NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2017 Combine Takeaways

Episode Date: March 3, 2017

A show jam packed with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling, Gregg Rosenthal, Kevin Patra AND Conor Orr – break down all the latest news from Combine week including trade rumors and whispers surrounding the quarterback market. Then, the herores check in on the free agency beat to discuss the release of several prominent veterans, and a couple huge new contracts. Plus, NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein drops by to give us some insight on the top college prospects as we get closer to the draft. Not to mention, a special appearance from “Good Morning Football’s” Kay Adams.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast is working on its mechanics with Tom House. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis and I am joined in a stadium filled with heroes. Kevin Patra, Connor, Connor, or Greg Rosenthal. And see, I could have. even do it right it's just so different than how we usually do it i'm dan hansis hello dan we're already screwing up this thing the nfl scouting combine uh is set uh to begin in fact it has right

the early stages it's off the rails already yeah there's been like 50 press conferences but no worries i mean the on field work uh no beautiful lucas oil stadium that has not started yet there's been some bench presses and whatnot i thought when you were going to say and you're going to talk about the other special guests coming up this show. It is a historic edition of the Iran and the NFL podcast sponsored, of course, by Mr. Flames economics class in the Hague, the Netherlands.

Mr. F. Because not only do we have the four horsemen here, we have from the studio in Culver City, we have Chris Wessling and Mark Sessler, who will jump in a little bit later in the show.

And then after Wes and Sess, the Kiss and Cous, the Kiss and Cousins, We'll have Lance Zerlein of NFL.com, one of the draft gurus, a man, Connor, or that we had a drink with at the Shula's bar at the Weston yesterday. He told us some great stories about Houston and New Orleans. You enjoyed those stories, didn't you, Connor? Yeah, they were my favorite. I did.

Connor making it clear he remembers nothing about this portion of the evening. Connor, by the way, again, I think we talked about this last year. This is Connor's favorite place in the world. If Sydney, back in L.A., it's Disneyland. For Connor, it's Indianapolis. And I just want to share a little, this is an actual bit of dialogue when I was walking today from the press conferences, which we're going to get to all the coaches and executives, to I think we were going to get lunch. Connor said to me, you know, what are the places, and this is going to sound crazy, but one of my favorite places to eat here in Indianapolis is that a Native American museum cafeteria, they have great chili and cornbread. A real thing you said.

How do you know that? My knowledge of this town runs deeper than anything, you know. So you were just there, you know, being a tourist and happened to stop at the cafeteria on the way out. Wanted some chili and, you know, everything ended up working out. And we got, yeah, and we, and Patra also was with us. Connor showed, again, we went to Patsies. Is that the name of the place? The pizza place.

Napoli. Napoli, excuse me. We went to, of course, the famous cigar bar. These are things that we check the box every time we come here. And then tonight, St. Elmo's, we get a nice steak, a little shrimp cocktail, and away we go. Might have a couple drinks, too. I'm going to miss it. Only a couple.

Yeah. You're going to miss Indianapolis? Like, you know when you arrive on vacation, you're like, it's already, it's almost over? Like, the second that I got here, I was like, I'm not going to get to be here for very long. Like, here's another true Indianapolis story with Connor or is that this was before his time at NFL media, but he's a young, hungry journal looking for, work, and there was a job offer that came his way to be a reporter in Cincinnati, I believe. And one of the pitches you made to your then-girlfriend, now fiance, now wife, is, honey, it's only an hour drive from Indianapolis.

It's a heck of a pitch. And she was just like, well, why? How does that make it any better? It doesn't make it worse. It didn't seal the deal. Apparently, you know, well, everything ended up working out. It did. So you get this vacation every year.

So a lot to get to today. Like I said, the four of us will talk for a bit, then we'll get West and Cess, then Lance Zerline. And let's get to it because La Cid is back in L.A., and we're not going to do, are you there, Cindy? Can you talk to us? Yeah, I can. Oh, cool. How are you? I'm great.

There's all sorts of buttons and doodads to make this possible, but we're doing good. We're great. New money is on Mount Rushmore for a reason, Mark Brady. who is the head podcast, Puba, knows Sidney's talents well. This is one of her greatest challenge, a technical masterpiece she's going to put together. I'm going to put the pressure on you, Sid, because I believe. Thank you. Thank you for that.

It means a lot. All right. All right. Let's get into, not the news. There's a lot to get to, but we want the first thing. We want to share what we saw in these last two days. We all got to Indy at some point on Tuesday, I believe. They had the press conferences for the coach.

and executives in a new area space at the convention center here on Wednesday and Thursday will be some more tomorrow Friday. So Greg, why don't we start with you kind of what was maybe your big takeaway, the big news, what's cooking out here in Indianapolis Combine Week? Well, we're going to get into quarterback talk a little bit later with, you know, Wes and Mark. But I think that's probably the headlines out of here, just that the, feeling after a few days here, and it might be trying to put yourself in a certain position in terms of leverage.

Maybe these quarterbacks aren't really going to change teams as much as we think, or at least that's how the teams are trying to position it. And coaches and GMs, when they're at the podiums, they're not going to give away too, too much, but they're holding their cards close to the vest. And I think teams like Buffalo, for instance, are realizing, well, maybe we don't have anything better behind door number two maybe we're going to have to keep tyrod taylor and even if even though we don't really see him as a franchise quarterback because if we did we would just say it we would just say we'd love to keep them they just are assuming that a week

from now they're not going to do any better than tyrod taylor so they might have to keep there's so much hot air in the city right now i'm shocked it's not like 98 degrees outside they all just talk and say nothing i listened to sean mcvay for 15 minutes today and it was like going to coach speak university it was literally he said nothing for 15 minutes. But he's good at it. He's good at it. He, like, looks the reporter in the eye. That's part of the job. Always calls the reporter by his first name. You know, it's very excited. But he just didn't. There's no substance to it. Well, you can read between the lines on some things. I mean, like, you bring up Kenny Britt, for instance, and they're like, he's going to hit free agency. You know, we're not sure if he fits this system. It's like, okay, we have no use for Kenny Britt. You know, there's little things you can look into it. I thought the news, and this came from Adam's chapter of ESPN. He's pounding the table with this. His tweet from yesterday in a move that will have a ripple effect on all QB needy teams. Patriots are not expected to trade quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo per league sources.

He came out again and reported something similar, if not stronger today. You have, you know, other reports. Jeff Howe from the Boston Herald reported or said, you know, you're hearing these reports, but let's not pretend the Patriots are going to hang up the phone when teams call. but that is, this is a major story right now, where Garapolo lands. Do we believe what's going on right now that he might be off the market? Does it matter, though? I mean, like, what I say that by this is, like, Bill Belichick now has this lifetime appointment,

and so if he keeps him, it's going to be like classic Bill holding on to great players. And then if he trades him, it's like classic bill getting value for departing talent. And either way, he's not going to be nearly as good as he was in this Patriot system. He could probably have a serviceable career. And let's move on. Well, I've said all along, though, Garapolo, his deadline is the draft. I never thought he was in play in March. So to me, hearing that they're not going to trade him now, like, let's see what the price

could be in April, in the middle of April. Let's see who still needs a quarterback then. Like, I think he's kind of last in line behind Glennon and eventually Cutler and Romo and all of those guys. Like Garapolo is maybe the last guy to get appointed to a team. And if a team goes crazy and offers them a couple high picks, why not? Right. But would it shock you that much if he did stay there?

I think, I mean, Brady will get old at some point. And it wouldn't shock if they set up a contract where he gets paid like a very good backup quarterback, but it's not going to blow up their cast base either. Well, they'd like to win the Super Bowl possibly next year if Brady did get hurt. That's part of it. Let's also connect the dots a little bit here. And I was wrong about hashtag gradual decline. or slight decline, slight regression.

But there is a lot of logic to keeping him too because if you kick the can down the line a year here and you decide to hold on to him, yes, you're surrendering that first round pick or whatever the bounty is. But it gives you another year to try to figure out do we really want to move forward with Tom Brady in his 40s or do we have someone in-house that we could pass the torch to?

I think if this really is true, if the Shepter report is accurate, and we'll see if it's accurate, I think it is a bit of a nod towards the Patriots really thinking hard as great as Tom Brady is. And perhaps not too far away. Not trusting Berset behind him. Not too far away.

Not trusting Burset behind him either. You've heard those whispers too here. Slides me off a piece of that, Jake Brisket. Maybe Jake Brisket isn't somebody that they're in love with, even though you would think that they believe in him as a young draft pick. I know, Greg. Come on. I mean, Belichick was once quoted talking about the 1-15 cult season in a very derisive way, saying we don't want to be that team.

We don't want to lose one player, and then our whole team falls apart. I think they, you know, quarterback is obviously the most important position. I think they want to be in a position where if Tom Brady got hurt or something happened, you know, maybe he's a characterist, gets suspended again. This guy, he's trouble. I love that. Let's start that one. Tom Brady characterist.

That they could win a Super Bowl, that they would have a chance to compete for a championship with Garoppolo. It's going to be very tricky in maybe this will happen in August to work out another contract for Garapolo. And I think that's probably what they would love to do in a perfect world. Could they sign them to a three-year deal with some sort of option where he can get out if free? Why would he want to do that, though? When he could break the bank probably next year if they decide not to trade him. Yeah, he might not want to, but maybe you could build an out into the contract where he can opt out or it's incentivized if he becomes a starter.

Who knows? All right. So that's a major story to keep an eye on. Let's other whispers. Saints wide receiver Brandon Cook's name dropped as a potential trade target. You heard this late last year. And now on Thursday, rap sheet reported that Cooks is drawing interest at the combine. Chris Mortensen also noted that both the Titans and the Eagles identified as suitors.

What do we think about this, Kevin Patcher? Is this a move? Why would the Saints want to move, Brandon? Well, I think it's one of their few assets. They need to build the defense and they need to build assets. And that's one of the few. He was clear that they have to trade for one. And he was clearly disgruntled at the end of last year after the Rams game

when he said, you know, closed mouths don't get fed after he didn't have a catch. I mean, I think that they might have gotten a little fed up with him once he did that. And it's just time to move on and they need to get higher draft picks and they need to build a defense. They have my boy, Michael Thomas, in there that can be the number one. he's already proven it. Your boy. Yeah. Oh,

you're taking ownership. Yes. Wow. Absolutely. I have another grown young man. Sure, he would like to know that. Yeah. That's fine.

Rethink this. I'll talk to him. We're good. By the way, speaking of Kevin Patro. A little bit of heat. I mean, they have the bench press. Everything needs to be blown out. We're doing this instead of the bench press, which I'm disappointed about.

And the combine's known difference. You know, opening day became. Gatorade fueled opening night, or excuse me, media day became opening night fueled by Gatorade featuring the ex-ambassadors. You know, all these things get bigger, bigger. The Combines no difference. Now the bench press has an audience. They have two sets of bleachers set up for people to watch the prospects here at the combine

do the bench press. And I tweeted out some pictures. And geez, Andrew Siciliano replied and said, if the ATN podcast guys are involved in a contest. My money's on Chris Wessling, which... That just means Andrew is all by himself on the TV side. He has no idea what's going on in the world. That's all.

That's all that is. I don't even take offense to it. Well, Wes isn't here, but why don't you go prove it? Because earlier today, I saw some members of the media doing the bench press there. Was it like 25 pounds? I don't know what it was. It was set out there. It was out there.

The Siciliano go on your way. whiteboard no like i said he's not close enough to the to the to the vest so michael he doesn't mean as much michael thomas who uh patrick feels a great affinity towards um he is probably at the center of all this we think why the the saints might feel that he's expendable right he had a really nice uh season i've got another theory okay let's hear you're kind of not in drew breezes little clubhouse of boys you get bounced sorry by jimmy graham you might be like on your way to a hall of fame here see you later oh kenny stills what's going on oh later kennie stills you're out it's like this is like the mafia it's like every couple of episodes just one of the big

character it's like the sopranos you're dead didn't you see what drew brief said after the jimmy gram trade he had no idea that something like that could happen not true all right moving on Hey, the Jacksonville Jaguars are in the midst of attempting to write the ship with Tom Coughlin on board now. And he got Doug Marone. When I saw Doug Maron, by the way, I walked past them in the hallway, Humblebragg. And I had kind of forgotten that he actually got that job. It's still kind of shocking to me that Doug Maron got this job. But that's kind of beside the point.

Connor, you are working on, even if it's in your mind still, a banger about the power structure. You had some takeaways about what's going on in Jacksonville based on the last couple days here in Indy. I think, like, at first when we all kind of saw it coming in, they're like, we're going to ship this angry 70-year-old down here and just like the whole thing's going to be like a massive Hornets nest. But the more that I've, like, talked to people this week, like I actually think everybody's got sort of the right attitude about it.

Like, hey, everyone here, like, we can learn from one another. Of course, best laid plans, you know, can always get disrupted. Blake Bortle starts six interceptions in the first two weeks, and that's all out the window. But, like, I think it's cool to hear, like, people, like, oh, I'm excited to learn from him. Like, he's got some interesting things to tell me, and it's, it's one of those things that doesn't feel like lip service. Okay, that was going to be my follow-up. Like, why do you believe that it's not that?

Like, it feels different to me than, like, Sean McBay being, like, it's so good to have Wade Phillips around. And Wade Phillips is like, I should be a head coach and this guy, you know, you know, it was old enough to be my grandson, you know. It feels like, it feels different than the last time the Jaguar snowed you under with their whole cell. job it's still on you know and when the jaguars and the browns are in the playoffs and everyone's like oh okay when did this happen you know i'm i'm gonna be i'm gonna have pages of material i i i'm still i'm still amazed though i asked you know in the in that presser whether there was a scenario bordels would even be competing for the job like every answer at in this week is like every every uh position's open it's like every position in the league is open

the competition except for the jaguars quarterback like he brought that up, and he's like, no, you know, you don't really see that. Blake's our quarterback. Got to replace 64 touchdowns. Where are you going to find 64 touchdowns? By the way, Chad Henny, baby. That's some compete competition. I only get to see you like once or twice a year, and I just want to, as I look into those big brown eyes.

It's so happy to, I'm so happy to see you. It's great to see you, too. A man's bad at all. Conner's Flushing. Got a mortgage. Drinks the brown stuff and rates up his foliage. An ex peat man, 10, mine not state ballet. Got Super Bowl snub, so it's Connor or Lando today.

He got Super Bowl snub, so it's Connor Orlando today. All right. Who are you kidding me? How about the idea that that song becoming a global hit led to you not being snubbed, and you're here at the combine? Wow. I think that was part of my... plan when I put that on your radar.

Yeah. You know, I'm thinking, I'm such a puppet master. I'm Bobby Fisher. We're in the Pro Bowl swag right now, so. Oh, yeah, I know. That's nice. Something came out of Orlando. That was positive.

Look at that. The Pro Bowl skills coming. How about the theory, though, that the podcast has now turned into, essentially when we talk, it's a commercial to set up some sort of Dan singing sound drop, which is the actual show. Like, we're just here to serve that. You know, I think every show as it goes on, it kind of evolves. and that's where we are now.

After like four years of kind of mostly football talk with a little bit of mirth, you're nailing it. I'm sucking whatever I can out of this and I'm getting a much better gig. It's going to be fantastic. Here's some other information that you need to know. Some teams have good quarterback situations. Some teams have bad quarterback situations.

The 49ers actually don't have a quarterback situation. Yeah. Colin Kaepernick, his new agents, told all 32 teams on Tuesday that he will be opting out of his contract with the 49ers. This according to Rapsheet, he was due to make almost $17 million in salary and bonuses in 2017. This news comes just one week after new GM, John Lynch, said Kaepernick left the team facility, quote, excited following a, quote, positive discussion.

And call me, which, by the way, this leaves no quarterbacks under contract. That was the point I was getting to in San Francisco. Black hole of quarterbacks. John Lynch said it was somewhat liberating. Somewhat liberating. It felt free to have no quarterbacks. Well, you say that now. Play without him.

You won't feel that way come September probably. And I didn't think it was necessarily, it felt a little bit of a coincidence and not to undercut what Kaepernick did with the kneeling during the National Anthem and the statement he was trying to make. And I think it actually led to some discussion, which was good. But I also didn't find it. I found it a little bit coincidental that today there was a report that Colin Kaepernick plans to stand for the National Anthem next year. So just in case any of you team owns. You know, you right-leaning team owners don't want me in your building. I'll stand for the National Anthem.

I thought that was a little, a little bit of a coincidence. No, Greg? That's fair. Am I being cynical? You're questioning the man's integrity, but he does have to go get some money. You know, Lynch said, I don't think it was total lip service. He said that the door was open for Kappanek to return in a very real way was his words. And the way I took that was if he doesn't get any other jobs,

he could probably come back there on like a one year $3 million contract. They essentially said that they're going to bring in a veteran and a rookie, which almost goes without saying because they need to add about three or four, and that Kaepernick could basically be one of two veterans or something like that in my mind, which says he's not falling out of the league, I don't think. The question is for me is where is that rookie quarterback coming? Is it coming with the number two pick? Do they like someone enough in this draft?

Or is they going to kick the can down the road and be like, we don't really like any of these guys, so we're going to make, have just play bad again for another year and then hope somebody falls in our lap next year. I'm just still trying to imagine the scenario where, like, you walk in already as someone believed to be an unqualified general manager, and then you're asked to talk to reporters at the scouting combine with zero quarterbacks. It's not, you're just like everything's fine, you know, like, what are we worried about?

He really sound, and someone else pointed this out on Twitter, he really sounded like a color analyst sometimes talking about the players. because he was like, you know, Deshaun Kaiser, the Notre Dame quarterback, like he came in there and he blew the doors off our interview. And I was like, wow, this is cool. I actually hope that going around the league a few times doesn't make him hardened and bitter. That's how Matt Millen sounded when he first started. Right, exactly.

Remember that. He was very forthcoming and, like, was just all fired about the rookie quarterbacks and was saying, like, why each one was good. He was actually giving a lot of information. And I just get the, like, he's going to be. That would be beaten out of him. That's going to be beaten out of him. Yeah, maybe not physically or maybe physically.

And I get the sense, Kyle Shanahan is picking these QBs. Maybe that's why it's liberating. Like, he's going to get three QBs he wants, you would assume he's the guy picking. As a television analyst, did he repeatedly refer to the NFL as the National Football League? One last note, spinning back to we're talking about Garapolo and what's next with him. Obviously, the Cleveland Browns are a team that are in the market for a quarterback. So we think, Sashi said at one point this week that there is a scenario, I guess, where all three of the current quarterbacks on the roster, name them, Connor.

Kevin Hogan, Robert Griffin, and Cody Kessler. That could be their big three in 2017. I don't think anybody buys that. Big three. In fact, Mike Silver believes that the Browns are hoping, you know, a lot of people are saying Miles Garrett, number one, to the Browns, and then they hope to get a quarterback at number 12 if he's there, if he's guys there.

But anyway, everyone's asking Browns management about the quarterback position and Jimmy Garapola, who's property of another team, not Kevin Patra, is a guy he can't actually talk about, but that doesn't mean people are asking about it. We're going to ask them about it anyway. This is what we heard.

I could imagine going into next season without another four. With the three guys you have. Yes. Why would you think that would be weak? What was the last line? How would you think that could be good? Why would you think that?

Why would you think that could be? And then he, like, pause. And then he was good. Who was that? Did you ask that question? No, I, no, it was. That guy's a hero. Fantastic.

What was Sashi's reply? Well, I think, like, you know, the company line, which I think they came prepared for, was like, we just have to be prepared for that possibility. Like, if the draft totally blindsides us, there's no way. We just have to be ready just in case this happens. But, like, the Brown's press score has completely stripped away any niceties. And I don't know. if anyone was with me at Hugh Jackson today and someone just said like your right tackle

sucks what are we going to do about it you know and everyone just like totally unhinged it's beautiful the honeymoon period is definitely over and they'll need results and that's why they need a quarterback and like they were talking about Mitch Chubisky who we'll talk about him later at six two today which was apparently big news and when they brought up that up to Hugh Hugh is like his eyes lit up he's all excited I'm happy he was flying and he basically is like that that's kind of of my line is six, too. Like, I need quarterbacks to be six to another. Meanwhile, one of the guys on his roster, Cody Kessler, is six one.

It's like. Well, you don't have to read between the lines there. It's right there. All right. Let's, now, that's kind of some of the way. And we'll continue to bring back things that we've heard and all that stuff. But let's now move on and do some news since the last time. We haven't done a show since Monday, so a lot to catch up on.

So, La Sid, let's do some news. Is Daddy ever coming back? No. Thalso tones of the great Mark Sessler will be hearing from him a little bit later. Let's start with news out of New York. Our last podcast, I think we talked about the end of the road for Nick Mangold in New York. And now it's Dorel Revis's turn to say goodbye. The Jets informed Revis of his impending release the team announced on Tuesday.

Not a surprise move after Revis suffered through just a dreadful 2016 season. And then on top of it, which did not help matters, even though Todd Bull said it did not factor into the release. at the combine, he got arraigned on five criminal charges connected to some type of brawl earlier this month. So the Jets say goodbye to Revis, ending Greg Rosenthal, a failure of an experiment, not an experiment of a reunion between player and team. It was a bad idea when they signed him. And I think the contract that Derell Revis signed, it's interesting that his whole career,

he was always looking for that next payday to, to, to, maximize his value in a league, which is set up against players maximizing their value. And Revis did a better job just about than anyone throughout his career. And part of that was he got the Jets to give him this final contract that guaranteed $6 million with offset language in the money into next year. And I think that contract, which is player friendly, is ultimately going to retire Dorel Rivas a year early. If that, if there was no offset language in that money and Derell Revis could double dip this year where he could make salaries from two teams, then he'd continue playing. But that salary

is $6 million. I'm shaking his head. I know. We'll get to that in a second. Six million dollars. So Revis would have to find another team willing to pay him more than $6 million or essentially he would decide to play football for free. The Jets would save some money. He would be doing the Jets a favor by playing and he would be essentially playing for free. And who is less likely to play football for free than Derell Revis? He's done enough

put a sandwich on it. That's a bad job. This is going to be a delicious sandwich. I hope I can have it out here in Indianapolis because there's a lot of great places to get one. No, but the thing about Dorel Rivas is I think this is a different person. I think when he signed that last Jets contract, one of the big

talking points from his camp was trying to tone down that mercenary image. And I think it was something that, you know, especially now, if he decides that this is what he wants to do, money's not a factor. And at this point, your legacy is kind of what's left hanging in the balance. He's already, he's rehired an agent, and he's lost 20 pounds. 20. He had 20 to lose. That's the scary part.

Okay. All right, let me. And here's another counterpoint, because I, if you want to throw around some sandwiches, I might take you up on it as well if you really think he's going to retire. he had he i don't know who this version of darrell revis was the one that that we've seen the last year because the guy that whose play fell off the cliff whose effort was questioned who who said some things uh in the media that left you shaking your head and then got arrested that guy is in complete uh conflict uh and and a clash with the guy that i knew and followed closely his entire career a guy that was a brilliant athlete a guy that was a tireless worker a guy that used to get mad

That guys on the practice field, the practice squad guys, if they didn't give him enough of a challenge, he studied the tape. He was never the fastest guy, but he was so great with the tape study. I think there's a very real chance that he wants to go out on a better note than this, because he's kind of going out in a disgraceful way where it's a season where people are making fun of him about Revis Island. He's a prideful guy. So as much as I can't make sense of this last year of Revis, I wouldn't rule him out trying to. write his career somehow and go out in a better way and especially in that market i mean talk radio every day like you know john from orange county like calls in and is like just buried his bone you know and like it's at some point i think that all he internalizes that that there should be pride

but there's also the pride of that he knows he's an all-time great and when you're out there and you can't play like that that's tough to deal with you know you don't want to just where is he going A jag. He's not making, my whole thing, he's not making the $6 million. No, even what position is he going to play? He talked about, you know, perhaps moving to safety during the season, which I thought was weird during the season that he would contemplate that. And then Todd Bowles, even today, sounded a little skeptical that whether that he could have

made that transition, it's maybe not as easy as we think it might be. Bowles, meanwhile, ducks is, I don't know what happened here. He skipped the general scouting combine press conference and then did some early morning session with locals. He's feeling the heat. Strange. Well, I'm sure he is. I'm sure he is feeling the heat.

It's not an easy market to coach in. And that's the other thing. Like, you're right, it was not the right signing in retrospect. But I always thought that he would kind of age gracefully and have a Champ Bailey type career. And I don't think anybody really anticipated it. Jets have a lot of egg on their face. But it kind of was a stunning turn. By the way, a true jet move would, he does get the fireback, loses 20 pounds,

signs with another team and goes to another Super Bowl. Maybe returns to the Patriots on a low-cost deal. I can see that. Watch that happen. That would be great. You know, he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, though. That gets thrown around a lot. He is one of the best defensive players of the last 20 years.

So you're trying to eulogize the man right now. He'll be back. I'm eulogizing. You called it, Greg, in your debrief column, which everyone should check out. I think it was franchise death day. What was it, franchise player, Doom Day? Franchise Legend Departure Day. Because Jamal Charles, on the same day that Dorel Revis's career ended,

the Chiefs released the 30-year-old running back. This is a player who has had knee injuries and missed a great part of the last two years. And I happened to be standing right underneath the great underrated. That was very Trump. The great underrated Andy Reid, big, bigly. And he said, he called Jamal Charles. Dirty Tough, I think is the way he described him, called him a Hall of Famer, and wished him well. And it's the end of the road for Jamal Charles.

What kind of mark it? I think I threw him out there, Greg, when you were talking about the top 101. Where did he end up falling when you and Wested your tabulations? Around 47, I believe. I had him in the 60s. To me, his ceiling is kind of a useful role player. So do you really want him more than Ligaritt Blunt, for instance, or even Lattie? I don't see the ceiling being too high.

And the reality is he's played like a handful of games the last couple of years. I guess the counter is, yes, the injuries the last two years. He was as good as ever the last time we saw him healthy. So it wasn't like he was going into Dagon and then got hurt. He was still a top three running back in the league. There's just not a lot of track record for a 31-year-olds who had 80 combined carries over two years coming back and being great. I think it's going to depend on what kind of price he's willing to pay at. play at. I mean, and then by that, I mean, low price. And the fit. And I think Doug Peterson

already said that the Eagles will evaluate him if he's healthy. That's a fit to me. I mean, they need depth there if Ryan Matthews is gone. And he knows that offense, at least somewhat. I mean, these injuries don't just go back these two years. He's had injuries throughout his career. We're here in Lucas Oil Stadium. And I was thinking the last time that the Chiefs were in a shootout in this stadium and Jamal Charles was hurt in that game. They couldn't rely on them when they're going back and forth and Alex Smith is putting up points. Man, you're just burying all the legends.

Barry them all. Jeez. You're called blooded man sometimes. Time waits for no man. Hey, look, I'm not the one who said some guy was his boy. Yeah, that was a little too much, Mr. Patrick. Yeah, let's stick that a little literal. In other legend news, Adrian Peterson,

looks like he's headed elsewhere. The Vikings won't pick up his 2017 option. He was set to count 18 million against the Minnesota Vikings' salary. next season. So I wouldn't call it a surprise. Rick Spielman said in a statement on Tuesday that Adrian is an important part of the Minnesota Vikings organization. I think he said at the combine that they haven't closed the door on him potentially

returning. But this feels like the end of the road, right, Connor? I did enjoy the report that basically said Adrian Peterson doesn't understand why people don't think he's still a great running, like could be still a great running back. And like this whole time he's been like, well, here's my wish list. teams once I get cut and it's just like Giants, give me a call and they're like we don't, we run out of the shotguns

so probably not, you know, and there seems to be like a little bit of misplaced arrogance at this point I think I'm not sure. Sometimes the last guy to know that he's not the same guy anymore is that guy which makes it tough dealing with Superstars. He's been great more recently than

Ben Charles for instance. I mean, I know he missed all last year, but the year before he led the league in yards and rushing touchdowns. But what offense is he going to fit And I think listening to Rick Spielman, like perhaps, and the Cowboys, if he's willing to take a lower deal. But listening to Spielman, he said he was in, you know, the room with Pat Schumer discussing, like, what kind of running backs they want. And if you're having those discussions, it probably means you want a guy that you can play out of the shotgun more, have that quick passing game, that he can be more involved in the past game.

And Peterson was only really good out of the shotgun. I'm a big fan of his dad, though, out of the I formation. I'm a big fan of his dad being heavily involved in all this. Like his dad is getting quoted in every paper. His dad was breaking down why it would be nice to play with Aaron Rogers. Like in the Green Bay papers, it's fantastic. One sneaky landing spot that I kind of like, and I'm looking at Chris Wesleying wrote a nice piece,

potential landing spots for AP. And I like the Raiders as a sneaky spot where AP could land. That's all good. You know, Latavius Murray is headed toward free agency, not a game-changing talent there, even if he's had his moments. And it feels like a move the Raiders would do to bring this great all-pro in and try to ring a couple more years out of them. And they're a team that's

not far away. I would love that. I also remember Jeff Darlington, our former colleagues report, that the Vikings, I think he said, would be willing to pay him up to $6 million plus incentives. I don't know if he's going to get more than that elsewhere. Because of sentimentality and just his history

there, if they're willing to do that, he might end up back in Minnesota. I liked what Black Jack Del Rio had to say, too, during his press availability. He was What have I learned about, or what did you learn from the 2016 season? Sid, do we have that? Yeah, don't lose your quarterback.

That's fair. That's fair. It's a huge monkey wrench in the 2016 playoffs for an outside fan. You're just bummed. You lost the quarterback. Sort of a shot against the bow, though, from Scranton native Matt McLeon, who did all he could to get in there and make it happen. I will never understand why they didn't put old Maddie McGie back.

you know, into that, rolling down this road again, are we? That playoff game. No, we don't need to. Jack DeRio, though, you know, carries himself like a man who just got a four-year contract.

I mean, he's got the hair. I think that you would admire, Dan. Just a presence. A presence. You know, Connor's been very impressed. He thinks John is, you know, the most handsome general manager in the league.

I learned a lot about Connor. I learned a lot about Connor. I learned a lot about Conner's type. from his statement that was sent a text, a wide text to everyone associated with around the NFL. All of NFL media, I believe. Yeah, that you found him to be just deeply attractive. Less neat is pissed somewhere.

I don't know. Well, I said to him because then we have this conversation, as Les Slead was 20 feet away from us in the middle of his press conference, less, you know, looking like a character out of like an ABC dromedy, you know, tall, handsome in the suit. And you were just like, no, I need somebody stronger. You want somebody like, then I, immediately, that gave me the image of John Elway carrying Connor across the threshold. Like a little baby.

This conversation is going to be super beneficial for my career. No, but Elway, you know what? He strolled in yesterday, plaid on plaid, like plaid vest on plaid shirt, pulled it off like a champion. I mean, that's hard to do. You got to strike a certain figure to do that. I'm going to hit some news quickly here. it's the end of the line. And you talk about free agency.

We're getting all hyped up about who's the best free agent. Jaris Bird, remember that name? Jairus Byrd. Jairus, Bired. Once about a time, he was the number one free agent, I believe, on a top 101 or 99 or 100 list. 2014. The Saints gave him big money following the 2013 season. It never worked out.

And Robsheet reported Tuesday that Saints will release the veteran safety when free agent begins. Free agency begins next week. He played three years in New Orleans. And really, I mean, Greg, he never made a play. He barely played the first two years, and he was just kind of there this season. The failures in Free Agency of Sean Peyton and Mickey Loomis has been largely ignored. Like, they've gotten a pass. Maybe not in New Orleans, but they're right there with the worst front offices in the league, I think.

I like that he was sort of the centerpiece of that discord. Don't you think? I think they've had a top five quarterback and they haven't had a winning season in three years. Seven and nine. What were you saying, Connor? He was like the centerpiece of the discord between like Rob Ryan on his way out. And like the rest of the team was like, let's let him shine.

Like let him play center field and then just build a defense around it. And then Rob just had an epic meltdown. In other news, what is some other news? The old Zeus was looking for right now. Oh, Eric Barry and the Chiefs, they get a deal. done, which I was very relieved about. I'm sure they were as well, as well as Eric Berry, a 78 million over six years with 40 million in guarantees.

This was promising to be perhaps the most tedious summer storyline in Eric Barry, ugly holdout situation. Instead, the chiefs get the job done. Patra, is this a good deal? It's a lot of money to give to a 20-year-old safety, but he was worth every dollar last year. He was worth every dollar last year, and Andy Reid said yesterday he's the heartbeat of the defense, and I think he proved that.

I mean, you saw what he did. He basically beat the Falcons in that game on the road. He's the playmaker from that secondary that they need so they can play press coverage up top. He can come down in the box. He can really do it all. The only question was the health issue. And it came a day before they cut Jamal Charles,

and you only have room for so many players. But it also came a day after they gave a $41 million contract to Laurent DuVernay Tardeefe. Whoa, good for you. Spitting in more news. Who's still at McGill, medical school right now. So that shows you, you know, the game waits for no one. When you're signing Duburnet Tardif to a huge contract

and then you're cutting a legend like Jamal Charles. But McGill, a fine institution where my brother went to school. There you go. That was the only reason you want to find out. I would say that you say that the podcast is evolving into this thing where I'm just setting up different bits. I mean, I feel like it's evolving. to a place right just where you can get two lane references in and various college

memories of yours and ivory tower gregg anytime i can get duvernate tardief and i'm doing it uh but stealer has signed james harrison to a two year three and a half million dollar deal he is unkillable and now literally is uh you want to do a little tag talk tag talk tag talk let's do it and we'll start with the big one because the redskins put the exclusive franchise tag on kirk cousins uh washington uh washington uh I know Sid likes that Because Sid is way in on Kirk Cousins And in the most Kirk Cousins tweet ever

He sent out after the announcement tag I'm it So I get it There was like a you know when you were a kid and you played that game So he's sort of playing that with the franchise tag thing It's clever It's clever but Cousins Tender is expected to be valued at $23.94 million

$120% of his 2016 salary, which I believe was $19.95 million. This is crazy. What are they going to do if he has a capable season next year? And like the floor on a long-term deal is like $27 million a year. Like there's no possible way. I think we're going to touch, we're going to dig in on the Redskins and their strategy or lack thereof with Kirk Cousins later. But, I mean, you would think.

think that they're going to try to get something done, but that's a lot of money. It's a weird situation. He's got no real reason to sign anything less than that either per year. I mean, play under the tag. He just did it last year. It's still going to be a dearth on QB market when he hits it next year. So he's going to get paid sooner or later. He's got all the chips.

We'll get more into that a little bit later. Other tag talk, Chargers place franchise tag on Melvin Ingram. You like that move, Greg? I do. How you doing with your predictions? I think you're doing well your franchise tag. Well, this year, I guess it's over with. You'd have to check.

There was only seven, so I think I had one, had a couple off, but not too bad. I think they're really going to try to sign him long term, listening to Tom Telesco, their general manager, talk about, you know, what an impact he is down to down, including against the run. They also said they're going to try, and they sound pretty confident about bringing Danny Woodhead back, who's a free agent. The Rams will hold on to Tremaine Johnson, the non-exclusive franchise tag on the veteran and cornerback.

He's going to make, if he plays under this, almost 17 million year, Kevin Patrick, it's a lot of money for Tremaine Johnson, right? It is a lot of money. And then Les said today that they want to see how he fits with Wade Phillips. So you're paying a guy $17 million. You're not sure how well he's going to fit. So they're barely going to talk about a long-term extension until after the year. Then you're either paid a guy for $17 million for an average year,

average a poor year if he doesn't fit well, or you're screwed next year when you can't tag him a third time. This is a move of desperation. It's a weird situation. He's kind of like a league average starting cornerback. but that's worth a lot and they just they've already lost they're probably going to lose t j mcdonald to greg williams his browns he goes to cleveland he's going to take a player who doesn't really fit into wade philps system and that means they'll have lost three good

starters in the last two years so they're just kind of desperate and you got to keep and they're paying a lot of money to like guys like mark baron and tavan austin and ogletree's all right he's at the top of mark you know a lot of guys who are just like okay and you're getting 10 12 13 million Yeah, that team is butt. And they have a 19-year-old head coach, too. That could be a problematic. And one person that did not get the franchise tag, Danta Heightower, who, of course,

stalwart on that Patriots defense made huge play, the game-changing play in Super Bowl 51, the sack stripping was basically a dominant player. The Patriots decide with a lot of other needs and people to take care of not to use the franchise tag. Greg, you upset? that downtown tower tower probably will not be a patriot? This is a rare case.

I think they could get a long-term deal done right before free agency starts or right as it starts, that they're going to be in the mix, that they probably thought the right, like they either wanted a long-term deal or nothing, and they probably thought this was the right way to approach it. They've done this with a few guys that they really believe in. You think he's going to be a value, Connor. I do, but every player on this team has Stockholm syndrome. It's amazing.

They're like, I'm sorry, Bill. I'm sorry, I tested free agency. see, let me come back and sign for $3 million a year instead of 10, you know. And that's what's going to happen. Everyone's really scared of it. They're going to get traded to the Browns, and they're all just going to stay on this roster forever. But there are a lot of, there are a lot of Belichickites in other teams.

Bob Quinn being one of them, and the Lions need a linebacker. Yeah. It was there when they drafted them. Bring them to Cleveland and team them up with Jamie Collins. Tennessee. Let's go. Tennessee has a former patriot. You know, the bucks, they're pretty good at linebacker.

They don't really need them. Greg, how about you answer to the stock? Stockholm Syndrome charge. So the charge is that they get so used to winning, you know, championships that they just can't bear to not do that. That's like a habit. You take the fun out of everything, right? All right. There you go.

Now it's time to say goodbye. Peace. It's hard to say goodbye. But we have so much to get to today. So Connor or and Kevin Patra, now you must, very. your seats. Wait, are we able to have all six on at once? Do you want to try it?

I mean, just for like a little bit. I really don't want to be here anymore. A minute or two, you know, where it's everyone. I think it would be a record of around the NFL hosts at one time. I don't know if this is technically possible. Sidney, is that possible? It is technically possible. We'll see how this goes.

You ready to bring in the rest of the crew? Bring them in. Let's see what happens. You should really just kick us out of here. No, we're going to. Just in a couple minutes. I'm glad Patra stayed on. because I have purchased a whiteboard

and accepted his challenge. Okay, what are we doing? Bench press? When you dismissed me in the bench press comment. You dismissed yourself? You said you had a torn rotator cuff. Oh. I was just quoting you.

No, no, no, no. I am sitting next to Chris Wesleylin. While you guys have been out there drinking your beers, eating your shrimp, stuffing the food in your face, Chris Wesleyan has been back here in Los Angeles. His body is absolutely on fire right now.

Good luck taking him on any sort of athletic competition to any of you. Okay. What do you mean any of you? Mark, the new manager. That was a very... It's like Bobby the Brain Heenan. I'm just going to say Mark Hamann.

I'll take you in cross-country running, Wes. That's not a sport, Greg. All right. Well, this was a... Greg's instincts were proven right. This was an amazing conversation between the six of us. Illuminating.

So, Connor, goodbye. I'll see you at St. Elmo's tonight. I can't believe I'm leaving this place. All right. See you. Connor. I mean, Kevin Patra? Whiteboard, baby.

Whiteboard. The challenge has been laid out. The gauntlet is thrown. A couple of Heath Evans is in training them. Oh, God. All right. Now, we welcome in officially Chris Wesleyan and Mark Sessler. How are you boys doing back in L.A.?

We're holding it down. Tell us stories. Not much to tell. I mean, you kind of know what the vibe is here. You come in, you sit down at your desk, you do work. That's sort of what's unfolded for the two of us. Yeah, I saw there were some like... You live here?

I do live there. I always enjoy the Mark Sessler tweets that are really out there. But the ones recently, there have been a couple recently that I've been really flying high on. I've really enjoyed them trying to look it up right now. There was one particularly that I was hoping. hoping maybe we could get some clarity on. We're going to look it up right now. Is it the one that ended in ancient Egypt?

I think that might have been a different one. The one I was looking at was... Good that we have it teed right up. All right, here's one. This was from 18 hours ago. Teletype Burns Bright, backslapping in vogue, well-fed, souped-up clown types will be scattered to the western wind.

And then an emoji of a tree of some kind. Any insight there? No idea what that means. Don't even remember typing it. Are we the teletype souped up? What is it? I don't know. No, we're not referring to you, Greg.

All right. There was another one, but so many tweets on Mark's feed because he's been pounding away back at the home office. And now, gentlemen, let's talk about the QB market. A nice little segment between the four heroes here. And we'll do a little winners and losers The press conference Wait

I've got a little bit of breaking news here What do you got? On the round the NFL podcast All right, let's hear it Here's Mark Sessler's tweet from February 28th Into the Woods to walk between strange lands No more experts No more botched fear-based nonsense

Just what is ahead Ancient Egypt Mark I don't I mean again I don't have like a tangible explanation for what that means. But, you know, it's, I like to just throw stuff out there when I'm feeling it. I really, I would like to provide a deeper explanation. I have none for you.

Okay. So let's get the idea of, I love the idea of looking ahead and then going ancient Egypt. All right. So let's get into it, guys. And let's share some winners and losers of Combine Week. And we're going to start with Chris Westling because Chris, I know. Get Off My Gridiron, one of the big weekly bangers on NFL.com. You have something you need to get off your chest.

So why don't we get into this discussion with your thought on the quarterback market and what we're seeing as Combine Week rolls on? Well, we're talking about this as a winners and losers segment. And to me, the winners are all of the organizations that realized in 2016 that the quarterback market was exploding and acted accordingly. and the losers are all of the organizations that didn't realize the quarterback market was exploding. And that starts with the Redskins. Compare them to their AFC East rivals, the Eagles, who in 2015 offered two first-round picks,

more picks, Sam Bradford, more veterans for the opportunity to trade up for number one pick, and the Titans and Bucks both turn them down. Then the next year, 2016, they give San Bradford $2 for $36 million with $22 million guaranteed. They make Chase Daniel the highest paid backup quarterback in the league. Then they give up two firsts, a second, and a third for Carson Wentz. They understand that the quarterback market is exploding. After that, the Rams give up a ton for Jared Gough. Texans overpay for Brock Osweller.

Cardinals give Carson Palmer $24.5 million for one year. Ravens make Flacco the biggest signing bonus in history. Colts make luck the highest paid quarterback in history. all this is pointing to the reality in the NFL that if you think you're getting a Jimmy Garoppolo for anything less than a first round pick, it's laughable. Every trade for a potential starter in the NFL begins with a first round pick and then you go from there. But this quarterback market is exploding and it's why the Redskins are in the predicament they're in now because they didn't want to pay Kirk Cousins more than $16 million last year

when he's really a $20 million quarterback. Greg, that is your loser. Do you want to answer to that? Yeah, well, I totally agree with everything West said. And I think it makes sense in this. We've talked about all the extra salary cap space that's in there. And I think this is part of that. Think about a league.

I've always said that quarterbacks are dramatically underpaid in the NFL. Why are guys like Elvis Dumerville make at some points, like making half as much money as, Tom Brady. Like, you would never trade Tom Brady for two Elvis Dumervilles. Why is Olivier Vernon making as much as some starting quarterbacks now? Like, if there was no salary cap, you would pay Kirk Cousins 40, 50 million because that's like how much he's worth to a franchise.

So I think Wes is right. I think that's why guys like Mike Glennon, I'll throw out there as a winner. Not because I think he's definitely the answer, but just because of this quarterback market is going to be so starved that a team. you know this guy's actually out there. The Bears and the Jets know that he's out there. He'll end up making maybe more money than Ryan Fitzpatrick made last year, that he'll be in that 12, 13 sort of, well, you're not really a franchise quarterback.

We don't even think you are, but you're close enough that we're going to give you that, you know, close to that money anyways. I had heard from someone at Combine that like 13 million was in play for Mike Lennon. And Mark, you wrote about him this week. this idea that Glennon, who has really done nothing for two years. And before that, we had a spirited conversation on this very podcast. Yeah, we don't need to talk about whether he's worth that money. But that just, again, checks into what we're talking about, how much these guys can get paid.

But, Greg, why are the Redskins losers? Yeah, you had set me up beautifully, and I totally blew past it. I think the Redskins are set up for a big fall this year. I think it starts with some of the drama that's happened in their front of, office. I think it started with like how West said that they mis-evaluated cousins. Now they're willing, by the way, reports say to pay cousins 20 million a year. So they've upped it. If they had just done that a year ago, they could have got a deal done. Now that's not enough because he knows he could make more elsewhere. So they've blown that by not having foresight. Scott McLuhan, their

general manager is not here at the scouting combine. He told the local reporter that it was a family issue it came out that his grandmother had passed away. There's now a very ugly series of reports in Washington about the timing of when this funeral actually happened. We don't even need to get into all of that. But something strange is not right. Something strange is afoot in Washington. Meanwhile, Pierre Gerson is going to leave. Deshaun Jackson's going to leave. And I think you're going to have a coach and the guy pulling the strings. Bruce Allen making fear-based decisions trying to save their jobs without really a lot of talent. I could see them spending a lot of money on defense, and I think they've just played

this cousin's thing so poorly that in a best-case scenario, they're just going to have to make them like the highest-paid quarterback in the league. And in a worst-case scenario, they're going to be caught holding nothing in a year. Hey, West, does this tie into your kind of loser that the Redskins are an example of a team that didn't quite understand what this market was all about? Absolutely, and I think you can throw the Jets, Browns, and Bears in there, too. Guys, teams that want Jimmy Garoppolo and now understand just how much it will take to get him with the Patriots acting like he's not even available, you can point to Mike Glennon as a winner,

but any team that starts Mike Glennon as a loser, because your fans now know that you are in the, well, as Dan said, scam for Sam or I would say fold for Darnold, you're not competitive if Mike Glennon is your starting quarterback. And that goes for Ryan Fitzpatrick or Brian Hoyer or Josh McCown or any bandaid you want to throw in there. You are not competing in the NFL. You are tacitly acknowledging we're going for the number one pick. And last thing on the Redskins too, I think one of the reasons it hurts is it felt like they were out of it. It's been a drama free a couple of years.

And I think this has been one of the worst run franchises in the NFL over the last 20 years. And if you're a fan of the Redskins, you kind of thought you were getting out of it. there and they're starting to have some high class problems in terms of their coaches or elsewhere taking their players. McVeigh's in L.A. maybe taking some of their players. You know, Shanahan's in San Francisco. He's maybe taking some of their players. This is the type of thing that happens to teams that actually have had success. This team doesn't want a playoff game. Nothing's happening. Now all the drama and the and the backbiting is coming back. And it's not like you have anything to show for. There were no good times in

the first place. Yeah. So Mark Sessler now, we're going to move on to a different conversation. also quarterback-related, because Mark has another winner, and it's about QBs. I think the winner for me is that where we were two weeks ago, we all agreed that this draftable quarterback class is not up to snuff with classes of old, and there's no Andrew Luck out there. In fact, there's a lot of guys that a couple months ago were not even considered first-rounders, and now you're starting to hear about names like Deshaun Kaiser, Deshawn Watson. Mitch Trubisky is now being whispered about Mary Kay Cabot just had a story out

that he could potentially go number one to the Browns. Mike Silver, our Mike Silver disputes that. I think he thinks very much that Miles Garrett would go number one. But the idea that also Patrick Mahomes, a guy that was seen initially as a second or third rounder, is starting to catch fire. This happens every draft, except that this time around, we could go back to that one draft 2011, I think,

was where so many quarterbacks were over-drafted, and that could happen again. Because of exactly what Chris mentioned, these teams that did not solve this quarterback issue either last year in the draft or thought that they could get someone like Jimmy G or ply away Kirk Cousins from the Redskins on the cheap and it's absolutely impossible at this stage in the game to get these guys for anything less than essentially the top half of your draft

and future drafts so you're stuck if you're a team like the Browns or the Jets or the bills it sounds like if they don't keep Tyrod Taylor that you have to essentially go out in overdraft quarterbacks instead of being patient because jobs do not, there's no patience. They're not going to allow these coaches to continue to go 2 and 14, 3 and 13 and keep waiting for the quarterback. That's why you get fired. You couldn't find a quarterback in one, two, or three seasons.

You're out. And so I think there are some desperate teams out there. They're going to have to try to sell to their fans and their owners. We like this quarterback a lot more than we really do. There's only one guy in this market. He's not there yet, but he would count as, if healthy, an instant elixir for any team that has a quarterback need. That's Tony Romo. And there's a report that came out from Rappsheet.

This was on Tuesday that he identified the Denver Broncos as now he calls them the prime landing spot for the 36-year-old quarterback. And rap report said on NFL network, if he's willing to take a pay cut, it seems like the Broncos. and then it seems like everyone else. Now, the biggest part of this is the pay cut part of it. But the more I think of this, the more I look at it and from a common sense angle, to me, it feels like it's almost fate that Romo will be a Denver Broncos quarterback. It makes so much sense for everyone. And from Romo who gets to go to a winner to the Cowboys who get Romo out of the division and the conference,

and then the Broncos, who still still have. have that Super Bowl window open and have two young quarterbacks that while at least one of them performed soundly at times last year is not the player that Tony Romo is when healthy. It just feels like that Romo to Denver to me is going to happen. And to me, that's just the loser would be that quarterback room in Denver, at least for the time being, Trevor Simeon, who probably deserves another year as a starter after a promising season in 2016, he would go on the back burner and be, you know, very important to have a backup of Tony Romo's there. And then Paxton Lynch kind of goes deep into the background.

And first round picks don't typically do that. I could see Trevor Simeon being shopped or winding up somewhere else as a starter if they got, if they went after Romo. Because you have to view Romo if you're going to do that at least as a two-year answer. Not just one. It has to be two. And there were whispers out there on Twitter right now that Simeon, there are some teams that would go after Simeon, the bills potentially being one of those teams that I think he becomes a much more attractive offer in my mind than, you know, Mike Lennon. I mean, the Titans just gave $5 million to Matt Castle. I mean, you want someone to bring in that you can develop.

That's Trevor Simeon over some of these other clowns. Not to get sidetracked, but is Trevor Simeon a better option than Tyrod Taylor? Depends on what you want your offense to be. I think they're in the same conversation. They're close. With Tyrod, you have to agree to build your offense around his strengths. And with Trevor Simeon, he's a different. kind of quarterback. And Rick Denison, who's the coordinator of Buffalo, you know, was in Denver.

So that, it makes, it makes a lot of sense. I did think the Broncos were sending a message, though, you know, and they've been consistent. You know, the coach, Van Stroves said, look, we're fine with those two young guys. And John Elway talked about, you know, that he'd be a little worried about stunting the growth. And I think when they're talking up that we'll be fine with these guys, I think they do mean it. I think the Broncos, like, have a price for Romo, and they would move on. Like, this is them putting it out there. It's like, like, what Ian is saying, I just get a sense that that's how the Broncos feel. And it's like if they have a price and if he really needs to max out, then it might not work for them.

And they'd be okay moving on and he would have to figure out something else. They're not as desperate as another team would be, which helps you. I spoke with Ian about this at some length when I decided to write this up. and he repeated several times, picture Colin Kaepernick, the way they handled that. Kaepernick refused to take a pay cut, and the Broncos basically washed their hands and said, okay, we're moving on to something else. And I think they really did the same thing with Osweiler as well. Look, this is what we set your value at.

If you won't take it, we're moving on. And that's the way Ian expects them to handle the Romo situation. And if you're Romo and you have another year or two in your career, it comes down to what he values. but wouldn't you, if I were him, I would take a little bit less coin. He's made a ton of cash. He had $127 million in his career. He has money. He does not have a ring.

Right. So you go to Denver. You don't go to Jacksonville. You don't go to Buffalo if you want to, if you want the truly best chance to win a Super Bowl. All right, boys, we'd love to spend more time with you, but we're up against it. We've got to keep moving. It was great hearing your voices, though. And we're coming home tomorrow and we miss you guys.

I miss you, too. Have a safe flight back home. We are actually watching you guys on television as we speak. So it's almost like you're here. Will you guys be waiting at the airport for us or anything? Oh, yeah. Can I have a ride? Yes, of course.

No, do not plan on calling an Uber. Wes and I will come down to pick you up, no questions asked. Wasn't that one of our original money drops, the Around the NFL podcast will not pick you up from the airbus? Oh, scratch that. Yeah. All right. Thanks, boys.

See you guys. All right. Farewell. All right, we say goodbye to the heroes and hello to another hero. A hero of the city of Houston, a man that almost the mayor of Houston is how I see him. NFL.com's.

Bunby is the mayor. I am simply in Mr. Bees, in Buns, just his legion of helpers. That's all I am. That is the voice of Lance Zeerline. He is the great draft man, the maestro. And you see his stuff all over NFL network in NFL.com right now.

He has his latest mock-up. I think it's 2.0, right? 6 more to go. Get into a little bit. And Lance, you've been on our show before, and so we've probably talked about it. We are not draft experts. So we turn to the experts to get a little bit of knowledge

as we start to turn towards the combine now here and then the draft before you know it. We're not experts really in anything. I mean, the way he said it almost implied that, like, there's a whole other field where we're on top of things. I would say we, like, know some stuff about football, but not the stuff that Lance knows so well. So how do we want to get...

Dan's a singing expert. He's great at setting up little sound drops. Stay focused, Greg. We need to hear from Lance. Oh, absolutely. See, he's just a little prodding. It comes out. Anyway, your latest mock, I want to start with the quarterback position.

Everybody loves to talk about the quarterbacks. You have Trubisky going to the San Francisco 49 members at number two overall. I was just being lazy. Tell me about that. Tell me about that. Well, I mean, look, I've got it every time I take my Mach 1.0 and then I've got to change it to a Mach 2.0. And I've got decisions to make. Do I want to leave a guy there and leave his right up there, which is less work for me?

Or do I want to change it and domino the whole thing down? Peep behind the curtain here. I like it. No, you know, I thought about maybe digging around. I said, you know what, let's just stay right now. I wanted to keep it the same until after the combine. until I saw how he worked out and heard about maybe how he interviewed. Because if he interviews well, and if he works out well,

I think he does have a chance to go number two to the San Francisco 49ers. It would be a little early, but I think if you are going to go to a team where you've got a chance to succeed, you want to go to a Shanahan coach team. I don't care if it's Mike or Kyle. I mean, that offense, Gary Kubiak, too. That offense is so quarterback friendly. and maybe they don't have players at the wide receiver spot that are necessarily quarterback-friendly in San Francisco right now.

But I do believe that Mitch Trubisky has physical attributes and play attributes that could lend themselves to being a pretty good quarterback in the league. But, I mean, it's a big jump with any of these guys. Well, you have one other quarterback in your top 10 right now. Another big jump, frankly. Deshaun Watson, who we saw play so well in the national championship game with Clemson, And you have him go to the bills at 10. How confident are you that he's going to be a front?

Well, he have him at 10, so you must be somewhat confident, but that he's a first round talent. No, I'm not confident at all. I mean, I'm just trying to project what the team might do. Yeah. I think Doug Whaley might take a shot based on their decision, what they're going to do with Tyrod Taylor, obviously. But I'm not real confident.

Look, Deshawn Watson, there's a lot of check marks for intangibles, for playing in the clutch, of things that NFL teams hate to try to buy into too much because that's what you did with Vince Young. That's what you did with Johnny Mansell. You start Tim Tebow. There's been a lot of guys drafted early because all they did was win and they were very clutch and they stepped up in big games. And, you know, it's really not what you do into big games. It's what you do in the second quarter down, you know, when you're down 13 points and you really need a drive and you need to take care of the football. It's what you do, it's what you do from the 20 to the 20 that

really matters and I just Deshawn Watson can be a little up and down frankly he gives the ball the way way too easily I mean the turnovers are just it some of his turnovers are just terrible. Trubisky you know bringing it back to him this week listening to some of the

reports out there that you know from Michael Silver the browns don't necessarily think you know they would love to get the defensive tackle at one and then they're not necessarily they don't necessarily think that their quarterback will be there at 12 And then we're hearing another Cleveland report that's like,

they're thinking about Trubisky for number one. It sure makes it seem like, and it's not like a secret. I think that the Browns, that this is the guy that they think could fit them. And he kind of fits the mold of what Hugh has liked. Yeah, I think so. So even though that everyone said, it's a carbon copy of last year, well, we don't know if there's necessarily top five quarterbacks in this draft. Doesn't that mean with the 49ers there at two and the bills at 10 that the,

that these guys get pushed up. Yeah, and that's what I did in my mock. I pushed up is what I did. I mean, I understand that Mitch Trubisketz gets a little bit early. I think that's a lot early compared to, you know, the teams I've talked to. I don't know that any of them really have a headed into this, have a first round grade on Deshawn Watson if you really want to know the truth. But I also know that he should come here.

He should work out well. He should interview well. Although I was told he's not going to be as fast as we think. I was told he's going to run. Take a guess. Take a guess what you think, Deshawn Watson. We've all watched them. Well, now you've said that you don't think it's going to be as-

tampered with the jury-pourment. I don't know. Greg, I'll defer to you on this one. Okay. I'll go four-six-one. The number that I saw, the offshore number, is four-six-eight. Okay. Which I feel like he's a round of four-fives.

Oh, okay. I've been told he's going to run about a four-seven-five. Okay. Which seems way slower than what I'm seeing on television. Just bouncing around a little bit here with a few minutes that we have here. So Miles Garrett, everyone seems to think that, you know, or a lot of people believe he will go number one. You have him go number one right now. I think he's clearly the best talent.

Is he, does he have the type of special player can have like a, how Joey Bosa have like an immediate impact in the NFL? Is he a guy that can be a Pro Bowl star next year? Well, if he's playing for Cleveland, I don't know. But I do think he might not be a great fit there, which is interesting. Yeah, I think he fits anywhere. He's big enough to play. Look, he's way bigger than people realize. People are where, you know, they have Courtney Brown nightmares.

I know. I know. And my dad was there when they were picking, I mean, they passed on Richard Seymour for Gerard Warren. They decided the night before that Richard Seymour was the pick. They went home because that's when the draft was on Saturday, the first round and second, third. I can't remember. I think that's how broke out. My dad said when they got back to the facility in Cleveland, they said, hey, we changed their mind.

We're going with Gerard, Big Money Warren. Like, oh, and the rest was Cleveland Brown's history. But I think he fits anywhere. And, yeah, he has immediate impact. He has Julius Pepper's ability. He has immediate impact ability without question. And people are going to picket his stats because he does have a lot of sacks against inferior competition. But, I mean, this guy was getting pressure on the quarterback like crazy as a freshman, as a sophomore.

He's gotten bigger, more physical. He's really got a chance to be a special player. But it's not, he's not a lock. You know, you'd like to see there's still some issues and some areas where he needs to work on, including his hand usage, because you can't just out-athlete everyone in the NFL. It's just not going to work that way.

Who do you think, or where do you think to Sean Kaiser, who today kind of some news was made, John Lynch said he, you know, he blew the doors off the interview. And he sounds like, you know, from what I know, that he's going to be that sort of guy that once you get him in front of team,

they're all going to kind of fall in love with him. Well, he needs to blow the doors off of completion percentages too, because those doors have been firmly closed on them based on what I saw this year. It was a disappointing year for Kaiser to me. I thought he had all kinds of potential. He's got great NFL size. I think he looks like Steve McNair looked when he came out for the Houston Oilers at that time. But his play wasn't there.

That's not who he was. So he is a guy, though. If teams fall in love with a player and they feel like he has an it factor behind the scenes, those guys could get pushed up. Daniel Jeremiah forever has had Deshaun Kaiser up there pretty high. Now, he also, we watched the University of Texas and Notre Dame game together. DJ was just on Cloud 9 because that was his upset special Heisman trophy winner. So Kaiser comes out with five touchdowns in the first game.

And he's like, I told you, I knew it, I knew it. So I feel like maybe DJ is a little bit biased. Are you sensing what I'm sensing here that there's been some heat between Move the Sticks and our podcast that it's shared here. by Lancer. More heat for Daniel Jeremiah. Daniel's going to take shots. He takes shots. I don't want to say this, but listen. Yeah, go ahead. So we're in the press box up in Austin. And I'll never forget this. He turns to me, he goes, hey, you listen to around the league? And I'm like, ATL? Yeah, I said, well, yeah, of course I do. And he's like, why? And I said, well, I mean, why would I not? And he just said, I mean, I'm just asking.

I mean, do you get anything from it? And I said, yeah, I mean, I think it's snappy. I said, it's quirky. It's got some fun tidbits and bits of information and some pop culture references. Damn, you're saying praise there, but keep going. And I said, I mean, it's... It's like, I'm not learning anything about football. Don't get me wrong, DJ. I said, you know, I listened to it on long cross-country trips.

And Daniel said, and I'll never forget this, he said to me, you know, books on tape also are good to listen to. And I just, and from there, I was just like, all I thought was, there must be something here. Wow. You know what? Now that I have this story, Sid, I need to. That's it.

I'm going to do it. I declare vengeance. Daniel Jeremiah. How long ago was this? Early September. But he reiterated in October. It was a text exchange. Like, you're not listening.

I was like, no, I switched to. I said I switched to books on tape, but I really didn't. It's so much. We really are in his head now. It's so much more real now that we have a story that doesn't involve us, that it's really in his mind at all times. It's there. It's there.

All right. We wish we had more time with Mr. Zeroline because he is, again, one of the top draft minds, I like to say, and one of Houston's native sons. Yes, thank you. Check out all stuff at NFL.com.

He's also on Sports Talk 790 in Houston. We actually did our podcast at the Super Bowl from the very place. From your computer. It does his word. It's locked. I got to keep a password on there. Smelled glorious in there.

there. It smelled like greatness. So Lance, thank you for stopping by. And, you know, DJ, listen. DJ. Barry the hatchet, guys. Yeah. It's uncomfortable. We're all friends.

It's a tough situation. And thank you for giving us a little more insight. Yeah, what we're up against here. It's no problem. We've got to have Lance back on throughout the draft season. Absolutely. We need the help. I'm there, yeah.

Please come back on. That's it for today's show. Thank you to everyone for listening. Thank you so many, so many luminaries on today's show. Kevin Patrick. Connor or, Wes and Cess, Kissing Cousins, and, of course, the great Land Zero Line. We will be back three shows next week as Free Agency is upon us, so make sure you check that out. Until then, this is Dan Hansel signing off for all those great men I just mentioned.

Greg, it's time to go home. Let's do it. Let's go home. Right. We're out of here. Till Monday. All right, I know Dan just mentioned that the show was ending, but it is not ending because Wes and I, we got kind of squeezed into the back end of that show. We're not going out like that.

Not at all. We deserve our, the two of us certainly deserve. more time on any episode of the Around the NFL podcast, but we thought that we would do something special and bring on not only someone who listens to every episode of the Around the NFL podcast, but someone who has her own show on NFL Network. That's Good Morning Football, Monday through Friday. Kay Adams is with us. How you doing, Kay? First time appearance on this show. Now, is it true? Do you actually listen to the show? You don't have to just be nice. Oh, my God. I love the show. I love that you're like a love

born Browns fan. You understand my Chicago Bears dilemma. We've got hands in the jets. I want to go have a beer with Cessler in Manhattan Beach, California. Of course I was fit. Bingo. Well, what we thought initially we thought we would bring you on and talk combine and stuff. But again, we were, Wes and I, this is a slight and we're very upset. We were squeezed into a minor portion of the program. So what we're going to do with you is we're going to ask 12 questions, and they're not all, you know, some of them are, they're going to be all over the map. You can answer them any way that you want. Okay.

Shall we get going? Real. Don't ask me about like hips, the bullet and vert, but okay. These are basically questions that are based on your opinion, so I think you'll be all right here. All right, let's do it guys. Let's get to know, Kay Adams of Good Morning Football. Let's kick it off.

All right, let's start here. Favorite cocktail? I would say Tito's vodka and water, too much. Wow. We get along with Dan Hanses. That's Dan's drink, Titos and vodka. That's a good answer. Okay.

How about this favorite month of the year? April, my birthday. All right. How about this? Yes or no? Aliens exist. Oh, man. No.

I never even thought about it. E.P. scares me, so I hope no. All right. That's good. Now, your name K, essentially, it's spelled K-A-Y, but some people could say it's just sort of a letter. What would you, if you had to pick a different letter to be your name, like B Adams or H. Adams, what letter would you pick? I would pick L, because it would be the same thing. I could do E-L-L-E, E-L, there's the L-Train,

there's the L line here in New York, lots of L, let's go with L. Very logical. I like that. Do you trust the Central Intelligence Agency? No. Another logical answer. Good answer. You do such much best for questions. I have no idea what you're asking me.

We're halfway through. We're almost out of the woods here. Let's say that you committed a major crime and had to hide away. for you know roughly 10 years in a foreign country you cannot leave that country under any circumstance what country would you pick Italy specifically for and find me camped out under the duomo that's good good place for criminals how about this great pizza a great pizza too more attractive Chris Wesleying or Greg Rosenthal Mark Sessler like that answer you're doing excellent so far

you can only eat one food for the next year you can pick colon hard-boiled eggs heavily dipped in mayonnaise or beef jerky, the only food that you can eat for the next year. Oh, my God, I've never, I don't know that I've ever had actual mayonnaise. I've never had either of those. Well, this would be in a new adventure. I never tried beef jerky. What does these like? They're doing great things with beef jerky these days.

Wes, you're a beef jerky guy. It looks disgusting. And then you go to the gas station and you sometimes see one that's like wrapped in like a stream cheese thing and you're like, why isn't this refrigerated? How is this allowed to be out here? It's slightly overrated. I had plenty of beef jerky during my time in Georgia, and it's just dried out meat, which, I mean, we're not Eskimos.

What are we doing here? Well, why are you putting mayonnaise on my hard-boiled eggs? I start my every day with hard-boiled eggs. How can you be giving you that option? Well, because it seemed too easy. You're going to serve it to me with mayonnaise, and I'm going to be like the five-year-old who's taking it off on the plate and removing all of it, and then I'll eat it.

All right, well, I think with that, I mean, I don't think that I'll be serving it to you, day after day necessarily. You're going to have to also food prepare yourself, but so you can, you can add as much or little mayonnaise as you want. Hard oil eggs. Bingo? How about this? You have to own either 10 dogs or 10 cats. Ten dogs, cats. Yeah, I don't trust cats. I don't trust people.

Let's hear me more than ET did. Yeah, I don't trust men that own cats, but in general cats are very suspicious. Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo? Um, I hate, come on. Luke Skywalker is whiny. He's insufferable. Han Solo. All right. That's typically, that's fair. In your next life, you can be either Kyle Brandt or Peter Schrager. Who do you pick? And why? Oh, my God. Nate Prolinson. That's a final answer. I'm not looking either of those guys. They can have each other. I'm going with Nate. You've dodged this one well. And our last question, you know, you've been on the earth for a while. Who would you consider to be your hero? I've been on the air for my hero is my sister

What's nothing to do with my career I like that Okay Well that's We'll have you on for a bona fide real segment In the middle of a podcast Later on this off season If you'd be willing

They were just opening for We were the opening act They were you know They were warming us up for that moment That's how I feel It was a 75 minute build up to this And we thank the listeners for sticking around What a payoff

Thanks, guys. All right, thank you. Thanks, Kay. That's in New York. Absolutely. Farewell. This is an I-Heart podcast.