Remaining Roster Holes and Could A.J. Brown Go to the Rams?!

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're all just monitoring the AJ Brown trade too.

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Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal.

00:00:12
Speaker 1: I'm in a way it's in the eighties, where as they would say in London the high twenties, maybe up to thirty.

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Speaker 2: Will Davin is with me in relatively cold.

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Speaker 1: I imagine Dowur London, because that's us.

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Speaker 3: Our image of your stay well never never dour, I mean definitely relatively cold.

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Speaker 4: But no, we're really very positive. It's very cheery.

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Speaker 3: Spring has sprung a little bit in the last week or so. Don't have a bit of a storm in the last couple of days. But you know, we've all been obviously embedded inside watching the free agency frenzy and the trade tsunami and everything else going on, so all the alliterative football fund that we've been enjoying the last few days.

00:00:51
Speaker 1: Yes, if you're not familiar, Will Gavin is an international superstar, gone viral on talkSPORT. He helped call Super Bowl sixty for Talk Sport and I was part of that broadcast. That was a lot of fun. He's a forty nine Ers fan. He's gonna help me go through some of the news today. I've been on the watch for an AJ Brown move as we're taping, just there's just bubbling up of AJ Brown. So nothing, nothing's happened so far. And then we'll also get to just a segment where we look at some of the like big roster holes that we kind of see. I'd lean towards like good teams of just like, huh, this is a problem for good teams, but you could throw in bad teams too, will.

00:01:34
Speaker 3: It's how I've I've found I first did my list, I looked at it and I went, I've basically picked people who were in the top four last year, Like that's how it initially came out.

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Speaker 4: So I tried to adjust it a little bit.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, a lot of it is contenders where I'm kind of stroking my chain and thinking, I don't know if you've done enough to push to that next level.

00:01:51
Speaker 1: Right it doesn't make sense to pick like the Browns for everything when they're their roster is like the Grand Canyon right now, that's what's going on, all right, So here's the AJ Brown news the athletics, Diana Rossini and our Jordan Rodrieg. We're part of a report that the Eagles, you know, have been trying to trade AJ Brown, that the Rams specifically were involved in trade talks for AJ Brown before making the Trent mcdufferiny deal, and that they are quote monitoring the AJ Brown situation. If you go a little deeper into the reporting and it's a co byline with Diana and Jordan, it sounds like the Eagles had a pretty high price tag to begin with. They haven't obviously found a suitor. The Patriots were in the mix. The fact that this news is coming out a little more on Friday gets to my overall takeaway will, which is that the Eagles want to trade AJ Brown, Like this whole idea of like leverage and oh maybe it don't happen if we get the right price or not. Like I don't know what's how this is going to end, obviously, but my big takeaway is like, oh, they really want to trade AJ Brown, which means he probably will be traded. And it is fascinating to think of that Rams landing spot considering the Adams and Puka Akua on their team. I'm sure you're not looking forward to that trio as a forty nine ers span.

00:03:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, the ultimate Fmpicks move would be to then go and throw a first round or at aj Brown, which is supposedly what they want. That plus and that for me, that's the thing that's been putting me off. I think most teams going for this deal, particularly when we started free agency, and somebody threw up the question and actually was in relevance to the forty nine ers who end up going and getting Mike Evans, but they were talking about the guys at the very top of the market, and the question was, would you rather pay Alec Piss twenty seven million dollars a year? Would you rather pay AJ Brown twenty five million dollars a year and pay a first round pick for him? And right now I was leaning towards Alec Pierce all day long. And I think now that it's settled down pre draft, do we see something happened. I think unless it is this Rams making a decision that they are just going to go absolutely all in that it is all about this season that might be the last season of Matt Stafford, I think outside of that, I think this is something that's much more likely tapping around the draft itself or even post draft, when a team misses out on the guy they want. But we all know that how he wants another pick this year. So I think it's gonna be a real balancing act and we're gonna have to monitor the monitoring of the situation.

00:04:26
Speaker 2: Love that analysis.

00:04:28
Speaker 1: I think that's right, and I think the reason it popped up Friday was earlier in the week, the Eagles pushed back a void date in Dallas Godd's contract even though he's been sitting out there on my top one oh one free agents, because the report was he was getting traded when the new league year started. It never actually happened. So maybe that's on us, Maybe that's on the editor editorial staff. We played a little fast and loose. He's just sitting out there number eighty one, and yet he's not really out there, and that they were, I think potentially considering. Diana and Jordan put this paragraph about Dallas Goddard second in the article that maybe the Aj Brown you know, possible trade was you know, coming back up today and maybe the Eagles will back off this huge asking price because they would like to get aj you know, figure out what Aj Brown's cap hit is going to be from tradinghum away so that they can start building the rest of their roster and know what they really have. Can they afford to keep Dallas Goddard for instance, maybe that would be you know, more difficult or less the difficult depending on if they trade a J. Brown or how much do you need Dallas Goddard? You need it more if you trade AJ Brown. Could they still be in the mix for Jonathan Grenard which was a report? Maybe not after the free agency move that they picked up Arnold Ebakeetti, who's kind of a pass rusher for seven and a half million dollars.

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Speaker 2: It does all speak.

00:05:49
Speaker 1: To a team to me that wants to go ahead with their planning, and that planning is probably not gonna have AJ Brown.

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Speaker 2: That's my takeaway for twenty Yeah.

00:05:59
Speaker 3: I think there's a big question remark still over what does that sher mannion offense look like, right, because if you've not got AJ Brown and you're not relying on that kind of two towers of him and Devon to Smith, then you know, is it going to be much more run heavy? Is that the direction that they want to head in? Do they believe that they can go and draft a guy and plug and play and have a starting receiver that way?

00:06:19
Speaker 4: Because what you don't want is a trail On Burk situation.

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Speaker 3: Right, there is literally a like forul like comparison of moving on from aj Brown, picking somebody with that same pick and ending up with a much inferior player, even if you've got the even if you've got the wage and the seeming hassle off of your book. So yeah, I it's it's obvious that to me, and I agree with you on this, that they want to move on. But they want to move on and start planning for this new year, and so maybe they do.

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Speaker 4: Do you think they drop their asking price? Then what does that go down to the two and.

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Speaker 2: A three or sure a two and a three is great.

00:06:51
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know why they would expect to get a first plot first. In a second, I think with some of the reporting out there of like why would you.

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Speaker 2: You, I just wouldn't expect.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't expect the first, And the reporting has been that the Patriots were never offering their first and I think if they had gotten an offer for first, he would be an ex eagle.

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Speaker 2: So I mentioned Ebiketti.

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Speaker 1: He was a guy who was in the top sixty of my free agents, you know, kind of just a pure pass rusher. I think they're okay there on the defensive line. We'll see if they bring Brandon Graham back, but you're right if they traded aj Brown. Your number one receiver is DeVante Smith. I think he can do more. But your number two receiver then is at this point, it's not Dallas Goddter, it's Darius Cooper. I mean, we're talking about roster holes. That would be a massive one, and they obviously wouldn't be finished with whatever they're going to do this offseason, so we'll keep an eye on that. As we're taping, we got some breaking news. Unfortunately it's not the kind of screaming headline I would love to just lead this show with.

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Speaker 2: But it was the highest.

00:07:51
Speaker 1: Remaining player left on my top one oh one free agents, the only player in the top forty that you have no idea what the report is. Do you know my list well enough? This would really show that you love me to know who the player is.

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Speaker 3: I do know who the player is because I had this player going to one of my roster holes that I had during our conversation later and I did go and look at the water and want to go, ooh, So it's Packers tackle Rashid Walker, right but whereas he landed, he.

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Speaker 1: Is with the Carolina Panthers. We threw that out on our last show I did with shook As. That wasn't my number one pick for him, but I was like, there aren't many teams that need to tackle. I threw out the Panthers as one if if they didn't mind investing. While they also have ikey Ekwanmu, but he's coming off a very serious injury which might keep him out of the entire twenty twenty seven season or twenty twenty six season. And it is a one year deal reportedly according to Adam Schefter, and so it's kind of a prove it deal. Walker didn't get the money that he wanted. They need to tackle for one year, he can play in some meaningful games.

00:08:52
Speaker 2: And I think that's a nice, nice.

00:08:53
Speaker 1: Little fit for a Panthers team who's you know, they're gonna now have bigger expect hated this season after adding Devin Lloyd, adding Jalen Phillips, and then adding Rashid Walker right there, that's that's three of my top you know, original thirty players in free agency.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think when you think about some of the tackle contracts that flew around last year. When you think about, you know, a guy like Jalen Moore off the back of four or five starts getting a multi year, decent sized deal.

00:09:20
Speaker 4: I'm slightly surprised that Walker doesn't get something like that, But.

00:09:24
Speaker 3: Apparently hanging around for three days is too long for guys. And actually there were a few teams I thought could have done with him. So I'm kind of stunt he's taking a one year deal, but.

00:09:33
Speaker 1: Well, he probably priced himself out. This is where they should fire the agent.

00:09:36
Speaker 2: You know.

00:09:36
Speaker 1: It's like, I'm sure he had some offers that were just as good or better than some of these tackle offers, like Braden Smith got two for twenty. I'm sure he had an offer better than that, but they were looking for more and then the market dried up.

00:09:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, stunts livid, genuinely and has the market fully dried up? Like, I still feel like there are teams who.

00:09:59
Speaker 4: Are gonna need a guy.

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Speaker 3: I still feel like they could have held out a little longer, but like what the Lion's gonna do. I'm still surprised that he's taken that one year deal, but bet on yourself, come out next year, get your twenty five million a year when you prove that you're starting tackling the league.

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Speaker 1: He also had some bad starts at the end of the season when they were on television, including the playoffs, those games against the Bears, and in general he played his worst when everyone was watching. And so it's kind of the opposite of ada f AOA making a bunch of money. All Right, we're gonna rip through a bunch of these signings that happened before getting to our segment. Chauncey Gardner Johnson, I always feel better when he's back in the league. He's a member of the Buffalo Bills. What a weird offseason for the Buffalo Bills. But adding a little chaos in the back end my guy that I strongly considered to be the one oh one. There is something fun to me about him playing in big time games again with the Bills.

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Speaker 3: I love that you said chaos because I wrote down the chaos factor. This is what I understand jin Led wants to do with this is have him play a big nickel, have them kind of go kind of base hybrid against those eleven personnel kind of three wide receiver looks, and so you've got a guy like on paper, this is a great signing for what he can bring the team, like altimate, kind of Swiss army knife kind of guy, a guy who can use in disguises, do some post snap rotation with him, do all that fun stuff. But is he going to be a culture fit is the question always with CJ. So if there has been some kind of you know, coming to Jesus moment and he is going to come in and be a great professional, then maybe they've gone and got themselves an absolute steal. But you also, as much as you can imagine him being a competitive, good starter on this team this year, you can also imagine him not being on this team come July.

00:11:49
Speaker 1: That that's been the case for him lately. Every stop he has is a little shorter. I think it went fine with the Bears, but but he's gone. Speaking of the Bears, Jawan Brisker, who who is a really fun hitting and safety, is going to the Steelers. That's a fun fit for their secondary. They've been very active in free agency. The Cowboys signed the starter from the Rams at cornerback, Kobe Durant. The Cowboys have been more active in general in free agency than they have been usually but it's mostly been these low cost deals, like a Kobe Durant that's an up to five million dollar contract, but he'll have a chance to play a lot. The Dolphins have been signing a lot of players. They signed Jamari Solier and the former Cowboys receiver Jalen Tolbert. I liked Solier as kind of a versatile probably play a tackle position for for not too much money. Was in my one oh one and then I'll throw this one to you. The Chargers signed Dalvin Tomlinson for seven point five million dollars, and a lot of fan bases out there would be really angry if they looked at the salary cap space that the Chargers had and the chance to win the Super Bowl and then look at the moves that the Chargers have made. And I was kind of thinking, like, why are they so cheap like this offseason? And I think part of it is they are really from the Baltimore school of doing business, where they pray at the altar of the comp picks will. So here are a bunch of players that they signed. Tyler Biadas, he was cut by Washington, so he doesn't count towards cut the COMPIC formula. Keaton Mitchell non tendered by the Ravens, doesn't count towards the COMPIC formula. Alec Ingol the fullback cut by the Dolphins doesn't count towards the COMPIC formula, and Dalvin Tomlinson cut by the Cardinals doesn't count. So it seems like they just want to make moves so that they can get a bunch of compics, which is fine, but I don't know they had they had more needs this offseason.

00:13:43
Speaker 2: I would have liked them to be a little more aggressive.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you, and I think in a year where I know we saw what turned out to be the failed Max Cross betrayed to the Ravens, but where increasingly those teams at the top end are taking risks like teams that want to succeed. We're seeing far fewer of the old school packers who we now see you going out and making big trades, just seeing far few of those teams like the Steelers. The Ravens were seen as like build through the draft, develop your own that, like the Charges, seems to be the one bastion of trying to hold onto that old school technique. But actually at the top of the AFC, I think if they'd thrown a couple of haymakers, they could be a team whore in the AFC Championship Game. Will beyond this year, so I'm if I was a Chargers fan, I'd be pretty disappointed.

00:14:26
Speaker 4: I'm not gonna lie.

00:14:27
Speaker 1: And they've been in the mix, which is always like an annoying thing to hear. It sounded like they actually really wanted to keep out Zion Johnson at guard that they were right there to the end with the Browns.

00:14:38
Speaker 2: Maybe similar money.

00:14:40
Speaker 1: But it was like a taxes thing who like it was close in terms of money, and they lost down on him because they didn't want to pay all that money.

00:14:48
Speaker 2: I don't blame them for letting a Dafeoway leave. We'll see.

00:14:51
Speaker 1: It's still relatively early in the offseason. A couple other nuggets as were taping. Tyler Conklin, the tight end is signing with the Lions. Diami Brown, who had a big deal with Jacksonville last year that didn't work out, is going back to Washington. They're just kind of collecting options, kind of like the Dolphins are, and just hoping someone sticks. The Titans released Lugerious Snead, who was one of the worst contracts really of the last three four years. Even if you take away the fact that they traded a second round pick for him, he immediately had legal issues and then he was hurt.

00:15:23
Speaker 2: And didn't play well in the field.

00:15:24
Speaker 1: Wouldn't surprise me if he goes back to the Chiefs and then I'm gonna just listen to a little sound here which I found fascinating from Travis etn or should I say Travis h So.

00:15:38
Speaker 5: It growing up Travis chan So, it was like a A and E and that's how you always said Travis ah Chang.

00:15:45
Speaker 4: When I went to college, I.

00:15:47
Speaker 5: Kept telling about telling him in my name like every day, every day, every day, and like I've like four weeks.

00:15:52
Speaker 4: They just couldn't get it.

00:15:53
Speaker 5: So I'm like, man, it's eat like how you see it is how you said. I'm very much open to being Travis Hnin and just being and myself. I'll have the correct people here on how to say my name each and every day.

00:16:07
Speaker 1: What could be more saints than this, a man from Lafayette changing his name back to hn like the kind of like the creole pronouncement. Although I have more on this a little bit, but I just I just wanted to let you know that there's two a Chans now in the NFL, and one of it's Travis Ahn from Now I'll.

00:16:27
Speaker 3: Give you an absolutely ridiculous football soccer based nugget on this. There's a very no nonsense manager. This is only appealing to a very small sect of your UK audience, but I'm going to do it anyway. There's a very famous no nonsense football manager called Neil Warnock who's from Yorkshire, who's.

00:16:41
Speaker 4: A proper old school book.

00:16:43
Speaker 3: And there was a guy who used to play center back for England called Phil Jaggie Elka and it is spelt as you would read it.

00:16:49
Speaker 4: And when he was about thirty thirty thirty two thirty.

00:16:51
Speaker 3: Three years old, he did a press conference and he went, actually, my name's pronounced ya Gelka. It's like some kind of Eastern European thing. But Neil Warnock couldn't pronoun bounce my name when I was seventeen years old, and I was so scared of him that I just went yet pronounce it y away, pronounce it Yoway. And it stuck so much that he went fifteen years of his career like that.

00:17:08
Speaker 4: So I'm all for it.

00:17:09
Speaker 3: Trys a Chan, you grab your name back, you take that back while you're there in New Orleans.

00:17:14
Speaker 4: And I think they're going to absolutely love it.

00:17:16
Speaker 2: I love it.

00:17:17
Speaker 1: And here's the update that I am really excited to break to you. So David Hellman, who does a great job with the Athletic Football Show, and it is from I believe New Orleans, definitely Louisiana. He noted that it's funny because him saying like call me e Chan, that's still trying to make it easier for the non creole audience. And he said, really how like he I bet like he pronounce he could pronounce it however he wants, because it's his name, but it'd be like Etchien. And that's why, because you're looking at it and you're wondering, like why would that be so that it would be more like Etchien. He sent me a great voice memo where he said it for me himself.

00:17:57
Speaker 2: I was thinking played it on the show.

00:17:58
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's a step too far. But it'd be like Travis Eccien. So I, you know, as a man who had.

00:18:04
Speaker 2: A friend.

00:18:06
Speaker 1: Nadier Ajlani that grew up I believe in La Fayette. I had a couple people that I knew from that area. Bro Bridge was another one. If if you're a real Cajun and you're from the three three seven and that that's the that's there.

00:18:19
Speaker 2: They're different.

00:18:20
Speaker 1: I mean they're They're among the most different that that you'll find in the United States of America, and they will let you know how they're different. So I want to I just want to honor them right now.

00:18:29
Speaker 3: Travis Accien, you strike me as a man who maybe would be a ETM fan the band, or maybe an ascent ETM fan, the the South of France football team. Like we've always known it was pronounced wrong. We just assumed it was an americanism. We've just like, I just kind of got along with it. I actually funny Dave Hellman story while we're doing a show that's just firing around it at all over the place. I'm a big fan of their show, The Athletic Football Shows excellent. I think I would say the two shows I listened to most to give you for that, but I would say the two I listened to most in a week yours and his. But I'd never watched their show before Super Bowl week. We went to the the fandual party where Green Day were playing. Jordan talked about it on your show, where he said that She said that she was amazed I still have my voice on Sunday. Thanks for calling me out on an internationally famous podcast, Jordan, for my professionalism. But I watched their live draft, their live free agency coverage this week, and I saw them and I went, I recognize that guy? Why do I recognize that guy? And it turns out that at Green Day, I was introduced to a guy called Dave, and I had no idea it was Dave Hellman, and I had had quite a few cocktails, and so the first time I met Dave Helman, he saw me dance around like an idiot and sing at the top of my voice, and I never realized it was this guy whose podcast I've been listening to for like the last two years. So yeah, that's the kind of fun you get on Super Bowl week when you are a misbehaving.

00:19:54
Speaker 2: Brit That's awesome. Great, great guy. I met him a couple of times.

00:19:58
Speaker 1: As some Minakims worry, he's part of a power couple, NFL power couple. Let's take a break. His bride or bride to be Carmen Tally done great work. Let's take a break. We're gonna come back and we're gonna do our segment. Some big roster concerns after this first wave by back on NFL Daily. Still getting used to a world where Mike Evans is a forty nine er, Kyler Murray is a Viking, Malik Willis is going to be starting games all season for the Dolphins. I'm really excited. So the depth charts aren't finalized. We got the draft coming up. We've got some key guys still available. There's about twenty five guys in my top one one still available, most at the back end, but some useful players. But right now it's going to be time for the off season ride along presented by Toyota and what this is gonna be.

00:20:56
Speaker 2: Will Is just going back and forth quickly. I'm just ye looking at the depth.

00:21:00
Speaker 1: Right now in wondering what's going on with a couple of these kind of holes on the depth. Theret you never want to enter the draft a just desperate. So give me one to start that you think is a concern.

00:21:12
Speaker 3: Okay, So I'll pick the only team who didn't sign an external free agent so far this year, the Denver Broncos.

00:21:20
Speaker 4: They went to an AFC championship game.

00:21:22
Speaker 3: Everyone says that if Boonix had been in that game, maybe they beat the Patriots, maybe they're in the super Bowl. But so far their moves have involved resigning JK. Dobbins okay, and not really doing much else. And they are desperate for some deuce. They need a major talent upgrade in terms of their weapons. Courtland certain entering is age thirty one season, Evan ingram less than five hundred yards, like I. Last year, they were second in drops in the NFL, fifth worst in receiving yards by tight ends, bottom half of the league in terms of rushing yards by running backs. If there is a team who are desperate for weapons this offseason, I think it's the Denver Broncos.

00:21:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, good one.

00:22:00
Speaker 1: And I like the word just weapons as a catch all because I I, you know, what I did wasn't too complicated.

00:22:06
Speaker 2: It just went on.

00:22:06
Speaker 1: Our lads, did the all depth charts thing, looked at some of the better teams, and in the end I kind of scrolled past Denver because I was like, well, they're just the same team as they were a year ago. They like, no one looks more similar and they're solid, but you're right, they need just more juice, which is why, like they would be a fun you know combo for for aj Brant. While we're on weapons, then I'm gonna throw it out the the Ravens. You know, center right now is just wide open, but also just weapons, like we're really gonna do this again where Rashad Bateman is the wide receiver too, and we don't really have a three and Isaiah likely's gone, so that's just a little more juice there. Charlie Kohlar, who was like a blocking weapon is gone. Linderbaum, who was a running game weapon is gone. So I'm stretching the definition. I don't think they're done. They're a team that's been excellent with late signings like the Chargers might wind up doing that helps play the comp pick formula, and so it wouldn't surprise me if they're in the trade market. They wouldn't surprise me if there are Steffan Diggs team. But just like right now, they seem very incomplete upfront, and in terms of the weapons.

00:23:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think like the weapons and tight end obviously being a key part of that, but also just with the aera of that line, all the focuses on Tyler and Obama. I know they went and got John Simpson, but Daniel Falela going out of the door as well. They're going to want to keep running the ball a huge amount. You'd imagine they're going to want to keep using Lamar Jackson in that fashion. I just I do worry about teams getting interior pressure on them, and I do think that like that could end up being the side of the ball that they really do struggle on.

00:23:39
Speaker 2: I saw they last Max Crasby, good player.

00:23:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, there you go.

00:23:44
Speaker 1: Kind of it really, I mean, supposedly they're trying to sign them both.

00:23:48
Speaker 3: Trey Hendrickson apparently said that he was expecting them both to be there, and there was definitely no pivot. There was not a pivot. It was a we try, We wanted both desperately wanted both.

00:23:58
Speaker 1: By the way, Max Crosby said that told the Raiders that you were going to get two hundred percent of Max Crosby and then he will absolutely be ready for a week one, and that Gerald McCoy said he spoke to him directly and that they've awoken a beast, to which I say, like, I feel like he was pretty beastly before, and he was working really hard before.

00:24:18
Speaker 2: Is it really gonna be that much different? All right, give me another one.

00:24:21
Speaker 3: I'd quite like them to work him less hard, to be honest, I quite like him to not be on the field for every single down. I had a kind of similar one, and it's something you mentioned earlier about about the Chargers. A similar one to my first one, but different in terms of position. And actually James Gladstone spoke yesterday about for the Jaguars that they are being cap conscious and that they are thinking about those comp picks and that's how they are approaching this offseason.

00:24:48
Speaker 4: They don't want to do anything splashy.

00:24:50
Speaker 3: But I saw what that defense look like when Devin Lloyd went out when the Rams came and played them in London. He missed that game and then the following two or three afterwards. I know that he's got a little bit of that situation we saw with Roken Swift and Patrick Queen about him, where maybe Devin Lloyd was elevated by Foye Lucom, but they struggled without two guys in the middle who could really be difference makers. And Devin Lloyd obviously had huge was a huge, huge, difference maker in terms of the turnovers, in terms of the bull hawking. So I do think like they're back seven, I'd like another corner there as well. Travis Hunt is probably going to play most snaps at corner. That's what Liam Cohen told us in San Francisco. But yeah, I do think their back seven and particularly linebacker, looks like a real gaping hole to me.

00:25:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, they are four picks in the top one hundred, but there are fifty six to one hundred. They have three third round picks, yeah, two regular ones, one they got that from the Lions, and then a com pick, you know, because they made their Travis Hunter trade.

00:25:45
Speaker 2: And I have thought.

00:25:46
Speaker 1: About that too, will that like, well, if you trade Brian Thomas junior, one thing now is you kind of are county on Travis Hunter at cornerback, so you know, you're not really county on Travis Hunter to fill that in. And so yes, in the back end, I'm with you they could use a little more juice. But I do get team like life cycles that they they pushed pretty hard in their first off season and they don't have much cap space this season because of some older contracts, and they're probably looking ahead, and it's like it is okay to kind of go back and forth each year, and this year maybe was never shaping up for them to be super aggressive. I like it, though, I'm gonna go to the Lions edge position. You could have gone left tackle too. I had already kind of mentioned that on the show that I wanted to get different.

00:26:32
Speaker 2: That these are the edge two and Edge three on the Lions.

00:26:36
Speaker 1: Right now, we know who Edge one is, it's one of the best players in the league. Their Edge two is a man named Ahmad Hassanin who was a sixth round pick from a year ago. And then Tyler Lacey, who was like one of those future contracts that they like don't really have any edges other than Aiden Hutchinson.

00:26:55
Speaker 2: Like, obviously they're going to get some.

00:26:56
Speaker 1: They're a candidate for some of these guys that are kicking around free agency, like Joey Bosa or Cam Jordan, did Evan in Clowney, Like there's a bunch of these veteran types, and I'm sure the Lines are going to sign at least one.

00:27:08
Speaker 2: I'm sure they're going to draft one too.

00:27:11
Speaker 1: But you know, you have, like like you need four edges, and they they kind of made this team build at the beginning around, just like line play, line play, line play, and yet right now they basically don't have any edges and they don't have a left tackle.

00:27:25
Speaker 3: I when I first started putting this list together, I did the same thing as you and went through our lads and went through and the number of teams I had as edge one or reage two down I know, almost send. It's been like I always don't want to do it because otherwise I'm just going to end up having the same conversation naming the same four players over and over again.

00:27:42
Speaker 4: But like the whole of the AFC East need an edge.

00:27:45
Speaker 3: Seemingly, I think I had ten twelve teams plus who that was for me, their most pressing need, but that is they are a prime example them and like the Bills are the other one that I really had down as edge, and I think like wasn't necessarily because I just I can't buy as much as Bradley Chubb played seventeen games last year coming off the ACL and had eight and a half sacks. He just didn't look like he had the same get off, didn't look like he had the same speed, and it felt like the bills yet again paying an aging pass Russia who's probably on that one contract beyond where they actually want to pay him because they're always picking too late to go and find their own. And I get that. You know, they move on from both, they move on from ag Panessa. They but they need somebody really with some juice that wasn't gonna be one of mine. But just when you start talking about Edge Usher, it reminded me how much that deal just didn't make sense to me.

00:28:35
Speaker 1: Well, those two guys are out there, and they're actually two of the highest you know, ranked players I have left both and Epinessa Hassan Reddick is still out there, Like, these guys aren't going to change your lives, but they're good pickups for one year. Kyle van Noy is out there kind of a different type of Edge. So there are some players and yeah, I guess let's just stay with the theme that the Bears I feel like could really use a Bosa Orpessa. And they feel like they're a little out of According to Adam Schefter, they're out of cash, like they are not going to get back in the Max Crosby sweepstakes because you know, they spent their cap space. They maybe spent their cash according to him, but they would be a good team for one of these hired guns like a Reddick or a Bosa, because that was to me their biggest issue on the team to end last year was the total lack of a pass rush. And they've done nothing right? Am I missing something? Have they done anything in terms of the pass rush?

00:29:31
Speaker 4: No, you're absolutely spot on.

00:29:33
Speaker 3: And actually it's interesting I because when you started to name those guys and you mentioned to me pretty sure you might ask me a little bit about the forty nine ers. I think seeing Bryce Huff deciding that he's gonna retire to go and protect from lithium battery fires like the most kind of bizarre reason for retiring I've ever seen, but a huge fan of it, and definitely no jokes about powertations flowing around.

00:29:59
Speaker 2: A little bit. Explain that.

00:30:00
Speaker 3: So you told me you haven't watched the full, like eight minute long video that you put out after he said that he could. It was too long to put in a note. He has designed a protection system which is going to protect against fires caused by lithium batteries. I don't know the science behind it, but he's twenty seven years old and decided that with two years still left on his deal with the forty nine ers, he doesn't want to come back. So I think they're a sneaky one that even though they brought inos a Diggi Zua to get that pressure up the middle and to try and provide a bit more juice on that line, I think look to them to once there are the last two or three of those guys floating around. If they can get someone for sub ten million for the year, then I think they definitely will push.

00:30:41
Speaker 2: Well, we know one of those guys, right.

00:30:43
Speaker 4: We haven't thought that last year though, and it didn't.

00:30:45
Speaker 2: Happen to make the forty nine ers great again. The bones.

00:30:51
Speaker 4: No comment. I want to get back. I want to get back.

00:30:55
Speaker 3: I want to get back into your country, and I don't want to state my visa always, So I'm not going to buy on in any way, shape or form.

00:31:01
Speaker 1: How we feel in about the forty nine ers post post Mike Evans and o'diggie Zua. You know, we hit that, but that happened like right before we started to do the show. It was a fascinating trade and I think a really good trade for the forty nine Ers. I know they lost out on Jonathan Franklin Myers, and I know you'd love to have that third round pick, but just in terms of the player i'd rather have, oh so DIGGI yeah.

00:31:24
Speaker 4: One hundred percent.

00:31:24
Speaker 3: And I don't hugely get it from a Cowboys perspective. I understand that the theory is that Christian Park is coming in and it's going to be a completely adjusted system and he's going to move to three four, and they don't think he fits as a kind of nose in that situation. But for me, he is the right age and has the right skill set, arm length, everything else that actually I think he could be trained into that position, whereas for me it's much more Jerry Jones has gone well, I don't want to admit that the guy that I got coming over as part of the Micah Parsons trade isn't the guy I want. I'm not going to get rid of Kenny Clark, so I've got to get rid of one of these tackles to make some space.

00:32:00
Speaker 4: And i'd like you say.

00:32:01
Speaker 3: The pick is semi rich, but I think probably about the right price, and I absolutely love it. I honestly the only one that I haven't got super super excited about is the Drake Greenlaw situation, just because I want to see exactly what the real money is. Seven and a half million feels like a lot for a guy who's come off those two injuries, the one with the forty nine ers and then last year missing time as well with Denver. If that's actually more like a three to four million dollar deal with incentives, I'm in. I think it's a great, great move for them. But Mike Evans and Oskizua, both of them had me truly excited about a free agent signing like I haven't been in a long time. Mike Evans just what he does over the middle of the field suits the Shanahan system so much. They haven't had a proper X receiver in that system for so long, and Perdy loves to throw over that area of the field. He will enjoy having a big body who can win. At the point, I'm trying to remember who it was who put this out there, but no quarterback in the last twelve is Is completed over fifty percent of his passes into the end zone except for Brock Purdy, and now he gets Mike Evans on top of it. So super super excited about the Mike Evans signing and a Diggiezour is exactly what they needed in the middle. They can rotate in those two young guys from last year to help with the run game, Michael Williams off the other side. If they if they stay healthy, the biggest if in all of football. But if they stay healthy, that's a that's a much improved line from last year.

00:33:24
Speaker 2: What a loaded NFC super Bowl there.

00:33:26
Speaker 1: They feel a little super Bowl or busty just because of the age of some of the players. He will have kittles coming off that injury, which doesn't help Trent Williams. It's been quiet on the trade front. We got to assume he's gonna stay there. But the Rams are super Bowl or bust in the same division, and the Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions. And that's before you even think about the Eagles and all the contenders in the North. I just I love how this season is setting up. As we're talking. By the way, the Commander signed another wide receiver, Van Jefferson. They're just just Diami Brown, Van Jefferson, Treylon Burke. They're just throwing dark.

00:34:01
Speaker 4: Really stacking up on those wide receiver falls.

00:34:03
Speaker 1: I mean, that's getting ready. I've liked that approach from the Commanders this offseason in terms of just dartboards. Yeah, a couple of the other ones, and we're going to say goodbye.

00:34:14
Speaker 2: The Raiders.

00:34:15
Speaker 1: You know, they got a nice three receiver in Jaalen Naylor. Maybe you can be a two. It'd be great if they got like a real deal number one at some point. The Panthers, I think, still need more weapons. And I kind of can't believe the Bengals are trying to win a Super Bowl and running it back with these two second year linebackers who were really poor last year for them. So that that's one I'm keeping an eye on. I don't know if you have any speed round ones before we say goodbye and let you get back to taking care of your your twins.

00:34:40
Speaker 2: On a Friday night.

00:34:41
Speaker 3: They're fast asleep. Don't worry about it. I'm going to go and enjoy my evening. The wife's out. I can kick up, put my feet up, enjoy my life. The one that kind of jumped out to me that I haven't mentioned yet was just I the Chiefs back end of their defenses, and obviously because of losing trend withcduffy and because of using Jalen Watson. And yes, I know that, you know, the great Steve Spagnolo trains guys up and they can go and pick up guys in the draft, But I just think the whole of that defense. George Karloft, this isn't a number one edge, he's a number two. And Ashton Galote on the other side, or however he pronounced it if he was in New Orleans. It just doesn't do it for me. Kiras Tong is a nice plugger in the middle, but Chris Jones is coming off another year where he didn't really pick up until past week ten, week eleven. I just I think that defense is not looking like it's gonna be a difference maker this year, and when you're not gonna have your quarterback for anything from four to nine games. As the report, I don't know. There's a lot of holes there. There wasn't one glaring one. I just thought defense. They could do a whole defensive draft this year, and yeah, I wouldn't hate it.

00:35:47
Speaker 1: I like the cater Kohu signing a Loewie Gilman. They gave good money at safety but at cornerback on outside corner right now, it's like Noel Williams and Kristin Fulton, who's always hurt, who was a free agent who barely played for them last year.

00:35:59
Speaker 2: I couldn't have more.

00:36:00
Speaker 1: That's a great shout out to talk about the Chiefs defensive players.

00:36:04
Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's the off season. You're you're making.

00:36:10
Speaker 1: Instagram, you know popular overseas with you. You're making Instagram popular ya with will Other than the occasional NFL Daily appearance, which we should get you back on.

00:36:23
Speaker 4: So oh we are.

00:36:24
Speaker 3: We're doing the Across the Formation podcast weekly now the new podcast from Talk Sport that I've launched with with Oli Hunter and my buddy Sam Harris, which is just I'd attempt to get back to doing something like we used to do when we first started out doing shows, and it was just a few guys who are mates talking about.

00:36:41
Speaker 4: Football and enjoying themselves so very much in.

00:36:44
Speaker 3: The kind of vein of what you guys started out doing, of what the Ring of Fantasy guys are doing. You know, it's a lot of nonsense with a little bit of with a little bit of analysis in there. But we've been having a lot of fun doing that. I went into this week's kind of free agency assessment show saying, actually, I really liked most of the moves people made.

00:37:02
Speaker 4: Like I was, I was really positive.

00:37:05
Speaker 3: I was like, you know what, And then we actually started breaking it down and I tore into about three different teams not intending to.

00:37:10
Speaker 4: It just kind of happened, and everyone said I was maybe a little bit harsh on people.

00:37:14
Speaker 1: That was the off season right 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. You know, every every move can't be great Will Will Gavin, he's the best, a great hang, a great broadcaster.

00:37:33
Speaker 2: Check out the podcaster. Yeah, let's get out of here.

00:37:36
Speaker 1: And by the way, he's he's on a poster with me apparently at the NFL to me him and Ross Tucker because they have all the broadcasters from from around the UK from the super Bowl. So shout out to that, and yeah, shout out to all the listeners for checking us out this week.

00:37:53
Speaker 2: We'll be backed on Monday's event