NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 40s and Free Agents: The AFC East's 5 Impact Additions and Rookies

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

The AFC East is the topic of discussion on the latest episode of 40s and Free Agents, as Gregg Rosenthal and Daniel Jeremiah cover major additions and rookies for the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. The duo has analysis on players including Miami's Ollie Gordon II & Minkah Fitzpatrick, New England's Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, Kyle Williams and Craig Woodson, as well as New York's Mason Taylor and Justin Fields. All that and more on the latest 40s!NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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On Move the 6, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies. To evaluate team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand

the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We are back on 40. and free agents. I'm Greg Rosenthal, alongside Daniel Jeremiah from his mansion in the San

Diego area. But that's not, it's not public knowledge. We can't let anyone know where you live because, you know, you rank these guys. People would get upset. They'd come after you. I can't tell if that's a Tommy Bahama shirt or like a janitor shirt. Like, what are we wearing here? You know, this is an audio medium. Hopefully we can get to go out on YouTube. I feel like you should have your name and a patch on that thing. You know, this is the second negative comment. gotten today, the other one being from my wife on it. I got it. Really? I believe in. And are there two opinions you care more about than those two? No, that's the top two ranked right there. Today, we are wrapping up our division look at the 2025 season by taking a little look back of the biggest

additions in terms of veterans and rookies. It is the AFC East. And now we get to do it, DJ, with the knowledge of everything that happened in training camp and the preseason and spin it for. word. We are so close to this season actually starting. You do the rookies. I do the veterans. Why don't you get us going? Sure, I will. And I don't know if there is video that lives on this. I know this is obviously an audio form. But if you could just move your mop and bucket, it's in the screen a little bit. If you just move it a little bit to the left, thanks. I mean, it's at least cleanly pressed and stuff. It looks like at least I'm putting in a little bit of effort, unlike you. Yeah. I just agreed to the screen. I'm going to go, I tease this on the last one. So let's jump right into it. Let's go to the

Miami Dolphins. Let's go to the sixth round in Ali Gordon out of Oklahoma State, who is a big physical back. As I do, again, we should have got this sponsored, Greg. I think you came up with that idea going back through some of these draft notes. But Ollie Gordon, to me, someone that I had it, who's 141 on my list. I don't know what the overall pick was where he ended up getting picked. He was 179, so that was still a little bit higher on him than where he went there. But 6013, so 6.1.5, 226 pounds. Ran 4-61 in Indy, one of the slower running back times there. But didn't bother me at all when you look at the way that he runs.

He's got a huge lower half. He's a nifty big back. So if you think about comparisons, I wrote down with Garrett Blunt, is who he reminded me of. Someone who can absorb contact. He can actually catch the ball really well. You'll see some one-handed catches when you study his film. He's aggressive and pass pro.

I just wrote he's fast enough. Like he's, for what he does, his style, he's fast enough. senior bowl was excellent, had a big time game in the senior bowl. So I think they got a great value there. And I think what I've seen in the preseason, this guy runs really, really hard. These backups that have been trying to tackle him can't bring him down. You know, they just bounce off him.

Now we'll see it against better competition in the regular season because I think he's going to have a chance. Jalen Wright was supposed to be the backup there. He's out right now with an injury. We'll see if he's back for week one. But Gordon maybe won that job anyways over Jalen Wright. We'll see. And Devon A-chan is banged up right now with a soft tissue injury.

So it could be week one, Ollie Gordon getting some really big-time snaps. And I too was impressed. Maybe the big back is coming back, DJ. I love it. Because, you know, because of, you know, the extra tight end formations, more power football. Oh, you're seeing too high, too high safeties.

The boxes, you know, it's lighter boxes. So you get somebody that can just kind of be a little bit of a hammer in there. It's kind of fun. So the dolphins will be using Minkervoir. Fitzpatrick quite a bit in those too high safety formations that Anthony Weaver does like to run. And that's my pick for the dolphins there. A really important year in his career, an important player for the Miami Dolphins. I think they gave up a lot to get him in terms of Jalen Ramsey, who wasn't happy there,

and Jono Smith, who wanted a new home as well. And Minkin Fitzpatrick has had an interesting career. Sometimes those deep safeties, DJ, you know, you just, just don't hear from as much in some years than others. But if you, you know, listen to the reporters and some of the coaches in Pittsburgh, I do think they were a little disappointed with Minka Fitzpatrick over the last year or two. Sometimes it maybe he was- He had one pick. Right.

Sometimes he was freelancing a little bit and not being part of the structure of the defense and not making as many big plays after an incredible start to his career, almost like a Hall of Fame type of start to his career. Still relatively young, I think he's 28 years. old. And so they need him to be a playmaker in a secondary that doesn't really have any other options to be playmakers. I think of safety's interceptions from a scouting standpoint, there's two types of interceptions. There's ones where the ball finds you and there's ones where you go take the ball away. And Minka had that production early. And that wasn't just the ball falling in his

lap, tips and overthrows. Like this was him seeing things, driving on routes, making plays on the ball. Like this was him as a playmaker. And we just haven't seen that the last couple years. So I'm hoping it's in there. I'm hoping this kind of revitalizes him, you know, going back to Miami and we see that old school version of him, but I don't think he's been the same player the last couple years. You know, he got paid.

He wanted to get paid, by the way, by the dolphins when he got there, and they essentially decided no, like you got to prove it this time. I think they gave him like they moved his money around a little bit, but he's basically in a contract year. Can he get one more big contract? So he'll be motivated to get it done. And I think Anthony Weaver, in that second year,

in Miami with that defensive front, one of the best defensive fronts if everything clicks in the entire league, maybe there'll be opportunities to make some plays because of that quick pass rush. Go ahead with your second rookie. They just need to stay healthy too, man.

Those edge rushers are very talented. They just haven't been able to get them on the field. So I'm going to go to my next one here. And again, I do not have a first round pick in this division in terms of my guys. I'm keeping an eye on that I'm excited about, which is interesting. I'm going to go to Buffalo and I'm going to go to Landon Jackson.

edge rush out of Arkansas, third round pick. This was a transfer there at Arkansas who spent a lot of time in the SEC. He's played against great competition. And I loved the way that he played with the edge that he played with, the physicality that he played with. He's 6'6, 264 pounds. He ran 4-68, excellent straight-line speed. Had an awesome senior bowl game, so that's kind of a nice thing to see when you're going

through the process. He wins with a long-arm rush. crush his tight ends. As an edge rusher, you cannot get blocked by tight ends. He dominated those matchups. Some angle blocks, you know, some guys when they could, you know, block down on him or crack on him. He needs to work on some of his awareness there.

But thought there was a violence to the way that he played. I thought he played with outstanding effort. And if you think about the Buffalo Bills and how they play, effort, physicality, it's a big part of it. This is a big guy who can run, who plays really, really hard. So I'm excited to see him in Sean McDermott's defense. Yeah, I think they could. could really use some core pieces that pop for them that are younger and he has the opportunity to do so.

Like my wild card, I'm just got to throw him out as Joey Bosa because like to me he's the ultimate wildcard and he's part of this conversation. I have been tracking. He had a healthy training camp, so that's a good sign. Healthy preseason. I don't know if the snaps are there for Landon Jackson right off the bat because they have Eponessa. they have Rousseau, they have Bosa. Do you think he's a guy that could play a little inside? And also among that trio, they've missed some time with injuries and so that could open up an opportunity for Jackson.

And to me, look, the Bosa and I've been around, you know, Joey for every game that he's played, you know, going through his career here, or I guess I think every, maybe not even, maybe he missed his first year or so. But he, to me, you signed Joey Bosa for the playoffs.

You sign him to get him, manage him through the season, you load management, but you want him healthy and ready to rock when you get into those meaningful late season games and healthy into the postseason in the playoffs. So I would say it behooves them to roll guys through. And I really think he'll earn a role. He can rush inside if you want him to.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think he had like eight or nine pressures in the preseason when I was going through some of the rookie numbers the other day. So he's shown some signs he's going to be able to get out there and help him. I hold it against Lannon Jackson though that during the initial run of 40s and free agents, you know, I called him Donovan Jackson or vice versa so many times. It was just hard.

There's also like Landon Donovan. It's just someone's got to choose. Someone's got to change it. Maybe that's a me problem. I think it is a me problem. But I just, it's too confusing. Well, I can see how you would be easily confused.

What's, uh, who's next? Um, well, I threw out Bosa as my wild guy. Oh, okay. Yeah, we're counting Bosa. So then I get to go with my next one there. Um, I'm going to go to a team that I, I said at the time and, uh, Jack Andrade, who does all the research, backed it up in terms of just the raw numbers. The New England Patriots, based off just how I saw players going through the draft process, had the best draft in the NFL in terms of the quality of player and the value with where they got the players in this draft class.

So I've got two of them there. I'm going to go with two skill guys on offense. Obviously, Will Campbell is going to be a big part as their left tackle. But Travion Henderson at Running Back, you saw it early in the preseason when he took a kick to the house. like he is a dynamic weapon and you're going to see him big time in the past game I mentioned it I go back through my notes

he's the best past protecting running back I've ever evaluated coming out of the game so and that's what the number one thing that keeps rookie running backs from getting playtime or getting on the field is the trust of the coordinator and the quarterback in pass protection this guy is elite elite elite elite in pass pro big time speed versatility

he can run every route out of the backfield It's not just, you know, he's running an option route. You can split him out, let him run receiver routes. He's got home run speed. He ran 4-4-3. He plays much faster than that. So he just got to keep his feet alive a little bit on inside runs. There's times where his feet can go dead.

He's not going to be a wear-you-down runner, but he is a find a crease and create a bunch of explosives. He's going to be fun for Patriot fans to watch. Man, he could not have gotten Patriots fans more excited with this preseason that he had, not just on the field in the games where he showed a variety of different types of plays, like inside runs where he did do a good job fighting through and scoring in the red zone. Also running, I forget what cornerback it was on the Vikings over, but just like steamrolling him with a rugged run. But then also these wheel routes and busting open the kickoff, like he said.

And he's going to be a much different player than a Shane Vereen and Danny Woodh head in these guys, but Josh McDaniels has brought up those guys. He knows how to use those guys. And if you can add, you know, his speed to some of the skill set that those guys had, like, watch out. There's going to be a lot of Patriots in this in this show. I hate to bring it to you because they were, they were so active. And they need to have a good draft, by the way. Drake May literally might be the only 2024 draft class member to make this team. I saw that. That's not a good look. bananas. I will go with Milton Williams. Look, he was at the top of my free agency list and he got taken by the Patriots. They went over the top to get him. He wasn't the top of my original list, but all the re-signings happened and the franchise tags. And it's a type of guy I think that you should overpay in free agency. And I think ultimately they did overpay him. If they get a version of him, DJ, between the Milton Williams we saw for the first 12 weeks of last season and then the Milton Williams we saw down.

the stretch and in the playoffs. If it's somewhere in between, I think they should be happy. And I think that is the type of player that they should bet on. But I can imagine the Boston Sports Radio Yahoo's being like, well, what's this guy? You know, he's got some pressures.

He's got like four sacks because I don't think he's going to be an all-pro player. I just think he's going to be a good plus starter. And if you have the money, spend it because it's hard to find those guys in free agency. Dynamic explosive. I remember when he was coming out into the process being he was like one of my favorite players that I watched in that cycle

and I remember talking to the guys in Philadelphia before during and after they got him in there and I mean he's such a good kid and he just got better and better and better the explosiveness was always there and then you just started seeing the playmaking come along with it I think you were right to have him as highly rated as you did through the free agency process

this is the way my mind works it's kind of weird Greg but I was just sitting there thinking and he was going to sign with the Panthers, right? That was, everything's going that way. He ends up signing with the Patriots. So James Taylor wrote the song, in my mind, I'm going to Carolina. But where's James Taylor from and who's he a fan of? He's a Patriots guy.

So literally, in his mind, he was going to Carolina. He's on that mass bike from Stockbridge to Boston. Yes, exactly. So again, if we had the music rights, I'm sure we don't. Maybe with all that ESPN money coming in there, we can get the rights to that song. We could just drop it right in the episode, but I don't think that's finalized yet. I wouldn't have thought that my parents, you know, playing James Taylor nonstop in the car, dragging me to inform your free agency thoughts. Yeah, to some concerts at Tanglewood back in the day when I was like, oh, do we have to do this?

Like, oh, it'll be great. Okay. Does he stand up at a concert because I've never been to a James Taylor concert, but it I went to a Vince Gill concert, and it was very much a just kind of sit down. It was enjoyable, like enjoyable, really talented musician, but not really a stand-up situation. I don't remember. I was a kid. My guess is he's sitting.

Yeah, those are soft tunes. The crowd's definitely sitting. The crowd's definitely chilling. They're drinking wine. You know, Milton Williams was maybe the second best, like, defensive player in that stretch in the playoffs for the Eagles next to Jalen Carter. Like, he just was so good. And so you do wonder, like, how much. of that was the Eagles and the attention to Carter.

Well, he's got Christian Barmore next to him here. He's a pretty good defensive line there with Harold Landry, who was also a pickup. And, you know, I just hope that the expectations aren't so high that people are disappointed. Because I think if he's just like a really good player, that that's what they needed. They had more than enough cap space. And they spent so much money in free agency. I'll just throw out another one too, because to me it was all combined.

Carlton Davis was another one on their defense. And so you spent it on Williams, Harold Landry, and Davis. Davis was the one I'm choosing as one of my five, kind of a boomer bus player that they're going to really need to stay healthy and hold up. It's good in man coverage, but how important is like man coverage in 2025 being that kind of cornerback, DJ? Well, it depends. There's very few teams that are just going to let you go nose to nose and play man coverage the whole time. So not as useful for the majority of teams.

It's nice. It's a great luxury. I think given their druthers, most teams would love to have corners where you can line up and do that, but not many teams have it. So that's just kind of the way the game's played right now. I'm going to go Patriots last one here. Kyle Williams, who I know is a favorite of yours as well, receiver.

He was my 57th overall player. He was the 69th pick. So again, just kind of another example of I thought that kind of knocked it out of the park. in terms of the value where they found these guys. A little bit under 5-11, 190 pounds, ran 4-4 flat, played inside and outside. He was excellent in his releases, getting away from press.

He's got vertical speed. He can separate. I love his ability to win early on routes. You want to run a slant. You want to get on top of guys. He can do it right away. He's got burst with a ball in his hands for run-after catch. He was excellent again at the Senior Bowl,

which you kind of see a theme here. A lot of these guys that do really well in that setting. It does bode well. for their future and his ability this is kind of a kind of a it's i try to think of the right ways to describe this but you know it when you see it so i i like guys who can go from a static position to a burst you know like think about just if you're if you're running a curl route you face up you catch the ball you catch the ball your static your feet are in the ground how quick can then you get out and go and this guy has exceptional ability to do that so i'm a big fan of his game i'll be

I have not seen him in the preseason. I have not watched their stuff with him. So I don't know how he's done. I haven't seen the reports in camp. This is basically solely off my evaluation of him as a college player. Well, he had a concussion in practice after the Vikings game, which was the second week. But he is now back at practice. So that cost him a week.

But I think it's been really positive. Actually, that preseason game against the Vikings was part of a trend that we've heard at camp where he is winning in terms of those releases. he is stacking the cornerbacks. And a couple times in that game, he was wide open going down the field and Josh Dobbs couldn't hit him either time. One time the cornerback

had like the worst pass interference that you ever seen. They didn't call it, but I feel like in a big game, they would have called it. I guess it was a priest and they should have called it. But either way, you saw what you wanted to see. I think they like what they've seen out of him so far.

Him and Kashan Bouti are both going to get reps on the outside. Matt Collins is as well. But I think it's a matter of time. before Williams gets more and more of those reps. So I think all systems are go in terms of Kyle Williams. And you're right. I planted my flag at him. We had a show.

I mentioned on our last show with Mina Kines where we each picked our favorite player. Hers was with Jagad Campbell. I went Kyle Williams. I don't even remember who your pick was. Do you? You did so many shows. It's kind of tough to put you on the spot.

I think it was Jada Baron. I do listen to you. Okay. I do like Jada Baron. It could have been this next guy who is my wow. I'm going to skip ahead to my wild card because I just felt weird having three Patriots in the five.

So I just have one as a wild card who was, again, one of my favorite players was Craig Woodson, the safety from Cal. So I'll let producer Drew pull up when he was picked, what number overall he was. I like giving Drew homework while we're live. Another segment that should be sponsored, although I could easily Google.

I don't think you need to have a researching background to do this, but we'll let him do the work. He was 106, according to Drew. He was my 90th player. Again, kind of stay with that theme of I thought the Patriots, you know, found value all throughout the draft. 6-0-01, 200. So 6'0.8th, 200 pounds, ran 4-4-5 in Indianapolis.

As a safety, let's start here. Leader, smart. The first two things, and that's from talking to everybody at Cal. He's a little bit older, so he's been, you know, you see this a little bit with the last couple years with COVID and all that. You get some guys who are a little bit older, a little more mature. I thought this guy could play in the deep half. he's open and smooth

he's he's got speed and physicality when he's working downhill into the alleys takes great angles he has a lot of underneath PBUs he's a real firm tackler and I thought the intelligence wasn't just you know off the field stuff this is someone who plays with excellent instincts

on the field which is huge for a safety to me I just looked at this Cal sneakily had a lot of safeties that have ended up being starters in the last five six years it's been a nice little factory there I thought this guy was ready-making ready to go step on the field and play and it sounds like from what i have heard on him is that he's earning some time there oh i think he's starting week one he's certainly playing in their you know

dime packages is probably their nickel but like i it sounds like he is going to be a week one starter there with gibral peppers also at safety but he beat out some veterans and i everything that you said that's what you hear from from the coaches and it was kind of an immediate guy that like whoa that this is a dude. And yes, after a rough draft class, a year ago, they're going to have a lot of rookie starters this year, maybe two on the offensive line with Jared Wilson alongside Will Campbell. And then you mentioned Craig Woodson. Let's take a break. We'll be back on the other side with our remaining veteran and rookie additions. Back on 40s.

and free agents. DJ, you felt bad about doing a bunch of Patriots in a row. I don't feel bad. They're the team that made all the moves this off season. So I've got one more veteran addition to talk about here. It's Stefan Diggs. It's a contract when you look under the hood is more of a one-year deal. I think he was a very good third receiver type, really a slot receiver in Houston. So coming off a torn ACL, getting back on the field rather early in that. recovery earlier than people expected to start training camp. What you saw, I think as camp went on was what you see a lot of times. Yeah, you can get back on the field, but maybe the confidence

wasn't there, the ability to play at game speed day after day after day. And so we'll see what he is going to give this team early in the season, how he fits in to their receiver rotation. He's not the high ceiling guy that he was early in his career, but they could really use a guy that Drake may trust and knows where he's going to be on the field. And that's what they're counting on Stefan Diggs to do. Because even if he's not a true wide receiver one, like, who's getting the most targets there? It's him. It's DeMario Douglas. It would probably be my pick right now. I mean, which is crazy. Pop Douglas as their one receiver. So the opportunity is there for Diggs to have a really big role. Maybe it'll increase as the season gets on and he's a little further away from

that surgery. Well, all those points just go back to my previous point that I think if you just look at raw talent and where they are right now on their ability levels. I think Kyle Williams is their most talented receiver. Look at that. I love hearing that and that doesn't mean it's a bad signing. This is just how free agency works. No. If they get 800

yards out of Stefan Diggs and 55 catches and he's also, and you can see it, him talking to the, like a very smart route runner and talking to the younger guys in that room and helping them out too, like you have to overpay to find guys and their roster.

was so diminished from the drafts that they've had recently and really Brable wanting to get rid of every guy that Bill Belichick brought in essentially that that's what you do in free agency. So I think if he's a solid enough player, that's a win. They'd obviously like a little more and then he would be with the Patriots for more than one year.

Can I do something that could be dated and they can easily clip out of this? Sure. By the time this thing hits the waves. You saw what Elliot Wolf said the other day when he said, hey, we'd be willing to you know, part with a high pick for a star player, if that player would become available. A, what did you think of that?

And then B, do you think where this roster is right now that that would make sense? It depends who it was. I think it was in the context of Terry McLaurin, who as we know have since signed with Washington commanders. It's a really case-by-case situation. But there aren't many where I think it would make sense for this roster. It'd have to be for a younger player that you're ready to give a huge, contract. Like, I mean, Michael Parsons would cost too much. That's what I said. That's what I tweeted. Because when I saw that, when I saw that comment and everybody freaked out, but I was like, well, I'm just taking it at face value. So if you're going to say that, I'm like, well, okay, Trey Hendrickson, Terry McLaren. I'm like, well, if you really want to make an aggressive move, looking at windows and talent, like I would at least call the Cowboys first. I mean, they might not take my call, but that would be my first call if that was something they were considering. Yes. I mean, I think if you have a chance and,

because they have so much cap space this year, Michael Parsons is an all-time player that you would have to think about that. Brandon Ayuk was another one that they were rumored to be talking about before he signed that long-term deal. At some point coming off that injury, like could that make sense for them if the 49ers?

I don't think it's crazy. I think sometimes you guys in the draft industrial complex and these NFL teams, they get a little too precious about the draft picks. And sometimes the burden the hand is worth something here. Oh, no, trust me. I use this phrase with baseball all the time, which is prospects are fun.

Parades are more fun. Like, you know, that's... Less than eight agrees, you know? The Eagles, they're always making... He used to, and then he flipped the script on it and then started getting a bunch of things. It's a case-by-case basis, like I said. All right, give me another rookie, though, you're excited.

This is my wild card. This is my last one. So I know Jets fans are going, did you forget about us at this point in time? I haven't. I'm going to go to their second round pick. Someone who I loved watching, I feel a lot of these guys

I said the same things in terms of that but Mason Taylor cool story with his dad and going to the Jets to me I'd think again pros pro someone who's ready and developed and good to go right now

go to my notes he was my third tight end in the draft behind Tyler Warren and Colson Loveland he was my 29th overall player good size at a little over 6-5 251 pounds he ran 4-6-8 just a big athletic tight end

the first time he kind of stepped on My radar was as a freshman. You guy catches the game when he touchdown against Bama night game at LSU. It doesn't get bigger than that. So that tells you the moments don't get to this dude at all. Just real smooth, reliable. He's got a nice catch radius.

He can catch the ball low, which is hard for bigger tight ends, which is good to see. He can make you miss out in open space. He's functional as a blocker. He's not going to mall you in that sense. Very few of these tight ends coming to the NFL do. But again, I thought somebody that was polished and just a pro ready to go. so you you call him a pro does that mean you think he can handle all the responsibilities as a blocker but also just like knowing all the assignments you hear this a lot with with young tight ends that it's it's a lot that they throw out of them early so it's tough sometimes for them to make an impact early i think he'll learn very quickly and i think he's a you know he's a mirror blocker he's not gonna he's not collapsing the line he's not you know when he's 270 pound he's not will disley um that's not not his style you're going to flex him out. You're going to let him run routes. You're going to let him win. But I think of, you know, the offense they can run. It would make sense to be lean into the RPO's a little bit. And, and this is someone in RPO's, you leak him into the flat. You catch him on a little, you know, a little slant route in the middle of the field. Like just to me, that's where he's going to make his living. And he's got open targets there. It really sounds like he is going to start or close to it at tight end, play plenty. And they don't really have even a second wide receiver. That's logical.

Wilson, that's why I think he could slide into that second option. He could be that guy. So I'll pick his quarterback as my final choice. If you sign a starting quarterback in free agency, you make it into the five biggest impact list. I thought Justin Fields' free

agency was fascinating. Number one, that a team believed in him enough to give him about a $20 million contract, which is right in between real starter and high level backup. It's our condo contract. We're trying to make this stick. We have done it. It's the condo contract, but it's, it's below like the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, no, first contract that he had even, or, you know, Sam Darno last year with Minnesota. It's even below that, but it's above where the Daniel Jones is at. And they had to make it a little higher. It'll be fascinating to look back at the end of the season. Because the Pittsburgh Steelers, what did you think about this, that the reporting was that they gave Justin Fields a pretty good contract offer? They didn't want Russell Wilson. back. Even though they had benched Russell Wilson, I mean, bench Justin Fields for Russell Wilson, but actually that they gave him a pretty good offer back and that the Jets came over the top of it. What did you think about all that? Because I found that fascinating from the Steelers and

the Jets perspective. Yeah, I think the Jets or sorry, the Steelers kind of had a three man race here in terms of the quarterbacks. And it sounded like they prioritize Fields and Sam Darnold, you know, and whichever one of those, you know, was top of their list. I don't know. But those seemed to be the, that was plan A, was one of those two guys. They both decide to go to separate coasts, and then that's when they kind of pivoted to Aaron Rogers at that point in time. But I think they took a look back at it, and they saw so much of Russell Wilson,

they felt like that's who he is, and that's probably if it's trending anywhere, it's going to trend south. Whereas with Justin, saw some good things, they probably in hindsight should have stuck with him, but I think they also saw, okay,

growth here like there's a chance there's more in the tank and we can put better pieces around him the thing i like about the jets going over the top giving him a real contract is at least for this year they're building the offense in part around his strengths look they want to be a running team and matches up with what i think is a really good offensive line and a really good backfield with bries hall and braylin allen and that might be 1a 1b with allen in the 1a spot and that that's a fun group. And you know, Aaron Glenn wants to run the ball and defense and Justin Fields, one of the most dynamic running quarterbacks ever. And I think they're really going to give him a chance to make this year work. Now, if it, if it doesn't work, then they'll move on. But I do like that

they're not just trying to run their quote unquote offense. It's Tanner Inkstrand from the lions. They're going to run an offense, I think, around Justin Field's strengths, give him a chance to succeed in this group. Yeah. I'm, I'm excited to see how it all comes together and see what it looks like. Justin Fields, I feel like there's still a large fan club out there that feels like just hasn't been the right fit, hasn't been the right offense,

hasn't been the right players around him or the offensive line or, you know, just letting him play. He was one of those guys. Kind of like Darnold. He is. There is a very good comparison. And Darnold,

and I included you in the Darnold Hive, I don't know if you're in the field type. I feel like you had him pretty highly rated, though, when he was, I liked Fields. He won a, he was my eighth.

He was my eighth. eighth overall player it's very good the five star kid explosive arm and legs excellent on the move he can drive the ball holds the ball a little bit too long

he's late late movement issues defensively changing the scene gave him some trouble played a little bit of hero ball but he was extremely tough so it's interesting looking back on that one man

I had Trevor Lawrence Zach Wilson Tray Lance Justin Fields and Trevor's the only only one still on his existing team, obviously the only one who got paid big. And then there's questions about him that are, uh, that are still out there. Sometimes it's just a bad year for you to draft the quarterback, because everyone thought that class was amazing. And the entire NFL agreed with you. And if you were looking for a quarterback and you had an NFL team,

they would have taken Zach Wilson. They would have taken Tray Lance. They would have taken Mack Jones. Some of these guys are on their third, third teams, right? That's absolutely true. Um, all of like. Hold on. Justin Fields is on his third team. Zach Wilson is Jets, Broncos, Dolphins. He's on his third team. Trey Lance is Niners, Cowboys, Chargers. He's on his third team. That's crazy.

Well, don't forget the guy who came in second place. Oh, Mac. Offensive rookie of the year that year. Mac Jones. Yeah. Is he on his third or four? I'll never forget the article in, I forget where it was in Boston, where it was like, Mac Jones deserves the rookie of the year over Jamar Chase.

It was like week 15. Yeah. It kind of fell apart after that, but that didn't age 12. Four of the top five quarterbacks are all on their third team. And the guy who's stuck is probably one of the more criticized, scrutinized quarterbacks in the NFL right now. It was the wrong year to need a quarterback. It is never the wrong year to listen to Daniel Jeremiah's draft takes.

He nailed them all this year. They're all going to be correct on both 40s and free agents and move the sticks. Check out, of course, DJ, as the season builds up, he's going to be with Bucky there. I'm going to be on NFL Daily. but we're not done here. 40s and free agents, two more episodes before the season. In your feed on Monday and Tuesday,

we are going to be doing a draft of the teams that we think are most likely to win the Super Bowl and the AFC and the NFC should be a lot of fun. We will see you then. Well, hold on, hold on, before we go. Okay, I thought that was a good ending.

It was a good ending. It was a good ending. They were playing the music. I want people to know, this is the only podcast that you can come to that is led and run by a man with the watch of a CEO

and the shirt of a custodian. There's no one else that can offer that. We offer it right here on 40s and free agents and we'll see you next time. The NFL is rolling. That's right, and you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 60.

It's in the name, NFL Daily, so you'll have fresh content in your feed all season long. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, in an all-star cast of co-hosts for previews and recaps of every single game. NFL Daily will keep you up to date with everything you need to know so you can sound smarter than all your friends. Listen to NFL Daily on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. No purchase necessary. Voidware prohibited. Ends 2826. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and D.C.

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