40s and Free Agents: Free Agent WR Rankings and What's Next for Patriots, Seahawks?

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Welcome back to forties and free Agents.

00:00:05
Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal, joined as always by my friend Daniel Jeremiah aka Move the Sticks aka the man going through all the college tape to get ready for the NFL scouting combine, but not before taping this show where he can brag about drafting the Seahawks before the season. In our who will be the Super Bowl Champion draft? You are the real champion here, DJ E one, Well, I.

00:00:30
Speaker 3: Had totally forgotten about that, so you could have just that slide I would never have remembered. But I can't take It's like you can't take pride when you took Tom Brady in the sixth round and plained about how smart you are when it comes to the draft.

00:00:44
Speaker 1: So hey, you got him.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: I think they were your eighth overall pick in the NFC or something like that. But it does go to show what a surprising Super Bowl it was. I'd sort of lost sight of that, but when I saw a stat after the fact that in terms of Vegas odds, they were the fourth longest shot to win a championship in terms of preseason odds of any sport in the last forty years, something absolutely outrageous like that, and they get it done, and they get it done and convincing fashion. We're going to do I don't know if you have any quick thoughts on the Super Bowl. We can have a little bit of that little Patriot Seahawks autopsy looking ahead, because we did that for every team, and then we're going to talk wide receivers a little later in the draft, maybe just some overarching thoughts from you, and then I'll give you for the first time my free agency wide receivers ringing. So that's all coming up on forties and free agents. But I don't know if I don't know if in your league circles, the important people you talked to had any big takeaways.

00:01:39
Speaker 4: No, I might, we'll go off people that I talked to.

00:01:41
Speaker 3: But I was thinking of this analogy, like just as we've talked about this Super Bowl for the last few days and gone back through it, and I was thinking of the before the Super Bowl, of all the different paths that the Seahawks had to win and how narrow the path was, and I was just reminded of like that felt like an election night where you have a network that's trying to hold out hope for one side and they're like they put up like here's the ten states that are remaining. If they just win these nine, like they they can win, they can still win.

00:02:12
Speaker 4: You know.

00:02:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, And it was like that was there was so many ways Seattle was just so much better. And it would have had to been like I talked about, like Milt Williams would have had to just have this unbelievable dominant performance against Bradford, who's their weeklink on the office line.

00:02:24
Speaker 4: Guess what he did.

00:02:25
Speaker 3: He did great, He did everything he could, and it's it didn't matter because there were so many other avenues that the Seahox had to victory and they were just so much better.

00:02:34
Speaker 2: I haven't punished myself by going through the TV tape of it yet or the coach's tape of it yet for that matter. So it was just a live all twenty two. But you're right in in absolute mismatch, and you know, part of an era. I don't know if it's going to be an era, but at least a time where the defense is after years and years of just like offenses pushing forward, pushing forward, fighting back a little bit did feel like a little bit more of a defensive year, and I thought. Kyle Shanahan said it well on the NBC pregame show, where he thought, like, look, there were two defenses all season, Houston and Seattle, where I thought, those two can just win the Super Bowl on their own if their offense and special teams just doesn't mess it up. And we haven't had a lot of defenses like that, So I'm curious if there gott to be a lot of people around league getting in the lab and if we'll see that continue in twenty twenty six where defenses catch.

00:03:23
Speaker 1: Up a little bit.

00:03:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was my other takeaway, and we can move on to these teams in the autopsy part of it. But like Houston just must have felt so sick to their stomach watching that game like that should have been. Think we kind of got robbed as fans and viewers of what should have been just a absolute slugfest between the Texans and the Seahawks.

00:03:43
Speaker 4: In terms of a defensive football like that would have been.

00:03:45
Speaker 3: That would have been a nine to six game, but it would have been a riveting nine to six game that would have been very, very physical, very violent.

00:03:52
Speaker 2: I thought it was a much more entertaining game than people give it credit for. In the sense that, like I like watching good defense and seeing that live. To me, it's a super Bowl, It's always going to be interesting. There was still jeopardy there. But forget just Texans fan. I think that Jaguars team was awesome, and I know they did it in a different way, but they could have made it like the Josh Allen has to be watching that and kicking himself. And then Broncos Seahawks would have been a hell of if they had bo Nicks healthy. We had Garrett Bowles on the set during the Super Bowl week and he just said it a handful of times, well, we win that game if bo Nix is healthy. We should have won the game without bo Nicks healthy. And you know what, all these cry babies in the AFC, you know the Patriots didn't make it. Well, they did make it. You know, they won the games in front of them whether whatever. They're ahead of schedule. Let's let's get into the autopsy for the Patriots. Both these teams are in exceptional shape. This is not the case of all the playoff teams we went through after they got eliminated. But both teams have a ton of cap space, have good picks. The Patriots in particular forty two million dollars in cap space. That's only the eleventh most, which is a sign there's too much cap space. There's a lot of teams that have plenty of room. They have a lot of Day three picks. Otherwise they just have their picks in general thirty first, sixty third.

00:05:04
Speaker 1: Ninety fifth.

00:05:05
Speaker 2: When when you kind of look at them over arching, what their needs are, what stands out to you.

00:05:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, for me with the Patriots, it's, you know, finding a go to number one option.

00:05:17
Speaker 4: That can win, you know, on the outside.

00:05:19
Speaker 3: And I think Diggs at this point in time in his career is he's not that guy. And so to me, I think you need to upgrade there. Finding just a pure weapon that you can you can win with. That's where I would start. And then to me, getting you know more edge rush, continue to load up that defense. I think this offensive line is going to grow. You need, you know, see what happens with Will Campbell going forward, is you know, you know, trying not to be too hard on him with the coming off of the knee injury, but how bad that was all the way through and the playoffs was was rough. So you know, you get and Morgan Moses is not getting any younger, so having another tackle in there to give you some options, I think would be would be a good.

00:05:56
Speaker 4: Way to go. But man, they're they're they're in pretty good shape, you know.

00:06:00
Speaker 3: I just think getting a number one guy, I felt like that, and you tell me from being at the Stadiu because sometimes you can feel it, but it felt so constricted. They were just playing kind of half court, you know.

00:06:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was probably the most disappointing thing was that they almost played like they knew they were overmatched, Like they were a little too conservative, you know, in the decision making, both May and the play calling. And you're right though, like there just weren't open guys. And one thing I thought May did a good job in the postseason where he struggled in general, when he saw the one on once he just let it go. And there weren't a lot of those in this game. There was what the one he missed the Douglass a back shoulder and another one to Booty, but like they just weren't there for them. So you're right, get ball winners. You said a couple of things there that I want to break down. Campbell, do you think guard makes you know, it is a realistic conversation. I don't think it's offensive to talk about if you could get a all pro style guard that that could be better than having an average left tack because the one thing I would say about Campbell that people missed a little bit during the year was if you look at the pass rushers he went against when he was playing pretty clean, there weren't a lot of good ones like it, Like, he wasn't beating upper tier competition, So that worries me a little bit. Of course, when he played Miles Garrett, Miles Garrett got to him and people are like, Okay, well that's Miles Garrett. Yeah, well Miles Garrett hadn't even better game against Bill Campbell than almost any game he had all year. So it does worry me a little bit that when he played real competition he wasn't really up to the challenge.

00:07:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just think to look, he's still young, and these guys get.

00:07:38
Speaker 4: Better along the offensive line.

00:07:40
Speaker 3: So, you know, I don't think it's a I don't think it's a strong conversation, but I think it's something you're monitoring and you're going to have somebody in the on deck circle and having that option, I think to me, I would rather make the move earlier than later, exactly do it now, because I mean Robert Gallery's kind of the case study of like he was a Pro Bowl guard, like he ended up being. You know, it's like, gosh, your top five pick, how can we Well, I'd rather have an all pro guard than a struggling tackle.

00:08:07
Speaker 1: You know, how about how about Zach Martin? How about uh not Tyron Smith? Tyler Smith? Didn't Tyler Smith play tackle?

00:08:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a lot of those guys, I mean, Logan Mankins, we can go on, but this is not those guys weren't picked in the top five, you know, like that's that's the difference.

00:08:21
Speaker 2: But Zach Martin, that would be I mean more than a best case scenario, but that that was a pretty high pick. That was a first round pick who moves. They kind of use them where they needed to as a rookie. We'll see. I tend to guess that they're not going to be thinking that way. The other thing I did want to just point out for people curious you mentioned Diggs. I'm not one hundred percent assuming he's back because they have such a good cap situation.

00:08:46
Speaker 1: I think he will be back.

00:08:48
Speaker 2: But if people forget he essentially signed a three year contract about twenty two million dollars a year where it was basically a team option each year with more or less no penalty. They save that money if they they get to make that decision each year. I think they will keep them because I think they like what he added to the team. He made a lot of big third down catches and he can be part of a big group and they don't need the money back, but they think that is a decision that they'll have to make. Otherwise, though they almost have no key free agents, they're in a good spot. Calebon Chason's a guy who will you know, be attractive in free agency.

00:09:20
Speaker 1: Maybe they bring him back, maybe not.

00:09:21
Speaker 2: They're they're starting safety Jalen Hawkins, who played pretty well for them as a free agent, and that's about it. Not even many depth pieces are out there, and so yeah, I think they just need athleticism everywhere. Offensive line basically everywhere. I mean you could pick other than a when you I don't know if I feel like locked and loaded and Campbell somewhere at any of the offensive line positions. And then receivers, there's plenty for them to go to, like like maybe some of these receivers will talk about in a bit free agency.

00:09:52
Speaker 4: I gotta get your take on this one. I haven't. We haven't talked about this yet.

00:09:54
Speaker 3: Actually ran into Mina after the game when I was we did the postgame of walking up and saw her in the podcast to popped in and said high and like, one of the questions I opposed to her because I was curious to get her take on it, was why is Travon Henderson not touching the ball like that? That blows my mind that they that they ramondre Stevenson was out there and getting the ball as much as he was in a game where you know you're not going to be able to put together a fifteen play drive like you need some explosives, like get the ball in that guy's hands and see what happens and it's like and even from a pass protection standpoint, gosh, the one time that I think that was the only time they blocked Witherspoon the whole game was when he caught him right unto the chin on one of those blitzes. But that was about the only time that he was on that He wasn't unabated to the quarterback, and.

00:10:39
Speaker 2: The times that they did give him the ball, he popped off for a nine er ten yard game and I was like, where is that?

00:10:44
Speaker 1: They go?

00:10:44
Speaker 2: Jumbo one play? I think that was Vermondre and they get a big game on that too. The play calling in general was curious. I think they just they just trusted Vermondre, who played really well overall down the stretch, and so you can't take that away from him. In the postseason, Travion was averaging under three yards per carry, but those were like bad weather situations. I totally agree. On a team that needed some athleticism, they needed more of him.

00:11:08
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the Seahawks, and that's all right.

00:11:11
Speaker 2: I'm going to have Mina on NFL Daily And I was wondering because she texted me, was I there.

00:11:17
Speaker 1: I was like, so she, They're already moving in and let's go the podcast.

00:11:23
Speaker 3: The families of the families have kind of merged together. And I saw I saw Ryan Clark, I saw Spears, I saw old friend Aisha who was there.

00:11:32
Speaker 4: So yeah, I mean.

00:11:33
Speaker 3: They're they're they're they're picking out bedrooms, Greg picking out bedrooms.

00:11:36
Speaker 2: Now, I just hope it's I forget who that player was where the key guard just didn't work when he showed up.

00:11:42
Speaker 4: To the to the facility.

00:11:45
Speaker 1: I just hope mine works when I show up next.

00:11:49
Speaker 2: The Seahawks seventy three million dollars in cap space. They only have one day three picks, so you know that's a little strange. Maybe there'll be a team that trades back. They have their picks in the first three rounds. They have a ton of free agents. Let's start there. H Kenneth Walker, the third can go get paid boy Mafi is a free agent Rashishahet who added quite a bit to their explosiveness late in the season. And then four players in that dime package that's out there, and they're not the biggest names, but four players who are on the field quite a bit in the Super Bowl Tree Quillen, Kobe Bryant, and Josh Shob. I guess that's three players I wrote Reek and then Woolen. Those are in fact the same place.

00:12:31
Speaker 3: Players turned out, same guy. Why you were just talking. All I could hear all I hear runs through my head was uh, And now it's time for forties and free agents with Greg and DJ. Hey, everybody I'm Greg McElroy here with Daniel Jeremiah as we kick off forties and free agents.

00:12:47
Speaker 1: All they got to do is take off one of the genus one name.

00:12:50
Speaker 3: You just keep the first name, lop off a G and then then they're still rolling here.

00:12:55
Speaker 2: Oh I know where I stand in in DJ's heart. He would he I don't even know if you mention it, he'd be like, oh, well, we're feeling lighter, one less G here, and we actually have a guy who played football who knows what he's talking about.

00:13:09
Speaker 4: That's amazing. All right.

00:13:11
Speaker 3: I did some Seattle radio this morning, so we talked a little bit about the free agent group that they have. My take on it is, I think the hardest to keep of this group is going to be Shaheed for a couple of different reasons. Look, he's he did his best work on the biggest stages.

00:13:27
Speaker 4: You know, going through this playoff run.

00:13:30
Speaker 3: You now have a situation where you played for a coach in New Orleans who then lobbied for you to come to Seattle, who is now the head coach of maybe the most offensively starved roster in football, where they'd be willing to pay money. I just have a hard time unless he just wants to win and he wants the values that experience in Seattle. I can't imagine a world where the Raiders wouldn't just outbid everybody to bring him to Vegas. And there'll be other options as well, And there's the you know, in the back burner where you've got then deal that you can start working on, knowing that's going to take up a ton of money in that receiver room. So I know they gave up a believe a four and a five for him, but mission accomplished. Man, he helped you win a super Bowl Like that's an unbelievable move. I just I think they're gonna have a hard time signing him, would be my guess.

00:14:15
Speaker 2: I agree, because at this point they're competing with thirty one other teams unless they use the tag on him, which which they want, and they have a need at wide receiver. Though I actually think it's they're in good position. I'm not saying they're not, especially with all the cap space they have so they can spend, but they do have some interesting decisions to make because that's three defensive backs that were starters for you. I know, I know Kobe Bryant for instance, and Josh Jo barn't big names. Well, they played Josh Job especially was playing awesome in the Super Bowl, played played great this year, so they.

00:14:46
Speaker 4: Got bet a good year too.

00:14:47
Speaker 3: Like those are the ones I think you can try and get done, Like, yeah, you know you can. You can work those out. And I even think with Kenneth Walker, you have you have leverage there in terms of a tag, like there's there's things you can do that make that more feasible. I just and I looked at that list the guys who I think will get the most money. I think he's gonna get a ton and I think Boy and Mafay is going to get a lot of money. I know he only had two sacks, but he's young, He's still in his I think maybe twenty seven years old. He's explosive, he's had a you know, eight or nine sack year. To me, like I told you before, I think that Quitty pay will do better on the market. I think Boy Mafiy will do better in the market. Those guys were higher picks. Those guys have they have juice and explosiveness in a in a pass rush. Star of the league. Those guys get paid.

00:15:31
Speaker 2: I totally agreed, and John Schneider likes keeping his guy, so I even thought, looking at this roster, is there a chance that they cut or trade Nuosu who's coming off a nine sacks season, but he's thirty, he's been there for four years, he was coming off two really injury plague years, and that's something where you maybe say goodbye to him just to spend more to keep your guy. You know, mafe who who they like, but it you know they're they're you know, trait. That's better than any other team is they have six seven of these guys. You know, they have so many players that they're going to try to figure out a way to keep them all. I also wonder if they give Darnold a bump. He has two years left on his deal, but he did just win the Super Bowl.

00:16:13
Speaker 4: You use this opportunity to make him turn down a big race, like.

00:16:17
Speaker 3: He doesn't put him up in the top tier, but you put that that's just kind of the way that you talk as a team. It's like, let's make him turn down, like this longer extension will give him some sugar for having just let us to a super Bowl or been a part of the Super Bowl run. I think there's a way where everybody can kind of win in that whole thing.

00:16:36
Speaker 2: I totally agree, and he has two years left on his deal. But if you look at it now, yeah, it was obviously a great bargain.

00:16:43
Speaker 1: He proved a lot of us wrong.

00:16:46
Speaker 4: You have a mouse in your pocket us.

00:16:49
Speaker 2: Well, you just mentioned Mina. I mean, I don't want to just throw other people under the bus.

00:16:52
Speaker 1: But there was a lot of the folks in the.

00:16:56
Speaker 2: Media sphere that that thought it was a downgrade going from g know to Donald.

00:17:01
Speaker 1: I wasn't the only one.

00:17:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just didn't want to be included in that. We're on a show together and you say us, and.

00:17:07
Speaker 1: Oh oh, I see, well, you know Mina trying.

00:17:11
Speaker 4: To think of doubt anybody else.

00:17:13
Speaker 2: I was trying to absolve the guy I saw in the hotel lobby the morning after the Super Bowl wearing a GINO Smith Seahawks jersey. I was like, that's a choice. Yeah, it's a weird choice to wear to the game. I assume he did that too. It's even weirder the next morning after Donald, But I guess it's maybe it's all you got. Those things are expensive, so yeah, good point on Kenneth Walker.

00:17:36
Speaker 1: I don't know why.

00:17:37
Speaker 2: I just assume he's going to go elsewhere. With all that cap space, they might as well just tag him. That's a good deal. Yeah, it's twelve million dollars.

00:17:43
Speaker 1: It's one year. They need interior offensive line help. I think they need some.

00:17:48
Speaker 2: Depth at wide receiver, like they're going to be looking for edges defensive backs. But they're in a good position in general.

00:17:53
Speaker 3: By the way, if you cover a team, any of the thirty two teams, and you write a you know what your team needs to accomplish in the off season, and you don't write that you're going to sign Tyler Linderbaum, the article doesn't even count because every single I've read a little bit of stuff in the off season, and Tyler Linderbaum apparently he's playing for twenty eight teams next year, so congratulations to him.

00:18:17
Speaker 2: Well, it always cracks me up these articles, because you're right, there's only like six free agents everyone's heard of, and every team thinks they're going to sign two or three of them, and then they signed two or three from the next tier two and it's just like there's not enough to go around. Well, since since I got you like, I mean, do you think they're going to let Linderbaum go?

00:18:35
Speaker 1: Anyways?

00:18:36
Speaker 2: Usually that's not a guy that you see get out there, but there are some not differing opinions, but whether he's like a fit everywhere?

00:18:43
Speaker 1: And what do you think do you think they'll let him go?

00:18:45
Speaker 3: I don't think it would get to this far. You know that they would have had him locked up. And they declined the fifth year option right because that's the overall offensive line and they feel like that puts the number two high for an interior player. So I get that, But I mean, if I'm Linderbaum's camp, how do you not get to the market.

00:19:03
Speaker 4: I mean whatever they're going to give you.

00:19:04
Speaker 3: Now, there's cap space up the wazoo across the whole league, and it's not a know that market of interior offensive lineman. You're the bell of the ball, Like, I'd want to get out there to the market and see what it looks like.

00:19:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, there aren't that many players that this happens to every year. It's really just a handful. One of them last year was Milton Williams, like a guy who was successfully developed.

00:19:24
Speaker 1: I know, linder Bombs hadn't even a more.

00:19:27
Speaker 2: Decorated career, but just because of some sort of technicality, Because you're right, I think if the fifth year option was just reguards, they would have just given it to him. But because it's left tackle and the number was so high, he might actually get out there. Let's take a break and then we're going to come back. DJ asked me to start breaking my rankings on this very show, so yes, for the first time, you can all hear my wide receiver free agent rankings.

00:19:52
Speaker 1: And we'll talk a little draft too after the break. Let's talk wide receivers.

00:20:09
Speaker 2: You know the position that Daniel Jeremiah struggled to throw to as a college quarterback.

00:20:14
Speaker 1: He just like running the ball. He just wanted to keep the ball in his hands.

00:20:17
Speaker 4: I wanted to throw it. I just wasn't very good at it.

00:20:22
Speaker 1: Dual threat quarterback though, right, Who were you ranked ahead of?

00:20:26
Speaker 4: Again, who was I ranked ahead of?

00:20:29
Speaker 2: I mean some big names you were? You were up there? You were up there high though, on the on the rankings.

00:20:34
Speaker 4: Yeah for high school. Yeah, high school. It was good. College. Yeah, that's what you want to know about when I went to college.

00:20:41
Speaker 3: I'll give you this is what everybody wants to hear. But my freshman, my red shirt freshman year, I think I broke the rookie or the freshman passing record. I think in Northeast Louisiana before I transferred upstate, and it was I think I was like fourteen hundred yards fifteen hundre yards. I think about that, like, because freshmen didn't play in college football, and that's.

00:21:01
Speaker 1: Like one hundred and fifty yards per game. Did you how many games did you start?

00:21:04
Speaker 4: I think it started the last seven games.

00:21:06
Speaker 1: Okay. And what's the nickname there, the Northeast Louisian Well, well.

00:21:10
Speaker 3: They used to be the Indians and now they're the Warhawks.

00:21:13
Speaker 4: Maybe, okay, don't even know.

00:21:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm all for peaking in high school nineteen ninety six Massachusetts State champions minute Chog Regional Falcons.

00:21:24
Speaker 1: In tennis, you know.

00:21:25
Speaker 4: I was nineteen. I was class of ninety six as well.

00:21:28
Speaker 2: I was ninety seven. But we got back to the finals in ninety seven. We lost in the finals.

00:21:32
Speaker 4: I think there was more of that story, that's right.

00:21:33
Speaker 2: We lost in the finals in ninety seven. I won my match, not you know, but you know, it's a team sport. Let's talk receivers before I get into my ringings, maybe an overview on the wide receivers in this class. I know people are ready to start hearing DJ just go full barrel with college stuff. We're going to do a full offensive Combine preview next week. I was thinking about as I was starting to broadcast the Super Bowl for Talk Sport, which so much fun. I was thinking, two weeks from this very moment, my plane will be landing in Indianapolis. That that's how quick this offseason is. So we're gonna be at the Combine soon. Who are your wide receivers you're looking at and just kind of the overall class.

00:22:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a good group.

00:22:13
Speaker 3: It's a good group, and I think it's going to be that way, you know, in perpetuity going forward. Like it's just there's wide receivers every single year, and there's there's all different flavors from you know, outside guys like Carnel Tate from Ohio State, Jordan Tyson from Arizona State. I for me, my favorite receiver in the whole class is Mikayle Lemon, who's a slot receiver out of USC who's got a lot of that you know, USC think about aman Ross Saint Brown coming through there. If you're trying to find the next JSN who has that kind of body type and build almost like a running back, he kind of fits that.

00:22:44
Speaker 4: Bill.

00:22:44
Speaker 3: Then you want to go all the way through with Denzel Boston from Washington, who's a big physical guy.

00:22:50
Speaker 4: You get another one out of Notre Dame.

00:22:52
Speaker 3: And Malachi Fields, Like if you want those power forward types, you got those. And we've got a bunch of little slots that are real dynamic and explosive Casey concepts. She owns it can absolutely fly from Texas, A and M. So there's a there's a really really good group of whiteouts, Greg And the fun part for me is like this early part of the process, you kind of go through all the tape and I always talk about getting these guys in kind of the right neighborhoods, think about like clumps of players and then you can get them in the right house as we go through the rest of the process and trying, you know, really separate those ties. But I can't remember the last time I didn't have so many, you know, clumps, Like every year there's these clumps of man, there's like four these bigger six four wide receivers, and then there's also another clump here, these five, you know, pure slot receivers. So if you need a wide out and the free agency group that Greg's getting ready to go over it, doesn't, you know, super excite you.

00:23:42
Speaker 4: You're gonna have an opportunity to get some of the draft And.

00:23:44
Speaker 2: There's so much depth, Like how many were in your top fifty? I don't know if you know that if.

00:23:48
Speaker 4: Ten, I think ten or eleven? I think I had ten or eleven of them, And.

00:23:51
Speaker 1: That feels like a lot.

00:23:52
Speaker 2: And yet when when you look back at the last four drafts, which position had the best value in the second and third rounds, it's it's very often receivers, like they could have gone even higher so many times. And I'm not saying that doesn't happen at other positions, but I think the hit rate in rounds two and three at receivers, you've gotten some super duper star players, including one of the guys you know we're going to talk about maybe on the on the trade block, aj Brown. I mean, like, guys, guys are falling too far? All right, let's get into it. It wide receivers. To me, there's two guys tiered above, and I'm not including the cut guys or the trade guys.

00:24:28
Speaker 1: We can mention those quickly at the end. It's George Pickens and Alec Pierce and.

00:24:33
Speaker 4: Maybe most of those now only one of them.

00:24:36
Speaker 2: Well, it's not official, and I wanted to mention Pickens who the reports are.

00:24:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's going to get the franchise tag.

00:24:43
Speaker 2: There are also reports from our our insiders and I would never dealt Ian Rappaport and Pallisero and Garfolo that he could be traded, and they they noted in this post that comes out on Super Bowl. Hey, uh, we've seen David Mullagetta ca get traded by the Cowboys before you know it happens. And then you look at their cap situation. They're like thirty million dollars over the cap. They might feel like they're selling high. So I think he might be a conversation or at least they're going to use that as leverage in terms of giving him the money. He's an interesting guy to be giving a monster contract too, because you might be buying high.

00:25:24
Speaker 1: You know, the Cowboys got him for very little last year. Does he fit with CD Lamb?

00:25:28
Speaker 2: I think there are real questions of whether he's definitely going to be on the Cowboys this season.

00:25:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's definitely no questions about the talent because how gift that he was. And we saw that going through the draft process. You and I had talked about that going through the draft process, So why isn't he going higher?

00:25:42
Speaker 4: And it was.

00:25:43
Speaker 2: I saw his real talent and you you know, you kind of miss that.

00:25:47
Speaker 1: Sometimes he needs fresh eyes on it.

00:25:49
Speaker 3: It's still tough to spot, you know, like some of those guys just it's really tough. But look to me, he's the classic case of a player that teams like to be engaged to but not married to.

00:26:00
Speaker 4: M that makes any sense, I just I'd.

00:26:03
Speaker 3: Be curious to see it feels more like they would try and drag this year to year and if he's not gonna be okay with doing that from the franchise tag this year and he's gonna you know, uh kind of cause a ruckus there not be happy with that, then maybe they explore, you know, trading high as as you would say somebody, you know, I'm sure with the you know, with the teams out there, they can find one that would be willing to to, you know, go across the uh, grow across the aisle, and actually take his hand in marriage here. So I just I don't know if the Cowboys seem all that excited about doing that.

00:26:34
Speaker 2: That's it's tricky, and the Cowboys are the rare team that not only do they have the stomach for the off season drama, they almost seem they almost seem to welcome it, like that's not that's not a negative to them if they'd have to go through it.

00:26:46
Speaker 3: But I haven't had as much in season to talk about, so they've kind of majored in more off season.

00:26:50
Speaker 2: Stuff, right, and they look, it's not like they got him for free. They did give up a third for him. Would you would you you know, be happy with that if you then trade him for like a second plus a second and a fourth and he comes off your books, maybe maybe they would be.

00:27:07
Speaker 1: Maybe they would be. I don't know if you're getting a first or I did not.

00:27:10
Speaker 4: See the premium show, so I missed that whole little nugget there.

00:27:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a little bit of an article, and it was one of those where they didn't even put sources to it. They're just like, hey, you know, they could be interested in trading.

00:27:21
Speaker 4: No.

00:27:22
Speaker 2: Hey, their agent, he's executed some trades related to the Cowboys. So I'm just putting two and two together. I think Alec Pierce is a really unique talent, and in a way, because you're not giving up any draft picks for him, and you got to know what he is, he's almost a safer bet than George Pickens. I mean, he just played two years in the nfl DJ where he averaged twenty one point three yards per catch. In twenty two point three yards per catch.

00:27:52
Speaker 1: Led the league by a lot of all the years.

00:27:54
Speaker 2: I mean, he had it over a thousand yards on forty seven catches. And maybe he's not the most complete receiver, but he's got strong hands, he's a big dude, he makes contested catches. I mean, he really adds an element to any offense that I think any offense would love. And so to me, he's going to be one of my very highest players on this overall free agency Listen to me, a tier above all the rest of the guys.

00:28:21
Speaker 4: I'll mention quickly, if you're the New England Patriots, why would that not.

00:28:24
Speaker 5: Be yeah, top of the list for you.

00:28:28
Speaker 2: The only reason would be if you're like letting better be the you know, perfect be the enemy of of of better or whatever, because.

00:28:37
Speaker 4: Good phrase is that I think I won't get it right.

00:28:41
Speaker 2: That's fine now, you know I landed last night. It's it's been a long season.

00:28:47
Speaker 1: Like if they really, if they really saw A J.

00:28:49
Speaker 2: Brown, for instance, as a guy who was like, okay, we want like a one to one because I don't think Alec Pierce is that.

00:28:54
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone is thinking he's going to be that.

00:28:58
Speaker 2: But you know, I went back and watched some of the film from the year and in what stands out to you is how many times he made Daniel Jones it look better that Daniel Jones had the confidence to give him a chance to go make a play. But these aren't perfect throws, and he made a lot of very difficult catches, and he'd done it back to back years. He's burning some guys and it's not just scrubs. I saw him beat Derek Stingley on a corner route in the red zone where you know, I think Stingley's a little afraid of his speed going one way and he breaks the other and he gets pretty open against good cornerbacks.

00:29:33
Speaker 1: He's a hell of a player.

00:29:34
Speaker 2: And he's twenty five years old right now, turn in twenty six this offseason, so you're going to get the best years of his career.

00:29:40
Speaker 3: Perfect is the enemy of good is an aphorism often attributed to Voltaire, originally from a sixteen to oh three Italian proper, meaning the pursuit of flawlessness can prevent the completion of worthwhile work.

00:29:52
Speaker 1: So I'm not a big Voltaire guy, but I am looking forward.

00:29:55
Speaker 4: To the office, Wayne.

00:29:56
Speaker 3: I don't know, you guys don't get into Voltair, but that state, that's part of our you know, part of our culture up there.

00:30:02
Speaker 1: It is my literature season.

00:30:03
Speaker 2: Though, Like I get to the off season, I start banging through the novels, you know, really cranking through. When was the last time you read like a book where you know, there's paragraphs, there's a beginning and the end, and maybe fiction especially no I.

00:30:17
Speaker 4: Read this book called the Bible, Greg.

00:30:20
Speaker 3: It's the book that I go through so long though it's very long, but you can get through it in the year.

00:30:25
Speaker 4: But I do that.

00:30:27
Speaker 3: I've you know what I used to I used to be when I was younger. This sounds weird, but I used to be a big John Grisham guy, I used to go John books. That's not weird, yeah, but I just.

00:30:37
Speaker 4: Think I was very young.

00:30:38
Speaker 3: I think when I went to the bookstore and was buying them, I was like in my thirties and just I don't know. There was a lot of people in my demo that were in there knocking those things out. But I read a lot of leadership books by my buddies. You know, you got a lot of buddies in that space. John Gordon's good friend.

00:30:51
Speaker 2: So okay, stuff, Okay, I mean I could use some I can use some leadership tips. But you know, it keeps your mind sharp, it's relaxing, it's.

00:31:00
Speaker 4: Doing Greg that's all you got to do.

00:31:04
Speaker 1: I'll try that Bible thing though, that that sounds good.

00:31:06
Speaker 4: Yes, come on, come on join us.

00:31:09
Speaker 2: I went to many midnight masses because, uh, you know, I grew up in a town it's one of the only Jewish people with about ninety five percent Catholic Irish Catholic, and so that's where my that was the pool of potential girlfriends in high school. So I was going to midnight mass with with their families.

00:31:27
Speaker 1: Let's go second tier.

00:31:28
Speaker 4: A lot of ground on this Receivers Podcast.

00:31:33
Speaker 2: Next, next group you mentioned Rashid Shaheed, I've got him. I've got Mike Evans coming off an injury plagued year. I've got Wandell Robinson, Romeo Dobbs, and Juwan Jennings. And so when I look at at this group, I think they're all starting players in the NFL. I really liked We'll get to Wandale. I really liked what he gave. He probably was bumped up a tier from from where he used to be. They're not totally complete receivers. You might have to pay a little extra in free agency then you ideally would like. But I think they're gonna be pretty safe adding to your offense. Obviously it's gonna be tough to get Evans out of out of Tampa. But between Evans, Shaheed, Robinson, Dobbs, Jennings, I don't know if anyone stands out there who you want to talk about.

00:32:16
Speaker 3: So free free content idea for you is yet when you're doing this list and uh and maybe it's an associate uh content piece, but uh, I'd like to follow the coaches like we talked about with Kubiak and Shaheed.

00:32:29
Speaker 4: Uh.

00:32:30
Speaker 3: You look at the Tennessee Titans. New offensive coordinator is Brian Dabole. That's a team that could use some more weapons for cam Ward one day. Would make some sense there, Like there's a lot and then you can look at even like Jennings, I would, I would, okay, well that that uh Shanahan tree is littered all over the league, and he's kind of beloved in that system with how he plays, So I could see him, if you know, bounce.

00:32:53
Speaker 4: Around at one of those other h one of those other disciples.

00:32:56
Speaker 2: Including Kubiak he had if I'm if I'm remembering right at his season when Kubiak was in the building.

00:33:02
Speaker 1: It's tough to keep Jack at Kubiak. He's in a new place every year around.

00:33:05
Speaker 3: But I think that that's a big part of free agency when you're coming in there and you're getting ready to spend money. Ideally, you spend it on your own guys because you know him extremely well. But if you're going to go out into the market, you'd like to have some previous understanding of relationship with him personally or have seen him in a scheme that's a little bit similar to what you're gonna do.

00:33:21
Speaker 2: You know, they threw the ball deeper to Wandell more this year than really I thought made sense. But he's had one hundred and forty targets and back to back season. People think sometimes production like he's almost like a short catch merchant without a lot of people around him. You put up a thousand yards and ninety catches this season, Like, I'm not dismissing that. And when you when you watch him, he is a guy who's gonna be able to get open for you underneath. So I think every team has a has a spot for that type of receiver. Again, maybe they stretched them a little too much where he had to be their one, but I think he would fit in nicely. I did put Shaheed and Evans over him. She he It's tough for me, always been such a huge fan. I'm not holding the Seahawks and you're against him because he made a difference with a handful of splash plays. But he also, you know, barely caught the ball in Seattle, and so it did make me wonder, is he always just going to be like a very supplementary third kind of weapon in the offense, where if he's your second even that might be a stretch that he's more of a really great three plus special teams and that that kind of changes the market that he's going to have.

00:34:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I think that he's just that profile tends to get overpaid a little bit, and I could still see him getting more than people think. And because look, the return coming back into the game is big too, Like we've seen the impact of the return game now, so that that value was there. What kind of underrated part going back to Seahawks for a second, like punter, kicker, returner, like that kind of got lost in the shuffle a little bit with their team was how dominant their special teams were.

00:34:58
Speaker 2: Dixon, especially their punt well and the returners. You're right, just he he made such difference in the NFC Championship in this game in the Super Bowl.

00:35:07
Speaker 1: You're absolutely right.

00:35:08
Speaker 2: And yeah, the Saints I think kind of lost the forest for the trees when they weren't using Shaheeda anymore on returns and Seattle's.

00:35:15
Speaker 1: Like, why weren't you doing that? Exactly? We should do that. I think Romeo Dobbs is a good player.

00:35:21
Speaker 2: I kind of can't imagine Mike Evans playing in a different uniform, but you never know. Jason Light usually ends up keeping his guys. He looked pretty good when he played last year, just the first year where he missed some time with injury. But I think Dobbs is another guy who's like a starting caliber receiver. Do you remember anything I'm putting you on the spot about your evaluation of Romeo Dobbs coming into the league, because to me, I'm giving you time to look it up.

00:35:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, what you're.

00:35:47
Speaker 1: Well, that would have.

00:35:48
Speaker 2: Been twenty two, right, because he's ending, you know, ending his rookie contract. So twenty two draft guy who does a little bit of everything well and is a physical guy. Maybe he's not going to be the most open receiver in the league, but good hands, can basically run any route and like you can feel good giving him fifty snaps a game.

00:36:08
Speaker 4: A lot of deep post tracks the ball. Well, he's got some juice, he's a.

00:36:11
Speaker 3: Little bit tight, gives you some punt return value, good burst. I thought his hands were average. It's just under six two, a little over twohundred.

00:36:18
Speaker 4: Pounds, So it's kind of like I actually had.

00:36:21
Speaker 3: Him kind of the great game was like a developmental grade. Oh no, they thought there was better ahead of him.

00:36:26
Speaker 1: Well, you know who disagreed?

00:36:27
Speaker 4: With you.

00:36:28
Speaker 2: I was gonna say Brian Goodikins, but actually was a fourth round pick. I thought he got taken higher than that. So that's under my next group. So that those guys I think are all going to start in the NFL next year. I think they're all going to get good contracts. And the next group is a little tricky. I knocked Evo Samuel down to this tier. To me, he's a very particular flavor. Doesn't mean he shouldn't be, you know, on a team with a role, but you got to have a vision for him. And I don't think he's quite as complete or explosives as he was later in his career. And then some just you know guys I think are interesting. Jalen Naylor at a decent season for Minnesota. They actually like him. Johan Dotson's going to be a free agent. Former first round pick, Christian Kirk had that monster playoff game that will help him get paid a little bit. Marquise Brown, like I guess it's not gonna totally ever happen for him, but he can still help a team. So that that's kind of the next tier of wide receivers.

00:37:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's when I start looking at that going. Those guys are gonna have a hard time getting money because of the draft, because of how much depth we have at the draft, So kind of pay up to the top of the market. I get that, and then maybe get into that second tier and you get guys coming and help your young quarterbacks.

00:37:35
Speaker 4: I get that.

00:37:35
Speaker 3: But when we get into this portion of the program, to me, it's like there's guys in the third, fourth round you're gonna find they're gonna be better.

00:37:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes sense.

00:37:44
Speaker 2: Keenan Allen, Kendrick Bourn, Khalif Rayman, Treylon Burks. Actually I thought looked kind of interesting at the end. So he'll get some like one year, two million dollar contract. I'm just keeping an eye on that. He looked like he made some progress at the end of his time in Washington. Calvin Austin, there are other names out there. But before we wrap, I did just want to throw out while we're talking some possible trades or cuts, because we're getting in some big names here, because I think there's some interesting players and we're going to go through with Bill Barnwell later in the week. All the potential trade targets in the entire league, a lot of them are at wide receiver. But I mean, could I interest you in a AJ Brown? DJ Moore, Brian Thomas Junior. But you know, these are all just like just thoughts. But I think if I'm thinking about them, I trust me some front offices are at least thinking about him. Michael Pittman's entering the last year of his contract and we had him on NFL Daily last week. It was interesting to me he said, I'm not really sure what they're gonna do with me, Like do they want to give me a new contract? Do they want to cut me? Would they want to trade me? So the fact that he's saying that he's thinking about it, Calvin Ridley, Darnell Mooney, then we kind of get down the list. But some big names I think that are going to be thrown around a little bit in front offices.

00:38:56
Speaker 3: This feels like it could be kind of a shake up year with Philly. You know, they've made some coaching changes. Scout one's now no longer there. On the offensive side of the ball, they can kind of, you know, you could reimagine how you're doing this offense or building this offense out. So that wouldn't you know, totally surprise me. I'm curious see what happens with them on Dickerson, Elane Johnson, you know what happens with them. And if that's the case where those guys are not playing, then you know, okay, what do we do you know with aj going forward? Or is he a part of this new look you know, offense that they want to run there.

00:39:28
Speaker 4: So there's a lot.

00:39:29
Speaker 3: I'll just keep in my mine on Philly because just it feels like this is a little bit of a season of change there.

00:39:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, without Jeff Stoutland and they just hired their new offensive line coach.

00:39:39
Speaker 1: Was it Darryl Suitor?

00:39:41
Speaker 2: A guy who is with Sewn Mannion the new OC. You're right, could be a lot of change. I just think it makes sense timing wise, because I think if you're Howie Roseman, yeah, they want to keep elite players as long as they can. But I think you could look enough at the film last year and think, hmm, is the decline starting now?

00:39:59
Speaker 3: Maybe not even you were not even close on that. It's Chris Cooper, Daryl's suitor. Was he like an old reliever for the Braves or something?

00:40:07
Speaker 1: Why did I just throw out a random name?

00:40:09
Speaker 4: He just really just made up. Who hold On.

00:40:14
Speaker 5: Was an ice hockey coach. Yeah, Canadian hockey coach. He was a Darryl Suitter. Was he the coach of the Maple Leafs. No, he was most recently the head coach of the Calgary Flames.

00:40:27
Speaker 1: The former Kings coach.

00:40:28
Speaker 3: I mean, that's a bold move for an offensive line coach. But I think he's gonna understand toughness. He's gonna you know, he's gonna understand these guys, you know, working together. Hey, outside the box. How he's outside the box hired a Canadian hockey coach be the offensive line coach.

00:40:43
Speaker 2: I'm still on tilt because our producer asked, you know, in our chat, if Amari Cooper is still going to be inside my top ten overall free agents, a guy who that's where I had him last year and and then he retired, I didn't know. I didn't know.

00:40:57
Speaker 1: The game wasn't in him anymore.

00:41:01
Speaker 2: And yeah, Greg McElroy, if you're listening, the job is not available yet.

00:41:06
Speaker 1: This is ridiculous.

00:41:08
Speaker 2: Yes, someone was asking when when McElroy. DJ asked when McRoy started. I mean, you can just say that on the show.

00:41:15
Speaker 4: That's more fun in the chat, I'm trying to make Drew laugh behind the glass. A J.

00:41:19
Speaker 2: Brown, by the way, this this is the time to trade him, because I think whatever they're going to get for him in a trade, this is the I think the value is. They still get a lot from a team like the Patriots, for instance, whereas this would probably be the last year considering in his age and his contract and everything would get around.

00:41:36
Speaker 3: Always is very smart and he knows the rules of better to be a year earlyer than a year late on this.

00:41:42
Speaker 4: So we'll see what they do.

00:41:44
Speaker 2: And I would, if I had to guess, I think A J. Brown will get traded, although that one seems like a toss up. I even feel more confident that DJ Moore will get traded or cut. But because of the lack of wide receivers, I think they'll be able to find something for him. Brian Thomas Junior is the They're really talented player. It didn't quite fit in that offense.

00:42:04
Speaker 4: Fit in the offense.

00:42:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they have receivers. They just gave Jacobe Myers a lot of money. They're an aggressive team who probably feels like they're right. They're already in their Super Bowl window. You could get a lot for Brian Thomas. It might not be about a pick, and I'm all about bringing these veteran trades.

00:42:20
Speaker 1: Into the NFL like the NBA has.

00:42:22
Speaker 4: Let's go, Yeah, let's do it.

00:42:23
Speaker 1: I like it.

00:42:24
Speaker 4: Hey, this is out great. Can I go back to watching my college kids.

00:42:26
Speaker 1: Now you can? What letter are you on? Who is it?

00:42:30
Speaker 4: I'm on the MS. You know.

00:42:32
Speaker 3: I've done a bunch more of the guys beyond that, but I've got about eight receivers left to watch.

00:42:36
Speaker 4: Then I'll be done with all the Combine receivers. So that's my day.

00:42:39
Speaker 2: Well, just as you're grinding through the tape, especially kind of the interior offensive line, but really any the offensive line positions, just just imagine how would this guy fit in a Darryl Suiter Philadelphia Eagles offense. We will be back next week on forties and free agents. We're going to do a big Combine preview talking about the offense.

00:43:00
Speaker 1: We will see them mhm