NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Bunkercast III: Diggs and Hopkins dealt!

Episode Date: March 17, 2020

A webcast full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler recap all of the latest info that surfaced today from Free Agency Frenzy! Amari Cooper resigns with the Cowboys, Stefon Diggs to the Bills, DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals - it's hard to keep track! Luckily for you, the heroes break down each move today and what it means for the teams and the league.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by Intuit QuickBooks, the official sponsor of the NFL. My name is Dan Hansis coming to you from a city that is filled with heroes in bunkers. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethall. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan. Boys, boys, boys. We are, this is bunker cast three.

The league year has indeed started on time where, well, it hasn't officially started yet. That will be Wednesday. But the legal tampering period did kick off today, which, led to an avalanche of league activity, signings, one blockbuster trade that will leave people scratching their heads for the ages. So much to talk about. And personally, I am happy in retrospect that this played out the way that it did. They could have pushed it back and nobody would have killed them for it. And I know there were some vocal critics online. Mike Florio, Greg, your old boss is one of them, positioning as one of the league's great potential gaffs to go off.

as scheduled. But I think this was the right move. And it really gave all of us, both in the industry and fans, something to do today and for the rest of the week. And that's not a bad thing. And that's not a small thing where we are in the world right now. I think where I was a day ago was that I did not want it to happen just because I just didn't know how it would play out. But I'm with you. I think now that it's underway, it's really only two or three days of ultra chaos. And so why not have it happen now when even if it's, It weren't happening. No store is, everything's shuttered.

You can't go anywhere. It's a perfect day just to lounge out and watch millionaires double down on their finances. Well, it's also like a month. I mean, you can't go to a restaurant in Los Angeles. We didn't mention that yesterday that was laid out by our mayor, that there's no going to restaurants. It's very similar in a lot of cities. And my kids and your kids, I know, are out of school for a month.

So it's not like when this free agency period dies down in three or four days, you like everyone suddenly goes back to work. I'm with you. The only thing that's weird to me is people are signing these contracts into a world. They're not totally sure like what that world's going to be. But I don't know when you would have ever found out. You know what I mean? Like, who knows if the, like everyone's assuming the cap is going to go up, for instance.

Like skyrocket with these TV deals in 2021. It's like, who knows if any of that's going to happen. I mean, no one can project what's coming forward, but like a massive global depression, like, seems quite possible. Today was the worst day in the history of the United States stock market. So it is, yeah, it is a time of unprecedented uncomfortability across the world in terms of the financial spectrum. this is great depression type anxiety to go with the great bug COVID-19. Well, to your original point, as far as everybody coming out strongly on whether this should have happened today or not, I find it to be very liberating that you don't have

to have a strong opinion on everything out there one way or another. Like we let the people who are talking to the health officials and let the people who are talking to the highest level of people in the government run this thing. let them make the decisions i don't know that seems like an okay stance to me all right so let's get into it there's no sense messing around here because there's so much to get into it and like we said this is going to be an everyday occurrence that's our goal uh here the bunker cast um i am in the throwback podcast garage uh gregg you are in your home ricky hollywood how are you by the way how you doing i'm doing good doing good how are you guys everything i think everything's okay

Um, Wes, you're in your abode with the twinkly lights. Mark, you are, of course, in your area, um, hotel slash motel slash Airbnb. And you are, you seem to be, you look exactly the same. In fact, you're wearing the same exact outfit. It's almost like yesterday to today never changed. I mean, has there ever been a time that we've been together where I would have no reservations about not changing clothes at all? No one even knows if I shower today or what I've done. So, I mean, I feel, I Have you seen your chop in today or have you been in the motel the whole day? I've been working here. Greg, I'm a professional and I knew that if I, you know, if I were home, it would affect this podcast. So I came here to get the most pristine version of myself on microphone. Now, Greg, and I will deal. I have another 45 days to be as good of a father as you, Greg. It should be stated that we, I don't know, I don't know.

We had some technical difficulties starting up the show. and this is of no fault of Greg because we are in a very tough situation with kids and wives and small spaces living here in Los Angeles Greg is dealing with looking for a quiet place in his home seemed like a shot across your bow there Greg

from Mark that you are not in a motel somewhere in the Southland your take no we've all got we've got it easy I mean props out to David Ely and Lakeisha Jackson and Andy Haggson and Adam Maya.

That's like Keisha Wessling to you. It's like everyone, uh, everyone's doing the jobs that we used to do when these are like the busiest, toughest days of the year. We have it rather, uh, easy, all of us. And, uh, I appreciate it. Wow, what a classy way to defer and get out of the answering that question, Greg. Um, all right. Let's get into it.

I haven't you been thinking that all day. Like they, they are dying right now, like grinding the last two or three days. That's what I've been thinking all day. Can I tell you, I have not thought of that once. Hey, Keisha is seven months pregnant. She's putting in a 10-hour day, skipping lunches. She's doing all of that. Greg, it's not that I'm not so far removed or I don't have any care for my fellow colleagues,

but I just feel like in the ranking of what's on my mind right now, that is not near the top of the list. That's all. Got it's a lot cooking. There's a lot cooking. I'm just saying I'm on NFL. I'm hitting that refresh. I know. And it's been a lot of NFL network watching.

and dot com surfing, but now let's get into it. I'm glad to see everyone looks well here on our Google Hangout, but let's get into it. Actually, a good way to get into it, Ricky, if you will, can we get a little bit of a missive music, please, to kick us off today. Effective immediately, I, the old Zusser, can no longer defend the actions of one William James Bill O'Brien,

head coach and front office chief executive for the Houston Texans Football Club. Famously, I have been a longtime defender of O'Brien's oft-controversial decision-making process in Houston, but recent events have made it apparent that O'Brien's temperament and management style is harmful, both to the team he runs and my reputation as a professional takesman. I want to thank Mr. O'Brien for multiple AFC South titles that won me sandwich props in recent years, But this is where we must part ways. Like Pauly Cicero says to Henry Hill and Goodfellas, now I got to turn my back on you.

That was a devastating moment on Bill O'Brien Corner this afternoon. When you're like, oh yeah, everybody's ripping on Bill O'Brien. Here he gets a running back for free in David Johnson. And then a minute later, the hammer drops. He just gave up the best wide receiver in the NFL for David Johnson, who has negative trade value. It's a great way to set it up, West, because that is how it trickled out initially

to the football world that the Houston Texans had acquired David Johnson. And on this very podcast, a few weeks back, one of our, you know, segments where we were just trying to figure out something to talk about before this week, we talked about guys who we thought would be good trade targets.

And I threw David Johnson out there. And now the money that was coming his way was obviously an issue. I thought maybe you could find out a way to split the money, something along those lines. He would be a guy at a depressed value who could be a nice pickup. So at the time was like, oh, okay, Bill, I see what you're doing. This is an upgrade over Carlos Hyde, potentially, and potentially a very big upgrade.

But then, as Wes said, the other shoe drops, DeAndre Hopkins is part of the trade, the superstar wide receiver and a late round pick goes to the Cardinals in exchange for Johnson and a second round pick. It is a blockbuster trade for the ages for free agency week. And Mark, I can't remember a trade, whether it's free agency week or really ever in our time at NFL media, where it was so one-sided immediately. The O'Dell Beckham trade with the Giants got a lot of negative blowback at Dave Gettleman and company. But this was the next level because there was absolutely nothing to take out of it that made it feel like this was the right deal for the Houston Texans. The O'Dell Beckham trade, by comparison, where you netted a first round, a second round pick in players, essentially, a starting safety.

I mean, that looks fine compared to this. I thought this was a transaction that totally exposed the Houston front office, which is basically Bill O'Brien and a former pastor running an operation that looks totally suspect right now. And, you know, with a lot of these deals, there's going to be a faction of people. people they're going to because they want just to come from the other angle, defend it in front from some from in some way and say, you know, here's the value. Here's what Bill O'Brien sees that no one else sees. And that contingent was utterly silent because I think as we learn more and more about it, there was no way to defend it. And my thing was just why, why did this have to happen right now? And it is one of those deals that you basically look at your fan base and you take

everyone who's under the age of 25 who all the young people in. Houston and Texans fans who possess, they basically have the jersey of this incredible wide receiver. They have to burn these jerseys now. It's one of those deals where like your coach has completely disenfranchised massive chunks of the fan base because the deal has no redeeming value. Well, it's the reason you don't have your coach be the GM, because if you have a GM, that GM would say whatever personal problem.

problems, Bill O'Brien, you have with D'Andre Hopkins and reports came out pretty quickly that Hopkins and O'Brien had friction. You would say, work on that. If you get a request from DeAndre Hopkins to have a contract extension, because he's pretty underpaid with three years left on his deal, and you're not happy about that as a front office, you handle that in like an unemotional way. If you're Bill O'Brien, you can very easily see him. get in his own feelings of hey this is guys that's a pain in the ass hey he wants more money uh i want to get rid of him the thing that's like crazy is what's the rush that the return is so bad to me david johnson is not even a significant part of the deal basically it was him for a

second round pick and david johnson as west said i think has negative trade value that you would have had to give up something to take on that 10 million dollar contract maybe the texans like them and let's just call that nothing like that's neither here nor there to me to pay 10 million dollars to david johnson is is a pretty bad deal but at best that's an even thing so you're giving up a second round pick for dandre halfens like why did you have to do that on march 16th i just make no sense west what was your take uh if i'm an nfc west team i'm just going to stand outside texans headquarters and wait for the melodrama to play out collect duane brown Gidevian Clowny, DeAndre Hopkins, just wait and see if Bill O'Brien can't get along with any of them.

I mean, that's, and that is three cornerstone guys that left your team because you couldn't get along with them. And you know what? To your point, Greg, you had mentioned that this is one of the dangers of having the head coach also be the personnel guy. I'll use an analogy, you know, when you watch these, these Cold War movies and they take you, take you into the situation room and then to the underground bunker. to fire off the nuclear missile, you need two guys and you need the two keys to open up the thing and then you both have to hit the button at the same time. If you take out the other guy, it's just the one dude. And if that one dude is fired up and this is not the first time, like Wes is saying, that Bill O'Brien is butted heads with a prominent player. There is going

to be an immense amount of pressure on Bill O'Brien to field a big time winner in Houston. But here's the problem. He has got an issue. where now he needs results because you know management's got an eyebrow arched at this point, top management, but through his moves, losing Clowny, which I didn't think was a terrible move in retrospect. I didn't think it was at the time, but I understood why he caught flack for it for the timing of it. What you gave up to get Laramie Tunsell, which is basically mortgaging your entire future in draft picks, and now this move, trading away the number one wide receiver in your franchise

history next to Andre Johnson while he's at the height of his powers, it's going to be very difficult for the Texans to be a 10, 11, 12 win team. So I think he's kind of finally put himself into a corner. I think also if you're Bill O'Brien, you waited like five or six years to get that quarterback to build around. You get to Sean Watson. And what is his relationship going to be, you know, even if they get along as people at this stage where building around to Sean Watson, you've just done the total opposite. The team to me, the team building process, because there isn't a collective here seems totally confused and they're already trying to garner draft picks for the audacious moves that they made last off season right i think if you are watson

you're thinking we were up 24 to nothing on the uh super bowl champions on the road it's funny because we're saying a lot of the same things we said about o'brien last year oh he's got to win now there's a lot of pressure and it's like well they got to the divisional round and they were up 24-0 on the eventual Super Bowl champions. And my takeaway from that game was not like, hey, we need to trade DeAndre Hopkins and get a running back in a second round pick. Like, it's like the defense is like totally on fire and it's a disaster. And, you know, if you want to make any case for O'Brien, let's see what part two is here.

I got to imagine they aren't done making big moves. the only thing that doesn't make any sense is just the trade value. I don't know. I'm losing my mind on this trade. Wes, Wes, where's the GM app? Wes, this is going to be for all time the number one example why we need the GM app, the app that allows Bill O'Brien to say, and it's a closed server, it's Bill O'Brien and 31 other decision makers.

And it's, hey, guys, I have an offer from Team. or you say it from A.R. I, David Johnson, and a second round pick, can someone beat it? Hit me up in my DM on the app. That would have saved so many problems because you're telling me, and I speak as a fan of a team in desperate need of a number one wide receiver. There wasn't a team out there that wanted to give up a number one pick and give you whatever else you wanted in terms of player compensation to get a future Hall of Famer in DeAndre Hopkins. It's mind-boggling.

Well, O'Brien, he's like on your screen where it has the app updates. He hasn't done his in like six months, and he still has the coach app and not the GM app. So he's got to update that thing. That's the problem. Look at this from Arizona's point of view. Your buddy Jason Zumwall is walking on sunshine today. He's flying today. This is a franchise that looked a year ago at this time, Josh Rosen's your quarterback.

He showed nothing his rookie year. There's nothing to look forward to whatsoever. And now you have the quarterback. quarterback who won rookie of the year and was fun to watch. You had DeAndre Hopkins to go with Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk, and now you're flying. This is a fun team. Isn't that one reason to not allow Bill O'Brien into the GM app thread? I mean, he'd be like the guy you're like, you think you're on the thread, but we actually have a more official other thread because he is going to, 31 other teams will find a way to fleece him individually

at some point. You don't want Phil O'Brien on this GM app getting the best possible deal. He's going to do this every couple of months. Unbelievable. What a trade. It's a fun trade. And I do feel badly for fans of our podcast that are Texans fans. I get the feeling a lot of you are probably Astros fans too. So that part of it makes me think, huh, okay, a little sports karma coming at you in a big spot. But you know what? I'm not going to be that petty. I'm going to feel for you. I mean, it's not fun to be an Astros fan right now either or a rocket. Well, the Rockets, the Rockets have plenty of. Greg, are you following the news?

There's a reason why it's not fun to be an Astros fan. Right. No. I chaded. Yeah, but I know, but you make it sound like they're part of the organization. They just have this great time and it was like suddenly it turns into a total mirage disaster. Well, that's fair. But perhaps it's a vocal, perhaps it's a vocal minority, but there are a lot of Astro fans that have been trying to play this down like it hasn't been a big deal all along. that's all on a side.

That's all a digression. We're going to see a lot of Cardinals, I think. Yeah, they are a buzzy team. And Larry Fitzgerald, this is nice because you remember he's been a guy that's been, it seems like, on the edge of retirement potentially for a couple of years. He hung around. He mentored the kid, Kyler Murray, who's going to be a very exciting player to watch this year.

And fantasy heads, I know you guys are going nuts right now thinking about him being the Lamar Jackson. of 2020. Now we get to see Larry Fitzgerald potentially on a contending team again in NFC. West. This is exciting. I love it. It's an exciting trade.

Sucks for a Texans fan and Bill O'Brien. Look how loaded. That division is absolutely loaded now. Absolutely. Go ahead, Greg. You're going to say Kenyon Drake gets the transition tag. I'm going to say it while we're on the Cardinals, they kept their boy Kenyon Drake on the transition tag.

Of all the tags today, that was the most surprising. And it shows you how much value. can gain in like a month, which Kenyon Drake did as the running back. But I don't care. I'm not paying that money. Like Kenyon Drake made them more fun to watch. They're an explosive team. Give them the transition tag. I'm into it. I mean, that also happened before the Texans traded for David Johnson. Shouldn't that have informed, if that's the timeline, the Houston front office, which is one person and a pastor, that they don't even want this player. So you're not going to give away

your star franchise centerpiece for a running. running back that the Cardinals wanted to salary dump. I mean, it just, it is inexcusable what's happened. Drake turned 26 in January. Obviously, made that splash when he got to Arizona from Miami. And his salary as a transition guy, which is a tier below a franchise tag, is about $8.5 million. And we'll get to the franchise tags later in the show. But Derek Henry, who had one of the great seasons in recent memory at running back, is only making like $2 million. million dollars more than Kenyon Drake. Think about that as things currently stand. And that's not the only big wide receiver trade we had today. Let's head to Minnesota where Kirk Cousins got a new

deal. And then Stefan Diggs promptly took to Twitter to remind the world that, you know, I really want to play with Kirk Cousins anymore. Well, he finally gets his wish in a really huge trade that has big implications over in the AFC East. The Buffalo Bills acquire Diggs to be their a new number one wide receiver and it comes at a cost and an interesting cost and one that makes you wonder about Bill O'Brien and what he's thinking this evening. The Bills Acquire digs and a 2027 round pick in exchange for a 2020 first round pick. That's the 22nd pick overall, a 2025th round pick, a 2026 round pick and a 2021 fourth round pick. This from Tom Pelliserro. what a huge deal and what a difference in what you got back for what is a star wide receiver.

And one that's not even at Hopkins' level, but Diggs is a big time player, Mark Sessler. Yeah, I think the first reaction, if you're, you know, I was on Twitter at the time was a thousand jokes hatched by sports writers and fans with Bill O'Brien as the victim of those jokes. For me, from another angle, it's the bills, two seasons in a row, off seasons in a row saying, we're going to go for it. I mean, the cost is high. And this would, for me, typically fall into the category of free agent signing that two years from now might not look as exciting as it does for Bill's fans tonight. But who knows?

I give the bills kind of credit for just saying, AFC East, we're coming for you. And it's another offseason of patting the weapons around Josh Allen for better or worse. Well, I think their offseason mandate in Buffalo was score more points in 2020. And now you have Stefan Diggs and John Brown, two of the better route runners on the full field. And then Cole Beasley, one of the better route runners in the middle of the field. And you've got Diggs going from one quarterback who really wouldn't pull the trigger off in a enough when Diggs was open to another quarterback now who has the arm and the willingness to pull

the trigger, who just is not a very good downfield passer despite that arm. I mean, I love it. I think this is like an example of how good teams are run, and the Texans sort of gave an example of how bad teams are run. And I include the Vikings, you know, in this. Like, if you're a Vikings fan, it is terrible to lose Stefan Diggs, but you look at how Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer kind of handled the situation, kept it low profile as much as they could, but knowing they had to get rid of them. And they got a great return for Stefan Diggs.

You would rather have him, but he was making it impossible. And if you're the bills, like, this is why you save cap space. I mean, this is why you stack up on draft picks, which they have. It's like the NBA. There's no point in attaining all these assets if you're going to have the process unless you use them. And especially if you're the bills, like this is their number one need and digs to me is like a perfect fit for them. And it might be hard to get free agents like that good to go to Buffalo. So it's a trade for them and give them some money and fly.

I don't know if Josh Allen is like up for it, but it's like, what are you doing if you don't go for it? And the Vikings could come out of this. Okay. Yes, they are very much still a win now team. But as we all know, this is a very good wide receiver draft. Maybe they end up getting someone that they could develop alongside. side Adam Thielen. They should be okay, I think, on offense still. And I do, you know, I do wonder with Diggs. He's a guy that is a big time producer, but he's an emotional player and he obviously

had some issues with cousins. I wonder what happens when you put him in Western New York with a inconsistent young passer and Josh Allen. And what happens when Alan starts flinging balls 20 yards over his head? Will Diggs start cryptic tweeting from Western New York? I don't know. I mean, And I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He seems like a good dude overall. It's in his nature. He's going to be, there's going to be cryptic tweets. It's just simply in his nature.

It will, they will creep out of western New York before long. So it's just something to track. Dan, you and I have expressed some reservations about the player empowerment movement and the ability to force your way out of a situation. And I think from my end, it was about I don't want to see the NFL become the NBA where there can be an inequality and an imbalance between loaded teams that players want to play for and teams that aren't loaded and players don't want to play for them. Now, in Jalen Ramsey and Stefan Diggs, both of these cases, the teams weren't held hostage.

They got very good value in return for these players. Yeah, that's good to see because you really worry if like what you're saying, West, these guys are able to leverage themselves out despite being under contract. and then the other team gets left hold on the bag completely, their former team. But that's not what's happening here at all. I also, I guess I'm curious where Stefan digs, what he feels right now, is this something he's happy about it? Because we know that some players, the idea of going up to Buffalo is not a great thought.

So is he in a situation now where he's regretting ever opening his mouth or is he the happiest man alive? I haven't checked his Twitter, so I don't know. So he has tweeted. He responded, like, let's get it in response to Josh Allen, who tweeted at him. And based on his tweets earlier today, you had to feel like he knew where this was going. He sort of broke the story. I got to feel like he had a feeling this was the team that he's going to because I suspect he's going to get a contract with it.

So as long as he get paid, everyone's going to be happy. I got to tell you, I'm pretty excited to have cryptic Stefan Diggs tweets coming to the AFC East. I'm pumped about that. I mean, I think like everything is going to be great the day that you find out you're out of your current annoying problem. But Stefan Diggs might have been the one Vikings player that really did not fit into the culture of that team and kept bucking the system. And he's going to another team in Buffalo that has a very, they're defining their culture and who they are. And like, is he going to, you know, settle down and be part of that? Or is he going to continue to, you know, I like the idea of sending out tweets that are, you know, sub-tweet people, say what you want to say, drop megabombs, be mysterious.

But at the same time, like, if you're Stefan Diggs, if he does that for the second straight team, I don't know. He's, I think it's a bit of a risk for Buffalo in terms of the personality. It could be, but I love the trade for the bills. And we're going to get to the Browns a little bit later. I liked what they did today. this is the big year three for these 2018 first round draft quarterbacks and in this case again they made the big gains last year by adding cole beasley and john brown it was clear they needed a number one guy you may be able to argue about whether stephan digs is a true number one

wide receiver or more kind of like okay or like a one b type guy that's that's up for debate if you want but he is obviously a guy that makes that wide receiver room a hell of a lot better it's a good day for Bill's fans. One last thing about Josh Allen, for all of his obvious flaws as a passer, his teammates gush over him. His coaches love him. I mean, I don't see that as a problem with Stefan Diggs not enjoying playing with him.

More big wide receiver news. This out of Dallas where Amari Cooper and the Cowboys agree to a five-year, one million dollar contract that keeps the wide receiver in. Big D. This from Rappaport adds that Cooper will receive 60 million in guarantees. ESPN had this report first. The contract comes roughly 12 hours after the Cowboys elected to place the exclusive franchise tag on quarterback Dak Prescott. So where are we at now? So you have Zeke Elliott after all his drama last summer. He's under contract long term. You got Amari Cooper now under contract long term. You have Dak Prescott under contract right now for at least one year. You have, I believe, over $60 million tied up in your 2020 cap to three players. But this is the game the Cowboys are playing. It's a risky one. But they also couldn't let Cooper out the door, right?

They couldn't. No, I think this was so so obvious for the Cowboys to do and that they played it as well as they could have. And that Cooper, especially is a huge winner because he got the money that he wanted. And he clearly got the team that he wanted. Like I sort of mocked and I was totally wrong that Cowboys fans like sometimes think things they want to happen are going to happen just because they're the Cowboys. But I think in this case, like being the Cowboys didn't make a difference. Like by multiple reports, the Redskins were in on Cooper and probably offered him more money. The Dallas Morning News, Michael Gelkin reported that and a couple others hint at it.

But he didn't want to go to the Redskins. Like, it's a pretty obvious choice, which team you would do if it's close enough, and Cooper stayed. And, like, Dak and Amari Cooper are just better off together. And they should be, even if the DAC thing is dramatic. Well, Jerry, Joan, streak continues. When does he ever identify a star player he wants to resign, and then that guy goes elsewhere? Don't happen. I should have known. I should have known. That's my bad. Come on.

They're very effective at that. And I love that they have Michael Gallup there, too. And it's had had Cooper wound up anywhere else, you would have looked at Dallas and just said, the master plan totally failed. And Jerry Jones gets, you know, critiqued rightfully for certain things. I think his reputation correctly for a long time was overpaying players he kind of liked who may not have been, you know, in a bill-belly-check-in way at their peak. But this had to happen. And he's slowly, he's keeping this score together.

I will say, I mean, I, I'm not as hot about the deal, to be quite honest with you. I feel like in a couple of years when the cowboys are in the, the fireiest, the fire salary cap hell, that maybe this, they will rue the day that they committed all this money to some of these guys. But I also understand it would have been a bad look to not find a way to keep Cooper. We'll see how it all plays out. They could have gone the route what we were just talking about with the Vikings, where they could have let Cooper walk. get their salary cap under control and then go get a young wide receiver in the draft. But obviously they liked the chemistry between Dak and Cooper. I totally get that.

So I think it does come with risk long term. But in the short term, it makes them, you know, a better team. And it makes them a real NFC contender. Isn't part of it because, you know, the cost they gave up to Oakland to get him. If he's gone, you know, 600 days later, it looks like a totally botched experience. I think you have to, they had to keep them. And I think he's fit as well with Dak Prescott as anyone you could ask. And one last bit of wide receiver news before we move on circling back to the Texans on the day where DeAndre Hopkins leaves the franchise.

Randall Cobb enters the picture, this from James Jones on Twitter. Cobb signs a three-year, $27 million contract with the Texans to join that wide receiver group, which we didn't really get into what's left at that wide receiver group. Kenny Stills and Will Fuller, a real playmaker who can't stay on the field. Well, here's Cobb, who rehabbed his value a bit in Dallas last season. But obviously this isn't going to be something

that's going to help Texans sleep at night. No, especially not because of the money. I mean, him getting $9 million year indicates to me that the cowboys who said they were going to be aggressive trying to keep Cobb probably were, because that's a, That's a great contract for a guy who's had that many injuries, that little production at least the last, you know, three to four years as a whole. And last year, signed a one-year, $5 million contract.

It's like that that is a bad fill in to me if you're a Texans fan for DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah, he's a slot guy and he doesn't come with size like Hopkins does where he's a boundary receiver and works the end zone well. So I wonder about the red zone offense going forward. In other news, the San Francisco 49ers also made a big trade. They sent one of their blue chip defensive linemen away in a trade. DeForest Buckner dealt to the Indianapolis cults in exchange for the number 13 overall pick. The writing, I guess, was on the wall for Buckner in San Francisco when Eric Armstead of the Niners got a five-year $85 million contract on Monday. day. So they couldn't pay both of them. They chose Armstead. So Buckner goes to the Colts. He's a big

time disruptor, Wes, a guy that's a star. And the Colts add a major piece on their defensive line. Feels like a good trade for both sides, really. Yeah, I like this deal for both sides. I understand why the 49ers did it. They basically chose Eric Armstead's versatility over DeForest Buckner being more of an inside player. And the Colts, this is what they've been waiting for. You've got all that cap room and they got criticized last year for not using it, but they didn't want to spend it on guys who weren't difference makers. They didn't want to spend it on guys they were going to have to cut a year later. So now they had $80 million in cap room.

You go out and get DeForest Buckner, make him the second highest paid defensive player in football. In the prime of his career, a guy who was voted MVP by the 49ers of their Super Bowl team, this is the kind of guy you want to build around. And now you've got Quentin Nelson on one side. You've got Darius Leonard and DeForest Bucking. on the other side. You've got a pretty good secondary. And you've got infrastructure. This is the kind of deal you can make because your GM has created all that salary cap space and drafted so well that you don't have to press to fill holes in the draft or free agency. You can go get the best player available. Buckner will be 26 years old tomorrow. So this is a guy that the Colts can bring to the team. And he could be a guy that's a building block from them on defense. So I think the Colts who will. see what happens. As of right now, they don't have that new quarterback that people are

expecting. But when you add him to this player and then anticipated upgrades on offense, we talked about teams that have a chance to win the offseason. Mark, you wrote a banger on NFL.com about the dangers of that. But the cults stand out as that team potentially, and Buckner's a major piece for them. And the Niners, well, when you have, I think they're at what point whether they have four guys or five guys on their defensive line, including a guy that was essentially reserved that were all first round picks. This was never going to hold. So they do the best thing they can do.

And now they can bring in as the defending NFC champion, a premium draft pick. I think it's a great trade. Did the Colts getting the number, I mean, the 49ers getting the number 13 overall pick is good value. But ultimately, I think if they had to. do it again. They gave up a second round pick and a monster contract for D. Ford. And now you can't kill that trade after one year, but Ford has been injured throughout his career. He's been pretty up and

down, whereas DeForest Buckner has been one of the best players at his position. To me, as a pretty superior player to Aric Armstead, and they just couldn't like afford to keep everyone. And they also don't have any draft picks. They don't have any second, third, or fourth round pick. So they wanted to like get a pick back. I totally get why they made the move. But it's sort of just like an unfortunate repercussion of having such a good team. They have so many good players to pay. And they've kind of made their choices and made a ton of big expenses over the last couple years. And so now they got to just decide to make a tough choice and get rid of Buckner. Well, I mean, that said, at least John Lynch got value compared to the last trade we just discussed.

and you're in a tough spot, you can't keep them all. And to me, it's the cults, you know, in Daniel Jeremiah, before we came on the year to do our show here, said on NFL Network that he would be shocked, and we'll get into this later, if they didn't wind up with Philip Rivers. So I think that they obviously have a bead on their quarterback situation, but if you're looking on both sides of the ball, as Wes mentioned,

that Chris Ballard is a certain type of player that he wants. And the cults are not going to settle for anyone, that is less than a bully, less than ultra-physical. And that sort of seems to be their identity. And I kind of like that in that division, because it's a bit, at this point, it's a counterbalance to some of what, you know, the Texans are letting some of these guys go. And the cults are patiently building where I think it matters along the line on both sides. In other news, Tom Brady is the biggest name, both in the NFL and on the free agent market. Yes, for the first time ever, Tommy B was allowed.

And strangely, I was watching NFL network coverage all day. You can't bring up Tom Brady right now without Don Yee coming up, his agent. I mean, is this guy, does he have a deal worked out where anyone that says Tom Brady says, Tom Brady and his agent, Don Yee, are very busy right now, potentially. What's up with that? Probably is a deal. I think you've, I think you've zeroed in on the truth there. I think, like, two clients, and it's Tom Brady and Jimmy Garapola.

It just got suspicious after a while. Anyway, so let's talk about the Tom Brady situation, day one of Free Agency Week, the legal tampering period. And Mike Giardy of NFL Network, they stick Giardy up at Foxborough to just stand in front of the stadium for 12 hours. And his report coming out of Foxborough is that the Tampa Bay Bucks, and I enjoyed the wording on this, too, because you see the same thing on the scroll hour after hour after hour. and then they have a new discussion every block or so that is about Tom Brady. The Bucks have made their intentions for Tom Brady loud and clear.

Their intentions. It's almost like a 1800-style courtship going on between the Bucks and Brady. So the Tampa Bay is all the way in still. And Vic Taffir of the athletic reports that the Raiders, quote, aren't totally out of the running for Tom. Brady and then, of course, the Patriots are in the mix. But if you talk to the people or the people on NFL network, Greg, it's starting to sound like that Brady to the Patriots could be a long shot. Maybe that's too strong a word, but that this is very real that he might not be back.

I don't know what to think. Like Mike Reese of ESPN today saying he's starting to doubt whether Tom Brady has much interest of going back to the Patriots was probably the most newsworthy thing I saw today because you do get that sort of feeling. To me, the actions speak louder than any of these reports. He's not getting signed. And there's no one saying that at deals close.

And to me that it causes, it raises questions about the market that he has. I'm kind of of the mind that Patriots are not signing him after Wednesday at 4 p.m. that it either gets done with the Patriots by then or he's moving on. And they're trying to drum up a market. Like, I don't know how real that market is. Well, it's interesting dynamic. Do you have a market if you have three teams interested in you, but you don't want to go to any of those three teams?

That's a problem. Is that when you retire? I mean, it is, there's a bit of an odd flavor feeling to this whole thing. And I'm wondering about what the Patriots. so the ultimately are the are the Patriots playing hardball with Tom Brady is this where we're at this is but that you know what that does I said this a couple weeks ago that doesn't strike me as particularly classy by this organization that's how they're going to play this like they're going to say take it or leave it Tom you try to get another job and if you want to crawl back here we'll give you the deal we want

to give you that's how that's how this is going to end or that's how they want to play it I don't love it at all first of all they did it last year I mean he wanted a much different contract that the one he got but the big thing he got from them that he said was most important is he wants to be a free agent and you know show his wares elsewhere and the word from new england is you know you keep getting and you're thinking that these are team type sources are like we don't think there's that big a market for him and Tom curran said that like they are operating under the assumption that there's not that big a market for him and that he should go find it if he thinks otherwise i always go back to that was instructed that like go ahead west i always

i always go back to that quote from his dad where five years ago or whatever and he said this is how it ends it's ugly it never ends well and you look at guys like logan mankins richard seymour lawyer miloy i mean how often does it end well with the patriots david mcordy baby you just got to be willing to take like less money than you could possibly make elsewhere i mean i think i guess that's what that's what brady's been doing yeah I think he wanted to go to the Niners. Are you okay with that? As a Patriots fan, Greg, you're okay with how this is being?

Let me ask Erica, because Greg, I got a feeling what you're going to say. Ricky, as a die-hard New Englander and Patriots fan, where are you at with how the Pats are handling this negotiation with the greatest player of all time and the man that's brought a lifetime of beautiful memories to you and millions of other people in the region where you grew up? Well, you set it up perfectly. All my friends back home are on. Brady watch. I mean, it's the fact that this is even a conversation and that they would even let him look outside of the building is asinine to me and all of my friends. And I get it. They don't want to, they don't want to pay for him or they think that he can't get it, you know, somewhere else. I just, it's exactly how you just set it up. And I know you're being a little facetious, Dan, but it's true. I'm not. I'm seriously not. And I know you might think that because it's the Pats and Tom Brady, but it really does rub me in the wrong way the way this is played out.

I just can't, go ahead, Erica. I just can't believe it. I don't know. I just, I want, I, I, I think that maybe that this is all some sort of big, you know, to do and that he'll end up back there. But then I'm sort of looking at Brady, like, how, how dare you want to go somewhere else when we, we made you? You know what I mean? Like, you laugh, West, but it's true. You didn't, well, no, the Patriot.

The Patriots. I'm just saying. They didn't make Tom Brady. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady both know, and they will know for the rest of their life, that they were in a mutually beneficial partnership that made the two of them what they are. I don't think there's...

Well, exactly. You plug either of them into another situation, and it's nothing. It's the greatest chicken or egg conversation in the history of the NFL. History of sports. he's 43 years old and this stuff always gets ugly i guess my point is none of it matters if he ends up back with the patriots like then this is just what negotiations happen drew breeze and the

saints got ugly as hell about five or six years ago and like no one remembers and we'll see how it ends i i did hear through some internet that it's like total bunker mentality with brady's representation that maybe it's not his agent right now that's putting out anything that you're not hearing anything which usually when you're not hearing anything, it's not a good thing. If Tom Brady was getting offered $35 million a year, $60 guaranteed from the bucks, and they were just like, we're going to pay you whatever we want, I have a hard time believing we would not know about that almost immediately. The fact that we're not hearing anything, especially about Brady, I think does not necessarily bode well for

Brady getting like what they want. Greg, don't think I didn't notice that you mentioned Brady's agent, but did not say his name. Donnie. I apologize to Don Yee by the tame He's paying for that Back in the day I tried to do A what would have been sort of a long form on Tom Brady's diet And I attempted through You know and even Don Yee has handler

So through a handler of Don Yee To get Tom Brady's cookbook You know it's essentially sent to me And I told him I'm going to write I'm going to try to do this in a positive way I'm not going to do one of these I'm dead spin, so I'm just going to fry you because you eat something that isn't like, you know, cut from an animal's belly. I try, I was like, I'm going to try to do a complimentary piece on this. And he refused to send me the cookbook.

Basically, you were saying, like, that's my only interaction with Donnie. You're basically going to say, I hate people who eat meat. So this is going to be a hit piece on those people. And I will carry the water up and down the hill, just send me the book. And he wanted to do it. No, no, because you actually were in a meeting or two about this dance. So you know that was not the case, but I was not going to do one of these, send it to me so I can auto bury you in like a 300 word hit piece about avocado ice cream. So he, but, but he turned me, he turned me anti-TB12 diet because he refused to send me the cookbook, had to buy it myself and the article got buried. The addendum to this story, because I do remember this era, is that you did buy the book and it was an absurd like $200 cookbook, as I recall. And then you didn't write the long form and you didn't get expensed for it.

So you got stuck with the two rocks out of your pocket. I think the long form was deep six because Tom Brady like threw his cell phone off a cliff and then was suspended. And so it wasn't the right time to do all of this. But, you know, yeah, you're right. I did not get any money back for the cookbook. Maybe you can bring it back when he's just starting his Buccaneers career after having no offseason program and he's now eating at all the steakhouses and strip clubs that Tampa is so famous for you can just say like whatever happened to your old book that's right up there

mark it's like a long form for someone else it's right up there in terms of expense report boondoggles with chris wessling at super bowl 48 or super bowl 47 when we were underneath a giant air conditioner great so west was cold so he went and bought like a hundred $150 Super Bowl winter jacket at the concession stand and then try to expense it. And that got red flag. You are conflating stories. The year in New York when I was walking around in a T-shirt because it was eight degrees and they sent my luggage to Miami, I needed to buy a jacket. The year in San Francisco, I had to get a skull cap in the middle of the game because my noggin was cold.

Yeah, Wes and I were down in Jersey City while Dan and Greg were in like a luxury hotel up in Manhattan having like, mimosas with like insiders so there was a reason that west purchased the outer garment eating belly meat no but west there was a there was an expensive NFL merchandise jacket that you attempt to get a park expense at some point yeah that was that was the year where they sent my entire luggage to Miami so I had no jacket whatsoever to wear did you get the money back for that I think that was probably a no I was too I wasn't high enough on the totem pole at that time so No, it was definitely a no. To my point, I set this up.

A shadow league figure that came up to Wes and made it very clear in the newsroom that West would not be getting his money back for that coat. I remember who that figure was. Oh, yeah, I do. Wes, if you thought that you were, if you were aware that you were not going to get reimbursed for that expensive league merchandise, would you have purchased it? Yeah, I'm not going to wear a t-shirt around an eight-degree weather all week. I have a history of bronchitis and asthma.

Where was this? This was in New York. This was in Jersey City. Why didn't you buy, never mind. It was an expense report boondoggle though because she didn't get the money back. That's not on me. That's on the people.

That's on the gatekeepers. Give me a break. By the way, speaking of, well, not speaking of anything, that's some men's outerwear stuff. But in terms of men's style, earlier today I reached out to the heroes and Erica privately and let her decide how she wants to play. play this, um, and said, as long as we are, um, stuck at home because of the coronavirus, uh,

let's not shave. Let's just let it rip. Let's just see what happens with the, the beard situation for all of us. And you guys seem to amenable to seeing how it all plays out. Let's get crazy. Um, and Ricky, um, I think this is something we can perhaps track for, uh, social, uh, madness. Yeah, sure. Whatever, whatever, whatever you want. out wow yeah the kids aren't into it it's like it's funny like come on think about social think about the Instagram handle that I started and it's going to make me a star and then you try to come up with an idea and it's like yeah cool whatever bro no I think it's a really good idea shut up this is embarrassing

this is a tough one as we are talking we've got some some developing breaking news, which to me is part of the Tom Brady story. So I'm throwing it out there that the Raiders are close to a deal with Marcus Mariotta, according to Ian Rappaport. They are closing in on a contract with Marietta. And if that would happen, that's just like another one of those Brady potential landing spots that gets filled up. Oh, Derek Carr, throw a party.

David, head over there to Fresno. What a perfect situation. That is the guy that I want backing me up. Alleluia, Carr family. Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't know. I know that Mayok was very high on Marioita coming out of the draft, but, and reclamation projects happened, but he had declined and regressed so much as a quarterback

over the last three years. I don't see him as a threat to Derek Carr right off the bat. I don't either, but if they're two and four, like, Marioita's going to be playing. It's like, if that actually happens and then. have a losing record, then they're going to just see what's behind door number two. Pretty much a best case scenario, though. Now, there is obviously the potential still of Derek Carr gets traded and the Raiders draft a quarterback or who knows anything could happen. But if this thing, if it holds the way it does, if you're Derek Carr, even though

he's very, from a public stance, and Mark, we've tracked this. From a public stance, you know, he's been going to the groundbreaking in Vegas. He bought the house next to John Gruden. He's saying all the things he needs to say to kind of ingratiate himself and entrench himself with that franchise further. But this is the first time where I would feel a little bit confident, like, okay, I think I'm going to get one more crack at this as the starting quarterback. I mean, or they draft someone because depending on where all these, you know, so-called domino's fall, and I, and I'm exhausted with the Tom Brady is the first domino theory. Tom Brady does not understand how, he does not understand how domino's work and neither to any of the team, not

any of these so-called suitors because it's like the interest is not there. And I think with Derek Carr, there's a part A and then the slow roll, part B, would be if Gruden and Mayock and the rest of the crew fell in love with someone that they could either move up for in the draft or just have fall to them in the draft. I cannot believe after the overall feeling that we've gotten about the Gruden, Derek Carr experience up to now, that Gruden wants to do another year of that. If you get stuck with it, that's fine. But, I mean, there are 32 of these coach quarterback relationships in the NFL.

And has this ever really felt like one to us with a lot of, that was a blooming flower? It's the opposite. To that point, Mark, I agree with you. But I feel like us and everyone else, there's a lot of assumption about what John Gruden thinks about Derek Carr. And I know that you could say that some things that they've done, whether it's pre-draft visits or workouts or this or that tells us that he doesn't want him and wants to move on. But I feel like that kind of has taken a bit of a life of its own, this idea that John Gruden has to, he needs to get out of this marriage with Carr.

And from Mariotta's perspective, I think this is a good landing spot for him. You know, it's kind of a similar, like every guy that. And I'm not totally. But I'm saying, like, if you're a, if you're a. former starter that lost your job. Ryan Tannhill is now the ultimate benchmark of what you want to try to set up yourself to do to rebrand yourself. He is in a similar situation here where he can overtake the starter with a team and start his career fresh. So it feels like a good landing spot for Mario. I think, yeah, some of that with Derek Carr, that's a good point, Dan, that we're assuming so

much, but some of it is just the way John Gruden has had his quarterback play. He doesn't show trust in him to throw down the field he has a run first offense it's based around Jacobs now and not the quarterback so I think that's where a lot of the doubt comes in too yeah and and they're chasing after Tom Brady I mean it's like they're

actually this is a relationship he is looking to upgrade and find someone better for himself if you're John Gruden so to me that breaks the seal of he and Derek Carr have this you know impenetrable relationship I think it's

Well, I certainly don't think that either, but I don't know, but I just, life of its own, that's fair because all these, all these narratives take on a life of their own. But I'm even going back to hard knocks. I just don't, they don't, they don't feel like two peas in a pod. But that's what I mean. Like that was, that was fun assumption. I wrote about it extensively on NFL.com that it didn't seem like they were like natural fits. But that's all just kind of fun speculation. Anyway, we'll have plenty time to dig into that relationship because it looks like it may continue, but who knows, maybe it does. doesn't. All right, let's move on another team. So I mentioned the Colts is a team that really did stand out as a quote unquote favorite to win the quote unquote off season. Another team that made a lot of sense is the Miami Dolphins for obvious reasons, a roster filled with holes, a tank job where they acquired a ton of draft picks, including three first rounders and had the most cap space in the

league. So it was not a surprise that they made a big splash on Monday. So let's just go through it. We'll start with Byron Jones, the former Cowboys cornerback. He signed, agreed to terms, of course. Everything's agreed until the league year is official, which happens on Wednesday. They agree to terms with Byron Jones that will, on a contract that will make him the highest paid cornerback in the NFL. We're talking five years, 82 and a half million, including 57 million guaranteed, 40 million in the first two years. That is borderline quarter. quarterback money. And Greg, this is a major piece for this team. It is. I like Byron Jones. I thought he was one of the more underrated guys in this

entire free agency market. He's now, you know, according to average value, the highest paid cornerback in the league. But I think all of these numbers are going to get passed pretty quickly. And he's a signing that makes sense to me. Kyle Van Nuoy four years for 51 million to Miami and then signing a couple of disappointing former first round picks, Eric Flowers, Shack Lawson to three-year, $30 million contracts. To me, we're, like, among the biggest head scratchers of the entire day. And if I was Dolphins fan, like, thinking, okay, it's time to, like, start jumping back in and, like, the rebuild is kind of ending now.

If other than Jones, it felt a little, a little weird. Although Van Nuoy played really well for the Patriots last year. Yeah, I mean, Eric Flowers, five years in the league, has never graded above a negative, a deep in the red, negative 10.3 from PFF. And his other four seasons were significantly worse. And so this strikes me as something that the Dolphins regimes of old would have done, where we're just going to sign someone for a ton of money, ignore what he's been on tape and who he is,

and sell it to you is that we've solved like an offensive line issue. I'm a little surprised that this Miami front office, amid, you know, what seems like smarter moves, more patient moves, calculated moves, and building for the future, look at Eric Flowers as a big solution. Well, he was, in fairness to Flowers, he really did at least rectify or kind of rebuild his career

a little bit last year, moving from tackle. Well, that's been a little overblown. He was average. Well, that, but I'm saying, according to ESPN stats and information, he had a career high, 92% pass block win rate. He had an 84% pass block win rate in 2018, 83 in 2017. So a guy that changed positions improved a little bit now. I don't disagree with you.

I think that sounds like they're throwing money at guys to upgrade what was an absolutely horrific offensive line. Will flowers be an upgrade? That's what they're hoping. And I guess they didn't hand out major money so they could probably survive if he doesn't work out. I mean, three years, $30 million doesn't seem like a ton of money. It's fun to do what the Redskins did. Get him for free, switching from tackle to guard, and then get a good season out of him. It's not so fun to overpay for him on the first day of free agency.

When he's the kind of reclamation project, you look for a team to sign in April. Right. Like Eric Flowers had basically half a good season. Shaq Lawson had about half a good season out of four or five years of being a bus. And then he gets paid because he was a first-round pick. it's kind of like you want to get Van Nuoy when the Patriots got him for virtually nothing and then they resign him for three or four years. I think Van Nuys still has a lot of good football left in him.

He's only 27 or 28 years old. So I don't think he's going to be a bus for them, but you're not exactly maximizing value when you kind of pick them up at the top of the market. But they're kind of an example too. It's like you can't kill a team like the Colts last year, for example, for not being active in free agency despite having a lot of money. and then get on a team for using all their money to try to improve the team aggressively, even if some of the signings might seem suspect on paper.

It's kind of like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't at this stage. People shouldn't have been killing the Colts last year. That's, right. I agree. Other franchise tag stuff, A.J. Green is tagged by the Bengals. We all knew that was happening. And the Titans, after signing Ryan Tanhill to that. multi-year extension. They slapped Derek Henry with the tag. And as I said, tricky situation,

Derek Henry, who has coming off a season, really a season and a half where he was arguably as good as anybody in football at the position and just carried this organization on his back, just 26 years old. He is potentially in line to play on a $10 million contract this year because that is the plight of the National Football League running back in the 2020s. he's doing better than melvin gordon i mean melvin gordon's going to be looking at kenyon drake and thinking like i wish i could make that kind of money it's crazy let's move on to mark's team the cleveland browns who were very active another team with salary cap space and some holes to fill looking to improve on last year's disappointment they addressed their offensive line and they signed jack conklin uh formerly of the titans uh it is a three year 42 million dollar deal according to ESPN. He was viewed as the top tackle on the market. He's a right tackle. The Browns mark have a lot of work to do on that line. You assume picking 10 overall that they might go after one of those top tackles in the draft glass too. So they are making

moves. And they also went out and spent a lot of money on tight end Austin Cooper, bringing him in from the Falcons as a free agent. He is now the highest paid tight end in the league. And I will say this, Mark, as I tee you up here, that you and I both are very similar situations that we have young quarterbacks entering their third years, and it's an important year for them in their development, give them the best chance possible to improve and take the next step. And I think day one is a success for the Browns because they're addressing the line and they've added another weapon for Baker Mayfield. Yeah, I think if you look at last year's tackles in Cleveland. They were ranked as the third worst group in the NFL in all aspects.

It was a large disaster that you could see right away in week one when they were blown out by the Titans and you could tell that something was ill with that Cleveland team off the bat. And they needed two tackles. They needed two. So I have no problem with spending whatever it took to get a proven veteran and then probably using the other pick. at number 10 to get the best possible left tackle because Conklin will play the right side. And he's been an awesome run blocking right tackle with the Titans. And I think that Cleveland, if anything, wants to be with Nick Chubb. And they, you know, they tendered Kareem Hunt as well. I think they're going to go forward with using both those

guys in a way that if you look at what Kevin Stefansky did in Minnesota and they've added another tight end, it's going to duplicate in theory what the Vikings did in some of their better performances. The Hooper contract to me, for me, I don't get caught up in this, we paid this person too much or not, because it never touches me. And Cleveland has been vastly under the cap

every season almost. They're never one of these. If you go into over the cap, they're never hugging that number at all. They're always making moves to get way under. So get as many weapons and protection around your young quarterback, to your point, Dan. I'm fine with both.

moves. If you want to dig into Hooper, he's probably not anywhere close to being the best tight end in the league. But that's what Free Agency does. It just hires the value of these guys that are not being paid exactly where they should be if you wanted to tear them. I think Hooper is one of the most mis-evaluated guys. Everybody's been waiting to kill whatever team signs him as if he's not good. Is he as dynamic as Kiddle and Kelsey? No. But he averaged as many yards per game is Zach Ertz last year. He averaged more yards per game than Mark Andrews. Going back to his rookie year, this is a guy who's shown some separation ability. He's shown some red zone ability. Nobody's claiming he's dynamic, but he's a very good

tight end in the prime of his career. I have no problem with that signing. The Atlanta Falcons wasted no time filling the hole left by Austin Hooper. They trade for Hayden Hurst, the former first round pick of the the Ravens. So the Ravens send Hurst and a 20-20 fourth-round pick to the Falcons in return for Atlanta's second and fifth round picks in April of this month. So now Hurst is a guy who dealt with some injuries. It's a tight end group, Greg, that is just filled with guys that can make plays. So he kind of got lost in the mix a little bit, but he still was able to produce a little bit last year. And he seems like a guy that could be a nice pickup for Atlanta, especially put him in that

offense with a great quarterback like Matt Ryan and other playmakers in the fold there. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if he has really good numbers. He flashed. I mean, if he stays healthy, he is a guy, I think, that can make plays. That's a perfect situation. You're not going to get double team there. It's a good scheme. He's older than Austin Hooper. So it's not, even though he's in his rookie contract, you know, I think it's still a downgrade for sure. But they gave up a lot. I mean, they gave up basically what the, you know, Cardinals gave up for DeAndre Hopkins, second round pick. So it's not like Hayden Hurst like came at a huge discount. He was a first round pick who went for a second round pick.

And it's a crazy day in Atlanta. They're cutting Desmond Truffant, one of their best players over the last few years. They cut Devante Freeman. And you just think about how many players are left from that Super Bowl team. It's gone. I mean, they're a team in transition to back-to-back bad years and just, you know, at least so far, talent base-wise, it seems like they're taking a step back this off season. We talk about Levi-on Bell and that he was a big signing last year in free agency, didn't work out in year one with the Jets. Devonta Freeman is another example of why it's, it's always buyer be aware with these running backs. He's a guy that's a bowling ball type guy. It took a lot of abuse.

It wasn't so long ago when the Falcons nearly won the Super Bowl in 2016, he had. had over 1,500 total yards, 13 touchdowns. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, but then he couldn't stay healthy. And then last year, as Wes, you pointed out throughout the season, just was a step slow. Couldn't make guys miss, didn't have that same dynamic playmaking ability.

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be running backs. I mean, I understand why everybody is saying they should be paid more. But at the same time, like, this is natural selection at work. nobody cares that fullbacks don't get paid anymore I mean they just aren't used as much right like I feel bad for Derek Henry

but those players there's been a lot of players like pointing out how Tanna Hill is getting so much money when Henry carried him it's like if I'm the Titans I'm loving that franchise tag because no one's going to be mad at me for giving up on Derek Henry and like a year from now if Derek Henry

doesn't look the same which is very possible after having 400 touches like they'll just let them go and no one will mind. A few more franchise tags. Anthony Harris and the Vikings are on a franchise tag relationship right now. The safety will make 11.5 million. Leonard Williams are the Giants. We talked about it last week that it would not be a great look for Dave Gettleman

if he gave up some good draft picks to get Leonard Williams for a half-season rental and then let him go. Well, he's not going to. It looks like franchise tag on the defensive tackle. The Steelers placed the franchise. tag on linebacker, Bud Dupree. Any thoughts on those gentlemen? Yeah, I think Leonard Williams, I understand the potential, but you're franchise tagging

him because you're wishcasting that he's the player you thought he was when he was coming out of USC. There's, this is not a player that you would think it'd be franchise tag. The production just isn't there. I think he's one of the least impressive franchise tag guys we've seen. Let's hit some 8 o'clock delight. The Ravens agree with defensive lineman Michael Brockers on a deal. Who loves it, who hates it?

I want extremes. This is like the arms race in 1980s NBA. You see the Celtics have McHale and Parrish. So then the Rockets get Samson and Alojuan. And then the Lakers have to get Michael Thompson to go with Kareem. Everybody's trying to stop Patrick Mahomes now, and you get these twin towers with the Ravens. So the Saints put a first round tender on Taysam Hill.

That was expected. It happens. Sessler's excited. I love it I mean exactly The Saints have not lied about Taysom Hill all along They said they love him

And they showed it Nick Kayakowski to the Raiders Don't know him, Greg, fill me in Oh, he's Wesley's favorite player And Wes has been vindicated By ranking him so high on the top 101 Wes and Mike Neack They got the same page board

Correction I've been calling him Quiet Kowski because he reminds me of This might go back to when Greg was a college basketball fan sharpshooter Eric Puyat Kowski, but he's really pronounced Kwikowski. The Jets are making moves on their offensive line. They add

former Seahawks offensive tackle George Vance. Another $30 million three-year deal. He's a guy that people are buzzing about. But I'm here. Just have to get the Jets into the show. There's no way Fant signing would make it if it was with the Texans or something.

Shut up. Shut up. Behavioral Science at work. Every time the Seahawks played him at left tackle. They had to bench him a couple of games later. Every time they use him as a sixth lineman, they liked what they saw. Yeah, you guys know more

than Joe Douglas, whatever. The Seahawks The Lions are signing The Lions I like George Fan. I'm getting a George Fan jersey. The Lions are signing former Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins' rap sheet reports.

That's a new one. Also, giving big news to Hallibur you know, my guy, Vaitai. Big V, I'm not even going to go with this first name. It's a very Lions Day, signing Jamie Collins in By-Tex. The Packers land Christian Kirksey to the mix. That will solve everything.

If he stays healthy, I mean, I think, you know, he also was one of these linebackers, and he's on Cleveland's defense for all of his career, and he led the NFL in tackles one or two seasons. Sometimes that's not a great sign. Like, it's because, you know, people are blasting through your defensive lines. over and over, and Kurtz he had to, like, stack up tackles. He's a good player when he's healthy, but he's really made, like, nine starts in the last few years. Speaking of the Giants, they add James Bradbury to the secondary.

The cornerback gets three years for $45 million. Once upon a time was the Josh Norman replacement in Carolina. Now he's got some good quop. And Gettelman reunites with him after drafting him in Carolina. He's a guy who tends to cover guys like Mike Evans, bigger receivers, really well, and then struggles a little bit versus quicker the chiefs pick up an option on damien williams so they keep him in the mix and finally the NFL announced that the draft is still on will still be held April 23rd to 25th but it is now close to public the whole vegas thing is blown to smithereens and it could be something as simple rap sheet reported on network today as roger giddell sitting in front of a camera making the announcements but something tells me they will think of something to blow it out and make it more of an entertaining watch that will be the attempt they will make

but it will not be huge crowds in Vegas and damn it would be insane if it was so that was the no-brainer move of the century it along with the news that the NFL is the lame team activities indefinitely today makes me wonder about this rookie class

like you saw in the lockout how not having offseason practice really hurt that rookie class like this There might not be an offseason. Like, they're not, might not be anything until training camp, and that affects, like, the rookies,

and it affects, like, how the pre-agents are going to be going to be doing in the new season. Doesn't that if you're Tom Brady, make you give you pause about going to Tampa Bay versus, I mean, like, you're going to go somewhere else. The NFL is going to put Tampa Bay on seven national televised games,

and you've got, like, eight or nine days to install an offense with a bunch of newbies. Good luck with that. Nothing should give Tom, Brady pause about going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No, of course. The team with the pirate ship in the stadium.

Wouldn't it be fun? I mean, part of me just wants to see the world burn and I would root for Tom Brady. Greg, I don't know if you're following the news but the world is already burning. We don't need more. You're good. We're covered on that end.

How about some normalcy? Keep Tommy in New England. All Erica's friends, they're freaking out. I can't even imagine the text chain some of the horrific language that's being used in there, just offensive talk. Those New English people. Hey, don't stereotype.

I know how you people are. I went to school. I mean, I'm trying to maintain some semblance of professionalism while Walker, my son just starts, you know, they've done a good job, but it heroic. They've done a very good job, you know, A plus.

The kids are all right. All right. Are you want to say hi? Walker, why did the bear sign Jimmy Graham. Oh, yeah, the Bears signed Jimmy Grant. Come on, Bears. That's a tough day one signing. Guys, it's made a play in three years. Chicago be out. A lot of money, too. It's good to be a tight end. Tight ends are getting paid. The Hooper contract looks fine after that Jimmy Graham deal. It's nice to be a name brand as well, as David Johnson. That trade also tells you a little bit

about how things work in the league. You'd think everyone's geniuses running the league. Sometimes it's just like, oh, that guy was awesome on my fantasy. team three years ago. He's like, I'll trade for him. You would hope not. Conversation between Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy. I'm just saying like you, the more you kind of get, if you get in contact with these people and you follow this league, the problem, which makes it so terrifying as the football fans, is that sometimes these guys aren't nearly as smart as you hope or wish them to be. That's all. No shot against Ryan Pace. Is that why Belich's been running circles around the league for two

decades. Right. I think like Ryan Pace mistakenly woke up at like 4 p.m. Chicago time was like, I better do something. I mean, I don't know what was the plan in Chicago if you're a Viz fan. There was one, it was absent of one. Supposedly, Nick Falls might be coming. Tune back in on Tuesday. Yeah. We'll be back tomorrow with another rundown of all the action, the news, and we'll offer a recap of it all and analysis that will both be trenchant and. And done with a touch of mirth. That's what we do. And I think a good way to sign off for today's show,

because, again, it is good to just talk about football and not think about how the world's on fire right now. You know, we don't want to think about the fact that across the street from NFL Network is a gun shop, and there was a line around the block this week. I rather not think about that. That's something I don't like to think about. That disturbed me and has disturbed me ever since that picture.

And can I tell you? I there yesterday twice. And I drove slowly to see what was going on. And there was no longer a line, but business was booming. Oh, no. My wife has officially broached the topic of us driving to Texas. And I said, honey, all due respect. If you're spooked by some of this gun stuff, the people buying guns in L.A., driving to Texas, maybe not the solution to ease your fears about guns.

Touche. But I understand where she's coming from. It's a scary time, and we're all alone out here. Have you walked her out of the house for this episode, as you did last time? No, now is her chance to turn the tables. I am now in the garage, and when I return now to the home, we'll see if any of the doors are, in fact, open. Again, a reminder to everyone out there.

A reminder, wash your hands. and everybody washes the inside you need the outside you need the cuticles as West points out rightly and also if you're you know among that small segment of the population get the webbing

and we'll be back Tuesday and we'll be back Tuesday with more breakdowns of everything and yes because we want to keep things light when you're listening to the show because God knows it's heavy everywhere else

our runner-up in our Connie Fox theme song competition. He wrote another banger, a full song all about Mark Sessler's encounter with a great Peter Schrager at the Indianapolis Scouting Combine, the elevator encounter, as we all know, the infamous moment the two men met face-to-face. And Sam wrote a song about it, and it's quite interesting. So that's a good way to send us all back into our heart. homes into the safety of our locked doors. Remember, social distancing is important. Anything else, guys? Well, it'll be another completely beguiling moment for Peter Schrager, who's not tracking

this, I don't think, minute by minute. So, uh, but Stringfield, he's a talent. Thanks for listening to the song multiple times. Thanks to, thanks for listening to the round the NFL podcast, presented by Intuit QuickBooks, official sponsor of the NFL. This is Dan Hansa signing off for the quiet store of the mailman, the old boss and Rick Hollywood. Behind the glass, Sam Springfield, take it away. We'll see you on Tuesday. My perception of time has slowed like a cowboys in a rodeo in this indie elevator

Instead of eight seconds on a bowl, it's eight floors. It's eight floors Was Traeger Could have let the door But decided to let him in Talk man to man About what's been Circulating

get to the bottom of this as we ascend cue elevator music two awkward talk this small brings the universe to a crawled so much unsaid beneath the weather in the football six why is it taken so long for these numbers a change on the wall finally we've reached my floor it's time it's time for me

to go I walk into the hall Turn to him and say Let me love Love you, bro. Let me die. Wait a second.

What did I just say? Is that weird? 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 17. I'll replay this ride in my mind a thousand times, trying to decide if what I said was right. I guess I'll be taking the stairs for the rest of the combine. Love you, bro. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

On Move to Six, 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

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