NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Bengals WRs and Stingley get PAID, Kupp to Seahawks and Who is Next for Big Extension?

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to get you caught up on news from around the NFL, including the Bengals giving Ja'Maar Chase and Tee Higgins contract extensions (01:05), Derek Stingley getting a record deal from the Texans (08:55), the Aaron Rodgers waiting game (14:20), details on Sam Darnold's contract with the Seahawks (17:35), Cooper Kupp signing with the Seahawks (19:55), Kirk Cousins' status with the Falcons (29:05), and more! Plus, the guys look ahead at who could be the next big contract extension like Brock Purdy (36:10), Micah Parsons (41:25), and Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson (44:30).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating 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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we got to make like Mike Brown and start locking up our young talent to long-term deals. That includes Nick Shook. Who's joining me on this Monday morning from Los Angeles. He's in Cleveland. And yes, it's NFL Daily.

We're back for another week. Free agency frenzy is overshoek, but the contracts, they're just still being given out. What's going on? Who says the Bengals don't have money? They got a lot of money, and they just spend it on two guys. Awesome.

Good for them. It might turn into three guys. We'll get to that in just a second. And yeah, as we're about ready to tape Monday morning, Derek Stingley gets a massive deal. So we'll talk about those contracts. We'll talk about what's going on around the rest of the league. We've had some other contracts come out since we did in NFL daily.

We did tape 40s and free agents with Daniel Jeremiah. Appreciate everyone checking that out. That's on YouTube as well. And these contracts got me thinking, shook. Who else needs to be signed long term? So we'll talk a little bit about that. But yeah, let's start with the Chase and T. Higgins extensions. It comes out late Sunday night.

A little back and forth. The NFL network Jordan Schultz battle is spicing it up, but I don't want to get into that too much. And I do want to talk about the Bengals. Your supposed division rivals with the Browns getting four years, $161 million extension for Jamar Chase. That includes 112 guaranteed. I still want to peek under the hood before I issue final declarations of what these

contracts totally mean. Usually when you hear the word guaranteed, that means it's guaranteed, and that is a awesome deal for Jamar Chase over 40 a year, at least on that extension. And then T. Higgins also gets done at the same time. I can't remember a deal like this ever happening where two elite players on the same team get signed at the same time at the same position. The Lions announced a bunch of extensions at the draft last year, which was cool. But these are two great wide receivers.

T's extension, four for 115. don't have as many details there. It just says the first two years of the T. Higgins extension are guaranteed. So this group, Joe Burrow, wanted it to happen. They are locked up long-term T, Chase, Joe Burrow. And hell, let's throw in Mike Kosicki. Got it done even before this all happened. What were your thoughts when you saw this deal come down?

That's a nice little tag along with these receivers. I think the number one lesson I learned is when Joe Burrow is optimistic, take him seriously. because he's been talking about maybe getting this done for months and they finally get it done and they alleviate all the concerns that Bengals fans have had about the receiving corps breaking up and losing one of the dynamic duo. Now, yes, does this affect whether they're able to bring back

another player or two in the future? Possibly, but this cap continues to increase. It increased pretty significantly this year. And I don't see any reason why it's going to slow down. On the flip side, what is that? That's 40.25 per year for Chase. which makes him the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Take that, Miles Garrett.

And then it also dedicates like $65 million a year to two receivers, which is a lot of money as it stands right now. Of course, that gets cheaper over the long term. But it'll be interesting to see how the Bengals have to cut corners at other spots. We learned last year they were an offensive team out of necessity, but they have the quarterback to do it. So I guess take advantage of the quarterback that you have by arming him with premier weapons. And they've realized this is our strength.

hopefully we'll be able to patch the holes in the defensive side. Maybe they don't have to cut corners because the cap is going up so much. I keep saying it. I really think it's the most important storyline of this offseason. I'll get to some of the contract shenanigans when I talk about the Derek Stingley contract in a second. So I don't want to focus on that here. If you average their salaries off the extensions, and in T. Higgins case, that is his whole

contract because he was not under contract for 2025 until this. Chase was just on that fifth year option, they averaged $57 million a year combined, which seems absolutely insane for wide receivers. Like, can you win a Super Bowl that way while you're paying a quarterback? I've got a pretty good example, Nick Shook. The last Super Bowl champion, can you remember who that team was? The team who hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, we were there. You were taking a lot of space in our little truck.

It's like me and Jordan are crowded in the corner and Shook's just like taking up all the space. Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles. Didn't they just pay their two wide receivers? They're the number two team in terms of paying their top two wide receivers money and they're paying Jalen Hertz a lot of money pretty similar to Joe Burrow

and he's not even a top five quarterback. So I actually think, yes, it can be done. I mean, they also had to let some guys walk in free agency this year. They drafted to prepare for it. But you know, Milton Williams leaves, Josh Sweat leaves. I'm just saying that is a possibility with the Bengals and a team that couldn't stop a nosebleed for the first half of the season and very much contribute to them missing the playoffs. It's only just slightly concerning. It is. And yet, like you look at their

cap space, they still, we'll see where it ends up. They probably have about $20 million in cap space now. There are reports from the athletic that they're optimistic about Tray Hendrickson, maybe signing his deal that they're going to be able to get this done. And I do think back to those Colts teams, let's say, with Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, I do think you're buying a floor of contending every year if your offense is just awesome. And I don't totally hate a team-building approach that we're starting out from the point where our offense is just going to be awesome. Now, they were awesome last year, and that floor only got them nine wins. They didn't even make the playoffs. But if their margin for error is,

we can figure it out on defense and the rest of the team. team. Like, there is enough cap space out there. I don't think it's a crazy thing. I want to applaud Mike Brown and the Bengals for doing the thing that they get made fun of for, which is not spending enough cash, which really hasn't been true over the last couple of years. They have spent a lot of cash. It just hasn't always worked out that well in free agency. And if nothing else, just as an NFL watcher, like, I want continuity. I want teams that are the same year after year. They are going to start feeling a little bit like my Celtics here with the same group year after year contending. Like I want some continuity. I applaud them for getting it done. And who

knows? When we get to the third year of this T. Higgins deal, maybe at that point they will decide our money is spent belt best elsewhere. But I keep saying it is harder to find good players to spend it on. The salary cap is becoming less and less of an issue. It's becoming a totally different league than I think it was five, six years ago because of the contracts that are in place and because of the TV money that's coming into the league. And it might keep changing, Nick, that Netflix money is going to only, you know, raise the floor if they get a new deal in terms of paying for an international, if they take the CBS deal. So I like it. I like, I like Mike Brown spending and I don't like it for the other teams in the AFC North like your Browns.

Yeah, it does kind of, you know, the NBA comparison is good because We think back to how did the Warriors get Kevin Durant? They had a big TV money deal that exploded their cap. And it's just kind of continued since then. I think the NFL is absolutely at that pace as well. But it will be interesting, I think. You mentioned it two or three years from now, whether they're like, hey, you know what, trade chip instead.

But good on them for, it cost them. I will say this. It cost them by waiting. But because the cap continues to increase, they were still able to get it done. And that's what matters the most. Right. And they started last year, I thought, with bad vibes.

because Jamar Chase thought he was going to get that deal done and T. Higgins wasn't totally happy and T. Hendrickson had won a trade and I think you got ahead of that this year where everyone is going to be pushing. They're coming off of a bad year. I like it. And if you look at the Higgins deal and you average it out, it's only quote unquote only, but it's only what, $28, $29 million a year. And that sounds like a lot for a number two receiver. But I think in two years from now, that's going to look good for a T. Higgins contract. I actually think, like, if T. Higgins was on the market, he would have gotten more than that. It really would. People just got to get used to that. It's going to look good. It's one of the reasons why Nico Collins's

where he's making 24, 25, where people are like, well, that much for Nico Collins. It already looks insane one year later. That's true at cornerback, too. Think of the contract that Patrick Sertan signed last year, making about 24 on average, and then compare it to the Derek Stingley extension. We'll talk about that now. That was signed Monday. morning, really rewarding us, Nick, for not doing a Sunday night show. Three years, $90 million extension, $89 million guaranteed for Derek Stingley. And this is a case where I think it benefited the player that, not that he could have signed an extension last year, he wasn't eligible, but man, he is coming to this extension off a total peak season. A year ago at this time, the idea

was Soss Gardner definitely ahead of Derek Stingley. Now I think the question is, who is the best cornerback in the NFL. You got to give it to Sertan coming off a defensive player of the year. But Stingley is probably right there at number two. And they sign him in the earliest possible window. Even though his fifth year option, they were only going to be picking it up this year. This is a case of a team doing it a year early.

And I think this contract will age well in a way that like the Bengals waited a year to sign Jemar Chase. They have to give them all this money. The Texans do not wait a year. They get their guys signed this year. Yeah, Nick Casario, taking a page over the half. Howie Roseman book by signing one of his top defenders. And you are the leader of the Derek Stingley hive. I mean, you're the guy that has been pounded the table for him for a long time. And the rest of the NFL is kind of caught up since then. It's also kind of hilarious because

J.C. Horn just, you know, at 25 million a year was like, whoa. Right. That's pretty big money. Zoom's right by it. 30 million a year. That is the new standard. And I think you're right. It will age well, provided he's able to stay healthy. I'm going to try to be quick here. but here's where I'm going to get into the boring contract stuff. Florio is banging this drum all the time about, well, why are we only counting it on new money? So the new money for this extension is three for 90. Same thing with the horn was four for a hundred.

But you're tacking that on to what was Stingley's existing contract, which in this case, you know, I think he had $5 million on the books for this year. We'll see, you know, he could have had a fifth year option. never got to that point. So if I find out that this deal, and we don't know yet, because all we get is the agent reports, is actually four for 95 because it's tacking on, you know, the deal that's actually there. I do think that's a more accurate representation of what's actually happening here. It's, it's kind of boring to get into the weeds of all this, but if we're

just talking new money, for instance, Florio made a good point. I don't always agree with them, but in these contract cases, I do. Like the new Josh Allen deal would have been two for 190. So by new money, he's making $90 million year, which is a dumb way to look at it. But everyone is under the thumb of these agents, especially David Mulligeta, who got this Stingley extension sign. So how I look at it, I suspect it is going to be a win-win for the Texans and Derek Stingley. He's getting all this money up front. It's $89 million guaranteed. In theory, they had his contract rights for two more years, but in the end, it's not going to look as crazy in terms of setting or resetting the market as it really sounds right now on a total year basis.

And I'm not faulting anyone, but I'm faulting the insiders just a little bit for not pushing back and getting all the details. I really am. Yeah, but at the same time, they know where their bread is buttered and they got to make the agents look at when they get information from the agents. And I respect that. It's part of the game. But it's a, we're out there to report facts. And if we're saying this resets the market, I want to see apples to apples, oranges to oranges, and I don't like any reporting out there that we have to wait two to three days to actually find out what the real truth is. Like we're going to have with the Sam Darnold deal later in this show. It's like, okay, I'm just saying, just be aware of that. But good business by the

Texans. And I think illuminates a little bit what happened with the Laramie Tunsel trade a week ago. Here's a guy we do want to bet on Derek Stingley. He exemplifies swarm. We're work ethic, whatever swarm means. I don't know what their acronym means, but APY, man. The most important feature is APY. That's what really sets the market. Yeah, and, all right, if you had a choice, I saw, like, the draft king's social was getting some grief because they asked who's the best cornerback in the league, and they asked

Stingley sauce or Sertan, and all the Texans fans are mad, and they're saying, oh, how can you even put sauce in the category of Stingley now? who would be your choice and would it be someone off that board? I would go Sir Tan because he's a defensive player of the year. And I would probably go Stingley first. Yeah, and then Soss would be in there too.

You know, and sauce, there was that whole thing that he was overrated and everything. He could get grabby at times, gets away with some grabbiness on like Joey Porter Jr., but I don't have a problem with any of those guys. They're all top-tier cornerbacks. This is how I know it's March

because we're arguing over this online. Okay. What I also would say, too, is cornerbacks go up and down. You guys didn't like it in Houston when everyone was saying sauce was way ahead of Stingley. Now, that was mostly because of injuries. But I also think the second year of their career, Sauce was on another level, had an incredible career. Cornerback is a little bit of an up and down position. I don't think Sauce, because of the situation last year, was at his best level. But he is going to get paid more on that. We're going to talk about guys who are going to be next on the extension. train. We're curious to see if Aaron Rogers is going to get, not an extension, but a new contract. The reporting over the weekend is that, you know, from the athletic, from three reporters, Mike Silver, Diana Rossini, and Alec Lewis, their local Vikings reporter, that he's hoping to sign with the Vikings and that he's just waiting, he's waiting out the Vikings. He's seen, can he get the Vikings to sign him while the Giants and the Steelers wait, which is hilarious to me. Like, it's hilarious to me that the

Giants and the Steelers might end up settling for Rogers. And who knows, they threw out the idea, maybe Rogers will just retire if he can't get a situation he want, which is funny. You guys are waiting around for the scraps. And even before he signs with you, he's making it clear, you're not his first choice. How does that feel? We are in the dark days of quarterback free agency. We had Russell Wilson take a visit with the Browns that you properly interpreted as,

this is just to push the other teams to make a decision. And that's exactly what it was. They're not close to anything, as nobody should have expected. them to be. And now you have Aaron Rogers looking to complete the Brett Favre cycle going from the Packers to the Jets to the Vikings. It's crazy that he's like, let me go there. I want to go there because that's a winning situation. I understand it because I wouldn't want to pick the Giants necessarily. But maybe the Steelers. They have two top tier receivers, at least for this year. But it is, again, a sad reflection of where we are that Rogers is pulling strings or pushing

momentum toward being with the Vikings where they clearly kind of want to go with their first round pick and yet he sees it as the best viable option. Well, we'll see. I'm not going to criticize the Vikings because I don't know how much of this reporting I fully believe. Basically, I don't know whether there's any interest from the Viking side. This could all just be Rogers hoping to make it happen. So I can't criticize the Vikings for something they haven't done. Now, if they signed Donald, I mean, if they sign Rogers, I will criticize them. But until that happens, I'm not going to, I'm not going to. I saw in the report, too, that. You know, Rogers want to round what Darnold would make, which is not expected to be a

stumbling block. It's not? What? Like, him wanting $37 million a year, that's not a stumbling block for the Vikings. It's not a factor. By all accounts, they were not extending hard on Darnold. They were going to give them more than they gave him last year, but they weren't going to go into the second year. And yeah, that's pretty significant. If I can choose between whatever backup option is out there for the Vikings and we'll see what it will be at five to ten million dollars a year or Rogers at 37. I'm going with JJ. I'm going with JJ McCarthy and I'm going with the backup option. The money does matter. Yeah. I mean, there's no reason even after the way he finished last season that you would sign him into this situation at that type of, you should

have just signed Donald if you were going to do that. It makes zero sense to do this and that's why They offered Donald the contract. Maybe they did. I see your interpretation of it that, well, I think this is all Rogers. Because why on God's Green Earth would the Vikings be like, yeah, we want to give you $37 million to potentially be our backup? Although one thing that hasn't happened is no one's come out from the Vikings and said, this is all BS.

We're not interested. So maybe Kevin O'Connell really is interested. Maybe someone in that building is interested in their deciding what happens. While we're talking, Donald, let's give the contract update. We got a little more clarification on what is contract. was he is going to make $37.5 million guaranteed in this 2025 season. He has nothing guaranteed after this. So the reports that said he had 55 guaranteed, they were wrong. And that's why, that's where I pushed back on the agents and the insiders a little bit. And I'm not going to

go through and had who had what and who said guarantees, which is kind of a way to back out of it. But I heard guaranteed was $55 million. That's not true. Unless he's injured, the Seahawks actually can get out of it next off season with basically no paying, no guaranteed money into next year. Now, they have to make a very early decision to guarantee $17 million more of his contract and basically guarantee him a good contract into 2026 next February. But they could get out of it. It really could be a one-year deal unless he got hurt, which also puts the awkward situation. Worst case scenario, if the Seahawks were six and eight, they could potentially bench Darnel

because like Derek Carr got benched a couple years ago because they don't want, and he's playing terribly, they could bench him because they don't want him to get injured and then guarantee his salary, which is just a weird situation to go into the year with. Yeah, we saw the same situation with Russell Wilson and Denver protecting themselves against injury guarantees.

And front-loading this contract that way makes sense because you, in the back of your mind, think of the great season that he had and, you know, the 15 games that were largely excellent, and the two that were, a disaster. And you're like, which one is he? I don't know. Let's give him a shot, give him the money up front, and then recalibrate if we have to from there. It's a disaster scenario, but I understand it's a smart way on the front office as part to protect themselves. I get it. They prized flexibility

and youth and they basically decided neither Gino or Darnold are guys we really believe in as our long-term solution right now. And so with that in mind, let's just stay flexible. Let's go, Darnold. The trick is the bar is just fairly high of where Gino was in terms of quarterback play in terms of wins and losses that you just can't accept taking a step backwards. You have to stay at that level. And one way that they're going to try to do that is with Cooper Cup.

Since we last taped, Cooper Cup is a member of the Seahawks. Another contract I want to see, Jeremiah nailed it on 40s and free agents. Man, he's coming. for you. Forget Jordan Schultz. He's coming for Rappaport and Pelliserro. He's had some little scoops on 40s and free agents. And one thing he said was he thought Cup was going to get 15 million dollars a year. I did not think that was going to happen. He nailed it. Now, I will put an asterisk where I have not seen the guaranteed money. I have not seen under the hood. I suspect in the end, Cup does not have a ton of guaranteed money and that this is more like a one or two year deal

that's backloaded to get it to look like $15 million. But either way, he nailed it in terms of the average value. So good on Jeremiah. What do you think of Cooper Cups fit with the Seahawks? I mean, I love it because I think that that's exactly the type of receiver that Sam Darnold needs, which is somebody who can reliably get open. The problem is that he hasn't proven they can be reliably healthy over the last few years. And that is why that, you know, you go, I mean, that's why we have to look for the contract

because we have to see if they've protected themselves like they did with Sam Darnold, but in a concern about injury, not about performance necessarily. Now, if he can say healthy, it's an ideal pairing. You mix them up with Jackson Smith and Jagba. Maybe you target another receiver in the draft. You got Jake Bobo there.

Suddenly you're starting to fill it out. It's not just JSN and Jake Bobo and whoever else is on the roster. I mean, it gets a little bit better. And MVS is on that roster now, too. So you're getting closer, but at the same time, it's still, you know, not DK and Tyler Lockett

as it was before. It's a nice fail safe, I guess, or a nice backup plan and with a potentially high ceiling if Cups stays healthy. I am not a fan of this contract. I obviously want to see the details. But just off the tape,

I just don't think Cup has it anymore. I think this could be a big bust. And it's dangerous to say that about a guy who put together an all-time great season is known for overcoming the odds. I think it's telling the teams that

weren't in on cup. The Jaguars were never in on cup, according to the Jaguars. They were in the building with him. The Texans who run a similar offense weren't really in on cup. They have a coach that was in the building with him. The Rams were not

in on cup. I think that should be stated because his contract wasn't that crazy if they actually believed in him. He's going to make less money this year than Adam, Devante Adams will, even if he had stayed on the Rams thing and on the RAMs salary.

So I think that's telling. I think it's just about the tape. I just think he is not a big asset to your passing game. Now, can he get healthy? Like you said, this offseason, and he's obviously going to be motivated to prove everyone wrong. And could he have a resurgence season?

He could, but he just hasn't been able to show it. the last couple years. So I just don't like what the Seahawks have done this offseason in general. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised they took a step back, but I think, again, that it's better than the alternative. Because you're, depending on how the contract's structured, if you can get production that's better than what you got. Because, I mean, he wasn't being targeted with the Rams. Like, he was on the field and basically invisible for long stretches, especially on the latter portion of the season. And you're right, that's telling. But if he becomes a featured part of your offense or a key part of your offense and he's healthy, then maybe he could turn it around and make

it at least, you know, all right, well, we bridged this gap because we had a huge hole in our roster. Yep. It's a chance worth taking, like they had to try it on some wide receiver out there and there just weren't many veteran options, but I would have rather them just actually sign Will Fries, the guard of the former Colt to that big contract instead of trying to sign Will Fries, you know, and that would have been the money that I would have spent. And if you can't, find a great, you know, wide receiver option out there, I would have rather just gone cheap. You know, I would have rather, like, whatever Keenan Allen is going to cost or Elijah Moore, I actually think that would have been a better move. We're going to take a quick

break. We're going to wrap up the news on the other side. We have a trade to talk about. The trading is not done. And then we're going to talk about who's next for extensions in the NFL, who also could be trade candidates back in a minute. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

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Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now I'm Drew Franklin, and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my.

We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael F. Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast.

Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

Back on NFL Daily, it is post-free agency week, and man, And it already feels like so long ago. That was an intense week. That was an intense week. A lot of shows, a lot of movement, some network stuff. And yeah, now we've done the numbers. 76 of the top 101 are gone. The top 50 only has, I believe, seven players left.

So at this point in the offseason, it's just one here and there. We'll have some trades. We had one over the weekend that really surprised me. Jordan Mason, the fantasy savior for many Christian McCaffrey owners or for just smart fantasy owners who drafted Jordan Mason last year like myself. He's going to the Vikings for a sixth round pick, a little more than I would have expected for Jordan Mason and then another sixth swap next year.

And then he also got a two-year contract that had $7 million guaranteed up. to $12 million. How about the Vikings? Not many teams are spending at running back. The Vikings are spending at running back. Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones. Any thoughts here? I think that they learned a lesson from the 49ers experience last year when they lost Christian McCaffrey and they had to turn to Jordan Mason. He was highly productive until he had that shoulder injury, which is don't just have one running back you're leaning on. Get another one just in case. And some of this I think has to do with Aaron Jones age. Now, it didn't show in the contract that he signed. In fact, he got more

money than I thought he was going to get, but they're wisely planning in the event that they do lose Aaron Jones to injury. And it's smart. And then on the flip side for the 49ers, it's a perfect time to draft a running back. They just did it last year with Isaac Gorendo. Why not draft another one, especially when you lost Mason, he tried to come back. He couldn't play through it. And you found yourself just throwing a warm body out there down the stretch. Well, you know what a perfect time to draft the running back is in San Francisco? Like every draft, every draft. He just loves doing it. And why Why not? Especially when you can flip them for an extra six. He'll probably just replace Jordan Mason with that.

It's good class. They like Garendo, and Garendo is a good backup, and they've shown they can develop backups, and they use some of that money to bring back Kyle Eusecheck. How about that? That's part of the running game. Yeah, who got cut. He ends up getting two years, $8 million. I forget who was in on Euse Check now.

Do you remember? But they actually ended up having to outbid someone to bring back Euse Check in the end, but he goes back. So that's good. I like seeing him there. And I agree with you on Aaron Jones. Mason can also be a back that they have for 2026, which Aaron Jones probably won't be there. And I think Jeremiah made a great point on our podcast that the Vikings are getting so aggressive in free agency because they have no draft picks.

And so it's just one less thing you have to worry about now in the draft. You have a really good one-two punch. Aaron Jones is not a guy you want to. have 350 touches. So that you're you're really stressing the running game. You're signing offensive linemen. You're building around a rookie quarterback in terms of his experience, assuming J.J. McCarthy is the weak one starter. And that's a good one to punch and you're making Aaron Jones better. So I like it. And again, it points to me to to just making J.J. the starter. They're not going to do this. No, they're not, they're not going to spend that

remaining cap. We could be proven wrong. We really could. So I'm just trying. I, I just don't think it makes sense logically. And yet, Jeremiah, man, he also made the analogy, and he was right, that the Bengals, they're not spending on defense in free agency because it's like the kids who are asking for the video game. You can't get the video games if you're saving up for the bike. You can't get the video games on the way.

If you want the bike, you got to save up. And I give Mike Brown credit. He saved up for two of the nicest bikes in the game, the best one to punch out there. I will give it to the Bengals. I'm trying to figure out. It's like Jamar Chase, like, is he like a diamond back? And T. Higgins is like a Huffie.

Like, like, you know, I'm out of the bike game. We got, we just got a pretty nice bike three years ago. Now I forget. I'm out of the bike. The Schwins are, you know, that's kind of lower tier. Who's the beach cruiser? I need to know who the beach cruiser is. There's a better one.

Our producer's trying to help us out, Chris, watching. No, there's better ones out there. We're bad in the bike game. You know, you know who can afford it as much as he wants. He doesn't have to save up. for bikes, for cars, for anything, because he always gets that bag. It's Kerkow Chains. He got a $10 million roster bonus guaranteed.

It's actually a 26 roster bonus, but it was guaranteed because he's on the Falcons roster still. I don't know if that means that much. He's still a tradable asset. The Falcons are still going to have to take on his money. They also signed Morgan Fox, by the way. And so I don't know if I have a huge takeaway from cousins still being on the roster. I think it always made sense that he got traded.

during the draft, and I still think he will be traded. What do you think? Yeah, I had a feeling that if they were going to make a move, this might prompt them to do it just to save $10 million. But if you move him, you're going to have to eat some of that money anyway. So it's really not something that forces a deal at this time. So I agree. I think it's a move that you make around the draft. You wait for other teams to figure things out. We're still talking Rogers. So pieces still have to be placed in different puzzles. So it makes sense for them to hold out now and see what they can get. Right. And it's a 19, it's a 2026 roster bonus. and supposedly that like, you know,

takes away their leverage. They have no leverage. They're not going to get much for Kirk Cousins. But if they're doing all this nonsense to try to get a fourth instead of a six, or just get anything at all because the Browns, for instance, aren't ready to give up anything,

but maybe they will be on draft date. That's fine. To me, it's a non-story. I don't think he's going to be on the Falcons. By the way, Russell Wilson also visited the Giants over last week. And so he's just waiting around. He's third in line, I guess.

It's like Rogers, cousins, or I think might be ahead of Russell Wilson in line. And who knows, one of these guys might not actually get a starting job. Mackay Beckton got a starting job, $20 million, two years from the Chargers. They also brought back Taylor Heinecke as their backup quarterback. That is a great advertisement to send your offensive linemen to Philadelphia, they get you paid because Philadelphia wasn't willing to give him that money, which to me is like a little bit of a red flag. Yeah, it's a red flag and it's also another vote of confidence to a guy who doesn't need it

and Jeff Stoutland, who they're like, yeah, we're going to go acquire a former first-round guard and turn him into a good player because we did it with Mackay Beckton who used to be a tackle last year, so why not do it again on the cheap? Yeah, and yet I don't want to criticize the, I think the Chargers are another team that on paper should be able to coach up their offensive linemen. was okay last year. Certainly the running game left a lot to be desired in terms of the run blocking and the scheme was a little bit surprising. But I wanted them to invest in the interior offensive line so I can't criticize it. They've been relatively quiet on offense, but they have

picked on some guys who they think maybe will be good values, Mike Williams, Mackay Beckton, Najee Harris, without breaking the bank. It's been a relatively quiet offseason though for the chargers overall, but I think they'll be able to have a better offense, offensive line, and that opens them up in free agency, in the draft, I mean, rather, as well. Just a weird story, the two of the bills signings shook are now facing PED suspensions, Larry Ogden Jobi, their defensive tackle signing, and Michael Hoyt, the Edge Rushor signing. Supposedly they knew, they said they knew Hoyt was going to be suspended and still gave them all that money? I guess they don't have to pay this suspension. So it's almost just like a mid-year

replacement. Ogadjobie, they didn't know. And they said they give Ogunjobi credit that in between him agreeing to the contract and him signing the contract, he found out he was suspended. And he told them, which they said he did not have to do necessarily. And they appreciated that. And they still signed them. Just like weird. I don't know what to say other than weird bills. What's going on here? Well, they're a team that's planning for the 18-week season, not six weeks. Yes. And I think that they're okay with eating it with the hope that these guys come back and can produce at levels that they expect.

So for other teams that had bigger holes or bigger needs, it would be concerning. For them, it's not. Gardner Minchu is back on a roster. I had been making the case, sign Russell Wilson to be the chief's backup. Just that would be kind of fun. But instead, it's going to be Gardner Minchu. They also brought back Juju and Kareem Hunt.

I don't know about the Chiefs I think it's going to be hard it's going to be a hard season for the Chiefs but I do like the backup signing that's a cheap backup I bet he could win a couple games as a member of the Chiefs I know it's March but we've talked

about the Chiefs in that manner for a while even during the season it's not looking too great and they figure a way to get it done it's lost some good they've lost some contributors but it's better than Carson Wentz

and yes this position is improved so yes I think they'll be fine I think they improve this position I think I would take Minchu over Carson Wentz. Actually, you put him in the Andy Reed, like he would probably play great for exactly two or three weeks.

Matt Moore played well for them for a couple weeks. The Raven signed Cooper Rush to be their backup quarterback. The initial contract reporting was a little high, but it is ultimately two years, six million. So nothing too crazy for the Ravens. Also, they gave Mark Andrews a $4 million roster bonus. And some people thought he might be on the trade block. There's been rumors that he would be, but him getting that bonus says to me he should stay with the team.

Ryan Stonehouse, who we mentioned, the one punter who gets mentioned on the program, weirdly let go by the Titans. They didn't offer him a restricted contract. He's going to the Dolphins, a good move by the Dolphins, who's been really just picking at the margins. They don't have a ton of cap space, one of the rare teams that are in a little bit of trouble. And then just some nuggets. The Cowboys signed a trio of players, Dante Fowler, Miles Sanders, Paris Campbell. Fowler was a good guy to bring back there.

They needed some pass rush juice and he's been fine as kind of the younger Leonard Floyd. And then Marcus Epps, the safety to the Patriots, the Jets signed Derek Nottie. If you have anything to say about any of all of those sightings going all the way back to the Ravens, you could, or we could just move on to our next segment. It's up to you, Shook.

Cooper Rush is an interesting fit. Kind of goes against what they typically look for and backup quarterbacks. Ryan Stonehouse, there were some weird chatter on Twitter that, like, the Titans didn't like his inability to directionally kick. The guy's got a massive leg. I don't know if the dolphins are suddenly going to play trestle ball.

And then last but not least, Dante Fowler, I think it's a buy on a guy who outplayed his contract last year, 10 and a half sacks with Washington. And if he can do it again, then that would help them deal with the fact they lost to Marcus Lawrence. Yeah, I was a little surprised the, the commanders didn't want him back. But, you know, because they had brought him there. but they spent their money elsewhere.

Javon Hargrave was one of them. And the Cowboys, yeah, they're just picking around the margins. All right, let's talk. These extensions, and we'll wrap up. This will be a quick segment. But I just started to make a list of who's next for extension. And I wanted to point it out. We have a whole offseason to talk about,

but I want our listeners to be smarter, I think, when they're talking about the NFL. And I do think we are in an interesting period with all this cap space. And I think probably the number one repercussion of all this cap space is that the NFL is turning into the NBA in one way, which is that extensions are going to happen earlier. They should happen earlier. And we really are reaching more of a point like the NBA left where got to, where it's like, if you're good, you're going to get extended. It's no question, and it's going to be early. Like half the NBA podcast infrastructure is about who is going to get traded, right?

Like two years ahead of time because they've already signed their extension. And I actually think the NFL is going to that direction because now everyone realizes we got to send our guys. We got to extend our guys super early. No one halfway decent is ever going to get to not only not. get to the free agency, but they're not even going to get to where Michael Parsons is now, where it's like they're actually coming up on their contract year. They're going to get extended a year before. So Derek Stingley, for instance, he was a first round pick.

He had two years left on his contract, and he's already getting signed. Like, Waddle and DeVanta Smith and Penaesul and so many of those great guys from that class, Trevor Lawrence, who's not even great, they got their extension last off season. And so it just made me think, like, who is next for extensions? And it's going to be some of the stuff we're talking about this offseason. So I'm just going to throw some names at you, Shook. I think some are interesting to talk about. Some will just blow past.

Brock Purdy is kind of the obvious one because he's a seventh round pick, doesn't have that extra year on his contract. And that one's coming. I am interested on where he lands in the pecking. I think it's going to happen. And yet, I wonder, like, is he going to be? going to sell himself a little short and accept like less money because he's Brock Purdy or is he going to push the 49ers to the limit? Like we will see. That's one to watch this offseason.

Yeah. And that depends heavily on representation and how that they go in there and approach negotiations because it just depends on who you talk to when it comes to Brock Purdy. When everything around him is good, he's excellent. But when things are not great around him, he doesn't quite elevate his team the way other quarterbacks that make big time money do. Yet we are dealing with market influences and everything else. So he'll probably still get a good amount of money. It's just where did the 49ers view him? How do they value him?

And are they on the same page in terms of market value? Because that'll get the deal done quicker. And if not, it could be a prolonged thing. I don't think it'll be prolonged. He seems like a guy who's not going to push the limit, which is why I mentioned representation. And at the same time, I don't know if I'd throw him in the massive bag because I'm still hit or miss on him.

So that one is interesting. But then you look at the flip side, you talk about all these guys who would extend it early. You talk about Micah Parsons. The Cowboys are going to be paying a bill that they probably never expected would be so high. But now all these other deals get done like Miles Garrett. And suddenly they're paying a tax because they waited so long. So there's different schools of thought or approaches to this. And I'd rather be in the 49ers position, even if you would like to see Brock do it one more time than as opposed to paying him early.

I would. I personally would, but it's also a risk, which is what the Cowboys are very familiar with. If we remember Dak Prescott getting tagged. Now, could you give him a short? term bump because he's making a preposterously low amount of money, you know, this year. Yes. And I would do that just to bridge the gap and also buy yourself some time. But do his agents, are they interested in that? Because that's a risk from their side. Right. Because statistically and every other factor, you can't say that he deserves less than Trevor

Lawrence. I think that Lawrence contract is funny in retrospect. When that one came out initially, like, oh, that's going to be a mistake. They're going to not like that. He actually is one that it's a rare case where the team might have gone too early because they didn't need to. They could be in the situation that the Cowboys are with Parsons now with Lawrence and he couldn't raise a stink about it. And they would extend him this offseason and they would have saved a little money on that.

And he, you know, maybe wouldn't have as much leverage after the season that he had. And so Brock Purdy deserves the Trevor Lawrence contract. And the funny thing is like whether he's, taking a slight discount or not, all these guys are in the same ballpark-ish, whether you're quarterback one or quarterback 12, as long as you're in that group that Derek Carr used to be in, that there's really not that huge of a difference. The only way you could get a discount is if you take a short-term deal or if he really was more in the Gino zone, whatever Gino's going to sign with. Gino, by the way, is on this list for extension. So you mentioned Micah, yeah,

like he's going to have to get more than Miles Garrett gets, right? I mean, he's going to have to get more than Jamar Chase gets. He's going to have to be the next highest paid non-quarterback in the league. And it's kind of embarrassing, I think, for the Cowboys. He is literally the only star player from, or good player, from that draft class that doesn't have an extension yet. So that's going to the larger point that I'm making about these early extensions. Now that Chase has signed, I couldn't find another one that really doesn't have an extension.

I guess like Christian Benford, but that was like a sixth, seventh round cornerback. Like, in terms of first round picks, there's no one else. Travis E.TN is the next even closest. And you understand why he hasn't gotten his contract. Yes, of course. And if you look at the Cowboys, you know, projected cap space, according to over the cap, they got, what, $44 million in 2026? So like, not only did they not do it early, but they're also going to have to break the

bank and use a good amount of cab space and make some other moves to create some cab space to be able to, you know, operate in the offseason next year. It's just bad business out of them. And they're a team that has just swung and missed when it comes. comes to extensions and almost everybody. They paid Zeke too much money before he went off a cliff. Like they just keep misjudging the situation. And now they're in a spot where unless he were to get hurt, which God forbid he does, hopefully he doesn't get hurt. They're going to be paying a premium on a guy that they probably could have paid $10 million less per year a year ago.

And Cowboys fans are like, well, what does it matter? They'll probably play him in the end anyways. Here's why it matters, because you can't spend in free agency this year as much as you would like to. Yes. because of the DAC CD contracts being signed late, the DAC one specifically. I do think the DAC case was an interesting, you know, inflection point where there actually was a case to be made for getting a boatload of picks for DAC and swallowing the cap hit last year. I don't know that I would have made it.

I always tend to keep your guy longer, but it actually was a legitimate discussion. Unfortunately, he suffers that injury right after they signed the front-loaded $60 million a year extension, which, again, is not an average salary. It's all very confusing. But the other reason why it matters, Cowboys fans, is you should be styling Tyler Smith to a long-term extension this year. You should be working a year ahead, and maybe they will, but that's the contract that you should be working at, not a year behind. And so that makes me transition to the 2022 class, who's up. And so this is a category of guys like most of them seem like no brain.

I don't think we need to talk about it too much. Aidan Hutchinson, Drake London, the receiver for the Falcons. Obviously, Hutchinson for the Lions, they're always working ahead. I bet he gets his deal done. Trent McDuffie for the Chiefs makes sense this offseason. A couple offensive linemen, which makes sense. Tyler Linderbaum, Cam Jurgens of the Eagles. You know they love paying their guys.

I bet they get paid this offseason. Trey McBride might be the highest paid tight end in the game this off season. Kyle Hamilton is a guy who's up for an extension. I think a more interesting discussion could happen with the Jets. Like, do you sign both sauce and Garrett Wilson to massive deals this off season? That will tell me that they're kind of on the right track. I think you do, is the answer to my own question. You know, it would be a lot easier to stomach that if they knew that they could ride with the quarterback for long term.

And that could delay their decision making. Like, let's say in a crazy hypothetical world that nobody except Jets fans and Justin Fields diehard sees, he has a year in which he proves he can be the guy. And suddenly you're like, oh, let's work on an extension or we're riding out the second half of this deal, but we can also spend this money because we haven't spent it on him yet. It's better than it's because it's either that or going with a young guy again and it's affordable and it makes it possible to sign Sauce and Garrett Wilson. Because those are two guys you don't want to move on from.

Those are guys that are key parts of your franchise, but you have to be able to balance the sheet. overall, and having a cheap quarterback allows that, it makes it much more possible for you. You could sign one kind of, and then take the other one into next year. Who are you signing first? In that scenario, who do you sign first? That's tough. I say sign them both, and I think the Jets have been making smart moves overall, and I think it's the number, it's one of many reasons, but it's the biggest reasons why you cut Aaron Rogers now is to clear up the books for next year. You shouldn't be even considering losing great players that you have. These guys were rookies of the year.

So I think you find a way to get it done this offseason. The Seahawks are interesting me because they have Ken Walker, Boye, Mafei, and Tyreek Wullen. I just think it might say something about how they view the previous generation of players who has the juice in that building. Seems like a John Schneider building. What is Mike McDonald's vision? That defense looks awesome. As bad an offseason as it is, I think, on offense for the Seahawks, I think they could have a top five defense. So do they sign in either of those guys long term? Daniel Jeremiah brought up George Pickens as a potential trade guy this offseason. I misspoke on 40s and free agents. He doesn't have a fifth year option because he's a second year draft pick. I can't imagine

they're extending him, shook. And so do you think he'd have a trade market? Yeah. I thought that they would trade him next year or maybe at the deadline this year, depending on how the season goes and who they have a quarterback. But I can't imagine he gets another deal with them. I would see them using him as a trade chip at some point. Maybe during the draft. Maybe they could get like a third round pick for George Pickens during the draft. Maybe a second even, who knows, for a team that really feels like they need a wide receiver. With the Patriots, I think they could like fix George Pickens. Who knows? James Cook is an interesting one. I think the bills have to make some decisions. Christian Bedford, I mentioned, up for an extension. James Cook's an interesting one.

I don't know. I wonder, I think they should, but you can't pay everyone. And if he is, is going to get, like, just below Saquan money? That could be one, would they shock me with potential trade? Or maybe they just ride it out into, like, franchise tag territory? Yeah, I can see the latter. I think riding it out makes the most sense because then you extract the most value from him on his existing contract. But it makes for a big year for Ray Davis.

There you go. Nick Benito is an interesting potential extension guy. Zach Allen, Nick Bonito is a pass rusher for the Broncos, who got defensive player of the year votes. Zach Allen deserved some and was an all-pro. He's a veteran. I'm sticking with the 2022 class. Chris Olavie is an interesting one.

Jameson Williams, I think they might just pick up the fifth-year option, but not sign them long-term. He's sort of in that in-between zone. Kirby Joseph might be a guy that the Lions try to sign long-term. And then a couple of veterans, I don't know if you had any, but just a couple of veterans that were waiting to find out about. gino interesting we still haven't seen that deal i assume it's coming uh jo tony like are the bears gonna extend joe tuny because otherwise he's a free agent next off season and and like yeah he's getting up there

in years terry mccloren is another one i wonder if they're working on extension he's a free agent again but getting into the 30s and so those are those are some of the extension watch players for this off season yeah i'm gonna run back a little bit here alave i don't think it's an extension because he hasn't been able to stay on the field. And frankly, I have my own personal concerns about his concussion history and just his well-being. When it comes to Joe Tooney, it's a matter of how much, you know, how much longer do you want to play? But I think the Bears, if you, you know, you add him to your roster, you want to extend him. It just seems like a wise investment.

Zach Allen definitely deserves money. I've loved him since he was in Arizona. And Gino remains intriguing because it tells us a lot about the Raiders' plans. What exactly do they want to do? How far do they think that this could go? Is it a stopgap? It seems like a right now thing. But they feel like they're very much just operating in the right now.

It's a complicated contract. I'm not surprised it's taking a minute. I suspect they have a verbal ballpark where they felt good about everything going into the trade. And it's figuring out the particulars. My guess is it's two years of guaranteed money. And they probably are happy to see that darnal contract come in if you're, if you're Gino's representation and see, okay, that gives us a benchmark. We're going to go over that, but we want more guaranteed than that.

So that's just a look ahead at some of the extensions that could be coming up this offseason. A lot of news, Shuki, always good to have you on the program. What's going on in Cleveland this week? The weather was great over the weekend, but we're back into the 30s. What are you working on body-wise these days? What's today? Today's going to be a leg day. It's definitely going to be a leg day.

Start the week with your legs, folks. Don't skip leg day. And in fact, abandoned chest day for leg day. That's my words of wisdom. Wow. Okay. I'm going to go in today because we're taping this so early. I'm not going into the office.

I've got some time. So I'm going to listen to you, Shook. I want to listen to you. One day I want to look like Nick Shook. I will never look like Shook, though, unfortunately. We're going to be back. Jordan Rodriguez of The Athletic is with me on our Tuesday show. Got a fun one plan for you there

And yes, if you've been paying attention to the NFL For the last 20 years When you're talking about Aaron Rogers And what he's going to do next That's when you actually know football is back Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here And I'm Bucky Brooks On Move the 6, we take you inside the game

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