Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - NFL Free Agency Continues

Episode Date: March 23, 2021

Geoff is joined once again by Matt Ford to bounce around the league and discuss every team's moves so far. They discuss the Giants' spending spree, the Raiders' O-line moves, the Cardinals' weird offseason decisions, and the exciting upcoming season for the Washington Football Team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's Tuesday, March 23rd. Fragrancy is well underway. Some good, some bad, some ugly signings. We'll have so much to talk about in regards to the NFL. I'm Jeff Schwartz alongside Matt Ford. This is Jeff Schwartz is Smarter Than You. Welcome in, everyone. Welcome in, by the way, to a Pac-12 standing podcast.

As we record this on Monday, my Oregon Ducks, as I'm sporting my nice Oregon Ducks shirt, has defeated Iowa, the Pac-12. Matt, 7-0 in the tournament with six wins by double digits, including two wins by Oregon State Beavers, who snuck in the tournament by winning the Pac-12 tournament, are now in the Sweet 16. Ducks are in the Sweet 16.

UCLA has Abilene Christian tonight. I hope they're in the Sweet 16. So much happening for our conference and so much happening in the NFL. How are you, Matt? Your Terps are still alive, by the way. Terps are still alive at this point. Hopefully by the time this airs, they will still be alive and joining you in the Sweet 16.

You know, what a great time. Like we got robbed of so many fun sports moments over the last year to get the Monday March Madness is really a nice wrinkle. That's been fun. The thing that I am most excited about for this tournament is not really the basketball. The basketball has been okay. I mean, there has not been a buzzer beat, I don't think, yet.

There's been a lot of blowouts, a lot of upsets, obviously, which is very fun. Oral Roberts is through to the Sweet 16. It's a 15 seed. We talked about Oregon State as well. But, Matt, I am grateful that this is back. I've watched more college basketball this year in the tournament than I have in quite a few years, mostly because I'm just grateful that this is back. I've watched more college basketball this year in the tournament than I have in quite a few years,

mostly because I'm just happy it's back. And last year we didn't get this. And I feel very grateful that sports seem to be returning in their usual form. We got an announcement that NFL draft's going to happen in Cleveland. It's going to happen with people there. There's going to be some guidelines I would imagine. But look, if the end of April things are looking better, maybe there's not as many guidelines.

So I feel like we're moving in a happier direction with sports, Matt. I think we are. And, you know, we have been fairly critical of the NFL at times on this show, but they did a really nice job with COVID throughout the season from all that we know. So I'm sure the draft will be fun and safe and awesome and look forward to that. Which fan base, I guess, what city do you think would I be least welcome in for a draft?

If Jeff Schwartz came to cover the draft for the podcast, for Fox Sports, wherever I'm at, which fan base would boo me the most? It wouldn't be Cleveland, I don't think. I think Tennessee, which Nick just suggested, is in the mix. Although lately you've been terrorizing the Giants fans on Twitter. And Saints. Yeah, the Saints. The poor Saints fans.

The poor Giants fans, man. They have the highest paid D tackle and the highest paid wide receiver. Good for them. Those are winning formulas in the NFL. Premium positions. Kind of pay the most for the premium positions. All right, we've had one week now not quite one week but um one week of free agency and for those who are unaware we're now in week in

basically second wave of free the second phase of free so what happens in free agency is there is the first stage which we saw last week hot heavy team signing a bunch of players right away okay and that's like the tampering period opened up matt and then all of a sudden boom 18 deals were done and really up until this past weekend is the kind of the first wave it's a priority fridge i think kenny galladay signing was kind of the last of the priority for the priority first wave for agents now we get to second wave where you're getting veterans and there look there are some signings in the first wave that are considered kind of i would consider them second wave signings there are but now we're kind of getting in like the veterans that have been recently cut trying to maybe a veteran's

off an injury maybe young guy hasn't proved himself yet you're still kind of in that in that second wave of frames where you get modest deals probably not more than two years at the most or three years um and then there's a third wave, which I've been a part of once. I've been a part of all three waves. First wave, Giants, signed right away. The year before that, Kansas City. I was actually third wave. I wasn't signed until about three or four weeks after Frenchy started.

Got basically a minimum contract. The year before that in Minnesota, I was second wave guy. I took three trips. I signed a modest one-year contract with some incentives. And so we're getting into this. This is where matt your roster is built though your depth your roster is built if you're looking at fringy the second wave of for agency um so it's fun to watch now kind of as team's position where they're going

with their money yeah i mean if you need a corner uh this this second wave is is really a good time to jump in you've got a bunch of guys who are cut, like Adoree Jackson and Malcolm Butler. Richard Sherman's out there. Tart, the safety from San Francisco. There's a bunch of others. Some good values out there. T.Y. Hilton's still out there. Some guy named Mitchell Schwartz is still available.

Lots of intriguing guys out there. I want to talk about my brother real quick because this seems to be, and I'm sure I'm going to get this a thousand times until the until he signs with someone um look he's a month i think a month and two days off back surgery he's no one's signing him right now so the idea that i know he's like number two on like espn's for agency right now um it's uh it's not going to happen. All right. He's just coming off injury. He will probably sign some point in the summer somewhere, maybe somewhere sooner than that. But there's no point in him signing right now with anyone. No one's going to pay him the type of money that he wants.

Just there's no point. So I appreciate everyone asking about this, but it's it's just not going to happen anytime soon. And look, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe someone's calling right now. I just, I don't really know. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, he's going to be an interesting one. I mean, obviously we have a vested interest in that one,

but there's some interesting guys out there. Like, what do you do with James Conner? Like, what are you doing with Indomitian Sioux? Like, there's like some real Indomitian Sioux? Like, all these, there's like some real, Genevieve and Clowney, like there's some real guys out there. Justin Houston, Carlos Dunlop,

like there's a good, Melvin Ingram was visiting the Chiefs. There's three defensive ends right there that can come in and be very helpful. Sammy Watkins is visiting the Ravens, I believe. So we're starting to get kind of in that second wave of fraydency. So we're not going to see big money deals, you know, but you're looking at teams that might plug a hole here and there.

You know, maybe the Colts, they need a left tackle. They spring for Villanueva from formerly Pittsburgh. So there's places where you can find talent now to really help your team. And so it's a fun stage. And look, we know some teams sit out the first wave, right? The Seahawks, the Colts, they never, they're never first wave teams. And so some teams go big like the Patriots, some go home. All right, Matt, let's just give our, we have some topics here for Frazier to see,

and then we'll get to some division odds as things have kind of moved up and down and talk about the conferences. I think the Chiefs, the AFC discussion is very interesting about where they go from here. So was there a favorite signing of yours? I mean, I had a few. I mean, we can just name a couple and maybe go back and forth here. I think my favorite signings were,

can I just say the Bucs keeping everyone was my favorite re-signing? I mean, remember that the cap went down this year and they had, I would say, three of the top, at least, I'd say seven, maybe better, three of the top seven free agents in the market in Barrett, Godwin, and David. They all could have cashed in, right?

We've seen this happen with the Patriots a lot. But that team was able to say like, hey, let's run it back. Like who knows how many more years Brady will have left. They were all really happy, it seems, to stay. I think this is sort of like an underrated achievement because everyone was like, oh, of course they'll stay.

It's Brady, like, they'll win again. But that doesn't happen that often. It's one of the reasons that Super Bowl champs don't repeat. So I would give those a tie for number one for me. Yeah, those are great signs. There's a couple other ones I think are pretty... The Bills, I think, did a really good job of bringing back some of their offensive linemen. Darrell Williams,

John Feliciano. They brought back Matt Milano, who we saw last year. Really throughout his career, when he doesn't play, that defense is far worse. So to bring those guys in, Emmanuel Sanders coming there, they look pretty formidable, right? I mean, they're a team who feels like they're going the right direction.

I really like the Niners re-signing Trent Williams. I mean, the deal is ginormous. It's really broken down into two deals. It's three years, $60 million to start, and then a three-year $77 million deal, which I don't think will be exercised. So it's funny how that got announced. It's six years, $13 138 million but it's really

three years 60 million. I like what they did with Alex Mack as a center and that offense he's played the offense before when he was with with Kyle Shanahan in Atlanta that feels like

a really good signing as well. And there's you know those little things here and there that I think teams did a good enough job is adding you know a piece of I think the Bengals added and adding Henderson and Riley Reif are, you know,

they're not, Bengals aren't going to be really good this year, but, you know, they're adding pieces here and there. They're doing a good job of, you know, just kind of building that roster up as they go. And I'm thinking if anyone else signs out, I mean, obviously Dak getting a deal done is pretty big in the NFC East for the Cowboys. But that was done before kind of franchise started. But it feels like those are the ones that stood out to me.

Last one real quickly. I think Kyle Long going to the Chiefs is a lot of value. One year, $1.5 million. He can play a couple different places on that offensive line. They need offensive line help. If he's healthy, that's a great deal for him yeah that's i hope i hope he's healthy um it seems like he's being counted on yeah as a result of coming back i mean two points i wanted to jump in on from what you said trent williams is a guy i've just always loved to watch yeah having been

drafted by my team yeah hasn't played more than 14 games since 2013. Yeah. Coming into his age 33 season. He's like, he, he's like the Ben Roethlisberger, Steve McNair of left tackle. Who's just like always playing hurt.

And you kind of like always know that. So it, I think it gives him a little extra pop, but that's, I think that's a riskier deal. You have to make it, but I think it's a fairly risky deal. And you mentioned the Bengals, like the Bengals are kind of a WTF team to me, to be honest. They had Lawson, who went to the Jets. Cool, you signed Trey Hendrickson for another year and more money, but you know they they let william jackson go but they

they bring in another corner like at the same price or they got two other corners at the same price um i don't they seem to me to be kind of a weird team i think well i think for them what what what that is is basically we already know what we have in carl lawson and you know but we we think to try Trahan is just better. We already know what we have in someone else. Let's bring in someone else because we think they're better. I just think it's kind of just like when we were left with those guys when we got the team, and we just want to go in a different direction.

Oh, important news for Bengals, by the way, as we're talking about. Bengals reassigned longtime punter Kevin Huber. Very important. 13th year in the NFL. Cincinnati native. Yeah, I think it's more of that idea. Like, we've had these guys a couple years now. We just don't quite like what we have.

We'll just go somewhere else. Yeah, I mean, they have to spend the money somewhere. To add to another group of signings i did like i loved cleveland signing of both of the rams uh defensive backs john johnson and troy hill uh denzel ward's another guy who's awesome but he's he's had some trouble staying healthy i don't think he's ever played a full season uh middle of the pack pasty those guys were both i thought kind of flying under the radar. They addressed a need. They did it quick, and they were both for good contracts.

I really like what Cleveland's doing. Yeah, they're quietly, and we'll talk about odds in a little bit. They're kind of quietly just chugging along, man. They have a Baker Mayfield decision to make, and we'll spend another podcast, I assume, discussing that. But they're they're quietly doing a good job what were your kind of um least favorite signings that you saw out there man this is a long list i feel like these are almost team oriented more than just individual

oriented yeah i mean i'll say the dalton for the bears stands out i mean that one is just is just putrid i mean what it seems like what happened with the Bears is they go all in for Wilson, they get rebuffed, and then at the same time, Fitzpatrick goes off the market, Newton goes off the market, and then they have to take their quote-unquote best chance with Dalton. I just don't I mean they're gonna have to do something in the drafts but now it seems like they have no leverage in any quarterback decision because everyone knows that Andy Dalton is at best like a guy you want to keep for I don't know like eight games you want to start him yeah I think the bear the bears the bears quarterback room I think that position makes me the most nauseous of any position group in the NFL except the Texans running backs I think that position makes me the most nauseous of any position group in the nfl except the texans running backs i think that's those two give me this sense of just like oh no like don't don't do that like you could do better than that so i mean that's just so disappointing they knew

this was coming all year and to end up with andy dalton heading into the draft is is just it's unforgivable it's a good point you, the Bears are in a really weird spot, right? Where they obviously screwed up at quarterback, but the rest of their team is not half bad. And they're not in a position to really tank for anyone. Plus next season, I don't even know, I couldn't tell you the best quarterback is, right? We always knew this year that we had Trevor Lawrence, right?

We knew there was one. There's other guys that have now stepped up in Trey Lance and Justin Fields. But who is the guy next year? And there's not even a guy you would even want to tank for right now. Two years ago it was Tank Fertua, then Herbert comes along. Excuse me, Burrow comes along, Herbert comes along. Like, yes, you could find a quarterback maybe next year,

but they're not bad enough to suck that bad, right? They're in that weird spot. So what do they do? And this feels like a stopgap. But again, do they draft a quarterback at 20, right? They're in that weird spot. So what do they do? And this feels like a stopgap. But again, do they draft a quarterback at 20, Matt? Do they do? They're not training for Russell Wilson as much as they claim they want to still do that.

So I am, I'm very, if I was a Bears fan, I feel very poorly about just going 8-8 again. Like that's what you're about to go. Yeah, they are. And Dalton has led the Bengals to the playoffs. Like he has it, but I'm just not quite sure everything else, um,

is there as well. Um, is there a, a favorite, um, you know, we put this in the right now. It's like favorite team to watch after free agency.

Well, are we done with least favorite? Because we have to, I do want to add one more. Okay. That's the, that's everything the Patriots did. I, I okay good yeah i really i know you talked about this a bit already but i wanted to have this conversation with you yeah um the thing that i really want to

drill down on is is this double tight end offense that they think they're running so there are two options here number one is that the Patriots turn into the Ravens. And they try to do that jumbo, bunch of dumb motion, Mark Andrews and the other giant white guys that they have as their tight ends. Just that kind of boring offense. The problem is Cam Newton is not Lamar Jackson, and there's no J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards to power that running attack. And then the other option here is one tight end does better than the

other. And you're paying number one for a number two tight end. And then you've got Nelson Aguilar, which is, you know, that guy gave you four years of sample size and had one decent year when there were tons of other, you know other offensive weapons on that team. I just think that this makes no sense, this offensive plan from the Patriots, and everyone's afraid to say it because of the Belichick thing. So you make some great points. Their offense is what you mentioned it's going to be.

They're going to pack the box in. They got Trent Brown back. They re-signed David Andrews. in they got their got trent brown back to stand we signed david andrews um you know they're going for it um um you know they're going for it with this cam noon style offense right um and it's probably not going to work and bill belichick's trying to make up for all the issues he's had in um in in phrasing in uh in drafting right they haven't drafted well a wide receiver they haven't drafted well um at some of these other positions, right? At some of these defensive positions. And, you know, they added

Matthew Judon, Dietrich Weiss, they added Kyle Vannoy back. But I will say some of the wide receiver deals are less heavy than we think. Most of them are kind of like one-year deals.

And now we're seeing that the market for wide receivers is not as, as robust as we thought. So I don't think they're, they're awful deals. And maybe I'm too, you know, Bill Belichick praiseworthy to like, let them,

you know, like to, to really hammer them. Like, I feel like I'm always deferred to Bill Belichick being, you know, fabulous, but the point is,

and this is, I think really really valid, is that he's not been a good general manager in a long time. And that is an issue. And this is his last chance to fix that issue. It just seems like everyone's going like, oh, they're going to be Gronk and Hernandez again. But that was 10 years ago, first of all. And Gronk was the best tight end of all time.

that was 10 years ago first of all and Gronk was the best tight end of all time you know Johnnie Smith his his stats the last two seasons are 76 for 887 and 11 touchdowns like that's that's what Hernandez was getting is the number two tight ends in one season and Hunter Henry like nice player but he's never had a 700 yard season never played 16 games like that's that's a lot of dough to be to be shelling out to, to those positions when you've got Cam Newton and Damian Harris to drive your offense. In slight defense of this idea, 12 personnel. So one running back,

two tight ends, two wide receivers is the hardest to defend if you're a defense, because you don't, are you going to, are you going to treat those two tight ends as wide receivers and play nickel or, you know, I treat it as base and play more linebackers

and you have a mismatch on offense. So there is some idea. Now the question becomes, obviously, did you pay too much for these guys, right? And there's a chance that you did, but we'll find out. And they have to reload in the AFC East if they want to be competitive. I'll give you a least favorite team. What are the Giants doing, guys? What are they doing so the giants signed um leonard williams to uh the highest second highest

paid defense tackle in the nfl one good season and he's in right they gave him what they give him um uh three years 63 million dollars 45 guaranteed they signed kenny the holiday to a four-year, $63 million, 45 guaranteed. They signed Kenny Galladay to a four-year, $72 million deal, 40 full guaranteed. So let's talk about that deal more than anything else. I like them trying to bring in weapons for Daniel Jones. They brought in John Ross as well, Kyle Rudolph, the former Vikings tight end. I like that they did that.

That's impressive they did. But the messaging behind the Kenny Galladay signing is very odd to me. So first of all they said he needed 24 hours to win them over what does that mean win them over I get it they blame him for not playing in Detroit and you know that's why Patricia got fired and their boys with Patricia Joe judges okay fine but what is Kenny Galladay to say in that 24 hours that will convince you any way, each way to sign him? If you ask him, hey, did you decide to purposely not play through injury? He'll be like, no, I was hurt. I couldn't play. Okay.

If you say, hey, did you try to sabotage Matt Patricia? No, I didn't. Are you working hard in the offseason? Are you a hard worker? Yes, I am. Like, what's he going to say? What is he going to say in 24 hours? And then lastly, too, normally when there is this kind of, like,

warm-up period where you figure each other out, you don't give them $40 million guaranteed afterwards. Like, I don't understand what they're doing. And then I put out, of course, that it's very uncommon to pay someone this much money and have this 24-hour period where you have to, like, learn about them more and figure out if they're doing. And then I put out, of course, that it's very uncommon to pay someone this much money and have this 24-hour period where you have to learn about them more and figure out if they're a good fit. And then all the Giants fanboys are like,

I love my Coach Shines guys with good character. You know someone's character after 24 hours? Really? In an environment where he's trying to sell himself so you pay him all his freaking money? You would know his attitude if you paid him $5 million for one season and made him earn his contract the following year, right?

Like that, to me, this is, this is just ludicrous. And the way this gets framed, Matt, then I, then I included you

in a tweet, unfortunately, where, and I was right about it. Last year, Giants were covered like they were Super Bowl champions. They were 6-10.

I think we can all agree about that. People are like, what about the Cowboys for 30 years? Did I mention the Cowboys? I said last season. I didn't say the for 30 years? Did I mention the Cowboys? I said last season. I didn't say the last 30 years. But, guys, the Giants, they don't really know what they're doing, all right?

I'm glad they brought in, like, they know what they're doing as far as they brought in some talent for Daniel Jones. But this whole, like, media spin they try to do lately where they try to sell these deals, like, what the heck was that? Jabril Peppers talked to him. You they they try to sell these deal like what the hell what the heck was that i mean jabril peppers talked to him you don't want to talk to him the 40 million dollars guaranteed you gave him that's what talked to him very simple like what do you yeah it's so so stupid and we just eat it all up what's going on giants fans come on you know i'm right too so silly i love this take. He's, yeah, you're going to make him, like,

the seventh highest paid receiver after one dinner with Jabril Peppers. Man, he must have, I mean, he must have cooked for Peppers, right? Like, he must have, like, picked a really good restaurant. Like, what happened that won them over so much that they were like, okay, here's $70 million. We had such a great meeting. Uh, I completely don't buy it.

I agree that the signing makes sense. Like they obviously needed a receiver, but, the giants, the giants are just, they just seem like their ass backwards to me. And if there was a division champion in that division who was any better than last year's Washington team, like no one would even be thinking about them.

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of usage per line. Most reliable based on root metrics. UL's report. Results vary. Non-endorsement. Let's get to Washington because they're in the category of favorite team I want to watch this season on game pass let's talk about the Washington football team Matt how about you go they're your football team you go tell me tell me what you liked about what they did man I it's so bizarre I liked everything they did I think they're I think they're doing an amazing job and if you recall last year they took advantage of that second or third wave of free

agency when they signed logan thomas and mckissick and uh ronald darby last year who just got a big deal like they're going to do more things but first of all i mean the fitzpatrick thing makes a ton of sense they knew they had this problem at quarterback just like the bears did but they ended up getting a guy who their goals aligned it's like hey we don't have anything better for this year ryan fitzpatrick like you want to be a starter like here you go this is the chance and it's it makes sense they didn't go all in and push in all their chips uh to you know trade up to the number one pick or something and that way put a lot of pressure on a timeline like they can keep rebuilding at a nice pace i like the curtis samuel signing i mean i think that's like

a nice you've got a real identity on offense now with the speed and the versatility and the william jackson signing was interesting too i mean some people had him as one of the top corners on the market now they have a really solid secondary with uh with fuller and lon Collins coming back. So I like where they're headed. And they still have four picks in the first three rounds of the draft. They didn't put themselves at a disadvantage. So I think they're in a really good spot. And they're going to be fun as hell with Fitzpatrick. They're going to be a lot of fun.

A lot of fun. And so it's going to be fun to watch them um kind of get after it and look Fitz obviously takes you on a wild ride it's not always gonna be perfect um and he's kind of an anti-Ron Rivera like type of player which is kind of funny because obviously that's you know Ron in my opinion just that's not the player he he wants um but he does give him a chance to win which is important um and so uh yeah cura samuels is a great addition in my opinion as well so they've done a really really good job quietly i think you know many have not talked about them and they can still go get a quarterback in the draft and have someone for the future if

they feel like that's the position they need to attack. What was your least favorite team to watch after free agency? I mean, is it unfair to say Houston? No. My God, man. Houston, I actually would argue that of all teams and professionals in the three major sports, I think Houston might be in the worst spot. I mean, aside from Watson's legal trouble, which neither of us are smart enough to talk about at this stage,

like, I mean, their roster just makes me sad. Like, when I mention their running backs, Ingram, Phillip Lindsay, David Johnson, their receivers, Randall Cobb, Brandon Cooks, Kiki Kuti, Tyrod Taylor probably going to get some snaps. And they're only $8 million under the cap, and they don't have a first-round pick. They, oh, God, I feel so bad for those fans. They are in hell.

It's going to be years before that team is anything. Yeah, they did basically a 30-player overhaul, right? They brought in enough players, plus got rid of enough players. They've done a lot. Real quickly on the Watson thing. It's just important for me to discuss this part so obviously in all in all these instances and we don't talk about this very much on this podcast when there's allegations like this that are very serious um you know there's there's not much to talk about because we don't have the facts right right? We're not the law.

We're not investigating this. We're not a jury. And it's okay sometimes to be like, you know what? I'm not going to say anything. I think it's irresponsible how often we come to conclusions on social media about these topics, Matt. Like, I don't know why we just can't say, hey, man, I'm going to let this play out. I'm going to let the process play out. Because there's plenty of time for Deshaun to go and present his evidence in a court and the

accusers can present their evidence. And that's the end of it. Why do people go on social media and just make these conclusions about stories like this? I don't get it. So guess what? I'm going to let it play out. As far as his trade value doesn't doesn't probably help um as far as houston planting this story absolutely not why would they this in no way helps houston whatsoever that their star quarterback they want to keep has multiple lawsuits against him uh alleging some some terrible things like so i just i i don't know why we rush social media to draw conclusions when allegations like this surface i don't get it well said yeah well said well we'll see what happens there and that there because i just want to make that point i just see people like you're

like don't just don't say it just don't say it just let the process play out we're not we're not in the lawsuit we don't know know. Alright, so for me, what the hell are Raiders doing? John Gruden has no idea what he's doing. Can we admit that now? Just not a freaking clue what he's doing. Tell me more about this. I like this. So they signed King and Drake

to a two-year $11 million deal. Why? Why? You have Jacobs. Why do you need can you drink oh third down back okay you like any the third down back is winning the super bowl right like hopefully nick that's the party he he shows to everyone the hand gesture just made congratulations oakland vegas on that signing that was that really bolsters you guys. It was a shake weight gesture, I think, would be how I would describe that to our audio listeners.

It very much was. They also signed Theo Riddick. All right, congratulations on that one. Another third down. Yannick Ngokwe, two years, $26 million. Congratulations on that. They also got rid of Rodney Hudson. They're like all world center.

Rodney Hudson's fantastic. And they signed a kid, Andre James, today. He's an unrestricted free agent to a multiple-year deal to play center. A, they didn't have to pay him. But two, look, I cover the NFL for a living. I don't know everything, right? There's so much stuff happening. I had to text someone and say, who is Andre James, their center they just signed?

Wow. I know who this guy is, their center they just signed? Wow. I know who this guy is. What are they doing? They traded away Gabe Jackson. They traded away Gabe Jackson to Seattle. Trent Brown. Trent Brown to the Patriots. Like, what are they doing?

And their offense, by the way, as much as I mock them, has been fun to watch at times. But I have no idea what they're doing, and I don't think John Gruden does either, and he's a terrible personnel guy. Yeah, and they essentially swap Aguilar for John Brown, who hasn't been healthy, and Aguilar, who was really good there.

They said that they wanted to keep him. There were all these whispers that the Raiders needed to cut back their payroll because they'd spent so much on the stadium, and they're in the they're a big time in the red after last year but they were still aggressive they still made a bunch of moves i i agree they're a team that doesn't make sense to me can we just turn this into the teams that don't make sense yes because i i feel like i have a hundred i mean first of all to me you mentioned rodney hudson and kenny drake back they're both related to this team I want to talk about, the Cardinals.

So who do the Cardinals think they are? It would be my big question. Who do you think they are? You're going to let Kenny and Drake go, who you mentioned, okay, Kenny Drake isn't Barry Sanders, but he was a key piece for that offense. And Chase Edmonds, when given the chance to sort of be the feature back, never really took it and ran with it.

So you subtract Kenya Drake, you add Hudson, which is a nice move. But you let Patrick Peterson go, which seems to make you think, oh, we're not just banking on big-name veterans anymore. We're sharper than that. But then they go out and sign jj watt and aj green like aj green what what are we doing here like when's the last time that guy was good and jj watt like fine you're paying top of market value for like a maybe the 30th best defensive end at this stage like okay then even like dan arnold he was like a nice piece for them

a tight end last year they just let him go like what you're gonna let him go but sign aj green to be your wide receiver for like what are we doing here what do they think they're aiming towards a lot of teams don't have identities and i did trade for rodney hudson the sandwich talking about the raiders but yeah but i'm not sure he fits really what they cares like it doesn't really fit what they do. They signed Brian Waters today, and I'm not going to see an offensive lineman to one-year deals. Like, that's not much of a big deal.

But, yeah, I don't know. Are they better? No. I mean, they spent a lot of money. Are they better? I'm not sure they are. I don't think they're that much better. I mean, they're going to win or lose based off of Kingsbury's ability

to adjust the offense, which we've seen so far has been really tough for them to do. Right? Yeah. Like that. Yeah. That's, that's, you know, that's the, you know, that's the problem. One other team, and this is not really any category, but we talk about them a lot, which

is the Kansas City Chiefs, because you can put them in, you can put them into maybe categories saying like, hey, what, what are they doing exactly? All right. I'm going to go over here. I'm going to pull up the tweet here just to make sure I have it right. So let's see here. One second. Oh, here it is right here.

So the Chiefs are going to have a hard time being better than they were last season. Left tackle, center, right tackle, wide receiver, D-end, dime linebacker, cornerback, and safety. Now, this is obviously before free agency. This is, I mean, before the draft. But they're looking at a big talent dump, right? You look at, you know, they need to get faster at linebacker. I don't think there was really anyone that was, you know, you consider like, hey, I need to have.

They need a left tackle. They supposedly were very close on Trent Williams, but they didn't get one. They didn't get Trent. They've been close on wide receivers. We've seen wide receivers turn them down. I would imagine because spreading the love is not something wide receivers want to, you know, they don't want to be on a team like that in a one-year deal.

But they're kind of striking out a lot of guys. And Pat Mahomes will cover up the stink. Don't worry. They'll still win 12 games next season. But you get in the playoffs, you're running up against a Tampa, you need a better team, right? And they still have 12 games next season. But you get in the playoffs, you're running up against a Tampa, you need a better team, right? And they still have holes in the draft. They still need a left tackle.

They still need a speedy linebacker. They still need a number two wide receiver. They still need another corner. They need these things still, and you're not going to find all of them in the draft. I'm a little worried if you're a Chiefs fan. This is an important week or two for them. You know, you mentioned a few of those guys that are out there like Ryder and Breland are still free agents, so they could potentially try to bring some of those guys back.

But this is what I was saying with the Bucs. It's like it's hard to keep these guys around, even like, you know, they don't their success doesn't hinge on Bashad Breland. But like you need a number two corner, you know corner. You need those guys who are just going to be dependable for you. Yeah, and so I'm curious what they do. 31 in the draft, there's a couple tackles that might be possible. And against

the linebacker, we'll see as well. But look at AFC championship odds. I'm not sure how much they moved since Frankenstein, but you have the Chiefs at plus 250. And again, with Pat Mahomes, it's going to be tough to beat them. Like, again, even if they're like 12-4, I mean, like, it just, it's going to Kansas City is going to be hard, no matter who is playing on their team, if they have Pat Mahomes healthy.

Next up are the Buffalo Bills at plus 550. They feel like the best chance, don't they, Matt? If there's one AFC team to get there, to knock them off, it's Buffalo, right? They go 13-3, home field advantage. Chiefs have to go to Buffalo for the AFC championship game. Does it feel like Buffalo is that team, or is there someone else that you're looking at as,

hey, maybe this team can knock off the Chiefs? I think it's Buffalo or Cleveland, probably. Cleveland would be the other team, I think. But I still don't see. I see them clearly. I think it's clearly KC, Buffalo, and then I guess it's Cleveland. I'm not sure who else would even be in the mix. They have the Baltimore Ravens at plus 650, the third highest odds in the AFC.

I don't see that, man. I don't see Lamar Jackson. They're going to have a tough decision to make to pay him or not. to the AFC. I don't see that, man. I don't see Lamar Jackson. They're going to have a tough decision to make to pay him or not. I just don't see that as being a viable way to win the conference. A couple Colts plus 1,200, that really just depends on if, what's his face,

if Wentz is any good. One other team, and we can discuss about them in divisions as well. In the AFC West, the Chargers are plus 420 to win the division, and they're plus 1600 to win the AFC. If their new coach is any good, they've got a chance, don't they? Yeah. That's a good point. I mean, anytime you have a quarterback that's that good,

you like that kind of value. And they still have a lot of players on that defense yeah that i could see that i could see them taking a big step if you're looking at the rest of the afc look at divisions um baltimore buffalo indy and casey are the favorites i don't really see i think the browns in the afc north at plus 200 have a chance. They're right behind the Ravens. The AFC East is probably the Bills. I mean, look at the Dolphins at plus 350. The New England's plus 350. I mentioned the West already.

But the AFC South, I mean, Tennessee, talking about a team they have to replace a lot. Tennessee's got to replace their OC. I believe they need two wide receivers now. They just drafted a right tackle in the last year. They just had to trade him. He eventually, Isaiah Wilson, got cut by the Dolphins um so really I think I think chalk holds there look at the NFC right now look at the NFC the favorite to win the NFC is um is Tampa again then Green Bay then LA

then San Francisco then New Orleans um I'll tell you what man if Jimmy G's healthy give me the Niners hmm is that simple interesting shanahan has the one year he was healthy the niners were great i you mentioned the packers um they're a team that uh i'm pretty frustrated with at the moment i know this doesn't directly go back to your futures bet but um the packers like what what have they been doing like not only just so they say spend a bunch of money to bring aaron jones back which like eric i think we would both agree aaron jones is a nice player you're obviously on record about running back contracts not being a good investment we know that part of it if you're going to sign a running back aaron jones isn't a bad choice but

what they basically did now is they basically threw away last year's draft yes and they threw away free agency this year um at least in terms of marquee guys because they drafted a quarterback and running back last year and they're both going to be backups next year in the in the first two slots uh you know they still have to address the secondary why not get out there like why weren't they in the will fuller conversation why weren't they in the curtis samuel conversation kenny galladay like you weren't they in the will fuller conversation why weren't they in the curtis samuel conversation kenny galladay like you don't think kenny galladay would be a good target for aaron rogers like what are we doing why not go with the cheap running back why not keep jamal williams and and run with aj dylan on cheap deals and give aaron rogers some help and

fix that secondary like what are we doing? It's a good question. The Packers just never seem to want to spend, and they did a couple years ago with those defensive ends, right, the Smith brothers. Otherwise, they don't spend a lot of money for agency. And they're going to try to run it back with, you know, with kind of the same crew they had last year and add some more in the draft.

The Aaron Jones sign was interesting because that offense produces running backs no matter what. Like, I don't really, I just don't get, and you know, A.J. Dillon signing last year. They basically wasted last year's draft. Jordan Love and A.J. Dillon, first round, second round. It seems silly.

But again, the NFC North, who's going to beat them? The Vikings aren't, the Bears aren't, the Lions aren't. No, no. That division really did not take a step forward. But the Packers just were such a head scratcher. I mean, the other two for me that were head scratchers are the Steelers and the Seahawks. They're just stuck in their ways.

They're just stuck in their ways, man. They're just stuck. And it feels to me like looking at these teams where it's like, who do you feel the best about today? And some of these teams that we're like who do you feel the best about today like and some of these teams that we're so used to saying for years are going to start to take a back seat i think like the saints like are we feeling great about the saints like the titans they're derrick henry sprained ankle away from not even being in the conversation in the afc south like you know the patriots obviously

maybe some people like what they're doing but some of these teams seahawks like they're fading and we're gonna have to start to see some of these other teams step up and take some of these i think they get in the in the in the point in the kind of the spot where they're just kind of like old and stuck in their ways and they're not they're not willing to do the changes necessary i mean you basically it's hard to rebuild on the fly in the NFL. And you kind of have to be bad. And it's hard to accept being bad, right, for if you're the Seahawks or the Steelers. So they're kind of in stuck spots.

Looking at the Seahawks and the NFC West. Oh, by the way, let's go to the NFC East real quick before we get to the NFC West. Dallas is the favorite, minus one of the five. Oh, by the way, let's go to the NFC East real quick before we get to the NFC West. Dallas is the favorite, minus one of the five. Washington plus 280. The Giants plus 500. Eagles plus 500. The Washington football team's

the value here, plus 280, right? 100%. Yeah. 100%. Actually, you know what? I might actually bet that right now. I don't really...

We're probably not going to get better odds than that, right? I don't think so. They have... I was thinking about this. They have the best coach in the division, best coaching better odds than that, right? I don't think so. I was thinking about this. They have the best coach in the division, best coaching staff in the division, right? They've got the second best quarterback in the division, and they've got the best defense in the division,

and they're either in the number one or number two in every position group, I think. You could go down the list. I think they're the class of that division it's just i think people are worried about i'm gonna go see if they have i might put some uh here we go nfc divisional odds i'm gonna put a little dough on that right now oh the other i'm using fandles numbers we're not sponsored by anyone the other book i have other one i use an offshore plus 350 for Washington. Nice.

Yeah, jump on it, man. I think, I mean, it's funny. Like, some of these divisions, the NFC West is kind of a fun one to think about. Like, the Rams, I'm looking at DraftKings. They've got the Rams plus 180 as the favorite with Stafford. I mean, that team is such a mystery to me going into next season. Like, they could be awesome or they could be terrible.

I'm not sure. The NFC West is like a stay away right now for me as far as who I think is going to win. They're the only division that is even up for grabs according to the odds. The NFC East and the NFC West are the only ones with minus money favorites or plus money favorites. I mean, the South is Tampa Bay, New Orleans.

Carolina might be a little worth a dabble at plus 700. But New Orleans right now, I mean, we're rolling with Winston. Or Taysom. You know what, Matt? We've had a good podcast. We've been going now for near 40 minutes. We're not going to talk about him. We've had a good podcast.

We're just not going to do it. We're not going to do it. Any last've had a good podcast. We're just not going to do it. We're not going to do it. Any last thoughts on Freight Agency so far? I don't think so. I mean, there's lots of teams that had really confusing signings, but I think we put this in a good spot. Any last teams or players you want to watch

the next couple of weeks? Well, the teams that, like I said, the teams that still need left tackles, like the Colts, like they haven't done anything yet. The Seahawks need offensive linemen. You know, where are they going? What are they doing with those positions?

You mentioned, you know, the defensive ends and corners. There's plenty of great places to upgrade. So I'm curious that the teams now that normally spend in phase two will go out and do so. That's a good one.'s a good that's a good point i actually do have one more thing to think about is sam darnold and the jets like the jets have had a pretty strange offseason i think they've signed a lot of

polarizing guys like cory davis you either like that signing or you're not a fan like jared davis is another one uh samold, it's like everyone was talking. They're like, oh, he could get a first or a second coming up into the draft. I think they might keep him. I think maybe they should. And if you draft that kid from Oregon and protect him, maybe he'll turn into something.

Who knows? Yeah. Panay Sewell would be very welcome. I just did my thing last week with those guys to film for my show, man. Penae's a very impressive human, so that would be sweet. If they could do that, that would be great. And you'll get Makai Becton and you have Penae Sewell at your tackles. You're pretty set there.

That would be pretty good. All right, guys. We knocked it out. We did a Tuesday show. We're going to come back on the interview this week. We're, as usual, going to start grabbing interviews. You guys got good feedback on the Robert Mays and Mina Kimes interview, so I'm glad you guys

enjoyed those, and we'll be back later this week. Take care, everyone.