1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,600
Welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast. As always, JJ here with Ever Omnipresent Dan

2
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:17,160
talking through the bills offseason. It's a time, it's a weird time. We are in weird

3
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:24,600
times. It's February 23rd. It's a leap year. The bills are $53 million over the cap. Or

4
00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,480
less now, less now because we have a recent update. Dan, why don't you walk us through

5
00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:35,000
it? Breaking news. Breaking news on the pod. The NFL has just announced, JJ, that the salary

6
00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:43,160
cap for this upcoming 2024 season is going to exceed $255 million. The exact figure is

7
00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:53,040
$255.4 million, which is a 13.6% increase over last year's cap, the highest single season

8
00:00:53,040 --> 00:01:00,400
cap increase in league history. Or so I am told by the intro webs. So what this means

9
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,800
for the Buffalo bills is that rather than being close to $51 million over the cap, they're

10
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:11,000
going to be somewhere more around $41 million over the cap, JJ. So still significantly over

11
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,960
the cap. But as we talk about contract restructures, or potential cuts to this team here in this

12
00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:23,400
pod, one, maybe even two beloved veteran Buffalo bills player may be safe from being a cap

13
00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,360
casualty as a result of this historic increase.

14
00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:32,880
That's exciting. And I think two really kind of sets the table that all the levers that

15
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:38,040
the bills that are branded bean would pull in order to get cap compliant and get them

16
00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,320
some breathing room to sign rookies, sign a, you know, vet minimum deals and things like

17
00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:46,800
that to make their team hole in the off season. They don't maybe have to pull as many levers.

18
00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:51,080
And if they do pull all of those levers and push some things down the road, it might mean

19
00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:57,240
that instead of, you know, working on a one 5 million per year annual value deal that

20
00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,680
would be the splash quote unquote of a free agency for the bills, it might mean that they

21
00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:06,520
could do a $10 million deal or a $12 million deal annual value and still come in under

22
00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:12,000
the cap because that extra little bit of wiggle room is, it is advantageous. And for anybody

23
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,360
in Bill's Mafia who's like, God, how did bean get us in this predicament? I think he had

24
00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:22,680
an excellent plan that was blown up by COVID that league had never had a reduction in salary

25
00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:28,920
cap, you know, in the modern free agency era until the COVID year. And so in order to set

26
00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:34,200
the projection, he had it to the wire, assuming he'd have a large quarterback contract, he

27
00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:40,800
didn't end up having a large quarterback contract. And the wire fell out from under him.

28
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:48,200
Yeah, JJ, it's it is, there's criticism of the roster build that you can absolutely lay

29
00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,960
at beans feet. And we have done that on a multitude of occasions. The cap figure being

30
00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:58,680
what it is, is more of the cost of doing business in the modern out of foul. Every team wants

31
00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:04,080
to hit on their franchise QB and under being we have hit on that particular person in Josh

32
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:10,760
Allen. But what that means is that the roster around that franchise QB needs to start getting

33
00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,200
younger and cheaper. And because of a little bit of the reset, as you mentioned that we

34
00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:22,240
faced under COVID, the cap projection and increases in increases in projection did not

35
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:30,200
fully come to fruition. So the bills roster, financial strategy with the cap took a little

36
00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:35,480
bit of a hit, no pun intended, but this $255 million increase will go a long way to helping

37
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:40,200
out. And as you mentioned, the totality of a contract they can offer someone say, an

38
00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:47,160
AJ Epineza to potentially stay on the team with a larger role. The odds of that happening

39
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:52,360
just got a little bit better, depending on how bean chooses to approach getting under

40
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,440
the cap and creating space, which I think JJ is a great transition into this pod. So

41
00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:03,000
on this pod, we've already covered a preliminary draft preview for agency preview. Now we're

42
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:09,120
going to do what we we have done with so many of our co hosts of other AFC AFC East teams

43
00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:13,360
and our friends of the pod, not friends of the bill segment JJ, we ourselves are going

44
00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:18,360
to pose burning questions about the Buffalo bills off season and do our best to provide

45
00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:23,200
some answers to said questions. And JJ, the first question I think that is on every bills

46
00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:31,280
fan mind is how are we going to get under this now $255 million salary cap, erase the

47
00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:38,280
$41 million deficit and also create some additional space to bring on some veteran presences,

48
00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:43,280
find our rookies, but also maybe bring back a familiar face or two.

49
00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:50,280
Absolutely. And I think to, you know, I guess the place to start for me in the way that

50
00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:55,400
we're likely going to see what is the the league year starts is it March 11th or something

51
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,840
like that? Yeah, before. Yep, for agency. Yeah, the day before for agency. Yeah. So

52
00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:05,680
the league year is coming up here in about three weeks, two and a half weeks. And once

53
00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:11,760
that league year starts, that is when the bills need to be cap compliant. And so it

54
00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,960
might even be the literal day before you're going to see some things happen. And I think

55
00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:22,920
that the first thing that you're probably going to see happen that is most likely is

56
00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:28,280
a base salary restructure. And that is where you basically say, okay, Josh Allen, we know

57
00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:35,520
you're going to be here through the rest of your your contract, your current 2024 cap

58
00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:42,120
hit is $47 million. We're going to just take a chunk of that money that we owe you and

59
00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,280
we've already agreed to pay you. And we're going to give it to you as a signing bonus

60
00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,560
and we're going to spread it out over the next five years. And that cuts his cap hit

61
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:55,920
from 47 to 29. And so right there, by doing that, the bills have dropped from kind of

62
00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:02,800
$40 million over the cap, or $43 million over the cap to $25 million over the cap. And that

63
00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,680
is a, you know, to chunk it in half like that on a player you're definitely not going to

64
00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,920
part with is probably what we'll see first. And that's kind of the first step is take

65
00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:17,080
a base salary restructure on maybe Josh Allen, maybe like Dawson Knox, Matt Milano, we think

66
00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:21,320
is going to be around at Oliver's is probably going to play out the rest of his contract.

67
00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:27,240
So spreading it out for those guys is not really doesn't not too much paint. Conor McGovan

68
00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,520
govern earns you, you know, to 2.3 million or so. So there's some of those things that

69
00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,120
are going to happen. That's the first step, I think, to clear up some space. And then

70
00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:42,640
the second step is to do some extensions for some of our players. I know I have some targets,

71
00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,560
but who are some players on the bills that you Dan think that they should extend to cut

72
00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,800
their cap hit this year down and get some more years on a player that we believe also

73
00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:52,440
is going to be on the roster in two or three years.

74
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,920
Yeah, I think there's a couple that I would target for those extensions. One, for sure

75
00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:04,680
is Rizul Douglas. He is set, I think, this year to make 9 million against the cap. Extending

76
00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:09,640
him out would definitely lower that cap to something much more manageable for the bills

77
00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,720
and maybe save anywhere depending on what they agree on the first year of salary would

78
00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:18,840
be could save them anywhere between four and five million against the cap. Taryn Johnson

79
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:24,200
is another one JJ he has just played excellent ball. And as you and I have talked about his

80
00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:30,440
skill set, even as he starts to age and some of the athletic decline starts to set in,

81
00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:35,360
he is a candidate for me who could also transition to the safety position just based on his skill

82
00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:41,680
set and profile later on in his career. So an extension for him also makes sense to me,

83
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,400
even if he's not going to be your primary nickel back in two, three or even four years,

84
00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:51,640
he's got position versatility built into that skill set that I think makes him a logical

85
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:58,000
candidate for an extension as well. There's another one and I'm less keen on this one,

86
00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:03,320
but I'd love to get your take on it. Deion Dawkins. So Dawkins is coming off, you could

87
00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:09,840
say his best year at tackle for the Buffalo Bills. That being said, last year he showed

88
00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:15,560
some inconsistencies granted first year in Kroemer's offense, had a rough COVID season,

89
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:21,000
you know, a couple of years before that he's had in his tenure as the Bills, I would say

90
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:27,120
two, maybe three outstanding seasons. And then the rest, a little rife with a little

91
00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:32,000
bit of inconsistency and middling play. I love Dawkins. I think an extension makes a

92
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:38,280
lot of sense. I am not convinced though, depending on the length of the extension, that Dawkins

93
00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:44,360
will remain at tackle through the end of his bills career. I see as he gets to the twilight

94
00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:49,680
of his playing days, JJ, him kicking into guard potentially replacing Conor McGovern

95
00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:54,880
once that contract is up. But right now, according to SpotTrack, an extension for Dawkins at

96
00:08:54,880 --> 00:09:00,920
the tackle position would average 18 million per year. Now, for those listening at home,

97
00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,520
an extension would mean that yes, over the course of the contract, he's making 18 million

98
00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:11,320
per year. But this year in the negotiations, Bean would lower his current $16.6 million

99
00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:17,680
cap it way below that mark, and then tack money onto the back end of it, right? So the

100
00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:23,320
contract would age as Dawkins age and he would get more money towards the back end of it,

101
00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:29,600
lowering his cap it for this year and creating room. I the investment in Dawkins to me JJ

102
00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:34,960
makes sense. As long as he stays at tackle, if he's going to kick into guard, though,

103
00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:39,160
I question how many years you tack on to an extension to make it meaningful. What is

104
00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:43,240
your take on that? I'm of the opinion that you can count on

105
00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:51,520
Deon Dawkins for three more years beyond this. So like 24, 25, 26, I think that that's reasonable,

106
00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,520
even if he has to slide into guard for the last year of his deal. And I think if you

107
00:09:55,520 --> 00:10:01,280
gave him an incentive laden plate, you know, incentive laden contract for the next two with

108
00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,600
snaps roster bonuses, playtime bonuses, those sorts of things, he'd probably jump at that

109
00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,800
because he has the kind of confidence in himself that he would be able to do it. Also, if you've

110
00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:14,720
kind of followed some of the Dawkins stuff off the field and interviews media time, he

111
00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:20,240
is definitely I think that even though you've mentioned his inconsistent play, I think anything

112
00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:25,720
at any tone of like moving on from Deon Dawkins, you're going to take a hit in the locker room,

113
00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:30,240
he is beloved on that line and he is a leader amongst that that line, especially if we're

114
00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,320
going to do anything with Mitch Morse, which I'll get to in a minute, you need to keep

115
00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:38,940
that leadership in the room and Dawkins is it he's a two time, you know, Walter Walter

116
00:10:38,940 --> 00:10:43,680
Peyton man of the year nominee from the bills. He's a three time three consecutive year Pro

117
00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:47,480
bowler. I know we talk about the Pro Bowl not meaning much, but still, you know, he's

118
00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:53,440
there. He's well regarded in a league he has probably had his best season. As you mentioned,

119
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:59,360
I think that you extend him, you drop that cap hit from 16 million to, you know, three

120
00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,560
or four million with bonuses and those sorts of things and end up with the next three years

121
00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:08,560
of that deal being an $18 million average, $17 million average because that would be

122
00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:13,720
in line with some of the deals signed by McGlinchey, David Bakhtiari, some of those guys who who've

123
00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:19,400
recently signed in the past two or three years and around the same age and around the same

124
00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:24,320
production Bakhtiari with the Green Bay, though that, you know, he did not live up to that

125
00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:29,120
deal because you guys maybe injured. Yeah. But at the time he signed it, he was what

126
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:33,680
29 years old, 30 years old, kind of like where it began Dawkins is and something like that.

127
00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:39,400
The best left tackle in the league. That's not the case for Dawkins. I'd say he's a top

128
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:44,400
five, top 10 at worst tech left tackle in the league, but he's up there and I think

129
00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:52,040
he deserves it. And as I mentioned before, one of the one of the pieces that we the bills

130
00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,440
are going to have to look at. And I think that, you know, I listened to the center down in

131
00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:02,280
Buffalo podcast, Eric Woods piece, which is excellent with Mitch Morse. Mitch Morse,

132
00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:07,200
the way he talked about this offseason, he is under contract still this year, but the

133
00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:15,120
bills would save about $8.5 million if they just outright cut Mitch Morse from that contract.

134
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:20,320
Either they will go back to him for a, you know, pay cut kind of retooling of that deal

135
00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,720
or they will cut him. I think this offseason, because the way he was talking about it, he

136
00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,880
was like, I know, I know, I know there's a business, there's businesses to be made,

137
00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,640
you know, I understand our cap is not the great greatest right now. So the way he was

138
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,480
talking, I wonder if he's already been having some of those conversations, he might not

139
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:40,720
be on the team, especially when they have Ryan Bates, who's, you know, four or $5 million

140
00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:47,000
per year on the books right now and ready to slide in at that center position.

141
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:54,560
Yeah. Morse is a handful of cut candidates where it wouldn't necessarily be easy, I think

142
00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:59,600
for the fan based tolerate, but from a business and team building decision makes a lot of

143
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:05,920
sense. The bills clearly have a plan for what they want to do in the first round. I'm starting

144
00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:12,160
to get that sense by listening to some of our bills beat riders and all that kind of stuff.

145
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:18,600
And I don't think even if an elite center was available at 28, I don't think they want

146
00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:23,520
to spend that draft pick, that capital on a Mitch Morse replacement. So I agree with

147
00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:28,880
you. I think if they were to cut Morse, Ryan Bates is your plan to fill in at center. And

148
00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:33,080
then you're taking a fourth, fifth or even sixth round flyer and an interior offensive

149
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,800
lineman that you can grow in Cromer system and get ready to be the long term Mitch Morse

150
00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:44,560
replacement as well. So Morse dude, he seems to me like a pretty reasonable candidate for

151
00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:51,360
a for a straight out cut. There is a world where they kick some money down the road a

152
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:56,640
little bit and they do a base salary conversion. But to me kicking any money down the road

153
00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:02,000
on Mitch Morse granted love Mitch Morris, he's been a linchpin of that of that offensive

154
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:08,520
line unit for years. He's got an injury history, he's got a concussion history. And injury

155
00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:14,040
luck only follows you so long. And this bill's offensive line was remarkably healthy in the

156
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:20,280
2023 season. I think it would be foolish for them to count on that same level of just

157
00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:26,280
luck when it came to the injury when it came to the injury situation for the offensive

158
00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:31,640
line. So I think getting younger, particularly at the center position in the interior position

159
00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:36,840
makes a lot of sense and thereby cutting Mitch Morse makes a lot of sense. Another cut candidate

160
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:42,360
to me that seems more than reasonable JJ is Naheem Himes, we can free up close to $5

161
00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:47,480
million by cutting him. And when you've already got James Cook on the roster, and Ty Johnson

162
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:53,640
is a big candidate for a resign at this point and free agency, to me, Heinz just brings

163
00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:58,680
like a duplicate duplicative set of skills that you don't need on the roster for that

164
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,560
particular cap hit. And I think the bills need to start getting away from paying guys

165
00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:08,800
like Deontay Hardy and Naheem Himes guys with like special teams viability in the punt return

166
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:15,160
game, $5 or $6 million a year, right? Go find a really fast undirected, like undrafted free

167
00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:21,320
agent and teach him some of that stuff. Because sinking that level of money into a veteran

168
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:27,720
presence that has a limited impact on the proper offense and impacts maybe only six or seven plays

169
00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:32,840
a game on special teams, to me is not a good investment when you're in the salary cap situation

170
00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:38,840
that you're at. So to me, both Hardy and Heinz feel like clear cut candidates as well.

171
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,000
A tougher one JJ. And again, I want to get your take on this.

172
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:49,880
Tredavious white. So the bills seem pretty committed to letting white get healthy and see

173
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,360
where he is going to be at after the Achilles injury kind of kind of runs its course.

174
00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:01,400
That being said, he's an aging veteran cornerback that has suffered two devastating lower body

175
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:08,760
injuries over the last three years. He has do I think I want I think it's the seventh highest

176
00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:14,200
cap number on the Buffalo Bills and see their six or seven that's like him and Dawson Knox

177
00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:20,840
are our six or seventh on there. The bills can save close to fifth highest. Yeah. Yeah.

178
00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,520
Yeah, and he might not even be your CB one heading in a trade on camp, right? With if

179
00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:33,320
result Douglas stays on the roster. So a restructure I would be open to, but an outright cut would

180
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:38,360
save the bills the most money against the cap. And this one would be hard. This is Sean McDermott's

181
00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:43,880
first ever draft pick for the Buffalo Bills. He's loved within that locker room and within the

182
00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:49,080
organization he loves that team. This would be the epitome of business decision over emotional

183
00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:54,760
decision if the bills were to cut trade white and save what could be upwards of seven million

184
00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:59,960
against the cap. What are your thoughts on cutting trade white? My thoughts are that

185
00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:07,160
this year's draft in which the Buffalo Bills have 10 picks 10 selections,

186
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,760
he probably won't use them all. We know how being likes to move up and down,

187
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:16,680
move up. He doesn't like to move down as often, but there are 10 selections in this year's draft

188
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:23,000
and there are 67 defensive backs that are going to the NFL Combine in Indy this week or this coming.

189
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,680
I think that, you know, as much as it might hurt because Trey has been such a cornerstone of this

190
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:34,920
team, you know, he's only played what like 30 games in three years or something like that.

191
00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:43,880
He hasn't done a full season in a long time. And so I think it's time to move on.

192
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:52,200
If what you're seeing from Trey White in like June, you know, April, May, June, if you're not,

193
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:57,240
if he doesn't look like he's back to his explosive self or that he'll be able to make it, you know,

194
00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,520
into training camp on time looking like Trey, I think you have to move on. I don't think they do

195
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:09,160
anything though right now because they owe him too much. He's too much of a locker room presence

196
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:16,360
for them to use him as a cap lever, especially because the cap has just increased a little bit.

197
00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:23,000
I think that that was probably one of their like emergency dial buttons to bring up and without,

198
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,520
you know, a necessary, you know, without the necessity to do so, they won't, they won't have

199
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:35,000
to pull that pull that lever right now. Yeah. And you know, as we approach the start of the league

200
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:40,920
year, he is due a roster bonus of 1.5 million to kick off the start of the league year. So that's

201
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:45,880
like a quarter of your savings gone right there. And it seems like the bills are committed to at

202
00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:51,160
least keeping him on the roster through that start date. And I agree with you, I think this increase

203
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:58,440
in cap is going to be used as a reason slash excuse for being a McDermott to keep him on the roster

204
00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:05,160
and see health wise where he is at. To me, it would be an opportunity to see if you can reconfigure

205
00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:11,960
the books to bring back a guy like AJ Epineza, where you know you desperately need some reinforcements

206
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:18,360
at the edge and along the defensive line generally, whereas your cornerback room JJ, again, barring

207
00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:23,640
health issues, you extend Resoul Douglas, who I think Bill's mafia fell in love with after his

208
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:29,000
acquisition of the trade deadline. And he is, I think even with Trey healthy and back in the lineup,

209
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:35,560
the best on ball producer in that secondary, heading into just, you know, pending free agency

210
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:42,440
and what they do in the draft, you've got Christian Benford, who granted is trying to shed the title

211
00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:47,960
of of injury prone, he's been banged up over the past couple of seasons. But when healthy, he's

212
00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:52,840
probably their number two. And now you've got a new lease on life for Kyrie Lom under a new

213
00:19:52,840 --> 00:20:00,360
secondary coach. You know, it Trey White is going to be battling for your third, maybe fourth spot.

214
00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:05,560
And you're going to pay him that cap number. To me, it feels like if you don't outright cut him,

215
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:12,600
it is irresponsible to keep him on his current contract and both parties need to mutually agree

216
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,360
on some sort of restructure for Trey, because there's no way you're going to pay your third or

217
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:21,480
fourth guy that much money. Well, and this, this brings me to, you know, something that I think

218
00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:28,920
applies to Trey. And I think it also applies to Von Miller. And that is converting rehashing their

219
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,640
deal a little bit to convert some of their guaranteed money into not likely to be earned

220
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:39,240
incentives. So for both Von Miller and Trey, there are opportunities where you can ask the player to

221
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:44,120
bet on themselves for to get some of that money back. And it won't, it won't count against the cap

222
00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:50,360
figure. If you say to Von Miller, we've got a $5 million incentive in your contract, all you have

223
00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:56,520
to do is get five sacks this upcoming season. If I'm Von Miller, I'm a prideful man, I might take

224
00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:02,280
that to earn that $5 million bonus, because it's not likely to be earned. He didn't get any sacks

225
00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:07,400
this past year. And so, you know, anything that he hasn't done the year, anything a player hasn't

226
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:13,480
done in the prior year, can be added to the the upcoming year's contract as not likely to be

227
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:18,120
earned. And it won't count against the cap this year, it'll count against next year's cap

228
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:23,160
towards money, if the player then earns that incentive. And for Trey, that would be

229
00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,680
five games, more than five games played, more than six games played, whatever it was that he went down.

230
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:34,280
You know, starting more than six games, you could basically come to him and be like, hey, Trey,

231
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:40,040
we need to put an incentive in your contract for like $8 million, that if you play more than eight

232
00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:45,320
games, you get it. But if you play play less than eight games, you do not get it. It's hard for a

233
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:49,640
player, you know, the leverage is definitely in the player's side, because he has already got a

234
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,920
signed contract that says he doesn't have to do anything, it's guaranteed. But if you put it in

235
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:59,880
the terms of, okay, you're a post June one cut, then, and like what team out there is going to pay

236
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:06,360
you even $10 million as a player who hasn't made a full season in two years. And when you were on

237
00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:13,640
the field after your ACL looked pretty average pedestrian for most of the season. I think

238
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:19,720
someone like Trey coming off of his injury, his recent injury history, I think someone like Trey

239
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:25,240
is more likely to be open to that than a guy like Von Miller. I think Miller, because so much of his

240
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:30,920
contract is guaranteed at this point. And his dead cap hit is what it is if the bills cut or

241
00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:37,480
trade him. I think Von has way more leverage in the situation than a guy like Trey does. I could

242
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:43,640
see and I could see that being the route that the bills take to keep a beloved locker room face at

243
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:48,680
a price that is a little bit more affordable at that point. So and you know, there is good will

244
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:54,280
between Trey's camp and being in the bills, there's a history there. There's a relationship there that

245
00:22:54,280 --> 00:23:01,400
I think would feed into getting that done for sure. So we're talking about these difficult

246
00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,240
decisions. I agree with you. I think that it's more likely that something happens with Trey than

247
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:11,800
Von. I think too, we have to look at a couple other people that the bills may move on from.

248
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:17,960
We already talked about Mitch, what about Poyer? I think Poyer is one that you move on from,

249
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:23,320
especially with the safety market and this secondary draft class shaping up the way that it is.

250
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:29,800
Again, I have said this multiple times that I'm sorry for the listeners at home if you're sick

251
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:35,160
of me saying this. Poyer and Hyde, two of my favorite players on the squad in the McDermott era,

252
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:40,120
outside of Diggs and outside of Allen, and it will be sad to see them move on. But I also think

253
00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:45,400
we all agree that even maybe last season, when some of the age and some of the decline started

254
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:51,400
setting in, you could have made a case for turning over the safety position then. It is time to turn

255
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:57,960
over that role. I don't want to take for granted that what McDermott did with Hyde and Poyer,

256
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:04,280
pulling them out of free agency at the points in their careers that he did and helping get them to

257
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,640
the point that they are. I don't want to take for granted he's going to be able to do that with

258
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:13,880
anybody. But there are some pretty skilled safeties in this year's free agency class.

259
00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:18,280
And there's a couple of guys who you and I have already talked about in Cooper Dijon, Cole Bishop,

260
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,880
Kid Outta Minnesota, Tyler Linden.

261
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:23,000
Nubin.

262
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,400
Nubin. Yeah. There's a couple of guys we've already talked about who could be had in the

263
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:33,320
later rounds as well. I think, again, business decision, not emotional decision, it is time

264
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:38,680
to fully move on from Hyde and Poyer and reconfigure that safety room. But I wouldn't

265
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:44,280
necessarily do it with all rookies because of how valued that position is in McDermott's scheme.

266
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,800
But we can talk about that when we get to more burning questions about free agents we'd like

267
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:53,720
to see come in because I think this is a year where you sign a tool Z free agent who you think

268
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:58,600
fits your system and you can coach up and you also take a shot on a rookie in the draft as well.

269
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:06,520
Yeah. Well, and I do think that, you know, I think for Poyer, the likely path is like he may be,

270
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:13,640
Brandon Bean may say, Hey, Poe, we love you. Our cap is incomplete. We're in trouble here.

271
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:18,600
We're going to cut you. But keep us in mind, we have, you know, we have some money will always

272
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:23,320
hold aside for your veteran presence. It's just the numbers got to be right. And he might, it

273
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,560
might be because that's exactly what happened last off season. Poyer left you. He was not

274
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:35,720
re signed, not extended. He left and they basically said here is our number and eventually the market

275
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:40,120
didn't bear out for him. And he came back for the money they were willing to pay. And, you know,

276
00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:44,680
there's a chance to that Poyer says, and I'm not, you know, I'm not willing to take less than this

277
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,840
amount and I'll just retire. And that's, that's another, you know, that's another path. But

278
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:54,280
I agree. I think that, you know, just by restructuring Josh Allen, restructuring some

279
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:59,480
McConnor McGovern's money, some of Ed Oliver's money, some of Ryan Bates money, again, players

280
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:05,080
we know will be on the team that are younger and earlier in their careers, cutting Sam Martin,

281
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:10,680
cutting Naim Hines, cutting Jordan Poyer, cutting De'Ate Hardy, restructuring some of Matt Milano's

282
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:16,600
money, restructuring some of Dawson Knox's money, cutting Mitch Morris. That's plus eight million

283
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:23,320
dollars for the bills. And JJ, there is a way that they could add another 19 million to that

284
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:28,200
number as well. Oh, do tell. And this brings us on to our second off season burning question.

285
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:36,600
Do the Buffalo bills trade Stefan Diggs this off season. So let's set the table. We are not

286
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:42,920
contributing to the media noise around Diggs is alleged unhappiness and Buffalo has alleged

287
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:49,960
unhappiness with McDermott. His alleged, you know, whatever rocky relationship the media is

288
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:56,360
trying to falsely paint between him and Allen, we are simply stating from a production standpoint,

289
00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:03,640
his production fell off a cliff towards the end of last season. He was still top five in the league

290
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:08,920
in targets. He was number one in target share on the team. He was averaging eight targets a game,

291
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:15,480
but he was running shorter routes. He was doing less after the catch than at any point in his career

292
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:22,040
with those routes. And where shorter routes because of the ease of completion tends to lead

293
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:27,640
to a higher catch rate. His catch rate actually got worse this season, despite the fact that he

294
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:34,760
was running more man a more manageable route tree than he had at any other point. Diggs is set to

295
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:40,600
hit the bills for the number their number two cap it I think it's upwards of $25 million next season,

296
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:49,560
right? 27.8 27.8. There we go. If he is a post June one trade. So this means no draft picks in

297
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:55,640
the 2024 draft if you're trading digs for picks after June one, you're doing so for the 2025

298
00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:03,560
draft in April. But if you trade digs after June one, you save 19 million against the cap and you

299
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:10,840
only absorb a dead cap hit of about 8 million Aaron Shatz for ESPN recently wrote an article about

300
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:17,320
bold moves. All 32 NFL teams could make this off season to reset their window trading digs was his

301
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:22,760
bold move for Buffalo. JJ his production notably was not there at the end of this season. We

302
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:29,320
speculated that he was potentially injured. Regardless of that, he is now 30. No quarterback

303
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:35,880
in league history has gone from a 1400 yard season to an 1100 yard season which he had this year to

304
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:41,800
then reclaim the heights of that 1400 yard year. So all metrics would indicate and all previous

305
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,520
wide receiver history would indicate that digs is at the beginning of his career decline.

306
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:51,480
He will never have more trade value than he has now and the bills could use that 19 million

307
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:56,200
dollar savings. So is this the off season we see Stefan Diggs traded?

308
00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:03,080
Absolutely not and not because I wouldn't do it. I probably would do it but not it is not

309
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:11,720
because of specifically the departure of Gabe Davis and the wide receiver room as it stands

310
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:17,000
not having an alpha dog and no guarantees that somebody they pick in the draft is going to

311
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,880
be able to replace that production. I think that even though it was a decline and even though I

312
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,280
think we both anyone who watches the bills and especially watches the bills in the playoffs

313
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:32,120
the last three years can tell you that Stefan Diggs is too easily erased and Stefan Diggs tends to

314
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:38,200
disappear in big moments. The past couple of years I just do not see a path where the bills

315
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:44,760
especially because in order to have a trade partner in that exchange somebody has to be willing to

316
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:49,960
take on that albatross of a contract which was just extended last off season. The bills just

317
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:56,600
committed to him after his massive year and I just don't see another GM out there who's going to say

318
00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:03,240
yeah you know what I want to pay almost quarterback money for a wide receiver on the wrong side of 30

319
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:09,080
who has just had a down year and who has completely underperformed in all of the biggest moments that

320
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:14,360
this that the bills have presented. Yeah it's just for me it's the same kind of thing like it's just

321
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:18,920
you know the the bills fans out there screaming about you know we need to cut von Miller.

322
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:24,440
The people in the media who are claiming that even a post-June 1 trade of Stefan Diggs is on the table

323
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:30,840
are over presumptuous that there is anyone in the world that will take that deal. I don't think

324
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,440
there is. I don't think there's a team. I agree with you his trade value is as high as it will be

325
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:41,560
but I will say at that contract his trade value is not it's not there. I agree I don't think you're

326
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:49,400
getting a first round draft pick for Diggs at this stage and also post-June 1 so first wave of free

327
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:55,320
agency is done so you're not getting that cap savings until you until you make that deal.

328
00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:02,120
That means T. Higgins is gone. Kelvin Ridley is gone. Any top flight wide receiver free agent

329
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,200
that you could take that digs money and then bring in another alpha as you say or another

330
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:12,760
number one wide receiver in that moment is going to be off the table at that point. The draft

331
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:17,880
because you're not getting draft capital to use this season you're talking about potentially

332
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:25,320
mortgaging all a good chunk of your 10 picks this year to try to trade up to get Odunze or

333
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:31,320
Marvin Harrison Jr. who I don't think is ever going to be a possibility or Malik neighbors.

334
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:36,360
But then and you mentioned this and I think it's a great point you're now taking away two of the

335
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:42,600
most familiar targets Alan has had throughout the course of his career in Allen and Diggs and Davis

336
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:48,840
at the same time and replacing it with rookie unknowns or free agent unknowns. I don't think

337
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:54,680
the bills regardless of where Diggs is at in his ability to perform at this point are going to make

338
00:31:54,680 --> 00:32:03,800
that move. You don't gain the benefit is too is too kicked down the road right. It's too furloughed

339
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,080
to happen to have any meaningful impact this season because it's not really going to play into your

340
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:16,600
free agent free agent calculation at all. So for me I think you keep Diggs on the roster and

341
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:21,640
explore potentially this next season. Well and I think absolutely you're right about exploring

342
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:26,200
next season. The reason that we're talking about a post June 1 is because the dead cap to trade him

343
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:32,680
before June 1 this season is obscene and so you're basically you'd have to push it past you know

344
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:38,840
past June 1 so you can spread out that dead cap hit over two years and really that is the kind

345
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:43,800
of thing that you know if we're talking about that at all that means the real window for trading

346
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:49,320
Diggs is next season and I think that that is actually more likely. I think that if you go in

347
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:54,120
the draft and within the first three rounds you pick one or two wide receivers and one of them pans

348
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:59,400
out to be gobbling up targets and getting close to a thousand yards in the season and you have what

349
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:05,480
you consider the production you need to replace Diggs. Then I think you're in in the world where

350
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:10,360
okay maybe they're trading him during the free agency period before the draft and they're getting

351
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:15,880
a pick in that year's draft class so that you're replacing production with production you know

352
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:21,080
straight in front of you in another new rookie. I think that's more likely and especially with

353
00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:25,880
the way the contract is structured there's just no it's more palatable for the trading partner as

354
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:33,000
well. The bills trading the what was it those 20s 27th second or seventh I think it was 20

355
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:37,640
second pick in the draft that they used for Justin Jefferson. Yeah 22nd it was the 22nd

356
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:43,000
overall. So trading that 22nd pick for Diggs was trading for a receiver with I believe at the time

357
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:48,040
he had two years left on his deal between 11 and 14 million dollars a year which is like incredibly

358
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:53,800
well affordable for a wide receiver one and I think the bills definitely got their value. I think

359
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:59,480
that both parties really won in that trade and there's no guarantee that Justin Jefferson would

360
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:05,320
have been the incredible talent he's been in Buffalo you know learning on the fly with a rookie

361
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:10,920
quarterback or young quarterback as opposed to Kirk Cousins and everyone's like well Josh Allen's

362
00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:15,320
better than Kirk Cousins I don't disagree but you know everyone who wants to say like apples

363
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:20,360
to apples comparison a player in any on any team is going to have the same career just hasn't watched

364
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:26,840
the league long enough it's it's there's so many variables the room the coaching the fit the people

365
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:32,040
around them the opponents they play which is another piece like the the CB talent in that division

366
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:39,720
is not super elite so I think all of that said the Diggs trade to the Buffalo was mutually

367
00:34:39,720 --> 00:34:45,080
beneficial Diggs trade anywhere else this season is going to benefit the bills more than any other

368
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:51,960
team. Are you saying my alternate Brandon Bean draft universe would not have played out in a

369
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:57,240
Buffalo Bill Super Bowl and they had AJ Brown and Justin Jefferson. I'm saying there's no guarantee

370
00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:02,920
you sir. There's no guarantee Justin Jefferson's first team all-pro in the bills on his in his first

371
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:09,480
year. We're gonna have words in the text chain after the spot is over. Bring it. All right so I think

372
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:14,440
we can I think we can put a pin in the Diggs conversation this feels more like media stoking

373
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:20,600
the flames of just like off season anything in the off season cycle to kind of get a reaction

374
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:26,120
or get clicks or anything like that. Diggs is not going anywhere there is next to no benefit for

375
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:32,200
the bills on or off the field to do that at this point. So JJ let's wrap up this set of burning

376
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:37,880
questions with one about free agency so we know the cap number we know that the Buffalo bills have

377
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:43,320
several free agents from Dequan Jones to AJ Aponeza to Ty Johnson and potentially Taylor

378
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:49,400
Rapp they'd like to bring back to the squad but there are also a host of other free agents

379
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:55,400
that now may be more than ever will be in the bills financial range to acquire that also meet a

380
00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:01,800
position of need for them. So let's keep the guys who currently wearing bills uniforms out of it.

381
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:10,680
If you were to bring in one free agent this off season to the Buffalo bills who would it be and why?

382
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:19,400
So we both I think we both when we talked you know setting the table a few pods ago

383
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:25,400
for the bills we we both brought up some names and I just like to rehash one one point from

384
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:31,960
that conversation and that is if you're expecting the bills to get a number one wide receiver or

385
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:40,040
number two wide receiver or a number one starting level pass rusher it's not happening in free agency

386
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:44,840
it is going to happen through the draft the only positions of great great value and need that

387
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:50,520
the bills have right now that are capable of getting starters in my opinion through free agency

388
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:56,200
are safety and defensive tackle so that's that's my first kind of caveat of why the name I pick is

389
00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:02,440
the name I pick and then two is that we're not going to be shopping even with the increase of

390
00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:07,240
the salary cap with all the moves they have to make even just to get compliant we're not shopping

391
00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:13,320
in the you know Antoine Winfield Jr. market for and I think Brandon being said as much when he

392
00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:17,960
you know got roasted online for saying we're not shopping on main street in New York City

393
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:23,240
not knowing where the actual stores in New York City are which is fine because you know that's not

394
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:31,160
his his purview anyway that makes three of us on this I know right and so I think that for me it's

395
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:36,280
I think the need is greater at defensive tackle than at safety in my opinion in terms of free agents

396
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:42,680
in terms of today like we need a starter now on the roster and I we all know you know Dequan Jones

397
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:48,760
isn't part of this because we agree not to talk about resignings I think that Maurice Hearst who

398
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:54,760
just played at Cleveland 28 years old probably a vet minimum deal if not a couple of mil over

399
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:59,800
three to four million per year he is it's kind of redundant because he's a bit of a three tech

400
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:05,080
interior pass rusher but he can he does have the flexibility to slide over and play at one he's only

401
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:11,960
290 so he's sub 300 and so he's not going to be your anchor in the run game but he has had an injury

402
00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:19,240
riddled career he has bet he was incredibly well rounded this past season in his like analytics

403
00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:23,960
both thing it's the run and the past and is somebody that's probably not going to demand the top of

404
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:30,040
the top of the market money so that's my choice is uh is Maurice Hearst and we know we know even though

405
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:36,040
he he projects to be more like basically your Tim settle replacement right like we know that the

406
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:41,640
bills just need bodies along that defensive line right now and I go safety for this and it's following

407
00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:49,320
along the strategy JJ of turning the page on the poyer and hide years bringing in a veteran safety

408
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:55,480
to either anchor your strong or free safety position and then draft and within the first three rounds

409
00:38:55,480 --> 00:39:03,480
a safety of the future so for me I'm between Alohi Gilman and Jeremy Chin and I gravitate

410
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:11,080
more towards Chin because I think he is your logical kind of box safety replacement for Jordan

411
00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:18,680
poyer that is the role that they started to kind of turn him into in Carolina granted he's got an

412
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:23,080
injury history he's coming I think he's only played what four five games this season something

413
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:28,120
like that right so he's coming off of a bit of an injury bug this season but I think when you look

414
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:33,480
at the totality of his contributions to that defense in Carolina what has been a young defense

415
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:38,920
for many many years and a lot of ways he was a stabilizer for that unit and I think that is the

416
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:44,920
value that McDermott and now Babbage place on that secondary as the stabilizers I also think he has

417
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:49,960
more utility than he is getting credit for in the scouting department for his ability to kind of play

418
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:54,760
free range and play center field as well I think there's a surprising amount of versatility to his

419
00:39:54,760 --> 00:40:02,760
game and obviously Jeremy Chin on the roster yeah and and because I knew from from pre potting that

420
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:08,360
you were going to go safety I chose to go DT and I envy you because there are I think as we talked

421
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:13,320
in in a previous pod there are three you know if they don't bring Taylor Rapp back there's Julian

422
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:17,720
Blackman Alohi Gilman and Jeremy Chin who are all safeties I'm interested in Jeremy Chin being

423
00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:24,040
kind of like interchangeable Alohi Gilman being a lot much more deep third free ranging safety and

424
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:29,320
then Julian Blackman being typecast as a strong safety but but could also I think range the middle

425
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:35,400
so is there a is there a world where they bring in both Gilman and Chin do you think like we're

426
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:40,120
all we're all committed to like bringing in at least one rookie safety who you can grow in the

427
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:45,720
system but like they brought in Poyer and Hyde in the same year yeah I mean do they do they just do

428
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:52,680
this do they just like redo that whole historic thing and bring in Gilman and Chin do they do that

429
00:40:52,680 --> 00:41:00,120
I don't think so and the reason they don't is because I believe that this offseason you're

430
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:06,840
going to see Cam Lewis getting an opportunity to start I think they're going to give him the chance

431
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:13,080
to be the the person in the room who knows the system and get that starting position I feel like

432
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:18,920
that would be a mistake don't you yeah I do we've seen we've seen yeah we've seen a bit of

433
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:25,160
Cam Lewis and I don't know that he's the guy but um yeah I mean that's you're probably right they're

434
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:30,680
they're loyal to a fault with these guys they definitely take a fair around yeah yes yeah

435
00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:36,200
loyal to a fault yeah without a doubt all right JJ so now speaking of coaching and speaking of

436
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:43,320
development there is a new trio of lead coaches for the Buffalo Bills one a familiar face and

437
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:50,360
Sean McDermott much to the chagrin of many bills mafia faithful but McDermott will get another season

438
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:55,640
didn't even seem like his seat at any point was all that warm based on the level of support he got

439
00:41:55,640 --> 00:42:02,440
from Pagula in the ownership team so he brings in now two coordinators so the second season in a row

440
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:08,120
basically is turning over the the coordinator room fully Joe Brady getting the full-time job on offense

441
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:15,240
and now Bobby Babich getting the full-time job on defense at JJ what are you expecting to see from

442
00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:23,880
this new coaching trio well I think that you know I think we started to see what the Joe Brady offense

443
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:33,480
would look like and what that looked like to me is a ball distribution run heavy attack that involved

444
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:39,640
a lot of different concepts in terms of the running running attack and I think one thing that Joe Brady

445
00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:46,680
did I think better than um than the previous offensive coordinator who they fired whose name

446
00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:53,640
escapes me help me help I've already forgotten all about the shamed Ken Dorsey there we are

447
00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:59,480
um so the one thing I think about Brady that that'll be different is that he leaned into working

448
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:06,360
with Aaron Kroemer in the offensive line in really developing some different approaches and avenues

449
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:13,240
to running the football and so I think that you know the scheme will evolve a little bit with Joe

450
00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:17,000
Brady and I think that this rushing attack isn't going anywhere if people are expecting the bills

451
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:22,280
to come out and get back to 60 70 percent passing the ball that's not going to happen because I think

452
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:26,600
Joe Brady is probably going to come up with some more ways that he would like to attack teams by

453
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:31,960
running the ball and we saw in the Cowboys game that that is effective because the trends in the

454
00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:37,560
in the league are cyclic and the the trend that the the defenses are in right now is one of we

455
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:43,480
need to cover all the different passing windows we need to get faster smaller lighter and the bills

456
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:50,360
expose that as kind of you know a lack of preparation and that is a really unique way to attack opposing

457
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:55,320
um defenses is if you're running at them then they have to get bigger and then boom you have play

458
00:43:55,320 --> 00:44:00,840
action you have opportunities to expose some matchups on with tight ends on linebackers and

459
00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:04,440
those sorts of things running backs on linebackers I think that's what we're going to see from Joe

460
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:08,280
Brady and I'm excited for it because I think it's a good it's a good way to kind of be ahead of the

461
00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:16,360
trends in the league and then the other thing that I think is going to um happen is that the um

462
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:22,840
you know the the move to Bobby Babbage is is really how he calls games is a complete wildcard we

463
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:28,440
have no idea what that's going to look like but how um how he coaches players and puts players in

464
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:33,960
the best position to succeed I think is going to be uh something to behold and and I really like

465
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:38,200
Babbage I think we both have expressed that we really appreciate they promoted him instead of

466
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:42,360
looking elsewhere for defense defensive coordinator whether or not he calls players or McDermott

467
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:47,000
continues to do so is still up in the air but I really am excited to see what he can offer

468
00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:54,520
I have no notes on your take sir I'm in full agreement um on the play calling point between

469
00:44:54,520 --> 00:45:01,320
Babbage and McDermott we both agree I think two things can be true McDermott was arguably one

470
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:06,840
of the best defensive coordinators in the league this year especially when you look at some of

471
00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:12,840
how the roster was depleted as a result of injuries he was in his bag and the way that secondary

472
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:18,520
was operating with a lot of these false fronts a lot of these uh showing blitz and then pulling

473
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:24,840
back the coordination and the orchestration that that took was one of the best coordinating jobs

474
00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:31,480
I think I can remember seeing as a football fan but there were other areas that notably were

475
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:39,000
sacrificed and it was in that CEO type of holistic role that we look for the head coach to fill

476
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:43,640
where they've got their hand and they've got their attention on every aspect of the game most

477
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:50,680
notably the loss to Denver 12 men on the field that kind of stuff the the amazingly odd usage

478
00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:56,040
of James Cook early in the season like we'll remember this is the James Cook breakout year

479
00:45:56,040 --> 00:46:02,040
but there were several games early on where Cook dropped a pass or Cook fumbled and he was sent

480
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:10,760
into into purgatory for what would have been 13 14 in 15 plays McDermott needs to come back

481
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:17,320
to the fold of having his eyes on everything and managing every aspect of the game as the head

482
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:23,240
coach CEO and to me that only happens if he gives Babbage play calling responsibilities

483
00:46:23,240 --> 00:46:27,640
could there be a decline could there be a regression for a first time first time play

484
00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:33,400
caller absolutely there could but here's the thing McDermott was our play caller this season

485
00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:39,800
JJ and we still didn't beat the chiefs we still didn't get over that hump right so again he did

486
00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:44,680
a great job but there are other areas of the team and the coaching staff that suffered as a result

487
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:50,600
I want to see McDermott turn over full play calling to Babbage I'm with you I agree completely I think

488
00:46:50,600 --> 00:47:00,360
that this is so this the the tone my like prescription for the bills to be successful in 2024 season

489
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:07,640
is to does the youth movement movement across the board that means I don't care about Deontay

490
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:13,800
Hardy or and I hime Heinz contracts cut them both save that money sign somebody late in the draft

491
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:18,360
that's going to be your punt and kick returner and just let it ride right like it is let it

492
00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:24,040
ride with Babbage calling plays it's let it ride with a rookie safety if you have to let it ride

493
00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:29,560
with a rookie wide receiver is in that ever important wide receiver to spot it's that's my

494
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:35,000
my whole theme of the season if the bills want to get better because the the chiefs who you know

495
00:47:35,240 --> 00:47:39,880
even Bean has said are two years ahead of the bills in the in this kind of team building

496
00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:46,760
practice the chiefs prove that by investing you know heavily over the course of two drafts in

497
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:51,320
their defense and now they have one of the best defenses in the league and it's one of the cheapest

498
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:55,960
defenses in the league because it's also one of the youngest and that's going to certainly show

499
00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:59,880
some problems later but their cap is balancing in a way where they're going to be able to pay

500
00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:04,440
that they're going to let the you know the chaff separate from the wheat and they're going to know

501
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:09,080
who that who needs to be paid to really be cornerstone players for the future and then they

502
00:48:09,080 --> 00:48:15,400
just keep reinvesting to fill the rest of the spots and roles yeah couldn't agree more sir couldn't

503
00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:21,560
agree more sir couldn't agree more i have one point i'd like to make on that you know um and

504
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:28,600
and this can lead us into our final point about uh you know wide receiver versus dt in round one

505
00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:34,120
are we in fight i think we're gonna fight on this one i look forward to this now i don't think we are

506
00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:39,800
because what i'll say have you come around to oh please no continue i want to interrupt yeah

507
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:43,960
no this will be wonderful so this is the point this is the point actually can you know i gotta give

508
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:49,880
give credit where it's due i was listening to the the one bills live pocket or radio show and um

509
00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:56,600
chris brown on there basically was like the the 49ers could not stop the chiefs with pass rush

510
00:48:56,600 --> 00:49:05,000
and they have absolutely elite pass rushers eric armstead um you know nick bosa uh they had chase

511
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:11,160
young chase young yeah so like with absolute top of the top of the talent level pass rushers they

512
00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:17,080
could not get to patrick mohomes in a way that really shut down that offense so why bother continuing

513
00:49:17,080 --> 00:49:22,840
to invest in defensive linemen to try to affect the pass rush when what you need to do to get

514
00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:28,440
past these chiefs is just overwhelm them and outscore them their defense is is an upper echelon

515
00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:34,200
talent you got to out talent them and so for me it's wide receiver in the first round and the only

516
00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:42,360
reason the only way i'm not taking wide receiver is if um let's see if rome madounze brian thomas

517
00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:51,240
uh donai michael keon colman if none of them are there i might i might have to take a defensive

518
00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:58,280
end or defensive linemen just because the value but if any of those kind of top five talents is

519
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:04,520
there i'm going wide receiver round one how about you you know i'm going wide receiver i know and

520
00:50:04,520 --> 00:50:09,720
we're not disagreeing in this i i'm happy we're not disagreeing a little sad you had to go to

521
00:50:09,720 --> 00:50:14,120
outside information though when you're partying around the pot has been saying this all along

522
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:20,120
has been saying this all along right um but that's fine that's fine i'll take i'll take the the

523
00:50:20,120 --> 00:50:26,600
credit where i can get it i guess but yeah no dude it's it's wide receiver josh alan is your window

524
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:33,320
and i agree i agree to an extent to that investing in that secondary and investing in coverage

525
00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:39,960
albeit not in round one is also important too the strategy of trying to get to someone who is

526
00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:47,640
as well protected but also as elusive and aware is mahalm's is a tall task and there is no one

527
00:50:47,640 --> 00:50:53,480
in free agency or this draft there are going to be better than bosa armstead and young

528
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:58,600
that you're going to add to the squad right so it is false hope to think that simply by

529
00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:03,160
reinvesting in the lawn you're all of a sudden going to fix this seven-year problem that you've

530
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:09,400
had and trying to rattle and trying to pressure and bring down mahalm's here is where you can get

531
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:16,200
to mahalm's when the ball is out of his hand and then your window my good friend is joshua

532
00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:23,480
patrick alan yes and it is time to invest in keeping that window open this team has asked

533
00:51:23,480 --> 00:51:29,720
alan to do granted i know he's had digs but this team has asked him to do literally more than anyone

534
00:51:29,720 --> 00:51:36,440
else in the league when it comes to producing for this offense it is time to understand that if

535
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:42,520
you're going to beat mahalm's to a large extent you've got to take the person who is arguably the

536
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:48,840
second best qb of this generation and you've got to invest in the tools and the methods in order

537
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:55,000
to help him get over that hump too how nice would it be if for once the bills had the ball

538
00:51:55,000 --> 00:52:00,440
last and it came against the chiefs as opposed to the chiefs having the ball last that happens

539
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:06,040
if you get an offense that can sustain drives and not just put up field goals against this now

540
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:13,240
very very formidable chiefs defense but it can also score touchdowns josh got the least offensive

541
00:52:13,240 --> 00:52:18,040
production out of his unit this year against any other team that faced mahalm's and did the best

542
00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:23,400
offensively by every metric you could imagine better than perty better than lamar jackson

543
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:29,400
and better than tua and it still wasn't enough they've got to find a way to squeeze those margins

544
00:52:29,400 --> 00:52:34,680
on the edge on offense so that the game doesn't come down to tyler basking a field goal it's

545
00:52:34,680 --> 00:52:40,040
josh ellen in the red zone with a multitude of options to put six on the board instead of three

546
00:52:40,040 --> 00:52:44,040
it is time to shift the thinking and start to build around your franchise qb

547
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:50,760
i mean i just i just start a slow clap if literally it was anyone to join me um that was

548
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:57,320
perfect perfectly said um lean into offense i think the bills did the absolute best of any team

549
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:01,720
against the chiefs in the playoffs because they kept him freaking off the field they did ball

550
00:53:01,720 --> 00:53:07,000
control they they controlled the clock that's that is how you beat them is you make sure he

551
00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:11,240
doesn't have the opportunity to impact the game because he is the michael jordan of this this

552
00:53:11,240 --> 00:53:17,400
era absolutely dude absolutely uh thank you for allowing me to go on that's soliloquy and it was

553
00:53:17,400 --> 00:53:23,720
great your agreement your agreement on wide receiver one uh is appreciated uh fear not

554
00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:28,600
though fans jj and i were gonna argue about dequan jones in march when the the ability to do so

555
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:34,120
comes out it's gonna dude it's gonna be fiery it's gonna be fiery although i'm laying the seeds

556
00:53:34,120 --> 00:53:38,360
for that right now i just went on my rant about how like yeah the past rush and blah blah blah

557
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:42,680
is never gonna get to him invest in coverage right i'm i'm slowly gonna wear you down on that

558
00:53:42,680 --> 00:53:48,440
angle too so yeah yeah absolutely but jj fun going through burning questions with you for this

559
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:53,960
bill's off season um and now with the new salary cap figure a little bit more juice to free agency

560
00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:59,080
i think than we were expecting as bill's fans as well so for those of you who are listening right now

561
00:53:59,080 --> 00:54:04,840
please stay tuned because directly after this we are tacking on our second of three segments

562
00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:09,400
friends of the pod not friends of the bills we're talking with our good friend and resident

563
00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:15,000
patriot's expert brandon bennett about his take on the patriot's off season and how they rebuild

564
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:21,320
after the bellachick years to become a formidable a fc east foe for the bills yeah once again uh it

565
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:25,160
was a great interview it was a great time talking to brandon please stay tuned for that at the end

566
00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:29,400
of this and for all of you listening at home as always like share and subscribe wherever you get

567
00:54:29,400 --> 00:54:52,040
your podcasts google apple spotify and as always go bills go bills

568
00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:10,600
and welcome back to buffalo brand a buffalo bills fan podcast i am your host dan roberts

569
00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:16,120
joined today by brandon bennett our resident new england patriot's expert he is here for

570
00:55:16,120 --> 00:55:22,360
the second installment of our annual off season odd rotation of friends of the pod not friends

571
00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:27,480
of the bills so today brandon is going to be with us to focus on what he feels like the new england

572
00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:34,680
patriot's do to unseat the now four time a fc east champion buffalo bills brandon how you doing today

573
00:55:34,680 --> 00:55:40,120
sir i'm doing very well thank you for for having me back on the pod i appreciate it hey no problem

574
00:55:40,120 --> 00:55:45,880
you're you're one of our favorites not only have you been a reliable go-to for new england patriot's

575
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:51,320
banter and feedback and thoughts but you've also actually you are one of our few guest hosts that

576
00:55:51,320 --> 00:55:56,760
have hosted the regular show when me or jj has been out of commission due to illness or family stuff

577
00:55:56,760 --> 00:56:02,840
so uh you sir are a reliable potter and we appreciate your presence back here with us so um

578
00:56:03,880 --> 00:56:08,520
brandon i think i mentioned this to you before but we have had an influx of new listeners to the

579
00:56:08,520 --> 00:56:13,080
pod as the buffalo bread community continues to grow so i know you've been on the pod quite a few

580
00:56:13,080 --> 00:56:17,480
times but i want to kick it over you to give you an opportunity to reintroduce yourself to some of

581
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:21,160
our new listeners so why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came about your

582
00:56:21,160 --> 00:56:28,520
new england patriot's fandom yeah well you're you are always a very gracious host and and always a

583
00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:34,680
pleasure to chat with so i'm happy to entertain the listeners of the buffalo bread nation out here

584
00:56:35,560 --> 00:56:43,000
i became a patriots fan in 2007 that season where they went undefeated and then lost to super bowl

585
00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:49,720
against the giants i was a freshman at college at that time and everybody in the room that was

586
00:56:49,720 --> 00:56:56,520
watching the super bowl they were rooting against the patriots and so being the squeaky wheel that

587
00:56:56,520 --> 00:57:02,440
i was i i said you know what let's uh let's root for them and then that was sort of the beginning

588
00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:08,920
i then had the pleasure to to live in boston for a number of years uh during some of those

589
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:14,520
championship years attend a couple of those victor victory parades and the send-off parades and so

590
00:57:14,520 --> 00:57:22,280
that's where it sort of really got kind of ingrained in me very nice an antagonistic contrarian

591
00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:27,880
is how you came about your patriots fandom i love it man absolutely love it well we're going to dig

592
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:33,000
into it a little bit here to talk about your squad um i want to give you a chance to kind of summarize

593
00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:39,160
your thoughts on how the season went but before we do it is noteworthy to state that we're recording

594
00:57:39,160 --> 00:57:45,160
this after the super bowl uh we're recording this a couple of days afterwards the dust has settled

595
00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:52,840
the chief's dynasty has risen and i feel that you as a fan of the most recent dynasty in the nfl the

596
00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:58,360
new england patriots i felt it fair and good timing to let you offer your thoughts on not just the

597
00:57:58,360 --> 00:58:03,880
super bowl but kind of how you see the chiefs right now in this stage of their dynasty compared

598
00:58:03,880 --> 00:58:07,720
to your guys so why don't we dig into the super bowl a little bit what were your thoughts after

599
00:58:07,720 --> 00:58:14,760
you after the game was over brandon yeah so obviously the patriots have been really bad the

600
00:58:14,760 --> 00:58:20,040
last couple years and patriots fans have been eating their humble pie uh and really can't say

601
00:58:20,040 --> 00:58:26,280
anything but during the peak years where you know we're kind of back to back super bowl champions

602
00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:32,440
and all that vitriol and hate towards the patriots was really popular at the time

603
00:58:32,440 --> 00:58:39,960
um my mentality was you hate us because you ain't us and now i know what it's like because i was

604
00:58:39,960 --> 00:58:46,120
rooting hard against canva city um really the person i wanted to win a super bowl was christian

605
00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:51,480
mcaffery so that was a little disappointing and you know i felt sad for him because i felt like

606
00:58:51,480 --> 00:58:59,640
the team um was kind of put on his back throughout the entire season uh he won uh what was the

607
00:58:59,640 --> 00:59:04,840
offensive player of the year i think or running back of the year yeah um and then i felt like in

608
00:59:04,840 --> 00:59:09,880
the super bowl they just did not give him the opportunities that i think he deserved and

609
00:59:09,880 --> 00:59:16,600
i think that was a key to their their loss there so uh really surprising super bowl really boring

610
00:59:16,600 --> 00:59:22,120
first three quarters and then it started to get a little bit exciting once it got tied 1616 so

611
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:28,600
yeah the mcaffery thing is interesting there are there are two arguments going on on twitter

612
00:59:28,600 --> 00:59:35,560
which is kyle shanahan abandoned the run and then a lot of the football nerds are like well no spags

613
00:59:35,560 --> 00:59:40,760
shut down the run he was showing a lot he was showing a lot of heavy boxes a lot of run blitz

614
00:59:40,760 --> 00:59:46,440
looks so you know the thought there from the football nerds is that shanahan made the only

615
00:59:46,440 --> 00:59:51,080
adjustment that he could which is go to brock purdy and go to some of these amazing weapons they

616
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:57,960
have on the outside and debo samuel and brandon aiuk but those two guys were shut down by um

617
00:59:57,960 --> 01:00:05,720
a trend mcduffy and uh sneed respectively so in a lot of ways like these were two squads who put

618
01:00:05,720 --> 01:00:12,120
their best up against the other guys best and the chiefs were simply better on the field of play

619
01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:16,600
in that game like shanahan has taken a lot of smoke to me for this game especially with his

620
01:00:16,600 --> 01:00:23,000
ot management let's keep in mind i believe this is the first time we have had playoff ot since the

621
01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:30,600
um since the 13 second game so this is the first time that these new playoff rules for ot where

622
01:00:30,600 --> 01:00:36,200
both teams get a possession really factored in and there were a lot of unknowns so shanahan took

623
01:00:36,200 --> 01:00:40,600
a lot of smoke i think for taking the ball he took a lot of smoke for allegedly going away from the

624
01:00:40,600 --> 01:00:47,480
run which in fairness tying it back to the patriots and that epic 28 to 3 comeback in the super bowl

625
01:00:47,480 --> 01:00:53,480
against the shanahan coordinated um uh atlanta felkins he did go away from the run in that game

626
01:00:53,480 --> 01:00:58,680
but i think here it was more about spags just being like listen if you're gonna beat me you're

627
01:00:58,680 --> 01:01:04,200
gonna beat me with the mister irrelevant seventh round pick and brock perty i'm not gonna let your

628
01:01:04,200 --> 01:01:11,960
best beat me and i that's what how spags rolls in these big games man and i thought i'd love your

629
01:01:11,960 --> 01:01:18,920
take on this the chiefs listen throw flowers at their feet let them walk upon rose petals as they

630
01:01:18,920 --> 01:01:27,880
go to claim another lombardi trophy but this year out of all the years it felt like teams were were

631
01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:35,240
letting them get away like when you look at i don't want to call it luck but when you look at the

632
01:01:35,240 --> 01:01:39,960
fact that the chiefs fumbled the ball what was it five times six times in this game and recovered five

633
01:01:39,960 --> 01:01:45,640
of those fumbles and then you look at the miscues on the punt for example from san francisco the

634
01:01:45,640 --> 01:01:53,400
muffed punt the fumble my macafery early on that the chiefs recovered it just looked like the chiefs

635
01:01:53,400 --> 01:01:59,160
were taking better advantage of the miscues of san francisco and this is the thing you always have

636
01:01:59,160 --> 01:02:04,760
to worry about with patrick mahomes and i know as a bills fan it's in my head you don't want to give

637
01:02:04,760 --> 01:02:12,280
this guy the ball in an advantageous position every time the bills would drive um against

638
01:02:12,280 --> 01:02:17,480
kansas city since the 13 seconds game i always ask myself if the bills are driving here and they score

639
01:02:17,480 --> 01:02:22,360
how much time that does that leave mahomes is that enough time because you just always feel like

640
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:27,560
if you give this guy the ball with an opportunity he's going to deliver on the other end it his

641
01:02:27,560 --> 01:02:34,600
comp to me is not brady it's michael jordan that's the vibe i get by watching mahomes and i feel like

642
01:02:34,600 --> 01:02:40,920
just having knowing that that guy can score from anywhere on the field in any given amount of time

643
01:02:40,920 --> 01:02:46,520
no matter what the lead is it ingrains into other teams i think this mental disadvantage that they

644
01:02:46,520 --> 01:02:52,600
are not only forcing themselves to play perfect ball so that mahomes doesn't get the ball back

645
01:02:52,600 --> 01:02:59,240
but they're also forcing themselves they're forcing themselves to play out of character as well

646
01:02:59,240 --> 01:03:04,040
they're allowing mahomes and his success to dictate their game script in a lot of ways

647
01:03:04,040 --> 01:03:09,640
and i've never seen in my life even i'll do respect to your boy tom brady never seen a qb walk into

648
01:03:09,640 --> 01:03:15,000
a game with that kind of mental edge but i think mahomes is there and watching that game it cemented

649
01:03:15,000 --> 01:03:20,200
it for me because i think in a lot of ways san francisco played better for the first three quarters

650
01:03:20,200 --> 01:03:26,520
than canza city did but they also made more mistakes and if you let canza city hang around and you don't

651
01:03:26,520 --> 01:03:31,800
play perfect ball against them mahomes is eventually eventually going to get a shot within striking

652
01:03:31,800 --> 01:03:37,880
distance of the score and more often than not he delivers on it like he's just it's he's an amazing

653
01:03:37,880 --> 01:03:43,240
mental advantage and the canza city chiefs as a result no matter how underman they are they're

654
01:03:43,240 --> 01:03:47,320
forcing you to play perfect football and san francisco just didn't and i think that's why they lost

655
01:03:47,960 --> 01:03:54,120
i i think you know part of the story of the the you know first three quarters of the game was how

656
01:03:55,080 --> 01:04:01,080
mentally shaken the chiefs seemed they like they didn't seem prepared to be in a super bowl game

657
01:04:01,080 --> 01:04:05,400
and seems really nervous with the amount of mistakes that they were making they were obviously

658
01:04:06,040 --> 01:04:11,880
you saw you know travis kelsie rushing up to andy reid and almost knocking him over telling him to

659
01:04:11,880 --> 01:04:17,080
you know get him in the game you saw mahomes and rashi rice getting in an argument because

660
01:04:17,080 --> 01:04:21,960
rashi was wide open would have been a touchdown they would have scored and ended the game right

661
01:04:21,960 --> 01:04:29,720
there but mahomes is forcing the ball to his buddy kelsie for an incompletion in the end zone

662
01:04:29,720 --> 01:04:36,680
so you see all these mistakes and guys eating each other apart and um that's blood in the water you

663
01:04:36,680 --> 01:04:43,640
know what i mean like as the opponent you're seeing that team rip into each other and it should

664
01:04:43,640 --> 01:04:50,840
have should have been a victory for the 49ers but to your point mahomes stuck through and and got

665
01:04:50,840 --> 01:04:55,560
him out got him the victory so they do if you don't put this team away in the first three quarters

666
01:04:55,560 --> 01:05:01,160
and it's close in the fourth that mahomes it mahomes is like an inherent advantage like

667
01:05:01,160 --> 01:05:07,320
dude has ice in his veins so yeah man but first three quarters the chiefs trai wingo put out an

668
01:05:07,320 --> 01:05:12,760
interesting tweet um football analyst that i that i follow on twitter x whatever the hell you want to

669
01:05:12,760 --> 01:05:19,320
call it he was like the chiefs are doing what the ravens did in the a fc championship game which is

670
01:05:19,320 --> 01:05:26,040
lose their composure and lose their identity but that squad is so well coached like andy reed it is

671
01:05:26,040 --> 01:05:31,080
it is hard to describe how good a coach that dude is and steve spegnolo on the defense event

672
01:05:31,640 --> 01:05:35,640
while the players may have been losing their composure the coaching staff was not

673
01:05:35,640 --> 01:05:40,200
they kept things together speg's called a great defensive game plan against what was a really

674
01:05:40,200 --> 01:05:45,800
really good offense to keep them in it long enough to let mahomes do mahomes things at the end of the

675
01:05:45,800 --> 01:05:50,680
game and that's really what it was um we got we got five quarters of football effectively in this

676
01:05:50,680 --> 01:05:55,640
game three of it was borderline unwatchable but the last two really made for an entertaining

677
01:05:55,640 --> 01:06:01,640
outing and again the chiefs i feel like escaped with one note no shade at them they were epic at

678
01:06:01,640 --> 01:06:06,840
taking advantage of other teams mistakes this season right but they didn't they man this feels

679
01:06:06,840 --> 01:06:11,000
like the year where everyone let them get away because now they're going to hit the draft they're

680
01:06:11,000 --> 01:06:15,000
going to bring in some wide receiver help they're going to fix their tackle issue they got a young

681
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:19,720
defense this feels like the year they could have got got and that the entire league missed the

682
01:06:19,720 --> 01:06:26,600
opportunity yeah i you know i think you look at it simply as patrick mahomes has had the most

683
01:06:26,600 --> 01:06:33,960
rushing yards of anybody on the team against christian mccaffrey those two facts alone would

684
01:06:33,960 --> 01:06:41,880
lead you to think that the 49ers won but um just not the case yeah just not the case man so so yet

685
01:06:41,880 --> 01:06:47,960
again we see patrick mahomes raise the lombardi trophy and uh i will tell you as a bill's fan it

686
01:06:47,960 --> 01:06:55,400
is pure hell because i spent 20 years rooting against your squad that tortured my my my uh my

687
01:06:55,400 --> 01:07:02,520
formative years and now i find myself with arguably arguably the second best qb not just in the league

688
01:07:02,520 --> 01:07:08,520
but i would say of this generation of qb's and josh allen i find that i've got that guy and it's

689
01:07:08,520 --> 01:07:15,800
still not enough and i'm mired now in my my declining years i think after you hit 40 it's all downhill

690
01:07:15,800 --> 01:07:21,640
my declining years i am now stuck in the middle of another dynasty though i will say to the chief's

691
01:07:21,640 --> 01:07:26,920
credit uh and this has a lot to do with andy reid and travis calcy i find the chiefs far more

692
01:07:26,920 --> 01:07:33,080
likeable than i ever found the patriots this is true i i mean there's been a lot of negativity

693
01:07:33,080 --> 01:07:38,920
around them uh between taylor swaths and then that video that came out uh when they played the

694
01:07:38,920 --> 01:07:44,600
ravens and mahomes and kelsey were messing with justin tuckers um t when he was practicing his

695
01:07:44,600 --> 01:07:50,440
kicks and oh yeah a lot of folks not being too impressed with that behavior so i think there's

696
01:07:50,440 --> 01:07:56,120
been a lot of negativity swirling around them um the season especially with so much it is wide

697
01:07:56,120 --> 01:08:05,080
outs oh yeah stuff like that oh yeah crazy stuff dude crazy stuff but again i hated tom brady

698
01:08:05,080 --> 01:08:10,120
and bella check and i will continue to hate them to this day so i'm talking in relative scales for

699
01:08:10,120 --> 01:08:15,000
me as a bill span what i really want to see is a bill's dynasty that's what i want to talk about

700
01:08:15,000 --> 01:08:21,320
but sadly we'll have to wait another year to to begin that so thank you for your thoughts on the

701
01:08:21,320 --> 01:08:27,240
super bowl my friend let's transition from our current dynasty and the kansas city chiefs to our

702
01:08:27,240 --> 01:08:31,960
most recent dynasty and your new england patriots so brandy you guys are coming off a

703
01:08:33,240 --> 01:08:39,240
probably your worst season under bella check since he took over the team uh way back when

704
01:08:39,880 --> 01:08:45,320
and you've now moved on from bella check your team in transition you're searching for a lot of

705
01:08:45,320 --> 01:08:51,880
pieces particularly on the offensive side of the ball but give me your thoughts as a patriots fan

706
01:08:51,880 --> 01:08:58,840
on the season of 2023 you finished four on 13 bella check has now moved on will not be coaching

707
01:08:58,840 --> 01:09:04,440
this year um you've now been a fan long enough to see tom brady retire from your squad and now

708
01:09:04,440 --> 01:09:10,280
enter the booth for fox so he's now into the media end of his career so you've seen that whole arc

709
01:09:10,280 --> 01:09:15,240
kind of play out with the greats of your dynasty and now you're moving on to a new phase so give

710
01:09:15,240 --> 01:09:19,320
me a sense for what it was like to watch the patriots play football this year and what you're

711
01:09:19,320 --> 01:09:28,760
hoping for this offseason yeah it was painful um and i it was um there were a lot of games that

712
01:09:29,400 --> 01:09:33,880
you know it's weird i i think we won the games that we should have lost and then we lost the

713
01:09:33,880 --> 01:09:41,080
games that we should have won um here here yes absolutely and it it it was just you know hard

714
01:09:41,080 --> 01:09:47,480
to be a fan at all the conflict between um mac jones and bill bella check and is it going to be

715
01:09:47,480 --> 01:09:54,360
jones this week is it going to be zappy you know it was just a lot of drama um and it's just you

716
01:09:54,360 --> 01:10:02,040
know not sustainable as a team and so i i understand the the bella check move i was sad about it when

717
01:10:02,040 --> 01:10:08,280
it happened just because i have only been a patriots fan under bill bella check so you know

718
01:10:08,280 --> 01:10:15,080
it is sort of the the dawn of a new era for me as a fan and i think for sure the patriots

719
01:10:15,080 --> 01:10:20,520
as a team because so much of the identity over the last 20 plus years have been bill bella check

720
01:10:21,960 --> 01:10:30,520
but the youth of jarad mayo is very exciting i think it is really the beginning of a new chapter

721
01:10:30,520 --> 01:10:36,600
for the organization and and we'll see what happens um the third overall pick in the draft is the

722
01:10:36,600 --> 01:10:42,280
highest the franchise has had in the last 31 years since rob crafts uh purchased the team so

723
01:10:43,320 --> 01:10:48,920
i think there's a lot of exciting things that are going to happen this off season i i think the team

724
01:10:48,920 --> 01:10:56,120
overall in shifting to mayo is going to be also shipping off uh some of the older uh players and

725
01:10:56,120 --> 01:11:03,240
identities on the team um and looking to bring a lot of youth to the roster ahead of next season

726
01:11:03,240 --> 01:11:08,440
absolutely i think youth is going to be the key for you guys you're going to get a squad and you've

727
01:11:08,440 --> 01:11:14,840
got the cap space to also raise the floor of this team with some smart veteran editions and

728
01:11:14,840 --> 01:11:21,320
investments in free agency as well but i think you guys are really drafting a qb and then drafting

729
01:11:21,320 --> 01:11:27,240
and really an offense that's going to grow together over the next several seasons an offense really

730
01:11:27,240 --> 01:11:31,960
is what it was about with you guys in 2023 man i've got some some rankings i'm going to run down

731
01:11:31,960 --> 01:11:39,400
for you here real quick offensive dvoa you guys rank 29th in the league yards per drive 31st in the

732
01:11:39,400 --> 01:11:44,680
league and then points per drive 32nd in the league this is one of the worst offenses that has been

733
01:11:44,680 --> 01:11:52,040
fielded under the belecic area this was worse than the matt patricio led offensive attack last

734
01:11:52,040 --> 01:11:57,640
season if you can wrap your brain around that somehow man you know but i'm for the listeners

735
01:11:57,640 --> 01:12:03,560
i just want the listeners to know how much you're smiling as you talk about how the patriots were

736
01:12:03,560 --> 01:12:11,400
this season but let me tell you let me tell you i bet bourbon on your squad to finish second in dvoa

737
01:12:11,400 --> 01:12:18,920
in the afc east i was drinking the mac jones koolaid in in training camp i was like you know bill

738
01:12:18,920 --> 01:12:23,720
brian is going to come in he's going to fix it all it's going to be fine patricia was a was a

739
01:12:23,720 --> 01:12:28,840
horrible was a horrible thing and now they're going to course correct right uh mac jones is

740
01:12:28,840 --> 01:12:33,800
slinging it to some of these offensive weapons in training camp i thought you guys were going to be

741
01:12:33,800 --> 01:12:40,040
better than the dolphins and better than the jets and offensive metrics and i bet high quality bourbon

742
01:12:40,040 --> 01:12:46,040
against my boy jj and i i lost and really i lost that bet i would say within week six when it was

743
01:12:46,040 --> 01:12:51,320
pretty clear that the offense was not going to improve yeah so i yes i'm smiling a little bit

744
01:12:51,320 --> 01:12:57,640
but know that know that i had faith in your squad right up until i would say about about halloween

745
01:12:57,640 --> 01:13:02,280
and i was like this is a bad bad idea i sent jj his bourbon early because i'm like yeah there's no

746
01:13:02,280 --> 01:13:09,400
way there's no way they recover from this so yeah but no it's um yeah i mean it's a little delicious

747
01:13:09,400 --> 01:13:15,000
after what you guys just did to me for the last 20 years but also too like i'm i'm a like i'm also a

748
01:13:15,000 --> 01:13:20,600
football fan and i want i want the games to be watchable too so offense is something i think

749
01:13:20,600 --> 01:13:26,840
you guys got to address for like me as a fan to like find the team watchable again but defense

750
01:13:26,840 --> 01:13:31,720
dude you guys were solid you're you're you got some key pieces like kyle dugger and josh uche you

751
01:13:31,720 --> 01:13:36,600
got to make some decisions decisions on and free agency but overall like your overall defensive

752
01:13:36,600 --> 01:13:42,440
dvoa you guys were a top 10 team you're number nine past defense you were 15th middle of the road

753
01:13:42,440 --> 01:13:46,520
but yards for drive and points for drive third and seventh respectively you guys have a young

754
01:13:46,520 --> 01:13:52,440
foundation especially depending on how christian gonzalez comes back you guys got a young foundation

755
01:13:52,440 --> 01:13:58,920
to build on you hit on a db or two in this draft or in free agency you figure out the safety stuff

756
01:13:58,920 --> 01:14:04,920
and you draft well for offense i feel like you guys plus you've got the the first year

757
01:14:04,920 --> 01:14:10,760
coach bounce which teams seem to benefit from you had demico ryan's this year brian debol last year

758
01:14:10,760 --> 01:14:16,920
um it feels like you guys with some course correction and some good personnel moves could

759
01:14:16,920 --> 01:14:22,280
easily ascend and that's really what the difficulty for you guys has been the fact that not bella

760
01:14:22,280 --> 01:14:28,920
check the coach but bella check the gm really struggled to fill that squad with talent yeah

761
01:14:29,960 --> 01:14:35,560
you know i think one of the biggest critiques of bella check was the drafting decisions which

762
01:14:35,560 --> 01:14:42,120
have been bad um and i think you know you watch interviews with jurad mayo and i think he's a

763
01:14:42,120 --> 01:14:46,600
little giddy with the opportunity obviously he's not going to have the same level of control and

764
01:14:46,600 --> 01:14:51,720
empower that bella check that um but you're looking at the cap space looking at this upcoming draft

765
01:14:51,720 --> 01:14:58,520
with a third overall pick i think mayo's really excited for what he can do with this team and

766
01:14:58,520 --> 01:15:05,160
the future so yeah man that's good and he's got a really good start with cap space so uh for those

767
01:15:05,160 --> 01:15:10,040
of you listening i pull all my my seller cap number from spotrack i know there's a lot of over

768
01:15:10,040 --> 01:15:15,240
the cap fans as well both are great websites um i prefer the interface and a lot of the metrics

769
01:15:15,240 --> 01:15:20,680
that spotrack uses so this is all coming from spotrack here so spotrack is estimating that

770
01:15:20,680 --> 01:15:25,560
at the start of the official off season for the nfl you guys are going to be rolling in somewhere

771
01:15:25,560 --> 01:15:33,640
between 69 and 71 million dollars in cap space which is a lot of money especially figuring that

772
01:15:33,640 --> 01:15:38,840
you're going to have a qb on a rookie contract that's a lot of money to throw around my friend

773
01:15:38,840 --> 01:15:43,720
so here's some of the key unrestricted free agents you guys have coming up and this is where i want

774
01:15:43,720 --> 01:15:49,560
to start where if you're going to spend any of that slice of cap space brandon who are you

775
01:15:49,560 --> 01:15:53,800
focusing on bringing back i'm going to give you a few names to choose from here you got hunter

776
01:15:53,800 --> 01:16:01,720
henry kentrick born mike kaseki kyle dugger josh uche and mike onowenu just to name a few so

777
01:16:01,720 --> 01:16:08,120
who is the key patriot free agent you feel like you want to offer some of that cap space too

778
01:16:08,120 --> 01:16:15,720
and explain why it's mike kaseki clearly no i want him gone i want kaseki gone i'm glad you

779
01:16:15,720 --> 01:16:24,280
know zeke should be out of there um it all happened at once where they brought in juju kaseki

780
01:16:24,280 --> 01:16:32,600
zeke and it just felt like this weird mosaic of names that didn't fit the identity of the team um

781
01:16:32,600 --> 01:16:37,800
so i think juju still has another year on his contract so he's going to be hanging out but

782
01:16:37,800 --> 01:16:45,880
for me the answer is hunter henry um i want to see him sell as a tight end in a patriot's jersey

783
01:16:45,880 --> 01:16:53,640
i think he's you know definitely drank the gulade in term um you know getting in with

784
01:16:53,640 --> 01:16:58,760
the patriots and being a strong locker room guy i think you would do a lot to help transition

785
01:16:58,760 --> 01:17:05,560
the new quarterback whoever that ended up being um and so i i want to see hunter henry come back

786
01:17:06,680 --> 01:17:12,600
and catching balls and touchdowns in a patriot's jersey yeah and you know you're going to have a

787
01:17:12,600 --> 01:17:18,680
young qb giving him a reliable tight end is such a great safety net for a young qb you know you're

788
01:17:18,680 --> 01:17:23,400
going to start over with probably some younger wide receivers as well in the draft so giving

789
01:17:23,400 --> 01:17:30,360
a veteran pass catching presence to this unit makes a lot of sense for me i love kyle dugger i'd love

790
01:17:30,360 --> 01:17:35,080
to see him in a bill's uniform but i get why you don't want to dedicate the amount of money he's

791
01:17:35,080 --> 01:17:40,520
going to get in cap space to a safety given the relative importance of that position now in the

792
01:17:40,520 --> 01:17:48,040
nfl um mike ono enu i mean listen man on the offensive line he was good he's a better guard i

793
01:17:48,040 --> 01:17:52,920
think he played his flash a little bit of tackle but he's a better guard but you guys might as well

794
01:17:52,920 --> 01:17:58,440
just start over start over in free agency with uh with the o line because of how bad the protection

795
01:17:58,440 --> 01:18:04,040
was around mac jones and vali zappy um josh uche is an interesting one but i agree with you

796
01:18:04,680 --> 01:18:10,360
probably disposable to some extent because of the deep edge glass that we have here so hunter henry

797
01:18:10,360 --> 01:18:15,000
is your pick so why don't we talk a little bit about draft strategy so here's where you guys

798
01:18:15,000 --> 01:18:18,840
line up as you mentioned in the first round you guys have the number three overall pick

799
01:18:18,840 --> 01:18:23,640
well within striking distance depending on how things shake out to get one of the top qbs in

800
01:18:23,640 --> 01:18:28,680
this draft probably not kaleb williams or drake may but almost definitely the heisman winner in

801
01:18:28,680 --> 01:18:36,840
jane daniels um then you've got the one second round pick at 34 1 3rd at 68 you draft at 103

802
01:18:36,840 --> 01:18:44,760
in the fourth 135 181 in the sixth and then 228 in the seventh so i think your needs as i read up

803
01:18:44,760 --> 01:18:49,240
a lot on patris and ciders the needs for this team have been laid out pretty clearly got to

804
01:18:49,240 --> 01:18:55,160
figure out the qb situation got to address wide receiver on offensive line for sure depending

805
01:18:55,160 --> 01:19:00,120
on what happens with dugger you probably need to address the secondary and then if you let both

806
01:19:00,120 --> 01:19:05,640
henry and gaseki go you've also got to address the tight end position is there anything on that

807
01:19:05,640 --> 01:19:12,680
list brandon wide receiver o line secondary tight end qb that you would add is a potential

808
01:19:12,680 --> 01:19:20,600
need for this squad heading into next season i think that covers it you know i when we look at

809
01:19:20,600 --> 01:19:27,320
the running back hey obviously remandry stevenson is coming back he's been a big part of the very

810
01:19:27,320 --> 01:19:33,080
few offensive successes that the patris have seen to your point about the o line i think

811
01:19:33,080 --> 01:19:38,280
o line not just helps the quarterback but it also is going to help that running back find gaps and

812
01:19:38,280 --> 01:19:46,200
um get into the open field so and for the patriots that's remandry stevenson so i think quarterback

813
01:19:46,200 --> 01:19:53,640
and then big bodies on the o line are the top two priorities heading into the off-season draft

814
01:19:54,280 --> 01:20:00,440
yeah no i i think that's solid i know like bill's fans a lot of patriots fans are just

815
01:20:00,440 --> 01:20:05,000
salivating for a top end pass pass catcher and you guys are going to have a little bit of money

816
01:20:05,000 --> 01:20:11,160
to splash around so like is t higgins and the cards for you guys right are you guys going to make a

817
01:20:11,160 --> 01:20:15,800
big splash with one of these top tier wide receivers that will be on the market maybe a mike evans

818
01:20:15,800 --> 01:20:20,200
or somebody like that well what is your general thought on the wide receiver room because it's

819
01:20:20,200 --> 01:20:26,440
also a deep draft class as well so do you see the patriots stabilizing a little bit with some

820
01:20:26,440 --> 01:20:30,760
veteran investment are they going to go with a youth movement at wide receiver and take advantage

821
01:20:30,760 --> 01:20:37,240
of a deep draft class it's so hard to say to be honest because you know you asked me a couple

822
01:20:37,240 --> 01:20:41,800
years ago i i never would have saw jiu-jitsu smith schuster coming and playing for the patriots

823
01:20:42,440 --> 01:20:49,320
um it's so bizarre isn't it to see him in a patriots uniform the tiktok guy bellachic sign the tiktok

824
01:20:49,320 --> 01:20:56,440
guy yeah that really doesn't make any sense and still doesn't um so i love mike evans i would love

825
01:20:56,440 --> 01:21:02,600
to see him play for the patriots but i don't think that's a reality i think evans is loyal to the bucks

826
01:21:02,600 --> 01:21:11,320
and um it makes sense that's where he's been his whole career um so so maybe but like i said i think

827
01:21:11,320 --> 01:21:16,040
if they do bring in veteran talent it's not going to be somebody as seasoned as mike evans i think

828
01:21:16,040 --> 01:21:21,160
it'll be potentially someone who's you know only been in the league a couple years and had success so

829
01:21:21,160 --> 01:21:29,720
um yeah i'm not sure yeah i you guys probably end up doing a mix right i

830
01:21:31,880 --> 01:21:36,600
god it all depends too right like i could also see you guys i could see you guys going so many

831
01:21:36,600 --> 01:21:42,600
different directions on the offense i think it's almost certain you guys take a qb in this draft

832
01:21:42,600 --> 01:21:49,240
but i could also see like depending on what you want to do in the draft a jacobi brissette being

833
01:21:49,240 --> 01:21:54,920
somebody that you guys bring in is like a veteran bridge to a young qb and then really using some

834
01:21:54,920 --> 01:22:01,000
of that high end draft capital i would love to see this personally you guys used the third pick

835
01:22:01,000 --> 01:22:06,200
to draft marvin harrison jr because i think he would be just an absolute stud and i would hate

836
01:22:06,200 --> 01:22:10,920
to play against him but i'd also love to watch him like twice a twice a year because those are the

837
01:22:10,920 --> 01:22:16,840
only times i get patriots games um but i think it'd be a stud for you guys and then draft then trade

838
01:22:16,840 --> 01:22:22,360
back up into the first round to get a bow nix or a jj mccarthy then you sign jacobi brissette

839
01:22:22,360 --> 01:22:27,720
and you've got a bridge guide to your your um you've got a bridge guide to your qb of the future

840
01:22:27,720 --> 01:22:33,000
but you have raised the floor remarkably on the soft front fence from what it was a year ago

841
01:22:33,720 --> 01:22:37,080
i don't know if that's going to be the case or not but what do you think about my fantasy land

842
01:22:37,080 --> 01:22:42,200
with the patriots just getting weird with their their third overall pick and going wide receiver

843
01:22:42,200 --> 01:22:48,360
well i want to get even weirder and let me know what you think uh the odds that the bears move on

844
01:22:48,360 --> 01:22:54,680
from justin fields and justin fields becomes a patriot i had this on my bingo card too right

845
01:22:54,680 --> 01:23:00,920
yeah i mean i i i think and i think craft is i don't want to say a mammard with fields but he

846
01:23:00,920 --> 01:23:07,480
had his like arguably his pro breakout game against you guys on monday night football and i mean this

847
01:23:07,480 --> 01:23:12,840
was a bellachic thing but bellachic was always fascinated with the athleticism of josh allen

848
01:23:12,840 --> 01:23:20,120
and i feel like justin fields is the closest thing to that athletic profile in the league right now

849
01:23:20,760 --> 01:23:25,400
mayo is a product of the bellachic coaching tree i wonder how much carryover there is there

850
01:23:25,400 --> 01:23:30,200
and i mean you guys are not going to have to give up a first round pick for fields you know

851
01:23:30,200 --> 01:23:35,960
maybe a second maybe a future third you throw in there as well a second and a third if it was

852
01:23:35,960 --> 01:23:41,560
the 34th overall pick in a future third round pick do you do you end but then knowing you've

853
01:23:41,560 --> 01:23:47,400
got a sign fields probably to an extension long term to make it worth it do you do that

854
01:23:47,400 --> 01:23:52,360
do you put him on a veteran qb contract and then focus on offensive weapons in the draft

855
01:23:53,720 --> 01:24:00,840
i i as a fan i don't want to see it i i want to see a quarterback drafted it's always very

856
01:24:00,840 --> 01:24:08,360
exciting right when quarterbacks get drafted to to teams and so new head coach new quarterback

857
01:24:09,480 --> 01:24:17,000
i think would would excite me the most as a fan yeah no i i know i mean you guys would be basically

858
01:24:17,000 --> 01:24:21,880
putting yourselves into the situation that the bears arguably want to avoid which is committing

859
01:24:21,880 --> 01:24:30,360
too much cap space to an unproven young qb yeah like and i get it i really do and i think you guys

860
01:24:30,360 --> 01:24:35,720
could make some hey even with like a michael pennick's junior like i i um i got away till the

861
01:24:35,720 --> 01:24:40,760
combine i am starting to dig into my draft film and my draft guys and all that kind of stuff

862
01:24:41,560 --> 01:24:47,240
how down some scouts are on michael pennick's out of washington is bizarre to me because he seems

863
01:24:47,240 --> 01:24:52,920
to have a lot of great athletic tools that in the right system and with the right kind of

864
01:24:52,920 --> 01:24:59,400
offensive floor supporting him could be really really good in this league like he's not as dynamic

865
01:24:59,400 --> 01:25:05,320
as the marge axon but a lot of the pre draft talk about him like is very very similar like

866
01:25:05,320 --> 01:25:10,280
discounting a lot of the achievements that he made so he'd be an interesting pick for you guys again

867
01:25:10,280 --> 01:25:15,240
i also think to a veteran stabilizer because of the amount of cab space you guys have is not out

868
01:25:15,240 --> 01:25:22,680
of the realm of possibility um may i interest you in a kirk cousins potentially coming to your squad

869
01:25:22,680 --> 01:25:27,960
how would you feel about that kirk coming off of an i think it's an achilles injury right yeah i

870
01:25:27,960 --> 01:25:33,800
don't think that's the play to be honest i i i love what uh cousin says been able to do in

871
01:25:33,800 --> 01:25:42,040
minnesota and it's been really fun to watch um and the injury you know it's hard to watch right uh a

872
01:25:42,040 --> 01:25:52,200
guy that was doing so well weapons all around him um but no again for me i i want to i want to

873
01:25:53,080 --> 01:25:57,640
to see a quarterback drafted in the first round that that's what i'm looking forward to yeah no

874
01:25:57,640 --> 01:26:03,480
i think that'd be a thing that'd be right so i give you jacobi brzat on the veteran market

875
01:26:03,480 --> 01:26:10,120
i give you jaden daniels with the number three pick or i give you a selection of bonix uh michael

876
01:26:10,120 --> 01:26:16,200
pennix or jj mccarthy trading back up into the first round what do you think is the most likely

877
01:26:16,200 --> 01:26:22,920
scenario as as we see it now of who your qb would be out of that mix or do you choose other is it

878
01:26:22,920 --> 01:26:28,280
somebody we're not thinking about so you don't think there's a world where drake may drops to the third

879
01:26:28,920 --> 01:26:35,880
or i think i i think it's a definite possibility i have no clue heading into draft season what teams

880
01:26:35,880 --> 01:26:42,280
are going to covet do i think someone i do i think someone is going to try to trade into the top two

881
01:26:42,280 --> 01:26:50,040
for marvin harrison jr not really to give up that kind of package for a wide receiver granted

882
01:26:50,040 --> 01:26:54,840
generational talent and maybe the best player in the draft i think the last time we saw it was like

883
01:26:54,840 --> 01:26:59,640
the sammy walkins odell beckham jr year people were trading like crazy to get one of those two

884
01:26:59,640 --> 01:27:07,320
guys in the draft um so i don't know if that happens which leads me to believe that if the

885
01:27:07,320 --> 01:27:12,040
bears do trade out of the first pick they're trading into a team that wants to qb like the new york

886
01:27:12,040 --> 01:27:20,920
giants seattle seahawks someone like that um the commanders need a qb so unless one of them becomes

887
01:27:20,920 --> 01:27:26,920
enamored with jane daniels which i could see the commanders doing i don't think drake may drops they

888
01:27:26,920 --> 01:27:34,440
they seem to be right now pre combine the top two top two cubies in this class and then after those

889
01:27:34,440 --> 01:27:39,960
two consensus is there's a big drop off but daniels could have a really good combine and

890
01:27:39,960 --> 01:27:44,600
we've seen it happen before where people we don't expect uh to rise up end up rising up the draft

891
01:27:44,600 --> 01:27:51,160
ranks uh mark sanchez comes to mind and vice versa right if you look back at will levis so

892
01:27:51,160 --> 01:27:55,880
what happened with them expected to go very high kept dropping and dropping and dropping i think he

893
01:27:55,880 --> 01:28:05,080
felt like day two so um you know potentially the the patriots wait and see you know what happens and

894
01:28:05,080 --> 01:28:11,800
if you know they have other priorities but mayo in an interview flat out said they're going to

895
01:28:11,800 --> 01:28:17,480
drop the best player for a position that's very important which is a little cryptic but also

896
01:28:17,480 --> 01:28:22,840
you know makes everybody think okay that means quarterback right no that makes me think barvin

897
01:28:22,840 --> 01:28:27,960
harrison jr that makes me think barvin harrison jr man i think you guys i think you guys are

898
01:28:27,960 --> 01:28:34,360
going to get weird with it and honestly i don't mind it because not at all i i don't i don't know

899
01:28:34,360 --> 01:28:39,960
again it's so hard because we're pre-combine i think jane daniels is good but i do think there

900
01:28:39,960 --> 01:28:46,760
is a drop off between daniels may and williams so unless something wacky happens at the combine

901
01:28:46,760 --> 01:28:52,760
which again as you have perfectly said does tend to happen i could see a world where you guys are

902
01:28:52,760 --> 01:28:59,320
like jane daniels is not worth the top three pick right now based on what we have to commit cap wise

903
01:28:59,320 --> 01:29:05,080
into a fiftieth year option on him i could see you guys going either trading back and accumulating

904
01:29:05,080 --> 01:29:11,720
more picks because you do have a lot of areas of need or drafting the best are inarguably the best

905
01:29:11,720 --> 01:29:16,600
player in this draft and marvin harrison jr and then taking your shot in the second round or trading

906
01:29:16,600 --> 01:29:23,000
back into the first round to grab one of these lower end lower risk higher floor qb prospects

907
01:29:23,000 --> 01:29:27,480
though this a man it's a we've seen it like you just went through the mac jones era who's drafting

908
01:29:27,480 --> 01:29:33,320
that season was trevor lorenz who we still don't know if trevor lorenz is good trey lance

909
01:29:34,040 --> 01:29:44,120
mac jones right so many misses on qb in that draft like it's it's like a 40 to 50 percent hit rate

910
01:29:44,120 --> 01:29:51,720
right so if you're telling me that williams may and daniels all get drafted with the first three

911
01:29:51,720 --> 01:29:58,840
picks statistically speaking two of those guys are going to be a bust and if i'm your squad after

912
01:29:58,840 --> 01:30:03,240
everything i just went through with mac jones i don't want to roll those odds what i want to do

913
01:30:03,240 --> 01:30:10,200
is pick a surefire blue chip prospect and marvin harrison jr and figure out the rest either with a

914
01:30:10,200 --> 01:30:17,800
veteran bridge or a lower risk lower risk lower contract commit still talented prospect and the

915
01:30:17,800 --> 01:30:24,200
the latter first round right yeah i think that's that's totally fair yeah so i don't know we'll

916
01:30:24,200 --> 01:30:28,680
see maybe maybe may it will call me an aspect but i doubt it i doubt it i also don't want to give you

917
01:30:28,680 --> 01:30:33,320
guys tips on how to get good maybe this is reverse psychology maybe i want you to do this so that you

918
01:30:33,320 --> 01:30:41,240
be bad right maybe you should pick daniels brandon maybe you should do that what now i'm i'm confident

919
01:30:41,240 --> 01:30:47,720
that the patriots organization is listening in and writing furiously down your notes about what

920
01:30:47,720 --> 01:30:54,360
they should do so my wife doesn't even listen to the spot so i doubt the craps are tuning in but

921
01:30:54,360 --> 01:31:00,440
yeah man all right so in summary painful season but i think a needed transition away from bellachic

922
01:31:00,440 --> 01:31:05,400
for you guys it's time to turn the page on the dynasty and build something new uh you want to see

923
01:31:05,400 --> 01:31:12,760
a youth movement which i completely agree and you want to see a qb drafted right and you would like

924
01:31:12,760 --> 01:31:18,200
to see ideally it sounds like your guy is drake may right that's who you want to see fall to you am i right

925
01:31:18,200 --> 01:31:22,520
i think that's what's within the realm of possibilities so that's what i'm sort of holding on to hope

926
01:31:22,520 --> 01:31:27,960
for and again it could very well happen i mean he is uh he doesn't have the arm he doesn't have the

927
01:31:27,960 --> 01:31:34,120
arm strength of a josh allen but he's got like underrated mobility he's got good size he would be

928
01:31:34,120 --> 01:31:39,320
an interesting doppelganger i think to have an afc east to josh for sure so and something you guys

929
01:31:39,320 --> 01:31:43,880
can build some telling around but i'm rooting for weird i hope you guys get weird with it that's all

930
01:31:43,880 --> 01:31:49,480
i'm saying draft marvin harrison jr and let the chips fall where they may my friend well very good

931
01:31:49,480 --> 01:31:55,240
stuff dude listen we appreciate your insights as always into the team um and we'll have you back

932
01:31:55,240 --> 01:32:01,800
on for our mock afc east draft later on in april as part of our buffalo bread pre-jaffed coverage

933
01:32:02,760 --> 01:32:07,000
but until then for those of you listening at home like share and subscribe wherever you get your

934
01:32:07,000 --> 01:32:22,920
podcast google apple spotify and as always go bills

935
01:32:37,000 --> 01:32:50,920
though