Free Agency Grades For Every AFC Team

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we never sold all of our justin field stock. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm here in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio. We've got our red pens out because we're going back to school today.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: We're giving grades for free agency.

00:00:22
Speaker 3: It's really back to school because I don't have my pen.

00:00:25
Speaker 1: I need to go back to school because I haven't even introduced my co host Patrick Claibohn and Jordan rod Rieger with me.

00:00:31
Speaker 2: Hello, we're back.

00:00:32
Speaker 3: We're back, thankfully because Greg, we have the cleanest bathrooms in the world in this facility. Yes, because of the repetition. And Greg was walking back from another way and saw me. Yeah, because I you know, I'm a creature of habit. I'm thinking we're at a different time. Greg's like, hey, you know we're doing this right now. That's why I'm here, Yes, right now. That's why you don't have your pen. It's gonna be loose. Though I don't want to get carried. The grades are not that important. It's more of Okay, we had the big week of free agency. I almost feel like this may be just personal, but for this almost feels like just a quiet little start of the off season. To me, the regular season is definitely winding down. It actually feels a bit like of a sprint from the season to the combine to now, and so I thought, this is a good time just take stock of what each team has done and do what Jordan Rodrigue loves to do, which is, you know, evaluate things and put a number on them and rank them.

00:01:26
Speaker 2: They're not really ranked, but.

00:01:27
Speaker 4: Greates famously definitely don't clinch up at the thought of ranking.

00:01:32
Speaker 1: I mean, don't take the grades too seriously. It'll be similar to when we go around to each team. We were gonna hit every AFC team on the show. We're gonna hit the NFC a little later in the week. It's been a few minutes on each team, and let's start with Justin Fields and the Chiefs.

00:01:49
Speaker 2: Let's start in the AFC West in general.

00:01:53
Speaker 1: We talked about Kyler Murray potentially being that guy who filled the gap for Patrick Mahomes while he's coming back, and we don't know there's a chance Patrick Mahomes is ready for Week one. We really have no idea. But if not, Justin Fields is going to be there. They sent a twenty twenty seven sixth round pick to get fields.

00:02:13
Speaker 2: I love that for him, I love that for them.

00:02:15
Speaker 1: What we're going to do, though, is with each team, I'm gonna present to you the offseason so far before we start the entire discussion.

00:02:22
Speaker 2: So that was the last thing that the Chiefs did.

00:02:26
Speaker 1: But they also signed Kenneth Walker of course, twenty nine million dollars guaranteed on a three year deal.

00:02:30
Speaker 2: They bring back Travis Kelcey. That was fun. Kiris Tanga is a member of the Chiefs.

00:02:36
Speaker 1: The defensive tackle hasn't played a lot of snaps, but he is now going to be in their line fourteen million dollars guaranteed. In the back end, they signed Cater Kohu they who was a good nickelback for the Dolphins. They signed Aloe Gillman, who kind of revived his career with the Ravens fifteen million dollars guaranteed. They give a lot of money to Taekwon Thornton to come back kind of as a third or fourth receiver two years, eleven million dollars, and then they lost so much of the secondary. Trent mcduffee, you get a huge draft haul for him.

00:03:04
Speaker 3: Love that.

00:03:06
Speaker 2: Jalen Watson, Brian Cook. They're gone.

00:03:09
Speaker 1: They also lost some lesser players, at least in terms of impact, Isaiah Pacheco, Charles Amena, Who, Gardner Minshew. There's still a ton of their players that are unsigned that played for them, which is not a great sign. Hollywood Brown, Juwan Taylor, Kareem Hunt, Juju Smith, Schuster. They have about fifteen million dollars in cap space that was before the Field's move. It's a lot, I'm throwing at you. You're laughing. Why because people don't want their free agent?

00:03:33
Speaker 3: Yes, I would like a pen because Greg said Gardner Minshew and it made me, Yeah, that he congratulates to Gardner Minshew, not just for the contract, but that you get included in this considering it.

00:03:42
Speaker 2: Was very important.

00:03:43
Speaker 1: There are some people that just don't get included in these rundowns, and that is a slight.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: But they won't, you know, they won't have their names said.

00:03:50
Speaker 1: Let's start with the fields of it all before getting to the kind of the whole picture. This to me, actually kind of continues the trend of this offseason. Like they were in a very difficult spot and they've lost some really good players, so it's hard to say they're better, But considering their constraints. Overall, I feel like they're off season as a whole makes sense to me considering the constraints and fields is a good part of that.

00:04:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, because you're able to get the value there and understand the constraints are part of it. And it's tough for people to listen to what like a grade that I would give because that's not considering the constraints. It's just like, I am the circumstance.

00:04:31
Speaker 2: Whatever you want to do.

00:04:32
Speaker 3: Look, yeah, I would like to not be relative to those alleged constraints because we've seen teams be able to navigate them. This is a significant departure where it's like, all right, it's bags here you go, like we're gonna get a new crop of these guys that it's gonna work. You can't do that forever, and like there's a reason that Lesson Company were able to provide those and willing to provide those contracts to McDuffie and Watson that we I feel better about Cook's addition to the Cincinnati Bengals, Like we feel good about those things. I can't also feel great about the Chiefs just starting over back there justin fields is solid because I know, the overall critique, which is what I have as well, is Field's hitting the top of his drop and the ball not necessarily coming out. But I don't know if people have been watching fifteen play football the past few years, Mahomes occasionally does that as well, and so the ability to play that second reaction I think is good. And this is a great spot for Justin in a similar way that I felt it would have been good for Kyler.

00:05:27
Speaker 4: It's going to be a little bit of a patchwork offense at first because Justin fields just for all the ways that he could absolutely be a value add here. Especially you know, this was a Chiefs team that was also relying completely on Patrick Mahomes to buoy their run game through most of last season, especially the start of last season. This could be something that like sort of is a band aid to them. But it also you're talking about changing your scheme quite a bit around a player who's your backup now in case that backup has to go, and it's been done before, you know, Matt le Floor and between Jordan Love and Malik Willis has done it. I have no doubt Andy Reid could do it. They needed a backup and justin fields is about as solid of value ad as you could possibly get. And and to your other point about the secondary, they clear they this organization basically follows the same pattern year over year over year, and they basically have just set themselves up to say we're just we're just drafting all of our guys in the secondary and go make them good. Spags, like they'll probably be very good coming in. They'll probably spend premium picks on those players, but like, hey, Spags, you figure out how to put all this together, and then the veterans that they added there at least set a certain floor for them.

00:06:43
Speaker 1: In terms of the talent, Yeah, they need cornerbacks like they're county on Christian Fulton to start and play the whole season right now. I think they're gonna have to draft there. I did think if they spent a like, considering they don't have a ton of cap space, Tonga and Gilman, you know, they paid free agency prices for those players. But I think I think they're gonna they're gonna play for them. And in terms of you know, different offense, I mean, show me what you got, Andy Reid. I think Eric b enemy Andy Reid the way things went last year. I want to see a little new, a bit of a new offense in general, So I wouldn't be surprised if if they just look different.

00:07:18
Speaker 3: Matt and Maggie kind of kind of dodging some yes, criticism on.

00:07:21
Speaker 1: That well, him not being mentioned, he should take as a slight. I take their constraints as a real thing because I wanted to see They strike me a little bit as kind of an old school team.

00:07:33
Speaker 2: Are they?

00:07:33
Speaker 1: Are they a team that's not willing to spend as much like because they don't have that like influx of you know, money, and they're trying to move and all this stuff. But they're pretty high in cash spending in each of the last two seasons, including this season. And so I'm taking the constraints as a real thing, and I'll I'll give them a B minus. Min you gotta give a grade.

00:07:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was gonna say be minus.

00:07:54
Speaker 4: Okay, I gave him a B plus because they did recoup a lot of draft capital for for trading guys who also could have extended.

00:08:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fair. Maybe I'll maybe I'll bump it up to a be. I'm very easily influenced.

00:08:05
Speaker 3: Can we get a number on a B.

00:08:08
Speaker 2: No, you just gon't to say the letter. That's too confusing. Do you want to give a number?

00:08:11
Speaker 3: How's it too confusing?

00:08:13
Speaker 2: It's a number, okay, eighty one?

00:08:16
Speaker 1: Well I just moved it up to eighty three now because eighty yeah, eighty this is great. I love just just throw numbers up. The Broncos throut, it's all this thing. The Broncos are going to be the quickest team. I think we talk about it.

00:08:31
Speaker 5: Well said, it's all just things. Don't forget that one.

00:08:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's true.

00:08:35
Speaker 2: I do try to.

00:08:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell my son to stop using the word thing as a as a descriptor.

00:08:39
Speaker 2: And there I am doing it.

00:08:42
Speaker 1: Broncos the only team not to sign an outside free agent in the entire NFL. I think this is going to be the quickest discussion of any of the teams. That's a challenge. They did re sign a handful of players, Justin Strenaud, who was in my top sixty, Alex Singleton. They both got ten eleven million dollars guaranteed.

00:08:59
Speaker 2: JK.

00:08:59
Speaker 1: Dobbin is back. He got eight million dollars guaranteed. But there was reports that they got outbid on Travis etn and Romeo Dobbs at receiver. I think they wanted to spend more money. Adam Trautman also got a surprisingly large money which is you know, that's what happens with Sean Payton, guy's capital sp and g there they cut dra Greenlaw, they say goodbye to John Franklin Myers. That wasn't a surprise. They did create a little bit of cap space. They are near the top in cash spending and I think that does inform a little bit of the lack of movement. But I think they wanted to do a little more and I don't think they're done yet.

00:09:40
Speaker 4: If I had to guess, no, I agree that there, I don't think they are. It's interesting. I did a large story for The Athletic. It looked at all the team's moves and free agency, at what it says about their team building strategy. And the Broncos were such an interesting one to talk to other teams about, sort of behind the scenes, because there's such a variance of opinions about what they are versus what they think they are. To me, I think that they're pretty clearly calling their shot that they think they can win with the guys that they have that they think they were just a quarterback away. I think in some ways you could argue that case best offensive line in football, one of the best defenses in football. Keep those guys intact. Try to go all in to see probably add either in the draft, star power, firepower at skills and maybe running back, or trade ahead of the deadline. Try to go all in. Win now while your quarterback is still in a manageable contract, while you can keep this entire team intact. We'll see if it works out for them, though, because it's a they're flying close to the sun, not going, not going a little harder in free.

00:10:46
Speaker 1: Agentcy always be wary of the team that's just running back. That said, I do think there's just some circumstantial yeah, yeah, coincidence here that they did all their free agency moves essentially last year. That's why they're so high in cash spending. That they got a year ahead, which we always reward them. And if you look at it, they're basically returning all their starters on both sides of the ball. That's just a unique situation and I don't again think they're done. I wouldn't be surprised if they make a trade or some splashy stuff coming up.

00:11:12
Speaker 3: And and I realized there's two players who will be starting in the places they went to. But how different would the circumstances be because Dobbs has like a potential out for the Patriots in twenty twenty eight, that there's going to probably be a little more action his way in terms of opportunity to catch the ball and a chan you know who, you know, shout out to Travis for telling us how to pronounce his name, you know, five years into this.

00:11:34
Speaker 2: But you know, playing at home, I forgot introduced a.

00:11:38
Speaker 3: Louisiana kid being able to go back home probably had a little bit involved in being in Mickey being able to outbid Sean And maybe that's just Mickey trying to.

00:11:48
Speaker 2: Jab the old That's what I'm going to go with.

00:11:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, and and again I think also being at home makes it a little bit easier for the Louisiana guy to inform people who have great time to the state of Louisiana, as Greg Rosenthal does.

00:12:02
Speaker 4: But he still didn't get the intro right, Wow, big spot.

00:12:06
Speaker 3: There's a lot on his shoulders. It's it's heavy, like this team being on his back at all the time, I'll give them.

00:12:14
Speaker 2: I'll give them.

00:12:16
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna like fail him or anything because they were inactive, but I feel like they would have liked it done a little more.

00:12:21
Speaker 2: So I'll just give him a C.

00:12:22
Speaker 1: I'm a pretty easy grader ccus, I'm gonna give him a seventy three.

00:12:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, the circumstances, I have to. I have to go below that, A seventy se C plus.

00:12:35
Speaker 4: Because I like their team, plus because I like their team and they do too.

00:12:39
Speaker 2: Clearly, the Raiders their next.

00:12:44
Speaker 1: At first they made the mistake putting LAC ahead of LV, but LOS alphabetically ahead of U Los. I don't know Linderbaum is there. We've talked a lot about him. Sixty million dollars guaranteed. Broke the center market. Yler Linderbaum, big move for them. Nikobe Dean and Kway Walker are at linebacker. They get very similar contracts. Quay Walker gets twenty eight million dollars guaranteed. Nikobe Dean gets twenty million dollars guaranteed on three year deals.

00:13:12
Speaker 2: Quitty pay.

00:13:13
Speaker 1: I did go into over the cap to see which deals were real, how they were structured. Most of them are there. Great work by them over the weekend. Yes, because they have the official numbers. Quitty pay did get thirty one million dollars guaranteed. Most of these three year deals all across the league are really two year deals, so it's kind of two for thirty one, Like the linebackers are mostly two year deals. Jalen Naylor similar three for thirty five, but it's really probably two for twenty. Traded for Tarron Johnson spent a lot of money on him because he's due a good amount of money. Matt Gays back in the league. I just wanted to mention that on the show, Malcolm Konz and Eric Stokes get pretty good money to stay. They traded Gino, they really didn't lose many players of consequence. I would say Dylan Parham played the most snaps, and they obviously have Max Crosby back, which is why Patrick. They went from one hundred and twenty one million dollars in gabs space to only twenty four million dollars left only I'd have to go that actually is pretty low. The average amount of cap space left right now in the league is about thirty million, which is crazy.

00:14:16
Speaker 4: However, I do I really appreciate you explaining that to me.

00:14:19
Speaker 2: Greg.

00:14:19
Speaker 5: But I'm saying twenty four million.

00:14:22
Speaker 2: That's a lot of money society.

00:14:23
Speaker 1: What I was gonna say is, I wonder if our researchers get on it. I have to imagine that's the most amount of cap space. If you took the Crosby thing away for a minute or whatever, that's the most cap space ever spent in a week. I don't think anyone's ever spent one hundred million dollars in gas.

00:14:37
Speaker 2: Space in a week. Probably not.

00:14:40
Speaker 1: It's aggressive spy tech. He's cooking. They're sending out memes of spy tech the chef. That might be a little much considering they had the worst record in the league.

00:14:49
Speaker 3: But you know, well, when you have the worst record in the league and a lot of money to spend, you can you can chef it up a little bit. And then they get the Botton Pro Bowler too, Tom all Pro and Max Crosby in an unexpected transaction where yeah, it's hard to feel bad about what they've done because they had so much space to improve, but they get what five starters and free agency on a team that probably needs twelve of them, and they're doing.

00:15:11
Speaker 1: Good and brought back a couple of them too, that the longer I've sat with this, the more I thought, okay, like now they have a respectable looking defense, creditable potential. That said, Quitty pay kway Walker, Nikobe Dean to Ron Johnson are not guys that their previous teams or even probably we felt like we're difference makers needle move They were like good players, but they were they weren't like great players for their previous team.

00:15:39
Speaker 4: One of the issues that I have with the way that free agency is often discussed or thought about is like thinking about it within the only the terms and the parameters of the year ahead, when really you have to think about each move as a series of moves over the next couple of years. It's never one move just in a vacuum. And if it is, it's a functional terrible franchise that's doing it, which you know, who's to say, we'll see, But this to me is like especially you talking about the year the three year deals that are really two year deals. This to me is okay, yes, going after Fernando, also drafting players who will eventually replace these players that they just signed eventually and having that core grow up together essentially, but you have to lift the floor of the defense or whichever side of the ball is having the most issues. You have to raise the floor of it at least to a creditable way in order to actually be competitive and a funk and like put together a functional season where people are learning and not just flailing and struggling to stay afloat.

00:16:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, And they could have used that thinking a year ago, and I.

00:16:43
Speaker 2: Think they Yes, I think they yes, they could.

00:16:45
Speaker 1: They think they spent that money on defense in part because that's just where the players were, so I think that's where the value was. And they had to play like a little bit of extra like Vegas tax for some of these players, But that's fine. They're all almost to a player young other than Tron Johnson, who was the trade, and even he's what twenty nine. Like, these guys are in the middle of their careers. They want all work out. But I like it you had to do something, let's go. I would have given them an n a minus. But since they traded Gino and that hurts my feelings even though it made sense, I'll make it an eighty nine. These are gonna be capricious.

00:17:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I'm in the I'm in the low nineties. I'm in ninety two.

00:17:21
Speaker 5: Okay, I'm giving them a ninety two as well.

00:17:24
Speaker 2: Okay, good job done, Spy Tech.

00:17:27
Speaker 3: The Chargers are last season late though.

00:17:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm giving you guys a grade for last off season.

00:17:36
Speaker 2: And uh and they're.

00:17:37
Speaker 5: A Cower Dynamics Patrick's yeah.

00:17:39
Speaker 1: But you have to you have to share that power and uh, yeah, you get it. You get a D minus for last year. Ultimately, that's high. Yeah, that seems high.

00:17:49
Speaker 4: Honestly.

00:17:50
Speaker 1: The Chargers kept Khalil Mack and TIERR Tart with big deals, and I was a little critical on our last show about them not spending and doing the restricted free I mean, the story pick game a little bit. But then I remembered, like, the tier Tart deal looks great right now, by the way, like it's aged, well, k Khalil Mack, that's a big signing. And then I kind of grouped all the like blockers that they sign. Charlie Kohlar, the blocking tight end from the Titan seventeen million dollars guaranteed, Tyler Biadas the Center gets fifteen million dollars guaranteed three for thirty, Cole Strange and alec Ingold a little cheaper, but a full back and a guard, maybe a sixth offensive lineman. But Strange does get nine million dollars guaranteed, so that's good money. They bring back a couple of the their trays, Trey Lance and Trey Pitpiggins, so that that's important. They just keep working at the margins here with Keaton Mitchell, Dalvin Tomlinson. They bring back a lot of their guys, del Shawn Phillips, Denzel Perryman, and a ton of players leave, you know, Dafeo Way, DeShawn Hand three offensive, four offensive linemen, Zion Johnson, Bradley Boseman, Jamari Sawyer, and Mackay Beckton is cut he's still not signed out there. They still have sixty two million dollars in cap space. I kind of point out all that they're very low in cash spending. That's where you could kind of critique them, and I think they should spend a little more. I point all that out to say that, like these teams have different years where there're cycles.

00:19:12
Speaker 2: Jordan mm hmm.

00:19:13
Speaker 1: I just think they were in a cycle where this was going to be one of those off seasons for them where they're incredibly active signing, losing everything and just was that always going to be that way? I would I would like to see like a little more. But considering they're from the Ravens Mold, I don't think they're quite done yet either.

00:19:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, and they're looking at the compics like you mentioned, and I think that goes toward whatever happens after. For example, you can no longer agree to terms with Balio Mack. Whatever happens after you assess like really what's needed once your tackles come back, if you still have needs that are significant enough to merit these some of these higher draft picks are bundling some of these picks. You have to be prepared in the just in case part of this, which is what the Chargers are doing. They're kind of acknowledging the fact that, hey, we think we've got this figured out. We think we're going to be very very competitive and maximized. Justin Herbert, with all of these people that we've brought in, including offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, is going to use all of these blockers in ways that I am just really excited about because they aren't just going to be blockers. They're going to be move players and gap changers and It's going to be fascinating to see what they do. You're maximizing one side of the ball in particular, and trying and trying to make sure that you do have just enough depth to get you through this year. They did try to have just enough depth to get them through last year on the offensive line, and then a position catastrophe happened. So I'm a little on the fence with have they done enough for their offensive line depth specifically, But we'll see how it goes.

00:20:42
Speaker 1: They tried to design Zion Johnson. It sounds like they were very competitive and just the Browns went over the top.

00:20:47
Speaker 3: Hey, they're able to retain bringing back Trevor Penning.

00:20:53
Speaker 4: So oh, I remember that one. Remember that one day that he played left tackle. Me and Patrick and Gregor in the newsroom watching in and every time, and I was watching the Jaguars on one screen and the Chargers on another screen, and every time I went, oh, Trevor, which one? Which one? And came very clear, very quickly.

00:21:14
Speaker 3: I don't know how many counterbids there were in that one. If it were an overall off season grade. Yeah, you know. Now Southern left Coast Mike mac is the biggest acquisition of all I would be able to make that.

00:21:28
Speaker 1: Wait, I'm hearing from the committee. No, they're not allowing the coaching moves to be included in these grades.

00:21:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I can't can't do it. Got a dingham in terms that maybe we see more of a Mike mac influence in terms of the draft, because I know, like you could you could pencil in, you know, somebody that ran in the low four fours, high four threes to come into this backfield. But they bring back command of Vedelgo Trojans. Yeah, kind of loaded there in that position. So I don't think that necessarily changed. I don't know how much or there can be to change or to improve this this overall grade song, but to be low okay.

00:22:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, look, guys like McKay beck then, and guys who aren't in my one oh one for instance, are just gonna be out there. Mc kay beck then a year ago at this time, I'm just using him as an example, was good enough to get like a twenty million dollar contract, and now he's just gonna be free floating out there. And there are guys of that level that can give you that sort of ten million plus dollar of year value that will be out there, So I think they're gonna be a team that needs it because defensive line they are a little thin Dalvin Thompson was, and in the secondary I think they're a little thin, especially at safety. I'm not in love with this all. And since you missed that you wanted Zion and you didn't keep them, I'm gonna go seventy six.

00:22:46
Speaker 4: I am going B minus eighty.

00:22:50
Speaker 2: Jordan's definitely gonna have the highest grade point average. He's the easiest why.

00:22:53
Speaker 4: I am a very positive person, greg so, but I also I want to correct something I said earlier to adafe Oa is currently their only comp pick and he is the third rounder. Obviously reportedly, these are not official yet. Nick Corte over it over the captains, this is a good job with that. But they're being very conservative while hanging on for dear life for that third rounder. That third rounder I know that they think is going to turn into somebody who's going to be a core piece for them in the future.

00:23:19
Speaker 3: Yeah. If not for Khalil mac I would be in the sixties, be seventy two.

00:23:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like it. It doesn't surprise me that Patrick.

00:23:27
Speaker 2: I just love all the he.

00:23:28
Speaker 1: Expects a lot out of his students. He deserves excellence and he's gonna demand it. Let's take a break. We're gonna come back and do the AFC SAP. This is a fun, fun little exercise, a big one on a Monday back on NFL Daily. I don't know if we've ever led with the AFC South. I feel like they're always second or third. There will be a day that we lead with the AFC soup. They deserve it, but today is not that day. They are going second. The Houston Texas, we traded for David Montgomery. They gave Reid Blankenship sixteen million dollars guaranteed three years, twenty four million. They signed Logan Hall. I don't know if that made it ever onto the show from the Bucks in like any defensive player, I just assume he's going to be great with the Texans. You know who didn't really agree with you was the rest of the NFL. Because he's a guy on entering his second contract that listen got paid very little money.

00:24:27
Speaker 4: John Ledyard thinks he's a great player, So I'm on team John Ledyard for the Bucks analysis, there.

00:24:33
Speaker 1: Could be getting better offensive line. They signed man there's just a lot of in, there's a lot of out. They signed Braden Smith, the former Colt that can play tackle or guard. They signed Evan Brown over the weekend, who might be a kind of a fill in interior offensive lineman. They re signed Trent Brown and Ed Ingram at Ingram got paid a lot of money. On the other hand, they traded away Titus Howard. They traded away Juice Scruggs. They also extended daneil Hunter their pass rusher, in dult Sults their tight end, for one year each. They re signed a couple defensive contributors Nakwon Jones, Sheldon Rankins, EJ. Speed, and a lot of their players are still free agents Christian Kirk, Nick Chubb, Derek Barnett.

00:25:13
Speaker 2: Just to throw out a few ones.

00:25:15
Speaker 1: They have thirty one million dollars in cap space that is fourteenth in the NFL, so plenty to do some more work if they want. What do you make over all of this offseason so far.

00:25:27
Speaker 3: Patrick, in terms of the things that they needed to improve, I, you know, maybe I got to delve a little bit more into my offensive line understandings that I'm not necessarily seeing it. I don't know that the pieces around the quarterback are necessarily going to improve things that much for CJ. Stroud considering just just in purely free agency, So I gotta go relatively low here. You know, Dave Montgomery, you.

00:25:52
Speaker 2: Can throw it.

00:25:53
Speaker 1: We've been throwing out the grades at the end. You can do it early if you want. There's no rules, all right, seventy six.

00:25:58
Speaker 4: Okay, I kind of like, I mean, I just don't have any questions about their defense. I never at this point. I just I trust them to make the right decisions for their defense and on their defense. And so obviously a couple of the moves that they made their blanket ship and haul like they're not stars right by themselves. There are guys that compliment a system or compliment stars very very well. And I think that's exactly what they were going for here is sort of part to whole signings versus go after somebody with a splash even though they do have the money to do it, and them bringing in David Montgomery to be in tandem with Woody Marx. By the way, locally, someone maybe Seth Payne, can help us with this. Someone locally came up with the nickname Woody and buzz for Woody Marks and David Montgomery. I'm looking to cite that person. I don't know who it was. I just saw it floating around. So if it's you and you're listening, please let us know. I love that nickname and them doing that makes me absolutely know that they're not done with their offensive line. Braden Smith I think should play guard. I think he could be really good, especially in zone blocking. And I just I think they're still fiddling around and figuring that that phase out. And maybe they just, you know, understood that they couldn't do everything at once, especially in free agency, and maybe they're looking trade, maybe they're looking draft to keep boosting that area, because that's the biggest question for me. Is their offensive line.

00:27:26
Speaker 1: Still Yeah, and they traded one of their best offensive linemen and Titus Hoard, But on paper, Braiden Smith is now one of their best. So it's similar ish Montgomery. Does he have to be part of like a like a cartoon cartoon combination nickname everywhere he goes?

00:27:43
Speaker 4: Well, they're going to use a two back system. They love what he Marks absolutely love him.

00:27:47
Speaker 1: They want to be doesn't he deserve to have his own nickname? Why they always got to be the sidekick in a cartoon.

00:27:54
Speaker 3: I would make the case that the entire narrative of the Toy Story franchise, if what he wasn't so sold fish and jealous of Buzz's acquisition, that you know, everything would have gone a lot better. Everybody probably would have gone to college and everything would have worked out.

00:28:07
Speaker 2: I have a confession to make.

00:28:09
Speaker 1: I haven't seen Toy Story, what for any of the toy stories.

00:28:12
Speaker 3: It's understandable.

00:28:14
Speaker 4: And he hasn't seen Monsters Inc. Either, which is a really really great, a really great lesson about corporations.

00:28:21
Speaker 1: I think rat Tattoo is the only Pixar and Wally the yead I've ever seen.

00:28:25
Speaker 4: Rat Tattooy creditable.

00:28:27
Speaker 1: I'll give them. I'll give him an eighty. That's kind of my like, eh, yeah, they exist. Do more if you guys want better grades, be more active.

00:28:37
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, but I again, I don't look at it as just in a vacuum. I've given them an eighty five because I think they're going to go after somebody. I really do think that, like they're that they're not done here and they love their skill guys already like.

00:28:49
Speaker 2: A big trade or something.

00:28:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I like, you can't be done with your offensive line. I mean, I don't buy it for a second than a Cassario's things.

00:28:56
Speaker 1: I mean, on paper, this is they can be done because it's about the same quest they went into last year with and as Nick Cassario said, that was their best offensive aligneman. And while we're not watching the same film that he is, I mean, they were okay, but yeah, they're probably going to do in the draft at this point.

00:29:10
Speaker 2: And then yeah, they.

00:29:11
Speaker 3: Made their formerly like very good and promising quarterback look worse.

00:29:15
Speaker 1: That's not good, uh, speaking of been a quarterback has been promising at various times. The Indianapolis Colts brought back Danny Dimes and Alec Pierce for roughly seventy four million dollars per year combined. That's why we're describing I know, I decided to kind of combine them.

00:29:33
Speaker 5: No, I wonder what Greg thinks about this.

00:29:35
Speaker 1: Well, it's just like it's just a tricky situation is that they're you know, you're bringing back a similar team, you're losing some players, but you're paying those two guys way more money. I considering how they end, I just think it made sense in the end. I don't really hate either deal on its own. I just think expectations need to be managed. They end up signing Michael Clemens to a three year, seventeen million dollar contract only seven million dollars guarantee.

00:30:01
Speaker 2: That didn't look as bad really a one year deal.

00:30:03
Speaker 1: Arden Key is a pass rusher that got eleven million dollars guaranteed.

00:30:07
Speaker 2: Both those guys well Key signed before.

00:30:10
Speaker 1: They would have lost out on Trey Hendrickson, but really felt like that put a dent into their offseason. Ian Rappaport said they appeared to be in pole position for Trey Hendrickson and lost out him. So it makes you wonder if they could do something else here, like in a trade. Mostly there aren't big free agents out there, so forty two million dollars in cap space, they are fifth in cash spending, so they've spent a lot of money. They basically gave up on Michael Pittman. They would have cut him. They just moved up like fifteen spots in the sixth round. They traded Zaire Franklin to the Packers. They lost some key contributors, Quddy pay, Nick Cross, Braden Smith. They all played a lot for them. And just wanted to point out Lakwan Treadwell and Jonathan Owens, mister Simone Biles are on this team.

00:30:51
Speaker 2: Shot to mega Kwan, I know, still getting re signed.

00:30:55
Speaker 1: That was one of those where they put the the team announcement. I was just like, yeah, Laquon Treadwell getting resigned as a special teamer in the first couple of days. You are now missus Colts Jordan.

00:31:08
Speaker 4: And it's always Colleen till the end of y I need that's true.

00:31:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, true, we do over indexcellent coult defend your cults if you feel like you need to.

00:31:18
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, they still need questions to be answered along their offensive line, and they absolutely have questions to answer in their past rush. I don't expect them to be done with either of those things. I don't think there's free agents now available, like you said, Greg, who are actually going to be like day one factor like I absolutely improve or answer all these questions. They have to look at a combination of trades and or picks, you know, them willing to be in on Trey Hendrickson says a lot to me because first of all, the ripple effect of that Max Crosby situation. We'll probably be finding out what that actually was for months to come and in terms of which teams were navigating in different ways predicated off of that move. But I, I don't know. I feel like everybody spent a lot of time freaking out over these contracts, and I just I just I can't muster the energy to do that. I feel like they actually gave themselves a relatively conservative contract situation in totality with Daniel Jones the words up to one hundred or million dollars.

00:32:22
Speaker 1: It's like a one year deal. It was fine from a team perspective. If it goes poorly, they can cut them.

00:32:27
Speaker 4: And also like he's like the fifth lowest paid once Matthew Stafford's deal gets done, he's like the fifth lowest paid, like franchise starter in the NFL. And then even less so once all of these guys who come do this season come up, then you can decide how much you actually are gonna invest in this guy. Oh and by the way, that's when you'll probably know, not early in the season, but late in the season you'll probably know how he's really coming back from that Achilles. It's just they've just bought themselves time while also locking in like the franchise player, which is Alec Pierce. So it just to me, it just makes sense. A lot of it they have they have, don't get me wrong, but this does make sense to me.

00:33:02
Speaker 1: Those two teams, those two moves in a vacuum do make sense. They're almost the ultimate running a back team because I don't even know where their holes are. Like they are expecting Jalen Travis, their fourth round pick at right tackle two step in and be their starter. It like Ashton Dulin. Maybe that's not a guy you want to start. Otherwise you basically have all the entire team back from a year ago. Arden Key might be the one new guy that is starting at this point for this team. It's just if running a back is good enough.

00:33:28
Speaker 3: This is this is nick Crossy racer too uh to ignore. Well, you know, we don't want to do that.

00:33:35
Speaker 2: Especially that's a good point.

00:33:36
Speaker 1: I kind of forgot about the safety spot there.

00:33:39
Speaker 3: You know, because we've seen coach Louse defense be very good and have a safety leave and oh everything falls apart. So I want to acknowledge that. I you know, obviously as a Alex Pierce Homer, early early adoptee and Alex Pierce, I'm all about that. The Dimes contract, as you guys said, is is capable. I just for my grade, I need to know, Greg, if you felt as though that if the Arizona Cardinals did not passionately hate Kyler Murray and they had decided to send that tweet five days or six days before they ultimately did, waiting until the very last second to do so, if Kyler was a real possibility here to allow Dimes to have fully functional body parts before he plays football, do you think that could have been a possibility. If so, I have to I have to grade lowly because yeah, you can get out of it, but you also want to have a viable team that plays and this is a significant injury that they need to be ready to deal with. And if there were quarterback options available, then yeah, I got a ding ballad for not fully seeking those outs.

00:34:40
Speaker 1: I think I would have given them more credit for doing it than I will ding them for not doing it. There's never any reporting whether it was considered. I think I think they like Riley Leonard, and with that in mind, I'm going to give him.

00:34:53
Speaker 2: A seventy eight.

00:34:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm giving them a seventy nine.

00:34:56
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's lower than I expect.

00:34:58
Speaker 4: Ause I didn't want to quite go be just there's so much uncertainty. I wish they would have given had I wish they do have more clarity.

00:35:04
Speaker 2: I would have liked one more splash because I'm just.

00:35:06
Speaker 4: And on defense. Their defense just fell through a hole in the floor last season, and I just haven't seen enough so far to say to argue that, hey, they've done enough in that phase. And they tried.

00:35:19
Speaker 5: Yes, they tried, but you know, gold Star, you tried got worse.

00:35:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree.

00:35:24
Speaker 1: Pretty poor at linebacker too. I really misspoke when I said they're just running back. I think they'll make some more moves, but like I said, they've spent a lot. It's time for the off season ride along presented by Toyota the Jaguars. They have only made one outside signing. It is the running back Chris Rodriguez. I think, what did we call the Basil Tuton fan club, Jordan, Yeah, touton Hive, the Tuton Hive, the root and Tutin's been a good off season for him, I think because Tuton is is gonna be RB one. Chris rod is a good player who I think will have a role, but otherwise not much to talk about with them. They re signed Buster Brown. They gave him twenty point six million dollars guaranteed on a three year deal. There's a lot of like three for thirties to three for thirty six is around the NFL. They re signed Dennis Gardeck and DJ Dallas. They lost Travis et Gen, Devin Lloyd, Greg Newsom. That trade didn't work out for them, that trade they made mid season. I don't mind the process of that Greg Newsom trade, by the way, because you might get a compic and you gave it a shot and it didn't work out for you.

00:36:27
Speaker 2: They are seven.

00:36:29
Speaker 1: They have seven million dollars in cash space not much right now, twelfth in cash.

00:36:32
Speaker 2: They were first in cash last year.

00:36:34
Speaker 1: And I think that really informs what I was talking about before, which is I think teams have cycles where like it's a year where you're making a ton of moves and then a year where you're stepping back and you have a bit of a three to four year plan. To Jordan's point, that's what good organizations do. I think this was always going to be a quiet offseason, but I'm not gonna give them extra credit for that. I'll I'll just give him an eighty right off the bat, Like, I get it, this was your season to got to take a step back.

00:37:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going into lower seventy seventy four in terms of just again, I recognize the circumstances, but did you improve? Did you get better through free agency? And the Panthers and the Saints got a little better in terms of what they're able to do where you had two very good pieces on both offense and defense of a very good football team. And not to slight the folks into vault, but I think everybody recognizes that they haven't gotten better through you know, recovery and you know injury luck and everything. They could be a better football team at the end of the day. But I think it's a downgrade from HM to the Tutin and obviously with Devin Lloyd in the season, he had got to feel like that's a downgrade as well.

00:37:41
Speaker 4: I'm going to give them an eighty five because I think that the best thing that they possibly could have done this offseason was not pat themselves on the back too much for what they just accomplished and continue to push aggressively and stretch and kick the can down the road a little bit further, like we've seen teams do in the past. Instead, they went super conservative. They're going for the comp pick game, understanding that they have to refill some of these positions that are aging out on their roster. What team, you know, really loved to get metal round picks that turned into bona fide starters The Rams, Obviously James Gladstone was the figurehead of orchestrating those things behind the scenes with less sneed. This is absolutely the formula that they're doing. They're basically saying, we are getting rid of the guys that maybe we don't think either are going to always be full time contributors with We saw when Bachil Tutans snaps increase A chan was amazing last year. I don't please don't take this as a critique, but we saw the amount of snaps that were increased with Bachil Tutin and then also this franchise that will keep doing again following a very similar pattern, drafting running backs every single year that will contribute and keep them cost controlled essentially, and then kind of getting rid of rid of a couple of guys that didn't work out Greg Newsoen being one of them, getting rid of veterans Johnny Mont Devin Lloyd, who we love but is somebody who they weren't even committed to in the first place, and playing the compic game. They didn't do anything that was outside of basically, they didn't chase outliers. They basically we like, we aren't even an outlier. We have to stick to a plan and I like that.

00:39:18
Speaker 1: If anything, they're running back more than I would expect. I'm surprised Eric Armstead is still on this team. I think they're setting up contracts that they could sign in the future, like tre Von Walker stands out to me as one of them.

00:39:29
Speaker 2: And they made some of their moves early.

00:39:31
Speaker 1: The committee decided the cole Van Lannon contract from last year doesn't count even though it's late in the year, but that was essentially a free agency and signing.

00:39:41
Speaker 5: I like the Buster Bround contract too, that was, I mean, what a find that.

00:39:46
Speaker 1: Worked out for them, and Hearing himself a lot of money, and the Jacobe Meyers acquisition that was like a free agency or a trade move early. That was the off season ride along presented by Toyota. Because when people are the destination. Your ride is important. Learn more at Toyota dot com and find the vehicle that fits your people. The Titans much more active. They signed Alante Taylor for three year sixty million, forty two million dollars guaranteed. Amazing that I Alante, who is so high on my free agency like top twenty five that I did last August, get the bag.

00:40:22
Speaker 2: Cordill Flock getting thirty two million dollars dollars guaranteed. Thank you. I think I made it happen.

00:40:28
Speaker 1: Cordill Flock getting thirty two million dollars guaranteed is almost as surprising. Three for forty five. They definitely paid a Titans tax with a lot of these contracts. Jonathan Franklin Myers gets forty two million dollars guaranteed. Three for sixty three. They signed a bunch of other defensive players, Jacob Martin, Josh Williams from the Chief, Solomon Thomas was traded for. They traded for Jermaine Johnson, who's gonna start. And yet despite all that, I think they still could use an edge and they might draft one at fourth. Overall, we'll see check out forties in free agents this week. We talk about that Daniel Jeremias as an intriguing number four overall pick in his new mock on offense. Wandale gets thirty eight million dollars guaranteed. Essentially, that's a two year contract. Bellinger, Daniel Bellinger from the Giants The tight End gets fourteen million dollars guaranteed. I thought that was a bad contract. Slotman, the former Giants Safe Center gets two million dollars. Two for seven. Mitchell Trubisky. Over the weekend, they kept Calvin Ridley, so that's that's pretty big news. I thought he might get cut. They lost Chigo Konquo, they traded to Andandre Sweat. They cut Lagarious Need, they cut Lloyd Cushion Bear. You're still sitting out there despite all that, they still lead the NFL in cap space.

00:41:36
Speaker 2: Isn't that amazing?

00:41:37
Speaker 4: They did truly incredible.

00:41:39
Speaker 3: They do it through a formula that works. It's signing friends and people, you know, which was the upset to me for Lante Taylor, where he's the acquisition that he like, Nice to meet you guys. Everybody else knows these.

00:41:53
Speaker 4: Dudents to fairpoint, that's what Greg did for me.

00:41:56
Speaker 1: You know, same she you are so much more than a Lante Taylor to me, Yeah, all respect to the him. He can play multiple spots. You know, good player, he's fun. This is maybe the toughest great because do you just give the team that's almost like the most active a high grade?

00:42:15
Speaker 2: Oh okay, but what do you give them? What do you give them?

00:42:18
Speaker 4: He's in Why, I'm going to just go in the middle. I'm going to give them a B minus. Because they had to do this. They had to spend. First of all, they spent in terms of their total contract some they spent two hundred ninety eight million and then some change on just these new contracts. It's like something like twelve free agent contracts in totality, right, and that's that's they still have.

00:42:41
Speaker 5: Seventy two million leftover. They had to spend.

00:42:43
Speaker 4: They had to do this. They had to reset multiple floors within their roster. And it was so clear that it wasn't just that they're paying the Titans tax, they're also paying the Hey, we really need you to come in and reset our culture and our identity, and we already know you, and so we're just going to give you more money because we really need your help here.

00:43:01
Speaker 5: Guys like that. It makes a lot of sense.

00:43:04
Speaker 1: Because you're better than the guys on a roster. So that's why I think I'll go a little higher. I'll go like eighty seven because I think they did get better, and I don't will they hate any of these contracts.

00:43:12
Speaker 4: How could they not have gotten better after what that roster looked like.

00:43:17
Speaker 1: The Taylor and Cordel Flot contracts are the riskiest ones, I think Wandale, I think you know what you're gonna get.

00:43:23
Speaker 2: Jonathan Franklin Meyers, I think you know what you're gonna get.

00:43:26
Speaker 1: The history of free agency would tell you that either a Lante Taylor or Cordell Flot will age really poorly because it's hard to hit on those contracts. But I would have said that about the Patriots last year, and other than Harold Landry, maybe all those contracts aged pretty well.

00:43:39
Speaker 3: Do you feel differently about them having the benefit of all of free agency in hansight to see that we had these corners sunning one year deals around like ten to fifteen million dollars, versus the Titans feeling like they needed to be active or early on and go ahead and lock up guys at corner because they don't necessarily know what the circumstances are going to be like at that time.

00:43:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, they paid, They paid a little bit of a premium flot especially. I mean clearly they're they're bidding against the Giants. That's the reporting for that money to get that high and Alonte Taylor.

00:44:11
Speaker 2: There was a lot of bidding too.

00:44:12
Speaker 5: Patrick, Are you laughing because you're imagining the room?

00:44:15
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, I want, I want, I want Dave All and you know, I just want to see the reunion.

00:44:21
Speaker 1: It does make you a little worried because you don't want to punish the Titans because in theory they're GM Borganzi. It's his first year really running the team, but he's been in the building for two years. It's a new structure every year. Who knows, next year their GM might be Brian Dable.

00:44:34
Speaker 4: How about that exciting Balds.

00:44:36
Speaker 2: Wait, did you give a grade?

00:44:37
Speaker 3: Uh no, seventy nine.

00:44:39
Speaker 1: Okay, the Ravens curious to hear Patrick's grade here. They signed Trey Hendrickson sixty million dollars guaranteed he gets one hundred and twelve million over four years. Really more like a two year deal. They killed the max deal that was good for content I will give them an extra points or two for that. John Simpson is that was a very popular and sensible deal, seventeen million dollars guaranteed. Former Jets guard that started his career with the Ravens. They re signed Chadobe Awuzie for five million dollars. Tyler Huntley got five million dollars over two years. His deal was not nearly as good. That was one of those that I was disappointed to see the real money wasn't there. And then here's where their great gets tricky because they didn't really add that many people. No, they lost Tyler Linderbaum, Isaiah Likely, Charlie Kohler, Patrick Ricard, Aloie gilman Ar, Darius Washington, the safety Draymont Jones who they had picked up last season, David Ajabu and your boy Filele still out there, so it was van neyd. They still they have thirty million dollars in cap space. They lost a lot of people. How does that inform what you think about this offseason?

00:45:48
Speaker 3: Well, it's nice that you know. Erica Costa at the day after the Raiders let everybody know that the deal wasn't happening, came out and told us what the plan was right to to have both Max Crosby as well as Trey Hendrickson. And you're gonna have a guy who could do it all on one end, a guy who could just rust the passlor on the other. Thing's gonna be great. I understand. It's great to have plans, Yeah, but you need to have plans to be able to execute in the event that those plans don't.

00:46:15
Speaker 2: Necessarily created on the execution planned.

00:46:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, like you have to to go that. And so I'm seeing I'm seeing corners on a team that needs corners. I'm seeing every like a lot of value corner signings to where we're talking about the flock contract being, you know, cost prohibitive. Why not why not become a player in this in this two way conversation between Nashville and East Rutherford, Like why.

00:46:38
Speaker 2: Here's why not?

00:46:39
Speaker 1: Because they because they were busy with Max Crosby. I do think that and Trey Hendrickson got in the way of what happened.

00:46:46
Speaker 3: Okay on a sourcier that happened in January, Like not to rehash the whole thing, but nothing was a surprise here.

00:46:52
Speaker 1: Could could you have the biggest fault you can give him? I think is, could you have gotten them in him in for the physical on Friday or Saturday?

00:46:58
Speaker 2: Why did it all happen Tuesday?

00:47:00
Speaker 3: Surgery was eight weeks ago. What's the physical showing you so?

00:47:03
Speaker 4: And Also I would say this, Uh, they they were planning, if they were planning, if if they were indeed planning to have both of these guys on their roster. Structurally speaking, the plan for everyone else remains the same. They still didn't sign a receiver. They still didn't sign corners. You're not just doing one thing. You're budgeting, you're gaming out scenarios. You're budgeting these things. So if that was actually the plan, then you're ending up with the same lack of play.

00:47:35
Speaker 2: That was the plan.

00:47:37
Speaker 3: Who knows?

00:47:38
Speaker 2: Like, like I.

00:47:39
Speaker 4: Said, he said it was a plan. We're talking about executions.

00:47:43
Speaker 2: I feel like.

00:47:44
Speaker 1: It was the plan if Trey Hendrickson was going to take a deal at a low number that they that they were hoping he would take.

00:47:53
Speaker 4: I'm saying, I'm just saying, either way, they're not ending up with competitive pursuit of corners, they're not ending up with another receiver.

00:48:01
Speaker 3: Like.

00:48:01
Speaker 4: Either way, whether whether the plan was executed or whether and it wasn't either way. They're not ending up with the with players of need that they absolutely need. Yes, they also need to pass Rush help, but they need a lot, They needed a lot of things to continue to as they say they want to do, maximize Lamar Jackson's prime.

00:48:20
Speaker 1: I feel like there's some doubt here with how it's gone. I'm going to give them. I think they wanted Linderbaum to.

00:48:29
Speaker 3: And it's good to want things.

00:48:30
Speaker 2: No, no, no, that's what I mean.

00:48:31
Speaker 1: But I'm going to ding them because they didn't get what they want and they get punished for it. Seventy six kind of low. Seventy yeah, uh ooh, sixty seven. Okay, I should be a hearder grater.

00:48:48
Speaker 4: I think that you. I think that you, like a lot of people, have an admiration for how the Ravens typically have gone about their plan, and you know, I just think we're we need to look kind of closely at these last two years and and what they need to be doing and the hump that they have to get over and Okay, let's see it.

00:49:10
Speaker 1: Last year was a disaster they've had. They've been a team. I just mean in terms of the decisions that they made and then what happened.

00:49:16
Speaker 3: That you go total things?

00:49:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, three compics also that reportedly scheduled to get three compts. Good for you.

00:49:25
Speaker 2: Just in general, I think you could just as a as a world.

00:49:28
Speaker 1: It was kind of like, I don't know if you guys watched the Oscars on a Sunday night.

00:49:33
Speaker 3: Now.

00:49:34
Speaker 1: Conan had a pretty good joke that I'm going to butcher now, which was essentially like, you know, last year we were here in Los Angeles and in the city you know, was unfortunately like on fire at the time, but at least everything is good now. It's like, good call Bengals. Let's go to boy Mafiy's contract. They do this old school thing where everything is super front loaded and so they spend the cash early. They're kind of the opposite of what the Eagles are with all the void years and maximizing every dollar you can there. His contract's bizarre, three for sixty but it's twenty seven million dollars in the first year. Like there's almost no guarantees after that if for some reason it went really poorly. It's it's like a one year contract for boy Mafe. Jonathan Allen gets twenty six million dollars over two years. They re signed Orlando Brown. They brought in Cook at safety, who fills a nice need. Dalton Reisner comes back as well. They lost Joseph Assai and Trey Hendrickson. Josh Johnson is on this team, hey, yeah, which I was excited about.

00:50:42
Speaker 2: Him being the backup.

00:50:43
Speaker 1: It sounds like they're leaving a light on for Joe Flacco, that they want Flacco to come and that it would be Flacco and Josh Johnson. That alone is worth a couple extra points. They have thirty one million dollars in cap space right in the middle. I mean, just the idea of Josh Johnson and Flacco, just like the way you.

00:51:00
Speaker 4: Say things sometimes, Greg, just like the imagery of like a candle.

00:51:04
Speaker 2: Oh yeah it is that is in.

00:51:06
Speaker 5: The window along a dark lane, like the winds blown.

00:51:09
Speaker 1: Well, that's how they save on electricity too. They're doing all sorts of things at the facility.

00:51:16
Speaker 2: Oh my god, what do we think?

00:51:20
Speaker 3: I think it's an improvement because in terms of production, right, Jonathan Allen was you feel like a square peg in a round hole in the floor as defense. But he was out there for almost eighty percent of the snaps and they did execute the offense and everything, not necessarily putting them in a position where they're going to have all of these counting stats, especially on the interior defensive line, but he makes them better in terms of adding like three veteran defenders where this whole like, yeah, we're just gonna draft guys and Al Golden is gonna lead. It didn't work out, and so like moving and improving on that. I gotta feel good about it.

00:51:57
Speaker 4: But they're still kind of doing it.

00:51:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're still.

00:51:59
Speaker 4: Doing so it's like it was like I religiously read Paul Daner, who does a great job covering the Bengals for us at the Athletic and he said the same thing. It's like, man, that first day, we're feeling really good about the Bengals and they're making moves and they're being aggressive, and then it was like bomb, like just nothing and then just nothing, just a leaf.

00:52:20
Speaker 2: Slowly eventually they got no.

00:52:23
Speaker 4: I'm just saying they start that. I'm counting. I'm counting Jonathan Allen, I'm counting, Brian Cook, I'm counting. Way I'm off a. I'm counting those in that first like splash, this is gonna they're gonna fix this defense. What they've actually done now is again set themselves up to mostly draft to fix their defense. And on the one hand, it's it is like, are they doing the same Bengals thing that they've been doing. On the other hand, I under I kind of understand the perspective of operating that way because your entire investment now at this point is in your offense, and you basically are saying, we have to go maybe one premier player, maybe maybe pay one premier position in free agency, maybe two if if we can get a guy at the right price on a shorter deal, and and draft the hell out of everything else, and just and continue to try that model. And I think they've done that in this free agency period so far. I just don't know if it's gonna work.

00:53:21
Speaker 1: I'd like a little more, yeah, more like more swings so that you can miss some cause you're right, they have the same issues going into this draft that they had last time, like linebacker, interior, offensive line, third receiver in jet like they somehow you know, got Boy Mafe, who I really liked, was one of my favorite signings, and yet their pass rush is worse. There's no way you can argue that it's not worse because you lost Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Asai.

00:53:45
Speaker 4: I was gonna say, do you know who would really compliment boy a Mafe quite well?

00:53:49
Speaker 5: Is Trey Hendrickson? Like they could rush off of each other.

00:53:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be good.

00:53:53
Speaker 1: I liked the Orlando Brown and Dalton Reisner moves, especially for then they were re signing, So I'm giving them a little bit credit there for the money. So I'm gonna bump it over, and I like Mafey and Cook enough, I'm gonna give him an eighty two in the end.

00:54:06
Speaker 3: Whoa nice.

00:54:08
Speaker 1: It's because I like the players. I just think they'll be hits ultimately. If like Cook and Mafe are hits, and that's what I'm just going to project, then it's a good Then it's a good job at those spots.

00:54:21
Speaker 3: I'm in the I'm in the high seventies, seventy nine just because you know it's the same regime. So I'm gonna go back and ding you for not trading.

00:54:28
Speaker 1: So Josh Johnson is there, I'm going eighty four now, I just I just owed it up.

00:54:32
Speaker 3: You're up.

00:54:33
Speaker 4: Come on, I'm going to see as in check.

00:54:35
Speaker 1: You need it you need a number, because now I noticed that Eric Roberts are are great producers putting the numbers in. But sometimes it's like Greg eighty seven, Patrick seventy nine, Jordan B minus.

00:54:46
Speaker 2: So that's it. You got to give a number.

00:54:49
Speaker 5: Well, don't blame Eric for my short.

00:54:51
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. It just looks wrong, so so help him out.

00:54:55
Speaker 3: I thought I thought the number would help us get a total.

00:54:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, fucker, seventy five for the Bengals, and it's I'm bumping them up from what I would have had them because I do like the Move signing.

00:55:07
Speaker 5: I do like the Allen signing. I do like the Cook signing.

00:55:09
Speaker 2: I don't even like the Allen I don't know.

00:55:11
Speaker 4: But the Allen signing again, stop looking at things in a vacuum. It's a compliment to every other stuff that's kind.

00:55:18
Speaker 3: I will look at things some sponsorship for this.

00:55:20
Speaker 1: I just know he was a significantly defined, declining player in Washington. I think the Vikings gave him a bad contract. I think it's going to prove to be a bad contract.

00:55:29
Speaker 4: But they're not asking him to be a star.

00:55:31
Speaker 1: This is not I mean, I'm not saying a star. I'm saying he wasn't like a great.

00:55:34
Speaker 3: They need competent defensive players.

00:55:36
Speaker 4: Yes, like the Browns, Like what are we talking about here?

00:55:41
Speaker 2: Like you got to be able to draft and develop.

00:55:43
Speaker 1: I agree there the Browns they signed four offensive line starters they needed to Elton Jenkins, they need five.

00:55:50
Speaker 4: He's gonna give him an a twenty million dollars because they did it.

00:55:53
Speaker 1: Patrick that Zion Johnson gets thirty two million dollars guaranteed Tevin Jenkins on what I imagine a low cost deal with the numbers are now yet. Titus Howard, the extension was a little different than it was initially reported, but they're giving him a lot of money, thirty four million dollars guaranteed. They also gave up a fifth round pick to get him from the Texans. That's the good news that they filled those spots. The bad news is they have a ton of holes on their roster. They gave Quincy Williams nine million dollars guaranteed. Some people really like that move. Actually that you could have a bounce back season next to Carson's Questioninger, but they don't have much cap space. They have seventy seven million dollars in dead money. And fifty million dollars almost for Deshaun Watson. And so that's a lot of money between dead money and I considered Deshaun Watson dead money, that's like one hundred and twenty six.

00:56:42
Speaker 2: So it's the same group that did this.

00:56:43
Speaker 1: They set up that horrible offensive line situation, and they lost Devin Bush, and they have a few free agents still sitting out there that are relatively high on my list, David and Joku Wyatt Teller. We don't know if Joel Buttonio is retiring, by the way, just throwing that out there, do you give him more credit for filling in their offensive line or not?

00:57:02
Speaker 3: No, I don't. They had they were going to have to acquire some humans right to do the the individual thing. And again we heard from the committee earlier, we can't consider you know, the the Rutenberg of it all and the the whole and antagonism that led to the Shorts departure and all that. Who knows what led into that situation. But Schweeszingerer now is going to have to play in some form of a different defense where they still needed to make the ads. And yeah, I'm one of those people who likes the Quincy addition, you saying those people makes me feel.

00:57:38
Speaker 2: Like you No, No, I think it. I just didn't know who it was.

00:57:41
Speaker 1: I think it was maybe John Ledyard as you mentioned, and Ali.

00:57:46
Speaker 3: Co Ogs who have NFL in their in their name. That's how you know they've been there for a while.

00:57:54
Speaker 4: I will not grade them high even though they did the thing that they were supposed to do, because they also set up the reason that they had to do the thing that they were supposed to do and then did there Whenever a Packer's lineman is not fought very hard by the Packers to keep my eyebrows raised because I do trust the way that they evaluate and retain their offensive linemen. So Elton Jenkins, he's a fun player. I hope it works out. I'm just not sure. I do like the Zion Johnson moved. They absolutely had to have somebody at the sort of the top of the pool here. But again, I can never I can't grade them well with the way that they're structured right now, with all that dud money, with Deshaun Watson's contract.

00:58:38
Speaker 5: And also they did this to themselves. All of this linemen came do at the same That's hard to do.

00:58:43
Speaker 1: I think it's like a bad student when we're grading them that has a history of year after year one of our worst students, unfortunately, and so you're not going to give them the benefit of doubt just because they wrote in a different style this year, you know.

00:58:56
Speaker 4: Do you know I was always the kid in elementary school that they would sit the problem kid next to because invisible labor. So like, I'm not giving them a good grade for the bars in hell at this point, I'm.

00:59:12
Speaker 1: Not giving them they do not have the benefit of doubt. And what I was surprised by when I sent out this idea on Twitter of like, Okay, they got these offensive linemen, but they have all these holes and all this dead money and Watson it's a bad situation.

00:59:26
Speaker 2: Do they have a lot of holes?

00:59:27
Speaker 1: I think the roster looks pretty good And I was like, what what are we talking about here? I guess you look at the defense and feel like it's in pretty good shape. I think you could use a safety. I think you could use depth everywhere. But yeah, your receivers, your quarterbacks. I would put running back as a hole because Quinn Chun Juggins, you can't count them. They have plenty of holes. And the offensive line is still a hole because you cannot count on these guys to laugh last. So yeah, let's because they also they tried. I'll give them a sixty seven.

00:59:55
Speaker 4: Can I just point out they also didn't draft a single lineman last year, so they knew that all these contracts are coming up and they did not draft alignment.

01:00:02
Speaker 1: All right, I'll knock it down three more points. I'll give them a sixty four.

01:00:05
Speaker 4: All right, I'm giving them a sixty a d as in dead.

01:00:08
Speaker 1: Money, seventy Jenkins Jenkins prices.

01:00:13
Speaker 4: We're playing the.

01:00:14
Speaker 3: Price because I hated the Ravens free agency and I have to.

01:00:17
Speaker 4: Ah, I see ethics.

01:00:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, the Steelers they moved up sixteen spots or moved down sixteen spots in the sixth round and acquired Michael Pittman.

01:00:28
Speaker 2: For that.

01:00:28
Speaker 1: I still want to see the details on his guaranteed money. It sounded like it was a new contract, not an extension. Just my spidy senses up of there might be some funny money, but it was. It was reported as three years, sixty nine million dollars. Sounds fine, depending on how it's structured for Michael Pittman. Jamel Dean that was one where the contract the deal does not look nearly as good for the player after seeing the details. It's essentially a one year, thirteen million dollar contract, I mean, and then they can keep them, which is.

01:01:01
Speaker 3: Again like my issue with these teams that weren't able to get corn.

01:01:04
Speaker 2: Yes, good point, like everything Jamal Dean did.

01:01:08
Speaker 3: There were like six weeks last season consecutively did team didn't complete a pass.

01:01:13
Speaker 1: The Steelers did really well waiting a day exact contract that the contract.

01:01:19
Speaker 2: That they gave. What was my grade?

01:01:21
Speaker 4: Just checking? Uh, just notice the.

01:01:23
Speaker 1: Titans, especially if you look at those cornerback contracts compared to Jamel Dean, that looks like a nice deal. They extended Cam Hayward. By the way, the Steelers sixteen million dollars guaranteed on a two year deal. They re signed Cole Holcom int the Sante Samuel Junior for very little money. They did lose some good players. Kenny Gainwell team MVP there it is forever more. He he has never been on the Steelers and not been the team MVP one hundred percent. Isaac Sayamalu, who was a good signing by them a few years ago, leaves. James Pierre, who had a good year for them last year at cornerback, leaves. Calvin Austen is a member of the Giants right now. They also cut John new Smith. They're still waiting for Aaron Rodgers. You got to just assume that they know he's coming back and doesn't want to do OTA's or something. They have twenty two million dollars in cap space. Your overall Steelers vibe.

01:02:13
Speaker 5: The Steelers overall as a roster.

01:02:16
Speaker 4: I think it's teetering toward decline in terms of the age and some of the money that they've invested in, especially in that defense. However, I really like what they did in free agency. I thought that they had a pretty solid free agency. It wasn't like the you know, the splashiest or anything like that. But bringing in Michael Pittman is awesome for them. He absolutely, to me, becomes immediately the volume number one receiver because of all of the different things he can do, how physical he is. He can do anything you ask him to do, and that also will then FREEPDK Metcalf to do the things that DK Metcalf really wants to do, which is stretch the field. So I love that. I like the Jamal Dean signing a lot. I'm excited to see what he does in this defense. Specifically, I give him a plus honestly, because the quarterback thing is always going to be sort of their dead weight question. We don't know even if Aaron Rodgers does come back, we don't know what version of him it'll be. We don't you know, he's he's a player on the decline of his career. So absolutely huge question mark one I wish they would have answered in free agency, frankly, but we did learn from Omarkan that they love Will Howard as a possible you know, as the backup. They really really like him. Mike McCarthy loves him, and you know, we'll kind of just see how this goes if they try to run it back with Aaron. I actually I give him an eighty eight.

01:03:33
Speaker 1: Nice for there, And I forgot to mention Rico Daudo, by the way, replacing Kenny Gainwell on a pretty low cost.

01:03:39
Speaker 3: Deal, and so yeah, you lose a little bit of.

01:03:41
Speaker 5: That Rico on more screen.

01:03:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, Rico wants to call the screen, you know, to great success, and you know he's had a success in the passing game, but as a receiving back. I think Kenny g was up there with the each ens or you know, if I could properly Louisiana pronounce it like Greg kN I can. Well I lean to you on that. But just the if I'm going thank you, Greg, if I'm going to to grade them, I would be up there in the high eighties and where Jordan is. But the fact that we don't just say, hey, Aaron is coming back. He just doesn't want to. Why not just come out and say that, it's just it's just exalt it's.

01:04:23
Speaker 1: Fair putting us through it is we're not going through it.

01:04:27
Speaker 5: Well, he's we know he's in shape guys.

01:04:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, got to keep his stamina right for the extracurriculars. But yeah, other than that being annoying and the fact that the Steelers have had such a good free agency being annoying, Yeah, it's a it's an.

01:04:42
Speaker 1: Eighty five, Okay, I'll give I'll take Jordan's grade. What was it eighty eight? Yeah, I'll not get down one for the Rogers annoyance of it all. But I but I kind of I kind of forgot I really like their free agency because I kind of forgot Jawan Brisker, Darnell Savage, and Sebastin Joseph Day are all defended to solid players. And what I was gonna say, like when I would think about lowering the grade was well, I'd like to see them, you know, take a few more swings, like we asked the Bengals to of like, let's just let's just add a little more depth here. They are an old team that somehow got older, like in free agency, which is hard to do with Jamel, Dean and Pittman. But they they kind of fit the model. But like they have a type, Sebastin j fit. Sebastin Day fits as well. I'm gonna bump it back up a point now that I thought about him, It's back up to eighty eight. Let's take a break our last one. We have four teams to go. The first time we've done this sort of exercise. I give us an a minus.

01:05:40
Speaker 3: Nice.

01:05:40
Speaker 4: What's the minus four so far?

01:05:42
Speaker 2: Just a little carrot? Yeah for you to.

01:05:45
Speaker 3: Improve ho boy, don't want to get the stick.

01:05:55
Speaker 2: Back on NFL Daily.

01:05:58
Speaker 1: Shout out to Darius Slagh who retired since we started taping the show. Great career, Yeah over indexed in memorable plays memorable press conferences being in big Spot. Was a very good player too, a first team All Pro and a part of the Eagles championship run in twenty four Happy.

01:06:19
Speaker 4: Trails, absolutely phenomenal. Quote on anything love Dariusly.

01:06:24
Speaker 1: He did not want to be a member of the Buffalo Bills last year. What a way to retire be like, no, I'm not showing up there. Didn't want to be part of what was going on. Maybe he would not give Brandon being a good grade for this offseason. Here's what Brandon Bean did. Traded a late two for DJ Moore. They did get a fifth back in that trade. For what it's worth, they guaranteed fifteen point five million dollars of DJ Moore's twenty twenty eight money, which is absolutely knocking him a couple points. That was one of the most unnecessary contractual moves.

01:06:58
Speaker 2: I think any team made.

01:06:59
Speaker 1: The swim Bradley Chubb on a contract that doesn't look quite as bad when you peak under the hood, but isn't great. Three for forty two million dollars twenty one million dollars guaranteed d Alford. This slipped under the raidar was a Day one signing. Surprised about that, But again, the money wasn't nearly as bad as the agent sort of made it out to sound. With the up to it's really like a one year, seven point eight million dollar contract.

01:07:23
Speaker 3: That's fine.

01:07:24
Speaker 1: Connor McGovern thirty one million dollars guaranteed. They re signed him that age pretty well. As free agency went on, extended Dawson Knox a few years. They signed CJGJ. Kyle Allen I believe is going to be their new backup quarterback.

01:07:39
Speaker 2: Alisia is right now. They did lose some players.

01:07:41
Speaker 1: David Edwards signed with the Saints, they traded to Ron Johnson, Reggie Gilliam, their fullbacks gone. They have a ton of free agents still out there like Joey Bosa, aj Epanessa, Matt Milano, Shaq Thompson, Larry Ogenjobi. There's actually like five or six more guys you recognize that just haven't been signed by those teams. Sin Epanessa could add to eighteen, possibly even the Buffalo Bills. So we'll see on paper they have negative cap space, which is not a thing that's allowed. So you know, these things are in process and part of what's maybe informing that Jordan is there. Second, this year in cash spending. So they are spending a lot of money in cash for this roster. Considering where we were in January, where we are now, how do you think it all looks for the bills?

01:08:27
Speaker 4: I am looking at over the cap right now and it is interesting. It's negative six point four million in cap space, but actually the effective cap space is even lower in the negative right.

01:08:39
Speaker 1: So a lot of these contracts we haven't seen the numbers and it'll change, yeah.

01:08:42
Speaker 4: But it's like the fact that that number is higher. It's like they're looking at some of the deeper layers of the contracts over the cap is and they're saying, actually, you have even less money than you think you do. So I think it's this is fascinating to me because this is a team that, by all aunts and moves they made in terms of coaching staff and the trade for Dj Moore, it was like, we are going to be all in, We're going aggressive and all these things. And then it's like, oh, they look at their books and they're like, maybe we actually can't be as.

01:09:14
Speaker 2: Aggressive, and yet they gave that money.

01:09:17
Speaker 4: I thought we could be and and Bradley Chubb being I would say like probably one of the more middle tier pass rushers that was that was available in free agency. They have a lot of holes. I have questions about even their offensive line, usually a strength of the group. David Edwards was a great continuity guy there. Aaron Kromer retired. I have questions there. I have questions all throughout their secondary. I have questions up front. I have questions at pass rush. This is a team that has too many questions to be this in the red financially.

01:09:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think the biggest question is because you go from this defense that we've seen all these guys playing it from such a long time, the same guy calling it, you know, through various stints as as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills, or he would come in and out of defensive play calling where Jim Leonard is everything's gonna be different. And I think we see that in like the Johnson departure where d Alfred comes back in from a very aggressive like d Alfred's played in multiple Falcons regime, and this last one was so blitz happy where it's you can put d Alfred in a lot of situations He's gonna be able to execute at a high level where you're trying to grade this relative to the changes that they're having on defense, where the offense is gonna be mostly the same with the addition of DJ Moore. I feel relatively good about it, considering they did address their needs in some capacity. Did they go about addressing those needs in the right way? Maybe not, But in terms of the talent on the field, I think it's an improve.

01:10:44
Speaker 2: Yeah.

01:10:44
Speaker 4: I think it's like Brandon Bean's like, I got you your damn receiver. Now everyone look away, right.

01:10:50
Speaker 1: I don't think they went about it the right way because when you have such limited space and you're spending all this cash, they are a remodeling, they're not rebuilding. But I think they could have stood to be a team that was very active, attacking a lot of different positions in the lower middle of the market. Instead, they gave Bradley Chubb a ton of money for a declining player, and they gave Dj Moore a ton of money in guaranteed money and a pick. I'm giving them a sixty seven, and that's.

01:11:20
Speaker 4: What tells me that internally they feel so much more urgent than a remodel would require. And maybe that's the wrong direction. Maybe leaning into the remodel would have been the smarter decision. But that those moves right tell me how urgent people in that front office feel that they must win, they must get over the hump here. Yeah, and those two are not necessarily congruous thoughts like maybe maybe it's not just about what you think you are or how urgent you feel that, but really what you actually are and really.

01:11:52
Speaker 2: Looking at that honestly, what do you give them? Oh?

01:11:55
Speaker 4: I give them a sixty five.

01:11:57
Speaker 2: Ooh, I love it. They're in contenent for lowis.

01:11:59
Speaker 4: I love, I love the deal.

01:12:00
Speaker 2: What are you gonna do?

01:12:01
Speaker 3: I will say that seventy three would be I think I could have made the case for keeping Edwards and McGovern, like if you want to maintain on the offense and improve, you know, considering the money went elsewhere. But I understand choosing McGovern over Edwards, but why not both?

01:12:16
Speaker 4: I don't know I'm gonna bump them up to a sixty eight because I didn't really. I do love the DJ Moore move.

01:12:21
Speaker 2: I think he could have a very good year. And it's not a good move.

01:12:24
Speaker 1: It's one of my overall just considering everything that was out there potentially, so yeah, sixty eight, they're not going to score.

01:12:30
Speaker 3: Well.

01:12:31
Speaker 1: Miami really interesting offseason. They have the most free agent signings in the NFL. Malik Willis is the only one that got a significant amount of money, though his contract was very heavily guaranteed. Forty five million dollars of his sixty seven was fully guaranteed, which essentially means it's a two year contract, not at crazy money, but they're pretty committed into the second year. I'm just gonna list off the guys that they need, I mean that they signed. You guys, ready, let's do a great you could You could do this at two point five speed if you want, if your podcast device has that capability. Here we go to two out Well, Jalen Tolbert, Ben Simms, Jamari Sawier, Matthew Butler, Robert Beale, Seth Coleman, Willie Gay, David Ajabu, Joshua Uch, Cameron Good, Zane Anderson, Alex Austen, Darryl Baker, Miles Battle, Omar Brown, Lonnie Johnson, Marco Wilson, Tucker Addington, Zaane Gonzalez, Riley Patterson, and the UFL punter Seth Vernon. That list was that order was provided by Simon Clancy, who I called the game over in Dublin with great great uh Dolphin's voice out there. They cut Tua, they cut Bradley Chubb, they traded Minka, They lost Cater Kohu and alec Ingold in free agency. They don't have much cap space there towards the bottom of the league.

01:13:49
Speaker 2: Overall, it all makes sense to me. I don't know.

01:13:51
Speaker 1: I don't think they're better, but the process makes sense to me. So I'm gonna give them like a because they signed Malik Willis, which I wanted someone to do, and I like that Connor. I'm to give them an eighty nine just for process.

01:14:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, eighty two for going and getting your guy. Everything else is just kind of a wash.

01:14:11
Speaker 1: But I like the idea of like they had guys they targeted for whatever reason, and they're just flooding the system. Some of these will work out and that will be with the team when they matter. Most of them obviously won't.

01:14:21
Speaker 4: It's a sprint rebuild. They're eating all of their dead money at one time. Well over the next two years, they're sort of splitting it. There was some reporting out of Miami Herald about the way that they pulled.

01:14:33
Speaker 1: Inwat they have forty plus million dollars of two into next year right where.

01:14:36
Speaker 4: They can sort of reallocate it a little bit. But they didn't fear the dead money. And I think that's important here because they yes, they signed eleven free agents to your point, Greg, but they're still like twentieth in spending of free agents. And that's significant here because what they're doing is they're basically saying, we have our quarterback on a team friendly deal, and we think there's a high ceiling there. There's a definitely a high floor. We also have multiple difference making players on offense, so we're gonna be fun, We're gonna score points regardless. And the defense is a total rebuild. And everywhere else you're patching low cost veteran acquisitions or low cost in general acquisitions to basically set space and to contribute while these draft picks are developing. And that, to me, there's a blueprint for this. It's the forty nine ers, It's the Rams, it is the Bucks from a few years ago. It's teams that don't fear the dead money and instead say, who do we have, what really are we and how can we actually make this whole rebuild go a lot faster by keeping certain players intact and adding to the quarterback room.

01:15:47
Speaker 5: And then getting rid of the things that don't serve us anymore.

01:15:49
Speaker 1: And they don't have quite as much as those teams had, But it is crazy. In the twenty twenty four playoffs that, like most of the good teams had, we're among the league leaders in dead money, which was great. Like the Ams, the Packers, the Broncos made the playoffs with the Russell Wilsons did it money.

01:16:04
Speaker 2: Their defensive players are intriguing.

01:16:07
Speaker 1: They drafted, you know, they like Jordan Phillips, who is a nose tackle, a fifth round pick, like they have Chop Robinson still there. They they're not as far away, but they're they're pretty far away.

01:16:16
Speaker 4: I didn't give them a grade either because I'm giving them an ay too, because I think this plan works if you do it right, if you can coach, you have the right coach to front office tandem, if you are are identifying the correct players in the draft. And that's a big if. But this is absolutely, very clearly the plan, and I appreciate how they're executing it so far.

01:16:35
Speaker 1: It's the easy part of the process. You got to find the good players. That's that's the hard part of the process. But it also makes sense the way that they're doing it, and who knows, they might win too many games if they got the coach right, and that would be good form, lake Willis, because then you don't have to worry about the quarterback crop next year. The Patriots not as active this offseason, but plenty active. Verah Tucker Elijah Vera Tucker gets to twenty one million dollars guaranteed. He also gets the most per game roster bonuses ever. We think it's like almost five million dollars a year in just like playing. So if Vera Tucka plays that, his contract really goes up quite a bit. Romeo Dobbs only, I say only, But to me, it's only got thirty five million dollars guaranteed. It's all in the first two years. Draymond Jones, for instance, got twenty three million dollars guaranteed. Those are basically two year contracts they signed. Kevin Byerd, I feel like there's a lot of funny money in his up to nine million dollars that my guess is it's probably half of that or something. They cut Stefan Diggs, they cut Anthony Jennings, they traded their center Garrett Bradbury. They lost their safety Jalen Hawkins, they lost Kyristanka, they lost kleb On Chason, they lost a lot of people that played a lot of roles for them. And most importantly, they have forty one million dollars in cap space and this weekend, the stop and shop bag that was bought I think four years ago when I was visiting my parents in Massachusetts was brought back out when I went to the beach with my kids. Now that me and Mac have like a personal connection, we like we got to use that old Mac stop and shot bag that only costs two dollars back in the day and.

01:18:18
Speaker 2: Use that as our beach bag. Just call it a but it's.

01:18:22
Speaker 4: Not a tote the Mac Jones tote.

01:18:24
Speaker 3: That's what's a tote.

01:18:26
Speaker 2: A tote bag, but that's more like cloth.

01:18:28
Speaker 3: This was like a if we if we have to call it like.

01:18:34
Speaker 2: I think there's a.

01:18:34
Speaker 1: Difference between a tote bag though, and a grocery bag. And this is like a grocery you know, you're reusable.

01:18:41
Speaker 2: It's a it's a big ass bag. That's why it's working.

01:18:44
Speaker 4: So it could tote a lot.

01:18:46
Speaker 1: It could tote a lot, but you wouldn't want to be like walking down the street in London.

01:18:51
Speaker 2: I think with it over your shoulder.

01:18:52
Speaker 4: Why not not.

01:18:54
Speaker 1: As fashionable as maybe like one of those books bags. You know, that's a tote. What got those two?

01:18:59
Speaker 3: A book bag?

01:18:59
Speaker 2: People though? People know?

01:19:01
Speaker 1: Yeah you No, it's like a bag that you buy at a bookstore.

01:19:06
Speaker 2: That's like a book bag, like a book that's where you get your toe Oh.

01:19:10
Speaker 3: To show everybody that that you read books.

01:19:13
Speaker 1: No, that's just you get that's what keeps the books that you just bought, you know. That's it's a strand strand sort of a bag with books in it. Not a book bag, no, because that means something else.

01:19:22
Speaker 3: People are running on the strand, Greg, people are running and walking a lot of books.

01:19:27
Speaker 2: The strand I'm talking about in New York the years performative.

01:19:30
Speaker 4: Am I right?

01:19:31
Speaker 1: What do we think about the I don't know what to think about the I like you, I like it. It seems fine. Yeah, it seems good.

01:19:38
Speaker 3: You get some of the band back together, Rabel embyered. I think Romeo Dobbs is a good addition, a solid edition to this team.

01:19:46
Speaker 1: And I mean I think we've picked the old Titans Rabel stuff, you know, dry a little bit like that's not really something that I'm not excited about that part of it, Like the Harrol Landry thing for.

01:19:57
Speaker 2: He was a huge part of.

01:20:00
Speaker 3: Over it.

01:20:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, two kids, I know, I'm with you. I I He's just he's a total, quintessential rable guy. I love it for him. The thing that I love the most is the Romeo Dobbs signing. I just think he is an absolutely wonderful fit here and basically just takes over this stuff on Dig's roll and probably and then some just such a high volume target somebody who is is gonna continue to grow and evolve. With Drake May the young quarterback like this, this was a fantastic pairing. If this is not one of the more productive pairings in the twenty twenty sixth season, I will be very surprised.

01:20:35
Speaker 1: Draymond Jones is a risk I guess because Seattle, Like that contract did not work out for him for them when he was in Seattle. But yeah, between these three contracts, I mean, Dobbs and Vera Tucker are two of my very favorite I just like, I guess I looked at all the players that they lost, like those are those are significant.

01:20:52
Speaker 4: You're intentionally trying to make your voice a little bit more monotone talking about the Patriots. I've noticed of late because that's how excited you you are to be so back with the Patriots.

01:21:02
Speaker 3: They're back eighty seven.

01:21:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm I was gonna even go ninety, but I didn't want to get accused of bias.

01:21:08
Speaker 4: Oh I'm giving us, so I had to go first. I'm giving him an A ninety flat A. That's an A minus. Well are you an A minus? Excuse me?

01:21:14
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll go eighty eight. Then let's go jet.

01:21:17
Speaker 5: I didn't get many of those, so hey, now I don't know what the numbers are.

01:21:25
Speaker 2: You didn't get a lot of A minuses.

01:21:27
Speaker 4: Please, I got a lot of E pluses.

01:21:28
Speaker 2: Greg, Oh, here we go.

01:21:30
Speaker 3: That's me. They didn't register very highly. Here we go. Great?

01:21:33
Speaker 1: Uh to Mario Davis fifteen million dollars guaranteed at thirty seven years old, two year deal. David Onyamada one year, ten million dollars. Nashon Wright only three and a half million base salary. Joseph Asai gets twenty two million dollars guaranteed, very similar to the Draymond Jones contract. They traded to Andandre Sweat for Minca. I mean they traded for Tovandre Sweat and for Minka Fitzpatrick. They traded away Justin Fields for a late round pick. They acquired Gino and only going to pay him three million dollars. They signed Dylan par Him, which some offensive line guru said was among the worst starters in the league last year. They re signed some kind of back end of the roster guys that they like, Jolanni Woods, Andrew Beck, Max Mitchell. They lost John Simpson. Their offensive line is supposed to be great on paper, but they did lose their two great guards, John Simpson and Vera Tucker. Quincy Williams. They were happy to say goodbye to him. They traded Jermaine Johnson. They still have forty million dollars in cap space despite all that movement. They're actually twenty seventh right now in cash spending, so they're not spending a ton of cash this year. I really didn't like what they were doing on defense Day one. I like it a little more with time because they had to do something, but I just don't like the situation that they entered into January with It's tough for me to look past what's going on with Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougy.

01:23:02
Speaker 3: But they the addition of Nashan Wright, like I've got a very high grade here and again, which causes me to pull you know what, remaining hairs on the male pattern baldness heead of mine. I have out that Nashwan Wright has such a great year where he's turning the ball over so much and playing at such a high level in that second and then only warranting this particular deal with the Jets, where it's just another corner signing another one year deal. And I have to, you know, not to defend the transition tag and the franchise tag as which I normally drive as cost control metrics. I think the compensatory pick formula and the way that that kind of generally lowers the floor for veteran compensation as well. I need to start pointing that out as a cost control metric as well. But the fact that you can get Nashan Wright for what you did I got I'm in the nineties for the.

01:23:53
Speaker 1: That's fascinating to me. You know what's interesting. It just occurred to me, is like, no one paid these Bears guys in the secondary Jawan Brisker didn't get paid, Nisan Right didn't get paid, Kevin Byer didn't get paid.

01:24:03
Speaker 3: That's the NFL making a statement on our sons discussion. They felt like the Allen soance was.

01:24:08
Speaker 1: Dennis true song, the dennisng They did say that, yeah, they're giving all the credit to Dennis Allen, which.

01:24:14
Speaker 4: Is hell, yeah, that's who we send the sscons to.

01:24:17
Speaker 2: That is a wild that you're giving an aid to the Jets. All Right, you're up.

01:24:20
Speaker 4: I'm giving a B flat B eighty five to the Jets because I see what they're trying to do. Like listen, I'm not giving them overly the benefit of the doubt. Like we understand, this has been a dysfunctional franchise for a long time. I understand that. But I see their plan and it is it is the same plan that a lot of these rebuilding teams have and also with familiar players to Aaron Glenn to say, hey, you want to reset a culture, you are going after guys that you are familiar.

01:24:50
Speaker 2: With, that you know.

01:24:52
Speaker 4: That's one part of it. The other part of it is some of The ages are very like eyebrow raising for some of these signings, but they're not cost you a ton of money, first of all, and also you're going to replace those guys with the mass amount of draft picks that you have, and you need these veteran players to tell these guys coming in and to basically set a floor for all of these young guys that are going to be coming in to this roster over the next you know, several months to two years. Now does it predicate what's going to happen to the coach? I don't think so. I still think he's he's unfortunately, you know, on the hot seat. But I absolutely see what at least the plan is for this, because you have to at least establish what the floor of your team is going to be.

01:25:35
Speaker 1: I just worry with Onyamada and Mario Davis specifically that it's like one stop too far that they could just be huge liabilities and they have a coach that can't help them because he hasn't been shown to help his defensive players in a while. And it is kind of like the Browns that I'm grading them based on a little bit on their past as well, because I think it's going to affect their future, that the next regime is going to inherit these guys. And one thing that they did for him is that it won't be many long term deals that get in their way. But I would have liked, like if you gave me the Raiders offseason, like the younger, like investing in those sorts of players make more sense to me, Like Onya Mada is not a consistent player, He's been a like kind of a disaster for his team every second or third year.

01:26:20
Speaker 2: To Mario Davis is a pretty big gamble, I think at this, but.

01:26:24
Speaker 3: I think you get you get the known quantities where you know what they can do, and you get veterans. And if Kevin O'Connell, you know, the quarterback whisper gets the well he needs a veteran to be able to do this. This kJ McCarthy thing couldn't work because he had to do this. Then I'm going to give Aaron Glynn the credit of being a coach who's maybe better suited to play with guys who know what they're doing.

01:26:44
Speaker 4: I agree with you there, Patrick, And I also think that you're also signing guys you know what they're not too. You're not signing them to be everything. You're not signing them to even be plus two players. You're signing them to understand what spots or what traits specifically are being filled, and you have you know exactly what they are and what they aren't, and then you go fill in what they aren't with your draft picks and also fill in guys that will eventually again replace these guys. That's to me, it's very clear what their planet.

01:27:13
Speaker 1: They've been good and in terms of like the trade acquisitions to Adie Mitchell and Harrison Phillips last year were good.

01:27:19
Speaker 2: They were good with their draft. The top of their draft.

01:27:22
Speaker 3: I liked.

01:27:22
Speaker 1: It was their free agencys here he comes. It was their free agency though last year that was a dis bastard. Jamian Sherwood. Brandon Stevens was okay, ish, I'll give it a because they got Geno.

01:27:36
Speaker 2: There's I'll bump it up over seventy at least, that's all.

01:27:40
Speaker 3: We were getting close.

01:27:41
Speaker 4: He's toted his grade up over seventy seventy three.

01:27:44
Speaker 3: This free agency.

01:27:45
Speaker 2: You're getting a number.

01:27:46
Speaker 3: I forget.

01:27:47
Speaker 2: Yes, I did, oh yeah, you gave a B.

01:27:49
Speaker 3: We did it.

01:27:49
Speaker 5: We graded the entire and all the other numbers too, but you you.

01:27:54
Speaker 2: There was like a couple that it was like B minus. You know, under the bus.

01:27:58
Speaker 1: We did the AFC. Now let's do the NFC. Like right now, let's have a three hour show. Hit the music, hit the music, let's get out of here. The next time you hear from us in this studio will be me and Jordan and Colleen on Wednesday.

01:28:16
Speaker 2: That's exciting.

01:28:16
Speaker 1: But you will hear from Daniel Jeremiah and US forties and free agents in the Feed talking about his latest mock draft on Tuesday.

01:28:25
Speaker 2: This is a tree. The regular season never ends