Free Agency Frenzy Day 3: Hendrickson Lands In Baltimore, Daniel Jones Gets Paid and Fan Bases That Need to CALM DOWN

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we would never back out of a trade agreement. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Westleying podcast studio with my friend Steve Weisch. Colleen Wolf is coming up a little later on the show. We have reached the new league year in the NFL, and like a lot of first days of the new league year, it's not as busy as the first day of the negotiating period on Monday. But oh, Trey Hendrickson and the Ravens gave us a good, juicy piece of steak. We also get to some trades. A Cowboys trade happened just before we started taping. I like a lot of the movies the Commanders are making. That's coming up later in the show. But let's get to the Trey Hendrickson Max Crosby saga. When we last left off on NFL Daily, the trade was canceled. We speculated, hmm, this looks pretty good for Trey Hendrickson, and it did wind up being just that sixty million dollars guaranteed a four year contract for Hendrickson. Let's start about just how Trey Hendrickson landed in Baltimore and how you think this all went down.

00:01:12
Speaker 2: Well, first off, he's got to pass the physical. Before that's there it becomes official. Look, this is one where it clearly Trey Hendrickson. I think the market was slow for him. And then all of a sudden, the Max Crosby deal gets avoided in Baltimore because he fails a physical. Baltimore is like, oh, man, okay, we get the draft pick. We got, we have him. You know, Hendrickson out there and the market's not as juicy as maybe he thought it would be, so let's get it for twenty eight million a year, which is actually two million dollars a year less than Max Crosby. So he's there at the same time as good of a player as Hendrickson is. The way this all came about that they agreed to the trade with Max Crosby. They knew he was coming off of knee surgery. They got their imaging and saw some stuff that they didn't like, and they were like, we're not giving up two first round draft picks and we are going to get Tree.

00:02:00
Speaker 1: Let's listen to Eric Tacosta, and we might listen to a couple of clips, but let's listen to him talk about the signing of Trey Hendrickson and the notion this was put out there by some of the reporting too, that they could have had both Trey Hendrickson and Mac Crosby.

00:02:14
Speaker 3: In terms of Trey, I think we came to a point probably after we lost Tyler, where as we're trying to find the best way for us to get better as a football team, Trey kind of made a lot of sense as a possible guy to look at. So we started some discussions with with he and his agent, thinking that, you know, potentially we'd have two pass rushers on the defensive line on both sides of the line. Again, I think it was disappointing, you know, to us and probably in a way, you know, potentially disappointing probably the tray as well.

00:02:56
Speaker 1: Basically Ta Costa was saying that when he wanted to, you know, potentially sign Trey Hendrickson, like he thought about, okay, we could potentially do both. But when I looked at the overall kind of timeline and how it went, and Mike Garofolo talked about this too, I think they're trying to have their caken age like they were in on Trey Hendrickson at one point, but they weren't necessarily gonna go to the mat for him. And then once they find out that the Max Crosby thing is not going to work, Okay, now let's get this deal done. Because it sounded like Trey Hendrickson wanted about ten million dollars more than he actually ended up getting, and I think the Ravens ended up making up the difference. And they were one of those teams that were in the mix at the lower end of the spec correct correct, I.

00:03:43
Speaker 2: Mean, and you heard Eric the Costa say when they lost in our Tyler Linderbaum and then they knew they had a little more cash to play with. And then when Max Crosby, when they avoided that trade, that's when they had the money to go get him. Now, the notion that they could get those two to play together, that's if Trey Hendrickson wanted to maybe come in on a on a one or two year deal at a lesser number, which there's no way he's gonna do this guys who want to get paid his entire career.

00:04:06
Speaker 4: So this is just how it fell out. But I'm with you.

00:04:08
Speaker 2: I think this is the Ravens like, hey, we we entertained the notion of doing this of these two playing together. But you know it didn't quite work out because.

00:04:16
Speaker 1: Would you rather have Trey Hendrickson and the two first round picks than Max Crosby.

00:04:23
Speaker 4: It really all depends.

00:04:24
Speaker 2: Look, Max Crosby is a great player, a great player against the run. People don't talk enough about how what good of a run.

00:04:30
Speaker 5: Defender he is, and they drop off to Trey Hendrickson.

00:04:32
Speaker 2: And in that scheme that jesse Mentor is going to play, that is a significant role.

00:04:36
Speaker 4: So I think.

00:04:37
Speaker 2: Max plus Max mainly plays on the left side right Trey is almost exclusively.

00:04:43
Speaker 4: On the right side.

00:04:44
Speaker 2: Now there's not there's not so much schematic differences, but you design pressures differently, and so I, oh, I don't know, man, I'm a big Max Crosby guy.

00:04:54
Speaker 4: He is. He is such a disruptive player.

00:04:56
Speaker 5: I mean, you know who else is the big Max Crosby guy that too.

00:04:58
Speaker 1: I think Eric da Costa if he was acting on Wednesday when he met the media of how disappointed he was and saying, how, look, this is not the result we wanted.

00:05:07
Speaker 5: We're hearing reports, you know, from Ian and whatnot.

00:05:10
Speaker 1: It's like, look, Max Scrisby is one of their like his favorite players that I kind of believe it too. Let's actually listen to Eric Tacosta talk about, you know, some of the skepticism around the NFL, including on our network, about what the Ravens have been doing.

00:05:25
Speaker 3: Can I understand how people might, maybe from Afar would feel that way, But nobody is more upset about this than me guided by it actually, and so I regret a big regret for me. But we will move on as a as a football team, and I think there's many many opportunities for us to grow as a team, to become a better team, to build a roster, and to be the team that we want to be.

00:05:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm with you.

00:05:51
Speaker 2: I think they really wanted him, the fact that they were they were going to offer up two first round draft picks, something they've never done for this type.

00:05:57
Speaker 1: Of thing, Like what are the conspiracy theory really think the Ravens were trying to do here that basically they just changed their mind because they realized Trey Hendrickson was available.

00:06:05
Speaker 5: Trey Hendrickson was available the whole time.

00:06:06
Speaker 1: They could have paid Treydritson twenty eight million dollars year the whole time, and they could have had him I think they got to look at those scans and it's only a couple months out from surgery, and they could have gotten that physical maybe done a little faster.

00:06:18
Speaker 5: They agreed to that trade on Friday, why wasn't he there faster?

00:06:21
Speaker 1: And he's a guy who I saw the stats and it was the most snaps played in the NFL sins twenty nineteen, and it was him and Byron Murphy. Way, Byron Murphy was a cornerback, way ahead of the pack, way ahead.

00:06:34
Speaker 5: Of any defensive lineman.

00:06:35
Speaker 1: And he's coming off of torn meniscus surgery here, and maybe they saw some stuff that's like, I don't know one thing.

00:06:42
Speaker 2: To add to that, and this is not being talked about enough. We don't Again, we don't know if it factors into it. Remember before last season, he had surgery on his ankle on the same leg, So maybe there was some residual something that they saw in there from both of those. Now Max played his tail last year coming off that ankle surgery, So maybe not, but there clearly was something in that imaging. And to go back to what you were saying about the physical part, what people don't understand is these guys just don't go into a team facility when they get traded a free agency and get examined there. They may show up meet people and then they go to an off site facility to get examined. So maybe they couldn't get the physical done because the doctor wasn't available or the person was not available to do that imaging.

00:07:26
Speaker 1: There's so many fascinating in Yeah, that's I could talk about this for twenty minutes.

00:07:29
Speaker 5: I think we will.

00:07:30
Speaker 1: They got a quote, and by they I should be specific. Adam Schefter got a quote by the surgeon who I mean O'Neil Elatron who looked at it.

00:07:38
Speaker 4: Whose doctors take care of my shoulders?

00:07:39
Speaker 5: By the way, how are they doing?

00:07:41
Speaker 4: Not good?

00:07:42
Speaker 1: Oh well, that's not a good advertisement for me. That's unfortunate. You know, people don't know Steve was an ex player. You were getting it done. It's a high school level. The college lef a little bit as a practice player in college.

00:07:54
Speaker 5: Okay, okay.

00:07:56
Speaker 1: The quote from him was much more understanding of the Raven situation then a lot of the conspiracy theorists. Here's I'm just gonna read a little part of it. He said, we truly respect the work the Raven staff did regarding his physical exam. We understand the challenge of staff face when tasked to provide a future assessment. This is especially challenging when dealing with an elite player like Max, considering the level of commitment necessary for a team to obtainment.

00:08:20
Speaker 5: It keeps going.

00:08:21
Speaker 1: The timing of the assessments unfortunate because the risk will lessen as the recovery progresses and he can return to his performance and then it goes on from there. But how I read that is like, yeah, it's not looking great necessarily right now. It's pretty you know, soon after the surgery, and we actually respect from a medical point of view, why you would have some questions right now, which is why our guy Ian Rappaport was on this very show late last month saying, I don't know if this trade is gonna happen until he gets better, because this was a real deal, serious surgery, and so I don't know if the Raiders made it sound like things were better off than they were. But I find it really interesting that there's reporting from our Jane Slater that the Ravens actually tried to renegotiate this trade at a certain point, talking about well, look after seeing what we saw, maybe we can just change the terms here a little bit, And that was kind of floating out there, and then they reportedly came back to the Raiders and were like, actually, no, like we're just out now because of everything that we know.

00:09:27
Speaker 2: Look, this is not the first time a player has been flunked on a physical. And you know this is because Max Crosby is such a superstar and such a great player. But there's it happens all the time where teams will approve their doctors, will approve a physical to an injured player or a player coming off of surgery because they trust their medical staff to be able to get maybe this player, Hey we can get this guy through four years. We can get this guy through this injury. Let's just make sure we have the proper plan.

00:09:54
Speaker 4: Clearly.

00:09:54
Speaker 2: Again, what they saw was alarming enough because the Ravens have a very you know, reputable medical staff and so oh for them to say, yeah, we don't know, that's why I'm kind of like when people are like other teams will come in to trade for Max Krosby, don't like the Ravens just put out here, he's damaged goods man. So if you're gonna trade for him, understand what you might be getting. I'm a big believer that Max Kross be gonna come back and play next seas gonna be great, right, But.

00:10:16
Speaker 1: That's the thing is in the end, like there's a good chance that he's gonna play very well because he's been playing through a lot of these injuries and playing very well because he's Max Krosey. But I just to me, just the level of outrage and just so many people are so mad about this, and it's just like a team changed his mind based on new information. It's fine. Of all the things that I've seen our media get mad about, everyone was fine with the entire league, Kaludi against Lamar Jackson in the entire league fighting each other to give look Deshaun Watson, who's a serial sexual assaulter, the biggest contract in NFL history. Are Like, no one really cared about that. But everyone's mad that the Ravens changed their mind.

00:10:57
Speaker 2: Well here's the they calm down. Well, let's go to the prelude to that. How pissed were Raiders fans that they traded Max Crosby. They were livid, they were livid, And now that they're getting him back, they're ultra livid because they're not getting two first round picks this year to go with Fernando Mendoza after their team's done a great job of stacking the roster in free agency. You can't have it both ways, right, And if Max Crosby comes back to this team with the players that they got, they are significantly better team you want ninety eight.

00:11:28
Speaker 1: And so you know who I think was mad The teams that didn't get Max Crosby.

00:11:33
Speaker 5: Not Max Crosby, the teams that didn't get Trey Hendrickson.

00:11:36
Speaker 1: We got reporting on NFL Network that the Colts were heavy in on him, that the Colts were kind of the leader in the clubhouse and they saw him. And so when you're seeing these reports, oh, people around the league are mad.

00:11:46
Speaker 5: There's a GM who says it's BS.

00:11:48
Speaker 1: Well, maybe it's it's the GM that just lost out on Trey Hendrickson, and it's entirely self interested. The Eagles are reportedly in or they were reportedly in on Trey Hendrickson at least get in at the last set, and they might also be in on Jonathan Grid So they're upset because it's hurting their own personal interest. You know him and they lost Jalen Phillips, right, and you know who else is upset? Max Crosby. Mike Garafalo says that he was absolutely furious. We we actually have a graphic of uh the you know, Max Crosby on Instagram and that was him coming back the night before where he's he's got uh you know, looks like a private.

00:12:25
Speaker 4: He's the PJ. Oh yeah, he's on the PJA. The kid called it the PJ called the pack Kids private jet.

00:12:30
Speaker 5: Everything's not great, I mean, but he doesn't own that. He's like, you just buying that the net Jets.

00:12:35
Speaker 1: I mean, I know Mark Davis doesn't send him a private jet to pick him back up at this point.

00:12:40
Speaker 2: No, I mean maybe that was the Ravens private jet actually saying hey, look for everything you're going Look, he's he's gonna be pissed because he's disappointed, because I'm sure he didn't love the fact that for everything that's supposed he went down the Raiders. He loved the fact that he probably love the fact that he was leaving. He loves that organization, he loves that community. But then all of a sudden he gets this imaging. He's all excited. He's posted pictures from the Inner Harbor from his hotel room. I know exactly where you're staying because I've stayed in that same hotel in the same views, thinking he's getting ready to go. Hey, this is the closest I'm going to be to get into a Super Bowl. I'm going to the Baltimore Ravens. And now they're telling me my body is the reason why I'm not going through.

00:13:18
Speaker 5: And it's and it's a feeling of rejection.

00:13:20
Speaker 1: So I'm glad you brought up the potential trade coming up now initially, and I saw this from Diana or Cina, and I've seen it kind of intimated from our network. You know, the Raiders are not changing their price tag for Max Crosby that they still want. Good for them to first for now, good for them, They're not going to get it. No, and I still believe he will be traded. That The only thing I'm backing off of is that it's going to happen soon. It still wouldn't surprise me if he gets traded for a first round pick later this week of maybe a first then a late round pick something like that, because at.

00:13:55
Speaker 5: This point, but if you're the Raiders.

00:13:57
Speaker 1: Maybe you don't rush it, maybe wait till he's getting healthy again, and that this trade happens down the line in the end, even though they can fit him under the salary cap. I think he'll be more valuable to another team. And I expect him to have a plenty good market, just not a two first market.

00:14:13
Speaker 5: And I do think he'll get delt or if.

00:14:16
Speaker 2: You just wait through the summer and you deal these for twenty seven picks, right. I mean, that's another thing that you have to look at, is because one of the Rumbers, one of the Ravens picks was a twenty seven pick. It wasn't There was one this year and one next year. They weren't both this year. So we talked about the Ravens. Are the Raiders having two first round picks? One is their own and one was the Ravens not two, So hold on to the first round picks and stack him for future years.

00:14:38
Speaker 1: You know what's fascinating is that the Cowboys, you know, Team Doctor was what yeah is the guy who examined him. And then immediately afterwards we heard actually the Cowboys are out.

00:14:48
Speaker 4: Now they're out, and.

00:14:50
Speaker 1: They're saying it's because they got Rashan Gary. But Rashan Gary's no Max Crosby, and you could have both. I'm not going you could get out of it Rasson Gary.

00:14:59
Speaker 4: I'm not going with the medical part about it.

00:15:01
Speaker 2: You know, Jane Slater and all the people with the Cowboys are talking about we're not giving up two first round picks, but.

00:15:05
Speaker 1: They were willing to give up a first and supposedly like another pick and a player. I feel like if the Cowboys were willing to do that before that, the raider that they should be should have been willing to do it after. And so maybe it's because of their medical information. Before we move on from this, I just wanted to point out, you know, I wish I was on Live with Claybond on NFL Network when this happened, because he's a Ravens guy, and they actually I think he he told me, I don't think he would mind me betraying this. He'd rather have Trey Hendrickson in the first round picks. He's a big Trey Hendrickson guy. Uh, And I think the Ravens agreed with him. Frank in the end.

00:15:41
Speaker 2: Well, see, it's easy to say now though, because you keep the first round pick. You've got to replace your center, right Linda Bomers, You've got They've lost so many pieces now, they lost Isaiah Likely, They've lost some good players, so now you want that first round pick so you could fortify the roster that has been depleted.

00:16:00
Speaker 5: Glad you mentioned that that part.

00:16:02
Speaker 1: This Raiders team looks much better than when Max Crosby was last on it, and they could afford to keep him. So who knows if, if ever there was a relationship that could maybe come back together, that would be compelling, although I still think he'll be an x an X Raider before the start of the season. But if you look at what the Ravens need right now, they just lost their center. Yep, a huge hole right there. I mean, according to Eric Takasa, they were ready to sign Trey Hendrickson and Max Crosby, so you could use another edge. You're telling us that you're not too happy with your edge group right now.

00:16:34
Speaker 4: They drafted Mike Green last year. Remember he was supposed to.

00:16:37
Speaker 5: Be You got a big hole. You got no Max Crosby there.

00:16:39
Speaker 1: They lost Isaiah Likely from the group that I thought didn't have enough weapons in terms of catching the football already, So they could use a wide receiver.

00:16:49
Speaker 5: Those those are big needs.

00:16:50
Speaker 4: They did.

00:16:50
Speaker 5: They did sign Jalen Hawkins from the team Diggs.

00:16:53
Speaker 2: Stefon Digg is still out there too, and he's from that area. I think Stefon Diggs would be a beast.

00:16:57
Speaker 5: On that team that I could totally image.

00:17:00
Speaker 4: He's from the DMV two happening.

00:17:02
Speaker 5: Wow.

00:17:03
Speaker 1: Okay, they also signed that should Obi a Woozy, So they did a re sign him at cornerback, and they restructured Lamar Jackson's contract. Acosta said that, uh, they're still hoping to extend Lamar Jackson, but they ran out of time with the new league year starting. He doesn't think the restructure will get in the way of potentially extending Lamar Jackson.

00:17:21
Speaker 5: Wow, that was a lot.

00:17:22
Speaker 1: Let's get to the rest of the day, But first let's take a little bit of break here on YouTube and on the NFL channel.

00:17:28
Speaker 5: If you're watching us on YouTube, we'll be back in just a couple of minutes. Back on NFL Daily.

00:17:37
Speaker 1: We completed our biggest acquisition of the season during the break. We've we've negotiated with ESPN Slash NFL Network to get Colleen Wolf for the rest of the show your acquisition too, Yes, year year, this is an ultimate Colleen day here.

00:17:56
Speaker 6: Oh you have no idea?

00:17:58
Speaker 5: How much can I reveal about it?

00:18:00
Speaker 2: Please?

00:18:00
Speaker 5: I'm gonna Your.

00:18:01
Speaker 1: Email was shut down because you had seventeen different workplace video safeties that you had.

00:18:11
Speaker 6: Done, and the one that triggered it was called who works here? And I was like, well, I don't know the answer actually, guys, if we're being honest, but yeah.

00:18:20
Speaker 1: So there what you're dealing with. That uber accident that's been in the mix.

00:18:25
Speaker 5: That was something.

00:18:26
Speaker 1: And then more importantly, yeah, you're you're driving through like Mario Kart trying to get in through the closed streets outside.

00:18:33
Speaker 6: So I drove all have fiction cones to get to you, guys. So you're welcome.

00:18:38
Speaker 5: We we love Calleen.

00:18:39
Speaker 2: Whenever they're getting road ready for the World Cup, let's go.

00:18:45
Speaker 5: Hopefully.

00:18:45
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray's you know, trip to Minnesota not as a tricky for him. He is going to the Vikings, but doesn't mean he's necessarily signing there. He is visiting the Minnesota Vikings to take a physical, which we've learned is an important part of the signing procedures, and according to our insiders, they are, you know, the favorites to land Kyler Murray.

00:19:09
Speaker 5: This is very important for.

00:19:12
Speaker 1: Jji McCarthy, for the Minnesota Vikings, and for me because if Kyler Murray goes to the Vikings, I'm probably winning that matchmaker game that we did last year week.

00:19:21
Speaker 5: But we'll see.

00:19:22
Speaker 1: What do you think about Kyler Murray going to the Vikings and also the reporting saying like he still wants to listen to whoever else might be calling and anything else that's out there.

00:19:32
Speaker 6: I feel like that is just kind of like an extra little add on because it's from the very beginning. This is the fit that makes the most sense, I think for Kyler Murray and for the Vikings. JJ McCarthy might not think so, but I think that this also obviously signifies the Vikings moving on from any potential reunion with Kirk Cousins. And it's just I think that Justin Jefferson will.

00:19:57
Speaker 5: Be happy about this.

00:19:58
Speaker 6: Oh really yeah, because I think.

00:20:01
Speaker 5: A guy that can throw to the outside, yeah.

00:20:03
Speaker 6: Exactly, So, Kyler Murray I think has a really good shot at winning.

00:20:07
Speaker 2: The job if he's I mean, who else is he listening to? Saskatchewan?

00:20:12
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, when I mentioned the Matchmaker game in Jordan. Hello, I know she's going to be listening at some point. She's a big NFL Daily listener.

00:20:20
Speaker 5: We need it. She throughout the Rams as a potential for the Rams.

00:20:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, but if when I heard that, like, well, he wants to listen to see what's out there, what's right for him.

00:20:32
Speaker 5: She's not just putting that on the show out of nowhere.

00:20:34
Speaker 1: And so if you're Kyler Murray, and we haven't heard any reporting elsewhere about the Rams, But if you're Kyler Murray, if let's say either Andy Reid or Sean McVay calls and says, hey, we have these two different situations.

00:20:47
Speaker 5: You can kind of take a step back for a year. You can go through our almost quarterback school. You can win.

00:20:53
Speaker 1: You can win some games for the Chiefs. You might end up playing for the Rams, you might not, but either way, you'll learn the system that the whole league is running. That's something to consider.

00:21:03
Speaker 2: And the Chiefs do need a backup quarterbacks, as Gardner Minshew is now right, So I get that that's not a bad idea, but if he wants to.

00:21:11
Speaker 1: Start, Yeah, the problem is Kevin O'Connell gives you a lot of that too. That's the system, and nobody like quarterbacks just I don't know what Kevin O'Connell does.

00:21:21
Speaker 2: It's worked for Daniel Jones and it's worked for Sam Darnold, the two biggest reclamation projects going through there.

00:21:26
Speaker 1: I mean, people people get with Kevin O'Connell and they just swoon like quarterbacks, they just want to go there. Caleb Williams talked about in that Seth Wickersham book that like he just he just was hoping that he knew he wasn't gonna go to Minnesota, but he just wanted to go to Minnesota because that's kind of like he's the quarterback guy.

00:21:43
Speaker 6: Well, then I feel like this is as long as he passes his physical, which there should be no issue, I would.

00:21:50
Speaker 1: Think he's got the Yeah, Like, they won nine games a year ago with pretty poor quarterback play.

00:21:55
Speaker 5: They won fourteen games the year before with you know.

00:21:58
Speaker 2: And they weren't just hurt by quick to back play. Their offensive line was decimated. Christian darrisolv was not out of the lineup. They had some issues on the offensive line in terms of just durability injury issues, but they're still a really good football team. Their defense is going to keep them in game.

00:22:11
Speaker 6: What do you think his ceiling is Kyler with the Vikings.

00:22:14
Speaker 4: I think he's fantastic.

00:22:15
Speaker 2: I've seen I have seen Kyler Murray play so many times live and I am I am a big Kyler Murray guy.

00:22:23
Speaker 1: That's the thing is, I think a coach like Mcca O'Connell or Sean McVay or or Andy Reid like sees him at his best and says, man, if I could get a hold of that, because I'll answer my own question in terms of like what's this like whe where would you put them in the hierarchy? Like, yeah, I think they can go to the NFC Championship game. I think they can be a contender because if they were that good with Sam Darnold, I think Kyler Murray has a chance to provide that level level of play.

00:22:47
Speaker 5: The Lions. You mentioned you're not happy with how their off season's going, Like, well, I.

00:22:51
Speaker 2: Mean haven't been able to get people, but I mean there's such big believers in you know, draft and develop. Look, we're looking at video Kyler Murray right now and people like, Okay, he's small.

00:22:57
Speaker 4: And he runs around. When you see that ball leave his hand.

00:23:01
Speaker 2: Okay, there are five or six guys when you look at throw the ball and you're just like, okay, pretty they're different that ball leaves their hand. I mean Stafford, some of these that ball leaves her hand different. He's one of those guys. It's a boom when it leaves his hand.

00:23:16
Speaker 1: And Colleen mentioned Kirk Cousins. You know that's not gonna happen. It sounds like in Minnesota there really hasn't been the interest there. There was some interest in Gina Smith from Minnesota, but he's obviously with the Jets. There was a report by the athletics Diana Rossini that the Raiders are interested in Kirk Cousins and that he might end up going there to be you know, presumably Fernando Mendoza's backup or you know, short term starter before Mendoza is ready to go, Let's go to a quarterback who's been near and dear to Colleen's heart, the team of Colleen Wolf the Indianapolis called. In the end, they did kind of what we said they were going to do, which was get Alec Pearson Daniel Jones to stay. And now Daniel Jones has a two year contract that the details are very interesting, Colleen. It's a two year contract about eighty eight million dollars. About fifty million dollars is guaranteed total and sixty for injury. When I hear fifty million dollars fully guaranteed, it kind of sounds like a one year deal, where like if everything went horribly, and I wouldn't want that to happen, but for him and or the Colts, like, I feel like that organization is on a one year deal. But if it goes well, then then they got him for two years and they can give him another contract if they want to be the long term guy.

00:24:31
Speaker 6: And so like with a lot of these moves, I'm looking at what the move signifies to in terms of like the other guys on the roster, and automatically my mind goes to Anthony Richardson and that what this says to everyone about Anthony Richardson and where they are with him, because I know that they were talking about potentially trading him and what that could look like. But you know where I am with Daniel Jones. I love Daniel Jones. I want him to be the Sam Arnold.

00:25:00
Speaker 5: He was the Sam.

00:25:01
Speaker 6: Darnold of last year. And then everything sort of collapsed. But I know that they are. I don't want to say that they're living in the past. I think that they saw the success that they had in the first half of last season, and I think they know that they have so much talent on that roster and they could do it again potentially, And maybe they're just trying to run it back to see how close they can get, right, But they're running.

00:25:24
Speaker 1: It back with a guy that has a torn achilles tendon, and they don't have Michael Pittman anymore, and they tried to get Trey Hendrickson and instead they signed Michael Clemens.

00:25:31
Speaker 6: Fair.

00:25:32
Speaker 5: I just, I just I did a whole segment. Would you send that out?

00:25:35
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about sending that out on social but it's basically saying negging their whole season, you know, like, oh yeah, right.

00:25:42
Speaker 6: As are we work shopping?

00:25:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just saying like it's pretty negative for the first day after free agency to be like, it doesn't sound like that great a plan. And then I get some comments of like, yeah, well Jason Tatum's playing already. It's like, okay, but that's ten months after his injury. We're hearing he's gonna Daniel Jones gonna be ready for a week one, like you don't know.

00:26:00
Speaker 4: You don't know that, but it was December.

00:26:02
Speaker 2: I mean, this is clearly when you talk about some of those guarantees, there's clearly some triggers in there that that trigger the guarantees. But I don't think they're rolling their dice like this. You know, if they don't think he's gonna come back. I don't think Alec Pierce re signs if he doesn't think his buddy Daniel Jones is coming back.

00:26:20
Speaker 4: So I think I think all of that factored into it.

00:26:24
Speaker 2: And you know, I just think they feel that, Okay, some of the guys who let go Zire Franklin, guys like this, we've got guys on our roster who we think can play. There's still some other players out there we can get and we can draft.

00:26:34
Speaker 4: Okay. So that's you know, that's what they feel like.

00:26:36
Speaker 2: They're in a division where they've seen Jacksonville take a lot of personnel losses in free agency, so that maybe they feel they can get right back there. Remember we were talking about the Colts being the Super Bowl team halfway through the scenion.

00:26:47
Speaker 1: Right, I know, but there is something Danny Heyfitz pointed out on The Ringer Fantasy Show of just like there's almost something a little sad that they're just like, we gotta we gotta run this back, because this was the best run that the entire Chris Ballard era had so well, I know, but they still finished, they still finished the nine last year, like they didn't win a single game after he got hurt and they started losing even before. I don't know, I just think it's a it's a high bar to reach. Let's listen to Daniel Jones. Maybe he can perk me up.

00:27:16
Speaker 5: He was on ESPN.

00:27:18
Speaker 4: I'm sure he brings that smoke to Okay.

00:27:20
Speaker 1: I haven't heard this one yet. Let's hear him on ESPN earlier today.

00:27:25
Speaker 7: I wanted to be back and and uh, I'm glad we got it figured out. I didn't the transition tag. That whole process was was interesting, but I always wanted to be here and you know, had faith it would it would work out. So yeah, definitely appreciative, grateful and fired up to be here. We got a special thing going and working with this coaching staff, working with the guys in the locker room, and fired up to get Alec back and and all that.

00:27:46
Speaker 5: So, uh looking forward to it.

00:27:49
Speaker 1: Come on down, Riley Ward. Yeah, No, that made me feel a little better. I mean, how do you feel I mean, because I just feel like they gotta get they go out to a fast start, it's gonna be tricky. I thought they might do something at quarterback and it's been quiet there. Do you like, how do you feel about Riley Leonard holding the fort.

00:28:04
Speaker 6: Until Well, that's I feel like that's a different story. Like, I have a lot more confidence in Daniel Jones, but I think that we just have to wait to see where he is in his rehab and obviously there's a lot of questions that are going to have to be answered this offseason and training camp and preseason two.

00:28:24
Speaker 1: I like that I take you know, Colleen gets right off the street. Uh, she's ready and then just I'm just like putting her on the hot seaton.

00:28:30
Speaker 6: I know, I saw my lanyard on like I mean.

00:28:34
Speaker 1: The forty nine Ers have traded for osa Odigi Zua from the Cowboys for a twenty twenty six third round pick that started bubbling up a little earlier in the week. I mean, this is a big time player who they gave a quote unquote hundred million dollar contract to is, earning a little over twenty million dollars a pocket pushing defensive tackle, and it helps, you know, the team get some more draft picks. Solomon Thomas also was traded to the Titans in a swap of seventh round picks from the Cowboys. But the Odgazua move is big for San Francisco, and it's interesting because Dallas is like trying to get picks back. It's very confusing because they have the extra first round pick from the Michael Parsons deal, but you kind of forget. Oh yeah, they gave up all those picks for Quwentn Williams and for George Pickens, so they didn't have any picks after that. I don't really know what the planet is here, Like the defense keeps changing. Kristin Parker is the defensive coordinator, so maybe Odigi Zua didn't fit as well. But that's a big time acquisition to be paying that much money if you're the forty one.

00:29:33
Speaker 2: Clearly it's a cap move for Dallas as well and kind of clear some salary off their ross. But look, San Francisco, Ruhie Morrison or is now the defensive coordinator, we know he likes those hyper athletic defensive tackles, gap type defensive tackles.

00:29:47
Speaker 4: He fits what they want to do. Now.

00:29:49
Speaker 2: Nick Bosa is coming back, but they've got to get something on Mikel Williams. They we've got to continue to develop some guys on that defensive front. But this is something where they clearly like we've got to be better against the run. Warner's coming back off of an injury. I know they got de winners, and you know they're at one of the linebacker spots. I would not be surprised for a green Law who was let go by Denver comes back to play the linebacker spot there. But this is a nice pick up what Raree Morris wants to do with this defense.

00:30:16
Speaker 6: Yeah, and he rarely missed time like this as a player, so he's terrible. He's consistent. You can rely on him. And you talk about some of the guys that are now there in San Francisco, including Mattyberflus who comes over from oh yeah, Dallas to the forty nine ers.

00:30:33
Speaker 5: So you're always connecting the coaches my.

00:30:36
Speaker 6: Lane and I like to do. But that sort of makes some sense.

00:30:39
Speaker 1: Too. They were spend spending a lot of money in terms of like defensive tackles in Dallas, Kenny Clark quinnin willis right, and then Odiggy Zoo was kind of in the old scheme. And I thought San Francisco was gonna be like the sneaky, super aggressive win Now team in this free agency period. And I don't think they got everything that they've wanted necessarily.

00:30:59
Speaker 5: I think the WHI receiver.

00:31:00
Speaker 1: You know, they were in on Alec Pierce, and then they wind up convincing Mike Evans to come instead for very little money.

00:31:07
Speaker 5: Trent Williams still on the roster. I don't know if that's going to change.

00:31:11
Speaker 4: Figure.

00:31:11
Speaker 1: I knew they needed some pass rush help, so I'm just thinking edge edge edge, But instead it ends up being kind of an interior move and giving up a third round pick.

00:31:19
Speaker 5: That's that's a real pick, Yeah, a real pick that NFC West just feels like.

00:31:23
Speaker 1: It's absolutely it's an arm breakload an it is an arms race.

00:31:26
Speaker 4: What's going on out there?

00:31:28
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the commanders making moves, and they were the team I talked about at a certain point on Wednesday, March eleventh. Here first, day of the new league year, like, there were the two highest guys on my top one O one were Kyler Murray who just became a free agent on Wednesday, and then Rashid Walker, the tackle from the Packers. The next three on the list, which were like between thirty I think and thirty five where Calebon chase him. Commanders took him for a one year contract twelve million dollars ed Rusher. Then it was tight end Chico'conquo. They signed him for about nine million dollars I think base salary on a three year contract.

00:32:04
Speaker 5: I like that move.

00:32:05
Speaker 1: And then the next guy on the list, the highest defensive player of remaining, was Nick Cross and they pick him off for a low cost deal. And I'm just thinking like, oh, yeah, I forgot Leo Chanel. By the way, is there too, Yeah.

00:32:19
Speaker 4: And they got him and they got to make Robinson to h Robertson.

00:32:22
Speaker 1: That was like a little earlier, but in terms of you know what happened Wednesday, they were just like picking off my guys. So I feel like I could be a consultant as we're taping this. When the league year started, there was only two in the top forty two players that's never happened before. Free agency is just like moves faster than ever that there's only two out of a top forty. But what do you think about the commanders in your division? I mean, first, you are an eagle making smart moves. I'm kind of in wasn't sure about the adappe away move.

00:32:50
Speaker 5: It was a lot of money, man.

00:32:52
Speaker 1: They have added a lot of pretty good defensive players in Oconquo for the guys who are in the middle of their their careers instead of at the end of.

00:33:00
Speaker 6: Well, just to put some context into the way that free agency is moving right now. Steve and I were on a show Monday, and it was the second half of the right after the legal tampering period window opened, and we're sitting in a production meeting trying to go through what the show would look like. We were going to be on for four hours, and as we would start one topic, it was just like moves were rolling in left and right. Everything was changing so fast, and the commanders were so quiet during that first day, but they made up for it, and I like that they as Colleen the analyst here, I like that they focused on defense, which was obviously a major liability for them during the season, and they had all of this cap space, so they were able to make these signings and have the flexibility. As Colleen, the Eagles fan, I hate it.

00:33:56
Speaker 1: I hate it all, and it's guys like in their twenties. It's athletic, and I think it's really interesting. Dernte Jones is the new defensive coordinator. He comes from Brian Flores. Ya know, you wonder is Dan is it gonna be Dan Quinn's defense or is it going to be Deronte Jones. Well, I can just see Nick Cross and Leos Chanelle specifically in that Brian Flores type of defense. Just Jack knifing and making some big run stoff stuffs and Leo Chanell rushing the passer from the linebacker position.

00:34:25
Speaker 5: It could be fun.

00:34:26
Speaker 4: Well, look, they've got to get some guys who can win.

00:34:28
Speaker 2: Last year when they went to free agency, like you mentioned earlier, they went got guys like win. Now, we've got to get defensive front guys who can win on first down. Right, they couldn't stop the run the year before and they went to the NFC Championship that did not work out, and because they were slow up front, their pursuit angles were terrible on the back. They got hit for big run after big run. So now getting guys like Chaseawn who can run. Oh wait, who was super athletic. Right, you get Tim Settle from Houston. Forget that's a that's a guy who can reset the line of scrimmage. He's going to rotate in it with Javon Kinlaw, who they love. I love Nick Cross. I mean I think he gives them an awful lot at that strong kind of hybrid safety spot.

00:35:06
Speaker 4: So we'll see.

00:35:07
Speaker 2: Because Deronte Jones, he is a secondary coach by nature, but he's an aggressive guy. He's he's one of those guys who's on the fast track, on the on the way up in a lot of people's eyes as well.

00:35:16
Speaker 4: So it's it's a weight and see.

00:35:19
Speaker 2: But I think Shannal and Frankie Louvu just get add some significant athleticist interior linebacker corps.

00:35:25
Speaker 1: I mean they're the most like Patriots, like of an off season where they just have a ton of starters. They got a hit on it, but I just mean from last year where they just got a lot of players who are going to play.

00:35:32
Speaker 6: I think the one big miss aside from Alec Pearce would be not getting Tyler Linderbaum because of losing that's that's a huge, huge part of the offensive line.

00:35:46
Speaker 1: And they end up spending it, which I think was smart. I like the middle tier of this free agency group. They didn't have to spend too much on Chase On so they got two new edge starters and him in o way, they got a new linebacker and Chanel.

00:35:56
Speaker 5: They got crossed that center. That center thing is big.

00:36:01
Speaker 1: I think they're going to elevate Nick Alligretti, who was there and played a couple of games at the end of the last They also might be adding Brandon Ayuk. By the way, I think he's officially expected to get cut. Maybe he's not going to solve their wide receiver situation, but it might be like a one year type of prove it deal. While we're talking commanders, Leo Chanelle was part of something I just wanted to talk about a little bit, which were these messages on social media in which I think I don't know for sure, but I think the players are using ai uh to write it. If you're watching on YouTube or the NFL channel, you can see the image from Leo Chanelle and it just looks very similar to a couple of the images that I saw early in the week, especially the Zaire Franklin and then the Rashan Gary one that he deleted. Now, if you read these closely, and you guys can do this in your in your homework, you're off time. Especially the Chanelle and Rashan Gary ones. They really include no information that is particular to them, you know what I mean, Like it just could be any Chiefs player or almost any Packers player, and it just feels like either their agency or they are using AI to construct a goodbye letter they are.

00:37:19
Speaker 4: All you have to do is look at the transfer portal exits.

00:37:22
Speaker 2: Yes, when all these collegiate players hit the transfer portal, there's a million of them and.

00:37:26
Speaker 4: They all know.

00:37:27
Speaker 6: This is like such a trigger for me because I've gotten a few emails recently with pitches for things or like treatments for like shows or ideas, and it's so clearly AI that there wasn't even the thought to go through and like read it because the words are running together, things don't make sense.

00:37:50
Speaker 1: I'm like, guys, I mean, the Rashan Gary one said something like wherever I go, I'll you know, bring my six foot seven, two hundred and fifty pounds.

00:38:03
Speaker 5: Goodbye, Rashan Gary.

00:38:05
Speaker 1: Nobody talks like that, to quote one of the greatest NFL Network employees of all time, like we're losing recipes. It is, it is not great, and we're wally in ourselves. Do you remember the movie Wally? Oh, yeah, it's happening. Don't let that happen?

00:38:21
Speaker 4: Better than I robot at this stage.

00:38:24
Speaker 5: It was really telling. Before we break, I'll just smarter everybody. Yeah. Please.

00:38:28
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, by the way, we mentioned he was gonna get cut, is gonna stay with the Vikings after all, on a reduced contract. I think that's great for both sides. And Harrison Smith is getting released in a procedural move. He hasn't decided whether he wants to retire or not. The lines of communication are open, and if he chooses to play still in twenty twenty six, he could come back. But I like Aaron Jones returning to the Vikings. Let's take another break here and we will be back in just a couple minutes. Stick with us, Let's rip through just a few other news items.

00:39:03
Speaker 5: But I do want to confirm your the email. Is it back?

00:39:06
Speaker 6: I don't know. I'm working on it all right, Greg, everyone's working on it.

00:39:12
Speaker 1: I will think in and there's no WAYHR is listening. I was thinking it would be great in the future because some of these are hard.

00:39:17
Speaker 5: I could pay my son to.

00:39:18
Speaker 1: Do the HR requirements for me at home. It's like a It'd be like an.

00:39:21
Speaker 6: Allowance for new dollar someone else.

00:39:23
Speaker 5: That's me.

00:39:24
Speaker 6: You should get kids, because it's super fun to do the ninjeos.

00:39:27
Speaker 5: Yeah, children do.

00:39:28
Speaker 4: That nothing on an open bike.

00:39:30
Speaker 1: A couple other moves, and I'm just gonna ask you for one liners and a couple of these. Devon Hargrave goes to the Green Bay Packers. I'm really surprised that he got thirteen million dollars guaranteed two years for twenty three.

00:39:40
Speaker 2: He's He's in the salary Hall of Fame and heat. They needed todtackle. Javon's a good lunch stuff.

00:39:44
Speaker 5: So the Vikings cut him. He goes right to Green Bay.

00:39:47
Speaker 1: Bradley Chubb got twenty nine million dollars guaranteed from the Bills three years, fifty two million dollars. They're a team. I was gonna call you, Jordan Colleen. Oh, I'm so used to it. You know, she's here a lot we need to hear more.

00:40:02
Speaker 6: I love them, so I will take that as a compliment.

00:40:05
Speaker 1: Like I don't know, like Bradley Chubb's coming out, He's had a lot of injuries in his career and they have a lot of holes to fill, so so in not a lot of cap space to spend this much money on Bradley Chubb seems seems like a lot to me.

00:40:16
Speaker 6: That's a lot. But I mean he would start what opposite Greg Russo, and it's going to be a new defense. They're changing based systems, so there's kind of a lot in flux. But I think it's sort of it's similar to the schemes that he played in Miami previously and Denver, so that.

00:40:34
Speaker 5: Could help well.

00:40:34
Speaker 1: And yeah, they got the coach from Denver, so there's yeah, Jim, she did it again.

00:40:40
Speaker 5: She did it again.

00:40:41
Speaker 1: The Patriots have signed Kevin Bayard up to nine million dollars. Not sure what the real money is there, but an interesting older edition.

00:40:48
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I'm surprised that the Bearers let him go.

00:40:51
Speaker 1: I I am too, But you know it's going to make that defense a little slower, but kind of like a leader.

00:40:55
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, he'll he'll stabilize some things in the back end.

00:40:58
Speaker 1: They cut Anthony Jennings, who's been a long time. We mentioned earlier that that Kirk Cousins could potentially be, you know, interested in the Raiders. A couple of other minor signings, the Dolphins bringing back to josh U j Willie Gay, and then the news and NFL all but confirmed it with a statement that they're circling Thanksgiving Eve.

00:41:19
Speaker 5: Colleen and Steve, are you ready to work another game?

00:41:22
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving Eve could be coming to the NFL schedule as early as this season.

00:41:26
Speaker 2: They played a Wednesday game on christ Christmas. You know, so it's coming. It's coming to set up the you know, all the streamers and the eighteenth game.

00:41:34
Speaker 6: Listen. I mean, there's gonna be a game on Valentine's Day. There's going to be a game on Easter.

00:41:39
Speaker 5: I have two thoughts.

00:41:40
Speaker 1: For sure, If I can get more like another job out of it, I'm all for it. If not, you know, we'll we'll just combine into the Thanksgiving Day recap.

00:41:51
Speaker 6: I think on NFL days, so NFL Daily, it's a daily show, and you would like love their job.

00:41:56
Speaker 5: Well, I'm saying you're saying streamers or whatever.

00:41:58
Speaker 1: Who knows there there's always opportun tunities out there Thanksgiving Eve, but that would really it really hurt the teams the week before because they'd have to have a bye week, but then they don't get a real bye week.

00:42:08
Speaker 4: Or they'd be a Thursday team playing on a little ah.

00:42:11
Speaker 5: That's true either way, it's it's weekday work man.

00:42:14
Speaker 6: Mike North will figure it out.

00:42:16
Speaker 1: A long time ago, I suggested on the Around the NFL podcast my plan this was way back in twenty fifteen, to play NFL. This was before I had two kids, but to play NFL games every day of the week. I came up with a whole schedule that we could do two games a day for the entire season.

00:42:31
Speaker 5: The NFL is getting closer to that each and every year.

00:42:33
Speaker 1: This is the part of free agency where a lot of fan bases were just like, how come my team's not doing anything? Can we do something more? Why don't you care about us? And so we're going to do a segment about it, and it's really just an excuse for Colleen to talk about the Eagles.

00:42:48
Speaker 6: Listen, all right, fine, I was going to say that usually when you tell someone to calm down, it goes really well.

00:42:55
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, good point.

00:42:56
Speaker 6: So I say this with like some caution for Eagles fans to calm down. And I don't know if it's honestly like if I'm projecting, if this is real? Are they is it just my family like kind of talking about Okay, all right? So, and I think in a way it is warranted because they lost Jalen Phillips, Nakobe Dean, read Blank, and Ship. The wide receiver room is sort of uncertain right now with all of the rumors swirling about aj Brown. Jahan Dotson has gone Dallas Goddard. That is unclear what's going to happen with him. However, I just feel like at this point Howie Roseman has showed us that even when things look awful on this roster that he finds a way And there's always internal replacements that are already in place, like Jahad Campbell Verdean, you have Andrew Macouba for Blankenship. I mean they have a ton of draft capital, nine picks, including four compensatory picks, and the wild card loss last year to the forty nine ers. It's not like it was some blowout. Yes, they lost that that was bad at home, but it was a close, competitive game. And Howie's track record, I just think everyone needs to take a deep breath and watch him cook. Let's see what happened.

00:44:15
Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, it's like, oh, the roster's in tough shape. Oh yeah, I'm sure a ton of teams out there feel bad for the team that has AJ Brown and DeVante Smith and three of the best offensive linemen in the league and a Super Bowl winning quarterback and Saquon Barkley and Jalen Carter and Zach Bond like and the guys in the back and calm down. Also, Baldy heard that maybe they're talking Aj Brown to the Broncos is a little something that would be interesting.

00:44:41
Speaker 5: I don't know who would be coming back. Maybe it would be Courtland Suton.

00:44:43
Speaker 6: Well, the wide receiver class this year in the draft is really deep.

00:44:46
Speaker 1: And then there has been other reporting too that they could be talking to the Vikings about Jonathan Grenard to fill that edge. So I'm with you, calm down, Let Howie do his thing. It's not about the first couple of days.

00:44:58
Speaker 4: I thought you were going to drop a Hey, Sean Man got this on it.

00:45:01
Speaker 1: How about Yours is simple. We've talked about my simple.

00:45:04
Speaker 2: And I say this because at least the Raiders have a legit like hardcore fan base.

00:45:08
Speaker 4: But they didn't chill.

00:45:09
Speaker 2: I mean the other day they were so upset, like, oh man, we got rid of Max.

00:45:12
Speaker 4: He's a heart and soul of our team and our community.

00:45:15
Speaker 2: All of a sudden, Max fails to fiscal all we got Max back is sucked.

00:45:19
Speaker 4: We lose a second round, we lose that second first round draft pick. What the hell the NFL is against us?

00:45:25
Speaker 5: It is funny, Yeah, calm down, and for everyone, I.

00:45:27
Speaker 4: Have it both ways.

00:45:28
Speaker 2: It's not like you guys, even ripping off super Bowl championships, just continue to be tortured like Eagles fans. Except Eagles fans if once continue to be tortured and trust the process, right.

00:45:37
Speaker 1: And if all those teams are so mad about what the Ravens did with Crosby, go get Crosby.

00:45:43
Speaker 5: You know the price is down, you can go get him.

00:45:45
Speaker 1: I'm gonna talk about the Chargers, who I think I over index and following Chargers fans and in media and so I don't think this would be known nashally, but they are freaking out right now that the team has not addressed the offensive line specifically enough. They Tyler, you know, they got Tyler Biattish. They re signed a couple guys that didn't really play that well for them, Pipkins and who was it, Trevor Penning. But again, it's like these offensive line contracts where you're paying up the nose. Mike McDaniel has two great tackles now and it's day one officially of free agency, and so it's more about the timing of it all, like let them do their work, don't evaluate the entire offseason. At this point, you can find other offensive linemen and you can coach them.

00:46:31
Speaker 4: They didn't love their guards who they let go. They didn't love their guards.

00:46:34
Speaker 2: They got a blocking tight end to help compensate for the injured tackles who are coming back. But Chargers, they should feel good. This is the first time they've ever been told to calm down, you know, ever since you know that's true, extra points and field goals.

00:46:47
Speaker 5: The expectations are higher, just like they are on this show.

00:46:50
Speaker 1: Lucky Colleen Wolf, like grand Theft auto through the streets of Los Angeles, she gets here just in time. Steve Wisch, it's been fun all week. We've been going live earlier in the week. We'll still be doing NFL Daily every day this week, but not live, so sealing

00:47:08
Speaker 6: Lands is expla