Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Free Agent Predictions + Deebo Trade, Combine Chat - Fantasy Football Podcast for 3/4

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Fantasy Football show for Mar 4, 2025. Free Agency preview and predictions! Plus, Deebo traded, Kelce returns, and other big NFL news! Andy, Mike, and Jason discuss which free agents and landing spots could have a major impact on 2025 fantasy football drafts!  Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast.Get the lowest price on the 2025 UDK at UltimateDraftKit.com - Instant access to the Dynasty Pass with the UDK+Connect with the show:Subscribe on YouTubeVisit us on the WebSupport the ShowFollow on XFollow on InstagramJoin our Discord

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in Tuesday March 4th The fantasy footballers Jason Moore Mike the fantasy old man moon I'm Andy Holloway yeah Mike you celebrated a birthday yesterday I did one of your last one year closer to the end one year closer everybody did you do anything to celebrate I donuts

Carl's Jr.? Yeah, over the weekend. Made healthy. I spent all day at a football tournament for my son. Ooh. A haboob rolled through. Those are fun when you're outside. For those who are not living in Arizona,

that is a gigantic dust storm. Like, kind of think about like the mummy. Yeah. So, it wasn't mummy bad, but it was still multiple hours of just you didn't have to fly a biplane out No, no, thankfully I did not have to do no no evil and there was no creatures in the Just lots of dust and real strong winds. How have we not had a hub boob? like and real strong wins. How have we not had a Haboob like movie? Like an end of the world apocalypse style movie

just titled Haboob. Because if you've been in one, you're like, this is really, really unpleasant, but I can make it. Yeah, we're gonna be fine. They kept playing football. And I didn't take a pause. Oh no, we kept playing, I kept sitting there. There was a Dust Devil out in part of the valley out

here that was outrageous in the middle of a kid's soccer game I don't know if you saw that. I did not see that one. It was throwing like a kid? Almost it was close it was throwing like objects all over the place it was huge. We've got some free agency predictions on today's episode of the show. We got NFL news. We have the Combine. Did you watch a lot of what transpired? I know we didn't get every player we wanted out there. I didn't watch very much this time, but definitely got plugged in and we're trying to catch

up on the big ones. Yeah, the Combine is unfortunately deteriorating for the high-end talent, because there's no need. There's no positive. Downside is higher than the upside. Exactly. There's really nothing to gain if you. These guys have agents who are plugged in.

They already kind of have a general idea of about where they should go in the draft, but it gives the, you know, lower tiered names a chance to shine and So just look at the the big takeaway for me was the running backs We've got we've got a good chunk of running backs here that could be really fantasy relevant now the where The spots it's gonna be very difficult be really fantasy relevant. Now the where the spots it's going to be very difficult. I mentioned this on one of the shows recently of like running back situations based off of this draft class are go there's gonna be some that will

be fully nuked like there's gonna be guys that you thought were this I'm locked in man I got this guy as one of my starters, heading into 2025 and then bang, a second or third round running back is gonna land in your backfield and you're gonna feel uneasy about it. Well, we will have the post-combine update to the dynasty pass hitting very soon. A lot of updates have already been made.

You can get that at ultimatedraftkit.com. We just finished up our giveaway, an exclusive listener league spot. And Al, you're going to have to find me some celebratory, can I get the announcement horn or something? Thank you. The winner of the listener league spot The winner of the listener league spot we have up here to announce Jason J rego Annihilated the drum roll not be good at the Oscars No, and the nominees Wait a minute. Did you know there was gonna be a drum roll? No, but that a surprise. I feel like Al took advantage of you.

Yes, 100%. Either way, you ruined all anticipation. You just shouted the name. No, I didn't. I had just said J. Rego. It is Janine Rego. Someone else out there might be like Josh Rego, and they're like, oh, I won.

No, you didn't. Janine Rego, you were the one selected. Yep, so everybody that pre-ordered it, everybody that's a member of the ultimate tier at jointhefoot.com was entered, and J. Rego with the win. So congratulations, you'll be part of the listener league. We'll do a couple other giveaways, obviously,

as we head towards the season with more listener league spots available, and you can get the UDK at ultimatedraftkit.com. Quick question of the day, it's just a carry- on of what you just said. I already did it. Were there any things, any other reactions, or is there a player to?

Yeah, there were players that stood out for better or worse. You had Tess Johnson, itty bitty baby boy. That one was sad. I know it's a- I like him, and I want him to succeed, and like, the way that the NFL has been yet where we keep getting these guys like,

they're way too small, they're way too small. And then they're exceeding the expectations. Tess Johnson's a wide receiver out of Oregon. And I mean, he's small. He's like, he's looking at it. He looks at Tank. He's the smallest player of weight in since 1999. Looks at Tank down and is like, bro,

what are your secrets Tank Dell of how do you get that big? The smallest since 99. And he ran slow for the timed 40. Now it's like if you watch his tape, that's one where it doesn't match, but it was, Tez's combine was a little sad. Yeah, Caleb Johnson was surprisingly slow on the 40 that one makes no it makes no sense There's no way watching that guy break away that that he that's his top speed. He's not a good Sprinter I ran a four five seven. I think he is a good running

I said I thought it was like four six yeah his his official score I believe is four five seven which was just slower than what you thought you might see on tape and truly like he hit 22.2 miles per hour in a game last year, which should just be what you know Well, that's what happened with like puka puka ran slow, but they had the tracking of him hitting I think it was 22 miles per hour in college, it's like, okay, so on the football field, he's fast. In underwear, doing a track and field style sprint, you're not as fast. Which one do you want to play football?

We were begging for years and continue to beg about 40 yard dashes and pads. The truth is we've bypassed the need for that completely because our on the field advanced analytics allow us to see how fast the player actually is. These teams should not need to see a guy go out at all into a 40. You should just be able to watch the film. Now there are some cases right you don't you don't play a lot or maybe you didn't have a breakaway opportunity and yes we want to see we want to see some of that on film you

know for the 40 but you have so much more data and this is why you said it's being devalued or its impact, the amount of players that participate. Maybe some other players can shine by stepping out and being in that 99th percentile athlete score in the combine, but you have so much film and so much data that you gather from the collegiate ranks now that, you know, the decisions are not being made

on the back of the combine alone. Yeah, guys that helped their stock, Omarion Hampton really showed out across the gamut. His 40 yard dash 446, that's, it's not breaking records, but that's really fast for a guy that weighs in at 220 pounds. All of his athletic measurables put him as an elite athlete. I think he combined himself into the first round. He was a borderline first round pick.

Hampton? Yeah, and when I look at this. But the thing is, with Hampton, he projects to be a three down back. That is his skill set. He was a pass protector, pass catcher in college, and he's big, he can do it all.

And so I do feel like for him, for fantasy football purposes, I want that team investment. I want a team to spend a first rounder on him because then I know he's going to get the ball a ton. I think he combined his way into that role. Yeah, a lot of excitement around Hampton. Let's talk some more news. News and notes from around the league we had a

trade we were with our NFL free agency prediction show today I had said hey we should probably throw a couple names out there that we predict trade destinations because there's some players that were very obviously going to be traded one of those names was Deebo Samuel and I am... I predict Washington. I predicted the commanders as well. You beat me to it. Fifth round pick for Deebo Samuel. So a new home for Deebo. Yeah. It's a weird one. Somehow, this is my take on it. And I really want to hear how you think it will translate for fantasy in maybe one year in Washington.

But I kind of feel like both sides are kind of fine here. Like the 49ers needed to move on. He wanted to move on. They got a fifth round pick. He's been declining in a lot of key metrics for four straight years. The commanders, they could use a veteran presence outside of Terry McLaurin. They could use a guy that's good in short area space. They were a high screen game team. Whether the Debo we saw in 2021, which he's not, a 1400 yard guy, he can still bring something to

the table in Washington that they didn't have. So I don't know if I see this as either team losing. I think it's a win for both. There are a lot of people on Twitter have been pointing out the pneumonia gate of like when how was Devo doing last year in the first month or so, then he got pneumonia and his stats afterwards were real bad, you know, like maybe, maybe that factored in. There's, he, Debo did not look anything close

to the same type of player to me last year, but again, maybe with the fresh start and being healthy, we'll having some healthy lungs that will help him out. But he works out in Washington. He's not going to be a guy that people aren't going to be excited to draft Debo. It's going to be the, you're going to get into the what, like seventh, eighth round and be like, I know him. Does he represent any negative effects on McLaurin at more than people being excited about Debo? I don't think so.

I feel like Debo's gonna come here and help the team a little bit, not a ton. They did need this. We've been talking about it. This is a outlandishly bad, or outlandish is the wrong word. It is a very, very unusual wide receiver draft class for recent history. The prospects are not as good as they usually are coming

out into the draft. And then with T Higgins getting tagged, the free agent pool of wide receivers, there's not much there. So if your team needs a wide receiver, there's one way to do it. And that's a trade for a guy. That's why I think DK Metcalf probably will get traded because there's going to be teams that need to trade to address their wide receiver position. They can't necessarily do it in the draft or in free agency.

To me, Debo will be a mild addition to this team, and I'm excited for Ricky Pearsall and the opportunities there. You've got Brandon Iyuk, who is... We don't know when he'll be back. Right now I think the projection is probably start on the pup, but if he doesn't, he's not going to be full strength week one. He might not even be on this team. I mean, Diana Racini reporting the teams have expressed an interest in trading for IUC, which fits the kind of narrative that there's not a lot

of great instant effect type of guys coming out. So is it a Brandon IUC or Metcalfe that draw a team's interest if you need a veteran presence? T. Higgins is off the board. He signed his franchise tag. Or was assigned a franchise tag. Let me rephrase it. He is officially tagged.

The Brendan and Iuke news is strange to me. Of like you're about to open the vault for Brock Purdy. And then if you're like, OK, here's your weapons, Brock. It's Ricky Pearsall who maybe, maybe, I mean, he's a first round draft capital. And he showed a little bit of flashes. He just had the shooting in the off season, so he didn't get a full normal rookie year.

But then it's like, George Kittle? I mean, it's just, I don't know that you want to start the real regime of Brock Purdy off without having wide receivers to go to. Yeah, and you know, like Jason said, Ayuk might not be there for a while, but he's at least a player that could be a dominator. Yeah, he will be back eventually.

We don't know if Piersol is just a role player type of wide receiver at the next level. It'll be really interesting to see where Jenang's is drafted because yeah, John Jennings was a stud at certain points last year and seems like they really need him now. And Kittle. Oh, Kittle for sure. And all the tantalizing opportunities to draft Christian McCaffrey. No, not at number one. I'm gonna. You're gonna end up with them. I'm gonna be so in. If they trade Iyuk or Iyuk starts on pop, you're gonna end up with them every one of them. I'm gonna be so in. If they trade Iuke, or Iuke starts on pop,

you're going into the season, Pearsall, Jennings, Kettle, and McCaffrey. They gotta do something. And they were a rough offense last year, so there's a lot of work to be done, and this year will tell you what direction the franchise is going to some degree, right? I mean, you just paid Brandon Iuke all that money and the fact that he's

even being talked about in trade offers it's wild. The way that the contract was structured with it with being like additional stuff like he hasn't I think that someone was saying he hasn't even started to eat into the cap of the the new numbers so I think maybe that's why they're floating and of like is there a way that the 49ers can get out easy right now? I'm not a hundred percent sure. Matthew Stafford and the Rams agreed to a restructured contract for him to remain with the team which is also the case for Tyler Higby remaining with the team. I thought Stafford would be gone. I was wrong, it moved quickly.

It went from a lot of momentum towards a split to a lot of momentum that he was gonna stay and then suddenly the deal was done. Yeah, and so going forward, this is great for Puka, the fantasy value of- Yeah. Kyron Williams. I think that those two guys I mean Puka you can make a strong argument that he should be the number two wide receiver behind Jamar Chase yeah anywhere there from like two to five or something there there's kind of a

group of awesome wide receivers but he very likely could I mean he was on a points per game basis if you take out his injured game. He was the number two wide receiver last year. So Stafford is back. Travis Kelsey is back in business. Returning to the Chiefs for 2025. Are we happy? Who's we? Us, the fantasy football community. So 97 for eight, 23 and three.

Yeah, I think we are happy that Kelsey is back. Tied in six? He is still, you know, if you were to remove Travis Kelsey's name and just have tightened X. Would you rather have him or Andrews? If you had to lock him into the starting lineup all year long. Knowing, I mean there's rumors around Andrews.

I think that one is a great talk because they were the top two guys for so long. We're saying Andrews still in Baltimore, right? Yeah, if Andrews is in Baltimore. I just mean like today. Oh, today? With all variables in play. Just today you've gotta decide which guy you keep.

For a redraft, not a dynasty. Because obviously dynasty is Mark Andrews. Yeah. Sure. Yeah, just which one would you rather lock into your lineup today? Right now I would go Kelsey. I feel like you were in the middle of saying, right now I would go, and you hadn't decided yet.

Yeah. Yeah, basically. I mean, it could go either way. Yeah, it's tough. The Jets are taking calls on Devante Adams Spoiler alert, they're probably not gonna find a trade for Devante Adams, but they have said they will release him if they can't trade him So you will have Devante Rogers Holding hands strolling through free agency lane looking for suckers our teams to bring a

couple of agents in Adams can still play just not at the not at an elite level yeah but he's still he's still good honestly and what I was just bringing up so obviously if they cut him he'll have to go wait would he have to go through the waiver system at his year in the NFL I don't know that off the top my head Kyle vet that no he would not have to go to wave okay so then if he is completely a free agent I actually think he is the most valuable asset that any team could go get he's not worth trading for the current contract and giving up extra stuff for an older veteran but there are wide receiver needy teams and if he is out there he

will he will have a lot of he will be hyper specific on where he wants to go yeah you know it's in it I think it will potentially come with Rogers so we'll we'll see yeah I can see him just going to the Niners. Go to the Rams. That'd be interesting. Either, in some of those California teams? I don't know. Niners makes almost too much sense.

Yeah, yeah it would. He says goodbye Aaron, I'm going on my own to a better situation for a ring. Remember that team you thought you were gonna play for? Well, cause if he was going with Aaron, where is he going? I'm going on my own to a better situation for a ring. Well, because if he was going with Aaron, where is he going? I mean, you've got a Cleveland, you're doing the Cleveland combo. That doesn't sound like a good time for Aaron. No, it's like, I mean that where you're starting, you want to go, you're not going back to the Raiders.

And the Raiders could use Aaron, but he just left the Raiders. He's not going back to the Raiders. Adams. Yeah, you go to the, I was going to say the Raiders, but he just left the Raiders. He's not going back to the Raiders. Adams. Yeah. You go to the- I was gonna say the Raiders, but that makes- You go to the Steelers? I don't know.

Go be one of the retreads the Steelers have tried on for size? For all the places that Rodgers can go, it's who do you sign up for if you're Devonte Adams? Yes, this team can really honestly make a run. I genuinely, truly believe that Aaron Rodgers and Yvonne Adams care about nothing but their numbers to finish this out.

Well, that's great for us. Yeah. Let's go put up some fantasy numbers. All right, Jason. The Athletic's Zach Rosenblatt believes it's unlikely the Jets will pursue, in extension with... Ernie Early. ...Breece Hall. I don't blame him.

I don't blame him, man. What he put on the field last year was not special. Oh, man. It was an average running back. And I hope this coming season, it's awesome that the team can commit to him. He could be one of, if not their best offensive weapon. He is still so young. And prior to this season-

He'll be 24 this year. Incredibly explosive. This last year, I mean, we watched everything. But it was just, you would compare him to other players that made things happen on their own. And you'd just be like, well, Breeze used to always hit that edge. Breeze used to always break that tackle. He did nothing.

He seemed very, I mean, I've said this a bunch of times, he's very good in the passing game. Get him into some space, let him get downhill. But like you said, making something from yourself behind the line of scrimmage, that seemed like it was a struggle. It was a struggle to get to those bigger chunk yardage plays this year. Garrett Wilson is willing to discuss

a long-term extension with the Jets. Anybody who wants to talk to me about a long-term extension, I'm willing to have a discussion. That would be my policy. If anybody's like, I'd like to talk to you about a long-term extension, I will be listening. I would not be like, no. Because this is payday for Garrett Wilson.

So it's like, somebody can come in, even if I don't wanna play for you, come in and set a number. So, and he is, yeah, Hall is entering the final year of the rookie deal. So, I mean, Breece Hall, right now, I've got him eighth at running back in dynasty. Jason, you have him at ninth. Ninth on your rankings, 30th in your heart.

Yeah, that's because he's on my roster. Mike, you are still more optimistic at least. He's a couple spots lower than that. Six then maybe? Yeah. Six, seven range? Yep. There has been a lot of talk about Metcalf trades, Packers being brought up, the Packers supposedly, I saw it from multiple good sources that they, at least the message they want out there is that there's a trade on the table that they've presented that involves either

Dontavian Wicks and, Or Romeo Dobbs. Or Romeo Dobs and some sort of draft capital. It's being reported out of Seattle. They won at least the first. Yeah. So we'll see.

Obviously, Debo is a little bit further along in the career than DK Metcalf. But if you're chatting about trading for DK Metcalf and then you're like, Divo just got a five. You want one of our young, blossoming, solid wide receivers in our first round pick for DK? That's, if I were the Packers, they'd be like, no way, that's not happening.

I don't think the Packers would give up a first plus one of their wide receivers for DK Metcalf. I'm guessing they're floating. It would obviously be a late first. Yeah, I'm guessing they're floating their second round pick, which feels fair to both parties to be honest. Yeah, I think that would make sense. I think that's it by way of news, unless Deuces Alley, you guys got anything back there?

No, sir. All three of you present and accounted for in this moment? At this moment. Okay. All right. That's good to know. Didn't know if we had to hand a trophy over to somebody else I need to get rid of this trophy soon, and I'm telling you guys right now You you're gonna want to stop drinking Whatever is in your cup over the next month during our show if I you're gonna mission impossible him I'm gonna food poisoning. Yeah, I'm thinking dumb and dumb are in but well

You're gonna be sitting on the toilet cup and we'll tell you yeah Down the hatch. Well, that's frightening. We'll take a break back with some free agency predictions All right Thursday we have ten things to remember today We're gonna talk about some of the free agency predictions The league year starts next Monday. Am I right about that next Monday? I don't know I'm not I think it's next Monday distracted. I'll try and pull something So so we are actually gonna we normally record this time of year the afternoon before oh, yeah

Okay, league year is Wednesday that the tamper is Monday. Yes. The tampering. The legal tampering. So when news starts to break it will be as early as Monday. Yeah. We'll record early Tuesday and release it right away so you'll be up to date the second we release the show next Tuesday for the free agency period. It'll be a lot of fun, maybe not as much fun this year. I'm not, you know, maybe it's just me but I'm not as excited about seeing where Najee Harris goes as some of the other flagship agents in years past. These are more like you're playing Minesweeper right now of like there's good running backs in the draft and if my team or a team with my guy picks up one of these running backs, I'm like, okay, that's not anywhere close

to as bad as it could have been. Fair enough, let's talk. ["Free Agent Frenzy"] Free Agent Frenzy. Well, before we get into the predictions, I'm gonna let one of you two gentlemen talk through a few of the details. When it comes to free agency.

Which part am I talking about? Sometimes it's, we like to do this at least once a year, just talk through the explanation of what a cap hit represents, what dead money represents. When we talk about. Didn't we just do that? I think that was the foot cast.

I think that was the foot cast. So, you know, when we start talking about teams with cap space, right, New England, Las Vegas, Washington, they have a ton of cap space. We'll often bring up language around what a player's cap hit would be, what their dead money is, when we're talking free agency, maybe a brief overview. So the salary cap is the overall amount of money that every team is allowed to spend. In the NFL, it is a hard cap. You cannot go over it.

Each team has the same exact amount of money that they can go to. Now they have to, I don't remember the percentage that they have to spend, but there is a floor that was instituted a while back because too many owners were pocketing as much money as possible, which they still can do. But so that's the total salary cap.

And then each player, based off of your contract, you take up a certain percentage of that. And it gets confusing when you're talking. Your signing bonus and these things. So then that money gets pushed into later years. And you can put fake years that then you're like, I'm spreading it over the cap but essentially the more I mean it's like

the more you play games with navigating that amount how much do you want to hit right now how much do you want to hit later and so teams who have a lot of money they'll load up and they become attracted to a free agent like I'm gonna get all my money right now so that that's kind of a tactic they can take or a team who's strapped right now. You just, you push the credit card, like the Rams and the Saints have had done that for quite a while.

The Saints have done that for going on like 13 years. Every year they have no cap space. They restructure some guys. And look at the team. Like the team is in this purgatory of not terrible, but not a team that looks like they'll be able to make a run. I will say this. The sons would be so proud of them.

When they finally decide we cannot kick the can down the road anymore, which I don't know that they will ever do, but if they do, they will have the fastest route to the first pick in the draft, because that thing will burn to the ground. Did you talk about dead money? Dead money is the guaranteed money left on a player's contract at the time they are let go or traded so the guaranteed money left and that money will count against the team's cap the following year. Right. So there you go. And the cap going up so much this year. I mean

it is similar last year but these are massive jumps. Teams have to spend at least 89% of the cap. So it's 279 million this year. That means a lot of these teams even the kind of penny pinching teams, they have to spend some big contracts. And one thing that I find, I don't even understand how it works, so the NFL as a whole must spend at least 95% of the cap. Individual teams need to spend at least 89% of the cap. But how do you hold someone accountable on that?

For the league? Yeah, so it's like- As a group? Yeah, if the whole league is at 94%, who, like, how do you tell that team? You go to the cheap team? You go to the cheap team, you gotta give out another contract. It's weird that those numbers aren't the same. Yeah. We said it next Monday, the legal tampering period begins where teams are permitted to enter contract negotiations. Players can officially sign on Wednesday when the league year begins. And basically today in a few hours

is the end of the franchise tag deadline. Apparently, no, I didn't remember this. We do a few shows. I don't know if you knew that. But Jason is the reigning champion of free agency predictions last year. That's right. But I'm not seeing any totals, which means we may be masking

that. You get one of these right? That's a that's a home run. All right so let's start with our predictions for the quarterback position. We have team opportunity pages inside the ultimate draft kit. It's one of the coolest sections of the dynasty pass. Jason! Where you can look at you can basically You can look at what teams are in need at specific positions. So at quarterback, we know the Titans, the Browns, the Giants, Raiders, Jets, Steelers,

or some of the teams needing quarterbacks. Sam Darnold. Samuel. Samuel, where's he going? Jason, please. Sure, I'll kick it off. This was the one that really shocked you. I have Sam Darnold next year, playing'll kick it off. This was the one that really shocked you. I have Sam Donald next year playing for the Minnesota Vikings.

I don't think it is ruled out that they would bring him back, especially on a franchise tag. Bring him back for one year. That better happen quick. Well, right, sure. But this team won a lot of games. They were inches away, basically, or, you know, one very bad game away from being the number one seed.

And I think they don't know what they have in McCarthy. Donald coming back makes sense if they can find a good enough deal for the Vikings. Now, if Sam Darnold goes out and has teams that are just money hand over fist, we believe in you, we're gonna build our franchise around you based on what we saw last year, then he'll leave. But I just don't know if there are teams out there

that are gonna really, really, really do that. If there is one that's gonna do that, I think it's your pick, Mike. All right. But I don't know, I wouldn't do it. So you're going with the Vikings, Mike. You have them to the. I you're going with the Vikings, Mike, you have him to the? I'm sending him to the Raiders.

And with the way that the rumor mill has been churning with Tom Brady casually running into quarterbacks in a Montana ski lodge of all the places. It sounds like- Stafford? Yeah. Stafford, is that you? Matthew? What? What are the odds? That's crazy. I just got off the slopes hey you're not even in

ski gear so I'm not convinced I think that they will be I think the Raiders are gonna be aggressive and they it's like the the news coming out of the combine of quarterback wise, the notes on Cam Ward, very positive. At least what's being leaked, and I know we're in a weird time of year. But everything with Cam Ward that I read about was positive. And the Shadoor Sanders yet, the news yet again, was like, I don't know if teams value Sanders the way that mock drafters are

putting this dude automatically in the top five. He just a lot of teams or the rumors from teams of like he's a second round type of a player so if you're not what I'm going with that is if you don't get cam ward which if you're not at number one or number two you aren't getting cam ward then you got to do something really aggressive at the quarterback position, and so that's why I got the Raiders going Samuel Darnold. I'm not convinced the Raiders like Darnold as their guy,

so I am going to, so I can see the Darnold goes out, does his tour, comes back, signs with the Vikings. I can see that for sure, but I'm gonna take a shot here with the Pittsburgh Steelers. All right. Being the destination for Sam Darnold. Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, two former Steelers that are now, you know, they could bring one of them back. They could let both of them go. We'll start with Fields though, just 26

years old, started six games for Pittsburgh. They made the controversial switch to Russ. They worked out for them. He was running the football a lot. Mike and I, we have the same team here. We're both going Jets for the Justin Fields destination. They have had some comments about, or it's been reported that they like him. He could be part of a competition there. The Jets are one of those teams of like,

how do they get a quarterback? And I think Fields would be a fantastic bet for them. He was winning, they were above 500, right? With the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's like, if you manage Fields and his gifts, I think you can have a competent starting quarterback. Yeah, I agree completely. I've you can have a competent starting quarterback. Yeah, I agree completely I've got him going to the Browns

if it happens at the top of the draft kind of like what you're saying and in should or isn't or or dart If those guys aren't the right fit and they want to take a defensive piece I think the brands can get might be able to cam at two. I Think can't I would be shocked if cam doesn't go one. Because if, not necessarily to the Titans, but it seems like other teams, whether it's the Jets. Yeah, I saw the Giants rumors. The Giants trading up to one, those rumors are flying. Or the Browns. Sure, or the Browns. The Browns could flip up to one to grab the guy they want. Absolutely, but if they don't, then I think Fields makes a lot of sense for their team.

Remember the great trial prior days, or moment in time in Cleveland at quarterback? Oh yeah, ever. Yeah, those were fun days. I thought he was still wide receiver. No, well he started quarterback and then went wide receiver. Yeah, he was quarterback for the Raiders.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What a year that was. That's what I mean. It was just out of nowhere. Russell Wilson, I have him going to the Titans. And likely an opportunity if the Titans trade out. They decide their quarterback of the future isn't quite there. Let Russ compete with Will Levis.

Let Russ compete. That's the new, just let him compete. We've dropped him out of the kitchen completely. Yeah. Let him find his way to the kitchen. I've got Russ going back to the Steelers. I do too. The Steelers kind of seem like they're going to pick one of these two guys and sign them

to a contract, so I've got them picking Russ since they picked Russ last year. Unlimited. That's how I feel about it too, Jay. All right, let's look at the... I know what you wanted to put. Yeah, I'm still gonna do it. Unlimited diarrhea. Yeah. Unlimited.

Looking at running back needy teams, let's go through the free agent running backs. We'll be looking at Aaron Jones, Najee Harris, Nick Chubb, De'Vante Williams, J.K. Dobbins, and then anybody else you want to talk about. But starting with Aaron Jones, Mike and I, we're in sync again here. We think he's coming back.

I'm being boring with this one. I know, I hate doing it, but Vikings is the pick for both of us. It feels like a good move for this team of- Let's write it back another year. Take Jones here, they'll need to draft somebody. There's apparently that moment in time that we had with Ty Chandler, looking

like he was going to be the next starting running back for the Minnesota Vikings all the way to. They have banished him from the field. And you have can makers doing OK as a backup. So I think it makes sense, get Jones, draft a running back later. Yeah, I could see them doing that. I have him going out and trying to get a contract

anywhere he can and I've got him going to the Browns. Is everyone going to the Browns, Jay? Well, two of the players so far that I've mentioned are going to the Browns, it will be him and Justin Fields. All right, no Browns predictions for this next guy. Najee Harris, 27 years old, thousand yard seasons, just getting it done, but likely to leave Pittsburgh this offseason. And we actually have three different destinations for Najee Harris. I have them going to the Raiders, who need to

figure out what to do at running back. I have them going to a team with massive amounts of cap room to be able to spend on a running back. And they already spent cash on a running back. They did, which they still need running back help. And I think Drake May could use a veteran, someone that can come in there and establish it. So I've got Najee going to the Patriots.

I got him going to the Giants, which I think no matter what, someone's going to the Giants. So if you got Tracy and Najee showed up, I would count that as a potential blessing that talent-wise can Tracy beat out Najee, where Tracy beating out one of these higher round rookies is much harder. Yeah, you're saying the free agents would be a better situation for Tracy than the rookies. I think so. Nick Chubb will be

departing the Browns potentially and two straight years with season-ending injuries to me it feels like the Steelers are a potential reclamation home for I mean it could be Chubb and Warren there, so I will go with the Steelers. I've got him going to the Bears to be kind of the David Montgomery. You'd be great if you said Browns again. Going to the Bears to be that David Montgomery to Deandre Swift, kind of the poor man's version

of the Lions. And I got Harbaugh of the Chargers getting himself another cheap veteran injured running back. Discount injury situation. He did it last year with JK. Got like the productions that Dobbins, the production Dobbins put up on the contract he was on

was like that's a huge win. I like that one. For the Chargers. So I'm gonna say they try and do it again. All right. Once a fantasy football dynasty darling. Oh man. Just 24.9 years old, but it feels like the career's over.

Javante Williams, I have him going to the Giants. I heard you say, just 29 years old, and I'm like, yeah. Yeah, Javante. Feels like it. Javante is 29. No, he's not, it's 24.9. How, Javante? I agree somebody's he's not. It's 24.9. How, Javante? I agree somebody's going to the Giants backfield, so I'll go with Javante.

I've got him going to the Colts to be a backup. I know a lot of times when you're doing the free agents it's always like who needs a starting running back, but they need someone better behind the off-injured Jonathan Taylor. And I got him, I got Javante going into a competition with mr. Jerome Ford I'm picking someone to the Browns all right JK Dobbins I'm going back to the chargers that they work it out to get him back on the field I think that was a good fit and I don't think it will be that expensive yeah that's where he should go the Raiders are where I've got him going I've got him going there too. They are in desperate need of help, and he's available.

Mike, you have them there as well. I think that they, I think Dobbins will be, have priced himself out of the Chargers. That's just, that's the gut. And good Lord, the Raiders running back position is, I mean, it's so brutal right now. What did you, did you hear the big news though? Ooh, they might be willing to let go of somebody

in the backfield. Oh, yes. Did you hear who that was? Was it Zameer White? Zameer White available for trade if anybody wants that. Oh my God. We don't really want to, but if someone twists on- Someone pays enough.

That's absurd that's like that's like if you want him you got to come in here and get him but then all the gates are open like you show up at the facility all the gates are no way wide open here the security guards are turned around I feel like don't you dare steal this guy it's like a joke it's like trying to get someone to clean up your dog poop. Like I've got a really nice pooper scooper. You should check this out. Why don't you use it?

Are you Tom Sawyering people over here? Exactly. Exactly. Try it out. All right, we'll take a break and we'll talk about wide receivers. Yeah. Yeah, the Falcon chimed in. He's like, it'll be a breaking trade where it's a mirror white and a six goes for a seven.

Okay. T Higgins, he would have been the exciting prediction. I predict the Bengals. Me too. So, which I think he tweeted and just said tag. He did. He's a funny guy. Yeah. All right Unrestricted free agents though starting with Stefan Diggs who is on his last leg quite literally

Tor is ACL in week 8 31 years old Obviously, we know Stefan Diggs does not lack any amount of confidence in his own abilities and he could go and contribute someplace in a Reduced capacity just hard not to look at him and say you're entering your final you know you're entering your Titans Julio phase of life but you know who's willing to pay for quality old wide receivers who's that the Panthers yeah yeah I was waiting for Adam Thiel and to try man oh Oh, I'm so sorry, he's asleep. Yeah, it's nap time So I think they've got enough money. They're trying to get some weapons for Bryce Young and there's Yeah, I will go with the Ravens a team's gonna be sponsored by Metamucil

When you need to stay regular ironic because the quarterbacks name is young Oh, you know what I mean? Yeah When you need to stay regular. Ironic, because the quarterback's name is Young. Oh, that is, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, Young surrounded by Olds. Young surrounded by Olds. So you went with the Panthers. I'm going to go with the Ravens.

Mike stays in the interstate north. Ravens. Ravens make sense. I'm going Steelers. And you went Steelers. Yeah, the Ravens still have needs on the offensive side. They've dealt with injuries. We had Zay Flowers hurt at the end of the year.

Bateman, hard to rely on him. Diggs would be a good, like that's the right place to bring him in where you have Henry in the locker room, Lamar in the locker room, Diggs can come and contribute. You know, maybe to a capacity greater than Deontay Johnson did. I think that would be pretty easy. Mike has him go into the Steelers,

similar situation there where they have a need. Keenan Allen is almost 33 years old, 15th all time in receptions. That's right. 58 more receptions this year, and he enters the top 10 all time. Now, Mike, I see you have deleted the team. What?

The team that you had in here. I filled this out last week, uh may have overlooked it this morning. Okay. When I was making everything good because I had the Manders down but with the Oh with the Debo trade. With the Debo trade. Quick quick pivot. I will go. Jay you might look at the next guy. I'm looking at a Mario Cooper over here. That's a good point Mike. Well look I'll You buy some time. I'll put Keenan Allen let me name the guys that he's behind on the all-time reception list. Why don't you just talk about all the teams that could use Keenan Allen? He's behind Jerry Rice and Larry Fitzgerald and Marvin Harrison. No the teams the wide

receiver needy teams. Like if those guys were playing this year, what teams would want those players? Well, here, try to guess what team I put them on. It's one of the 32 NFL teams. Plays in one of the two conferences. Whoa, slow down. Slow down. Plays in one of the eight divisions. OK. OK.

You go ahead and talk about your thing. I'm having back for a swan song with the Chargers. That would be so much fun. That's what I'll go with. That would be really great. I have him going to the Chiefs. He has played some really good football. The last couple years, he's looked great,

and Deandre Hopkins is not under contract. Juju is, this is basically, I think, an upgrade right now, even though he's older, for Patrick Mahomes, his play style to come in. This is a player I think an upgrade right now even though he's older for Patrick Mahomes his play style to come in This is a player I think maybe he will take less money because he's at the point where he'd love to just chase that championship sure Chiefs can't afford much. So maybe he'll come in a little bit cheap. All right the team that I had Keenan going to the whole entire time

I mean, it's the Saints. You've been talking about this around the office a lot. Yeah, the Saints guys have been pumping this one up as this is my can't miss. Yep, you've been saying Saints, Saints, Saints. Uh-huh. And then Amari Cooper. I've got the Saints. I think Amari Cooper going to the Saints is perfect.

It's just been like Mike, is this the huge debate as to who the Saints are going to grab between these two players. It could be both. My bad. I will go with the Chiefs for Amari Cooper. I'm sending him back to Dallas. Yeah.

Maybe some unfinished business. I don't think Amari Cooper will be really expensive. He could be finished business himself. He could. Man, what a weird year think Amari Cooper will be really expensive. He could be finished business himself. He could. Man, what a weird year for Amari Cooper to come off of finishing two years ago the way that he finished and then turns into this. It's just a good reminder to fantasy players.

It's really hard to switch teams midseason and contribute. I mean, you didn't get, like Hopkins, the Chiefs, OK, you had a play here, there. It wasn't big. It wasn't integral. Integral? Yeah, nailed it. I don't know. It wasn't. You can't not go through camp and join midseason and be and be old. Yeah, and be old. Because I do think you can change midseason if if you're great. Amari Cooper was a great. He went to a wide receiver needy team with a great quarterback and did jack squat.

Now granted, didn't he break his arm or wrist or something shortly after getting there? Small injury. Yeah, I'm not sure he broke all those things. Shattered his arm from his shoulder to his finger. They removed his arm, right? Played like it. Chris Godwin, we all have returning to the Buccaneers. Yeah I

think we've talked about it before but the injury that he suffered I think will price him back to the Bucs. Wild card for him for me would be the Cowboys that you mentioned with Amari Cooper. That'd be a good fit. Because I do think the Cowboys, like I didn't have them as one of my predictions for these guys and there aren't a lot of great wide, like they could be a trade candidate. The Cowboys gotta figure some stuff out on the offensive side. What'd they trade for Tolbert?

Oh. Then they trade like a fourth or something? I don't think it was that much, was it? Kyle, do you remember? Oh, Mingo, not Tolbert. I'm sorry, thank you, Mingo. Jonathan Mingo. Tolbert just was their own player that's fine.

Mingo and Tolbert are fine. What was the Mingo trade? Yeah, it was a fourth. OK. A four, seven swap. Yeah, maybe they think they've got it figured out. But we're not talking tight ends because there ain't nothing to talk about, really.

There's nothing real fun. Unless you guys find it. I think they said Tyler Conklin's not going back to the Jets. You care about that? No. Nope. No.

No, I mean, honestly, the landing spots matter more. It's like, does Ertz go back to Washington? Where does Gassicki had those, had a couple of spike weeks? So there's some interesting players, but it's more about, with the players who are free agents right now, it's more about where they go. All right. Let's do a little mailbag.

Mailbag. All right. Instagram question from Mike says in a dynasty league, would you rather have Devante, Smith or T Higgins? Which I think is, it's a pretty interesting question there. It might depend on whether you believe T. Higgins is going to sign a long-term deal with the Bengals, which is not a guarantee, but I think it's going to happen. At this point, I think T. Higgins does resign, and I'm going to go T. Higgins.

I agree completely. Wow, you're the Smith guy. I love DeVonta Smith, but T. Higginsins when he has been on the field for the Bengals is a fantasy star more than you realize like The injuries have plagued him and that would be a reason to maybe go Devontae Smith But I don't think that the injuries are just a guarantee to always happen. I don't think he is injury prone I think he's just had injuries We've seen that in lots of players and if he's on the field He is more valuable for fantasy on the Bengals offense with the Bengals defense

Then Devante Smith is on the current version of the Eagles TTT All of our answers are the same as dangerous. I said it slowly the website We had a question is Isaiah Pacheco a by-lo candidate for the 2025 sweepstakes? Says thank you, you guys rock. I think we talked about him a little bit on the footcast. Maybe it was on the main show. But I think we're all pretty afraid that they're gonna take one of these

meaningfully talented running backs in the draft. Yeah, I would say yeah. Overall, I'm very afraid of his position and what his opportunity is going to be. But if you can actually trade low for him, I don't know. You don't mind it? Yeah, but I mean, it has to be low because I think that he is, him in particular, he's in a really scary situation.

Middle of the second round, non-Super Flex rookie pick. Would you rather have Isaiah Pacheco or the second round? Dude, we are in the middle of... Non-Super Flex? Non-Super Flex. So I think Pacheco. We're in the middle of our mock. But it's final year rookie deal for him.

So we're in the middle of our mock for the Dynasty Pass for Edition 2 that's coming out here for the update. And we're in the second, and there's. Caleb Johnson gone? Oh, yeah, yeah. He's long gone. But it's just there are still fascinating running backs going in the, like Olly Gordon went

in the back of the second round. It's tough because Pacheco was so important and so valuable. Right. But he was. But then his final year rookie deal on the injury and didn't come back and play well. Obviously, if they were to roll back to the, go into 2025 the way they went into 2024,

I'd say Pacheco would be great for fantasy. I don't believe that's going to happen. No. He didn't come back strong from the injuries. In the final year of his rookie deal, they need future anyways. And with a deep running back draft class I think they're gonna bring someone else Talented in and then that that could just completely ruin Isaiah Pacheco both

Immediate term and long term. I love this question here. Tommy Reed writes in on Instagram who makes you more optimistic for Brock Bowers veteran quarterback or rookie quarterback? Hmm. Uh, veteran. Yeah. I would say veteran. I mean, if, if you say, you know, Darnold or, you know, Shador Sanders, it's definitely Darnold.

Yeah. That's how I look at it. What? Yeah. But what have you said? You know, Aaron Rogers or Shador Sanders? Cause veteran quarterback does not Darnold. What if Russell Wilson?

I think it would be pretty much all of the veterans. The hard part there is obviously, I think you guys are right. I think in a one year redraft scenario, that is 100% true. But if you're a Brock Bowers dynasty manager, do you hope that they make the move for their future now to try to get that stabilized?

I'd take Sanders over Rogers if that were the case. That would be my hope. The nice thing is if you've got Rogers, he's clearly a stopgap. They're still looking for their quarterback of the future. I don't believe this draft class for quarterbacks is great. So I would rather them go with... If I've got Brock Bowers from a dynasty perspective, if I get Rogers this year and then they're probably going to be bad, then maybe they can get a quality quarterback next year that over the next eight, nine years is better than, you know, if you're not a Shadr or Sanders believer and that's the guy that's falling to them, then that ruins Brock Bowers or could potentially ruin him for four years while they figure that out.

So I- Yeah, that's, he's going to play as well as he could possibly play with what he's got, and it's gonna be pretty good for fantasy, but- Yeah, the quarterback play for the Raiders last year was not good. Right, and he was outstanding. But some more touchdowns would be cool.

All right, that is gonna do it for today's show. We got 10 things to remember on the Thursday episode, so don't miss that one. And then the free agent frenzy begins next week, next Tuesday. We'll already have some news about that tampering period before free agency, and we'll have some answers as to who wins the free agency predictions this year. So if you want to get into the action, the dynasty pass available now ultimatedraftkit.com, hit the UDK plus or join our community at jointhefoot.com we'd love to have you. Take care. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers

podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter at theffballers.