NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2026 NFL Draft Day 2 Recap!

Episode Date: April 25, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook recap all of the day 2 action from the 2026 NFL Draft! The Eagles started the day with a trade for Jonathan Greenard and bolstered their offense by selecting Eli Stowers. The Browns doubled down on pass catchers by selecting Denzel Boston in the second round. The Jets continued to invest in the defense with D'Angelo Ponds at number 50. Gregg and Nick break down all of those moves and more from rounds two and three. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built.

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Really wins. Open your free IHeart radio app. Search 40s and free agents and listen now. Welcome to NFL Daily where the real sickos came out on day two of the draft. It's myself. It's Nick Shook. The day's over. A hundred picks have been selected. Trades have been made, not just trades up and down the draft board, but some veteran trades. And to break it all down a thing, yes, it's going to be Nick Shook. On this show, we go through the most interesting moments of day two, rounds two and three of the draft. Are you ready, Shucky? Born ready. Let's do it. You've been studying these draft picks, you know, throughout. You nailed the Jeremiah Love pick at number three. Who was the defensive tackle, I believe, that you nailed tonight?

Well, I went around two really because I got a little over my skis there. And I said, Lee Hunter from Texas Tech was going to go to Carolina. He went to Carolina. Yes. In the second round, not in the first. round. I had one of those as well. We're going to get to it. Like right player, wrong round. But why don't we start and we'll go through the most interesting teams of the day. Why don't we actually start with the big veteran trade of the day? It was something that we expected. Then we'll talk about the rest of the Eagles picks. We'll get to the Browns, the Jets, 49ers, all sorts of interesting picks today. But let's talk about the Jonathan Grenard trade. One of, I would say, the 15 to 20 at a maximum, Best pass rushers in the NFL changed teams today.

It was long rumored. And then all but reported by our NFL daily colleague, Ali Connolly, he dropped it on a mock draft episode that he thought the Grenard trade was already agreed to earlier this week. And wouldn't you know it, the Eagles acquired the Vikings pass rusher for their 2026 third round pick. Now, they had a third round pick tonight. We'll get to that. But that was the Jets pick. And a 2027 third round pick. So two third round picks.

They do get a seventh round pick back. They also give Jonathan Grenard a four-year, $100 million contract. So $25 million per year. $50 million is guaranteed once we look under the hood. I'm guessing it's more like a two-for-fifty type of year. But, man, there's a lot going on with this Eagles team, and we'll kind of get to what the picks mean. But adding another pass rusher,

considering what their defensive line already looked, like makes this team kind of look a little more like the Eagles teams of old. Yeah, definitely. And I think it was an ideal trade for the Eagles to make just because this is a team that two years ago had this defensive line with all of these different quarterback hunters. This front seven was excellent. It was what powered their run to a Super Bowl victory.

And they didn't have that same juice last year. Now, they went and acquired Jalen Phillips, you know, near the deadline, and he produced. Then he leaves in the offseason. So they had that void. You know, they still had players, but they did. You know, Jailix Hunt and Moro Jomo. players like that, but it's like, you need more juice. So you go get Grenard, who I thought back when, what was it, two off seasons ago,

when DeNeil Hunter goes to Houston and then Grenard goes to Minnesota, they essentially swap teams, both free agents, swap teams, right? That it made more sense for Minnesota in that situation because I liked Grenard's upside. And he produced, now last year, not so much, only three sacks in 12 games, you know, wasn't available for the entire season. But I still think they got their return on investment. and then they're able to move him at a time in which we know this offseason

they've been struggling for cap space and it seems like they've been trying to fluidly rebuild some of the defensive front they've done it with these draft picks that they've made tonight and this makes a ton of sense for both parties and I think it gives the Eagles the juice they were lacking and hopefully he's able to produce

like he did two seasons ago with this team. Well, why does it make sense for the Vikings? I mean, they got a decent haul for Gernard, but this, I believe, maybe your answer is just going to be finances, Because I actually think this was a rare case. That's all it is.

Yeah. But it's pretty rare when a team actually gives up a relatively young player. And now he's getting to his third contracts. Like he's towards the end of his prime. But a relatively young player that they want to keep that's productive because of finances. But they were, if anyone remembers, the team that was like $50 million over the salary cap going into the office. And they found a way to get under in time. But I like their pass rush group now.

You mentioned a Jomo. They signed Jordan Davis long term. I think Jalen Carter is going to get a contract eventually long term. And then on the outside, you have Jailuk's hunt, you have Jonathan Grinard, you have Nolan Smith, and you have Arnold Abaketti, who I think was a fun free agent signing as like a fourth edge. That's a good group when you also have Zach Bond and Jihad Campbell blitzing in, and you're thinking, okay, with that secondary,

that can be one of the very best defenses in the league. Now let's talk about what they did in the draft. I think, you know, you love the Mackay Lemon pick, at least I did. they take him away from the Steelers. He's going to help open up the field for Devante Smith. And so you think, okay, they're probably good at receiver. No, what do they do with their 54th overall pick? Eli Stowers, the Vanderbilt tight end goes 54th overall.

Big slot. You know who's like a big physical slot? It's probably not going to block it all. He's called the tight end. To me, you almost have to grade him as just a wide receiver. But when you do, I think he probably went around where he should have gone in this draft at wide receiver. He's that talented.

Huh, who's, who kind of plays like a big slot on, on their team, Nick Shook? Oh, maybe there's a guy that also owns the position. I think his name is Dallas Goddert. And it's a guy that they're probably going to move on or move on from after this season because of money and where he is at this point in his career. We've had to deal with the whole will he, won't he be back for the last couple of off seasons. And you look at the contract, you got void years after this year.

So the parting is coming, right? And this is an idea. deal replacement, a guy that fits that mold, like you just said, who plays a lot like God it's Eli Stowers, a converted quarterback who hasn't played tight end for very long, also has bounced around a couple of schools. He was Texas A&M, New Mexico State that ends up at Vanderbilt, follows Diego Pavia to Nashville, and they, you know, they continue their great connection. He makes a bunch of big catches for the Commodores over the last couple of seasons and elevates his draft stock to the point where I think some people earlier in the draft process thought

he might go in the first round. He doesn't go in the first round, but it's a lot. That's a savvy pick for Howie Roseman, who both gets an option that they can use right now and also an option that they can replace Goddard with over the long term, which is exactly how he's always drafted. I love the pick for them. I think that the key to a lot of offenses and especially ones that have struggled or been stuck in the mud in recent years like the Eagles have been is getting a good tight end. And you got two good tight ends for a year to get you out of the mud and one to continue

to lean on in the years after that. Did I set you up poorly? Am I like, you know, Jalen, throw it? Jalen Hertz thrown over the middle of the field because in my head, Dallas Goddard might have been a better answer than the one that I had in my head. But he is on the roster and he can block a little. At least he used to be able to. And you're right.

Stowers is a big slot. I was thinking about A.J. Brown. I mean, I know Eli Stowers is. I just, I pushed that out of my mind because of all the trade talk. I don't think about that as like part of their scheme going forward. He's already, he's got to put out the door. So I hear what you're saying. He's kind of, it's not a one to one, obviously.

Yeah. And if Eli Stowers has, if he has like one third of the career as AJ Brown, they'll be happy. I just mean in terms of some of the things that you're going to be asking Eli Stowers to do some of the routes that he run. I don't think it's that far from what, you know, A.J. Brown, you know, they're going to have Eli Stowers running some slants. I do not think at this point based on everything I've heard and asked, Ali Connolly's talked about it on the show too. Like, he is not ready to be an inline tight end whatsoever. And I don't think he's even ready at this point to be a move tight end where he's going to be, you know, playing aggressive and digging people. Like he is just not going to be that guy.

He's just going to be a big receiver. But you think about the receivers now that they've added. Mackay Lemon in the middle of the field. Don Tavian Wicks, they give a one-year extension to when they sign him. Hollywood Brown, who thought he was wide receiver too when he arrived if A.J. Brown wasn't going to be there. Now he might be wide receiver four. And they're all helping to set up Devante Smith. Now you have Stowers at tight end along.

with Goddard, Calcutera still there. How he's done it again. What's also kind of fun about this is you can go 12 personnel and mimic as if you are focusing on the run. And with Stowers, though, it's like, yeah, but it's not really a full, real tight end at this point. I kind of think back to early different players, different builds, but like you think about the tweener

of receiver tight end. I think about Evan Ingram when he came into the league and how you can kind of use him in that role too. So very interesting, a nice little wrinkle for the new offense and Sean Manion now at O.C. It's just funny because Noah has ever been more pre-traded than AJ Brown is right now. I've never seen a scenario quite like this. Every day he gets more traded.

Like it's every day we add another receiver to help replace AJ Brown. So we'll find out. I'm curious what the compensation is going to be for that. They also take Markell Bell, by the way, the Miami tackle at the top of the third round, who was thought of as kind of a toolsy tackle. And we thought the Eagles would be looking at tackle for a guy for the future. I don't know if he's going to have a great career or not, but man, he landed in the perfect spot to develop.

You have a lot of deep offensive line takes. I don't know if you had a Markell Bell take. I don't really have a Markle Bell take because I really thought that Blake Miller was going to be the guy for them. It made too much sense to fit, you know, to build the succession plan with, you know, Lane Johnson, but he wasn't there. So they had to, you know, call an audible. Let's go start, like, start going through some of the teams

we were really intrigued for what they did on day two and kind of what it means in terms of what they did day one. Denzel Boston is added to the Brown's wide receiver group alongside my guy, Casey Concepcion. Now, in one hand, I'm a little disappointed because the way the Brown's receiver depth chart looked, I thought, hmm, Concepcion could be offensive rookie of the year. He could lead this team in targets if this, you know, offense can be good enough, but at least he could just dominate. Now you're adding another guy in Denzel Boston, but I like how the Washington physical outside receiver

kind of compliments Concepcion, I feel like the Browns are having a good couple of days, and there's a reason for optimism in Cleveland. Yeah, plenty. I mean, look, I'm the biggest cynic when it comes to that team of anybody, but even I had to take a step back

after Andrew Barry navigated this draft both last night and tonight, effectively, because it wasn't the only pick they made tonight, and just say, and admit, he's killing it. He's cooking it right, he's cooking right now. Like, Andrew Barry, got the chef hat on, whipping up some delicious treats,

doing a great job with this draft And it really did begin with Boston, a guy that I think a lot of people forgot was still available after round one was over. And the Browns spin one of their early second round picks on him. And you're right. The complimentary factor is what makes this most appealing to the Browns. Who had probably the worst receiver room in the NFL

or one of the worst at the end of last season. Now you've got whatever you have in Jerry Judy. I still like the potential of Isaiah Bond. And then you've got Concepcion, who is the run-after catch guy, who still, I think, could be in play for offensive rookie of the year because I don't think that Boston takes a ton of targets away from him, He might take some targets away, but what he doesn't take away is the potential to produce. Because I still think Concepcional, his biggest strength is going to be run after catch.

Whereas Boston, it's like, I need you to post somebody up. I need you to get open against a smaller DB. And when we're in the red zone, however many times that might be the case for the Browns this year, that's who we're throwing to. The fade to the back corner of the end zone, the guy that goes up and makes the plays. Very sure hands, big receiver, kind of the inverse of Concepcion, which is why they worked so well together and why it makes so much sense. For the Browns, who Andrew Barry has just thrown all the wrong.

resources at figuring this offense out this offseason. Offensive line additions, I think they overpaid, but you have to, or at least overvalued. And then you get Spencer Fanon in the first round, two receivers, and then he goes to the defensive side with Emmanuel McNeil Warren, a guy who is 15th on DJ's top 50, and they get him, what was that, the third round? Late in the second round, late in the second round. I think it was pick 50. They trade back in to make a great pick and solidify what's been a very good two days for Andrew Barry. It was pick 58. It's cap Nick. It's catniff for the draft dorks because they did a good job moving back with the Fano pick, getting extra picks. They already had a bunch picks.

Then you use them to get McNeil Warren, who, yeah, is maybe not quite on tape, like, as athletic in terms of, like, the freakiness that he tested at. Like, he wasn't a total freak. He didn't look like that necessarily when he played, but a versatile safety to add to that secondary. I think they do have a few more issues. on their defense than maybe their fans admit, but I think he's going to help. And then you add another tackle in the third round, too. Who was it, Barber?

Yeah, from Florida. Like, they've added a ton of options on their offensive line. And we'll see. You have to give Andrew Barry a ton of credit for what this looks like on paper and for what the draft class was a year ago. You still have to see that these picks actually work out. But the idea of keeping Andrew Barry another. year. At least right now, you know, I guess it makes sense. I get, I have to, I, I don't know.

I'd be encouragingly agree. We'll see. We'll let it all play out. The thing is, all these guys are setting up for like a fun offense with who at quarterback in 2027. You don't want to win too many games, then you're going to be out of the archmanning sweepstakes, although there's a lot of quarterbacks will be in this class, but they're obviously going to try to win games as quickly as they can because you never know another bad season and they all could be gone. But thinking about those two new receivers with Harold Fanon from a year ago, when Quinchard Jenkins gets healthy at running back, that is a fun young core for Browns fans to look forward to.

I think the Jets have had a nice week. It does feel similar to some other years. We're like, oh, the Jets and Browns are having a nice offseason. And then it all falls apart. But our guy, DeAngelo Ponds, finally gets taken at 50th overall. that I said one of my big questions for the draft was going to be whether at his size he goes early enough because his tape Nick was maybe first round worthy and he's just what easy, five, eight and like a hundred and like it's just whether how much you believe in like whether a five eight cornerback can succeed

because he was one of the keys, if not the biggest key to one of the best defenses in the entire college football and Denzel Boston in his matchup actually was one reason why I think a lot of have faith he can hold up at the NFL level. They tried to post him up like three times in that game, and he did a good job against Denzel Boston's size, just a fiery player. And I really like what the Jets have done overall. Fiery is a good way to describe him.

Instinctive, I think a guy that comes in with a lot of experience and just a natural kind of nose for the ball. We saw it in the pick six against Oregon. Actually, that's the highlight we're playing right now. If you're watching on YouTube, the pick six on like the very first play of their playoff game against Oregon. And it's just kind of who he is. Yes, he's small.

Yes, he's got the body type of a slot, but he plays bigger than he actually is on the field. We'll give him the extra 5 eighths of an inch, by the way. He's almost 5.9. Okay, we're not going to, you know, short him on any of his height measurements. And I just love the way he plays. He's just one of those, like, classic guys that he has the high motor, high energy, high desire that tries to overcome his size. And for the Jets and Aaron Glenn, they need guys like that. And, you know, you look at their draft through the first two rounds because they had three first round picks.

They traded back in to the first. round. They mined Indiana for two of their best players. They got Omar Cooper, who was one of my favorite receivers. I think the takes on him are a little mixed, but I'm a big fan of him for similar reasons to Pons, kind of just a physically built guy, not built quite as big as Debo, Samuel, but a guy that I really trust to be a good run after the catch, tough guy. You go for the potential athleticism with Kenyon Sadiq, which kind of didn't make sense, given what they've done at tied end over the last few years, but you're fine with it. You go for the upside, and then, of course, David Bailey. I think you're going four for four so far. These are four

players that I love. Four players that I had my eye on in the whole pre-draft process, they all end up in New York. You bail out of round three, and that's perfectly fine with me. I think they're all high-ceiling, riskier type picks. I think if you're fans of these players, it's not the perfect situation for them necessarily. But I do think for the Jets, it makes sense everything that they did. It is one of my favorite moments of the entire night. Daniel Jeremiah, my 40s and free agents co-host, we got our last show of this season coming up, going up on Tuesday. And I know how fired up he was to see DeAngelo Pons, a player that he loved, that he put back into his top 50 at 50, get drafted at 50.

And then all through the draft process, he has compared him to Aaron Glenn and who drafts him, but Aaron Glenn. And then the Jets put out a video of Aaron Glenn and their GM, Darren Mugi, just being absolutely fired up that they compare Ponds to Aaron Glenn. And they show some old Glenn footage. So just a fun draft moment on day two. And I'm really going to be watching this kid. I think he's going to be a fun, exciting player to watch.

And if he's too small, then, you know, it's going to be a big knock for the short kings like myself. You know, you don't take it. That's why I'm rooting for him. That's why I'm rooting for him. He didn't not help my college tennis upside, my height. The 49ers, let's just go back to the start of the night. They had the first pick. I was curious which way they were going to go.

I should have known that Kyle Shanahan, who is just a receiver guy through and through, decided, okay, I'm taking my guy. They had traded back in the first round. They take Dijon Stribling and reminds me a little bit of Brandon Ayuk coming out of college. There was a report that the 49ers are trying like crazy to continue to trade Brandon Ayuk. That has not happened yet. I don't think that will happen. I'd be mildly surprised if, like, the commanders give up like a seventh round pick swap for him.

but in the end, I think they're just going to get cut. But they take, you know, scribbling, and he talked in his media availability on Friday that, like, it's all about blocking. It's all about aggression. And that's sort of what the 49ers love, like a wide receiver that can dig you out, blocking in the running game,

and then a guy who can make plays after the catch. So adding another weapon there for a group that I think needs one. And, you know, it's funny because if you look at the 49ers off season, you don't think about IUC's role in this, and you look at Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall, and Christian Kirk is your top three. You think, well, why do they spend a second round pick on a receiver? And it's because they still love to run the football,

and they need willing blockers. And this guy is a willing blocker who, like you said, reminds people a lot of Brandon Ayuk for the way that he can make plays down the middle of the field. Again, if you're watching on YouTube, we just ran one of those highlights of him making a play down the seam. He's able to get up and get after it outside. And, I mean, what more can you ask for?

A route tree? A guy that can run more routes. That's the thing. They love these guys that they can mold. You got Evans and you got Kirk for it. It's a very well-balanced receiving core. I like it. You can teach him stuff later.

That's fair. And Kyle Shannon, who's kind of a receiver guru and I think likes these projects of teaching these guys. Some have worked out over the years. Some have not, to be fair. They've had the, not David Bell, rather, thinking of a third round pick of him a couple of years. Brown's player.

They've had these third round picks that haven't necessarily worked out. This is a high too. I wasn't high on the IUC pick at the time. And then this one, like, again, you just don't see many different routes on his tape. People comparing him to Debo. That, man, that's a high bar. It's like, they have a type. They've made it work.

We'll see if it works this time. They also traded De Winters, their linebacker to the Dallas Cowboys. What did you think about that move for a fifth round thing? That was a little confusing to me. Yeah. I know that you have Fred Warner. I know you got Dre Greenlaw, but I think you learned last year that you need depth. And I'm not entirely certain why they did that unless there was, it was like one of those players

where they're just thinking, all right, we're going to move on from him before long. This is now the best time that we could capitalize and get something back for him. I think you wanted more money. Yeah, that's usually what happens, right? We're probably not going to see eye to eye and we're going to move on from him. So let's get something for him. Let's talk about the Cowboys that now, because they add DeWinters to a position that they absolutely need.

And he becomes probably the best offball linebacker. well, they have DeMarie de Marvian Overshot. I should take that back. When he's healthy, he's a dynamic piece that kind of moves around. But those are two really fun players. Winters had his injury problems too last year. But then they draft one of Ollie's favorites. I'm looking forward to talking winners and losers with him on Sunday.

I'm going to guess the Cowboys are going to be part of the winners because this draft class has been awesome, including the only pick that they made, I believe, on Friday, which was J. Sean Barham from Michigan, third round. pick really fun player, good value, so they double up at linebacker. And it just continues what I think 's been an awesome couple of days for the Cowboys. Yeah, not a lot of picks, but it shows that quality can matter more than quantity, I think here. You go get your guy. First off, they lucked into getting Caleb Downs at 11. I mean, that was a home run of a pick. You got to trade up one spot to go make

sure you get a guy who probably should have been going in the top seven. Go do it. You're going to be happy you did in the end. And it was a position of need. It's defense, defense, defense. And it's only three picks, but go look at their depth chart. Like, just take a quick scan of their depth chart. They have depth now. Like, an unbelievable depth that I never expected to see on the Cowboys depth chart because of what they've done this off season. You acquired D winners.

He's listed behind overshone, right? If you like Maris Leofow, he's behind Shamar James. Malachi Lawrence listed behind Azaraku and Barham listed behind Gary. Like, these are, you have a two deep that is strong and you also have a developmental too deep. Whereas, like, when Gary or you move on from some of these other guys eventually, you got guys right behind them. You can slide in that you've been developing this whole time. And we know how injuries affect teams. The Cowboys couldn't afford to get hurt last year because their defense was

already so bad. They are preparing for that. I don't give them a lot of credit when it comes to front office decisions because they wait too long to resign guys and they make things weird and it's annoying. But they've done a really good job through the first three rounds of this draft. Thank you, by the way, to everyone who has joined us live on YouTube on Friday. We know a lot of people are listening over the weekend. And the most important question in the chat right now is where's Kade Klubnik going. No. The quarterbacks did not go off

as high as we thought. It's crazy because if you look, you know how people do mock drafts the week after or the day after the actual draft? Oh, for next year? If you look at last year's mock drafts the day after, there was a lot of

Kade Klubnick in the top 10. I went to the EA event last year for college football 26 or 25, right? Yeah, the current game. Clubnik was there. I guess one of the guys to talk about the game. And I'm thinking, like, in the back of my head, I was like, this is a projection right here. I don't know.

You know, you had Ryan Williams, who was on the cover with Jeremiah Smith and Kate Club Dick. And I was like, ooh, okay. Jeremiah Smith. Everyone wanted a quarterback. You just got to find one to pick. They went with the wrong horse. They could have gone with Carson Beck. That would have been a weird one, too, although he was playing in the national championship.

The Cardinals went with Carson Beck to start the third round. I thought it was an interesting quote after the draft. Monty Asenfort said, we didn't have to draft a quarterback. We didn't come into this draft saying that we had to take one. But since Carson Beck fell to us at 65th overall, it just made sense to. I mean, were you expecting him to go earlier?

I mean, I know Tom Pelliserro said he could go in the first round, but this was earlier than I ever expected. And I think the only reason why he even went this early is because Ty Simpson already got yanked by the Rams so the Cardinals couldn't take him. I don't know if anyone else was taking Carson Beck at 65th overall. If you play out Carson Beck's future career,

like to me in the top 10 percentile, I would say, 20 percentile of it would be have Jacoby Brissette's career. You could maybe one day become Jacoby Brissette. I think that's not a bad comp for him. That's my Chodor Com. So it's like, what are we doing here? Come on now. What are we doing?

here. No, okay, so look, I agree because I think that we went in the last college football season and looked at Carson Beck as not a failure, but a disappointment. And then he goes to Miami, and they get off to a kind of a strange start. You know, they beat Notre Dame. He plays well in that game for the most part. You know, we see the emergence of some young stars on that team, right, both on offense and defense. And then they eventually make the playoff. They get in, you know, by the edge, you know, by a nose over Notre Dame. And they take full advantage of it. And nobody took more advantage of it, I think, than Carson Beck.

I mean, the kid delivered repeatedly in the playoff, whether it was against Ohio State, Oleness, and even that loss against Indiana in the national championship game, that touchdown run right there on YouTube that were showing, that was one of those plays that stuck in my mind. Yes, it was wide open. Yes, it was just get out of the pocket and find the end zone. But that was the type of play that he consistently made throughout this playoff.

And I think he rehabilitated his reputation over the course of that playoff run that then pushed him into consideration of round three. Now, before he left Georgia, the previous season, when he was coming into his second season at Georgia, everybody was like, oh, he's going to be a future first round pick. And it all fell apart. He had an elbow injury. He declared for the draft and then decided against it and went to Miami, right?

I think this is the right spot for him. And I think Arizona can justify it by both pointing to the fact that they don't have a long-term project. They don't have an answer beyond this year. They got two veterans in Berset and Minshu. And also I thought Ian Rappaport made a good point, right after they drafted Carson Beck, which is that Jacoby Verset wants a new contract

and isn't showing up to workouts. And I was like, hmm, that makes a little bit more sense. Not that they're not going to get that done, but that does make a little more sense why they would take Carson Beck there. But it's all just bad process how you got to this point. Like you're having to give up money to get rid of Kyler Murray,

who's still way better than anyone that's actually on your roster, that you had re-signed at the last second before you even hired your last coach. So this GM had to inherit him. And it all comes back to ownership, I believe, who also, according to some reports, had a part of that Jeremiah Love pick. And yeah, Jeremiah Love's a great player. Congratulations. Thank you, Bidman.

That you know how to, like, that you can take a good player at third overall. But the process, to me, is bad because you didn't pick up any extra picks. They only have their picks at the top of each round. And then you're burning a very valuable top of the third round pick when you have so many needs on your roster in a guy. that, like I said, the odds are, in a good scenario, he'll have a journeyman quarterback career. And to me, it's like, but you're in year four of your operation. It's just, there's no plan here. I did like the Chase Basantis pick to start the day. They had the 34th overall pick, a good guard. Yeah. I thought that was the right response after drafting love, by the way, because everyone was

like, well, what are you going to put them behind? What's around him? They have so many needs. And I agreed with that. So you go get a guard that I'm a big fan of who can help create lanes for him. him, right? Good climber. A guy, a guy with, you know, mobility that I think is actually going to be, you know, somebody that surprises a lot of people in the way that he can get to the second level. I think that that's going to look like a really good pick. I agree with the process, but we're forgetting the fact that they're operating with a new coach. It's like you reset the timeline to a degree. They're not addressing their defense. They don't have linebackers right now. Like, they could certainly use more up front. Mac Wilson disagrees. Up front. It's, it's just like, it's just a lot. Look, you're not going to turn this around overnight. I understand what you're saying, but... I do like their offensive line, by the way. People were saying, like, who is he possibly going to block for? I would say that could be the strength of their team.

Paris Johnson at left tackle, Sam Alu at left guard. Froholt, when he's healthy, at center, is a very good center. And now Bassantis at right guard. That's four-fifths of a good offensive line. So I think they'll be able to run the ball. Shout out to Sam, who let us know. It's past 4.30 in the morning in the U.K.,

and there's nothing he'd rather be doing than watching me and Nick breakdown. some day two picks. All right, let's talk, Drew Aller. People were asking, what about the Steelers' picks? I mean,

before every pick, the sticks comes out. And this was not the Steelers' first pick of the night. It wasn't their last one either, which was fun. That was Jennings Dunker.

What a great way to end the night, the guard. But yes, Drew Aller, the Penn State quarterback, goes in the middle of the third round, maybe about a round earlier than people expected. And not a team,

I think people expected to take a quarterback because they kind of had their mid-round developmental guy and Will Howard. Mason Rudolph's on the roster. We're assuming Aaron Rogers is coming back. Maybe now Mason Rudolph is up for a trade, according to Ian Rappap. But it's just interesting that McCarthy wanted his own guy to develop and they take Drew Allar, another one who at one point people thought could be like a top 10 type of pick. Yeah.

So in Steeler circles in the weeks leading up to this, they've been preparing for a trade with Mason Rudolph because they've kind of been expecting that the Steelers would take a quarter back at some point. In fact, I think a lot of them wanted Beck in this range. So they end up with Aller, which made me laugh because this is the franchise that spent a first round pick on Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh guy. Now they get the Penn State guy in Aller, right? It also made me laugh because just a weird like aside here, drew Alice from Medina, Ohio, grew up a diehard Browns fan, went to almost every home game from elementary school through high school. His family's had season tickets since the 60s and he gets drafted by the Steelers. Like,

that's just hilarious to me. But when it comes to the player, I think you're right in that McCarthy wants a guy that he can develop and make his own and prides himself on being a quarterback developer. And Aller is the measurables guy at the position in this class. If you're targeting that sort of, you know, physical attributes that you can mold into an effective professional quarterback, do I believe it's going to happen? No, because the measurables have always been there and he's never quite lived up to it. Now, you can't take this most recent season into account because he got hurt and lost half the season. And you can look to the point that they made the college football play of semi-final two years ago and think, okay, well, he got them there. But against good defenses, he was never able

to become an effective quarterback throughout his collegiate career. It's kind of the unfortunate story of a lot of Penn State quarterbacks. And so I think taking him in day two is aspirational and you think that somebody else is going to snag him. And maybe the Carson Beck selection motivated you to spend that pick on him. It also points to, you can't believe teams when they're banging the drum for their day three quarterback they took last year. We love Will Howard. We love Will Howard. And then they go draft this guy. Don't believe teams. They'll have a chance to, he'll have a chance to compete there with Aller. You know, they entered this draft. Omar Cano is a big week for him. A bunch of extra picks. We'll see how they work out. They actually use an extra

fourth to trade up for Jeremy Bernard because I think they thought they were running out of possible receivers, the Alabama product. Of course, they got, you know, swiped when they tried to take Mackay Lemon in round one. And so Bernard is kind of the consolation prize. It maybe panicked a little bit, gave up an extra fourth just to get a very solid. I like Jeremy Bernard. I think he's like an NFL player. He'll be solid for them in a way that Roman Wilson has not been as a high pick. Then in the third round, they take Georgia cornerback Dalyan Everett, who, you know, I don't have a huge take on. John Ledyard, who I really respect,

you know, thinks the tape just isn't there for Daly and ever, but they kind of a big swing there. And then they trade up again. They give up another pick to move up to take Jennings Dunker. So they took these extra picks they had, and Jennings Dunker is a guard from Iowa, who has a chance to play sooner than later. And it's just going to be kind of a show-me draft for Omar Khan

and these Steelers teams. And I always say, take a quarterback every year until you get one. So I guess I got to stand behind it. They're living up for it. You stay on that with Carson Beck too. This Steelers draft,

I don't mean to sound like a hater, because you got to let all this play out. It feels like a draft that has unfolded with them chasing, missing McKay Lemon. Like, you know, pivoting to Ian Archer from Arizona State, who's one of my favorite tackles,

but you already had a right tackle and he is a right tackle, and where do you fit him in? Are you going to move, guys? What happens with Broderick Jones and Troy Fittanu? like doesn't make a lot of sense. And it seems like they've been scrambling ever since then

to try to, like you come back and get Bernard who, like you said, pro player, but a receiver almost to make your fan base happy because you didn't get one in the first round. And then it just cascades from there. So we'll see. Hopefully they can, you know, round it out and it ends up looking better than it does right now.

I like all the international viewers in the chat. It's 537 in the Netherlands, according to one. And it's now Saturday afternoon in New Zealand. It's 3.30 in the afternoon. just having a casual Saturday. The future is bright. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies.

Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now I've got my own show. So if you're tired or lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies, available on all TSN platforms in the IHeart Radio app. I'm Daniel Jeremiah.

And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my first. favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, ProDays, trades.

This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding.

Hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's talk about the Texans.

This was the pick that I had mocked correctly, but in the wrong round. I had them taking Caden McDonald, the nose tackle at 28. Instead, they end up taking him. from Ohio State at 36, some trade chicanery to make this all happen. No one trades more literally than Nick Casario. Every single pick, and they have a ton that they're making in these, I think, seven rounds, has been traded at some point except for one. Cady McDonald, a really nice image of him during the draft. He was the only guy in the green room in Pittsburgh tonight, immediately crying like the second he got drafted

and that continued really for a while all the way until he got to the stage and you just saw the relief and the emotion of his lifelong dream finally being realized and he said he thought he was the best player of the draft and that everyone made a mistake passing on him. I guess including the Texans who passed on him once. That's confidence, Nick, for a nose tackle

that wasn't a starter, not much of a pass rusher, but man, I liked him in the first round to the Texans because I thought this team doesn't need that much but what they do need is a run stuffer. So like when you're this good, you can kind of get a little esoteric with your picks and he was the best run stuffer in this class. Yeah, it didn't rise to relative prominence

until this past season, but that's also a product of playing on the best defense in college football over the last couple of years. I thought Matt Patricia used him really well and kind of exposed some of his strengths, which then elevated his draft stock, but I also felt like he lost a little bit

in Indianapolis. and from there on out, kind of falling out of the first round. However, it's a great pick for the Texans because, like you said, they can get a little esoteric with it. They can just kind of target niche needs because they really don't have any defensive needs. And they also love interior defensive linemen from Ohio State. Tommy Toggiah is on that roster.

One of my favorite names that most people don't know, but who makes a difference. Throwing Caden McDonald, too. Just throwing more Buckeyes there. I love that pick for them. I think they've done a pretty good job so far. I do as well. I thought it was interesting at the top of, round two, we heard a couple things about the Giants. Number one, despite a report from our,

well, by our, I mean NFL Network's new colleague, Adam Schaefter, but we're not NFL network, so I don't know what we are. We're on NFL. Our friends. Those are our friends. We'll just say our friends. He reported Kavan Tibido. Oh, they're not looking to trade him. And then there was reports to start the night. They are looking to potentially trade him with the Saints, a specific team who has engaged in conversations. Nick Underhill of New Orleans football ended up backing that up saying those conversations have been going on since February. So we'll see if something happens. Day three would probably be when it happens because I don't think he was going to go for a day two pick. And so that's interesting to think about. And then they continue to

take defense, Colton Hood, who Daniel Jeremiah had in the top 25 at cornerback. Young player, Redshirt sophomore. Uneven tape. But kind of fits the profile of what you're looking for from an NFL cornerback in the second round. They also take Milokai Fields, Notre Dame big kid at 74th overall. He was someone who had diverse opinions, I would say. It was not a player that the draft Nix particularly loved, kind of a guy who does not really get that much separation, but the Giants continue to take guys, you know, in terms of Colton Hood, Maui Noah and Arvel Reese, like those are three of DJ's top 22 players,

something like that and they have them all on their team from this draft. Yeah, I actually really like what they've done in this draft so far. And now it's funny because if you look at them over the last few years, you would think the way that they've drafted and the way that they've built their defense, you would guess that this has been different GMs, but it's been the same GM. He just continues to throw picks and capital at the defensive front seven. And as soon as they took Reese in the first round,

you thought, like you start running through the death chart and you think, all right, Brian Burns and Arvel Reese and Abdul-Carter. And if you're like me, for a moment, you forgot that Kavon Tibido was on the roster. So it makes sense that they might try to trade him. That's no knock on him, of course. It's just that's how many guys they've accrued in that position group over the last few years. But I do like the selection of hood because I think that, you know, they were a bit lacking back there. They lost, I think they lost a corner or two in the off season.

And if you look at the secondary, the way it's structured now, you got Javon Holland, you got Tyler Niven, who Giants fans aren't are a huge fan of so far. but and he added Greg Newsom. You added Paulson to Debo. Now you have Hood. That's a pretty solid secondary. And if this team is going to climb out of the seller that it's been stuck in for so long, I think it's got to be more on the defensive side.

I think back to that Broncos game when they played really well and then just fell apart and allowed the Broncos to come back to win. You've got to be able to have more guys over there to make a difference. And I think Hood is one of those guys and it's a great value pick. Getting him at 37, he's 21st on DJ's top 50. And a type of player that I think is really going to match the identity that you're trying to trying to create with all this investment in the defense with fearsome guys, which is like bully, bully them. This is a guy that's not afraid to play press coverage. I think it's going to be a

really good fit in this defense. So as we continue to get people's different time zones who's watching, I think we just have a message completely in Japanese, just Japanese kanji. So just shout out to everyone, whoever you are watching out there in Japan. Let's talk about the Baltimore Ravens. Mark Ingram stepped up to the podium. And I got to say, I think he kind of. of stole pat maccophie's thunder it was matt maccophie's bit to really in incite the crowd and mackoffie was up there doing his thing on friday but i think mark ingram did it but he did it better let's take a listen this the hospital that y'all got for your boy oh boy this the hospitality y'all got for you boy yeah don't worry don't worry yes it is because on behalf of me my son these wonderful young ladies

and all the flag nation we got a special message for y'all Pittsburgh? No boy. And we brought that. You got a problem with that. Come see me. Big Trust. Black Nation, in the flesh.

Oh, boy. Yes, sir. That was amazing. Right before he introduced Zion Young as the pick. If you use a kid to say it, you know, you can say whatever you want. Yeah, pretty much. That's good parenting right there.

Giving that kid that moment. It's a little bit of a stretch to think of Mark Engram as a Ravens legend. Two years there was a lot with the Saints. Big trust. A big trust goes a long way. He did have like one kind of magical, really, really fun season. I think it was 2019.

Or so Zion Young was the pick. They have a type in terms of their edges that they like. And then who did they take in the third run? I think it was Jacoby Lane. This is one of my favorite picks of day two. Come on. USC. Why?

Come on. Because I love Jacoby Lane from his career at USC to his combine workout. He just really flashed at the. combine. Like it was an effort thing, but it was also a talent and just natural skills thing where like I'm just furiously writing notes about him throughout it. I think he made by all combine team. If he didn't, he was an honorable mention, but I think he made by all combine team. And I was doing an appearance on the Baltimore Suns Ravens podcast last week. And they're talking to me about getting receivers in, you know, the first round. I'm like, don't take a receiver in the first round.

That's stop doing this for the Ravens. Take him in day two because you're going to get some value there. And I think the perfect fit for this team is Jacoby Lane. And then they went to I'm going to go to Jacobi Lane. And I was like, yes, this is perfect. Tall receiver, a guy that can fill the role that you never capitalized on with DeAndre Hopkins, fits into this group really well. And a player that I think a lot of teams

are going to look back on a few years from now. I'm being like, yeah, I wish we would have taken him instead of letting him fall to Baltimore in what was the third round, the 80th overall pick. Interesting. Fluid, I'm interested. He was kind of past my cut line of receivers. I was truly excited about.

We have a couple coming up, but maybe I'll be wrong. The Bengals made a pick I was excited about. Their first pick. And I kind of decided because teams, you know, every team got covered that took a pick on our show. Everyone to check it out, myself and Jordan Rodriguez from Thursday night. So the teams who had their first picks tonight, I just wanted to give them a little love. And for the Bengals, it's Cassius Howell, who to me could have been a first round pick.

He's not a complete player, but in this class, which was, you know, not incredibly deep. man, just in terms of pass rush juice, like off the ball, and he knows how to pass rush, I think he's one of the top two or three guys in this class. So you get him at 41 overall. It might not even be an every down player, but is that such a bad result if he's a designated pass rusher that gets you off the field on third down?

I liked it. I liked what they've done, and it's great to think they're continuing to focus on their defensive line. Yeah. And I'm really proud of Duke Tovin, the GM of the Bengals, because for the longest time, he has taken guys based off of measurables. Miles Murphy is an example of that. Guys whose tape did not suggest that they might be super productive at the next level. This is the opposite.

This is the legitimate inverse of what Duke Tovin usually does, especially at edge rusher. You got a guy with the shortest arms in like a very long history of the position. but he arrives like a hammer. Like you said, a ton of pass rushing juice, a guy that I would fear if I had to take him in a one-on-one a tackle on the island, because not only is he explosive and powerful,

but he's just quick and he's skilled. And I think that this is going to be a guy that you're right. You can bring him in on third down and just hunt the quarterback because guess what? You don't need him to go start. You've invested in this group enough.

I talked about Murphy. You also had that investment in Shamar Stewart, another measurables guy with not a lot of production. You went and got Boye Amafé in the off season. It all makes sense. Like you now have some depth

and some versatility at the position that you lacked before. And if it all goes right, it could solve a lot of their problems. Well, Samar Stewart never made sense to me. It was a crazy pick. It hasn't. It's looked awful through one year. I think Cassius Howell, personally, it's going to be a better probe. But we'll see. They also take, who was it, cornerback in the third round, I believe, what was it from? It was Therio Davis from Washington. Washington, my bad. Let's talk about the dolphins. I knew I wanted to talk about them coming into the day because they had so many picks. I think they had five coming into the day, they traded around, ended up being four.

Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech linebacker, goes off the board at 43, ahead of C.J. Allen, ahead of some other offball linebackers that went pretty soon after him. A lot of them did get taken in the second round. They take the Texas Tech wide receiver, Caleb Douglas, at 75 before some higher ceiling guys. The tight end, Will Casmeric. I mean, there was a ton of tight ends taken. And I forgot to mention Houston also took one that was way lower on the consensus board. And that was true for Casimir, too.

Some blocking guys who like went earlier. Like tight ends flew off the board in day two. And then finally a receiver, Chris Bell, who is coming off a torn ACL. But I would have taken up in the middle of the third round with that earlier pick from Louisville, who just, if it hits, looks like a real deal. mega NFL receiver. And maybe it's not going to work. He's coming off of an injury. But when you saw him on some of those slants and some of the plays down the field, he reminds you a little bit of A.J. Brown, like, it's just a physical dynamo. And so that's the dolphins. Like, they've had six

picks so far. I think these six picks are going to go a long way to how we feel about John Eric Sullivan a year from now, for instance. Yeah. And I think where you took Bell at 94 minimizes the risk. Like, if you're taking him late, second, early third, then there's a little bit higher of a risk and then you worry, is he going to actually return to form after the injury? The end of the third round, I mean, you're in compensatory pick range. You're fine. That's totally fine with me. The way the tight ends kind of fell today did not unfold the way I thought it would at all. There were guys that went a round or two ahead of where everybody thought they would go, including myself. And I think you're right. A lot of it has to do with the blocking capabilities

as teams start to value tight ends for their blocking more and kind of getting back to the middle between blocking and past catching. We're pushing really hard toward pass catching and route running in recent years. But I love the Rodriguez pick more than anything because, yes, you took him ahead of C.J. Allen, but I think that in most draft classes, Rodriguez might be linebacker one. And you get him in the second round. You get him at 43 overall. And you pair him with one of your pillars, one of the pillars that John Eric Sullivan talked about in Jordan Brooks. I like how they've gone about it so far. I know people were upset with how they let, you know, the Cowboys trade up and take downs. And then they take Proctor at 12. I would have liked them to take Yolane,

just because he was the best guard in the class. But overall, this picture is starting to become clear and it's making some more sense for a team that needs to use all this capital to rebuild this roster. Jacob Rodriguez and Jordan Brooks together will be menaces. I mean, that is a demonic linebacker duo.

I love that. And I love how he'll learn from Jordan Brooks. There's some similarities there. And yeah, the mustache, the neck. Rodriguez is a leader. The tight end, by the way, I was talking about that Houston took was Marlon Klein from Michigan. 59th overall.

Some of these tight end picks were wild. That's not the worst one. Okay, we'll get to the worst one. The most perplexing one. The Falcons brought the Terrell brothers together. This was fun. Avion Terrell fell a little bit in the second round, and that allowed Atlanta with their first pick

to draft AJ's brother. Pretty cool to see a brother cornerback duo. I think Avian Terrell is like a check-the-box type of cornerback. He moves smooth and in, fluid, maybe not that explosive. Just a guy I think you're going to have out there, maybe play some slot that, like, okay, he's an NFL player. Like, the type of guy you want that you get in the second round, and maybe he's not a super duper high ceiling standout, but that can play snaps for you and pretty cool that these two brothers are going to play

together. Zachariah Branch, the Georgia gadgety, lightweight wide receiver in the third round. So we start to get a little view of what this new regime in Atlanta wants to do. Yeah, they keep a kid that transferred to. Georgia in the state of Georgia, which is always nice, right? There's a lot of local connections with Terrell and his brother and everything else. And that's all fun in games. But I actually think Avianne Torel was one of my favorite corners in this class that wasn't projected to be your traditional like perimeter corner.

I thought he's the best slot corner in the class. He's a smaller guy. And I wonder where he fits into this secondary, but I don't really worry about where he fits because I think that he's got the skills to overcome the fact that he's not a big corner, to mirror guys, to stay with them downfield. He's a fluid, you know, transitioning, you know, going from, you know, the look at the line of scrimmage

and swiveling the hips and staying with guys, which really matters. He's fast enough to stay with guys, the receivers that he's covering. I do think he's just scratching the surface. I know he's played a good amount of football at Clemson, but I do think he's just scratched on the surface. And if he's anything like his brother,

his peak is coming and the Falcons we happen to have both of them. Here's where he's going to fit in. How about opposite his brother? That would be fun. Mike Hughes is starting right now opposite. Yeah. They have Billy Bowman at Nickelback. so like there's an opportunity to play there either way.

I think he's going to be good enough to play earlier than later. That's a fun secondary now. Bates, Watts, Bowman, Terrell, Terrell, and Mike Hughes too. I mean, that's fun. That's a good. And Cindy Brown's back there too. Shout out to Sporting Japan, by the way, at Sporting Japan. The Japanese guy is a Washington fan who really likes the picks so far.

So thanks for tuning in. And yeah, we had some news on James Pierce on Thursday night. We didn't mention that there was a report that the fellow, Any charges against him could be dropped if he, you know, enters a certain program. That does not mean that the NFL will not potentially punish him for the domestic violence charges, which he was arrested for and were very serious. In fact, I personally would expect him to get some punishment from the NFL, perhaps very serious. But that looks like he could avoid jail time, which was a consideration.

He, of course, was the second first round pick that they traded for last year. They gave up a first round pick to the Rams that turned into the 13th overall pick in this year's class. Let's talk about the Packers who started the day by giving Jaden Reed a contract extension, interesting.

Three years, $50 million, but it's an extension off his current year. So it's, in the end, four for 52, about 18 per year, only $20 million guaranteed. So he basically got Wondell Robinson contract, but not as good because of the guaranteed money. I would say that's good business for the Packers. I don't think it's a crazy idea for Jade Reed to take that money either.

He's been injured and you know, you're taking away some years of your prime, but you're locking yourself into kind of a role player two slash three role. But I think a good bit of business there by the Packers who've really reformed that room this offseason. It's interesting, you know, when we think about Matt LaFleur's comments about people and their desire and if whether they like the fit or not we've seen players leave you know dontavian wicks leaving um how they've kind of tried to settle this group a little bit and deliver more defined roles and i think reed is that you know role player that you speak of he less than 250

receiving yards last year but i also think that like a lot of these guys battled for targets because they were just in and out like you couldn't really get any consistency outside of once watson came back that he was healthy and then you're thinking when are you going to get matthew golden involved. Now it seems like there's less is more for them. They're kind of just like figuring out where they're going and getting a good number on Reed who, I mean, look, if he has a Wondale Robbins in the year, like Robbins did last year, it would be a great return for the Packers. And so their first draft pick was Brandon Cese, who's just such a Packers pick, Toolsy, like couldn't even stay on the field to play every snap at South Carolina. So it was a little confusing.

50 second overall. Some people thought he could be a first round. type of player. Others weren't a fan at all. They also take a big defensive tackle, Chris McClellan. It's just they have their types. They take these big physical guys and hope that they can mold them at almost every position, but especially on defense, especially taking big linemen and cornerbacks. We'll see if it works out. Some have not worked out too great. Another thing we see a lot during these drafts is the Lions really believing in their evaluation. Year after year, they have surprises. Blake Miller in the first round, not a surprise. Trading a fourth round pick just to move up a handful of spots to draft Derek Moore, the edge from Michigan,

pairing him with another Michigan edge, Aidan Hutchinson. I was surprised by this. I guess Moore wasn't that low on the consensus board. Like he was projected to be about a late second round pick. But, man, they're always giving away just extra picks to move around. And then they take a player that was Derek Moore really going to go? I don't know. Do you have any thoughts on Derek Moore from Michigan?

He was a round three projection. Lance's comp on NFL.com as Yaya Diabi, which that's fun. I mean, if you can match that and actually capitalize on that ability, then I'm cool with that, especially opposite Aidan Hutchinson. It gives offenses, you know, opposing offenses to guys to really worry about because you're always afraid of power, you know, perhaps sometimes more than speed. You can chip speed. You can account multiple people to speed power, sometimes a little bit harder to handle, right?

I thought it was early. It was a little perplexing. I thought his teammate was the better of the two rushers, the one with more juice. he went later. But just why trade up? If you're going to take a surprising pick, because this is what Brad Holmes does. This is what he's done over the last few years.

And it's worked enough for him that now he has the confidence, all the confidence in the world to continue doing it. That's not 100%, but the batting average is pretty high. So the bucks, I wanted to get into them.

They take Josiah Trotter, Jeremiah Trotter, his son, Jeremiah Trotter Jr.'s brother, who's now with the Eagles. It's a good linebacker class, so I'm not going to pick Nitz, that they took him over, C.J. Allen, our resident linebacker, scout, Ali Connolly, really thought the fit for Trotter for Tampa was actually better.

He likes Trotter quite a bit and just thought, like, in terms of the scheme, makes a lot of sense there. He's going to be a run stuffer. And then at 84, they made one of my favorite picks of the night. And yes, this might be the last Gene Deckerhoff clip. At least that's taped live that we ever have on NFL Day, take it away jean fire them cannons welcome to the draft here in pittsburgh thank you pittsburgh fans for being the host of this tremendous draft i'd like to thank the late malcolm glazer and the glazer family for providing me with the opportunity to broadcast

not just one but two super bowl championships super bowl 37 super bowl 55 and do all bucket fans worldwide. Touchdown Tampa Bay. Speaking of touchdowns, Tampa Bay, with the 84th pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Select Ted Hurst.

Wide receiver, Georgia State. Go box. I was hoping to fire them, Canons. Fire the cannons. Touchdown Tampa Bay. We missed Gene Deckeroff. We never got to sing a gun.

There we go. Because we didn't know. Touchdown Tampa Bay. When they won that, in hindsight, anti-climactic final game, whether they would be advancing to the playoffs. Remember that? That was a wild time.

They won. It was his last game. Then they didn't matter. Fire them cannons. Thank you, Gene. And they looked, they got there, Mike Evans. Evans replacement. Ted Hurst, Georgia State, baby. Let's go. I love Ted Hurst. I don't have much of a

take on him other than the fact that he's a long receiver and you need a long receiver to replace Mike Evans. I'm joking about the Mike Evans. Okay, they went 1 and 11 in the Sunbelt. You got to be pretty bad to go 1 and 11 in the Sunbelt, but you got to be pretty good to get drafted after being on the team that went 1 and 11 in the Sunbelt. You want to have some fun in terms of just like highlight real stuff. go watch some Ted Hurst, Dunkin on Fools in the Sun Belt. And I know the competition was great, but a big high upside type of receiver, like Chris Bell, like Chris Brazel, who we didn't mention earlier,

got taken in the second round. Big fan of him. By the Panthers, or third round, rather. Just some, like, high upside players. Brazels coming from Tennessee. I think for where Brazle got drafted, and then where Hearst got drafted, which was like mid-third,

and Brazel was roughly in the same area. that sounds right. Like it wasn't too early for either of those guys. I might like Ted Hurst like a little bit better. But either way, some fun picks, big receivers in the NFC South.

Let's keep it rolling. The Jags, you mentioned the tight end that you thought was a worst pick. Earlier when we were talking about some tight end reaches, were you talking about the Jaguars pick,

Nate Borkercher? Are we calling them? Their first pick. The Texas A&M. end who is strictly like a blocking tight end. I understand valuing a blocking tight end. Like I said, it's coming back toward more value of blocking than just receiving. Where they took him was like the 56 overall, their first pick of the draft.

I was like, whoa, this is kind of crazy. But it started this whole tight end thing where everybody just started taking their favorite tight end and out of order of what we expected. I mean, he went before Oscar dealt. And I think that's going to, that might age poorly in the larger picture. We'll see. I mean, he has to be a special blocking tight end to make that worth it. You know, I always just am a little wary. And Albert Regis, their defensive tackle from Texas A&M, who is a physical freak with their next pick in the third round.

You know, both of these guys were in the 160s in terms of the consensus board, in terms of where they were expected to get taken. They were viewed as like sixth round pick types. And maybe the league viewed both of them higher than that. And so that's a little unfair. but it's definitely James Gladstone kind of sticking his neck out and maybe being like, hey, we do things a little differently around here. We're going to do things different. They also take a safety Jalen Husky out of Maryland with the last pick of the night.

And then they kind of flip it and take Emmanuel Pregnan, the guard from Oregon that some people thought that chargers may take as early as the first round. If they like traded back, he just seemed like a Jim Harbaugh type of player and he ends falling all the way to the middle of the third round. And so in terms of quote unquote value, they got a good. that maybe can play right away. But yes, getting bold, Jaguars. That was their best pick.

Bregnone was the best pick. I was a huge fan of that at 88. I thought that was a mild steel, and it's a depth ad now that could end up being a starter later. Good pick for them. We're wrapping up soon, but I do love the Saints draft.

Kristen Miller out of Georgia, I think, was a good value. And then his teammate, Oscar Delp, you mentioned at Georgia. Man, I know he didn't have a lot of production, but when you watch him, he looks like an NFL tight-e Like 30 targets.

They never threw them the football. They haven't thrown a tight end. Well, they threw Brock Barrow's football. What are you talking about? They made their whole offense out of, you know, a generational tight end. This is a Zach Branch's year, man. I guess so. But I like, you know, I'm mixed on Jordan Tyson,

but I think Kristen Miller, Oscar Delp in second and third round, both made a lot of sense. More importantly, the Saints haven't been trading up like they usually do. Appreciate, by the way, the domestic listeners checking in. It's 1107 in Oklahoma right now, according to. It's 12-08 here in Cleveland. Here in Cleveland. Just I'm joining in too.

Yeah. Yeah, we flew through some of the interesting picks. I thought the Patriots giving up an extra fourth-round pick to just move up a handful of spots for Gabe Jacobs, a fourth and a sixth and a second, you know, that's just to move up. For Gabe Jacobs, the Illinois edge rusher was a little surprising. We'll see how that works out.

There's some interesting players still left. Jermon McCoy, you know, at one point, point, everyone thought he was a top 10 pick. The knee is clearly a bigger issue. We've seen this with players over the years occasionally that you just didn't know going to the draft how the league viewed the medical situation. His 2024 tape was probably the best cornerback tape of anyone in this entire class. He still has not been drafted. And then one of my favorite players, Kianti Scott, one of my guys from the show I did with Mina and DJ, the kind of safety corner nickel hybrid, older player, you might have some medical issues. He slid down the board a little bit, too,

hasn't been taken either. What is the most important part of the combine in Indianapolis, Greg? The medicals. Yes. And I think that when a entirely collectively downgrade slash, I think rejects is a little too harsh, but at least passes on you over three rounds with some teams having multiple picks. That tells me that the medicals probably weren't very good. Or are there concerning. Oh, yeah, that they're an enormous, enormous risk. And there's belief with McCoy that his other knee is going to, another knee that he didn't have the torn ACL is going to need like serious surgery.

And that just scares you away. That's the issue is that, and that happens a lot. When you tear one, sometimes you tear the other. Because usually I think the theory is that when you rehab that knee, it becomes stronger. And then the other one's weaker. And that's what ends up happening. I think that's why you see players like that who didn't play football the next year and kind of prove that that's not a risk,

they end up sliding because the tape from 2024 is so good. And his pro day looked good too. So that's got to be it. You know what pick I forgot about? One of my favorites of the very night because of the entire night because he's one of my favorite players

of the whole night. And it felt like he really fell far. Although now that I look at it, it was just that a lot of linebackers went in quick succession because, you know, Rodriguez went, you know, barely... Oh, I know where we're going.

Mid-second round. and about 12 picks later, CJ Allen from Georgia goes to the Colts. And I love me some CJ Allen. I did check, you know, there could have been some medical concern for him. I did hear that maybe some teams,

you know, second hand here, like, you know, there was concern. He might not have been on every single board. But he lands with the Colts. And in the end, when you have players that you really appreciate, you just hope even if they're not in the right spot, in the first round,

I wanted him go to Minnesota and Brian Flores that they land with the right team. Luana Rumo and that Colts defense is perfect. He's kind of the same build, but more athletic than a Jermaine Pratt, and I could see him racking up like 20 tackles and people being like, why did C.J. Allen fall to the second round?

I like C.J. Allen think that's a good pick for the Colts. I love it when teams draft players based on history. Like, do he just like this style of player? And when he went to Indianapolis, it was like, that makes all the sense in the world for everything, every reason that you just listed. And it also came two picks after Jake Golda went to Minnesota, which I think also

fits exactly what they want at linebackers. So you love it when the fits make sense. Yeah, it was really, you know, going into it, we thought it was going to be a really strong linebacker class. We have not seen linebackers go off the board like this in a long time. Anthony Hill went in what the second round to the Titans as well, and then Golda and Rodriguez.

and Trotter, like, there were players flying off the board. They're back. And who did we talk about? Jayshan over to the Cowboys as well. It was a fun pick. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind,

and now got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies, available on all TSN platforms and the IHeart Radio app. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal.

And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg, free agency, the combine, the NFL draft pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits,

to my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are. built cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move? We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team.

Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. As we're wrapping up here, I sometimes learn some things on this. on the day after, you know, the first round. So we're just going to circle back to just a couple little stories that I wanted to put a button on before we go from day one. And we'd ever got to hear Sean McVeigh on our last show talk about Ty Simpson and how weird his press conference was.

We were taping as the press conference was going on. Let's listen to just a little of Sean McVeigh answering questions about Ty Simpson. John, do you have a conversation with Matthew about this bit? Yeah, I do. What kind of lady help? I'll keep that between us. Do you expect Ty's the backup of Matthew? We'll see. He's going to compete with Stetson.

Just very defensive there. Another question when they asked about what made you excited about Ty Simpson, he starts answering the question, and then he immediately pivots to, you know, Matthew Stafford is our quarterback. He's our guy. And everyone took this to mean that, like, Sean McVeigh was somehow not in favor of this pick, that he was upset. about a Ty Simpson pick.

And to that, I just want to point out, if you guys think that a quarterback being taken by the Los Angeles Rams not only has the okay of Sean McVe, but has like full-throated enthusiasm, and I would suspect he being the person behind the pick more than any other person, what kind of organization do you think they're running? Sean McVeigh is the most important person

in the organization, and he's especially the most important person, in the organization when it comes to the first round picks and developing quarterbacks and quarterbacks. Like, that's going to be his guy. And then we see an ESPN article from Jeremy Fowler about this and a couple other people hinting about this. And they believed it was a sensitivity to Matthew Stafford and not making him mad.

And you got to be worried a little bit about like, how mad is Matthew Stafford about this? He said Matthew Stafford was great about it and had a conversation. I would not expect McVeigh to tell us what that conversation was really like. if I'm Matthew Stafford, I'm probably not very fired up about this whole thing. And this does make me wonder, why even bring this into it? My last thing, I know I'm ranting here. No, you're fine. Is that how did Sean McVeigh get in trouble with the whole last quarterback changeover?

And when he said he learned a lot from it and he made big mistakes, it was by not being forthright and being himself and, like, being honest with the quarterbacks. And I'm sure, like, his conversation with Matthew Stafford, that was him being honest. but I think he put himself in a situation in this press conference where he almost had to pretend that he was somehow mad or not disrespecting Matthew Stafford. And it's just like bad juju. That's what the ESPN article was saying. And that's what many of the reporters was like he was almost trying to overcompensate by saying,

you know, not being too excited about Simpson. And it just came out funny. Like he's not a good actor and just, just be yourself, bro. Just be, you know. Yeah. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, right? but like in in no rational world should Matthew Stafford be surprised that they took a quarterback at some point. Now a first rounder, okay, a little bit.

You obviously get the Aaron Rogers Jordan Love comparison, right? But this is a quarterback in Matthew Stafford, who yes, is coming off of an NFL MVP season. Phenomenal year. Obviously still has plenty left in the tank. But has also kind of held the Rams hostage with will I, won't I continue playing over. over the last couple of years, whether it's going to go to the Raiders or play at all. Now, he didn't do it this year because he immediately said right after he got the MVP that he would be back. They haven't signed that contract though.

That does make me wonder. It's kind of interesting. They still got to play the contract game, right? So, of course, the Rams are going to consider an option for when he's done because he's on the back nine. The end is near. It's not tomorrow, but it's closer than, you know, the average quarterback. Of course they're going to plan. They didn't have to reach for a quarterback at 13th overall.

I get why he. I agree it's a reach, but maybe they... Maybe there's more... Situation matters. More going on, though, because... Look, he did strongly consider leaving last year. Yeah. And they've been so close and there's frustration just that they didn't get over the top, I'm sure.

But here's what I believe in that McVeigh was absolutely truthful about. Like, if Matthew Stafford wants to keep playing and is playing at a high... He didn't say N is playing at a high level, but I'll add that in. Like, of course he's going to still be the Rams quarterback. It just added... maybe a little added level of tension you didn't need when you could have been taken. It would be poor process that they didn't draft somebody. Yeah, here's who you could have drafted.

Venga Youane or Casey Concepcion. I would like to see him playing. There was a quote that the ESPN article ended with. And here was what it said. It said to the effect of, well, if Ty Simpson doesn't even play in his rookie contract, that's a win for the Rams because of what that would mean. And I'm thinking, that is the most galaxy brain thinking you're in a whole different galaxy. They also said it was a luxury pick because they can't.

No, that was the 13th overall pick of the draft. You only have so many opportunities. What if it was like 31? What if it was 30? What if that pick was 30? I'd feel better about it. I'd feel better. There's your answer.

There's your answer. I'd feel a little better. Good players on the board. It was really funny. John Lynch was asked about, actually, I won't preface it too much. Let's listen to the Ty Simpson kind of. conversation going all the way up to San Francisco. Guys, I know you're focused on your pick, but at 13, your reaction to the Rams,

taking a guy that isn't going to immediately impact them next year. Well, I think, you know, first of all, I think another team in our division, I mean, they got a player who is going to impact and talking about Jeremiah, I love, a fantastic player. I just loved, like, right when the Ty Simpson question started happening, for a second, he was unguarded and he just had a, John Lynch had a big smile, just like, oh, those Rams, they kind of stepped into it. This is interesting.

And then he immediately pivots to Jeremiah Love and didn't want to give an answer. Our trusty producer, by the way, Eric Roberts tells me, Ty Simpson was asked at his press conference on Friday whether he's heard from Matthew Stafford. No. Hasn't heard from Matthew Stafford. It's been, it was like 16 hours.

Let it breathe. I mean, he heard from some other teammates. I think it was Quentin Lake, Lake, was the one who reached out. But his teammate Matthew Stafford's wife, Kelly, texted him on Instagram and welcomed. And Ted told her to hit her up. I don't know how to take that.

I guess that's the bridge between the two for now. There you go. Mackay Lemon, should we talk about that crazy clip of him being on the phone? The fact that this is all captured on camera, I think we have the clip from Good Morning football. I'm throwing this past blind. Let's see if the no look complete.

Here is what it looked like from the players point of view before we discuss. Hey, why, Philly Col? Oh, Philly just treated for you. I love it. This is Philly. They just treated for you. Philly's picking you right now. Two phones. Two phones. Two phones. One for Harry, one for Omar.

The agent runs over while he's literally talking to Pittsburgh and says, Billy's taking you right now. Man, that is going to be a moment. That's never going to be forgotten. And I really like the Steelers pick. Max Ihanacher.

I think he's got a really high ceiling. Maybe even as a player higher than Lemon. You might get like a really real deal left tackle. But it's just going to be fascinating. It's obviously not what the Pittsburgh Steelers wanted to do. We talked about that a little earlier. Let's listen to Mantor Delane. I thought him talking a little bit of sports.

smack to the Washington commanders of all team. He is the new Kansas City Chiefs, number six overall pick, cornerback, and he refers to the commander's GM, Adam Peters, in this clip. I firmly believe defense wins championships, especially let alone what's on the other side of the ball with our team, and really just now fighting for another chance to go back and compete.

But, you know, Mr. Peters be a little too late, but, you know, they made a great decision coming up getting the dog. That's interesting. The thought was, you know, when they traded up Kansas City that they were maybe preventing him to go to New Orleans. And maybe that was true, like local product, they needed a cornerback, but I didn't think that they were going Mansour Delane.

And then there was some reporting, and really it sounds like more from Delane himself, he had an idea that Washington was maybe going to go Mansour Delane at. seven overall and instead Kansas City goes up and gets a guy that Steve Spagnolo absolutely loves I just love these little day after yeah shook there's one more I'm just gonna add with this which is that Brett Veach actually indicated that once Carnell Tate came off the board we knew Delaine was our guy which is really interesting that more or less said Tate I think was they would have been deciding between those two but that kind of tells me Tate was probably their pick but that

they really wanted one of those those two guys to fall to them. And once one was gone, they were like, we need to go up to get the other. Which is just, it's interesting to think about the paths not taken in the draft. I think that there was a near consensus on where Tate landed on a lot of boards.

And the fact that Tennessee took him at four was earlier than most expected. And I think it made a lot of teams call an audible. And that was one of them. But how about Delane? Interesting time for a victory lap, huh? I mean, why not? You know,

hey, they came up and took me at six. y'all thought I was going at nine. Turns out I was going to go at seven. I'm a sixth overall pick now. I like the way he carries himself on and off. Gotta be confident. I'm looking forward to speaking of confident. How about Ruben Bain entering the arena that was the draft?

That was like a W-W-E moment from him on Thursday night. You're watching us on YouTube, him approaching the stage, just completely walks by the camera where he's going to have his hat, all business, picks it up, keeps it moving, and then just kind of like the shaking his arms out as he gets up there and then was very emotional. I'm invested in this young man, Ruben Bain. Yeah, and I am also a huge fan of him not stopping at the mirror, the one-way mirror with the camera behind it. And look, I understand product placement and everything else that's all good for the experience,

but him just taking it and continuing on, that's the time. type of conviction I won out of my new edge rusher. And then finally, it's just going all the way back to the beginning. I missed this the first time around. I just needed to make sure every NFL daily listener knew that this was Fernando Mendoza's ringtone as he got the call to be the first overall pick.

How you're saying? I'm sorry. How you doing? Which is Pai-Tecke. I appreciate you going I mean that is the most Fernando Mendoza

Looney Tunes ass ringtone you ever want I love it I went and watched like the Mendoza No I mean that's How do you silence your phone Or like a nine year old

Like I loved it He did something with the NFL Where his brother was a talk show host for him He's an inspiring broadcaster Check out Check out his brother's Instagram show I am loving the wholesome Fernando Mendoza era and he did a press conference on Friday.

Look, in the middle of the off season, that would have been worthy of a whole news topic. But look, we had more to get to a lot of picks. There's a lot more to come. Thank you, Shuki, for helping out with our day two draft. Happy to be here. It's after midnight, but I'm happy to be here, baby. It was fun.

We move on to day three. Let's get out of here. We will not be doing a show after day. We want to get everything in order. And then on Sunday, we're going to have a kind of a different timing of a show. Podcasts will go up on Sunday afternoon evening with our winners and losers from the entire draft that's going to be me and Ali Connolly. Then around the AFC and NFC next week, I cannot wait. I'm Daniel Jeremiah.

And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL off season. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts. To my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together.

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