbury was a good player. Chase
On had a lot of hype coming out. Landry had
a lot of hype coming out. But are they the

(18:30):
guys you need? Is Marcus EPs the guy you need
at a safety position for New England. I don't know.
I don't see it, and I jumped to Chicago. And
I'm not just bagging on Chicago because Chicago's in the
NFC North. I picked Minnesota as one of the teams
who's free agencies. So far I really like. But Jonah

(18:52):
Jackson acquired in a trade. He's been hurt more so
recently than he's played. He's a good player, but the
legs are stuff and the fall off of alignment. He's
starting to have a lot of leg injuries as alignment.
That's like when you're running back starts to have a
lot of leg injuries, it doesn't work. Joe Thuney, he's
a solid offensive lineman, but he's been injured in recent years.

(19:16):
So you're gonna get what he was, or you're gonna
get what he is. Drew Dollman, same kind of thing.
Grady Jarrett. Now you have a thirty one year old
defensive lineman. How many years does he have left? We're
gonna see. He sounds motivated. He got paid dishing out

(19:37):
a lot of money in Chicago. Trying to build out
the trench is great. That's my style too. Let's build
out the trenches. But are you picking the right guys
or are you chicagoing it up? Again? Is there GM
gonna find his way out the door, because now you've
got the young, exciting quarterback, You've got the young exciting

(19:59):
head coach, offensive coordinator, we've got all this talent at
the skill positions. We've deemed it. Our offensive line was
not good enough, couldn't protect the quarterback. We need better
play calling to get these weapons involved. So we'll see.
But I'm not really sure that those are the moves

(20:19):
for Chicago. Other teams, I have to question the Giants,
the Panthers and the forty nine ers. You look at
what the Giants did. This is a team that has
a lot of needs. Right, Well, okay, we go out
and get Tommy DeVito, we get Jameis Winston. Okay, that's
the best thing. You have Little Jordan Humphrey, he can

(20:42):
play a little bit. But then what, right, Like you
look at the list of players that they brought in.
Are again the argument is there? Are they better? Like
I said, for New England, are they better than they were?
It's almost like they went, let's spend some money to

(21:05):
show our fans that we're trying to get better, but
we're really just gonna push and have the same kind
of players because we're not a destination. We're not a
place people want to come and play. Right now, everybody
saw Saquon leave and how great he was somewhere else.
Everybody's looking at our team and going, hey, our head

(21:25):
coach might not make it through the year if we're
not better. And where did they get better? Forsyth, James Hudson,
Where Chauncey Golston, Jeremiah led better. We're Robinson Harris, like,

(21:46):
where did they get better? And I'm not knocking these guys.
These guys were good enough to be in the NFL
to make millions of dollars playing football, But it's about
the collective. It's about the pieces that they were missing.
Where are they building their offense and defense lines. Yes,
they signed offense and defensive linemen, but you signed secondary, backup,

(22:10):
rotational guys probably to be in positions of being your starters.
How well did that work out for Detroit when they
didn't have anybody left come playoffs and he didn't have
their starter quality players. You had NFL quality players, but
not their starter quality players in there against a team
with their starters. It doesn't work. So I questioned, what

(22:31):
you know, where's the aggressiveness from a team that needed,
in my opinion, be aggressive. Carolina in the NFC South,
this is a tight division. Did you not think that
if you couldn't make a few good moves, you could
have easily positioned yourself to be right in a mix.
And you go out and give J. C. Horn one

(22:51):
hundred million dollar contract. This guy's been injured, an average
slightly above average at times, but you made him highest
paid corner for a week or two. Sam Martin, Okay,
there's a good pickup at punter. He's solid, But then
you're throwing money around to Bobby Brown, a third Churshaun Wharton,

(23:15):
Patrick Jones, resigned, some of your own guys resigned. Andy Dalton, Okay,
he's gonna be a solid backup for you guys, but
you could have made some moves. You have a young
head coach, you have a quarterback who seems to be

(23:36):
clicking with the head coach. Now right, You had some
a little bit of excitement building at the end of
last season where you guys were competitive and you know,
fighting in games, and then you turn out nothing so
far through the first wave of free agency, and then
the forty nine ers. I'm sorry, I don't know. The
forty nine ers must just think they're untouchable because the

(24:00):
forty nine ers let a lot of talent go. They
re signed you stick after letting him kind of test
the market. Great, you needed him back, for sure, but
you lost a lot of talent. DeMarcus Robinson coming in
does not replace Debo mac Jones coming in. I know,

(24:21):
Kyle Shanahan's kind of been this quarterback whisperer. Maybe he
could make mac Jones something, But you got Party out there.
Are you signing Party or are you not gonna give
him the money because you're gonna try and prove you
can do it with mac Jones. I saw today there's
rumors of Party now being on the trade block, which
I think is ridiculous and unfounded. Honestly, with the talent

(24:43):
you let go. Luke Gifford's gonna replace Drake Greenlaw, Richie
Grant's gonna replace Defung halfunga Pinnock. Like to me, it
feels like the forty nine ers are in this limbo
spot where their windows closing very much. They didn't have

(25:05):
the money to spend. I mean, they had around forty
million dollars right now where they sitting currently about forty
million dollars? Like, what were they waiting for? Is there
something we don't know? Is they're a player that might
be cut that they've got their eyes on. Is they're
a trade they're trying to work on. Are they in

(25:27):
it on Trey Hendrickson? Like are they looking towards next
year and some of the other contracts or rookie deals
they're gonna have to be signing like Detroit. I don't know,
but for a team that's been so good in recent
years to look like they're just being pieced apart and
just filled with, you know, putty, at this point, I'm

(25:50):
left with questions on the San Francisco forty nine ers.
And that brings me to Detroit, who had about fifty
million dollars when this all started, when free agency round
one started. In a division with Chicago who's gunning for him,
With Green Bay who's gunning for him, With Minnesota who

(26:10):
was right there with them and gunning for them. Trait
goes out and they kind of do Detroit things. They're
not panicking, they're not reaching. Did they get the edge
everybody wanted. No, did they go after an edge that
I thought they should get. No? Are they in it
on Trey Hendrickson? Who knows? But you're bringing Kyle Allen, Okay,

(26:31):
he's gonna be the backup. I like bringing Tim Patrick back.
You sign a new tight end, Kenny Yoboa. We'll see
what he can add to the mix. I like bringing
back Dan Skipper. I did not want to see him
and end up in Chicago. Mohammed played some good rotational

(26:53):
snaps for us. Let's see if he can take another step.
Pad O'Connor. The signing a patt O'Connor has me questioning
some of the injuries that are still out there and
whether or not guys are going to be coming back.
But padd O'Connor put in the work. He earned himself
another contract. Marcus Davinbort, here's your one year, proven deal.

(27:15):
Stay healthy, come out ball, get yourself six seven sacks.
We'll talk a longer deal after that. Roy Lopez, I
like that signing. Is he gonna be a big, splashy
number guy. No, but he's gonna be good in the middle. LEVI, look,
the back's there. We know it's been an issue. You
had a solid year, you stay healthy, You're gonna be
good for us. I like bringing Derek Barnes back, did

(27:37):
not want to see him end up with the Jets. Right,
Grant Steward, Okay, we'll bring you in. You're primarily gonna
be the Reeves Maven role. Right, You're gonna be there
on the punt team. You're gonna be there on special
teams when you get you some snaps on the defensive
side of the ball. Khalil Dorsey earned a spot on
this roster. Avante Maddox coming over from Philadelphia, coming hometown guy.

(28:03):
Great hometown guys love playing for the hometown team. They
love playing in front of their family more often. So
we'll see what Avonte Maddox is able to do. Look,
the biggest thing he does is force fumbles. He will
tackle at five to nine, He's gonna put himself in
there and he's gonna tackle DJ Reid. Nice signing. Nice signing.
Is it kind of a push from Carlton Davis skill wise?

(28:25):
Maybe maybe it's not a huge upgrade, but a nice signing.
And then rock y'all sin. Okay, we're figuring out who's
gonna be in that that group this year. That's what
that tells me. Right, Rayconshaw, rookie from last year, Hopefully
you put into work because they are bringing in guys
to directly compete with you for your spot on the roster.

(28:50):
Terry and Arnold, he's gonna be on the roster, will Rayconshaw, Well,
they brought in a lot of guys that are gonna
be competing with you. You spent a lot of time injury.
You did not spend a lot of time on the field.
So where a min Detroit? Do I have questions? Maybe
a couple do. I think they're one of my favorite
off seasons so far. No, but again, this is a

(29:13):
fifteen and two team that a ton of injuries, and
just by resigning their own and getting players back, are
going to be still in the mix even with the
coordinators out of there. So those are my questions, those
are my thoughts. We all have them. Thanks for listening.
I'll talk to you soon. This is the sideline shuffle.