Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Rodgers to Giants? Free Agency Predictions, Combine Gossip

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

Geoff and Matt dig into the rumor mill around the start of NFL free agency, the QB carousel, and (probably) hotel furniture.Listen to us on Cooler and subscribe to Pine sports using promo code "Geoff" for 50% off!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It is Friday, March 7th. I'm Jeff Schwartz. That is Matt for this. Jeff Schwartz is smarter than you. It is a post combine into free agency recap show. I went to Indianapolis to talk about the news and notes of Indy Plus as we head to the league year next year, plenty of transactions around the National Football League,

some big ones, some little ones, some teams at a stalemate. And Matt before you get going here, if you're watching on social media on on YouTube, and my head peers up, I have a TV above my computer screen. And I do this because I do some radio sometimes, Matt. You don't have to watch the games, I have to be on camera at the same time.

So I sort of, I need a TV like sort of above my, but nonetheless, it is Tuesday, it's Friday, March 7th, as I said. There are conference championship weekends right now for like the mid-majors. And the Missouri Valley Conference, the unders are like 65% in the last 10 years, Matt. So I auto-wager on the Missouri Valley Conference

under three and one yesterday. The first game is happening right now, a total of like 128, like a tiny total. And so if you see my head pop up, it's for that reason, I'm looking at the score. And then also I did win two college, women's college basketball wagers already today, which is nice.

So I already have a little bit of money in the bank here as we head to the rest of our Friday wagering board. Unbelievable. I mean, it's not even noon Pacific and you're like, you're on wager number three today. I'm impressed, man. I'm impressed. It was a rough day, rough 36.

I got hooked four times in college basketball. College basketball can be quite an experience. I don't know if you wager on college basketball, Matt. You're Maryland Terrapin's big win the other day at Michigan. Then look, Maryland is a team where people are like, hey man, they might have a deep run in the post season. They really could. They really could.

No depth though. Just can't, you can't have a team with no depth. But some, but they're huge. Two centers, Angel Reese's brother, they're Queens the man. He's a freshman, right? Is he a freshman? Yeah.

Do you watch all the Maryland basketball? I don't watch all of it, but I do watch some of it. I watch- The game the other night said there was their first bench point in like a month. Yeah. It's like, yeah, can't win a tournament that way.

I'm gonna give you one more college basketball take before we get to the football. I'm new to the Big 10, right? Oregon's the Big 10 now. So first year watching Big 10 basketball. I see why this conference sucks in the football. I'm new to the Big 10, right? Oregon's the Big 10 now. So first year watching Big 10 basketball. I see why this conference sucks in the tournament. And I cannot wait to wager against Michigan, against all these teams that just,

so when you watch like Auburn, Duke, now these are the top of the top of course, right? Watch SSE teams play. We watch Houston, Iowa State, BYU, I mean, not going to championship, but just watch their offense. They like go to the rim to make plays. The big 10 is just a bunch of big dudes that stand around.

They have emotion off it. They take a terrible mid-range two, like a jump hook. You're like, yeah, sometimes that's okay. But like get to the rim, cause, con get fouled get two foul shots like you know You go through such a way they can't score Or get the same problem like just go to the rim Try to get fouled try to get two points try to get a free shot. They don't do any of that ever it's so frustrating to watch that bass when you put on like last the other night, Michigan, Maryland was on and

Florida Alabama was not the same time two different sports on at the same time. Two different sports. Not the same sport being played, but either of those teams. So that's my Big Ten basketball team. I can't wait to fade almost all of them in the postseason. Alabama's a fun team. Yeah, they're playing no defense though.

They're still playing defense. They're going to, Alburn by the way, minus eight and a half tomorrow gets Alabama at home. I will take Alburn minus eight and a half. So there's our college basketball talk. Let's get into what you're here for if you're still here. I hope you're still here. Rate, review, subscribe, by the way.

We really appreciate it. We can take all the subscriptions and reviews that we can. So we might be trying to piece this thing out somewhere next year. So we'll still have Matt and I doing it, I think. But hopefully, you know, it's presented by someone. Presented by, it could be presented by Pine Sports, by the way, Pine Sports, Pine-Sports, Jackson 2.0,

I've been using it a lot, Matt, for player props, for NBA and NHL to back up some research. I do some other radio shows, and one of them was First Basket Scorer, okay? First Basket Scorer, right, a segment. So I went to old Pine Sports Jackson, right? Fire it up. I said Celtics first basket scorer.

It gave me like poor Zingus was like 28% of the time. He's their first basket scorer. And who to wager on for that exact wager. So it's a great tool to use outside of football season. Pine-sports.com promo code Jeff, 50% off. Brand new Jackson, they redid their website. I've used them a lot, buddy. I use them for NHL props, to look up some stuff,

some research in MBAs I mentioned, great tool to have. Yeah, this Jackson thing is, if you've not spent a lot of time with us lately, it's essentially just a chat GPT for betting. It's insane. I just put in, give me a strong, give me a college basketball play tonight. And it recommended the Purdue Illinois over.

That makes two good offensive teams. That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Over 159, which is a pretty low total. South Florida at Memphis plus 13 and a half. Like they, it's really interesting. South Florida is a good play tonight, by the way. That's actually not a bad one. Memphis clinched the American championship,

British championship. They had nothing to play for it tonight. Interesting. Well, thanks to our friends at Pine Sports. Jeff, let's talk a little bit about the big story today is this rumor that is just so, so nice and tasty. Aaron Rodgers might be staying in the same stadium. The rumor is that him and the Giants

are getting closer and closer to a contract. I have a lot of thoughts on this, Jeff. So obviously this is gonna work out great for both sides, right? Oh, it would be terrible for everyone involved, but it's gonna happen. The Giants need a quarterback, Matt, in the worst way, right? We know that they tried to trade for Matt Stafford.

The Rams smartly said no, so did Matt Stafford. There's rumors about them going up to number one for Cam Ward. They might go number one for Cam Ward, even if they get Aaron Rodgers. But look at the free agent market. You're not getting Sam Darnold, right? You're not getting Sam Darnold.

Aaron Rodgers is the best option available. He's not a bad quarterback. Comes with baggage though, right? Older player. So that is the concern, I think, there. And he doesn't fit a giant. Like the giant way, whatever you wanna call that is, quotes, that's not really Aaron Rodgers, per se.

They would probably limit some of the media things that he does, but he is not, he's not a bad option. I will tell you the other choice, and we'll talk about it in Rodgers, but like if Kurt Cousins gets released, that's the Giants quarterback. Okay, go on. Well, they'll pay him nothing

because Atlanta will pay his salary. It'd be the Russell Wilson thing, right? To see it to Pittsburgh. You cut him, Atlanta eats a salary and the Giants have a quarterback. Now at that point, they might stay at three and draft Travis Hunter or dual Carter or someone else. But Cousins to me is the one where if they can get to a point where Falcons release him,

cause look, the way this off season works, the next couple of days, I should say, not off season, there's two essential stories that come out, right, Matt? There's X team that's like comfortable with the player, but also maybe would trade the player. Like, but from the team side, the team side, that means they're okay cutting that guy. They're throwing that name out there,

and they're hoping a team takes the bait. Christian Kirk, Texas took the bait. Devonte Adams, no one took the bait, right? The Jets released him. Hargrave, the Niners released Hargrave. The other one is the player wants a trade. DK Metcalf, Miles Garrett, Matt Stafford. And in those situations, the teams say,

hey, go seek a trade or go seek compensation, come back to us and we'll discuss compensation. So DK Metcalfe, who wants to be traded supposedly, the Seattle said, go find a trade, come back to us. He wants to be traded and get paid. So for them, they're like, well, bring us back what the trade and the pay would be and we'll see if we want to trade and pay you.

So they're two different situations, right? And for the cousins one where they're like, well, yeah, we're fine paying him. I don't know, that's code I think for like someone please trade for Cook Grill. Like we're not, they're not paying him $30 million to be a backup, I'll put it like that. So I think he can be an option for the Giants.

But let's just talk about Aaron Rodgers right now. It absolutely would not work whatsoever. But the Giants are trying to save their jobs. I mean, Joe Shane and David are going to be fired if they can't win this season. Yeah. I mean, look, I think, the Cousins thing is interesting. I kind of feel like the Giants are in this,

hawk themselves into they can be good again. The quarterback was just the problem last year. Like look at all the assets on the team. Like they're, they were able to convince ownership, the front office and coaching staff that they still deserved an opportunity. So if they, if they bought that argument, then it's like, cool, so go get the quarterback.

I think that Aaron Rodgers still, despite being older and, I mean, I guess maybe worse than Cuzzles last year, like is probably a little bit more appetizing to the Giants because if like someone could reclaim the magic, I guess it'd be him. But Jeff, I, Sam, if I could have a single camera here, I wanna just, I just wanna say something to the Giants. Giants, please do this.

Please, sign Aaron Rodgers. Please do it. It will be the highest comedy I could ever fathom. You're gonna have a quarterback who already sucked in the same stadium with a team that was better, with a team that had a similar amount of pressure, now it's just going to move over all of the tension that Rodgers has brought to the New York area,

and those fans is going to stay. It's going to be the highest comedy if he's going to run this back with the giants of all teams. And Jeff, if there's one thing that we both know about each other, it's that we like to sit back and just watch things unfold in front of us. Like from the perspective of almost being in like a plush, comfortable chair, sort of looking on to the action happening at another point of the room, perhaps maybe in a hotel type of scenario, if you're catching my drift.

So I just want to sit back in a chair and just observe the sort of mayhem in front of me that will happen if Aaron Rodgers goes to the Giants. You and Sam have ruined my TikTok algorithm by the way. I don't appreciate it. I searched one time for a certain chair in a hotel and then you get beds in a hotel, you get tables in a hotel.

I went to a hotel, I'm going back to a hotel next week. Oh, I'm gonna be on First Things First next week, by the way, with Luke Bryan. That's gonna come out on Friday, Thursday to Friday. So I'll be in New York. So yeah, I'm gonna have to see those chairs in New York, just chairs everywhere. As a Commanders fan, I would imagine have to see those chairs in New York, just chairs everywhere. As a commanders fan, I would imagine

this makes you very happy. It does, but like the Giants have been just pathetic. And for them to be like, you know what, like this whole division, we've got the Super Bowl champs, we've got the ascending young quarterback, we'll get Aaron Rodgers. That's our way to counter all this stuff out. It's just so hilarious.

They've been just a travesty of a team since, basically since you were there. I mean, I was part of the push to rebuild the offensive line. It's still happening 12 years later. Yeah, two first round picks invested in there. Just to remain the offensive line, yeah. Yeah, so yeah, ever since, you were there for the Boatgate season.

That was it. That was the last good season. Oh no, I was gone. That was my first year out of the Giants. That was 2016, they went to the playoffs that year, right? That was the Boatgate, and then lost, yeah, that was 2016. I was there 14 and 15. Then Kauffman got fired, and McAdoo was hired.

He was my OC though, but yes. I mean, look, it's been bad for a long time. I think training up to one is a real legit possibility for them, Matt. I'm curious, obviously, like what that looks like, the compensation and if they actually do that. But they're about even money right now to draft, them and Tennessee draft number one.

And they have the third pick. And it's a draft where there's no, I just like, there's no Andrew Luck, right? Generational talent, there's no Caleb Williams. Where tights are probably like, let's trade back, we'll get a bunch of good football. We're not one quarterback away from being good. So let's just trade back.

Let's get Travis Hunter at three, or Abdul Carter, like someone at three, right? I can see that certainly being the case. So I'm curious if the Giants just pull the trigger on that. And they might do that and sign Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins. Yeah, I could see it with Cousins with Rodgers. I feel like he needs to be the only show in town,

which is the reason why I'm so curious about this. He's not a mentor, correct. I think so, you know, you were at the combine, there's been a lot of talk about Ward and really about Sanders. Sanders, I feel like Shader Sanders has been falling, I feel like in the last couple of weeks. I think it's a good time maybe if you're betting

on draft position to maybe buy low on that because I don't think that's gonna be a case. Sanders is not going one overall, I think. No, he's not going one. But I think there's not a lot of markets out, Matt. I love to be, there's no over under market. There's no yes, no markets, right? It's just a one way market right now.

I mean, Sanders could go two, he could go six, he could go 21. I mean, Dave Brugler, who we've had on before, I think a couple years ago, he has him at 21, I think, to Pittsburgh, which I mean, going back to the well, Pittsburgh well is so funny to me. But the Sanders thing is interesting.

That's funny. You know, the Sanders thing is interesting. He makes some incredible throws and then makes some horrendous, not horrendous throws, not the right word, bad decision, put it like that. But Matt, this is the hardest part about all the evaluations of all these quarterbacks is that the offense they play in,

his offense is such garbage. It is so bad. The scheme is terrible. There's no protection. They do not run the football. And he's just skinnish in the pocket because he has to be. He goes into every game thinking,

I'm gonna get myself killed. So you put him with a good offense line in the NFL and does he immediately become good? Now, his physical gifts are not the same as Cam Ward. He's not a strong, darn quarterback. His arm is not great. It's good, not like, not elite. He doesn't, he's not a great athlete.

He's a good enough athlete, but he's gonna get hawked from behind constantly. He's more just of the straight pocket guy. And I think teams, the attitude is being brought up, right? Which I think is unfair because he's Deon's kid. Like, of course he's gonna be a little bit of, you know, have a little bit of arrogance. But I like that in a quarterback.

I want my quarterback to be a little arrogant. I want the best player to have a little arrogance. But are you a good teammate? And no one said he's not a good teammate at Colorado, at least not yet. We might find out. And yet some teams are gonna like that. They're gonna say, that's too brash for me.

That's too much for me. And some of them say, who cares? Who cares? Now, I'm gonna have other quarterbacks that have been like, I don't even think he's that brash, Matt. I don't even know what, he just comes off arrogant sometimes, which I get. He's been around wealth his whole life and he's sort of gone everything he wanted,

but he's also earned it. Like he got his butt kicked to Colorado, man. So I'm just, this is a long way to say like, I'm sort of 50-50 on Sanders. I, the attitude stuff doesn't bother me. Who cares? Like whatever, can you play quarterback? Can you be a leader?

Either some good traits, some bad traits, put him in a good offense, good offensive line. The good traits should flourish, but is he like a generational prospect? The answer is no. I think there's no chance that Sanders makes it past the Raiders at six. I think that's a perfect fit for all the reasons.

All the things that are kind of maybe viewed as negative or things about him that maybe are seen a little rough around the edges perhaps are great fit for the Raiders. They need an alpha on the offensive side in that locker room. And I just gotta say like, to go back to the cam ward thing, cam ward better go number one. And it's not because I'm some huge cam ward believer, but even in these classes where the quarterback,

there isn't an obvious quarterback who goes number one. Like if you're picking, if you're the Titans, I get if you're further away than a decent quarterback from being relevant, but you have to have one. And if you're picking first in the draft, if you have the chance to get the best quarterback in the class, you have to take the swing.

I don't see any value in picking, you know, Abdul Carter, who's already got an injury issue, Travis Hunter, who is an awesome player, but like, you're gonna have to kind of figure out what he is, like he's a unique challenge. And then even if you just like look back in draft history, any of these, we sometimes assume that you're either taking a risk on a quarterback

or you're taking a sure thing at another position. And basically with the exception of Miles Garrett, if you go back really until Orlando pace in 97, like all of the top players who aren't quarterbacks were picked really high like at number one, like Courtney Brown, Mario Williams, Jake Long, Eric Fisher, Jadavia and Clowney, Trayvon Walker, like none of those guys really impacted their teams all that much.

You could quibble with me on a few of them, but I think if your worst case scenario is like a Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray, like you have to take one of those guys. It at least gives you something to build off of and you never know. And Ken Ward's one of those guys, he kind of has the Jayden Daniels story of like,

well, he came from here and he transferred and he got better and he was in college for a really long time. And then he had a really good senior, super senior year. Like there's something there. So it's like, what are your choices? If you're the Titans, you're gonna sign Sam Darnold for $30 million and draft like a good defensive end

or you can just get the best quarterback. If you stay at one, you're certainly taking Cam Ward. If you trade out, I wouldn't hate a trade out. But if you- It depends what you get. Well, if you can go to three and get Travis Hunter, I think that's a good deal. Because Travis Hunter is the best player in the draft.

Sure, but like, okay, what does a great corner get you? Like- You know, the thing about Tennessee that I think is for them, like, you're not a quarterback away from being good. And like, you can- You're not a corner away either. good. And like, you can just- You're not a quarter away either. You're just lots of players away.

Like you need lots of players. And that's why I think like, if you trade back and get a bunch of draft picks and say, okay, we're gonna sign a veteran and just, you know, we'll be a quarterback next year. Like I could see that being a palatable decision for them. I get it, but I'm one, like, you can always be picking high in the drafts

and obviously having the first pick doesn't always mean that you get the best quarterback. Last year was a good example, but I think that when you get that number one pick, you're in the driver's seat and you get this really rare opportunity to say, we're going to take the best rookie quarterback. And it's more valuable than saying, well, next year, you know, we're

going to get the giants first rounder and we're going to have our first rounder. So maybe then we'll have the chance that the quarterback in a better class. That's like, sometimes you just, it's so easy to just kick the can down the road. Like at some point you just got to start. And I think if you believe in Kamler, if you think Kamler sucks, then don't do it and trade out of the pick and get, get somebody who you think is good. But I just don't, I think there's something so valuable

about being in that one spot that if you, if you're there, you just gotta do it. Like it's, you shouldn't even think about it. Just take the best quarterback you can. That's my take. I do not disagree with that. All right. Enough quarterback talk.

If you, if you are listening to this show, you care a little bit about the Chiefs or offensive line play. So you had a nice video about the Joe Tooney trade. He goes to Chicago to protect Keel Williams. Interesting move for them. They've already made two acquisitions on the offensive line.

But obviously this is a big deal for the Chiefs. So curious if you can summarize your take on that. So Joe Chune, all pro left guard, played a little of tackle this year as we know because of injury. He ended up being traded to the Bears. And the thing that's striking originally, and we're gonna see this throughout this time of year,

is he got, he was traded for a 2026 fourth round pick. Not this year. He was traded for a 2026 fourth round pick, not this year. The players are never worth what you think as a fan. So we'll do the bears perspective first. Ben Johnson was in Detroit. Matt, what did Detroit have? The best offensive line. So he said, we need that in Detroit, I mean in Chicago.

God Jonah Jackson, who he saw he played with in detroit Gets joe toony now what joe toony brings to this team Is almost immeasurable, but let's talk about it professionalism, right work ethic toughness like the things that This team i'm not saying they haven't had But they haven't had a winner like him. They haven't had a player like this who's won four Super Bowls,

two with New England, I believe, and two with the Chiefs. Like a legit winner, man. And even if he plays two years, he's a little bit older, those two years are gonna be so valuable for the rest of the offensive line, for Caleb Williams, for Ben Johnson,

to have that guy in the locker room. So I like this deal a lot for the Bears. I like Jonah Jackson. Like it's smart to build this way. Kansas City. So the reason I thought Trey Smith would never get tagged, the right guard, is they were not gonna pay Joe Tooney, Creed Humphrey, and Joanne Taylor. Too many guys to pay, okay?

Excuse me, that's three they paid. I think Trey Smith would have been four. Too many guys, right? Matt, you cannot play four offensive linemen with the holes they have on their roster. So I thought they've never tagged Trey because Tooney would be there. Well, now that Tooney's gone, I get why they tagged Trey.

It makes sense, right? They're gonna keep Trey Smith. He's the guy that they're gonna build around. He's young. He's not cheaper, but he's young. And you drafted, developed him. And I've talked about this for weeks now. They have to play the players they've drafted.

Kingsley Sumatia was drafted second round last season. He moved inside the guard last year. I imagine he's the first opportunity to play left guard this year. Got a final left tackle, but they just went younger, man. Like this is part of football. You'd rather get rid of a player one year too early, Mac than one year too late.

They feel like what the Chiefs are doing doing with the Patriots did for so many freaking years dude and they're doing that again now so I like do I like a player like like Joe Toody walking out the door no right I want that guy to be there for a long time but I understand what the chiefs were thinking they don't want to pay my other contract but let the Bears do that so in the end I sort of like what the Chiefs did. Gotta get younger in some positions. You gotta use that money elsewhere. So it does make sense.

It's funny. I mean, this kind of goes back to the take I just had about Kim Ward. So you said something about Saquon Barkley on Twitter the other day where you said, you had sort of been, your about running backs, not having a lot of value was disproven by Saquon Barkley. Obviously he was like a critical missing piece for Philly.

But then you said in your tweet, but Saquon's value to Philly is way more than Saquon's value to the giants, right? Because the giants wouldn't have won the Superbowl. Obviously Barkley was there. And I kind of feel that's the case with Tooney here, where he comes to the Bears who have not had a good offensive line, I don't think in my life, like honestly, like when's the last time you thought of that

as like a top five offensive line? I can't remember it. Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah. Shout out all in fruits 99 in Madden for a while. But yeah, I think that for them, the bears to go back to the camp ward thing, they have this luxury that Washington and New England have too, of you can go get some pricey veterans because you have your quarterback for cheap.

So they're a perfect fit to take a swing like Washington did with the Evo Samuel. Like New England's going to do with a hundred high price free agents of like, let's go get some veterans who are a little bit more expensive because we can actually afford them. Like it's not like the Chiefs didn't want to keep Tooney, but like this is what happens, right? Like you win the Super Bowl, you go to the Super Bowl every year, you're not going to be able to keep everybody.

They made the choice to get younger. They drafted that guy in the second round over whatever last year. Like they're gonna have to play those guys. So I just think that it sort of reinforces my argument that you have to take a quarterback when you can in the draft because it gives you the chance to improve quickly with guys who are awesome.

You can get for pretty cheap a fourth round pick next year. Like, of course the Bears should have done that. Well, look, certainly the building around the young quarterback is a huge bonus anytime you can do it, absolutely. And that's why teams like Jay, the commander should absolutely load up this off season on guys.

The Debo trade, he's not a great one, Matt, but I think if he's a two or a three, he's in a much better position. And that's why he will be in Washington. Like that's a much better, like when, when Brenna Ayuk went out, he was supposed to be the one, and Joanne Jennings honestly was the one. And like, so the Niners are like,

yeah, we're just not paying all this money to be a two. But Washington has the money to do so. So why not, right? It makes sense for them to load up on, on talent like that. Yeah, I'm curious, look, free agency is really interesting Matt, as we get to free agency, because the winners of free agency each year,

that player's like gone in two years, man. Like, Javon Hargrave, like it was like the huge sign for the Niners, one year later, gone. Christian Kirk, huge signing, two years later, gone. The list of free agents is not grand. It's not a good, it's not like a list of difference makers. Now, I take it back. It's not a list of difference makers

that you're paying the top dollar at that position to. It's a list of difference makers. If again, to the Berkeley point, if you add them to a team that needs one missing piece. So trading for players, drafting, developing, and paying players, I think is the better way to way to go now, and sort of roster building. Look, Frigency can change, obviously, we'll see some more cuts, maybe Cousins is free, who knows?

But there's other ways, I think, for teams to get better that doesn't include spending money in Frigency. And what's funny about saying that is, the Chiefs have hit home runs with big ticket guys in Frigency. Joe Tooney, Mitchell Schwartz, Teron Matthew, Justin Reed. Like they've actually been the team that has done that. I mean, Eagles have done it, but with lower guys, right? Like Zach bought one year deal, $9 million.

They hit a home run with Seguin, of course. Derek Henry, $9 million for the Ravens. Like there are home runs to be hit. It's just often very rare. Yeah, I mean, Derek Henry, David Montgomery, I think comes to mind. Like these sort of like middle tier ones end up being the ones that really make a difference.

It's the commander's model, right? Yeah, Bobby Wagner. It's what the commanders have done, yes. Yeah, I think that will end up being what they do this season. Real quickly on the Debo thing, because of course I have an opinion about that. I think, um, I felt like that trade kind of got judged as if it was the only move

they were going to make this off season. And it's like, well, they don't have their wide receiver room now is McLaurin and Luke McCaffrey and Debo. Like that's not going to be the end of it. I think they're going probably to draft. If Luther Burden falls to them or that kid from Ohio State falls to them at the end of the first, like I think they're probably,

that's probably where they would go. And they're going to do more stuff on the offensive side of the ball. There's going to be new players there. So I felt like people were sort of like, well, Debo and McLaurin, like that's not exactly like, you know, Jefferson and Addison. And it of like, well, Debo and McLaurin, like that's not exactly like, you know, Jefferson and Addison.

And it's like, no, but also like, that's not the only point of having Debo Samuel. You traded a fifth round pick. They got a third round pick back for Johan Dotson, who stinks. Like it's a good trade. Like I feel good about the move and it's not like the off season's over.

I love how much you are probably just like commander's message board on Reddit. Just like full off season. Just like scouring the free agent rankings. You probably never pay attention to, like our mock draft this year is gonna be so much better as you've been studying the wide receivers. It's nice to have a team that cares, right?

That's it. It's really nice. And it's also nice to have a nice entry point into NFL. I will say, when I was younger, the Washington fans thought they were gonna get everyone in free agency because they did. And it was just like, oh, Albert Hainsworth, bet we're gonna get him.

Oh, that was bad, yeah. But it was that era where it was just like, Oh, Albert hands worth, but we're going to get him. But it was that era where it was like Dion and, uh, you know, tons of offensive linemen every year, like they just, they went and bought, you know, Freedans all the time. It's kind of back. Every time I open Twitter, it's like this guy, like Christian Kirk is commander written all over him because Cliff Kingsbury said something nice about him once it's like, just everyone, like everyone relaxed, but every team

is like that. It's just so relax. But every team is like that. It's just so funny. Like every team, it's, it's just so funny with the fans now, but I don't know. I think, I think I've been really interested in the wide receiver position sort of generally. Like you have, there are so many guys talk about like some people are more valuable to teams than, than others.

I think there's such an inefficiency now, if you're a good team trying to add a receiver, like Tyler Lockett's just sitting out there now, like, yeah, you can go trade for DK Metcalf, Tavante Adams is just gonna go wherever Rogers goes probably. But like these veteran receivers, like Cup and Lockett, and you can probably get a you now like all these guys are are available and then there's going to be new guys in the draft.

And I just feel like if you're a good team, like a team like the Chiefs could so easily. They did it last year, right with Hollywood and Hopkins like they can forever just sort of play this short term of, can we just add one of these guys? Right? Like Tyler Lockett's got another year or two left in him. Like, why couldn't he go play for, I don't know, Baltimore or somebody? Like you can just sign a guy like that up, even though he doesn't necessarily have value

to Seattle now. So I think like the receiver position is so flush with talent that you can, if you're a good team, you can really play that to your advantage. Absolutely. I agree. I'm excited for you can, if you're a good team, you can really play that to your advantage. Absolutely. I agree. I'm excited for you though, to experience like this full-fledged, fragency thing.

And like, it's been a lot of fun. It will be a lot of fun for you. All right, buddy, what do we got next year? Well, I wanted to talk a little bit about, you tweeted something about DK will not come to Kansas City. No, no, no. I agree with you. They're not gonna trade draft picks for that.

But I guess like, why not? And also then where do you think he's gonna go and who should trade for him? I was mostly, should I start RG3 tweeting stuff like the chief should go all in for Trent Williams. You're like, what are you talking about, bro? Like he just, okay. The Chiefs have six draft picks this year, Matt.

They have holes to fill in their team. DK Metcalfe traded a single piece for him and then paying him. You have other problems on your team. You also have Ray Shee Rice, Xavier Worthy. You can assign a second or third tier veteran. You have Travis Kelsey, you have Noah Gray, like you have Watson, like you have other players.

They're trading an asset for DK Metcalf and then paying, he wants to be paid too. It's just not how you build a team, Matt. That's not a winning build for your football team. And that's my point, is like, you just do not winning football games long-term, trading for a 29 year old wide receiver and then giving them the big contract

when that's not your problem. Your problem isn't wide receiver. Yeah, I think, look, I think their model of how they did it with Hollywood and Hopkins is probably the right way to do it. I can see that. Hopkins got old fast. I'll tell you that though. Yeah.

I mean, that was, that was a shame, but you know, I think that's probably what they'll end up doing, but I don't, I'm curious though, if you think like, to me, there there's like two teams that should really be thinking about Mac F and it's it's Baltimore and Buffalo. And I know Buffalo just played page secure. Yeah, but you need more than one. Yeah. And but like for those kinds of teams. Like how much longer are you just going to wait?

Like, I just feel like some of these teams just get satisfied with what they have. You know, Buffalo can just tell themselves like, you know what? Like we're close. We, you know, it could be this. It could be at like at what point you know, it could be this, it could be that, like at what point, you see that the Eagles did this and the Lions have done this, and the 49ers have done this, where they've just sort of like loaded beyond the point

that even feels reasonable, where you're like, wait, they also got so-and-so, like they also got AJ Brown, they also got Saquon Barkley, they also got Jameson Williams, like whatever that sort of luxury purchase is. Like I do feel like the teams that should be looking at someone like Metcalf are the ones that are a huge bodied wide receiver away.

Like imagine if Baltimore was just like, screw it, we're doing it. Well, this is the year we're gonna spend in free agency. We're gonna trade a second round for Metcalf. And then you're gonna have to deal with Derek Henry and DK Metcalf and Lamar Jackson, like good luck. I just, I feel like those teams should be the only market for him.

The Eagles, aren't the Eagles like the example of like, you can do all this if you want to? Yeah, and the 49ers were for a while. You can do it if you want to, you have to spend the cash. Yeah, the Rams, the Rams did it for like a year or two. And you know, the bill comes due, but like they got a Super it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,

it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,

it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,

it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,? Just on, on, on, on serious. Look, Buffalo, yes. Baltimore, yes. Chargers.

The Chargers are interesting. So I talked about it on the radio today. So like, I think that the second, it's the odds I think right now are Seattle Chargers Patriots, one, two, three, in that order of where he, where DK Metcalf ends up. Obviously Seattle stays in Seattle. I don't know if Harbaugh's gonna trade for a wide receiver.

Like, this is, so, you can get a wide receiver at any point in the draft now. They got one last season. Like, why trade a pick? You wanna get, go offense line-up for agency, Mackay-Beckton, like you need offensive lineman. Not a great draft for interior offensive lineman and not a great free agency class.

So spend your money there, show up the offensive line, and then go draft wide receivers. Well, you could be young there. We see it all the time. And then add a veteran. I'm not sure adding DK Metcalf for the money he's gonna want really changes what I think the Chargers want to be as a team. And they need a guy, obviously, like they can go up the field, like to get deep and catch a football.

But I don't know if they want to do that with trading a draft pick for Deacon and paying him. And it's fair. His production hasn't even really been there. He's one of those guys whose highlights kind of look better than his overall stats. So I think I agree. But I think for a team like Baltimore or somebody who is all in already, just do it.

You gotta put your chips in at some point. And I think that these teams that are just sort of like, yeah, you know, we're just gonna hang around and take our chance. Like there's a bunch of teams that sort of fit in that bucket. I think like the Packers to me kind of feel like one of those teams where it's like, yeah,

we're just good all the time and we'll just break through one year. It's like, you won't unless you really try to break through that ceiling. But yeah, I guess, I don't know, who's sort of, what team are you looking at this off season that you're sort of the most interested in what they're gonna do?

Let's put our two teams aside. But let's think about the Chiefs though. I thought the Chiefs were done. And then like Travis Kelce decides to come back and all of a sudden it's like they're now in, like they're back in. I thought they were, again, I've told you that, I thought they were sort of out.

I think with Reid and Mahomes, you're gonna be in no matter what. I think it's interesting though. Like if they win this year, like how much longer is Reed gonna do it? I think he is sort of the glue. And you know, it'll be interesting to see how Mahomes reacts to getting his ass kicked in the Superbowl again.

But yeah, look, I'm really curious, like there's some teams that I'm curious, like how they're going to handle, like obviously, like whatever Cincinnati is doing is kind of interesting, but like some of these teams that I can't really tell how they see themselves, like, like what about Denver? Like Denver is a team that like, do they feel like they're really close now? Do they feel like they have the right quarterback and they have the defense and now all they need are just some more playmakers. Like I think I could see them being a really interesting team this off season. Uh, the Texans already did something kind of interesting with, with Kirk,

like their window was Stroud. Like they've, they've really got to do it this year and next year. Um, they're a team that I think are really interesting one to watch. Uh, and I'm really interested in what Dallas is doing too. Like Dallas just made all this cap room with Lam and Prescott. They're gonna have to resign persons at some point, but like how close do they think they are?

Like I thought they were in sort of tear down mode, but like maybe they're not. So here, can I give you an interesting NFL storyline? It's not with a team, but something I saw today that I think would make it a lot of fun? So Dana Rossini tweeted out, the athletic insider, because this is the Dallas thing. Like, I think it could actually do anything.

So the Las Vegas Raiders are exploring veteran options on a veteran quarterback option on the free agent and trademark it for sources. That includes the possibility of trading for current starting quarterback. That changes a lot of some teams if one of the quarterbacks is obviously a guy we don't expect. Like that to me is fascinating.

What do you think that means? Well, who is that? Like, is it Dak? Like who's saying like we're outta here? Like are the Cowboys, again this is just conjecture, are the Cowboys really like new coach, Zack Martin retired, like are we moving on from Dak and starting over?

I don't know, is it possible? It's certainly possible, right? The one that's been on my radar is Kyler, because I feel like that team in Arizona is just like, his contract is difficult to move, but everyone's contract is difficult to move as a quarterback. That team has just sort of been in limbo forever,

and I feel like Kyler in a different place could maybe, maybe Excel. I could see him in a Chip Kelly offense doing well, but he's the only one like Dak, I feel like is, you know, maybe with the, with the new contract would be easier to move, but like, that's the only sort of like out there starting quarterback that I think could really benefit from a reset.

Trying to think if there's someone else out there. I mean, Dr. Richardson maybe. Yeah, but the Raiders, I can't imagine the Raiders are doing that, right? That'd feel like a Pete Carroll. Oh, I mean, Gino. Gino with Pete Carroll, I guess. Did he coach him in Seattle?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cause it's just one year, he's one year removed. Yeah, I forgot. I yeah. Cause it's just one year he's one year removed. Yeah, I forgot. He's, I felt he's much older than that. He's one year removed. Yeah, I don't, yeah, that could be Gino, I guess. But then what does Seattle do?

Like they weren't bad last season, right? So like what do they do? What do they do? I mean, they just cut their, you know, two of their top three receivers. They still have the same offensive line problems. Seattle, this is weird. I'm just like looking at standings

to figure out which quarterback this could be. Seattle last year was seven and one on the road and three and six at home. Isn't that strange? It's just shocking because it used to be the other way around. They were so good at home. Yeah, so random.

Any other just like sort of big picture thoughts? I mean, we're almost out of time here, but like Trey Hendrickson maybe got anything there? Hit my under and the Drake. Oh, congrats buddy. The Drake, the Illinois game, thank you. The Trey Hendrickson thing is just the Bengals being cheap. Right?

What's the other, oh, I know Bengals beat Ryder's like, oh, it makes sense that we're younger on defense. How can you afford to let your best defender go? I mean, this goes back to the same thing of like, when you have all these high priced guys, some, at some point the bill comes due, but Trey Hendrickson is going to be a very, very meaningful player next year for somebody.

Like somebody is going to trade for him and it's going to be, it's not going to be the Ravens, but of all the other teams that are like in that top eight, he's going to play for one of them. Like maybe it's probably like Detroit or elite or Washington. Detroit commanders, yeah, Detroit are commanders. Or Buffalo maybe. Like somebody's gonna figure it out.

I mean, Buffalo is, you know, the since you've had all traded them, but these guys, like, I don't know, there aren't that many people that make a big difference, you know, in free agency like we're talking about. I don't, okay, so here's the thing. The trade compensation is not gonna be much. I don't think it's gonna be much.

Yeah. So it's just about the money. Like the Chiefs are one where like, that makes sense. Yeah. Especially if you get a trade of 20. I don't think they traded there, but yeah. Especially if you get a trade of 20, 26 draft pick for him and then pay him like that.

So like there are, yeah, he will be meaningful for some teams, but the Bengals fans on Twitter, man, they act like they've won like so many championships. It's so funny, it's so interesting to watch. But they obviously have not. Can we give a brief maybe minute on the most out there fan bases on Twitter because I feel like there's some that I've noticed

that are just like completely out of pocket lately. You've mentioned the Bengals a lot. The Bears fans. Oh, they're wild. Oh my God. The Bears fans are like absolutely brutal. Like all that, they are fans are like absolutely brutal. Like all that, they are so negative all the time.

Like they're so full of hate. It's just amazing. They haven't had a 4,000 yard pass for the history of their franchise. That might be why. Maybe that's just, that's what happened. That's what it is. Which is funny because the big cats like

six out of 10 excited for the season. And that's like, he keeps repeating that. Two and on was bad for a while and they realized two is not good. That was bad for a while. I got into it with Titans fans for a while. So I have really slowed down on like the hot taking of teams and decisions.

I save it for the podcast or for radio or TV because there's just no point doing it on social media anymore, I get nothing from it, much angry people, I don't care about followers, I don't get jobs because of it, like it doesn't do any good to just say like, to be a hot take guy, now I believe everything I say,

so the hot take is not really, it's not really a hot take, but like it's just not worth arguing with people on social media, I just don't do it. I don't argue with people anymore. I do, however, I don't press end a lot of times for other topics. I'm just gonna be something that's gonna, I don't know what I'm gonna break my no political tweets

for the last seven years on social media. If something's gonna happen where I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna break, it might be when Stephen A is announced as a Democratic nominee. That might break me. Did you see the Stephen A LeBron thing last night? Yes, I did. So I have not watched Stephen A today,

not that I do anyways, but he's gonna address it on First Take and then on his podcast. Have you seen any clips of it yet? I've seen nothing. One of them sort of just like happened to me while I was on Twitter and I don't have anything to say. I mean, the gist of what I saw was he was sort of like, I was approached not by a basketball player, but by a father.

So I think whatever Lebron said seemed to have resonated with him, but that would be the non-cynical take of what Tits was. I just hate how like the smart shows are going away. And I guess that's what we don't want to watch anymore, right, like Around the Horn, PTI. PTI's still going, I think, right, but they keep threatening to get rid of it. Or is it PTI done now?

It probably won't be far behind. I mean, I think it's, yeah, around the horn, obviously. I'm talking ESPN shows. First things first is fantastic. It's like an actual show where people don't scream at each other. They're very knowledgeable about multiple sports and they have a good time.

Like I'm excited to be on the show next week. It's a really good show. And I'm not just saying that because I know Nick, but I think the, it's funny that the networks have kind of switched places in some ways. Like I think that, you know, people sort of saw Fox as this like blowhardy Yelly network because that's what they were sort of trying to build. And now all of a sudden, like ESPN has been kind of stripped down to McAfee and Stephen A and then on Fox, like there's some good stuff, like there's

some like really interesting people on there for obviously Colin, but like the facility's a good show with former players. Like there's like some really interesting people there having real conversations. And I think with, I think the around the horn thing is really, it feels like it's from a totally different time where it was like, yeah, we can just like put on

like local writers and they'll be interesting and good on their topics. And now like that seems so like fanciful, but I do think that there's a, I think we're gonna zag. I think we're gonna go, I mean, obviously like whatever's going on with TV, like TV's not gonna go away, but at some point there is going to be a market for substantive conversations that aren't takes, I think.

But we're not there right now. So, they're at least not on ESPN. We're surely not there. So, I'm making one, I'm making, I'm listening to you, I'm listening to you talk, I'm making one live wager right now. Okay, let's hear it. I'm a sicko.

So, Maryland is down 31 to six in women's college basketball. Really? Yeah, which I know it's like shocking, right? Like I'm taking them, they're plus 20 points. Like they're a ranked team. Like they're not, they're not gonna, what? And they're home. No, it's in the tournament.

Oh, it's the Big Ten tournament, got it. But still, like they shouldn't be, they're not losing by 25 points in the game. They're gonna come back. They're not a bad team. I'm asking my friend if we can bet it live right now. Plus 15 and a half. Hell yeah, I'm betting it live.

Just a small wager, not a lot. I'm not going crazy here. No, I'm just doing it. Not a great start, 27 to six. Come on, Coach Free, let's do a little better than that. It's a 31, 33, nine. Okay, well last question. Best conversation at the combine, who was it with?

I hung out, I went to an office, let's go to the office of line coaches, have like a luncheon. I went to the tail end of it. I got to hang out with like Hank Fraley, the line's office line coach, Kyle Bavan, the Bears' assistant office line coach. It was a lot of fun.

That was like, that's my jam. But I do see how the sausage gets made, Matt, because everyone just hangs out together. Like you go to a steakhouse and it's just GMs and front office people and media members and agents. Like I see how this all just gets made absolutely. Yeah, it's good that you were there. It's Super Bowl week is like everybody

and then the combine is like the real, it's like the, it gets whittled down a little bit. I've never been to the combine, which tells you a little bit about where I am in this business, but. I mean, you're welcome to come. More of a generalist. You're welcome to come hang out, yeah.

I need a good reason to go to Indianapolis in late February. Hang out with me. Meet commanders, front office people. I mean, I would love that. But you know, I guess if there's, I could maybe save on a hotel room. I could just sleep on the chair that's in your hotel room.

You absolutely could do that. Last thing, the parent corner idea is really good from Simmons, because I think as you get like kids, like you have more of these stories. My kid tonight is doing his play recital. He's been doing, practicing for like weeks and weeks and weeks. He's like an extra though,

but he's doing the play tonight. I'm looking forward to watching him. I think I told you about that he tried out for the play. So it's gonna be a lot of fun. What play is it? It's High School Musical Junior. A High School Musical Junior. But he's like an extra.

That's great. But he's the thing though. He said to me, dad, this is afterwards, because he was like, he didn't get a lead or nothing. I was like, are you having fun? He's like, ah, it's kind of boring, but I'm happy I did it. I wanna try something new.

That's what he said. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, good for'm happy I did it. I want to try something new. That's what he said. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, good for him. Okay, man, very cool. All right, anything else? I don't think so, man. I'm really looking forward to the next couple weeks. I'm meeting our friend Annie today in real life.

Oh, she's in Los Angeles? Are you in studio? I think so, next week. But just a hello today, I think. Send her your best. You probably won't be alone in that meeting. Maybe, I don't know. I hope so.

Maybe we can offline about that one. And yeah, I don't know. Things are good, man. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks. So we're gonna have so much stuff. I have like a hundred other things we could have talked about today and there's so much more to do.

We've gone long and I already talked for two hours today. So, all right, buddy. We'll end here. We'll do this next week. We have to pick a different day. So we can do a different time of the day maybe on Friday. We'll figure it out.

All right guys, have a good weekend. Talk to you guys later. Peace. See you buddy. See you. Thanks for watching!