Free Agency Day 3: Joey Bosa to the Bills, Darius Slay to the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers' Decision

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Walk up to NFL Daily where the start of the new league year means we're getting drunk tonight. I'm in the Chris Westling podcast studio. My friend Nick Shook is in Ohio, probably not getting drunk, but maybe get a little wild.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: Shooky. What do you got going on in Cleveland?

00:00:22
Speaker 3: I mean, it's a Wednesday, Greg, My god, it is Saint Patrick's Day weekend in Cleveland, and Eveland loves to celebrate that.

00:00:28
Speaker 4: So I'll get out and about and get after it on Saturday for sure.

00:00:30
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, there isn't really the celebration when it comes to the new league year. And frankly, you know, we got you know, some sound here. It's not what it used to be because so many teams are are just pouring over my top one oh one that like all the good free agents are gone by now.

00:00:48
Speaker 2: I'm just got to give an update.

00:00:49
Speaker 1: We're taping this East Coast time Wednesday night. As of this taping, there's only one player left from the top twenty five, Shook. There is only seven from the top fifty. So yeah, Sante Samuel Junior, for instance, is the second highest player on my board. I think I might have ranked him too high you have regrets. He's at twenty one. Aaron Rodgers will be added to the mix for whatever reason. The Jets still haven't cut him, but he's going into my top twenty five. I mean he's a reasonable starting quarterback. More on him a little later. Seven in the top fifty are available, and then only the thing that's crazy commarried to previous years, only twenty eight of the top one oh one overall. So that's in three days. The second half of the list has absolutely been decimated.

00:01:36
Speaker 2: And yes, the new league year started.

00:01:38
Speaker 1: That means official signings, trades, all that stuff could officially be processed. And we're going to get you up to date. It's a meet in Potatoes type of show. SHOOKI we're gonna get you that news because I want to be a completist and we're gonna get out of it. It's a meet in Potatoes week for a guy who who's kind.

00:01:54
Speaker 2: Of a meat and potatoes guy.

00:01:56
Speaker 3: Frankly, I'm a big pot ROAs guy, was raised on it and still enjoy it very much.

00:02:00
Speaker 2: Right up, my.

00:02:00
Speaker 1: Aley, Meet Loaf has got a bad buzz for a while. I feel like and Meet Loaf is coming back. I'm a big meat loaf fan.

00:02:06
Speaker 4: As long as it's not too dry.

00:02:08
Speaker 1: Let's go with what I think is the most interesting signing since we last recorded.

00:02:13
Speaker 2: This came late Tuesday night.

00:02:15
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa is joining the Bills for twelve million dollars guaranteed twelve point six to be exact. There's some incentives there, you know. When this news came across, I was very surprised because it was supposed to be the Dolphins and the forty nine ers that were in on him, and they were, but the Bills came over the top, and I just wonder, why do they expect that Joey Bosa signing to work any different than the Von Miller signing.

00:02:41
Speaker 3: I mean, if you're talking about health and availability, you shouldn't have much of a difference in expectation because Von Miller wasn't available half the time. Joey Bosa has struggled to stay on the field, which is a big reason why he got cut. But I think that there's the allure of what could be because you know what he was when he was healthy, and you know what he can do when he is healthy. He just hasn't been healthy for a long time. Other than that, I think it's just let's replace one guy who was at the top of his game at one point with another guy who's younger than him, and that's essentially it.

00:03:08
Speaker 4: It seems to be their strategy, right.

00:03:10
Speaker 1: He has played a total of one thousand snaps in the last three years, so that's an average. Do the math of three hundred and thirty three point three to three three into infinity.

00:03:21
Speaker 2: I mean, that's nothing.

00:03:22
Speaker 1: And last year it was the year he actually played the most amount of snaps, and one of the reasons was he was so sick of not being available for his team. He was almost tearful about it, and you would see him go out on the field and he wasn't really Joey Bosa. He played the first week of the season. I remember it so vividly. It was against the Raiders. He looked like he was going to win Defensive Player of the Year and that's that one game might have got him signed. And then he ended up with a nerve issue the second week of the season and he struggled with that the whole year. And I know he had some pressures in the playoffs, but if you watch that tape, he clearly was the second best edge rusher there, and so yeah, the ceiling is high for a guy who who could have been a Hall of Famer definitely won't because of the injuries. And yet I don't know that the Bills have had a weird offseason to me, or a weird free agency week, and this is part of it. Just seems like they're just taking shots. I don't know if I love it.

00:04:16
Speaker 3: I mean, even the trade that they have that we'll get to I'm sure today as well. You know, with the cornerback Kyrie Elim, it was like not going to pick up his fifth year option, swinging the miss of a first round pick. Let's get some picks back in exchange for him. It's just kind of the tone of this entire offseason. Like Rasul Douglas, I think they should pursue bringing back and he's still out there.

00:04:34
Speaker 4: So kind of a weird position for them as a team.

00:04:37
Speaker 3: They got better defensively last year, but personnel wise, they could use some upgrades and this is the best they can do.

00:04:42
Speaker 4: I don't know.

00:04:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's they're just taking a shot and the ceiling tie. Eric, our Bills fan behind the glass, is wondering, why were we killing the Bills. They signed Michael Hoyt from the Rams, who can play a bunch of different but they signed Larry Ogan Jobi that fell under the cracks eight million dollars guaranteed. He's just been passed around, Josh Palmer a couple of movies.

00:05:02
Speaker 2: I did like.

00:05:03
Speaker 1: They re signed Damar Hamlin for on a one year deal. No terms available, but it's just good that he'll still be in a Bill's uniform adding some depth there. Probably won't be a starter this year. You mentioned the Elam trade, and then Ty Johnson, who I thought was one of the sneaky best third down running backs in the NFL. He's back with the Bills. So overall, there's still one of my Super Bowl favorites. I might pick them to go back to the Super Bowl for the second straight year because I just think they're going to get it done one of these years. It's just been a little bit weird of an offseason. You mentioned that that Cowboys trade. Just to connect the dots here, Elam goes to the Cowboys for a late round pick swap. You know they got an extra a fifth round pick. They trade a sixth a way another Cowboy leaving the nest here DeMarcus Lawrence signing with the Seahawks three years, eighteen million dollars guaranteed. Still waiting to see under the hood how much real money there is in this, but eighteen million dollars guaranteed is better than I thought Lawrence would get coming off of Liz frank injury.

00:06:08
Speaker 2: And man, this one hurts.

00:06:09
Speaker 1: I don't kill the Cowboys for not paying all this money for where Lawrence is in his career. And yet when if I'm going to give the Buccaneers credit for keeping their guys year after year, like this guy was the heart and soul of the Cowboys, one of the most underrated players of the last ten years. And one of the things that happens when you don't manage the cap Wells shook is you can't pay guys like this. They should have done it, maybe ahead of time. And he goes to Seattle in a surprisingly aggressive move for a team that has a lot of guys up front.

00:06:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, when I looked at the Sal's death chart, I was like, WHOA, They're adding this guy to this mix that they already had, Like this is good looking, like a good unit. But on the Cowboys side, they did pay him. In the past, they franchised tagged him twice. I think it was a case of him playing three games this year because of the foot injury. He's thirty two, and they sat back and thought that money could probably be better spent elsewhere. Since we didn't have him anyway, we already got a look at what we might be facing in the future. Why not dedicate that elsewhere. I know that he went on record at the start of the month and said, look the balls in their court. It would be fantastic. It would be a dream to play there, you know, continue to play there. But the ball is in their court, and obviously they weren't that interested. And he goes and gets a nice deal that pays him an average fourteen a year, which is pretty good money at thirty two years old.

00:07:18
Speaker 2: It's great money.

00:07:19
Speaker 1: And yet I do wonder if the Seahawks would have even signed them if they had been able to pick up some of their other targets and free agency. Word came out of Seattle that they were trying to sign the guard Will Fries, who ended up going to Minnesota. And it's a typical Seahawks move. They just don't spend money on the offensive line. So all this money that they're supposedly saving for going for Sam Darnold over Gino Smith, what have they spent it on? What Mike McDonald really cares about. DeMarcus Lawrence on defense, bringing back Ernest Jones on defense. And you mentioned how many players they have up front. Let's go through them. Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy who looked good as a rookie last year, Jared Ree who they paid good money to bring back as well, and an older player but still a good player. Boy, Mafe Lawrence is there, you have, Jonathan Hankins is a free agent, Chennan Nuoso is still on the roster, and Derek Hall made some noise as a pass rusher.

00:08:15
Speaker 2: I mean, they are trying.

00:08:16
Speaker 1: To win with defense, and I guess that's one way to support Sam Darnold is just prevent so many points. They were coming together as a pretty great defense late last season.

00:08:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, writing up the Lawrence post today, I admitted that that's gonna have to be their backbone this year because they don't have the answers on the offensive line that they needed to get. They don't have the answers at receiver after trading away DK and cutting Tyler Lockett. It's just gonna be an offense that they're gonna ask Sam to do a lot. And frankly, I don't really blame them necessarily for not spending a bunch of money on the offensive line, even though it was a massive need, just because the talent isn't there, And sometimes I think the caliber of talent ends up being lower than the money that you have to spend to get those guys just to make a move to try to get better. But the good thing is is in this draft there's a lot of hear your offensive linemen that are available that could be available in you know, rounds three, two, three, and four.

00:09:05
Speaker 4: I just checked.

00:09:05
Speaker 3: They have a pick in every round. So why not go heavy on offensive line in the draft and see what you can do from there. Obviously it might take some maneuver and you get the guy that you want, but there's still opportunities.

00:09:13
Speaker 4: It's just not in free agency where we.

00:09:15
Speaker 3: Saw guys get too much money when you compared to Ronnie Stanley's contract.

00:09:18
Speaker 1: I guess you got to spend that cap space somewhere. And the thing about the Seahawks that bugs me a little bit is if you look at the dead cap of this season, like who has the most dead cap in the league. All the other teams make sense. And then there's the Seahawks who just kind of chose to have all that money. You know, they chose to get off Genol a little early. They chose, they chose to you know, trade away decon in different sort of moves. So like San Francisco, it makes sense to me considering where they've been. They've been at the very top of the league and the decision that they made. They're taking some short term pain. Now Philadelphia, they're always spending to the max up there in dead cap, the Browns and the Saints, you know, Deshaun Watson's mistake. Like the Saints, that's how they live is with dead cap money. But then there's Seattle, who to me it makes less sense. So I think they're underheat. John Schneider better be right and they better be great on defense, and Lawrence will help with that. Let's go to the Steelers. They had an interesting twenty four hours. By the way, they also brought an MVS if you were looking for another wide receiver MVS. Marcus Valdez Scantling is a member of the Seahawks for about four and a half million dollars. That doesn't get me too excited, Like, why not just keep Tyler Lockett?

00:10:34
Speaker 2: All right?

00:10:34
Speaker 1: The Steelers they brought in Darius Slay one year ten million dollars, a little more than I expected. And then they also signed Kenny Gainwell, player I always liked in Philadelphia. They're just sitting out there waiting for Aaron Rodgers to make his decision. In the meantime, Mike Tomlin is doing what he does, which is add big personalities on the defensive side of the ball. How about Darius Slay and Joey Porter Junior. No one is honking more in terms of a cornerback duo like that. They are winning any trash talk competition. I would say, like, that's gonna be a lowed secondary.

00:11:07
Speaker 2: I like it.

00:11:08
Speaker 3: And Joey is definitely leading the group in holding in past interference calls unless he gets less handy going into year three. Yeah, this is what the Steelers do. They've done this over the last few years. Patrick Peterson, you can run down the list of all these guys in the past that they've taken swings at. Who are veterans that are looking for one or two more years in the NFL, and they joined Mike Tomlins defense, and it's usually a defensive back. That's just how they've plugged holes for the last four or five years. So it's not a big surprise. It is interesting that he stays in the state of Pennsylvania, but I'm not surprised that he left the Eagles to go somewhere else. It all made a lot of sense. We'll see, you know, if the performance matches it. But at ten million dollars, it's not like I'm asking you to be a top tier players. That's I think solid money for what you expect to get out of him at this point.

00:11:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, a bit of a red flag that the Eagles didn't want to keep him, but they really, they really did have cap issues this year and they had to make some tough decisions on guys they like. I think that includes Kenny Gainwell, who I've always thought is underrated and deserved a bigger role. And Nick Sirianni loved him too, and he actually had a number of big receiving plays against the Steelers in Week fourteen or fifteen. It's funny how this always happens. You make a couple plays against the team. They're often the team that signs you in free agency Kenny Gainwell and Jalen Warren. Usually they want a big bruiser, so maybe they get that guy in the draft. But I just think that's nice. Since I mentioned Rogers, I'm moving him up in the rundown. Let's just talk about him here because it's a little crazy to me that these two proud franchises, the Pittsburgh Steelers in New York Giants, are just waiting on Aaron Rodgers. And they're not just waiting on him like they're waiting on a guy that the Jets said, as much as we love or would love to have a good quarterback, we actually are gonna eat forty nine million dollars in cap hits over the next two years.

00:12:57
Speaker 2: Spread it out.

00:12:57
Speaker 1: That's how much we don't want Aaron Rodgers as part of our team. And the Steelers, who in theory are playoff contenders they sneak in every year as the seventh seed, and the Giants, who want to get back in the mix, and it should have been planning for this situation for a year. They're just waiting to find out who Aaron Rodgers picks. It's pretty clear he is the number one option for both of these teams.

00:13:19
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:13:19
Speaker 3: I had a minor meltdown in the Slack channel today over this because Aaron Rodgers is forty one years old, and yet we are being held hostage by him once again, to the point where we're trying to read the tea leaves on Twitter, the platform now known as X that I refuse to refer to it as.

00:13:34
Speaker 4: And just being like, oh, this guy reach tweeted. They must know they know something that maybe.

00:13:40
Speaker 3: The McAfee show knows that he's going to Pittsburgh because McAfee's a Pittsburgh Like, why are we doing this? He's forty one, He had a nice finish to last year. He also showed a lack of mobility. He also carries a lot of baggage when it comes to drama. And yet we have two of these franchises. The Giants I can understand, because they're in a bad situation and they got a coach in a GM who are working.

00:13:59
Speaker 4: For their jobs this year.

00:14:00
Speaker 3: But the Steelers sitting back and waiting on and they must have a not really liked Russell Wilson's performance last year, and we already know what they felt about Justin Fields because they let him walk to New York to the other team in New York. It's just it's where the Steelers have been over the last five years basically since Ben Roethlisberger retired. It was Kenny Pickett, and it was Russ and it was justin Fields, and now maybe it's Aaron Rodgers and you can list a few other quarterbacks along the way as well. It's just frustrating for me because I think they're better than that, and they're just trying to plug a damn with gum again and again and again.

00:14:28
Speaker 4: It's very unlike them as a franchise.

00:14:29
Speaker 1: They're not better than that. This is who they are. They don't have a good plan on offense, period. And Mike Tomlan is a good head coach, maybe a great head coach, but he has not shown any ability to be able to solve their offensive problems in terms of the hires that he makes in the coaching staff or the moves that they make as an organization. And that's certainly him and the front office, although I think Mike Tomlin has a big say there and Bruce Arians you know, helped lift up that whole boat.

00:15:00
Speaker 2: Initially and.

00:15:03
Speaker 1: Some of the other offensive coordinators that they've had over the years during the ben era, but it's definitely gotten worse since been left in the last couple of years. And man, I don't know if Rogers even fits with George Pickens in DK Metcalf does he?

00:15:20
Speaker 3: I mean, he ran Mike Williams out of town in like five weeks, so if Pickens were to irritate him in two games, he'd probably be on you know, his naughty list as well. Yeah, I don't think the fit's really there either. I think the fits actually more was Russell Wilson than throwing deep.

00:15:34
Speaker 2: Balls, like Rogers doesn't hold on to the bottle on an hour.

00:15:37
Speaker 4: I don't know what the allore is other than that he's Aaron Rodgers. It's strange to me.

00:15:40
Speaker 1: Well, it could be that he's at a great discount compared to where he was money wise. If you're Russell Wilson, though, you might think, Man, this guy Rodgers has taking out the twenty fourteen NFC Championship. When I came back against Rogers and won that game to go to the Super Bowl. Maybe Rogers is getting his revenge here because it kind of sucks to be Russell Wilson right now. You know, according to the reporting out there that these two teams are almost looking at these two quarterbacks and saying, well, as long as Russell Wilson's there, he can be our fallback option. That the Giants reportedly are interest in Russell Wilson if Rogers doesn't pick them, and vice versa, and Russ maybe being a little tired of that is actually meeting old school NFL visit wise with the Browns this week, maybe trying to push this process forward.

00:16:29
Speaker 2: It's a mess. I just I just want better for us.

00:16:32
Speaker 1: The one thing I disagreed most that I saw on NFL Network today, I did The Insiders with our friend Patrick Claybahn and watching, you know, all the Insider stuck is is they're saying, oh, Aaron rodgers't doesn't care about like what we're saying about him.

00:16:48
Speaker 2: They don't care if we're all just waiting. It's like he.

00:16:50
Speaker 1: Cares very much. That's exactly why he's doing it. That's the whole idea. The show on Netflix about him is literally called the Nigma, And at no point did he say, maybe we really can I be a little more self aware than calling a show about me a nigma.

00:17:07
Speaker 2: All right, let's move on from Aaron Rodgers too much.

00:17:09
Speaker 4: Let's go to support that rant.

00:17:11
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:17:12
Speaker 1: I was interested to see Evan Ingram go to the Broncos two years sixteen point five million dollars guaranteed. Might be a fallout from Juwan Johnson of the Saints staying in New Orleans. I can't believe Juwan Johnson got better money than Evan Ingram. I think that worked out well for Denver. I'm pretty sure Sean Payton wanted to bring in his old guy Juwan Johnson to Denver and the Saints because they just didn't want to let their old guy, Sean Payton get one over on him out spend him. And now I think they end up with a better option in Evan Ingram, who can basically be a slot receiver for you. And that team needs some juice. I know they've gotten better on defense, but they need a little juice. They'll mostly get it in the draft, but Ingram adds some juice as a kind of detached tight end.

00:17:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean where they need the most juices in the running game, and this isn't going to fix that because Ingram is a small tight end, and that's been the knock on him since he came.

00:18:02
Speaker 4: Out of college.

00:18:03
Speaker 3: But he had had that Pro Bowl season with the Jacksonville Jaguars and it was a fantastic production year for him, and then they took a step back, so he kind of faded into the background, which is what explains why he's getting this money and why he was available at this point. But I kind of disagree with the assessment of him versus Juwan Johnson because there are two different types of players. Johnson is a taller, bigger athletic tight end. Ingram is a smaller one. You can do more with Ingram, which might fit Sean Payton's offense and the way they like to get bo Nicks out on the move. But I don't know necessarily that if it were up to me in the way I like to build a football team, taking Johnson.

00:18:37
Speaker 1: Well, we need more disagreements on this show, frankly, and I think there you go, the simmering tension that is building between the two of us with the Cavaliers Celtics.

00:18:50
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.

00:18:51
Speaker 4: The reason this hoodio I'm wearing is that's.

00:18:53
Speaker 1: Coming in March, and I don't want to hear from Knicks fans or anyone else in the Eastern Conference that thinks they're getting into that Eastern Conference finals. It's calv Celts and it's going to be a difficult couple weeks here at the NFL Daily. But that's months ahead. Let's talk about the NFL. Let's talk about DeAndre Hopkins. This happened after we taped our last show. He is a member of the Baltimore Ravens. I always remember that tweety sent out. It was a picture of him and Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, like, imagine how much you know, we could do if we were all together. And this was during COVID I think it was five years ago. Now they are all together. It's not the same Nuke that you know he used to be, but it's kind of the same Derrick Henry that he used to be, and it's it's even better Lamar Jackson. So I like him trying to rebound from what was a pretty disappointing run as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.

00:19:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, he shows up and he makes some plays early and then disappears. And we've seen that with a number of n season acquisitions. I'm not going to hold that against him because I still think that he's despite the age that he's at, which you know, he's going into your thirty age thirty three season.

00:19:59
Speaker 4: You know, he turned thirty three in June.

00:20:01
Speaker 3: That's you know, that's gonna be a bit of knock on him. But I like to fit with this offense because I think what they lacked was a taller target not playing tight end, and DeAndre is not you know, Calvin Johnson. He's only six to one, but he's still bigger than Jay Flowers and he's probably around the same size, if not a little taller than Rashad Bateman. And I think that the fit in the style of playworks well. Flowers is a speedy guy, he's catch and run master. Bateman can take the top off of defense. Hopkins still has fantastic hands, even if he's lost half of a step or so in his career at this point in his you know, journey. So I think the fit's great. I think it balances out their offense. It makes a ton of sense for me. As long as he can stay healthy, he doesn't have to be the guy, and he gives him another experienced player who can help them as they try to make the Super Bowl and finally get over this hump and more.

00:20:44
Speaker 2: Great players just chase rings at the end of their career.

00:20:47
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins has made enough money to do so, but I suspect he really prioritized getting with a team and a quarterback that would give him a chance because he's their number three or four receiver. They might add someone, but Bateman makes more money and more important to them. Zay Flowers obviously is two, but he is one of the great improvisers of his generation. DeAndre Hopkins, he's kind, he's kind of the wide receiver Travis Kelcey. He's running his own routes out there and he's making it happen. And he made great magic with Kyler Murray. And when I think about Lamar Jackson, obviously a great pocket quarterback, but also a great creative quarterback when the play breaks down, and that's where I think you'll see Hopkins's value along with the red zone. They also released Marcus Williams, their safety who was close to the top of my free agent board a few years ago.

00:21:38
Speaker 2: That was a signing that did not work out.

00:21:40
Speaker 1: They also released Arthur Molett who was a slot cornerback for them. We're gonna take a quick break and then we'll wrap up the news from yes this first day of the.

00:21:50
Speaker 2: New league year.

00:21:52
Speaker 1: I hope you guys are getting down with your new league year parties.

00:22:06
Speaker 2: Back on NFL Daily.

00:22:07
Speaker 1: It's Sicko's week, you know, Well, yeah, really it is. We'll do awards and we'll have fun segments and all that, but this week, this week is for the people that want Nick Shook's take on Levi on Wuzerique signing with the Lions. And you might say, and when I re listened to the show sometimes I'm like, you.

00:22:30
Speaker 2: Got to say, what position does he play?

00:22:32
Speaker 1: Some context, A defensive tackle drafted pretty high by the Lions second rounder four years ago, a lot of back problems, but I thought really played well. One of those guys that I might have ranked higher on my list Nick than the NFL viewed. Because he ended up settling with the Lions for only four point five million dollars. That might have been a medical issue reason that people, you know, wanted to see his medical before really giving him a lot of money. But the Lions have done a quietly good job actually bringing back a lot of their own players.

00:23:03
Speaker 2: What do you think.

00:23:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, the only surprise so far is that they got rid of Zadarius Smith. Otherwise they're keeping most of that group intact, which big fan of I think that they still need to make an addition on the front opposite Aiden Hutchinson. But overall this works out for me. This is fine and the money is You're absolutely right. You talked about one disagreements. We're not going to get a disagreement here. As is the guy who has had some injury issues. It's cost him some money, but ultimately he goes back to the team that he knows well and they try to make another run at it.

00:23:30
Speaker 1: They're really deep up front and they have been aggressive trying to basically solve a defensive line that's been a problem. Here are the players on their defensive line right now. Aiden Hutchinson is your starting edge after the second edge spot is definitely their biggest weakness. It's Josh Pascal, It's Marcus Davenport. They need to add someone there, but in the middle it's own Uza Rique. They sign Roy Lopez from Arizona. That's a signing we have not mentioned, but a typical Lion kind of a try hard lunch Paale type of guy who made some noise with the Cardinals. Ali McNeil is their their star there. Dj Reider is still on this roster. They drafted McKay Wingo, who played a decent amount for them. They brought back Derek Barnes, who's sort of a linebacker, but he's also an edge maybe a little bit of a Zach Bond vibe with Derek Barnes. Like, they have a lot of dudes up front. And I think anyone that thinks that the Lions are taking a step back just because whatever they're oh maybe they're Super Bowl window closed, Like, I don't buy it. To me, they are the favorites along with the Eagles, at least early. I know we got a while to go in this offseason, but I don't see why they wouldn't be the favorites.

00:24:39
Speaker 3: And they had one of my favorite corners and Dj Reid, a guy who I thought was lost in the shadow of Sauce Gardner, who's played really well in New York over the last few years. So yeah, I agree. I think they've done a great job this offseason. And yeah, they have to deal with coordinator changes because they lost their coordinator's head coaching jobs. But it's if you're gonna weather that you keep most of your guys intact and hope that you can run it back with you know, largely the same group. Make another addition in.

00:25:00
Speaker 4: The draft, a few maybe, and you know, line them back up.

00:25:03
Speaker 1: So a former Lion, Kevin Zeitler, who played well for them at guard last year, raised his value, ended up getting nine million dollars from the Titans.

00:25:13
Speaker 2: Surprising move.

00:25:13
Speaker 1: They really have their offensive line totally locked up. They have spent a ton of money between Dan Moore and Kevin Zeitler and the draft picks that they have on their offensive line.

00:25:23
Speaker 2: But Brian Callahan, he's got a vision for it.

00:25:26
Speaker 1: That offensive line better be good because they basically invested their entire team between picks and money in making it good. We will see how that works. Let's talk a little quarterback backups here. Marcus Mariota is back with the Commanders. Didn't end up having a market elsewhere. Got eight million dollars, so that's true backup money, about the same that he got last year. I think you might have got a million dollar raise. He played great for them, so that's a no brainer. Jonathan Jones my NFL Daily buddy that joined us. You were with me on that interview, right shook the Patriots and Jonathan Taylor, Okay, Jonathan Jones and Christen Gonzales they joined us on NFL Daily, and uh oh, I was better.

00:26:07
Speaker 3: No, come on, bro, it was a former one. It was Malcolm Butler that I was there for the Patriots.

00:26:13
Speaker 1: Okay, he joined the Commanders too. Just while we're on Commanders. And then Jacoby Brissett is an Arizona Cardinal. I like that Jacoby Brisett move. We heard that they were going to invest in their backup and they got a good one in Jacoby Brissett behind Kyler Murray.

00:26:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, this time of the year, you see a lot of familiar connections rekindling when players move around, and this time it's Brissett. An offensive coordinator. Drew Petsing who was the quarterbacks coach in Cleveland when he started those eleven twelve games that number the first year that Jshaun Motson was there and was out due to suspension, and did a pretty good job. Was a locker room favorite, master of the quarterback sneak and kept the Browns competitive that season and the Cardinals have a nice insurance policy for Kyler Murray.

00:26:53
Speaker 1: And if Kyler Murray struggles like they'll play Jacoby Brissett. I The buzz around Arizona this offseason was straight that they wanted to invest at quarterback, and then they end up with Brissett. Obviously he's not competing for the job. I just mean if Kyler Murray had an awful season, they would probably pull the rip cord. That's unlikely to happen. I think Kyler Murray's gonna have a good season back. This signing also reminded me how quiet it's been in Arizona this I thought they were going to be one of the teams that spent like crazy in free agency, and we've heard that they were in on a lot of these free agents and they didn't get very many of them. I know they signed Josh Sweat, but since then they have been quiet. I thought they'd be like the Patriots and the Jaguars and the Bears. I thought they'd be one of those teams that was just all over free agency, and they really haven't been. I know their fan base is a little frustrated. Right now, Let's talk about the Jets, who brought in Josh Myers, another guy who I might have rated a little too high in my free agency. I need to get like an offensive lineman consiglieri who helps me out, because some of my offensive linemen that I went with, they got huge money, but in other hands, like Josh Myers, didn't get much cash. Tevin Jenkins is still out there. Meanwhile Aaron Banks is getting seventy eight million dollars. You're shaking your head at me, shook.

00:28:11
Speaker 4: Well, I'm just saying, give me a call, man, Okay, what if.

00:28:13
Speaker 1: You have told me not to rank Josh Myers in the top fifty, what have you?

00:28:18
Speaker 3: I would have been in the top fifty. I'd probably land in the back end of the top fifty. I wouldn't play.

00:28:23
Speaker 1: I would feel fine if he was at seventy five right now, but he was too high up. I think I had him in the thirties. He settles for one year, three point five million dollars. I think the Jets have a good offensive line on paper, and I'm gonna be interested to see how their new coordinator, Tanner Ekstrom coaches it up, because you know, in Detroit they certainly knew how to do that. He comes from Detroit and Myers could either start, he could be a swing guy. He could push their their young guy Joe Tipman to guard and he plays center. We'll see it. They also released CJ. Moseley, So that's a little surprising because it just came so late in the process.

00:28:56
Speaker 2: Just happened a few hours ago. You're shaking your head.

00:28:59
Speaker 3: Well, I mean been they were waiting on releasing Rogers as well, so like it just seems to be that's the way they do business. But Mosley, when it came to releasing him, made a ton of sense because he never lived up to the contract that he signed with them. He was never the guy that they thought they were getting when he left the Ravens.

00:29:11
Speaker 4: To go to the Jets.

00:29:12
Speaker 3: So they have better players and Jamie Sherwood's been a better linebacker and he got paid for it. So I felt like this one was coming. In fact, Mosley was one of those players where I was like, wow, he's still on that roster.

00:29:22
Speaker 4: Huh.

00:29:23
Speaker 1: Interesting, I I yeah, I don't know what they're doing in terms of waiting to make these cuts or not. But yeah, mostly ultimately they paid huge money to Jamie and Sherwood that that Mosley contract didn't age well. And this is how a new regime should run things. They should have their own vision. They should get rid of the guys that don't make sense from the previous regime. You know, it's the type of stuff we aren't seeing, for instance, in New Orleans. So to me, it does make sense. Let's go to Miami and just a couple of little updates on the On the Dolphins, they signed Nick Westbrook Akine two years six point five million dollars. They brought back Tyrel Dodson, who played well for them at linebacker, former Bills player, two years eight point five million dollars. They also signed James Daniels, who was a good guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers but tor's achilles last year. They gave him three years twenty four million dollars. That actually is a discounted rate. If he was out there fully healthy, I think he would have done really well in this market. And they also signed if A Melafanu. So a lot of guys that were tough to pronounce, but I nailed it. I like that Nick Westberger Akina signing because it wasn't much money and they really could use a third receiver.

00:30:38
Speaker 3: He's been lost in the abyss that has been Tennessee. He's actually been a pretty productive player. And if you look at their receiving corps after Waddle and Hill, it's been like and and right, and it's kind of just been a rotating revolving door. Like if you look at their depth right now, they have a bunch of like potential guys. They have a bunch of speedsters or guys that who maybe this guy will work out if he gets under the right But they didn't have that solid number three or they just kept rotating between guys that they were giving shots too.

00:31:05
Speaker 4: So I like Westbrooka keene in here. I think he fits.

00:31:07
Speaker 3: He's a nice guy that you can depend on to make catches and key situations. You're never going to be a massive, big play artist, but it's a good fitness offense.

00:31:13
Speaker 1: I thought that the Dolphins would make more noise this offseason, maybe with a Tyreek Hill trade.

00:31:18
Speaker 2: I'm not totally ruling that out.

00:31:19
Speaker 1: Is Westbrookakinny kind of a just a speedy option to replace him? No, but he is a speedy option in general. Bradley Chubb still on this roster. I just feel like they need more Chris Greer. Their GM is very much on the hot seat, and he actually did a good job in free agency last year kind of filling the holes without a lot of cap space. He's trying to thread that needle again. We'll see if he can do it. We mentioned the kayr Elam trade, so he was a first round pick of the Bills that just did not work out, and the Cowboys are, you know, throwing a late round pick for him to give him a shot.

00:31:56
Speaker 2: Not a big deal.

00:31:57
Speaker 1: They basically did the same with Kenneth Murray, who is an other former first round pick originally with the Chargers, didn't really work out for the Titans. Like sure, but these these moves, these low risk, low reward moves. It's just typical of this Cowboys offseason where they bring in Devonte Williams. Meanwhile they watch Rico Daudell, who to me as a better player, end up signing for the Panthers with what I suspect is very similar money. I don't know the Cowboys like their selective aggression is quite selective. It's not very aggressive. I don't see any reason to think that they're going to be better unless they just really nail the draft.

00:32:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, I totally agree with you and letting Rico Dabell walk.

00:32:37
Speaker 3: I thought that was an ill informed decision, especially after the year he had last year and replacing him with Williams, who is a guy who people loved out of college and loved when he first came into the league, and then it has been you could say he's been saddled behind an offense that can't run the football. Well, well, the running back has a lot to do with that as well, so I think that's a downgrade as well. Interesting on the defensive side though, because you're banking on Marvin Overs coming back healthy at some point, like Jack Sanborn's on this roster, their linebacking corter is like a collection of guys that he's got potential here, but can we make it bak here. I do like the Elam trade though, just because it adds a little bit of depth at corner, and they've had injuries at corner over the last few years, whether it was Trevon Diggs or Deron Blanda, They've been caught kind of with their pants down. They had to go trade for Andrew Booth last year just to you know, fill another spot. So I like this move. It's somewhat proactive, but it's not aggressive. And for a second straight off season. Yes, there's been some moves, but nothing big. And oftentimes when you win free agency, you don't win on the field. With the Cowboys, score one win, please for your fans.

00:33:33
Speaker 1: At least Matt Eberfluss can coach up the secondary, but so can Sean McDermott. If Kyrie Elam couldn't get it done with a team that had all the investment in the world from I just doubt he's going to get it done.

00:33:45
Speaker 2: I know Eric is agreeing with me.

00:33:46
Speaker 1: Back there, all right, couple more moves, We'll just fly through these. DeMarcus Robinson got good money from the forty nine ers two years, nine point five million dollars. He had a nice couple seasons with the Rams, so that that move makes sense for a team that needs a little bit of depth there. The Titan signed Van Jefferson for a couple million dollars. They added safety Xavier Woods. They gave ten million dollars over two years. AJ Dillon goes to the Eagles. I mean, that's another big boy for the tush push. You're excited.

00:34:14
Speaker 2: I always have.

00:34:14
Speaker 1: Thought aj Dillon could be a solid backup running back, and the Eagles is the place to be a solid backup running back.

00:34:21
Speaker 3: They could use the power back, and as long as he can keep his neck healthy, he can be that guy for them. You don't have to give him a ton of carries. Give him in shortyard situations behind that offensive line, he could make a difference. And also, Greg nerd alert here this is me. It's a self fulfilling prophecy of when I was in a fantasy draft lead in Madden with a bunch of people from the network and AJ Dillon was my power back with the Eagles.

00:34:42
Speaker 1: Okay, I love me some AJ Dillon, especially in that role. That really wraps up the transactions that I wanted to get to. As we're taping Cam Jordan, our colleague Nick as part of the iHeart NFL Media podcast, Family, announced he's returning for the twenty twenty five season. Was a little up in the air whether he'd be back, whether the Saints would keep them. So the contract, that looks like they're all good with that. And he's at one hundred and twenty one point five career sacks. I know he wants to get that number up even higher. Help that Hall of Fame candidacy someday, and so you know, one of the great long time Saints will be back. Like so many other Saints, they're just running it back. Also wanted to mention Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones both restructured their contracts this week and it freed up almost fifty million dollars in cap space. So teams that want to spend as much as the Chiefs do and they are aggressive, they tried to make as many good moves this week as they absolutely could. This is why you can do it, because you can always restructure your great players contract. They freed up fifty million dollars in cap space. I know the salary cap, it's real, Nick, but it's less of a thing than ever. I'm I'm actually just annoyed by the salary cap at this point. You know how the Patriots that spent all this crazy money, way more than any other team in free agency. You know how much cap space they still have, like ninety million dollars. What is the point of all that cap space after spending it. It's just I'm gonna stop making this point at the end of this week because I've made it too many times.

00:36:12
Speaker 2: But it's annoying.

00:36:13
Speaker 4: It feels a lot like the tax code for the wealthy.

00:36:15
Speaker 3: They can just find loopholes everywhere just to exploit it to their and that's what the Chiefs are doing.

00:36:20
Speaker 4: The rich get richer.

00:36:22
Speaker 1: Speaking of which the Minnesota Vikings secondary it's rich in talent and in terms of players getting paid. Eric lets me know that Harrison Smith is officially returning for his fourteenth NFL season. His status was up in the air. He gets ten million dollars with incentives up to fourteen so I think they were renegotiating. He was not a free agent, I don't believe, but they figured out how to bring him back. And man, that defense is awesome on paper. I think he just loves playing football and he's like, man, this defense and this coaching staff is too good to say goodbye to.

00:37:00
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:37:00
Speaker 3: I thought that they might be being on a guy like Javon holland if Smith were to walk away. Instead he comes back, I think he probably feels like they have unfinished business and as a bonus, another season's worth of coffee in the morning with Kevin O'Connell, which they love to do together.

00:37:13
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, now that Cooper Cup and Matthew Stafford aren't getting their coffees.

00:37:18
Speaker 2: Wasn't that a thing? Or breakfast together? Really?

00:37:22
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith and Kevin O'Connell taking over as the pre eminent breakfast duo in the NFL. We're not leaving anything on the table this week. Great job by our friend Nick Shap appreciate you man.

00:37:32
Speaker 4: Little pancake guy, myself Greg.

00:37:34
Speaker 3: Since we're talking breakfast, but this week it's Wednesday dedicated to waffles.

00:37:38
Speaker 1: Yes, we will be back on Thursday, tying up all those loose ends with my friend Patrick Claybon. Yeah, when I am convincing myself that Jacoby Brissett just found the perfect landing spot, He's.

00:37:50
Speaker 2: Never looked better. You know, Football's back,