Bag alert bag alert bag alert no no no no no
no no double bag alert double no no no no no
no no triple bag alert no no no no no no no no
no no no no this one is a little bit different
from all the other ones okay this is the first
week of free agency so we have to really bring
things out the right way okay and what better
way to do it than to introduce a new bag alert
big bank alert That's right big bank alert big
bank alert big bank alert folks That's right
week one of free agency is in the books folks
and man. Oh, man Do we have a lot to discuss?
Okay, let's just get into everything so Devontae
Adams goes back to Cali Myles Garrett stays in
Cleveland Josh Allen hits the lottery when it
comes to quarterback contracts Gino Smith heads
to Sin City DK hits the Pittsburgh Sam Darno
goes to see Crazy, right? Cooper Cup comes back
home, the Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson debacle
continues, the free agency recap, and the divisional
rodeo continues, folks, and we're in the South.
That's right, collard greens, biscuits, all that
good stuff and more, okay? I am so excited. Listen,
you guys understand, I have been waiting. to
do this episode because there is so much that
we have to do. This might go down as the longest
episode by far because we have so much we have
to unpack and whatnot. But you already know I
have to get into my spell, okay? All of this
and more on the 73rd episode of the Football
Junkies podcast, okay? I am your host with the
most, okay? I am your chief bag roll dominance,
okay? Anything and everything related to the
bag and more, okay? I am your chief head of the
table. Everything related to the draft everything
related to mock draft trades rumors you name
it I cover it all of that and more okay, but
guess what I am all These things and more okay,
but guess what I am your GM who currently is
not on a team right now But don't you worry about
it, okay? Don't you worry about okay? Because
guess what the most important tile that you must
remember my fellow junkies is I am your host
kale You already know how these things are about
to go this might be a three hour episode Let's
see if we can get to that point. Maybe we might
have some breaking news about Jamar chasing T
Higgins signing a deal Maybe we might have some
news about Russell Wilson joining the Giants.
I was about to say just but the Giants Okay,
so you already know how my spills about to get
into so guess what on three one, two, three.
Let's lock in Alright folks, let's just get into
the meat and potatoes of everything that is going
on in the league right now So we got so much
we got to talk about you don't even realize how
much we got to talk about Okay, some hot takes
some truth bombs all that and more. Okay, so
let's just get into it Devante Adams heads back
to the West Coast Okay, I did not expect for
him to stay in the East Coast as much as you
know, he was saying Oh, I love you know, I love
my time. I would love to play for Mike Tomlin
That was not going to happen. OK, he was going
to go back to the West Coast and so he went to
a contender in the Rams. So he signed a two year
$44 million deal with the $12 million signing
bonus. 26 million guaranteed. OK, now when we
look at his stats, 85 exceptions for 1063 receiving
yards, eight touchdowns and 12 .5 receiving yards
per reception. Now when we look at this, this
is a great replacement for Cooper Cup. OK, you're
having to get somebody. who is a little bit more
productive at this point than what Cooper Cup
has been in the last few years. But Devontae
Adams has been able to do that with grace, regarded
as a top five, top 10 receiver by a lot of defenders.
You pair him with Pukka Nakua. That's a deadly
combination here, folks. That's a deadly combination.
Now, granted, do I still believe that the Rams
will probably get another receiver? No. because
they brought back, who was it, Tutu Atwell. They
have Puka, and now you got Devontae Adams. You
also have Tyler Higbee. You have the running
back as well. All is really good. All they really
have to do now is really just focus on the defense,
primarily the secondary. And I think this team
could go right back into the NFC Championship.
Now, am I saying they can go, you know, to another
Super Bowl? Only time will tell. But at this
point, they're gonna make some noise. They're
gonna do their thing. Now let's talk about this
this miles Garrett guy, you know, this is this
guy in Cleveland, right? So, you know Everybody
was under the impression of miles Garrett was
gonna get traded this offseason, you know and
for the longest time he was saying he didn't
want to be part of Cleveland and he put out this
Statement and all that other stuff come to find
out the dude just wanted more money That's all
the money. So he inks a four -year 160 million
dollars point five million guaranteed He had
47 tackles, 14 sacks, and 84 quarterback pressures.
My take is this. If you wanted more money, just
say that. If you were really 10 toes down on
your stance of not wanting to play a single down
for the Cleveland Browns, you should have stood
on it. You never should have backed down when
they was offering you more money, but you did.
And so now... You're going to be stuck in a crappy
situation. You're going to be stuck on a team
that is not going to be winning anytime soon.
Granted, the money was still clear. The check
was still clear. You'll still be able to live
the lifestyle that you want, but at what cost?
You'll never be able to experience a championship.
And no one in their right mind would be willing
to make a trade for you at this point because
you have this crazy dumb contract. You didn't
reset at the market again. The passion for Mario
just just got reset it twice You were all happy
and smiles and you know, I'm ready to be back
and all man. I love these guys Yeah, and nobody
cares about that. You was just you was just writing
out these fools Come on, man And here I am thinking
that miles gear was gonna go to the Eagles. Well
Guess I was wrong. Guess we all were wrong at
this point. But um at this point This is basically
just a move to continue to put butts in seats
for Cleveland. I Don't I don't see them, you
know making it any farther than what they did
in the last two years I'm just gonna be completely
honest with you Deshaun Watson was a fail, but
the degree of the failure Has to be measured
at this point because right now it is starting
to be a giant snowball of a disaster And the
reason why I say that is because the more years
that they push this contract back, the bigger
the cap hit that they're gonna have to take at
once. If I'm not mistaken, and somebody can fact
check me, I have no problem being wrong and whatnot,
if they don't do something with his contract
next year, you are looking at a potential 90
plus million dollar cap hit. I'm sorry, folks.
There is not one person that is worth all that
money. Not even Tom Brady. And it's no disrespect
to him at all. You guys put three mortgages on
one player thinking that you were going to get
half or maybe just a little bit of what the Texans
got out of them. No. You didn't. You didn't get
anything close to it. so you were thinking that
maybe this upcoming season he was going to play
well guess what that's not going to be the case
because why he injured his other Achilles so
you won't be able to see where he is until next
year so while those checks are continuing to
go to the Sean Watson's account you are having
to figure out what you're going to do moving
forward now granted you will be but Tony will
say that he's coming back and I think Wyatt Taylor
has also said that he's coming back as well.
But those are just two people. You still have
to figure out what you're going to do with the
rest of the team. So I say all that to say this.
Yes, they are going to draft a quarterback. Yes,
it'll probably be between Cam Ward or Shidora
Sanders. But the fact of the matter is, this
team, it needs so much that you would essentially
need Every single draft pick to hit and I'm not
talking about you know, they're doing okay They're
doing well like no these guys have to be playing
at a pro bowl borderline all pro level all pro
level From the gate from the jump That's how
bad of a situation they are So if you want to
continue to be in pig slop for the rest of your
career by all means do it but If it was me, I
would have not even touched the very ground that
is the Cleveland Browns facility until I was
trading. But I'm not Miles Garrett. But we have
to talk about a curve ball of a quarterback contract.
And that was Josh Allen getting his deal. So
Josh Allen inked. six -year 330 million dollar
contract 250 million guarantee you'll be making
55 million a year a year It's crazy, right? We
already know the stats, but I'll just go over
them Three thousand seven hundred thirty one
passing ours 28 touchdown six picks seven point
seven yards per attempt in a sixty three point
six completion percentage We all know that he
won the MVP. No Marsha's wanted. That's a different
story for a different day But the fact of the
matter is they realized that they were gonna
have to pay him more money. Okay Josh Allen right
now is Playing at a level that the bills have
never seen before. Okay, when everything is said
and done And this is no disrespect to Jim Kelly
at all. When everything is said and done, I would
not be surprised if Josh Allen is first in every
single major quarterback category within the
Bills. OK? Granted, this does create some catch
space, and this does allow them to create some
leverage and whatnot, which is great. But at
the same time, The time is still ticking for
you all to win a championship Because right now.
Yes, you still do have Josh Allen for a while
Yes, you grew so and you locked up a few other
players great But the fact of the matter is you
guys still have yet to get over the hump You
guys have yet to been able to beat Patrick my
homes. So at some point you gotta win You have
to win All right, you want to you want to MVP.
Cool. Great. Congratulations So class class class,
whatever don't care. But what matters at this
point is a championship that is the cherry on
top if you win a championship you have Automatically
eliminated yourself and put yourself in a category
that only bills fans would only dream and want
so at this point Yes, celebrate the contract,
but at the same time still look at the watch
Because time is still ticking and so the longer
that this goes The more questions are going to
be you know asked For Josh Allen because you
have to win a championship at this point It's
the same thing with Lamar is the same thing with
Joe burrow It's the same thing with any of those
other quarterbacks that have that have not won
a championship outside of Jalen Hurts and Patrick
Holmes Everybody is on the clock because you
guys have to win a championship because you guys
are playing at levels Though that we have never
seen before right granted. We all know in the
early 2000s We had you know Tom Brady Big Ben
Philip Rivers Drew Brees Payne Manny if I if
I've already said it already and a few other
quarterbacks But we have never had a group of
quarterbacks that have been able To light it
up almost every single game. It's almost like
a movie Every single Sunday when you watch these
quarterbacks from Joe burrow to Patrick Mahomes
to Lamar Jackson to even Josh Allen. It's a movie
and You want the movie to end on a good foot
with them, you know walk into the sunset being
a champion But will that happen? I don't know
Knew I was forgetting somebody I knew there was
somebody else they got paid lately and that was
Gregory Russo Gregory Russo got paid He got a
back alert as well. So he ain't a four -year
80 million dollar deal. Okay His average salary
is 20 million his signing bones of 17 .5 million
and he's guaranteed 38 .7 million man. I knew
I was forgetting somebody but when we look at
this Gregory Russo, like I say when we covered
the the bills he was going to get paid it was
either going to be early or it's going to be
late and so the bills actually did the right
thing and they paid him early because we all
know just like just like what the bangles are
going through right now when y 'all take that
risk sometimes it benefits you and sometimes
it burns you and the bills realize hey listen
we cannot take that risk and so when we look
at this you know when we look at his stats specifically
53 tackles, 8 sacks, 59 quarterback pressures,
like this has been a very productive player,
okay? This is somebody who is continuing to climb,
who is continuing to get better and better each
and every year. And so it was only right for
the Bills to just give him the deal now. Like
this has been a really productive and consistent
pass rusher. Now, am I saying he could, you know...
get more than eight sacks oh i believe it i believe
reverie russo has the potential to get double
digit sack seasons it's only up from here folks
okay the bills are prioritizing taking care of
their players which i love oh so much so now
again like i said before with josh allen time's
a ticking tick tock take time josh allen tick
tock uh Forgot what's supposed to GM Brandon
being I think it is Brandon me yet Brandon me
time is ticking man Time is ticking. I want y
'all to win I want Lamar to win and Josh Allen
everybody else to win But we all know there's
only one winner out of this entire thing. It's
not both teams are winners only one but Let's
get into this jeno smith thing. So jeno smith
goes to sin city folks All right, so we got to
talk about this because it was a trade Okay,
so seattle receives a third round pick and of
course las vegas receives jeno smith as well.
Okay, but then he inks a deal with The raiders,
okay a three -year 75 million dollar deal 40
million guaranteed 25 million a year not bad
Really good, actually. So, when we look at his
stats, you know, 4 ,320 passing yards, 21 touchdowns,
15 picks, and 7 .5 yards per 10, and a 70 .4
completion percentage. Now, as we talked about
the whole debacle with the Seahawks maybe about
a week or two, I had already believed that this
was going to be the last time that we saw Geno
Smith in a Seahawks jersey, simply because they
were pressed for cash. You had three players,
that were taking up a large chunk of the cap
space. DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Geno Smith.
And so what happened? They released Tyler Lockett,
they traded away DK Metcalf, and then they traded
away Geno Smith. And it was only right for them
to send him to Las Vegas because why? He was
able to get his second chance under Pete Carroll.
So it was only right for Pete Carroll to continue
to get his guy again. Let's be real here. This
is not a hard topic to wrap your mind around.
This isn't a topic where you're like, well, why
do they do this or why do they do that? No. Let's
be real here, folks. Gino Smith is still a really
productive quarterback. Am I saying he's a top
10 quarterback? No. Am I saying he's possibly
maybe a top 15, maybe top 20 quarterback? Yes.
Yes. He is still a very productive quarterback.
Now, is he somebody that can go toe to toe with
a burrow? Lamar or my homes or any like that.
Mmm. I don't know. That's I Don't know. I mean
a few weeks about that. Okay, let me let's get
through the draft for us Then we can figure out
exactly how things are gonna go. But at the same
time This makes that division more and more Competitive
because remember for all those years it was just
my homes to steamrolling the entire division
But now you got bone next you got Justin Herbert.
You got Gino Smith and you got my homes All in
one division. Man, oh man, will that be a very
competitive division this season, okay? Each
and every one of those teams have positioned
themselves to get better than last year. And
it's only up from here. The Broncos are getting
their act together. The Raiders have the potential
to get their act together. The Chargers are starting
to be a little bit more consistent. I'm telling
you folks, Those other three teams are going
to make the process for the Chiefs to win the...
What is it? What is it? The first seed. It's
going to be difficult for them to win the first
seed this year. I'm telling you. One of those
teams is going to prevent Mahomes from getting
that first seed. And man oh man, is it going
to be hilarious. But let's get into another situation.
That is Sam Darnold going to Seattle. I know,
right? It's like a swap. you go to sin city i
go to you know seattle or whatever who cares
okay so sam donnell inks a three -year 100 .5
million dollar contract 55 million guarantee
he'll be making 33 .5 million a year when we
look at his stats we all know his stats 4 319
passing yards 35 touchdowns 12 picks 7 .9 yards
per attempt in a 66 .2 completion percentage
First of all, we have to thank Kevin O 'Connell
for this, okay? First of all, half of that money
needs to go to Kevin O 'Connell's account because
if it wasn't for Kevin O 'Connell, he would not
be getting this bag. I'm just being completely
honest with you, okay? But when we look at this,
you know, from the outside looking in, Seattle
was going to get Sam Darnold. Nobody else was
going to be willing to give Sam Darnold a $100
-plus million contract. Nobody was it. But who
would do that? The Seahawks. Once they got off
of the Gino Smith contract and Tyler Lockett
and DK Metcalf, they made the decision. Okay,
let's go and get our quarterback. And that's
exactly what they did. Now, this is a little
bit of a different contract because it's a three
year instead of a four year. So my guess is this,
and I haven't been able to look at the structure
of the contract, which believe it or not, a lot
of the contracts, you really haven't been able
to really look at the structure of them. But
my guess is, They structured this contract to
where they put a lot of his money up front in
the first two years so that maybe that third
year can be sort of like a ghost year or There
will probably be like, you know, less guarantees
and less of a base salary. It could be one of
those two different things But all I know okay.
Yes, you guys got your quarterback cool. You
still have JSN You now have Cooper Cup like okay
this team could could do a few things now am
i saying this team is going to be ultra competitive
no do i think this this team still needs a lot
of work to do yes but i mean they address the
most important position which is quarterback
so all in all congratulations to them now We
got to talk about DK mech have going to the Pittsburgh
Steelers. Yes, you thought I was gonna do the
six times six time No, we're not doing that.
Okay, because I I got a little bit of a beef
right now with with with the con artists Okay,
but but i'll leave it i'll leave it there. We're
not gonna talk about it, but we will talk about
it We will address it. Okay when we get to the
afc north Okay, so DK Metcalfe was traded to
the Pittsburgh Steelers. So Seattle receives
the 2025 second round pick and the 2025 seventh
round pick. Pittsburgh, of course, receives DK
Metcalfe in the 2025 sixth round pick. Okay.
And in doing so, DK Metcalfe agrees to a five
year, $132 million deal. He'll be making 33 million
a year. Okay. Now when we look at his stats,
66 receptions for 992 receiving yards, five touchdowns,
15 receiving yards per reception. Now, when we
look at this, this is the quote unquote splashy
move. I don't know why, but I just hate, I hate
using that word, but this is the big move that
everybody has been wanting the Steelers to do.
Because remember, we all know what happened last
year when they were basically the only team trying
to get brand new again, and basically they didn't
get anything. And so that's. Man, that year was
just horrible, okay? And so they wanted to make
things right, and they got DK Metcalf. Great.
I already knew that the Seattle Seahawks were
not going to get a first round pick for DK Metcalf.
I'm sorry, he's not worth a first round pick.
Because why? You're gonna have to pay him 30
plus million a year. Why am I giving you a first
round pick, an additional pick, just for you
to do that? No. All in all, great deal for the
Steelers. They get their number one receiver.
I just want to see how things are going to go
moving forward. Because you have DK Metcalf,
you have George Pickens, you have Pat Fryermuth,
you have Jaylen Warren. You have a pretty competent
offense. But the question is, how are things
going to go moving forward? Because they don't
have a quarterback. I know I'm not really supposed
to be talking about the Steelers, but You just
have to at this point, but DK Metcalf is somebody
Who was going to put in 100 % not you know what
screw 100? He's gonna put a hundred and ten percent
effort in everything that he does Every route
every block being a menace to society to every
DB. He is going to do that Okay, this is the
Brothers of Destruction wide receivers. You're
talking about two legitimate crash outs of a
receiver who do not care, who always look for
the fade. Every single time you are going to
see DK Metcalf and George Pickens gang up on
some of these DBs. DK Metcalf got him in the
headlock and George Pickens is just beating them
up. Okay that's how crazy of a situation this
is. But At the same time, you're getting somebody
who is literally in the middle of their prime.
So you're going to get probably the remainder
of his prime and more. D .K. Metcalfe's game
is going to age well because even when he loses
his speed, he'll still have his strength. So
he'll still be able to win those contested catches
and everything. So all in all, great move. But
we have to talk about free agency, folks. The
first week of free agency, and best believe,
within maybe the next two or three episodes will
do great for every single team with you know
the free agency moves because there are some
teams that did more than others and i'll just
leave it there before i get really upset so let's
just get into it so let's start harold landry
okay ain't a three -year 43 .5 million dollar
deal with the patriots 26 million guarantee and
he will be making 14 .5 million a year his stats
of course 71 tackles 9 sacks 41 quarterback pressures
now when we look at this you know when we talked
about that whole scenario when it happened when
he was you know given permission to secret trade
in the back of my mind i had a feeling that he
probably would go to the Patriots but i didn't
believe that he was actually going to do it and
the only reason why i say that is because i thought
he was going to try to at least go after a championship
at least that's what I would have thought but
clearly I was wrong and so he goes back to my
variable which this actually benefits my variable
a lot because he brings in a defensive player
who can sort of show everybody else like hey
this is how my variable does this and does that
and this is how you're supposed to move in this
situation that situation all those different
things Compared to, you know, him having to emphasize,
okay, you gotta do this, you gotta do that. Like,
he doesn't have to do that no more because you
bring in someone like a Harold Landry. On top
of that, you just made this defense a whole lot
better, okay? You got Chris Gonzalez, unfortunately.
You have Carlton Davis. You have Harold Landry.
You have Christian Barmore. You got Milton Williams.
This is a really good defense. Now, am I saying
this team could possibly win seven or eight games?
I don't know, but only time will tell. Okay,
let's keep on going JC horn. Okay corner for
the Panthers. It's a four -year 100 million dollar
deal Okay, 28 .4 signing bonus. All right 17
million 72 not 17 72 million guaranteed. He'll
be making 25 million a year folks when we look
at his stats 68 tackles two sacks One pick, he
was targeted 75 times and allowed 38 receptions
for 419 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
J .C. Horne, when he was coming out of, I think,
what was it, South Carolina? I think it was South
Carolina. If it wasn't, then I'm wrong. Sorry.
When he was coming out of college, I was very
high on J .C. Horne. I wanted the Steelers to
go after J .C. Horne, but clearly they did not
get him. Me personally, I would have thought
the Panthers would have traded him, but I think
they valued him so much. They just have to you
know go ahead and just pay him which oh no. It's
a really good deal He's still a really productive
corner. He's definitely on that top tier of young
corners So I don't see why you know anybody would
have tried to you know possibly trade for him
Steelers or maybe you know Ravens or you know
any other team just saying just saying just saying
just saying But um you know all all jokes aside
J .C. Horne plays a very pivotal role in this
defense. He has done a phenomenal job within
the last three years and so it's only right to
reward him. That's it. Now, on to Khalil Mack.
Khalil Mack inks a one -year, $18 million deal
with the Chargers. Okay, he stays back in LA.
$10 million signing bonus, $18 million guaranteed,
$18 million a year. Now, when we look at his
stats, 39 tackles, six sacks, and 54 quarterback
pressures. Now, when we look at this, I believed
that Khalil Mack was not gonna go anywhere else.
Simply because, and this is just a truth bomb,
I'm just being honest with you guys, Khalil Mack
has been more productive in the last four years
with the Chargers than what Joey Bosa has. Joey
Bosa has not been able to stay healthy to save
a lick, okay? You're looking at a Khalil Mack
who... I think he's only two years removed from
being a finalist for defensive player of the
year. He has been able to be very productive
in these last few years. So it was only right
to bring him back. Now granted, of course they
had to release him because they probably wanted
to do so just to free up some cap space so they
can address other positions. But all in all,
you bring somebody back. I definitely believed
that the Chargers were not going to bring back
Joey Bosa at any time simply because why? He
hasn't been super productive, he's more expensive,
and there's just no need to keep him. I'm sorry.
If he was doing what he did in the first three
years, okay, fine. No problem whatsoever. But
anytime you have Khalil Mack, old Khalil Mack,
doing a better job, more productive, more consistent
than what you have been, that's a problem. And
that's why the Chargers chose Khalil Mack over
Joey Bolson, right? Now Chris Gollin, he inks
a three year, $66 million deal, 44 million guaranteed,
22 million a year, okay? And when we look at
his stats, 50 receptions for 500. 76 receiving
yards, five touchdowns, 11 .5 receiving yards
per reception. Now when we look at this, you
know, Chris Godwin could have tested free agency
if he really wanted to. He could have went, you
know, anywhere. If he could have, he could have
went to the Patriots, for instance, right? The
Patriots would have been willing to give him
30 plus million. Chris Godwin had a market. I
don't care what anyone says. He had a legitimate
market because Why? He is still a very productive
receiver. Despite the injury that he had last
season, he was still very productive. And so
Chris Galwin decided to choose loyalty with a
stable franchise over a testing free agency,
which I don't blame him for. And we'll get more
into once we get into the divisional rodeo. But
the fact of the matter is the Buccaneers have
been very consistent. I don't know, five, 10,
maybe. even longer than that but in recent times
they have been very productive since the whole
Tom Brady situation okay and so I think Chris
Godwin values that a lot and so in doing so I
think he was just like forget about I'll just
stay here why leave I'm in the best situation
I'm I'm not too far away from Disney World not
too far from Universal Studios like come on who
where else would I want to go I don't want to
go nowhere where it's cold want to be somewhere
it's warm come on But when we look at it, you
know, we got some other people that we have to
talk about. Okay, Drew Dahlman Yes, you're probably
thinking who's drew Dahlman drew Dahlman was
the center for the Falcons And now he is the
center for the Bears go Bears three years 42
million a six million dollar signing bonus 28
million guaranteed. He'll be making 14 million
a year I think we got to have an honest conversation.
You know, it's just crazy to me how A lot of
these offensive coaches, you know, when their
offensive lines aren't that good, guess what?
They address it so quickly and they rebuild their
offensive line so quickly that it's just like,
whoa, what just happened? Ben Johnson made a
trade, made a few trades. Okay, they got Joe
Thune, they got the guard from the Rams, and
now they just got a center. Their offensive line
is good now. Their offensive line is good. They
no longer have to prioritize offensive line in
the draft if they really don't want to. That
is how quickly they address their problems Compared
to defensive coaches where they'll just neglect
an offensive line and just say hey put a band
-aid over it will be perfectly fine But when
we look at this, you know, I would have thought
the Falcons would have tried to at least put
out an offer for poor Drew Dahlman simply because
That offensive line for the Falcons has been
really good lately. And so you would have thought
hey Keep the center. The center is really important
outside of quarterback. Clearly. That's not the
case but You know what? Well, we'll save that
for the Falcons. I want to save that for the
Falcons I have so much I have to say okay You
guys don't realize how excited I am to do about
this not to mention if I'm not mistaken I think
our first year anniversary For this podcast.
I think is next week if I'm not mistaken, but
who cares about that. All right back Back to
the free agency stuff. But when we look at this,
offensive linemen have become more and more a
priority in recent free agencies than what we've
seen in past years. Why? Because we're seeing
a lot of interior defensive linemen who are wrecking
shops. So what's the best way to prevent that
from happening? You get some really productive
interior offensive linemen. And that's exactly
what the Bears did. The Bears prioritized the
health and wealth of Caleb Williams. Your quarterback's
years are determined by their offensive line.
If they have an offensive line, oh, hey, they'll
be fine. They'll be perfectly fine. If they don't
have an offensive line, good is gone in less
than 10 years. If you don't believe me, ask Andrew
Luck. No disrespect. Now let's go to DJ Reed,
OK? DJ Reed inks a three -year $48 million deal,
$32 million guaranteed, and he'll be making $16
million a year, OK? When we look at his stats,
64 tackles, one sack. He was targeted 59 times
and allowed 33 receptions for 369 yards and one
touchdown. DJ Reed goes to the Lions. I was a
little bit shocked about this one, only because
I would have thought he would have stayed in
the AFC personally. But clearly that's not the
case. I knew that he wasn't gonna go to the Jets
Okay, I knew he wasn't gonna will not go because
he was already with the Jets I knew that he wasn't
gonna stay with the Jets, excuse me, but to go
to the Lions I mean the Lions do value their
secondary a lot and so getting someone like a
DJ Reid would definitely do wonders because again
They lost Carlton Davis, but they still have
Tyrion Arnold So you have Tyrion Arnold and you
have DJ Reid. So I mean, that's a good tandem
right there Milton Williams gets the Brinks truck.
Okay at first we're thinking Oh, he's going to
the Panthers and then in report says not Guess
what he guess where he's going to the Patriots
folks. So he inks a four -year 104 million dollar
deal 24 million dollar signing bonus 63 million
guaranteed and he'll be making 26 million a year
Let me tell you something before I before I get
into the into the stats or right now Cuz I'm
feeling a little bit funny, okay, I Need to hire
one of these agents to be my representation will
begin to the big contracts and whatnot because
you guys are legal Robbers, okay, and I mean
this in a funny way you guys are legal Robbers
you guys I don't know how you do it But when
it comes to free agency you guys are doing the
birdman hand rub when it comes to a free agent
Especially a top free agent who's your client
because you know why they get the bag Better
yet forget about a bad. They get the Brinks truck.
Okay, the Brinks truck is just is just pulled
into the driveway Give them the keys and just
say hey all that's yours in the back my G That's
how crazy it is. When we look at this, you know,
Milton Williams, from a stat perspective, okay,
his stats were 24 tackles, five sacks, and 35
quarterback pressures. Folks, we're talking about
somebody who was playing very well when it came
to the Super Bowl. You're talking about somebody
who was wrecking the shop along with Jalen Carter.
So it was only right for them to pay him. And
not to mention, you're talking about somebody
who... didn't play as many snaps as everybody
else did. So you have to factor in that and you
also have to factor in that he was one of those
defensive linemen that was waiting. This is exactly
why the Eagles recipe has been able to withstood
the test of time. Because you know why? They
continue to draft offensive and defensive linemen
every single year and you don't even know who
you're getting. You could be getting a dog and
you don't even realize it. That's how crazy it
is. And guess what? He got paid for it. Man,
you don't want a Super Bowl. You ain't got a
hundred million dollar contract. Man, life is
good. Life is good in the hood. Man, we also
got to talk about another trade and that is Loremi
Tunsell getting traded to the commanders. It's
just crazy how, you know, now that I'm a Steelers
fan, the commanders want to get their act together.
you know every single day i'm just wondering
if i should be a commanders fan at this point
because you know the commanders are basically
on the cusp of potentially winning the super
bowl at this point i mean this it's just horrible
horrible but when we look at this okay washington
receives a 2025 fourth round pick in lorenzo
tunsel houston receives a 2025 third and seventh
round pick as well as a 2026 fourth round pick
Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something.
They're GM Cooking he's been cooking with hot
grease from the minute that they traded for Debo
Okay, they are serious about Jayden Daniels and
it shows now when we look at this for the Texans
I'm still trying to figure out why would you
make this trade like Remy Tunsel has been? Your
best offensive lineman. Why would you trade him
away? Not to mention you didn't even get a first
-round pick for That's crazy. That is robbery
Highway robbery and they did it they did it um
When this news broke I almost lost it folks.
That's how crazy it was but from a financial
standpoint You know he still has two years left
on his deal counting this year a base salary
of twenty point nine million Okay with a cap
hit of twenty one point three million, which
you know really isn't that bad Now the thing
is this, this benefits Washington more because
why? You've solidified your left tackle spot
with a really good left tackle. Outside of Trent
Williams, Loremi Tunsil is probably either in
the same conversation with Trent Williams or
probably right under him, but he's not too far
away from Trent Williams. Not to mention, this
reduces the priority of getting a left tackle
to maybe a sixth or seventh round if they really
wanted to. because you brought in someone that's
been highly productive basically his entire career.
So you protect Jaden Daniels' blind side while
at the same time you're making a large investment
into Jaden Daniels because again you build your
team when the quarterback is on a rookie deal
because once that rookie deal is over with things
get a little bit crazy. But for Houston I'm trying
to understand why would you trade away the Remy
Tunsel unless if you're going to address offensive
line high because right now you have to address
your left tackle, you got to address guard, I
think you also have to address maybe center if
I'm not mistaken but like they've let go a few
of their offensive linemen and they really haven't
made a whole lot of additions to the offensive
line so I'm just trying to understand why I do
that now especially when CJ Stroud had the season
that he just had where basically he was taking
a beating Because of this offensive line. So
I don't know what what their plan is, but they
must feel real confident in their plan Okay.
Now let's get into will fries. Okay will fries
Joins the Vikings so he ain't a five -year 88
million dollar deal 17 .6 million a year the
Vikings prioritize their offensive and defensive
line and it's going to pay off substantially
whoever their quarterback is Whether it be Aaron
Rodgers, whether it be J .J. McCarthy, whether
it be anybody else. They're going to be fine.
Christian Darisal is coming back. You pair him
with Will Fries and everybody else on this offensive
line. On top of that, you have Justin Jefferson,
T .J. Hockeson, and Jordan Addison, and Aaron
Jo— Man, listen, let me tell you something. This
Vikings team— This Viking seems going to be a
problem. This Viking seems going to be a menace
to society, folks, because why? They realize
that, listen, we must prioritize our offense
and defensive line. That is the only way that
we're going to be able to go further in the playoffs.
Otherwise, we're going to be right where we just
were last year, which is trying to compete for
a high seed, but we basically flop. And it shows
with the next two contracts, which are related
to the Vikings, which is Jonathan Allen and Javon
Hargrave. Both great signings, not a lot of money,
and that bolsters up your defensive line even
more, because now you have Javon Hargrave, Jonathan
Allen, Dallas Turner, I forget who the other
patch rusher is. Along with Byron Murphy and
Harrison Smith like it's a really good deep We
look at Jonathan Allen's deal three years 51
million or 14 million dollar signing bonus 31
.2 million guaranteed only 17 million a year
That's not bad. And even when you look at his
stats last year, which are a little bit low only
because You know, he suffered a pec injury sort
of like middle to late part of the season and
originally he was declared out within once they
made it to the playoffs and whatnot, it opened
up a window for him to be able to come back and,
you know, the rest is history. So when we look
at his stats, 19 tackles, three sacks, 14 quarterback
pressures. Now, I knew Jonathan Allen wasn't
going to be able to demand 20 plus million, but
around that, you know, 17 to 18 million, I think
that's the sweet spot for him. And then with
Javon Hargrave, same situation. You're coming
off of an injury year when we look at his deal.
Two years, 30 million, 19 million guaranteed,
15 million a year. Perfect. And then we look
at his stats, seven tackles, one sack, and eight
quarterback pressures. These are two very productive
defensive linemen that injuries have basically
derailed them this past season. So now this is
a bounce back year for the both of them. And
I think this is the best situation for them to
go to. Now, me personally would have wanted them
to go to the Steelers just because, you know,
Gravedigger coming back to the Steelers. But
clearly that was not the case. But when we look
at Joey Bosa's situation, okay, this one was
a little bit of a head scratcher only because
the Bills got rid of Von Miller. Okay, cool.
I understand that 100 % of the way. You wanted
to get rid of that, you know, horrendous contract
that you gave him, which... It was a horrendous
contract and they only paid him that type of
money because of what he did during the Super
Bowl and that entire playoff run with the Rams.
Okay, but when we look at Joey Bosa's contract,
one year, 12 .6 million, 12 million guaranteed,
12 .6 million a year. Okay, when we look at his
stats, 22 tackles, five sacks, 33 quarterback
pressures. This is somewhat of a let's see if
you still got it, if you don't got it. It's a
low risk, high reward deal. because outside of
Gregory Russo, who else do you have that's been
very consistent? Nobody. So bringing in someone
like a Joey Bosa, you get to see where he is.
Because again, like I said before in previous
episodes, Joey Bosa is not the same person. Injuries
have completely derailed him for the last three
and four years. That's exactly why the charges
did not decide to keep him because why you were
way too expensive and your Production wasn't
meeting the contract that you were currently
under So they had to get rid of you on top of
that your partner Khalil Mack was doing way more
than you It was being more consistent and more
productive than you. Well, I mean come on now
me personally I would have thought he would have
went to his brother or I would have thought he
would have went to the Dolphins because Those
were the only two teams that everybody was saying
that was really interested in Joey Bosa. But
clearly the Bills came out the blue and gave
him the deal that they gave him. Now, Grady Jarrett's
situation is a little bit weird. Because the
Falcons wanted him to take a pay cut, he said
no, and so they just released him. Which sort
of goes into what's going on with the Falcons,
but I don't understand why you would let him
go. just because he refused not to take a pay
cut. I'm not going to take a pay cut when, for
one, I'm one of the leaders of the defense. I've
been consistent. Sure, I'm getting a family year,
but it doesn't even matter because why? I'm still
that guy. So why in the world should I have to
take a pay cut? And guess what? He bounced back
and went to another team in a better situation.
Now he's with the Bears. Three years, 43 .5 million.
28 .5 million guaranteed. 14 .5 million a year.
That's not bad, even with his stats. 53 tackles,
2 .5 sacks, 32 quarterback pressures. I don't
care what anyone says, Grady Jared is still that
guy. And he will always be that guy. Why? Because
he's always been very productive. Now, when you
look at his stats, you're probably thinking,
oh, well, that's not really productive. No, not
really. It's not the stats. You gotta look at
the tape. You're talking about somebody that
is getting through and, you know, a guard in
the center is basically double -teaming and he's
still finding a way to get through. This is somebody
that you're pairing him with Montez Sweat and
Tremaine Edmonds and Jalen Johnson and Jaquan
Brisker and, you know, all those other guys.
That's a really productive defense. The Bears
right now have really positioned themselves to
be in a really good place. That division as a
whole has really positioned themselves to be
very competitive. I think the only question mark
that we have is just the Lions. And that's only
because they lost both Ben Johnson and Aaron
Glenn this offseason. Outside of that, I think
it's gonna be a very competitive division. Now
we look at Evan Ingram, which was somewhat of
a shocker. He goes to the Broncos. Two years,
$23 million, $8 million signing bonus, $16 .5
million guarantee, $11 .5 million a year. I did
not expect for him to be released by the Jaguars,
but he goes into a way better situation. This
is another weapon for Bo Nix to throw to, okay?
You have Courtland Sutton, as long as he doesn't,
you know, hold out or anything. Evan Ingram,
Bo Nix. This is a pretty good team. This is a
really good team. people are tired of losing
and some people just say you know what to hell
with it we'll just go somewhere else and that's
exactly what Evan Ingram did and he found himself
another bag okay. Tylenol hefunga goes to the
Broncos really good deal three years 45 million
20 million guaranteed 15 million a year that's
not bad at all When we look at his stats, 38
tackles, he was targeted 8 times for 7 receptions
for 112 yards. He's been one of those rising
stars when it comes to safeties. And he probably
could have demanded more money, but for him to
take this deal is really good. He's still a really
good competitive safety, and I think he's going
to get better as his career progresses. Now,
when we go to the Justin Field situation... I
know it's a sensitive subject for some Steelers
fans, but I'm gonna break things down in a way
that you guys are gonna be able to understand
it. So, before I get to that point, let's just
get into the contract, okay? Two years, $40 million,
a $15 million signing bonus, $30 million guarantee,
and he'll be making $20 million a year, okay?
His stats, 1 ,106 passing yards, five touchdowns,
one pick, and 6 .9 yards per attempt. Now, when
we look at this situation, okay? In some ways,
this was a blessing in disguise for Justin Fields.
And I'm going to explain why. Because had he
played the entire season, I don't think he would
have been able to get the money that he got.
But because he played only six games, I think
it left a lot of question marks for a lot of
teams to say, you know what? I like that. I want
to invest into that. Now, when we look at it
from the Steelers perspective, in his mind, he
got screwed over. In his mind, he was never given
the keys to the kingdom. Because once he was
traded, what was the first thing that Mike Thomas
said? Russell Wilson has pole position of his
team. Every single time. Every single time he
was brought on for an interview or anytime anybody
asked him anything related to quarterback. It
was always what? Russell Wilson has the pole
position. So automatically, you've already doubted
me. You've already eliminated me from competition.
You've already set the standard and you've already
put the line in the sand and say, guess what?
No matter what you do, no matter what stat you
put up, Russell Wilson is going to be the guy.
We're going to go back to Russell Wilson. And
so for him, that probably, you know, made him
feel some type of way. And then not to mention
six games into the season, you pulled the plug
for me. And then basically for the rest of the
season, I'm on the bench. That's not good Especially
during that five game stretch. You would have
thought hey make a switch Maybe put Justin Fields
in see you know see what happens No Not at all
and so for him. He probably was like you know
what the hell with them The Jets are offer me
a better bag. I get to play with my former teammate
and Garrett Wilson Let's see what happens. Now,
the only problem that I have with this situation
is the offensive coordinator. I don't think that
offensive coordinator and Justin Fields are really
going to match together because that offensive
coordinator, his system is basically Ben Johnson's
2 .0 with a few little tweaks and whatnot. And
Justin Fields isn't really that fast of a processor,
so I don't know how that's really going to work,
but only time will tell, right? And so... when
we look at this, I don't even think the Steelers
were willing to really offer him the type of
contract that he just signed with the Jets. I
think they were gonna try to lowball him and
basically try to say, hey listen, we'll bring
you some good weapons and then see what happens
and maybe something can work in your favor and
we'll give you sort of like a trial just to...
You know see what happens and then we'll go from
there like it could have been that or they probably
didn't promise him You know the the starting
job And so if I'm Justin Fields, that's what
I want I feel like I am a starting caliber quarterback
and I will not argue with anybody that says otherwise
But the fact of the matter is the Steelers screwed
him the Steelers did not give him The adequate
chance to actually really showcase his skill
set if the Steelers would have said hey listen
We're gonna give you the first half of the season
and then Russ you get the second half of the
season And then you guys come to a decision Okay,
fine But you just deciding hey six games. We're
gonna pull the plug for me when you only had
two bad games Unacceptable, that's my time now.
Let's get into the divisional Rodeo folks and
we are in the NFC style so you already know how
my spill goes okay salary free agents draft picks
possessions of need and candidates for either
restructure extension trades or cuts so we're
going to start with the saints all right so you
have a salary of 17 .1 million with a rollover
cap of 2 .9 million okay Your free agents, Paul
Snelledivo, Chase Young, Juwan Johnson, Will
Harris, Marquez Valdez Gantling, Peyton Turner,
and Dante Pettis, just to name a few. Your draft
picks, of course you got your first, your second,
you have two third round picks, you have two
fourth round picks, you have a sixth, and you
have a seventh. You don't have a fifth round
pick. Positions of need, wide receiver, edge,
corner, tight end, interior offensive line, and
running back. This is what I'll say to start
things off, specifically with the cap. I think...
The number one red flag for this job was when
a lot of those coaches decided not to take the
interviews for the Saints. Once you saw Mike
McCarthy and Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn and
all those other coaches basically take their
name out of the hat for this position. That lets
you know that for one they didn't like how things
were probably structured and two They don't like
it how you're about to inherit a team where for
one you have little to no cap space Sure, you
have a high draft pick, but you don't have a
lot of concrete pieces that you can build off
of okay because For the last few years what have
we seen? with the with the Saints You find a
way to do a whole bunch of restructures you move
a whole bunch of money and you do this indeed
and you do that and you find a way just to create
just a little bit of cash space where you can
make one or two free agent signings and then
you can sign your rookies at some point you're
gonna have to clean your books and I think they
should have went through the process of cleaning
their books this year because Since the whole
Drew Brees thing and whatnot. You've been doing
the same method Restructure after restructure
after restructure after restructure after restructure
pushing money down the road further and further
and further Well, guess what at some point the
bus has to stop and it should have stopped here
now Granted you have a high you have a high first
-round pick, you know, you have the ninth pick
in the draft great That's cool. But if you're
a coach most of the times you inherit either
one or two different situations a team that has
a whole bunch of cap space like the Patriots
or A team that has a high draft pick or the rarity
where you inherit both Where you have a high
draft pick and you have a lot of cap space the
Patriots, but I don't know what it is I don't
know if it has to do something with the GM and
whatnot, but whatever the case may be It is something
that I think needs to be talked about more and
more because the Saints as a whole just have
to go through a rebuild. Just do it. It's not
going to hurt you. What do you have to lose?
Drew Brees is gone. Sean Payton is gone. That
whole crew is gone. All you have left is Chris
Alave and Alvin Kamara. Taysom Hill might be,
you know, out the window. Just saying. Sure,
you have Cam Jordan and you have DeMario Davis,
but they're up in age. They probably want to
go somewhere and probably win. Why in the world
would you not want to give them that chance?
But when we go to positions of need, okay? Wide
receiver, edge, cornerback, tight end, interior,
offensive line, and running back. Okay, for a
wide receiver, you can go about this a few different
ways. Outside of Chris Elave, who else do you
really have? Exactly, nobody. So you can either
address it high in the first round, get someone
like a Matthew Golden, a Mecca Bucca for instance,
or you can take a swing at maybe the round two
or round three range and probably get one of
those type of receivers, which I probably would
do personally. But you do have to bring in somebody
else than just having Chris Alave. And Chris
Alave has been having a lot of concussions lately.
So that's something that you have to factor in
as well. So, I think they need to be going after
someone like a Matthew Golden or a Savion Williams
or a Strap Row from Miami or Jayden Higgins or
Jack Besh or any of those different guys. But
you need to bring in somebody else instead of
just throwing the ball 20 and 30 and 40 times
to Chris O 'Loughlin, okay? Edge. You have to
bring in a younger pass rusher. Sure, you have
Ken Jordan and you have You know, Chase Young,
great. But you need somebody else. All right.
You need a little bit more production out of
this defensive line because you invested a lot
into it. Sure, you have Brian Breecy. You have
you now got David Gottschall. You got Chase Young.
You still have Kim Jordan. But you need one more
really productive young. And I'm going to emphasize
young, patch rusher, because if you don't, it's
basically pointless. We are seeing now that teams
want to invest more into pass rushers because
why? They are the ones that are the game closers.
They are the ones that are the game changers.
They are the ones that can change the tide of
an entire game with just one play. Exactly why
the Eagles won, because of their pass rush, of
their defensive line specifically. Now when we
look at corner, I think you do have to prioritize
corner high. Simply because okay you have a Kool
-Aid McKinstry, but who else do you have and
you just lost Paulson? Paulson the Debo to free
agency so you need to you need to bring somebody
in now For outside corner you may have to dress
that in the first round You may have a chance
to address in the second round, but do you really
want to take that chance? I don't know because
in the second round you have Darian Porter you'll
have Who else? Who else? Who else? Who else?
Quincy Riley. You may have Maxwell Harrison.
You'll have a few people. Now in the first round,
of course, you may have Will Johnson. You may
have Siobhan Revel, Trey Amos, Benjamin Morrison.
You'll have options. But you're going to have
to make a significant investment into corner.
At some point, whether it be this year or next
year, you're going to have to do it. Tight end.
I feel like this could be your first pick. simply
because this is a really good tight end class.
You have Tyler Warren, you have Colston Loveland,
you have Harold Fanon Jr., you have the tight
end from Miami, you have a few other tight ends
that are really productive. You have Mason Taylor
as well. So you have options at tight end and
I think you need to do that now because Taysom
Hill is coming from a serious injury and I think
it's time that you move off of Taysom Hill. Because
right now he's getting up in age and he's coming
back from a very serious serious injury And so
I think it's you go a little bit younger interior
offensive line you have options But your options
are possibly first rounders unfortunately Grey's
able that's a first rounder Tyler Booker. That's
a first rounder. Okay Sure, there's there's a
few other you know really good interior all sense
of alignment in the later parts of the draft
But it's like those are the two that you probably
want to go after now Do I think one of them will
be drafted in the first round? Yes for sure.
Do I think one of them may slip? Yes, there's
a possibility, but if they do it's not by a lot
Okay, they may be the first pick in the in the
second round for all we know But I do feel like
you do have to make that investment at some point.
I think this is the year to do it Running back,
yes. I think you do need to bring in a running
back, not to take Ivan Kamara's job, but to basically
help him. With this running back class being
as good as it is, you need to go and get one.
You can get Caleb Johnson, Devin Neal, Taj Brooks,
Damian Martinez, who else, who else, who else,
RJ Harvey. You have a plethora of... Options
when it comes to running back honestly when it
comes to any of these positions But the question
is which position do you want to address first
in the draft me personally? I would say tight
end. I think if you get Tyler Warren With their
car. I think that would help out a lot Instead
of you know putting Chris Alave in harm's way
and throwing basically, you know hospital balls
at him like No bringing a tight end or really
productive, you know tight end. I think that
would actually help out a lot Wide receiver,
you can address that. Maybe the second or third
round. Same thing with corner if you want to.
Edge, you could probably do the same thing as
well. You have Landon Jackson. You have Mike
Green, which he may be a first round pick. You
have James Pierce. You have the pass rusher from...
Was it Alabama if I'm not mistaken I forgot what
his first name is I know his last name is like
Robinson like you have options You have a low
you have a whole lot of options now when we look
at candidates for restructure extension trays
and cuts taste them hill I'm sorry. I have to
cut you like I just said a few minutes ago. You're
coming back from a serious leg injury and You're
getting up in age and we need to get and this
is a really good tight end class So your replacement
will be drafted fairly high onto Chris Alave.
So his market value was a little bit of a shocker,
okay? His market value is three years, 53 .4
million, which is 17 .8 million a year. I would
have thought it would have been like 20, maybe
25 million, but spot red may see something that
I don't see, but I think if you do this now,
you save yourself some money. Because if he has
a baller of a season, We all know you're gonna
have to pay more. You may have to pay twice,
maybe even three times more, okay? Chase Young,
extension. His market value, four years, 70 .1
million, which is 17 .5 million a year. His actual
extension was three years, 51 million, which
is 17 million a year. So, all in all, it was
around the same ballpark, which is not really
bad. He's definitely trying to find a home. and
I think New Orleans has definitely brought the
best out of him since being with Washington,
so let's just see what happens with this, okay?
Now, all in all, from a team perspective, I think
the number one thing that the Saints need to
do is clean up your books. You have gone way
too long of trying to just kick the can and trying
to figure out, okay, how many restructures do
we need to do just to be under CAP compliance?
No. It's time for you to chip away some of some
of that fat and get rid of any of those large
Contracts that are plaguing you and clean up
your books so that you can have a dense of cat
space that way you can really Make some moves
and really position yourself to be a really good
team like you have been in the in the past But
you can't do that if you continue to do restructure
restructure restructure at some point That snowball
is going to go from a little baby snowball to
just this behemoth of a monster. And you don't
want that. You don't want to be like the Browns
who are basically in cap hell every single year
and then find a way to get out of it just so
they can go right back into it. You don't want
that. Now, you did bring in a good coach. Let's
see what happens with that. A little bit optimistic
with it, but... Little bit worried, but we'll
see what happens now the Panthers salary thirty
six point one million rollover cap of four hundred
and eighty four excuse me four hundred and ninety
thousand three hundred and sixty eight dollars
Okay, your free agents Andy Dalton Austin Corbett
Brady Christensen Tommy Trimble Ian Thomas Philippe
Franks David Moore Mike Boone Deshaun Williams
Can Gill Shaq Thompson Mike Jackson Caleb Farrie
Farley excuse me and Xavier was just to name
a few okay Your draft picks you got your first
your second your third you have two fourth round
picks you have three fifth round picks You don't
have a six, but you do have a seventh round pick.
Okay positions of need I was a little bit stuck
with this one. Okay wide receiver edge running
back I was going to put tight end, but I was
like, yeah They resigned Tommy Trimble. Yeah,
I mean they had Jatavion Sanders as well to two
really good productive tight ends and no need
so when we look at this Me personally, and this
is just my opinion, I could be wrong, I think
they've done a good job this offseason so far.
You've addressed the defense hard. You re -signed
your number one corner. You've got some defensive
linemen. You've brought in Trevon Moray. You've
done some things, okay? But at this point, it's
time for you to shift your focus to offense.
Because that has been your problem for the last
few years now. is the offense and so if we really
want this Bryce Young experiment to work you
have to give him adequate weapons especially
with him being a smaller quarterback you have
to give him better protection and you have to
give him better weapons that is the only way
that he is going to be able to survive he showed
a lot of grit after being benched because during
that first half of the season I was definitely
under the impression that he was going to get
traded because he was not playing well He looked
like a deer in headlights at some games and he
was getting just destroyed left and right. But
the Panthers believed in him. They gave him time
to work on his game and try to figure out, okay,
what can we do to make you better? And ultimately
it paid off. That second half of the season for
the Panthers was amazing. They looked like a
team that was together that they could defeat
any team that they was going up against. That
game against the Giants, and then what was it,
either London or Germany? It was a really good
game. That was a down to the wire type of game.
That showed you, okay, Bryce Young has it. You
just have to build off of that momentum. And
so right now, you're at a crossroads where you
have to figure out, okay, do we want to emphasize
edge in the first round, or do we want to emphasize
wide receiver in the first round? Excuse me.
But the problem with this, as I've said before
in previous episodes, and I will continue to
say this until the birds come home, the receiver
class in the first round specifically is not
as strong as it has been in the last few years.
But with the edge class, there's a lot of question
marks with a lot of these prospects. Because
some of these prospects were both outside linebackers
and inside linebackers. Some of them were just
lined up on the edge. It's a whole lot of uncertainty
with certain people. Not to mention you have
certain red flags that are starting to emerge
with certain players. For instance, like James
Pierce. Apparently he has a quote unquote attitude
problem. I don't know why it's just coming out
of all of a sudden now, but it's just a little
bit weird. Okay. You have one of the Georgia
edge rushers who they didn't even participate
at their pro day. So you already know their draft
stock is going to fall a little bit. So you're
in a position where right now, yes, you have
a high pick. You have, you have the eighth pick
in the draft and you want to maximize that pick.
So again, Panthers, what are you going to emphasize
first receiver or edge? Because the problem with
this is you can go about this a few different
ways honestly You could go you can get someone
like a Mike Green and James Pierce Jalen Walker
Michael Williams Jihad Campbell if you want to
you could do that or you could take a swing and
maybe get somebody pretty high, you know, Matthew
Golden or Luther Burden or a Tetsuro McMillan
or a Mecca Bucca You could do that. So I say
all that to say this Whoever they choose in the
first round they're probably going to double
dip in the second round for the other position
so me personally my My thinking is they'll probably
emphasize edge first and then they'll double
dip at receiver because right now all they have
is just Xavier LeGette and Adam Thielen both
of whom are coming off of surgery so If you get
someone like a Jayden Higgins and then you get
someone else like a Jack Besh or Tess Johnson,
Isaiah Bond or who else, who else, who else,
who else? I know there's a few others, but Ty
Filton for instance, if you get any of those
guys and then you add to what you already have,
that makes things a little bit better compared
to not doing anything and just saying, okay,
we did enough and let's just see what happens.
No. Bryce Young is somebody that needs adequate
weapons. Granted yes, Adam Thielen is coming
back and he has shown a little bit of resurgence
in his career But at the same time you have to
continue to build and you have to give more weapons
to your quarterback now running back Running
back is a position that you can go about this
a few different ways as well You can address
it high in the second round or you can wait to
maybe the fourth or fifth round if you want to
Okay, because again, this is a really big Diverse
running back class. Okay. It's not just a bunch
of speedy running backs or a bunch of power backs
like no you have Options. Okay, if you want a
receiving back, there's one in there if you want
a bruiser There's one in there if you want someone
that can do everything. There's one in there
Okay, so do you want to go after someone like
a Mario or Hampton? Do you want to go after someone
like a Devon Neil? Do you want to go after someone
like a Taj Brooks a? RJ Harvey, who do you want
to go with? Because as of right now, I think
if you build off of what you have already with
Chubba Hubbard, I think that would be great.
Because if you pair Chubba Hubbard with, for
instance, I don't know, Caleb Johnson or Omarion
Hampton or Dylan Sampson, for instance, that's
a pretty good run game. So I saw that to say
this. Panthers continue to build. while at the
same time emphasizing and giving Bryce Young
more weapons. The more weapons that you give
Bryce Young, the better results that you will
get from him. And please, please, please, please,
rely on the run game a little bit more too. Because
again, you had Trevor Hubbard. Trevor Hubbard
was playing really well. Rely on that run game.
You want to be able to take the ball. out of
Bryce Young's hands as much as possible. You
don't want him to hold onto the ball as long
as he did in the first half of the season. No,
just do whatever. If it means you gotta give
him another tight end, if it means you gotta
give him another running back, whatever it is,
just. do it okay but we have a little bit of
some breaking news okay and that is derrick stingley
has reset the cornerback market folks so he just
inked a three -year 90 million dollar deal 89
million guaranteed he'll be making 30 million
a year okay when we look at his stats he was
targeted 90 times and allowed 42 receptions for
444 receiving yards for and five touchdowns okay
he also had five picks Folks the price of the
brick just went up. Okay, if You're sauce if
you're a Tyree coolin if you're Isaiah McDuffie,
and you're looking at this. Oh, this is a good
day for you. Oh Yes, this is this is a Immaculate
day for you because you know why the price just
went up just a few more dollars and JC horn just
reset the market this past week and Now Derek
Stanley is doing it. So now The bar is set high
where basically either Sausage is going to reset
the market again, Isaiah McDuffie or Tyree Cullen.
One of those three is going to reset the market.
Now the question is who's going to do it? Now
I can tell you this right now, the Chiefs are
not going to pay McDuffie. I can assure you they
will not be able to afford him. So most likely
I wouldn't be surprised if he gets traded soon.
Simply because they can't afford them because
you're paying top dollar to patch my homes Travis
Kelsey and Chris Jones so You got lots of you
Man, you got a lot of tough decisions that you
have to make you've already traded away one corner
Because you guys couldn't afford him. So what
are you gonna do now now for the Jets? You're
staring at a bullet as well because why? You
could have You could have taken care of this
prior to this happening now that this has happened
and if sauce has a crazy year we are talking
about someone that is going to probably get 32
maybe 33 million a year same thing with tari
cool so if i'm a gm i'm a little bit frustrated
this morning i'm a little bit angry this morning
because why the prices went up so that means
that the agents now they can go and say hey listen
My client wants to do X Y Z my client wants this
number this number just just went up Just it's
just saying man just just saying but we also
have some other breaking news that we have to
talk about well It broke last night, but it's
somewhat breaking this morning now that everybody
is up in and whatnot T Higgins and Jamar Chase
will be staying in Cincinnati Now when we look
at these deals, okay, let's just start with T
Higgins. So T Higgins inked a four -year $115
million deal, which is $28 .7 million a year,
okay? When we look at his stats, 73 receptions
for 911 receiving yards, 10 touchdowns, and 12
.5 receiving yards per reception. I was right.
I was right. I knew for a fact that they were
not going to crest over 30 million for T Higgins.
He couldn't demand it. So all in all this is
a really good deal for T Higgins. Now the thing
is this according to Jordan Schultz The only
years that are guaranteed are the first two years
so What does that mean moving forward? I don't
know, but that's just a little bit weird for
me. Keep your eye on that Okay, put a bookmark
on that. All right now Jamar chase, you know
reset in the market. Okay four years 161 million
he was making forty point two million a year.
Okay his uh receptions his stats before we get
to receptions 127 receptions for 1708 receiving
yards 17 touchdowns and 13 .4 receiving yards
per reception folks this is somebody that deserved
the bag they didn't want to pay him last year
he was like okay cool it's perfectly fine i'm
gonna take a risk on myself and in doing so he
won the triple crown and now he had a reset of
the market folks jamar chase is that guy Hate
to say it but Jamar chase is that guy? He is
a dog and He is doing this in a very tough division
and he is holding his own Great for them, but
it's bad for the Bengals. Okay, and the reason
why I say that is because You now have allocated
at least 50 % or maybe even more of your cap
space to three players Not to mention, you also
have to find a way to pay who? Trey Hendrickson
as well. Not to mention, because there's a little
bit more with this, you haven't been really hitting
on your draft picks lately, defensively. So right
now, this means that for the rest of your team,
everybody's probably going to be through the
draft. So right now, if I'm the Bengals moving
forward, if I'm the front office, scouts, whomever,
We have to emphasize on better scouting and better
drafting. Because that is the only way that they
can mitigate the effects of these three deals.
Because Joe Burrow is getting paid top dollar.
Jamar Chase is getting paid top dollar. T Higgins
is getting paid top dollar. All three of these
guys are getting paid top dollar. And we're not
even, we don't even know what's gonna happen
with Trey Hendrickson. So you have to be able
to start hitting on your draft picks. Because
right now your defense is atrocious. Okay, Mike
Hilton gone I couldn't even uh, who's who's there?
Who's there? Who's there? Cam Taylor Brett is
still there. Okay, that's fine out of him Who
else do you have during your draft and miles
Murphy maybe about two or three years ago? Okay,
that that's fine. You resigned BJ Hill from free
agency great But outside of that who else do
you have nobody Jermaine Pratt still wants to
get traded The other linebacker I forgot his
name. I don't I couldn't even tell you I know
his last name is Wilson I don't even know what's
going on with him What exactly do the Bengals
have defensively that makes people say that's
gonna be a problem It's mainly the offense if
this team does not score a 30 plus points a game.
They're going to lose They're going to lose more
games than win. So It's great for T Higgins and
Jamar Chase. It's a great day for them But it's
a horrible day for the Bengals coaching staff
because now they have to figure out what can
they do to? Maximize what they have on on defense.
I would not be surprised if this entire draft
is Just strictly just defensive players. That's
how bad their defense is gonna be this year,
but let's get back into the divisional rodeo
Folks and we have to go over The candidates for
either restructure, extension, trades, and cuts
for the Panthers. You thought I was done with
the Panthers? No, we are not. I just had to break
that news, okay? So when we look at it, Taylor
Morton, you could probably give him an extension.
When we look at his market value, according to
the spot rack, it's only three years, 50 .7 million,
which is only 16 .9 million a year. He's been
a pretty good right tackle. I mean, you might
as well just want to keep him and make him a
Panther for life. Might as well. Jadevion Clowney,
extension. Question mark. And the only reason
why I say that is because Do you want to continue
to have Jadavia Clowney on the team or do you
want to get younger and a little bit cheaper?
That's the question because right now his market
value is estimated at two years 22 .8 million,
which is 11 .4 million a year. That's not bad
That's actually pretty good. Okay to me that
seems team friendly ish, but the question is
How does the Panthers feel about Jadevion Clowney
right now? Do they want him to play out the rest
of his deal or do they want to try to, you know,
lock things up and just have him retire as a
Panther? That's the question moving forward.
Equine Equanu, either an extension or pick up
his fifth year option. One of the two. But if
you pick up his fifth year option that buys you
another year, but at the same time you run the
risk of possibly paying more than what you probably
could have paid right now. So all in all, you
do have, you know, two tackles that are probably
going to be looking to get paid. You do have
an edge rusher that you could probably pay right
now. It's not that bad. OK, they've made a lot
of investment into the defense this offseason.
So will that trend continue? I don't know, but
hopefully they make some more investments into
the offense, please. Bryce Young's ankle now
on to the Buccaneers Okay, so their salary cap
negative nine point four million with a rollover
cap of six point six million free agents Chase
Edmonds William Goldston Shag Barrett Troy Hill
Sterling Shepard will actually he just ain't
an extension I think late last week Bryce Hall
Mike Edwards Eric Bates Ryan Neil and Jordan
Whitehead just to name a few okay draft picks
They got their first their second their third
their fourth their fifth. They don't have a sixth
and they do have a seventh round pick, okay?
Positions of knee, edge, interior offensive line,
tight end, corner, safety. Now this is probably
a little bit controversial, but I really don't
care because why? We like controversy over here
at the Football Junkies podcast, okay? So with
edge, yes, you could do it in the first round.
The question is, who do you really like out of
all these edge rushers, okay? Because you have
options, you have... Mike Green, you have James
Pierce, you have Michael Williams, you have Jalen
Walker, you have Shamar Stewart, you have Lyndon
Jackson, you have the patch rusher from Boston
College as well, you have the patch rusher from
Alabama, you have options, okay? The question
is this, do you want to invest a first round
pick in Edge? Me personally, maybe not. There
is a position that I did leave out. I want to
run with you guys. I just need you to walk with
me for a second. Okay, just hear me out linebacker
inside linebacker and the only reason why I say
that is because The Buccaneers have had a rich
history when it comes to their linebackers from
Derek Brooks to Levante David To even Derek White
when when he was actually playing pretty good
they have emphasized middle linebacker and so
You have someone like Jiha Campbell who you probably
could get I'm just saying the Vonte David is
Year -to -year at this point in his career. Okay,
if you bring in someone like a Jiha Campbell
I think that would be great because Levante David
can show him the Buccaneers way it can show him.
Hey, this is how I You know run the defense is
how I you know do the play calling and you know
this I work with you know this side and that
side all those different things because Outside
of jihad Campbell and outside Levante David who
else do you really have on the Buccaneers as
far as the interior? Linebacker core that you
can really rely on sure you can bring back Devon
White, but does Devon White really want to come
back I don't know now back to the position of
me that I listed okay? Interior offensive line,
two names, Gray Zabel, Tyler Booker. Those two
right there, to me, are first rounders. So the
question is this, do you want to put a first
round pick on an interior offensive lineman?
Personally, I would, because Tyler Booker...
I love his mentality. His mentality is, I'm going
to impose my will upon you. I am going to crush
you. I am going to dominate you. From the minute
the ball is hiked, I am putting you in the ground.
That is his mindset. Gray Zabel, I love his positional
flexibility. Gray Zabel originally is considered
a tackle, but during the combine, they had him
practicing a lot of them. Interior stuff as well
as doing center snaps and then in the senior
bowl as well. They had him inside at guard So
I think getting someone like a gray sable could
possibly work as well but the question is How
high do you want to emphasize interior offensive
line now me personally? This is my personal opinion.
I always emphasize offensive line very high because
The offensive line is the nucleus of the offense.
Okay, really think about this for a second And
somebody else explained that I forgot what video
it was, but they basically broke it down like
this. Without the offensive line, the quarterback
can't do his job. The receiver can't get the
ball. The running back can do his job. The tight
end can't do his job. Nobody else can do their
job without what? The offensive line. So you
have to make sure that the offensive line is
good enough for everybody else to do their role.
And so we have seen with the Eagles. in recent
years how they emphasize both the offensive and
defensive line so much and it's paid off phenomenally
because why? quarterback play is really good
so i think you have to make that investment at
some point now you could wait into the second
or third round if you want to because i don't
think both of them will be drafted in the first
round But do you really want to take that risk
because there are some really good interior offensive
linemen in the second and third round I'm not
just discounting them as well, but it's just
something about Tyler Booker and Graves Able
that just Separate themselves from everybody
else. Okay. Now when we look at tight end tight
end is something that you can address in the
first three rounds Okay. Now with the first round
you have options with both Tyler Warren and Colston
Loveland In the second round, you have Harold
Fanon Jr., Mason Taylor, and the tight end from
Miami. So you have options there, okay? Me personally,
I think if you bring in someone like a Tyler
Warren, or Harold Fanon Jr., or Colston Loveland,
I think it would make Baker Mayfield's job a
lot easier because remember, when Baker was in
Cleveland, who did he have that tied in? David
Njoku. And so I think if you bring in someone
like a David Njoku in, not saying... the real
David and Joku, but bringing someone like a Tyler
Warren or Colston Loveland, I think that will
work out as well. Because this offense is really
good, you just have to continue to build off
of it, okay? Corner, yes, corner. Here's the
problem with corner, okay? There's not as many
first round degraded corners in this draft. And
the people that are graded as first rounders,
to me, will probably fall. And the reason why
I say that is because, for one, injury red flags,
okay? Will Johnson, injury red flags, Benjamin
Morrison, injury red flags, Siobhan Revel coming
off an ACL injury. Trey Amos is the only one
that's not really being talked about this much
that I love that I think he could probably be
a first rounder for sure. So... Outside of those
guys, and oh, I forgot Ezra Thomas as well, but
some people say Ezra Thomas is a second -rounder.
I don't see how. Jade Baron and Maxwell Harrison,
to me, are probably first -round and graded corners.
Everybody else, you can make an argument for,
but I feel like those two, those are for sure
first -rounders in my book. I think you do need
to make a high investment into corner at this
point. But at the same time, if you don't want
to address in the first round, that's perfectly
fine. You can address in the second round, because
you have Darian Porter, you have Kobe Bryant,
you have Quincy Riley, you have Ezra Thomas,
because I think Ezra Thomas may fall. I think
Siobhan Revel may fall. I think Benjamin Morrison
may fall out of the first round as well. So you
have options there as well, but I feel like you
do need to make an emphasis into, okay. Now safety,
safety's a little bit tricky. Because sure you
have Antoine landfill junior, but you still need
to bring in somebody else. Okay, Jordan Whitehead
I Don't think they're probably gonna bring them
back if they do it'll probably be somewhat of
like a mid camp signing Honestly, but if that
doesn't happen, I feel like you do need a draft
one And so you do have options, you know, you
have you have a man from South Carolina You know
I'm saying you can get him That could be your
first rounder, okay? You have Malachi Starks.
You also have the safety from Penn State. You
have the safety from Saxis. Makuba, I think,
is his last name. You have Malachi Moore from
Alabama. You have options at safety. And so,
if you don't want to dress in the first round,
that's perfectly fine. I feel like all those
other safeties will be available in the second
and third round as well. But all in all, Think
the point that I'm trying to get with the Buccaneers
is you have Flexibility with with what positions
that you want to address first, okay? I think
that's the the main takeaway of this Because
they're in a position where sure they don't have
to address this position in that position high
in the first round They can wait if they if they
really want to but at the same time I feel like
whatever the position that you're trying to address
first in the first round Think you need to be
a little bit aggressive with it Okay, because
you have the 19th pick which is sort of like
middle of the pack sort of low But at the same
time you're still in a good spot where if you
wanted to You can move up two or three spots
and you can go and get your guy That's just me
personally. Okay now when we look at candidates
for restructure extension trades and cuts me
personally I feel like the Buccaneers have to
find a way to create some cash base because again,
free agency is not over with, okay? That's just
the first wave. We all know the first wave is
somewhat of the biggest wave, okay? That's when
our phones are blowing up and everything. But
you still have free agency. So with that in mind,
you want to have a little bit of money to play
with, okay? So Cade Odden, you can give him an
extension, okay? His market value is not that
high. Three years, $36 .5 million, which is only
$12 .2 million a year. That's not bad. That's
actually really good, okay? Baker Mayfield, I
feel like you can restructure his deal, create
a little bit of cap space. Vita Vea, you can
either do an extension or you can do a restructure
with his deal. Sterling Shepard, we already know
he signed an extension with the Buccaneers to
stay with him. But all in all, I trust the Buccaneers,
okay? The Buccaneers in recent years have definitely
made a great shift. Ever since the Tom Brady
years we have seen more consistency with the
Buccaneers. We have seen better play from the
Buccaneers. I think overall we've just seen a
better version of the Buccaneers because there
was a point in time where they were somewhat
of the the stepping stool for their division
for the entire league because they can never
get their act together. And so now that they've,
you know, they won a Super Bowl in recent years
and they then went through, you know, what they
went through, I think they're in a really good
space. And I think if they continue to build
off of what they have right now, I think they
could be legitimate contenders because let's
not forget, they've been having the Eagles number
in recent years. They've been beating up on a
lot of these top NFC teams. So they are still
a dark horse in my mind until you know until
something crazy happens okay but do not sleep
on the buccaneers the buccaneers have been giving
people trouble in the last few years okay now
on to the falcons okay the falcons the fail kids
okay These guys, what can we say that has already
never been said about the Falcons? Choke artists
maybe? 28 .3? Sorry Falcons, I just had to do
that. You guys choked in the Super Bowl. Ah man,
you guys, you guys, you guys. Okay, so your salary,
negative 1 .5 million with a rollover cap of
6 million. Your free agents Matthew Jude on Justin
Simmons Lorenzo Carter Makaya Abernathy Robert
Burns Damone Harris Antonio Hamilton Harrison
hand just to name a few okay your draft picks
you got your first your second You don't have
a third you have your fourth you have a fifth
you don't have a sixth, but you have two seventh
-round picks Okay, positions of need everything.
I'm just joking. I'm just joking Let me be serious.
I'm trying to be serious, okay? Positions of
need, defensive line, wide receiver, tight end,
center, and safety, okay? Here is the problem
with the Falcons, okay? You allocated money to
the wrong person. You should have never given
that money to Kirk Cousins because now you guys
are stuck in a nasty situation where right now,
he wants to go. But the problem is one of his
bonuses just kicked in this past weekend. So
that's ten million dollars That's just been wired
to his account So right now you guys are trying
to figure out exactly how can you make this marriage
work? Because at first it was all sunshine and
rainbows and everybody was loving each other
and posting everything and whatnot now It's just
a nasty situation where both of you guys are
just sleeping in separate beds and trying to
figure out how can we just mingle with one another
so Here is the situation Sure, you are in a good
space somewhat But the problem is you got to
emphasize a lot on your defense because your
defense was atrocious And it also doesn't help
that you just let Grady Jarrett just walk You
didn't even try to figure something out with
his contractual situation. You just let him walk
so now you basically have to figure out what
you're going to do with your defensive line as
well as linebacker corner and a few other spots.
Sure, you brought in Mike Hughes, which was a
pretty good signing and whatnot, but the fact
of the matter is, the defense was not able to
create a lot of pressure on the quarterback,
and it showed. Now when they made the trade for
Matthew Judon, I was under the impression, oh,
Judon's gonna have this great year, he's gonna
show why he's still one of those guys, all those
things and more. He didn't do that, he did not
do that. So now you have to figure out. How can
we make this defense better than what it was
the last two years? The question is this. How
high do you want to emphasize your defensive
needs? Because safety, you could address that
high. Defensive line, you could address that
at any point in the draft. Just being honest
here, okay? but you have to do something you
have to be able to emphasize on creating more
pressure and getting after the quarterback because
you weren't able to do it and That is the only
way that you are able to really win games at
this point If you don't have a legitimate pass
rush, guess what you're finito. You're done.
You're not gonna be playing in February You're
definitely not gonna be playing in January. All
right, we've seen it multiple times so right
now If I am the Falcons, I probably want to emphasize
defensive line high. And I'm probably going to
double, maybe even triple dip at defensive line.
And the only reason why I say that is because
this is a really good defensive line class. You
have options, okay, both first, second, third,
fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth round if
you really want to. So you have to make that
emphasis on defensive line. Now you have Kenneth
Grant, you have Derek Harman, you have Mason
Graham, which I don't think they'll be able to
get Mason Graham, but I've seen crazier things.
You have Ineas Pebbles, you have Derrick Alexander,
you have Jordan Phillips, you have Alfer Collins,
you have a plethora of defensive linemen that
you need to pluck at least two of them. Same
thing with pass rush. I feel like you probably
need to get an edge rusher as well, because I
don't think you guys are bringing back Matthew
Judon, so you need to bring in somebody else.
And you really need to just really just figure
out what you're going to do with this defense
like I Knew they were serious about the defense
when reports were coming out during the combine
that They have basically shifted all of their
coaching focus to the defensive prospects Not
the offensive prospects that let me know. Oh
this whole defense is about to go through a 360
makeover. Okay, it's about to be like that one
show back in the day I think what was it extreme
home makeover were like they send them away for
like a week like a weekend or something and you
know They're doing all this hard work and rebuilding
their house and once everything is over They
say move this bus move this bus the bus moves.
It's a whole bunch of emotions I know I know
I'm going off on a tangent, but that's basically
what needs to happen with the Falcons at this
point because right now you guys are in a situation
where for one you're trying to figure out exactly
if Kirk causes wants to stay on or not while
at the same time trying to just make things a
little bit more comfortable with this whole transition
process between Arthur Smith and their new head
coach like it's a lot of transitions a lot of
change going on in a very small amount of time
Okay, some people have left some people have
been traded some people are still on the team
But you're everyone is still trying to find their
way. So the question is What do you guys want
to emphasize first in the draft? Okay, because
right now there's only maybe Three well, no,
there's maybe like two or three positions of
need right now that you probably could legitimately
address in the first round Why receiver to me?
Feel like you have to do it in the first round
and the only reason why I say that is because
the amount of money that you gave Kirk Cousins
You could have gotten a number one receiver for
that because right now You still don't know what
you have with Kyle Pitts sure you have Drake
London sure you have What's his name? I knew
I'm forgetting his name. I know I'm forgetting
his name I can't remember his name. It'll probably
come back to me. Maybe about 30 seconds or whatever,
but You have Bijan Robinson, you have Kyle Pitts,
and you have Drake London. More. You need more.
That is the only way this team can go higher.
So me personally, I feel like if they get someone
like a Matthew Golden, I think that would be
lethal. I think if they get someone like a Swiss
Army Knife and a Mecca Bucca, that would be lethal
as well. But you do need to bring in at least
maybe two receivers, at least, possibly. Defensive
line. We've already went over that tight end.
I will be controversial. You should address in
the first round I think you should I think at
this point You have question marks with Kyle
Pitts You would have thought by now Kyle Pitts
would have had at least one dominant season,
but he hasn't So right now you have to either
a figure out if he can be you know At least workable
at receiver or something you have to figure out
exactly what you want to do and so me personally
I'm drafting a tight end in the first round.
I'm getting either Tyler Warren or Colston Levin,
one of those guys. And we're going to have competition.
We're going to figure out exactly, are you tight
end one or not? Because right now, you have all
the intangibles to be a top 10 tight end. But
you have not shown it. I don't know if it's because
of a new system. I don't know if he's still trying
to get his feet wet. I don't know what's going
on. But at this point, There's still a lot of
question marks with Kyle Pitts So I think it's
just time for the team just going a different
direction me personally I would have thought
Kyle Pitts would have been traded last season
but clearly I think the I'm gonna say the Panthers
clearly the Falcons still believe in him and
clearly they still see something in him that
they like so Let's just see what happens with
that now center Center is tricky and I only I
only say that because I haven't really looked
at a lot of center prospects I do know during
the combine there was maybe about five to ten
guards that were practicing at center. I do know
Graves Able and Tyler Booker were one of the
two that was pulled to the side to be tried out
as guard. My only problem with this, I would
have tried to lock up Drew Dalman. I would have
not allowed him to hit free agency only because
now he's in a better situation. Now he's the
center for the Bears, and that Bears offensive
line looks a whole lot better. Granted, I understand
you put a lot of money behind Jake Matthews and
Chris Lindstrom. I understand that. But at the
same time, it is very rare for centers to hit
free agency. And if they do, it's one of two
things. Either they're too expensive, injury
prone, or they're just not that good. But Drew
Dorman has been a really good center. Center
is something that you could probably address
maybe in the third maybe fourth round if you
really wanted to But I'll probably have to look
at center prospects probably this weekend probably
give you my honest opinion about a few but safety
as I've said before Safety is something that
you can address, you know in the first three
rounds if you really wanted to the question is
Do you value Malachi, Starks and Eman over all
of your other positional needs or not? Because
me personally, I feel like defensive line, wide
receiver and tight end, maybe even center, maybe
a little bit higher on my draft board than maybe
safety. I feel like you could probably get someone
like a Malachi more and I think you can make
it work because you do have Jesse Bates. So I
mean, that is a pillar back there in the safety
room. You just need to get somebody else. Now,
when we look at candidates for restructure, extension,
trades, or cuts, I would have said her cousins
for trade, but at this point, no one wants to
pick up that contract. It's a bad contract. His
cap hit this year 40 million, and then next year,
57 .5 for both 2026 and 2027. His base salary
this year is only 27 .5, and then next year,
it's 35 million. It's a bad contract, and it's
been a bad contract. And I don't think nobody
is going to be willing to give up compensation
to get Kirk Cousins at this point. It was a flop
of a free agency signing. Now, I understand a
lot of people want to try and, you know, bolster
up their team as quickly as possible. And I understand
that. And I get that. But why in the world would
you pay the amount of money that you paid for
Kirk Cousins and then in that same year for the
draft, you draft Michael Pinnix high? What sense
does that make? And you didn't even deliberate
it with Kirk Cousins. So in his mind, he's thinking,
oh, I'm going to be the starting quarterback
moving forward. No. Your replacement is right
behind you, buddy. So at this point, I think
you may have to cut your losses, take on that
dead cap hit, and just let him go. Because he
continues to emphasize that he feels like he
is a starting caliber quarterback. Now we all
know Kirk Cousins went through a dry spell last
year where he didn't throw not one touchdown.
So as much as I would love for him to stay and
he can be a mentor to Michael Pinnix and he could
be a good backup option, at this point you have
to figure out what you can do with this contract
before we move forward with anything. Because
right now this contract is a major roadblock
for any team to be interested in trying to make
a move for Kirk Cousins. Now when we look at
Drake London, I would say an extension. Get it
over with now, especially with Jamar Chase and
T Higgins getting their deal. Get it over with
now. His market value, four years, 95 .3 million,
which is only 23 .8 million a year. That's not
bad. That's actually really good. Drake London
isn't a one. Drake London is probably a two or
three on anybody else's team. Just saying. Just
listen. Don't fight me, please. Please. Caden
Ellis extension Ray Ray McLeod extension Caleb
McGarry extension his market value three years
51 .8 million which is 17 .3 million a year These
are fairly good contracts. These are not you
know exuberant contracts. Okay, Chris Lindstrom
I feel like you can give him a restructure Because
man, oh man his contract is crazy. Okay His base
salary this year 14 .5 and then the next year
16 and then 2027 15 .7 and then 2028 17 .2. His
cap hits this year 22 .2 million and then next
year is 23 .7 and then the year after that is
25 .5 and then the year after that is 21 .5.
I feel like you could probably do something with
that contract. I feel like it's a little bit
more easier to work with. That way you could
probably maybe convert a lot of his money into
a signing bonus or do something with it, but
The Falcons have to figure out a way to one create
cap space Be more consistent when it comes to
their drafting and free agency signings while
at the same time Just be a better football team
because right now you guys have just been flopping
at quarterback Since Matt Ryan left you didn't
want to get Lamar which was by far the dumbest
decision that you could have ever ever did and
instead you decide to be in the sweepstakes for
Deshaun Watson you get burned with that okay
cool so now you get Arthur Smith and now Arthur
Smith doesn't want to draft a quarterback even
though he could have drafted Justin Fields and
instead he gets Desmond Redder and then he gets
Marcus Mariota and then he gets Taylor Heinecke
did that work? No it didn't And so now you're
in a situation where guess what? You paid X amount
of dollars to Kirk Cousins while at the same
time you drafted Michael Penick's high. And now
you're trying to figure out exactly what are
you going to do moving forward at quarterback.
You have been whiffing on quarterback hard. It
is time for you guys to figure out exactly what
direction you want this team to go to. Because
right now you guys have been very mediocre for
the last maybe four or five years. It's time
to get your act together. The problem with the
Falcons is, sure you have a lot of good pieces,
but you've been going through a lot of transition
within the past maybe four to five years. You
know, the Arthur Smith and just how horrible
that time was and now you got the new head coach.
Like, it's a lot of turnover. I don't see being
this super dominant team that they used to be
in the early 2000s and somewhat in the 2010s.
I don't see it no more. they're going to have
to show me that they're really serious. Now,
depending on what they do in the draft, will
definitely let me know how serious they are about
winning. Because I think if they address a lot
of their needs fairly high in the draft, I think
they can position themselves really good. I do
feel like they can be the third best team in
their division. I really do. But you've got to
get your act together, man. You've got to figure
out what you want to do with quarterback. You've
got to bring in more weapons from Michael Pennings.
You have to figure out what you're doing with
Kyle Pitts. If you don't believe in him, send
him somewhere else. And for the love of God,
please get adequate pass rushers for this defense.
We all know and we all see that guess what? Pass
rushers are getting the big bucks because why?
They are the game changers, game closers, and
they are game wreckers. OK? And you don't have
one on your team right now. I know I was forgetting
a few other things that we had to talk about
because I know I was probably skipping around
but we have to talk about the love triangle that
is with Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson and
the Vikings and Giants and Steelers okay so at
this point there's a lot of uncertainty with
that entire situation you have reports that are
detailing and saying that you know, the Vikings
are like lurking around for Aaron Rodgers. Aaron
Rodgers is waiting to see if the Vikings, you
know, want to try to do business with him. If
not, he may try to go into retirement. You got
a picture of him on a beach with some old school
Apple headphones staring into the sunset. You
just have a whole lot of drama. So I'm gonna
try to break it down as best as possible. I'm
just gonna give my opinions on this, okay? So
here's the thing. So what's the Russell Wilson
situation specifically? I feel like, and I want
to emphasize this, I don't have any sources,
I feel like the one thing that really killed
his chances of going back to the Steelers was
when his camp leaked out the report that him
and Arthur Smith was not getting along. I think
that was the worst thing that he could have ever
did because why? It basically blacklisted you
from the Steelers because you have people with...
in the front office and within the locker room
that were feeling some type of way about it because
it's like, bro, why would you put out something
like that? And so I feel like had he not put
that out, I think he would have already been
the stealer by now. But because he did that,
I think they sort of like put him on the back
burner. He went to Cleveland, didn't get a deal.
He went to New York, didn't get a deal. And New
York is still bringing in people. New York brought
in Jameis Winston and they brought in Joe Flacco
for a visit. So I say all that to say this, Russ,
you sort of burned yourself, bro, because you
thought by you putting out that story that the
Steelers would probably run to you and say, hey,
we can still try to make this thing work. No.
But if I'm the Steelers at this point, I feel
like you have to make a decision at this point
because you have continued to go through a phase
of waiting and it has burned you. Last year,
you waited all the way to the last minute for
Brandon Iuek. And just when that trade was gonna
go down, guess what happened? He backed off and
he stayed with the 49ers. And it burned you.
And for that entire season, you were trying to
basically do patchwork with the receiving room.
Now you're doing it with the most important position
on the entire team at quarterback. Do you really
wanna deal with a 42 -year -old quarterback?
I don't think you really want to because... Granted
you do have DK Metcalfe and you have George Pickens
you have Pat Freimuth You have Jalen Warren and
you have all these other pieces and you have
really good defense and whatnot But the problem
is this there's still a lot of uncertainty with
your tackles this is probably going to be the
first full season and we're going to see Broderick
Jones at left tackle and Troy Fatanu is still
recovering from his ACL injury so you still have
a lot of uncertainty at the tackle position and
then not to mention We all know that Aaron Rodgers
likes to do his things his way. I don't know
if that's really going to work in Pittsburgh
personally. I don't even know if that's really
going to work in New York as well. So it's it's
just a lot of just foolishness with this entire
situation. And then when we look at Aaron Rodgers,
OK, we don't know what's going on. He's basically
gone quiet. Nobody really knows. And so The running
feeling around a lot of people is make a decision
Adam Schefter said it the best way possible make
a decision It doesn't take you this long to come
to a decision either you want to play or you
don't and I feel like that is the running notion
with a lot of these people they're in these front
offices either you want to play or you don't
because right now we are getting closer and closer
to the draft and We have two teams right now
who they definitely need a quarterback But one
of them is in the position to get their quarterback.
The other one isn't. So now, if you're the Steelers,
sure, you're playing the waiting game, but you're
getting a little bit desperate. You're getting
a little bit anxious because why? All you have
on your team right now is Mason Rudolph and Skyler
Thompson. That's not enough. And we all know
that this quarterback draft class is not that
good. And please, for the love of God, for any
person that continues to say that Jackson Dart
is a first round pick, please. Please, please
stop it. You are lying to yourself. You are getting
paid by his agents. You are getting paid by the
people that work for him to promote these type
of fake news. Please stop it, okay? But back
to reality, all right? Now for the Vikings, I
don't feel a reason for you to try to go and
get Aaron Rodgers. You have J .J. McCarthy. Run
with J .J. McCarthy. Give him a legitimate chance.
Because right now all Aaron Rodgers is doing
is just following the co -tailor Brett Farth
Okay, you were great with the Packers you went
to the Jets You really wasn't that good and then
you possibly could go back to the Vikings and
then everything is all you know rainbows and
unicorns No, either you want to play or you don't
Because right now time is ticking and teams are
waiting to do business with you But are you ready
to do business with them? That's all I have to
say about that. It would be crazy if by the time
we're done with this episode, you know news drops
about the whole Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodder
situation that would be crazy, but You never
know with the football junkies podcast, but we
do have to talk about one more thing and that
is Cooper Cup coming back home, folks. That's
right. He is going to the Seattle Seahawks. He
ain't a three year, $45 million deal, which is
15 million a year. His stats, 67 receptions for
710 receiving yards, six touchdowns and 10 .6
yards per reception. This is what I will say.
It's going to be completely honest with you.
The Seahawks are out of their damn mind for paying
Cooper Cup 15 plus million. I'm sorry. If this
was Cooper Cup after he won the Triple Crown,
oh, yeah, for sure. Perfectly fine. But in recent
years, he has not been able to stay healthy.
He really hasn't been as consistent. And you're
seeing one of a decline in his play. I'm sorry.
The Seahawks pay 15 million for him just because
of his name. It wasn't because of his play. It
wasn't because of what he's done lately. It's
because of his name, Cooper Cup. There was a
market for him. I do know there were teams like
You know the Cowboys that were like semi -interesting
him. I know the Broncos had some interest in
him the Patriots There were a few teams that
had some level of interest in Cooper Cup Everyone
was waiting to see what was gonna be his number
now me personally I would have thought he would
have taken less to join a contender for instance
You know the Chiefs or the Eagles or the Ravens
or the Bills or any of those different types
of teams? But for you to take 15 million with
the Seahawks really do I just don't know how
to really feel about this. Sure, the Seahawks
will have JSN and Cooper Cub, but it's like,
bro, you just had DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett,
and you let those two go, and then you bring
in Cooper Cub? I don't know about this. But I
want to end this episode here. If you guys like
what you're listening, please, please, please,
please, please make sure that you guys download
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as well i forgot to mention that okay for my
tiktok people football junkies pod okay football
junkies pod I've been posting a lot of mock drafts.
I posted my big board. It's not really a big
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junkies pot junkies pot is not what It is together
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underscore junkies pot now on Twitter. You can
follow me on there GM kale, okay? GM kale kaile.
It's the same thing for blue sky as well GM kale
kaile. Am I forgetting anything? Am I forgetting
anything? Hmm. No, I don't think so But, as always,
I hope I gave you guys the fix that you guys
need. I love you guys. I appreciate you guys
so much. We are staying in the South. We are
going to the AFC South. We are only one episode
away from the great division that is the AFC
North. So, as always, I love you guys. I appreciate
you guys so much. Please make sure you guys like
this episode. Please. I put a lot of time in
this one. Two hours? This is a banger, okay?
You should be able to clean your entire room
or your entire house or your car out or do whatever
you need to do, okay? Two hours is good enough.
This is your GM Kil signing out. Peace and love.
Later.