NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Bunkercast XIII: The GrayBeards 2020

Episode Date: March 31, 2020

A webcast filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler dissect the 2020 roster of the San Diego Graybeards that has some major key players this offseason. Cam Newton leads the offense with Winston behind him and a Clowney lead defense ? Count us IN.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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My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm coming to you from a poker full of heroes across L.A. Mark Sessler, Chris Wesley, and Greg Rosethall. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Happy Monday. I get the feeling talking to Dan and others that maybe for some this weekend was not exactly a, a wall. Waltz through Rose Gardens, centered in Los Angeles. The weekend for me, the weekend for me was fine enough. But today, because it's a two-income household, as it must be in Los Angeles for many of us,

Emily had a very booked morning for work. I had a very booked morning for work. We have two little monsters here going crazy. The center does not hold. Don't you understand COVID-19? You can't do this to us. and once again we're just getting started i mean i think if you're gonna i'm already looking forward to the final bunker cast as much fun as this is like imagine like the party feeling when we

realize it's going to be like the last one it's going to be like inmates like ready to get out of jail because i'm putting the over under it's got to be into may at the very least right oh yeah who knows might be conservative i mean based on you know where you're where you're reading updates you know uh today show going to be fun uh we are um going to introduce to you the listener a little sneak preview actually because the piece on nfl dot com won't go live until tomorrow morning but the 2020 graybeards a roster comprised entirely of nfl veterans not currently attached to a team um i roll out the sixth edition of that roster and i'm going to essentially um go through it position by position

and you gentlemen and Ricky feel free to chime in with any thoughts on it, positive and negative. I'm excited about this year's team. This squad, these are the glory days for graybeards. I don't want to give too many spoiler alerts,

but this roster is, it's competitive. It's the one team that COVID-19 is helping, apparently. Coronavirus has been good for the graybeards. The long-standing, the long-standing goal, of the gray beards is to field a competitive team.

Best case scenario, a 500 team. This is the first time I ever did this exercise and honestly feel like, you know, a bounce of the ball one way, a holding call or PI call goes your favor. We could sneak in the back door of the AFC playoffs. Well, there's a couple position groups that pop off the page. I mean, I don't really recall that.

In the past, like, there were some people legitimately with gray hair on their faces and probably having wave sports goodbye, you know, when you did this exercise at different times. There's the pass rush, some other areas, we'll get into it. Yeah, you couldn't get a quarterback to stand behind last year's offensive line on that team. But this year, we've got a century out there. Unbelievable.

And a little tradition I'd like to start this year with the gray beards. At the end of the show, I'm going to unveil the theme song of the 2020 graybeard. So stay until the end of today's show, including you, Greg. You can't leave. All right. You want to get into it? Please. Let's do it.

All right. Let me pull up my copy. I sent to you, gentlemen, as Wes was alluding to, the rough copy that went over to Phil Specter just moments ago, the gray beards. What I try to do here is build out close to a full roster. So you're going to have backups at many positions. I don't do backups for certain positions. Like, do you really want me deep diving on backup offensive linemen? Do you really want to know what my swing lineman is?

I'm not going to go that route. So, but I have five starting offensive linemen. Actually, five offensive linemen. I don't think that bad. And, but for some of the other more fun position groups, quote unquote, fun, I have backups. And, and let's dig in here because, yes, as I said, I'm feeling really good about this team. I want complete honesty where you think the team needs to. to be improved, maybe a player that I missed.

Again, this is a exercise where it's not live on the website yet. And until it goes live on the website, I can make roster changes. And just so everyone knows, once a gray beard, always a gray beard. So, for instance, Cam Newton, and we'll get to the quarterback room in a second, Cam Newton, obviously, graybeard. If he signs with the Denver Broncos and, hey, Denver Broncos, beef up that quarterback room before, on, Wednesday say, doesn't matter. He was on the gray beards. He was a free agent Tuesday morning when this went live. That's the only thing you really need to know. This isn't like the top 101 list that you and I created where we have to pull players from the 101 rankings when they get signed

by someone. This is a evergreen exercise. Absolutely. And it's always better that way, isn't it? I would think so. You know, based on our work together, I trust your work solo. And it does, it does happen every year, Greg, without fail. I know you're a man with an eye on the transaction wire at all times in the hours that lead up to the publishing of the piece without fail one to two sometimes even three players come off the board because are we in the third wave of free agency now where are we exactly sure wave who knows uh the guys tend to fall off because again the guys i've put on this team are quality players for the most part so the fact that they still don't have jobs uh that typically doesn't last so let's get into it we'll start yes with the

quarterback room and i just want to give a little perspective uh to people last year in the same exercise. Last March, I think it was March 29th, 2019. World was a lot different. So was the quarterback room with the graybeards because installed as the starter was Sam Bradford coming off another year where he was just wrecked by knee injuries, now out of football, now getting killed by Mark Sessler on Twitter

for the money that he brought into his family during his career. All factual. Perhaps factual. The backup to Bradford in this exercise last year, Brock Osweiler. Oh, my gosh. Brock Osweiler was the second best core rack I could come up with And I don't recall there being a huge pushback from you guys When we talked about it on the podcast

And then I had third string Josh McCown Classic locker room guy He ended up playing in the playoffs So that was the... He was the only one of them that actually played last year So here we go last year Bradford Osweiler McCown This year Cam Newton My starter

James Winston My backup Andy Dalton The clipboard holder inactive on most Sundays. How does it happen? Who knows? But that is the best quarterback room that I've ever had in this exercise. And really, probably better than almost any team in football when you look at the pure level of talent across the entire depth chart. I don't know how you got them all under the cap. You know, that's one of the ways that Dan does a great job with this Grabeard's team. But Cam Newton's been posting these, you know,

Instagram videos of him like working out on the stairs. I'm by, I'm usually, not buying into this offseason stuff. I'm buying into the Cam Newton's going to really train hard and got to be better than ever and you better watch out for Cam Newton on the graybeards. There was the classic, it happens sometimes in the off season. A player puts out an Instagram at a charity function and then everybody's like

oh, he's so skinny. He does look a little bit streamlined this off season. Not quite as bulky. Well, let me ask you this question, Wes. Are you comfortable with my depth chart or would you rearrange it? No, I like

it. I think it's, you got to have cam number one and then Winston's got a little bit more potential than Dalton, so I'm fine with that. I think the Winston-Dalton decision really depends on the specifics of your team. And I think Dalton, to me, I'd probably, if I was a contender, I'd be more likely to go with him. If I was a builder, I'd be more likely to go with Winston. Think about this, too. Joe Flacco, Mark, didn't make the cut for the graybeards. In the same exercise last year, he would have been the starter. So even the fourth best guy in the market right now, and we know Flacco is of advanced age and the body isn't what it used to be,

but he's even available if we wanted to for this exercise. I think that you have benefited playing off of a healthy amount of trepidation by a lot of coaching staffs to bring in someone like Cam Newton to play back up or even James Winston based on what we know about Cam Newton and the weird sort of Jekyll side of the Jekyll and Hyde, that that was the good one of the two. I've not read that book recently. Where, you know, you get the good side of James Winston.

You're going to get a head coach kind of feeling like, I want to see this guy if panic sets in by week four or week five. So I just thinking, you know, Dalton is the consistent guy you can rely on. So your quarterback room, I don't know if you have a ring of honor on this team, but I feel like they've already got a better shot that some of these jabroney's playing under center in years past. This is a hot room. Isn't Jekyll's the doctor?

That would be the respectable one, right? I mean, sure. I don't know what he's doing, creating the Hyde person, but I don't know, you know. We have to revisit that one. Okay. Did he create Hyde? That was a split personality, right? Well, it's probably like an early, undiagnosed bipolar split personality scenario that played out as a horror narrative.

Schizophrenic. This quarterback room is better. All three of them are better than any quarterback that's available in some of these off seasons. Like Brock Isswiler was the number one. quarterback in his offseason and I went back and looked at some of our lists like there's been years where any one of these threes would have been better than any quarterback available pretty wild it really is a once in a generation or more type off season when it comes to the quarterback position and the graybeards are reaping all the benefits moving on to running back all right

I don't I kind of like this position group too we got devonta freeman I have him as my starter right now and I totally understand if based on the tape he put out there with the Falcons, you want to bump him down or hell, throw him off the roster because he really did very little at that team. Maybe he had a moment here or there where it made you think maybe he still got it. But at 28 years old, basically starting over, given his track record, especially in his Kyle Shanahan years, he's a guy that the graveyarders are going to take a flyer on every single time, okay?

Every day of the week, twice on Sunday, okay? And then you have behind him a really nice one-two tandem that I just lifted. I'm not the only person to pilfer Bill O'Brien this season. While he's gone and getting David Johnson and like praying to the gods that he bounces back, he lets Carlos Hyde and Lamar Miller, a pair of 29-year-old cheap veterans that combined. And I don't think a lot of people realize this. They combined for 2,000 yards last year as a tandem. Okay.

So we have Hyde rushed over 1,000 yards at almost 4.5 yards of carry. You have Miller who just missed 1,000 yards. So you put two guys in there that could get it done. Lamar Miller a little bit older, but I think he still has that home run ability. And then finally, Greg, out of respect to you and your son, who looks very cool with the glasses, I like it. Frank Gore, welcome to the gray beards. It's been a long time coming, 37 years young, classic veteran guy. And just like Josh McCown last year, he's the guy the beat writers can pre-write the piece about what a great locker room guy is.

and then they quietly take the four-day weekend with their families in August. I mean, like so much of Frank Gore's career, he's going to start out with lower expectations here towards the bottom of the depth chart. And he's climbing that thing. Even Devanta Freeman at 29 years old doesn't have nearly as much juice. I like Carlos Hyde as the starter here, though. I don't have much use for Freeman.

I'm with Greg on this one. Running backs are like baseball pitchers. If a baseball pitcher's arm isn't right that year, You can't count on them. Running backs, if their legs aren't right, you can't count on. We have no indication that the Devante Freeman's legs are right. What have you done for me lately in the running back world? Carlos Hyde coming off a much better season.

And for the sake of your copy, Lamar Miller's yardage came 2018. That was Duke Johnson who teamed with. Ah, thank you very much. That's a huge catch and completely invalidates many of the things I said prior to you speaking. Lamar had an ACL, I believe. By the way, this could be the end here of Lashon McCoy did not make, you didn't even make the graybeards, which is a slap in the face. Could be the end of his career.

Could be the end of Frank Gore's career here this offseason. I could see them possibly not getting jobs. Where's Duke Johnson? He's still employed? Yeah. He's in Houston. Okay. Play great last year.

Played great in that playoff game. I'll slide out Lamar Miller. And that does open up a roster spot then. So, hey, you might, Lamar Miller might still be a good candidate. Maybe, maybe a bounce back guy off the ACL. Yeah, that injury happened in the summer, not like in December or something. Walker, who do you think should be starting? Hyde or Freeman?

Hide. Yeah, good call. I mean, dead on. He agrees with his parental unit. So, you know, there's harmony at home. All right. I'm going to slide them up the old depth chart. Moving right along to fullback.

All right, NFL.com. has a page that they update periodically, available free agents tracker. And Roosevelt Nix was the only fullback on that list. So he is the fullback of the graybeards by default. I mean, I don't hate the pick. You didn't have a, it's like the man running against nobody for city councilor alderman in 1978, he's going to win. But if I'm the person updating that page on NFL.com, I want to take a long look in the mirror

and say it's time to, you know, pump up that resume and get somewhere else. Boone up. Look how far fullbacks have fallen. You know how every time there's an opening for a kicker, there's like eight guys, the kicker circuit, you bring them all in, you try them out. There's only one fullback on the circuit.

If you need a fullback, you just bring in Rosie Nixon, there you go. Well, the Patriots swooped in and took old Danny Vitale right off the free agent market. I have to have a good competition. Well, what about the, like, illustrously overhyped? Like, I'm not saying overhyped. I don't know how good he is at fullback, but I feel like Derek Watt has like 8 billion articles written about him

because he's playing fullback and going to the Steelers. Well, there's something else there too. There's a nice little meaty hook for feature writers there as well. You know, JJ Watt. No, I mean, I get that, but it's, you know, I think we all get it and it's been pounded over our head repeatedly. John Coon waiting for the phone to ring, but the gray beers ain't called. He's retired, right?

I think one thing. One thing just thinking of fullbacks in the Patriots because that is going to be a really great fullback room is, yeah, they lost Brady, but they're getting James Devlin back in 2020. And according to most people, like, that's the reason why they were struggling. So with Devlin back, they should be fine.

All right. Wes, I want to tee you up on this one because when we get to the wide receiver room, you know, there's a man at the top of the depth chart that nearly ended our podcast last September. His name is Antonio Brown. and I know he's a jerk and he's had some issues off the field that are, you know, to put it mildly, disappointing and worrisome. But when I'm putting together a roster like this, I just couldn't do it, West.

I couldn't look away. And when I look at the wide receiver group that's remaining in general, it's one of the weakest positional groups, I needed this guy. So I sign Antonio Brown at 32 years old entering week one to lead my wide receiver group. Let's start there. What do you think, Wes? Well, I think you have as much integrity as Bill Belichick. Right off the bat.

This guy, Antonio Brown, just walks into everyone's life, throws out his poison, spews it out to everyone in life. Antonio Brown is poison, and he shows no remorse whatsoever. And to me, you separate people who show remorse versus people who don't. And the two people I've been most angry about on this podcast have been Greg Hardy and Antonio Brown. Two people who do not show remorse will not change their behavior and just spew their poison out wherever they can. That's fair. I'm certainly, management's going to sit down with him and see if he's at all contrite. Because he's now facing.

Why would you believe him if he says he's contrite? I get it. I get it. He's been terrible. But he's human and we all deserve second chances or most of us do. What about the seventh chances? I just want to see, Wes, where he's at headspace-wise. If it feels like he's in a healthy place mentally

and whether he's willing to try to salvage his NFL career, which is on life support at this point. It's your team. By all means, sign him. I do worry a little bit about, you know, you hear GM say, we don't just, you know, bring a collection of talent together.

We build a team. And I am imagining the wide receiver room, Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon, and Des Bryant. It's just a lot going on there. A lot of people there that are going to want the ball. Yeah, just a tad psychedelic. I'm not sure what happens by week five with Josh Gordon and Antonio Brown.

I kind of like Richard Higgins in here. What are the chances Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon are both on the team in week five? I didn't realize the game that this team has five actual opponents to play. I don't know. I'm not aware of the rest of the league that they're involved in. They're in the NFL. Just replace Team X with the gray beards. Oh, I think they'll still be on your team.

I've got some other options for you, though, Dan. Two guys I'd rather have than many of these players. Ted Ginn. I think Ted Ginn could play in the NFL, at least have a little role. And Paul Richardson, I would take Paul Richardson over Des Bryant at the very least. Well, I like, as anybody that follows the Greybeard's nose, I like a little name brand sizzle. And maybe he can't play anymore, but get Des in the building.

Let's see what he's got left. But I do like the Ginn one. Also, we don't talk about special teams on the Grey Beards. but he certainly would be a presence there. That's where you are separate from Belichick, who seems slightly obsessed with one-third of the game. Exactly. Boring.

And you were going to say something, Mark, about Higgins, I believe, right? Well, no, I mean, I think he's going to get picked up somewhere. I'd be surprised if he doesn't, just based on his age. But so he's 25, and when we call the gray beard, I believe if he were to grow a beard, it may not have a lot of gray in it. The age has no, for the reader down the road, you could be 19 and be on the, this thing if you had been on an NFL team right he's the I think he's the youngest guy I would guess

I hadn't done this yet I plan to do it because I always do get the median age which I would guess is going to ping right around 31 or so which is gray beer territory in the NFL anyway moving on to tight end mr. big chest on the gray beards I'm sorry Wes hey like I said it's your team I don't have to stick up for this team I don't have to defend them yeah they go out they're totally independent of any of my views and you people on twitter if any of you idiots start to criticize me for putting a player on a fake team in these times you're going to get mad at me about putting Antonio Brown on a fake team idiots tight end they're already idiots and he hasn't even had the article is not published and you're fighting with trolls in your brain

It's coming. It's coming. I've been in the game long enough to know it's coming. Delaney Walker is my starting tight end. Don't love it. It's a very thin positional group on the free agent market. 36 years old. We've talked about him on this pod when the Titans moved on that he was sneaky old and has been a playmaker for them, but also now has been dealing with injury issues

and what does he have left in the tank? As a backup, the best I could do is Luke Stocker, who's a capable blocking back. He has two hands. and legs and a heart. I'd say no worries, because looking at your receiver room, you could just go four wide and dominate quarter after quarter with what you've got set up there. I'm just sad that you're missing out on what really should be Jason Witton's final act,

should be team captain of the graveyards. I mean, the Raiders screwed that up for everyone. They totally botched it. All right, let's take a break here before we move to the trenches. It's time to get an update on the news of the NFL, since we last left you. 2020 flash with Mark Domenko Sessler. Thank you, D-Man.

A scoring update. The NFL 1, coronavirus, zero. Good afternoon. It's 220. I'm Mark Sessler, and this report brought to you by Joseph Aboud, a modern take on heritage menswear. Joseph Abud suits offer modern luxury,

refinement, and globally-inspired American elegance. Josephabood.com. Optimism abounds in NFL circles, D-Man. where league heavies remain hopeful that a global pandemic will not slow the dead presidents churning out of pro football's mega machine with Falcons owner Arthur Blank telling Peter King

by September my hope is we'll be able to bring people together in some form or fashion in a safe manner and play. Corona time can't slow down Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert scheduled for a video call Monday with Las Vegas Raiders with the Las Vegas Raiders cut to Los Angeles where Lee Harvey Oswald level pass Tyrod Taylor wants to, in quotes, turn heads as a starter for the Chargers.

We all wait breathlessly for the D-Man to adjust his power rankings. I'll just stick to the copy, you jerk. In other news, thick-hip Derek Wolf agrees to a one-year deal with Baltimore. The Lions determined to underwhelm until Jesus circles back around, signed X Packers' wide-out Geronimo Allison, the Chiefs re-signed to a one-year deal, and in baseball, the Padres optioned righty, Gerardo Ray, to the El Paso Chihuahuas.

The Redskins also added ex-billy coverman Ronald Darby, which led the jettison Quentin Dunbar, now a Seahawk, to call Washington an organization that, in quotes, lies and makes excuses. Dunbar has since deleted his Twitter account, leading us to wonder when the D-Man might think about deep-sixing one or two of his online projects.

Oh, you're already a bit. With reports every 20 minutes, this is Mark Sessler with your 2020, sports update. Yes. Love it. Beautifully done. Moving on to the offensive line, let's see, a veteran unit, a savvy veteran unit led by Jason Peters, happy to have Jason still on the board at this juncture here in the 14th wave of free agency. Of course, a former all pro with the Eagles, but still, according to the metrics out there, Greg, was getting the job done last year, not at the same peak Jason Peters levels, but plenty good enough to get a job somewhere.

this has to be one of your best looking left tackles and tackle pairing this offensive line I know you haven't gotten into all of it's about as good as some teams out there let me roll through it Ron Leary at left guard who's solid Josh Klein people were surprised the Vikings dumped him just 30 years old he's at right guard he might end up back with Minnesota a K Shipley I got him in a Q Shipley I got him in the pivot as insiders call it he has been a really durable player for the Cardinals. He missed one year, I believe, with an ACL, but has been a starter for every game, every other year he was there. Nice veteran present there. And then on the right tackle side, a bit of a reclamation project. Greg referred to Damar Dotson, 34 years young. He had a long run

with Tampa, a nice crafty technician, I call him. This offensive line is way better than like every other year, the one that the dolphins run out there. It's better than the Jets. I would take this over the Jets right now. Well, a little calm down there. But, yeah, so it is interesting that you, that Joe Douglas is the, quote, unquote, offensive lineman mastermind. And he's picking up all these guys on the cheap. Well, I just did the same thing. And I do think it looks better right now.

Well, I recognize the names on this offensive line. Joe Douglas, who I agree as a mastermind, is signed three or four interior lineman last. And I thought that he just crafted the names out of thin air and sent it out as a press release. but they are apparently beefy men attempting to protect Sam Darnold. Dan's already bought his George Fant jerseys for both of his sons. Sorry that you guys weren't tape-dogging enough like Joe Douglas to know that those guys were really on the up and up. We really miss Van Rotten.

You know what, Wes, you're Van Rotten. Let's move to the edge defender. But anyway, that's a really kind of solid veteran offensive line. and a lot better than many teams you saw last year in the NFL. And, yeah, a wake-up call to teams that are looking for linemen that there might be talent out there still if you're willing to pay an old guy. I throw this out too, that, you know, this team, this graybeards team, despite their age out on the median, are totally disobeying all COVID-19 rules.

They are together right now, practicing. They're in sessions together, rolling out what is going to be an innovative offense. So leg up on the rest of the league that is, I would. would say overcautious. Or they're all going to get COVID-19, and that'll be the end of the graver. They are in the higher risk group because of their age. All right, Judeavian Clowny, I mean, that's a gift from the gods. This happens maybe once a year, once every two years, where because of some market

deficiencies for the player, he ends up still on the market. Clowny at 27 years old is a star, or at least he has a star named brand, and he is the leader of our edge group. Now we've got some good, good other edge options here. Everson Griffin, 32 years old, has had big years with the Vikings. Of course, Cameron Wake, who's very old now, 38, but Griffin and Wake have nine combined Pro Bowls. So, you know, I'm not going to give them, you know, 100 snaps a game.

I'm going to go send them a hunt in every once in a while. I'm going to use them smartly. And then Clay Matthews always, Zusser always wants certain guys that I could slap on the media guide. And I'm going to have Cam, of course, to represent the offense. And then I'll have a shot of Clay Matthews and his amazing flowing locks on the defense, representing the defense for the media guide. So Clay's there. And, you know, he wasn't so bad last year in Los Angeles either.

You're more like an impresario in this one. You're barnstorming with Clowny and in Everson Griffin. They're only good for the off season. By the time the season rolls around, they're going to be off your team. It's like Babe Ruth going to Japan in 1930. They made the cut as of today. Griffin played really well last year. I mean, that's one of the better defensive end duos in the entire NFL that the Greybeard own right now.

Thank you. And I don't know if the Mick Man hit it, but there is a report out there that Clowny might wait until training camp to sign now. So that market is fairly stagnant. Didn't have enough time. Had that Joseph Abood copy to get through it. You know, you only have so much time. And I, you know, I deal with that when that report. becomes factual and I have triple sources on my own, then it becomes part of the news copy.

On the interior D-line, I just got some hogs in here. You're doing damage, taking up space. And we had last year, Wes, I remember you complimenting the graybeards as a team that was going to be hard to run against. I feel like that's an every year thing because these guys tend to last a little longer because they're not, you know, is flashy. But Mike Daniels, maybe he's falling off a little bit, but just 31 years. old, good reclamation project.

Same can be said for Snacks. Harrison, who really did not play well last year, wasn't stopping the run, but that was what he was great at in all the previous years in the league. So I'm banking on a comeback there. Timmy Jernigan, 27 years old, could be a value signing. And then I got the big Estonian, Marcus Hunt,

33 years old. The Eastern Block. The Eastern Block. I mean, how many six-foot-eight Estonians can you put on your roster? Well, I'm doing it. Yeah, Snacks is a good get these guys snacks and Mike Daniels same age as Linval Joseph and yet Joseph is getting paid big bucks while these guys sit around on the gray beards. Well Daniels has barely played the last two years and did not look like himself the brief times. I think yeah just you know these aren't guys you're

going to be putting on the on the tickets. You got enough defensive ends for that. Linebacker Nigel Bradham. I'm going to have him in the middle. Don't ask me if I'm playing four three or three before. I don't know. You're flexible. You're versatile. Bradman's my guy in the middle, the eyes and the ears of the defense. Alk Ogletree and Darren Lee, a couple of reclamation projects as well there. Thoughts about the linebacker group? Not the strength of your team. I would say that. And Ogletree, somebody will pay him like $10 million and then cut him in November. I like Darren Lee getting kind of the coveted former jet, the dead. Dan knows, so he's going to make the team spot.

It's got to be one of those guys every year. Every year. Every year. There's got to be something that got him picked in the first round. He's got speed. He's got agility. Go sideline to sideline, baby. Darren Lee.

This is a totally, this is off topic of the linebackers. But I just realized there's, I think only eight of our top 60 free agents that Wes and I put on our list are still available. And you've got two of the top three players in the entire market are on the graybeards. You've had, you've won the offseat. It's always dangerous to win the off season. A cornerback, I like this group. They're obviously a little overly seasoned, and they're not going to be going any Pro Bowls.

But in past years, it's been an absolute disaster, and I don't think that's the case this year. I got Prince of Mukamara and Brandon Carr on the outside. I got Logan Ryan in the slot. And then Tremon Williams, who at 37 years old, is, you know, maybe not the young. youngest guy, but the metrics tell us and the advanced analytics tell us, what is, what does Gellman call it, my computer men, whatever you call it, that I, that he could still play the guitar in 2019. So welcome to the graybeards. 37. Yikes. He's been 37 for four years. I'm confused. I'm confused why Logan Ryan is a free agent at all right now. Maybe he's buying that PFF hype that

he was like one of the best cornerbacks in the league for the first 11 or 12 weeks of the season. Not sure he's at that level, but he's still, he's still a good ball player. I saw something that he, he wasn't taking a penny less than a $10 million he made last year. So that might be the holdup. Moving out to safety, Demarius Randall, 28 years old. A versatile guy could use him in a couple different ways as a safety. He's there at Tavon Wilson. Same thing.

Eric Reed, who had a downseason in Carolina after signing that extension. Still just 28 years old, bounce back guy. And then, of course, Eric Barry, a little nod to you, Chris Wesleyan. Come on, you've got to give the cancer survivor another shot. Oh, yeah.

Get Eric Barry. That's your team leader right there. And you've got a good one, two punch with Randall and Reid, I think. There are also reports out there that Barry, you know, wanted to get as healthy as possible and is doing quite well right now. So this might be just another steal where you're operating and churning maybe a day or two or three before most NFL operations. Well done.

Thank you, Mark. Special teams, kicker, Adam Vinitieri. I mean, this is always going to happen. An actual gray beard joins the gray beer, 47 years young. Very, very difficult final season with Indianapolis. We all know that. but this guy is a legend and he says and I find him to be a man that wouldn't lie

even if it meant trying to extend his marathon career he said that his struggles last year were more related to injury issues in his lower body than age and I'm going to take him at his word and give him a shot he's so much older than everyone else on your team that you've got like a Smurf's dynamic here and he's Papa Smurf.

That's fair. And then Punter Marquette King. I wanted to bring one guy back from the XFL. And King was playing for the St. Louis Battlehawks prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. You know, kind of a guy that nobody seems to like. In the piece I wrote, he's kind of like the Dwight Howard of the NFL where he does a lot of bits. He's wacky and he gets up in people's faces with his comedic stylings and no one really likes it. But after sitting down with management for the gray beards, he'll know to use more of the leg and less of the mouth. Well, this happened in the same talk where Antonio Brown and

Josh Gordon and Phil in the blank are also in the room learning about the behavior boundaries required to employ. You know, why you turn it on Josh Gordon now that he's not a brown? For years, you just said, oh, Josh Gordon, he smoked marijuana once and now he's going to prison and used to mock the NFL. He's not a bad person. He just has addiction issues. I wouldn't call him a bad person. I think it's fair to call him dangerously unreliable. Well, at least per, I don't, again, you're operating in a new rule system. So maybe you catch, as everyone else tried to, get that Josh Gordon five-year comeback

contract. Don't think so. He's really only there because there aren't a lot of options to choose from. In fact, maybe he'll be the guy that goes in favor of Ted Ginn. I don't know. But he's so good. It's like worth it. maybe it comes through for even a game or two i don't know if he was even that good last year before he disappeared from seattle and that is the 2020 graybears on marquette king philosophically are you a comedian if nobody pays attention to your comedy i think people have people have to wonder about you know NFL dot com did a long form on on market king our editor was the author

and the way his career has gone since that long form it's a bit of a curse bit of a curse bit of a red flag a bit of a la Raville Magnifico all right and as promised those are the gray beards

and before we get to making predictions on their record if they were to replace a random team in the NFL I'd like to perform a song in honor of a proud group of men Ricky Once upon a time, I was a young star, it wasn't very far,

But now everyone thinks you're done It's not fun No time to run You gotta get that bad While I care Gray beards Always keep the face Gray beards

We're going to save the day We're here today Gone tomorrow Will you watch or follow It's don't mean I can't play You will see me leave the way Brabys never go away Brape is never go away

rape is never go away yeah as a workout just watching it. I can't imagine singing it. It was one of my favorite, it's one of my favorite experiences of any, like, live music is watching the singer read the lyrics off of the teleprompter or whatever it was going on.

That was, there was some intensity in those eyes. Yeah, I thought it had good energy. It's one of those kinds of songs where I thought it was over, and it went on for another 80 to 85 seconds, which was, you know, I liked it, enjoyed it. I think it's, I think part of what makes it more emotional is getting older myself and, grown out this beard during this pandemic and they're being gray in the beard and oh yeah and maybe just the times in general where we are right now that the gray beards have never been more relatable as as underdogs and people looking just to stay alive

stay alive yeah i mean this is a hard scrabbled crew most of them you know scraping by on the eight hundred thousand dollar uh remaining year contract they have where they're still going to be paid by ex-employer so i i hear you this is what we need to be getting behind moralistically and just, you know, as we think about our children. All right. We will be back tomorrow. Check it out again. Oh, no, I do want to get it real quick. What do you guys think? What is this team's record? If you, you know, everybody does these stupid predictions where they go game by game on a touchscreen. What would be the record of this Grabeard's team? We'll start with you, Greg. I'm giving them six wins. I don't think I've ever

put you over two or three before. No, you haven't. So that's, is notable. Wrong, but notable. Mark? You know, this reminds me one of those like really interesting football life type squads where everyone, you got, it's just all veterans. And the locker room is going to be raucous. They're going to support each other. They're going to surprise people go nine and seven. I like that. Wes? Actually, to tell the truth, I had the exact same record as Greg. I had six and ten in my head. I think you might have some durability issues, maybe some team speed issues at the skill positions, and some insurrection issues.

I think that there may not be many people wanting to be cohesive and listen to authority in this locker room. Wait, wait a second. We got Eric Berry in the locker room. Got some great leaders. We got, who else do we have? I had another big. Frank Gore.

Frank Gore is in the locker room. I mean, there are people that are going to keep things out in line. They're outnumber. Give you a lot of credit for Cam and Clowny. Those two alone, can they win six games? They got to make up for some dry spots here. Ricky, what are you got for me? I don't know.

I feel like you sneak into the playoffs. There you go. I don't know. This is the best team you've ever had. Yeah, I mean, there's an extra two teams in the playoffs too. Yeah, I think this is going to happen. And Erica went back and listened to all the episodes that she wasn't involved in with the graveyard. It's just for that analysis.

Pro. All right. We will be back on Tuesday with another edition of the show. So we're going to keep rolling in a short, you know, shorter terms of time to the show. But we're going to keep going five days a week until someone says we shouldn't do that, including you, the listeners. Feel free to tell us if you think this is too much content for you. But that's certainly in play as well. But until then, thanks for listening to the Around the NFL podcast presented.

by Intuit QuickBooks, official sponsor of the NFL. Remember to rate and review on iTunes. We're going to check in on that soon. This is the old Zeus are signing off for the quiet storm. The mailman, the old boss, and Rick Hollywood behind the glass. Till Tuesday. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you, don't let them down.

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