Dexter Lawrence Wants a Trade, Kirk Is a Raider and Beef We Love

00:00:09
Speaker 1: Yes, welcome to NFL Daily where the kids are all right. We don't have Greg Rosenthal here today, he's seeing his family.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: I'm Jordan rod Riege. I'm in the Chris Westling podcast studio, joined by the great Nick Chuck. Nick. We're in charge today.

00:00:27
Speaker 3: We are in charge, no rules, hate the rolls in the oven. Hopefully we don't burn the house down.

00:00:31
Speaker 4: Here we go.

00:00:33
Speaker 2: I'm just sliding around the house, you know, Tom Cruise style, in socks, playing music as loud as I can. You know we're in sunglasses, you know, eating all the food in the fridge, biling pillowforts. It's crazy, Nick, because we have so much news to catch up on. If you've been listening to the feed, you've got a lot of great shows in the feed Forties and free Agents. There's some great Allie Connolly episodes going over. Some of the dress have prospects. But we haven't had a chance to really catch up and dive back in on the news. And I have to think that Greg has like a little fomo because we have a pretty meaty news show today.

00:01:11
Speaker 3: Yes, and it is still the regular season, right, and yet he's not here to dive into the This is the type of news portion that Greg would really sink his teeth into, like a nice steak, maybe it's extra rare and just enjoy it.

00:01:25
Speaker 4: And yet he's not here. We're going to handle it.

00:01:27
Speaker 2: He's a newsman, after all. And I think you could tell immediately who was in charge of organizing the rundown document today, because I was in charge. And I have deep and serious mental health issues about organization.

00:01:42
Speaker 3: So no, no, And as somebody who also needs things organized, clearly, I like the bold things. I like the highlight things that they're easy to find with my eyes while we're in the middle of the show.

00:01:50
Speaker 4: I appreciate this more than you would ever know.

00:01:53
Speaker 3: There are bullet points, there's bolded, there's things that are highlighted. It's all organized. It makes sense to my brain, and hopefully it produces a great show. It's got to produce a great show.

00:02:02
Speaker 2: I mean, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see how it goes like we'll play it by ear. I'm in the powerchair. I had to lower it by quite a bit because when Greg sits in it, it's up very high. The man has a small tour, So let's get into New York Giants Superstar defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence has reportedly requested a trade, according to the insiders, and that comes after what local New York reporters have said has been like some weeks and months of simmering tension between Dexter Lawrence and the front office. They kind of put a band aid over it last offseason. Reportedly, he's gotten calls at the trade deadline as well, and he will not attend OTAs this situation suddenly got very very serious in New York.

00:02:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I don't think it really shines a positive light on Joe Shane, the GM there who is still there despite them changing coaches. Some people would believe that he probably shouldn't be there, but he is still there. This is the GM who was once shown to let Takuon Barkley walk out of the door, much to the dismay of Giants ownership at the time, and then we all know how that panned out. And now we have this instance in which one of your pillars of your franchise, the guy that you gave a four year, ninety million dollar contract extension to just a few years ago, uh no longer wants to play for you because it seems you guys can't come close to negotiating a new extension. He's twenty eight years old, he's in the prime of his career. He's got two second team All pros to his name, He's got three Pro Bowl nods over the last four years. He just missed out this most recent season. And it's a guy that you should continue to build around. I mean, we've seen this team go through one phase to the next, transition after transition, and he's been there throughout the majority of it. Drafted, you know, in the first round in twenty nineteen at the Clemson and just now you look at it and you think, how do you let this guy, you know, get upset with you?

00:03:48
Speaker 4: This is the guy that shores up the interior.

00:03:50
Speaker 3: You put all these efforts towards, you know, getting Brian Burns another, you know, acquiring other guys to make this defense better, and yet the true in tier of it is upset. So this is the deal that you got to get done. I think if you really want to, you know, keep this defense altogether. But then again, you know, we do see this when coaches change. Sometimes they're not their guy and the front office can't get you know, on the same page. As somebody with player representation. Then you end up in this situation where now he goes public with his trade demand and we'll see if those phone lines heat up again, because I know Joe Shane really probably wanted a lot in a return for him, and that's probably why they didn't get done the middle of the season last year, near the deadline. And now is the perfect time to put together a godfather offer for a player like Dexter Lawrence.

00:04:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, and twenty eight, as you mentioned, he's still got, you know, a lot of good years left and he is somebody around whom they've built this like complimentary puzzle piece are attempted to where of all the things that were not creditable to use a greg word about the Giants over the last couple of years, that defensive line absolutely was and has been, and Dexter Lawrence being the cornerstone of that. You know, I like to think that maybe the Giants and Dexter Lawrence's camp actually got a peek at our very detailed rundown before we had the show, because later in the show, we do have a brief segment coming up called Beef We Love. And so now obviously there is beef very much out in the open between the New York Giants and Dexter Lawrence Shuk I'm kind of curious about who you think should be in on this if this does continue to unfold, if this isn't just sort of a play for getting more money, if this actually does result in a trade, I'm kind of curious who you think should be In my opinion, I think the Panthers should be making phone calls. They already have that relationship between Dan Morgan and Joe Shane do have that relationship. And yes, they already have Derek Brown, but they could really benefit from having a complimentary interior player to Derek Brown who is more than a role player, as Ashaan Robinson and Bobby Brown the third have been and they really are beefing up around the edges there as well. And I think the Chargers, who have a lot of cap space, should be a team that's making a phone call. I think the Bengals should be making a phone call. What do you think? Who do you think should be in that?

00:06:08
Speaker 4: That's where I was gonna go.

00:06:08
Speaker 3: So it's funny because the Panthers, so like I just did, my first mock draft came out last week, and I had the Panthers taking a defensive tackle in the first round, and you think, well, you're Brown there, Well, let's get that complimentary, you know, Let's create a duo. Let's create a Derek Brunn is an excellent pass rusher. Let's get a really good run stopper. I paired him with Lee Hunter from Texas Tech. Maybe it's a bit of an overdraft, right, but if you add a guy in like Dexter Lawrence, who can do pretty much everything on the interior next to a Derek Brown, suddenly you have a one heck of a tandem in the interior that really shores it up, makes it into a brick wall of sorts.

00:06:37
Speaker 4: So that was a great pick.

00:06:38
Speaker 3: But I also thought the Bengals too, because as we went through remaining free agent fits a few weeks ago, I kept looking at the Bengals and thinking, Okay, well you signed Jonathan Allen, but how well is that really going to work out? It's still a weakness for you. You still need to make that defense better. Next to him, you got bj Hill. It would be a massive upgrade to added Exter Lawrence to that group. And especially after you know you look at what they have done at edge Rusher Trey Hendrickson leaves they get, but Boye Mafe becomes that much better if the.

00:07:02
Speaker 4: Guy's next to him are stronger.

00:07:03
Speaker 3: I mean, that's that's really where he excelled as part of a bigger group in Seattle. So it only benefits the additions that you've already made by adding somebody.

00:07:10
Speaker 4: Else like that.

00:07:10
Speaker 3: The question is do they have the capital or are they willing to give up the capital necessary to pry him from the hands of the Giants, Which is why if you let this ride out a little bit and the negotiations continue to stall and it sounds like they're nowhere near you know, common ground with this right now, then maybe you get him at a slightly cheaper price. I mean, it is early April, but a deal before the draft still makes a lot more sense, maybe for the Giants than other teams. But as you construct your roster and try to you know, how you figure out the draft and where you target your needs, it would make more sense to get that done right now. But that's definitely one of the teams I agree with, and I like the Chargers as a good team too.

00:07:44
Speaker 4: Any team that like I mean you can really go anywhere.

00:07:46
Speaker 3: But I love, love the idea of beefing up defensive interiers. I think about some of the defensive interiors like in Houston, for example, not saying that they need this, but I love the idea of a defense getting even better. They don't have the room or the idea really what they need to make such a deal work. But I think about guys like Tommy Togia, I'm making a difference. If you were to replace a Tommy Toga with a Dexter Lawrence, that would be incredible. That's more unrealistic.

00:08:09
Speaker 2: I wonder if teams who were really invested. I think about the Patriots for example, and obviously Milton Williams was such a difference maker for them last season. But I think about these teams that want to go from solid to great or already good, that want to go to better or be great. And I think about teams that potentially we're getting trade packages ready for other players. A J. Brown, you know, is still out there, and these teams they game theory through what actually is are we willing to give for premier players. It's not just receiver defensive linemen, it's what are when front office talk about when front offices talk about this, they talk about what do we actually have resources wise that we are willing to put forward to premium players at a premier position, players who take a and higher position group and change the math for that position group. And certainly that could be a conversation that's happening right now around the league. And I love it. And I just jo Shane, you're in this situation again.

00:09:13
Speaker 1: Man like like I just it's just it's set your clock to it, set your watch to it.

00:09:18
Speaker 3: At this point, Nick, I have one more team to toss out there. Yeah, I totally agree with everything you just said. What team fell apart in the middle of the season last year, partially because they've missed their quarterback due to injury, but also because they couldn't stop a nosebleed in the defensive interior. It was the Baltimore Ravens. And we still don't know exactly if Matta b k is gonna come back. You know, they say he's in good spirits mentally, but we still need to know physically coming off of that neck injury. That's been a big need for them throughout this offseason. I would love that edition there that would be a headline grabber like Max Crosby was supposed to be, and I think it would make them even better upfront. So that's my last team to throw in there. But I totally agree, Why Giants do you continue to find yourself in this situation year after year with all your cornerstone players. I think it's actually even worse. You know, I know Saquon Barkley when't had a career year right after he left, But I think it's even worse that this guy, a homegrown, developed guy that you've already handed one extension, is suddenly now not wanting to be there anymore because you can't figure out how to pay him.

00:10:15
Speaker 2: The irony that it would be too of John Harbaugh, now the head coach of the New York Giants, losing a cornerstone piece to the team that gently escorted him out the door. Okay, as Greg, I'm going to do a Greg impression. Are you ready? I'm going to pull out a couple of these through the course that. Okay, we got to move Kirk Cousins to the Raiders. This happened last week. Kirk Cousins went to the Raiders. He's going to be in that bridge starter slash backup role. It's twenty million guaranteed. The Raiders are not paying much of it. They're paying basically eleven point three million dollars worth of this twenty million guaranteed over the next two calendar slash team accounting years. Kirk Cousins still has a lot of flexibility in twenty twenty seven should he want to pursue another team elsewhere, but the Falcon and oh my gosh, who am I forgetting The Falcons are paying a significant portion of this and are on the hook for it, and it's a solid contract. He didn't want to play reportedly on the league minimum. I like this for the Raiders. Kirk Cousins, as he often does, kind of broke his own news with this great post on social media. It says the autumn wind for our listeners. He always sort of calls his shot right before the news actually breaks. But I really like this for the Raiders, who I'm gonna be honest, they're kind of reeling me back in a little bit shook. Like I don't hate any really anything about their off season plan, even the Crosby stuff. You really can't blame them for that over the long term and I've really liked their like bucket of resources that they're pulling together to basically say, hey, all of this is going toward developing a quarterback, including having a really solid bridge starter who's going to be a mentor in that room too likely for Mendoza at their number one overall pick, also getting Tyler Linderbaum resetting the market for him. It's costly, including using your number one overall pick. It's all costly, but to me, it's it's sort of priceless if the quarterback works out.

00:12:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, you're absolutely right.

00:12:16
Speaker 3: First off, that tweet at six eleven AM. I believe that's specific because are real dad hours hours? Yeah? Yeah, that's so good for him. That fits his persona. This I felt like we could see this coming for a long time, you know, and not only did Clint Kubiak say it during the owner's meetings that you know, he wanted he preferred a mature quarterback to come in and lead you know, this team and this offense in year one and not throw the rookie in there because we all expect them to select Fernana Mendoza with the first overall pick. He kind of signaled it at that point and it was funny because it was in this weird period. Greg and I discussed this on the show I Believe that day, which was that it was this weird period in which kirk Cousins was suddenly wanted by like four teams, like Matt Lafluor openly said that they were looking at him, Sean McVay openly said that they were looking at him, and then Kubiak thinly veiled reference to kirk Cousins wanting him to be that guy. And then so a couple of days later, of course, this deal materializes, and it makes all the sense in the world if you look at it from a one year deal, a one year deal in which he makes twenty million dollars. Obviously it's much larger than that, but we know that a lot of this is just constructed, you know, with outs and everything else.

00:13:18
Speaker 4: Offer a quarterback a lot of flexibility.

00:13:19
Speaker 3: It's actually pretty similar to what the Falcons did, which was the sign that they were moving on from him, where they moved his void year or his void date I think, to like the fifth day of the league year, essentially giving them a deadline to move on from him. Raiders kind of do the same thing. Give themselves and Kirk cousins the deadline to move on from each other a year from now. But an answer is the biggest need going into Clint Kubiak's first year as head coach of the Raiders, which is that I get the veteran that I can trust to operate this offense and set the foundation, and I don't have to throw the rookie in there behind an offensive line that was terrible last year and has received a lot of investment but still needs time to gel. You give yourself room to figure all this out and put all these pieces together instead of, you know, potentially damaging your number one overall picks. So it makes a ton of sense, and it's good for Kirk, who is the all time bag getter. He's getting another bag this year with the Raiders. He's going to get an opportunity to continue playing. I thought he played well enough with the Falcons last year to deserve such an opportunity. Now he lands one and a year from now, we could be talking about Kirk Baby saying, you know what, this is the final chapter of my career. I passed the keys to Fernando Mendoza. I did my job as a veteran I was. I gave him my all, my wisdom gained from my many stops in the NFL, and now I'm going to stroll into a TV studio with all this money in my pocket, and I think it would be a perfect final chapter for him.

00:14:33
Speaker 2: I'll just all just preparing for the inevitable Cousin Shanahan broadcasting duo coming to whatever network will exist to that time. So it's interesting. I like this with the contract too. I like how they did this. It was collaborative between both teams. Because Kirk will still make that ten million dollars roster bonus or the ten million dollar bonus next off season. It's sort of jumped into this initial very low cost for the Raiders where he is technically making the minimum for them this year. But I think if you look at overall what Kirk's accounting will be before he puts in for what will likely be a significant you know, taxes during that season every league year, it basically all gets pulled into the same money. And so this is interesting the way that they're saying you will be making twenty million dollars over these two calendar seasons. Guaranteed, it's just going to look a lot like backup quarterback money to start and functionally for the Raiders. And I like that because it's a nod of respect and a sort of a hey, if it does turn out that, you know, some catastrophe happens, injury, or maybe our young quarterback isn't going to be as ready on time, you're giving him a little bit more of a nod on the back end of such a deal, and then also giving him the flexibility in case he does want to keep playing. It when I was hearing about Kirk in the off season and where's he going to go and all these things, and sometimes, by the way, my theory is sometimes it's some of these coaches who like him so much are putting in the juice while they can and the favors because one day maybe they will need him. He's like, hey, I remember that one time at the league meetings when I helped give you a pay bump because we increased Yeah, because we increased your the the bidding war, so to speak, or the perception of one around your status. You know, you remember that time. I think that it's interesting because Kirk, what I would hear this obviously, is he has no intention of a being a backup for long or B. You know, he still feels like he's got a lot of football left in him. And I think a lot of these quarterbacks do. They feel like that every season this time of year. But good for Kirk. He keeps rolling, he keeps going. I don't know how much we're actually going to see of him this year. One point three million in twenty twenty six for the Raiders doesn't really say this guy has to be our starter, but it's a great just in case for the Raiders. And people say all over the league that they learn even if the guy's not teaching them specifically or being a mentor specifically to them. You hear all the time about watching habits in a quarterbacks room, in a receiver's room, in any of these rooms where they have veteran players, watching habits and making those habits your own can be really, really helpful for the long term. So good for Kirk. We you know, keep going time has no meaning and is irrelevant and a construct.

00:17:25
Speaker 4: And keep stacking them checks, Kirk. We love it.

00:17:29
Speaker 2: Onto a more serious topic, Shook, I'm glad you're here to talk with me about this. I know that Greg and Patrick have talked about it. We've talked about it a little bit on the show as well. But last week the news broke that Puka Nakua, the RAMS star receiver, checked into a holistic care facility. Just want to say. His lawyer said he's been there since March, and also a team source confirmed that to me, he's been there for some time and before this latest lawsuit that alleges he made an anti Semitic comment and also bit two separate two women while intoxicated came out. So I wanted to get into this a little bit because there's a there's layers to it, and obviously, first and foremost, pukin Akua has a lot of learning and growing up to do this off season. That's one truth. But another truth on this obviously is you hope on a human level that the maybe the care if there is a substance issue, if there is something beyond uh, you know, the mental or some of the off season exploits that that does need to be addressed, you hope that a person gets care for that, you know. Nick. The other truth of this, though, is that there's been a lot of mistakes and a lot of just bad stuff that that pukuin Akua has been out there and getting into including starting even in the middle of the season with his anti Semitic dance that he did on a live stream that's known for platforming people with that opinion and also white nationalists. You know, Puca later said that he did not know what that dance meant. And this these allegations that came out in this latest lawsuit would have placed the timing less than three weeks after his appalled his public apology for that dance and for that live stream. This is concerning on a number of levels. First and foremost, I really appreciated what Patrick said on a previous show that your actions are going to have to speak louder than any issued statements, than any sort of team team leaking things or team putting things out there or anything like that. You know, the organization has been supportive of him getting this help and being in this facility. He did it of his own volition, to my understanding, but the organization was glad he did after increasing concerns about his well being. And here there is a lot of work to do and a lot of a lot of actions I think needed to show that he actually these were mistakes, you know, because your actions are going to now are going to speak a lot louder than even your play on the field.

00:20:07
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:20:07
Speaker 3: Absolutely, So the incidence has also happened in relatively quick succession, which is really a very alarming reality for the fact that you know, we remember what happened to the live stream, you know thing, and then that was during the season, and then this happens, you know, like you said, less than a month later, And what it kind of speaks to for me when I try to analyze this again from the human perspective, Like you said, you want somebody to make sure that they get the help that they need or the direction that they need, whether it's team provided or outside, you know, somebody within his circle instead of being surrounded by yes men and the enablers and everything else. And it seems like maybe that's the path that he's on. But I think about it from a human perspective because I try to understand how could you suddenly do all these things back to back and just make these mistakes.

00:20:48
Speaker 4: I have to make sense of this one way or another.

00:20:50
Speaker 3: And what I think it really is is a product of a guy who came into the NFL and took the league by storm. He was not a household name, He was not a name that arrived to the RAMS with great expectations, and in within just a couple of seasons, became a superstar. And I think oftentimes when fame hits you so quickly, you don't know how to handle it. Most of us are not equipped to handle fame when it hits you that quickly. That is not an excuse for what he's done. But when you try to make sense of why somebody will act the way they are and so destructively, I mean relatively speaking, within such a short order, that kind of makes some sense to it.

00:21:22
Speaker 4: But how do you then counter that. You kind of that by being.

00:21:25
Speaker 3: Guided by people who have your best interest in mind and aren't just trying to, you know, take a little bit from your tree or take a little bit from your pockets. And it seems like maybe he's on that right track now going into the holistic care facility and the RAMS apparently you know, realizing this is a serious situation and that they're going to hold him to account and that they're not just going to let this continue to happen. The hope that is that this is the first step toward doing more of the right things, and again backing up your words with actions, because words, like you said, they really don't matter. Anybody can have a pr team, craft a statement that sounds fine, but if you go out and make another mistake, all of that disappears.

00:22:00
Speaker 4: So you hope this is the first step toward the right direction.

00:22:03
Speaker 3: But I think it does speak to you know how success and fame can can derail somebody pretty quickly, and you just hope that they have the right support system around them to get them back on track and prevent these sorts of mistakes from happening again. And then if you look at it from a football perspective, he is at that point in his career now where you are talking contract extension, you are talking about your next your first big payday, and that can all be affected for you know, if he continues to make mistakes. So as of now, it's good that you know, he ends up, you know, checking into this facility on his own volition.

00:22:34
Speaker 4: We'll see you know.

00:22:35
Speaker 3: Again, It's it's cautious optimism, I think. And you hope that he doesn't repeat these mistakes and that he learns from them.

00:22:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, like I mentioned, and you said this very well, said Nick, two things are true here. It's good to seek help and to get the help that you need for whatever issues you are experiencing in your life. And he's done so. Again, He's not a kid, No matter how many times Sean mcvagh refers to him as a kid, he is not. He is an adult man with a child. So he had the autonomy to go seek help and he did so. I think that's one thing that is true here. The other thing is that accountability is not a one off thing. Accountability is a lifelong thing. I think there a lot of us understand that and know that. And this is something that the Rams I think more so just in my understanding and sort of my conversations the Rams, more so than certainly they did in season where there was no he wasn't punished, there was no internal suspension, there was nothing. And Sean McVay even came out and praised him after that game for his on field performance, just right after that streaming incident and trying to get the streamers into the building and all those things. Now, I think that it has intensified internally that necessity for accountability. I think a lot of his fans probably feel the same way that accountability is necess and so that's not something you just know is going to happen immediately. It's a series of actions, it's a series of steps. It's a life of growth and a life of understanding your platform, and a life of understanding what you mean to people and who you are to people who celebrate you for what you do on a football field, but ultimately will remember you for everything, including what you do off of it. So with that, the rams to me have in my opinion and my understanding, have made it pretty clear what the stakes are here, even to the point where you know, what's interesting about this to me, shook is that they don't do early extensions until training camp anyway, so they have naturally given themselves a cushion to see whether or not he is progressing in a way that's like, first of all healthy, and second of all that suits their standards of the mantle that they would say someone of that status of their franchise would have to carry, so they have time. So that's interesting. That's the first interesting part of this to me. And second, this is not a team that typically has used the franchise tag in the past, but what if they think they need more time. What if, like I said, they believe that accountability is a long series of steps.

00:25:17
Speaker 3: And you know, it's not just the how does he appear when he shows up to the facility, it's also I think it's a two step process just to get back toward getting on the right track, which is one looking at yourself in the mirror and admitting your faults, admitting your mistakes, taking that accountability with yourself. And then it's also about who you surround yourself with. And I think that's where the Rams could probably find some clues as they have this cushion and see how long they want to write it out. Who is he surrounding himself with when he's not at the facility, Who is he leaning on? Who is he turning toward? I think back to what was it a couple of years ago where they talked about the workouts in Cooper Cup's yard or whatever and throwing up in the yard. That was a good sign at the time that you need more of that. You need to be surrounded by people that can guide you in the right direction and not lead you, you know, down these roads of mistakes that you've traveled down far too often recently.

00:26:04
Speaker 2: It's gonna be something we don't know the results now, and OTAs are are set to start. His lawyer has said that he will be participating in the team's offseason programming. I'm sure that the Beat reporters will have a lot of questions, continued questions, curious how the team will handle this as well from an optic standpoint, let alone from an internal standpoint. So just something that something that's going to continue to be a really big story in the NFL, and one, like I said, you know, a lot of layers to it, and a lot of a lot of nuance to these types of things, with what you see externally is not always what's happening internally. I want to move on to Trayvon Walker, a player who I know, we both like quite a bit. He just agreed to a four year, one hundred and ten million dollar extension with the Jacksonville Jaguars that includes a reported seventy seven million dollars in guarantees and fifty million dollars guaranteed at signing per our Pal rap sheet. What do you make of this extension? First and foremost shook and what does it say about this Jaguars defense and what they believe they are building moving forward.

00:27:15
Speaker 3: We are in the sunniest, most optimistic Everything is flowers and sunshine and candy period that the Jaguars have seen in a long time, because they're coming off of a very strong finish to a regular season and disappointment in the playoffs, but every reason in the world to believe that the best is yet to come. So it makes a lot of sense that they sign one of their key guys in the defensive side and also confirm their four pick first overall pick in tray Von Walker by hitting him this deal. But it's not like this is just a handout, because it's not. Over the course of his career, he's got twenty seven and a half sacks, he's got ten sacks in twenty twenty three, ten and a half in twenty twenty four, and yes, he only had three and a half last year, but he still made a difference. He still made an impact over the fourteen games that he played. If you are constructing your team for the long term, and you're figuring out and identifying exactly who are the key parts of your squad as you try to continue to build toward the ultimate success and the ultimate goal, which is winning a super Bowl. Now is the time to do something like that before he enters the fifth year of his rookie deal, and you.

00:28:12
Speaker 4: Lock him up.

00:28:13
Speaker 3: You lock up a guy that is going to be the future of your edge rushing department because Josh heines Allen, for as good as he is, is not as young as he once was. And in the meantime, you have both of them getting after quarterbacks, and it keeps one of your guys at a relatively affordable rate given what the edge rushing market is right now, with the hopes that he outperforms that contract within the four years that he'll be signed to it.

00:28:35
Speaker 4: So it makes a lot of sense.

00:28:37
Speaker 3: I saw you put a little note in there that the Jags got cute in the contract structure by giving him twenty seven and a half average annual salary, which is equal to his career sacks of twenty seven and a.

00:28:46
Speaker 4: Half, which, all right, that's sweet. I like that. That's cool, nice little nod.

00:28:50
Speaker 3: But what I really like most about him is he has like he's not the cleanest, most polished edge rusher. He's not an absolute force right off of the snap and just win immediately. Like I know, you think about a mile Scart or some of the most premier edge rushers. But what he does and when I think, really bodes well for his long term success to the Jaguars. He never gives up on place. He is at every highlight you find of him. Rarely is it an immediate victory. Every once in a while he'll get into the chest of a tackle and knock him off his platform, run right through him and get the sack, But a lot of them are didn't win initially. Continues fighting, continues fighting, and finds his way to the ball, and he just does it over and over and over again. Sometimes it produces a turnover. There's the one time he recovered a funnel and took it back for a touchdown in Philadelphia. It's just all the signs that you want from a guy. He's not taking those plays off. His motor is relentless on these plays in which he makes a difference. You hope that that is the foundation that he builds upon and really lives up to this contract, and that's why you sign him to a deal like that that's you know, relatively affordable given what the market is, and you hope that it ends up being a cheap deal in the larger picture.

00:29:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the Jaguars are smart. They're looking at things beyond some of the premium numbers that we often look at with pass rushers. His sack totals are respectable, obviously, but they're clearly paying him as a second effort player, which tells me that they do have a construction idea of what they want to do moving forward. A second effort player like Treyvon Walker often lends well to a very very creative first effort player who the second effort player has to and truly has a sort of a knack for understanding how to bounce off of whatever that player is doing, something that Liam Cohen, by the way, saw over and over and over again. He mentioned at league meetings he really wants to have a situation with Trayvon Walker similar to that that he used to see with Aaron Donald, who is one of those initial efforts, second, third, and fourth and fifth effort players who they used to have to kick out a practice because he was just abusing the guards too much. This is how the veteran rest days, by the way, came to be for Aaron Donald, who's never needed a rest day in his entire life. They would assign him veteran rest days because the guards were not getting enough actual work in because they were setting and panicking the entire time. And so that's what Liam Collen wanted to see at a Treyvon Walker. And certainly because he has such of that knack and that ability to pursue even after the first contact on a play, he is able to have that creativit they could basically over time, Schuck, you mentioned it, Josh Heines Allen is great, but over time, whoever they plug in with him, he is going to be able to play off of them because of that particular and very specific, as they would call it, superpower that he does have. And next step on their list, I think is extending Parker Washington, who we love on NFL Daily really came on middle to late last season. And Breton Strange, who had a little bit of injury issues, but as certainly someone around whom a lot of their offense is designed as a sort of a hinge player in the passing surface and in the running surface too. So that's the Jaguars, who you know, probably were feeling a little impatient because they didn't go out and do a bunch of splashy things. But they're sort of now taking a step back, playing the compic game this free agency and trying to build sustainably instead of sort of chase out liars, which, in the best way, their first season under Liam Cohen was.

00:32:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, super exciting for them.

00:32:07
Speaker 3: Sometimes when you look at your roster and you see the success you had, you just think, Okay, I like most of what we had. Now let's start paying some of our own guys, make small ads here, small ads there, and continue building toward our greater goal. And look, as somebody who was not necessarily a big believer in what the Jaguars were putting together a year ago, I was so wrong, and I'm so happy to be wrong, because I think they're on the right path forward. And it all obviously all hinges on their quarterback and how he plays, but he played so well the back half of last year that I'm just like, I'm all aboard, baby, Let's go Jags, go go in the South.

00:32:36
Speaker 4: In twenty twenty, Feve, I know I love it.

00:32:37
Speaker 2: I'm biased, obviously, but yes, I love it. I'm already I do feel like Greg sitting in the powerchair. I just got a producer text from Eric behind the glass. We're honking too much, Nick, We're honking. That doesn't surprise It doesn't surprise me at all. This is just a look at our conversations when Nick and I actually do get to see each other at the league events. All we do is sit there and talk about things we're interested in, which we are interested in, but we know a lot of the population is not okay. Here are some small news tidbits. The NFL announced in a little bit of a Friday news dump last week that its investigation into chiefs receiver Rahi Rice has concluded. In their words, they found he has not engaged in conduct that violates the Personal Conduct Policy end quote, so as of now, he will not be disciplined by the league. Rashi Rice obviously was previously accused via lawsuit and social media posts by the mother of his two children of repeated assault. The NFL additionally said that its investigation into those allegations by her has concluded. And the Great, the legend, the five time pro bowler, two time All Pro again. I cannot believe that Greg does not get to opine about this here today. Stefan Gilmour Patriot, longtime Patriots cornerback Pride of rock Hill, South Carolina, Pride of the Carolinas region overall, has retired. I'm going to read in short part of his statement to my first love football as a young scrappy kid from rock Hill, South Carolina, with humble beginnings, the eldest of six, you gave me focus, opportunity, strength and friends to last a lifetime. He goes on to think his wife, his children, his coaches, and the fans and says he's excited about his next chapter, which could include scouting or coaching or pretty much do whatever you want to do stuff on Gilmore, Like you earned it.

00:34:28
Speaker 3: Man, Yeah, he earned it. And what a career that he had started in Buffalo. Proved himself as a very physical corner willing to put his nose, get his nose dirty, and he did it plenty early on throughout his career, and then wasn't the right fit for Sean McDermot and co. When they showed up, And so he just said, you know what, I'm going to play on the other side of the rivalry of the AFCAS. I'm gonna go play for the Patriots. I'm gonna go win a Super Bowl with the Patriots, and he stayed there for four more years. That's where he really peaked. Hit a couple of first team All pros, four Pro Bowls, and then he went back home to Carolina. An abbreviated appearance because of a quad injury that to his trade from the Patriots to the Panthers. Then became a mercenary as many do, and finished in a strong note.

00:35:06
Speaker 4: Heck of a career.

00:35:07
Speaker 3: One of my favorite guys to watch when it comes to just a highlight reel because of how physical he played.

00:35:11
Speaker 4: He was a guy again that was not afraid to get his nose dirty. He got in there, he.

00:35:15
Speaker 3: Sacrificed his body, He laid it all out there on the line over thirteen years. A retirement that is well earned, well deserved. Excited for what's next for him and the pride of the South Carolina game cocksdefon.

00:35:26
Speaker 2: Gilmore and you know sneaky best Twitter username handle combo Gilly lock and bump and run Gilmore, Which two things that you know if you know, you know, it's good stuff. I guess it's true. I can't believe Greg. I would really love a Greg monologue about Stefan Gilmour and like the interception in the Super Bowl.

00:35:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess I.

00:35:45
Speaker 3: Could just talk about it's ten to three, the Rams are driving. It's the lowest excitement super Bowl in ages. But who provides the final juice? Steffan Gilmour pick it off, Jared goff to lock it up here?

00:35:57
Speaker 2: Wait, I got another one coming, and we are so back, and then I try not to say, look, my Patriots, man, that's my bad. There's my other great impression. I know the listeners are gonna love that one. Do we take a break? Eric, I don't know. The kids are in charge. I feel like we yes, please.

00:36:15
Speaker 4: Take a break, Please take a break.

00:36:19
Speaker 2: Please, for the love of God, take a break. Okay, We're gonna take a quick break. And then we're back on the other side of NFL Daily Kids Edition with Beef we Love. Nailed it.

00:36:36
Speaker 5: Second down and ten. There was a guy who warn number twenty one for the Patriots with a saving interception in an end zone to our white several Super bowls. Ago now Golf, with three to the left, takes the snap. Harmanana bltz GoF throws it at the right. Gilmore's there intercepted at the floor Harmon and force the pick and Gilmore comes up with it his second of the postseason. What asession of the Patriots. What a call, prime Flora's pressure on number sixteen.

00:37:04
Speaker 2: You know the kid was going to.

00:37:05
Speaker 3: Crack and he did.

00:37:05
Speaker 5: There.

00:37:06
Speaker 4: I want to play by Gilmore.

00:37:08
Speaker 2: Let's go back on NFL Daily and what a call, What a game, what a moment. Stepan Gilmore told ESPN's My Grease that that was probably the favorite moment of his career. Shook. What a player, what.

00:37:25
Speaker 4: A legacy, had to do.

00:37:28
Speaker 3: Things that really pop out there from here, Jordan real quick, number one, Zolac always talking over so Gie on the call, even in the Super Bowl lay back last Yeah, and then number two he made another great play of the year before he broke up the fourth down pass from Blake Bortles that sent the Patriots to that Super Bowl.

00:37:44
Speaker 4: So primetime clutch player player, you know if.

00:37:47
Speaker 2: He'll never forget that Blake Bortles. Okay, So the segment we're going to do today, you know, you and I love offensive line and defensive line analysis, and we also love pet arguments among professionals. So we've combined those two passions of ours into a segment that we have named beef we love so shuk, I'm going to tee you up to start. What is one beef that you love?

00:38:14
Speaker 3: One beef is really it's not an argument necessarily, but it's an appreciation for some red meat, some real protein here, and some teams that desperately needed to up their protein intake. We're doing with three different teams that invested in the offensive line this offseason. First up, they weren't great and the worst, but they were undoubtedly the worst. The Las Vegas Raiders. They had a terrible offensive line last year. If you need proof, go look at Geno Smith's interception numbers, or go look at Geno Smith's demeanor.

00:38:42
Speaker 4: By the end of the season, they were terrible.

00:38:44
Speaker 3: Since then, they overpaid Tyler Linderbaum, and I say overpaid respectfully, if not with a bit of a compliment, because they had to pay the tax to get Tyler Linderbaum to leave the Ravens to go to the Raiders.

00:38:55
Speaker 4: It trades the black and purple for the silver and black.

00:38:57
Speaker 3: Makes as much mon eight million dollars more per year than the next highest paid center, and it's all gonna be worth it if they can hold up. They also added Spencer Burford, the interior offensive lineman who was previously with the.

00:39:08
Speaker 4: Forty nine ers.

00:39:09
Speaker 3: So they're shoring up their offensive line as they bring in for Nanda Mendoza and now Kirk Cousins. As we discussed earlier, another team that invested in their offensive line out of necessity the Cleveland Browns, because they had a bunch of veterans who were headed out, who had some void years added to their contracts. They weren't going to be able to keep Wyatt Teller, you're gone, Ethan Posig, you're gone.

00:39:28
Speaker 4: Jack Conklin, you're gone. And they needed to sign a lot. So what do they do. They trade for Titus Howard.

00:39:32
Speaker 3: They hand him a contract that's probably too expensive for what he's actually gonna do. But they answered the situation to right tackle immediately, Zion Johnson, an ascending guard, They signed him to fill in at left guard, and then they go get Elton Jenkins, who, if he can stay healthy, will be one of the better interior alignment in the NFL.

00:39:47
Speaker 4: Three out of the five spots addressed right away in the in the.

00:39:50
Speaker 2: Office, the situation they created, Chuck, please don't leave this part out.

00:39:54
Speaker 4: Oh don't worry. Don't worry.

00:39:55
Speaker 3: The Browns are never what they've seen in my world. Trust me, your beef is my and everybody in Cleveland's beef. But at least they did something to try to make up for it. And lastly, the Chargers a little bit lower level, but we already knew that they had good tackles, very good tackles Sean Slater, Joe Alt when they're there, they're a better offense. We saw what happened even when they just got all back last year before he got hurt. And if you remember the Chargers evisceration of the Vikings in prime time before all exits for the rest of the season. They invest in the interior because you're only as strong as all five, So they get Tyler Biattish, and they add Cole Strange, a guy who I was pretty high on coming out of college that never really quite stuck with the Patriots. Now he comes in there with a fresh opportunity to add some depth, because my biggest complaint with the Chargers over the last five years has been, yeah, you're starting five, might look okay, but I know your depth is poor. So they get a little bit deeper there and hopefully it bodes well for them and hopefully they can avoid the injury bug. So I love investment in the offensive line. That's the beef that I love.

00:40:50
Speaker 2: Love me Barri it giving you meat. It's like, oh Greg, thank god you're not here it, Oh my god, we're up. Okay. One thing I wanted to say about the Chargers is they did bring in Butch Berry as their new offensive line coach, who got the most out of like some maybe players that the fan base and certain talent evaluators are maybe a little bit more skeptical on, but over time really got some great play, helped identify, you know, their their star center who's out there now. I like that because if someone's gonna, you know, kind of take a player like Cole Strange, who a lot of these zone teams were high on that draft.

00:41:41
Speaker 4: That it came out.

00:41:41
Speaker 2: I think it was twenty twenty two. Really, you know a lot of these like teams that wanted to run like us, more of a stretch zone or a wider middle to outside zone. They they thought he had good movement skills and and good techniques. So we'll see if that goes well. My first beef that I love, let me be clear. I love the panthers continued rebuild of their defensive line. I don't think they're done. We mentioned at the top of the show, so we don't have to go back in depth over like how much a great addition to Derek Brown's already formidable presence on the inside would be if they brought in a really good partner for him. I liked that they added Jalen Phillips. I know there's some risk there with the injury history, but he's so young. If he can stay healthy, I love this juice on the outside. I already liked the way that Nick Gorton started to come along at the end of last year. I think partnering him, taking some of the onus off of him to be the guy, will really help set him up in a complimentary way. Bobby Brown is a good interior role player, but I would really love to see them continue to add on the interior. We mentioned them as a should go or should at least pick up the phone for a call on Dexter Lawrence. I do think this is a position they could hit the draft to find an above average player here in the higher round. This is beef. I love this is building in a complimentary way, in the right way, around your stars, not being afraid to invest in positions that really really matter, the literal meat and potatoes positions up front. I love it, this is beef. I love what is your next beef looch beefy? I should have known what we were getting into with this.

00:43:22
Speaker 4: How many beef sound drops do we have? Beefy?

00:43:29
Speaker 3: Well, this one's beefy, and it's beefy in the I guess the urban dictionary form, which is we got conflict. Juwan Jennings decided to be the heel of the NFL last year. Juwan Jennings versus the world, and by that I mean the football world. We remember the altercation he had with the Browns when Willie Collins was on the cart and Juwan Jennings was talking trash and so Shelby Harris was very angry about it and let the world know afterward how he felt about it. I remember dot and I want that known, and I want that non We do still know, Shelby Harris, is how you feel about Juwan Jennings. But then he took it a step further. They're playing against the Colts in prime time. He scores and he goes up to the fans near the end zone in the seats, and he acts like he's going to hand him the ball, and then he goes psych and keeps it for himself, and you can hear an audible oh disappointment. Juwan Jennings the heel of the NFL. But the funny thing is it all comes back around eventually, because we are now at April sixth, twenty twenty six, and guess who is still unsigned.

00:44:25
Speaker 4: Juwan Jennings.

00:44:27
Speaker 3: And if you google his name, he's the darling of every team that still wants a receiver that the team blogs, they all want their team to go after Juwan Jennings. One quick Google search today listed the Saints, the Falcons, the Titans, the Chargers, all his candidates who should definitely absolutely go a sign Juwan Jennings. But maybe it's a difference in money that seems to be the vibe right now that maybe he wants a little bit too much, which again is the perfect kapper to a beef because it's Juwan Jennings versus the football world and now it's financial too.

00:44:55
Speaker 2: I love that one. That was such a fun arc to follow. I wonder if he's starting to be. I like the Chauncey Gardner Johnson path a little bit what it was.

00:45:03
Speaker 4: My next candidate, he'll be a.

00:45:06
Speaker 2: Little bit more of a mercenary, but like a highly entertaining one who will give you some really really valuable snaps, but then perhaps not be on your team like the next year.

00:45:16
Speaker 4: I agree, your entire coaching staff yeh.

00:45:19
Speaker 2: Who then will come back around five years later and re signed. Yes. So I love this for him. He will always be cashing a check once he does get signed. This is that's a that's a really good one. Shook for my last one. I'm calling this a beef to remember, uh beef we loved among coaches in the twenty twenty five NFL season. My memory was refreshed on this as I went to league meetings and watched specifically who was not talking to each other, so Matt Lafleur of the Green Bay Packers and Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears. I love this type of rivalry. I need this rivalry to continue. This is good for the sport, it's good for the NFC North. Let's see who else jumps in. Oh wait, Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions, perhaps against Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears, guys who once worked together, whom Dan Campbell had to spend an entire season last year answering questions about the departure of his former offensive minded genius to the Chicago Bears in the same division. And finally, probably our favorite of the entire year, Liam Cohen versus Robert Sala again in the same division. Liam Cohen and Robert famously had the on field confrontation mid season last year, and that was so early in the season, I'm kind of wondering what pops off here in the middle noted that they were standing on complete opposite side of the coach's photo, but apparently both did it and the j Glazer Day drinking session, so maybe some bridges were healed at that point. This is a beef to remember.

00:47:07
Speaker 3: They did say that that they've they've mended fences and put that in the past. I think Robert Sali even like two days later apologized said he wished you would have used some different words when describing their very effective legal signs dealing operation that.

00:47:21
Speaker 4: They had there. He's like, hush, I admit it as a compliment.

00:47:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't believe that, but they did say they've joked about it since then. Right, we'll see what happens when they meet on the field, though maybe those animosity could bubble back up now that they're in the same division.

00:47:35
Speaker 2: I love it. I am issuing this challenge now to all the coaches and all the coordinators frankly, because we need more, you know, lower middle to lower tier beef as well. I think all of you should fight more. Frankly, I think that it's good for the sport. I think it is better for the sport and the and the competition of the sport if you just start letting us know how you feel. I was watching some of the earlier seasons Top Chef recently, and I noticed. I noticed that they're all so much meaner to each other to their faces in these earlier seasons because they are so highly competitive and so at the top of their game, and you know what, it makes for a great show. Top Chef has never once fallen off, in my opinion, But they're all so nice to each other. Now, you guys want to kill each other in the kitchen. Come on, I need more beef. I need this to be a fan.

00:48:28
Speaker 3: Yes, it seems to be the Beefiest USDA Prime Cut Beef Next Year Coaches Find an Enemy, Find Arrival, Find an Enemy Robert Solo to quote Robert Sala who was quoting somebody else. If you ain't got haters, you ain't popping Okay, build haters.

00:48:45
Speaker 4: I need it, We need it.

00:48:46
Speaker 2: Nick. Do you how do you think this went today? Do you think we nailed the show? Or do you think it's like I'm giving it like you're a ten. I'm giving my own effort like a five or six.

00:48:55
Speaker 3: You know well, Jordan, one of our many commonalities, beyond our love for trench plays self device of the defensive line is both crippling self doubt and the inability to properly accept a compliment without feeling excruciatingly awkward when receiving it. So I am going to deflect back to you and we can go back around in a circle. All day you were in the show, and the number you were at the show.

00:49:18
Speaker 2: Play the music. Eric, We don't want any more text from you about how long we're taking to talk. Okay. Next in your feed you will see forties in Free Agents with Greg Rosenthal, DJ and Allie. That's the trifecta. I cannot wait to listen to that. Thanks for putting up with the kids. The kids are in charge today.