NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Burning Offseason Questions and Pitts Tagged with Ian Rapoport

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport in Indianapolis for the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine to talk about the coming NFL free agency. The two talk about the Falcons franchise tagging Kyle Pitts (03:00), Malik Willis (06:00), the Dolphins (10:00), George Pickens and the Cowboys (12:30), Daniel Jones and the Colts (17:20), the Eagles (23:50), Maxx Crosby (34:30), the Chiefs (38:30), and more!  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free. free iHeart radio app, search 40s and free agents, and listen now. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're trying to break some news while on the Peloton. I'm Craig Rosenthal here in Indianapolis, the convention center, with my friend, not even a friend of me, just a friend. Ian Rappaport, I'm not the one breaking news while on the Peloton.

You are my friend. That is true. That is true. Yeah, I'm always a little bit nervous when news comes in the Peloton. I want to type it out beforehand because sometimes if there's like droplets of water, then it gets tough to hit send. You don't want to have a typo. So I had the towel it off, hit send. Kyle Pitts getting franchise tagged is the news.

Yeah. Which is like not a total surprise, but it was interesting to me because if you had asked me last year, like what is the career trajectory of Kyle Pitts? I don't know that it would be like $15 million free agent, but here we are. I want to get into that. We're going to start with it. but I mentioned the breaking the news on the 12th time because we're texting about did Ian get to Indianapolis in time and he's texting us. But you literally text it. Oh yeah, I'll be there. I'll see you in an hour. We're taping this Monday afternoon. But you literally texted us within seconds of hitting this other tweet. And I've seen you do other podcasts and stuff where you're talking about that you sent hundreds of texts.

Like you could just wait to send us something. Doesn't that make you a little anxious that you're texting us seconds before breaking news? It makes me anxious to not text back. Like I have like group chats with friends from home and family and like high school buddies and whatever. And sometimes I have to stop myself from responding so quickly because like in work world, I respond quickly. Because like let's say you're talking to a head coach or coordinator, right? Like they get to their desk. They pick up their phone. They text you back.

And if you don't text back immediately, like they might put their phone over there and like that's it. So if you need something else, like you'd send the text back immediately. And like, same thing with agents. Like, if they're doing a deal, they might pick up the phone and be like, deal just got done. And if you have any questions, like, you better ask now. Because it might be like, all right, now we're doing line, which I'll see you in two and a half hours. And I respect you do that with us as well. If I send you just a random text, is X, Y, is DJ Reader too high in my top 101?

You'll send it back right away. What we're going to do on this show? And yes, the top 101 free agents is out. Check it out on NFL.com. The final version, is a, almost embarrassingly different from the one that I talked about on the podcast on Thursday. You talked about your pre-version, your rough draft? It was a rough draft, and we were kind of working it out.

Ali Connolly helped me out. He said my most Trumpian quality is that I listen a lot to the last person that I spoke with. So in this case, he was my Stephen Miller. And you'll see some players like Charlie Kohler and Jalen Naylor, who ended up being much higher on list. So we're going to go through some players. But what I'm going to do, Ian doesn't know what the topics are. I'm going to go through a bunch of news. I just want the e-and-take of a lot of the biggest stories in the NFL and some of the free agents.

But why not just start with Pitt since we got there? You broke the news. Do you actually think he could get a long-term deal with them? Yeah, I don't see why not. I mean, to me, I'm always surprised when a team doesn't do a long-term deal. Because, like, all right, so like he's a franchise tagged for, I think it's going to be about 15.5. It's almost 5% of the salary cap, which would be like $305 million or something. that. So it's somewhere between 15 and a half and 16 million. So, okay, that's what he gets

this year. Next year, it's a little higher. So let's say you have a basically right now, assuming he's healthy, you have a two-year deal for Kyle Pitts worth $16 plus $18 million, right? So if you get him on a four-year deal for $17 million average, like why would you not do that? He gets happy. He avoids the whole drama. You avoid the drama. You lock in a good player. Like, it's to me if the value, like the value doesn't always fit the franchise tag, right? Like, let's say, I don't know, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, some like top of the position person got franchise tagged. You can't work a deal off that because it's way too low. Micah Parsons, if he had gotten tagged. Tyler Linderbaum, it's maybe too high at the tackle position.

That's all a different story. Get into it. that's yeah he he is in an interesting place as well but like you should be able to do a long-term deal off the tag so yeah i i think there's a chance they do the counter would be Kyle Pitts pretty up and down in his career if i'm the Falcons i'm using the franchise tag as a test drive with a new scheme a new coach a new GM and a player who hasn't looked great every single season of his career I would say he had a couple seasons where he was playing through injuries did not look that explosive he doesn't fit every offense.

So it's unfair to the players. I think they should get rid of the franchise tag. But since they have it available to them, a one-year deal, no long-term money for Kyle Pitt, sounds perfect. He might not be a great long-term signing. I had him below K.D. And in my top 101, which that got a lot of response. Those ones, and I have one more thing on Pitts in a second, but those ones interest me.

Like, nobody cares about K.D. Unless you're like a Bucks fan. It might do extremely well in Freighton. There's always those guys like being, like, I think this time. last year, nobody in whom Milton Williams was unless you were a hardcore Eagles fan. He's a rotational defensive lineman. Now, one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL this year. My number one player on the board last year. And how many casual fans heard of him? And then he made $23 million a year, whatever it was? Like, Kyle Pitts, his

I think was his second year. When did he have his knee injury? Second year, right? Yeah. I mean, he played through a lot of it, but yes. But he, so he had it, if I believe this is correct where he had a MCL and I think he had a meniscus. I'm not 100% sure of the injury was a long time ago, but it got kind of underreported that he'd be okay and people thought he had minor knee surgery. He did not. He had major knee surgery and sometimes it takes a couple years to come back. He has come back. Good call. That was his second year when yeah, he didn't produce much, missed a bunch of games. To me, he's always been so durable that people kind of forget that he's played through some stuff because he has not, he has not missed a single game

in four of his five seasons. Okay, so that's Kyle Pitts. He gets the tag. Let's go to the top of my list. Malik Willis, number one overall on the list. I went with the draft reasoning that once you're in the top seven or eight, you should just be number one because that's more important. And I do believe that Malik Willis can be a plus starter. I want to ask you, though, where you think he could go.

I feel like the conventional wisdom is Miami or Arizona. What do you think? So Miami, obviously, it's like, okay, well, he has his GM. who didn't draft him, by the way, but did trade for him, a seventh rounder, or helped trade for him. You had his, someone who's a defensive coordinator, so saw him up close, and now as the head coach and Jeff Hathley in Miami, in Miami, I don't know that Miami has the money. They're going to pay, assuming Tua gets released, it's going to be a $99 million cap hit, the worst in NFL history, and it's also like they pay him in cash, too, so it's $54 million in cash. Can they afford another $35 million quarterback? I mean, if Justin Fields gets 20 a year, what does Malik Willis get?

30, 35? Like, that's my guess as to what it is. I think Malik Willis will get a Daniel Jones, Gino Smith type of contract that he got a year ago. It could be anywhere between 35 and 42 or something. I think that's probably right. But then it's like, can Miami afford, can Arizona afford that? Right. So Arizona, in Cardinals fans push, some of them liked it, some of them hated it.

Because I've been driving the Arizona bandwagon. just with all the connections Nathaniel Hackett and obviously Matt Lafleur can give him a nice recommendation. They do have the GM that drafted him, which is interesting. I don't know if that's a positive or a negative. That was Montaas and Fort Stuyton's team that drafted him in Tennessee. So it's an interesting connection. And people are like, well, you're drafting a guy and it's a mystery box and it's the family guy meme that like, oh, we have it. Forget Kyler Murray.

Like, we could have a whole other mystery box. It could even be Kyler Murray, like Kyler Murray 2.0. And to me, Malik Willis would be a better fit, I think, and they're kind of moving on from Kyler Murray. But yeah, they're going to be eating dead money to get rid of Kyler Murray. But you have to have a quarterback. You have to keep taking swings. And they're not going to be taking a swing with Kyler.

Yeah, I would say I'm pretty clear on what I believe is happening with Tua. It seems like he's going to be out in Miami. I'm not 100% sure on Arizona. Like, yes, it's the same GM. It's a new coach. It's a new offense. He got benched last year. But, like, clearly wasn't.

right and like clearly his injury was worse than they thought so he didn't you know did he get benched or did they say like your injury is not improving quick enough we're just going to move on and like I don't know what kailer murray is but there have been moments when I'm like this is a guy who can take you to the playoffs right fair um so I'm not sure on that one the malique willis thing is really interesting to me mat Lafour did such an unbelievable coaching job not just like helping him be successful in games, but took a guy that nobody wanted, discarded. Trading quarterback for a seventh rounder is, you know, basically a giveaway. And he resurrected his career and, like, there is a possibility that Malik Willis ends up being what everyone thought he was going to be in the draft before he just

went to the third round. Which would be, like, a plus starter, which would be, like, I know Matt Lefleur set up a great offense, and that's all true. You can see it with your eyes. He's the best running quarterback in the NFL right now. If you're just asking me, he's one of the most talented, specifically running quarterbacks I've ever seen. I don't even care about that. I care about. That's huge.

That opens up the passing game. It is good. Here's what I care about. He came on with no warning in the absolute biggest moments and was great. That is so hard. I mean, we see it all the time. Guys, you think are good. They come into big moments and it is different.

And high level throws, too. High level throws, too. Like a variety of throws over the middle of the field. anticipation. I mean, for those couple of games, the offense looked just as good. So, well, we're at the Dolphins. Let's just stay Dolphins because they're fascinating to me. Your colleague, Cameron Wolf, mentioned Mincom Fitzpatrick as a potential trade partner or a candidate.

He does not think that Jalen Waddle would be a guy that they would look to trade, although that's kind of been thrown out elsewhere as like a guy teams would be interested. I'm sure teams would be interested in. People like really good. Like, what do you think the appetite for trading will be with them? I mean, trading Minka, I don't know if he would want to be traded. Not that it totally matters, but, I mean, that's the kind of thing that makes sense. He's, would be on his third contract.

He's a little older. He's good, but is he like the big splashy player that you have to hold out to? I'm not sure. That makes sense. I mean, they're going to need to find money somewhere. They are in a Chris Greer left him in a really, real. challenging cap spot. And so, like, you know, would they like to trade makeup?

Probably not. But. Well, now the knives are out for Chris Greer. You just waited until he left, you know? I mean, I was pretty clear about what it was beforehand, which I'm sure Chris Greer did not really like that very much. But, like, one of the things I kept saying on air, which, again, I'm sure he was not a huge fan of, was like, when you make your team, you revamp your team in May and June, you were getting the dregs of what's a fair.

available. And like, you know, trading for Darren Waller and having him be your number one tight end. Like, it's brutal. You can't have a roster set up like that. Like, you know, it just, it was a lot of bad there. And I mean, and the Tua contract is bad. I don't even mind that one because, like, you sort of had to do it at the time. You had to. Maybe. But they, they were all in, if you look back on that Tyree Kill trade. I think that's where it all started. Like in theory, Yeah, they supercharged their offense, and he had great years for them. But you traded a first. I think it was, what, two seconds, a couple, like, fourths or something.

Like, that was a lot and a lot of money for Tyree. I mean, look at the opposite. Look at what Ken City did with all those resources. They built a defense. So that's the Dolphins. I wanted to mention Kyle Pitts is getting tagged. The Cowboys and George Pickens is the other guy that's almost certainly going to get tagged. Stephen Jones did speak to the media here on Monday.

and kind of mentioned how they're going to need the money from the Kenny Clark and Quinn and Williams contracts. I don't know how exactly he's talking about opening up that money, restructure. Or you could cut or trade Kenny Clark. Good. Now, it would be interesting if they did that after making a big deal that he was a key piece. They also made a big deal that they were excited to get Logan Wilson for a minute and they cut him

last week for what it's worth. But I know not the same level. Yeah, not the same level. I mean George Pickens is getting tagged We knew that I mean I talked about that in November I'm interested what happens next Because more so than ever The Cowboys are cognizant of being really top heavy

And have a lot of money and a great receiver And George Pickens for a year was awesome Might they, and they got him for a three Might they trade him Might they tag him and trade him And then use the money to build their defense That would make sense to me sense to me. Stephen Jones did say, hey, we know George Pickens's going to be here. We love George

Pickens. Now, that could be him publicly posturing. He said the same thing about Micah. Okay. That would be a fun team build. And it actually would make a lot of sense to me if they did that. But either way, they kind of indicated that he's going to get tagged, which I'm not saying that's why I put Malik Willis number one and George Pickens number two. But in the end, I was like, George Pickens is going to get tagged. And when that final list comes out, because we update it. We're on top of things. As players get cut. players get tagged. We're going to do it up until the minute free agency, you know, until the negotiating period. That's always helpful for me. He's going to get taken off anyways, and he would

have been number one. While we're here with the Cowboys, Javante Williams got a three-year, 24 million dollar contracts, $16 million guaranteed. Did that tell you anything about, like, the running back market? Yeah. It's, so it's always, you know, I talk to agents a lot. And like, people like you are always like, you know, oh, like, you know, you're talking about this deal is great because you broke it or agent's your friend, right? Here's what I would say about that deal. It takes a bold agent to step out and do the first deal in a market. Yes.

Two weeks before a free agency, before the combine. I thought that was a great deal. I thought the deal done by Nicole Lynn, by the way of Clutch Sports. You don't have to whisper it. You know agents. It's fine. Joel did it a couple years ago with Matt Milano. in the deal I will never forget.

It was like four years, $44 million. He did it before free agency. Everyone was like, what is Joel doing? And it was the best linebacker deal of the whole market that year. He knew the market, wasn't shy, did it early, and I'm going to set up everyone else and do the right deal for my player.

And that's what I thought this was. If you're a good starting running back now, it starts at eight. For the Rico Dowdals of the world, like this is a great deal. For J.K. Dobbins, who else? is available running back. I think Brees Hall might get, we'll see. I think Bricle Hall, ETN, Ken Walker, get paid solid money. Ken Walker is probably above that. But like,

like, Rico Dahl's should get eight now. That's a, this helps him. I don't think you will, though. So I, look, I don't know the agent at all. Didn't know who the agent was, but I, this was what I wrote that, uh, he was my RB5 in free agency. It was a great, like, career turnaround. But with more expected cuts about to flood the market, like, they're wise to take the money now. I don't know, I don't know if Giovante Williams was getting that elsewhere. So I agree. And it keeps Dallas from moving on, too, was the other thing. They could be like, we're good.

You know, like, that's your best market is the team that you proved it for. Anyway, go ahead. I mean, you're checking the news while you're doing this. I'm seeing your Instagram pop up. It says you've had like 100 followers since the last time you checked in. What's going on? People love me. Why, though?

I don't know. It's a great question. Actually, Ian's a good guy. He tweeted out. out today the top 101 list. He's always, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, I'm not a team. I'm just a good team. I'm just a, I, you know, he's not everyone's flavor. Um, it's like, it's, uh, it's like, a, black jack, have you ever heard a black jack gum? No, I'm not a weirdo. For some reason I heard someone mentioned blackjack gum in a podcast recently. And it's like an old,

I think Jewish type of, like, old Jews, like my grandfather would have had a lot of blackjack gum. And then I saw, I went to, I went to like a diner that night, and I saw it for sale, and I had a little blackjack gum. And it's, it's licorice flavored. And at first I thought it was disgusting. And by, like, day two of it, I was like, oh, I get it. Like, it's so distinctive that I want more of it. And that's what Ian Rappaport is like. I don't even know what to say to that.

I think just dead silence is perfect. the Colts and Daniel Jones, they're one of the most fascinating teams. I ended up putting him lower in my top 10. Yeah, give me the 20 seconds on that first. Well, he's coming off a torn Achilles that he's had major arm surgery previously, and his career's been pretty up and down. So I don't know what he's going to be like this season, and he fit with Shane Steigant, does he fit with everyone?

He's still in my top 10 free agents. He's a quarterback, but I'd rather have Malik Willis. I think his ceiling might be. might be higher. So I do wonder what, I have no idea what they're going to do. To me, them between him and Alec Pierce both being available. Pierce, Pierce being like a top receiver is not that it like threw a wrench in things because like these are good problems to have, but that's pretty interesting. He's my number five overall player. Michael Pittman is on the last year of his contract. Could he be a potential trade candidate? If they have to prioritize, like,

how do you think they figure this out between those two especially? So I'm going to be really interested to see Daniel Jones, does it get a long-term deal before? Like this is basically hilarious, but it's the same exact thing again. It's instead of Sequin, it's Alex Pierce. Remember, we was like, you know, is Seekwon going to get tagged? Is Daniel Jones going to get tagged? In the end, you know, Seekwan ends up getting tagged. And Daniel Jones does a deal.

but is you going to do a deal this? I mean, the deal could end up similar to last time in the 40s, you know, in the low 40s. Multi-year years? Like, what do you think? You're holding out on me. I mean, I think multi-year deal would make sense. He's a quarterback.

Like, he's young, he's a good guy, he works hard, and when he's been healthy, which dude played through a broken leg. Like, I reported that, and even still, I'm like, are we serious? Like, is this really what it did? I had that double check, double-checked because he really played in a broken leg.

Like, that's the guy you want. It's just can you do a long-term deal? And if they do a long-term deal, then I wonder if Alex Pierce gets tagged, taking another top free agent receiver off the market, which always seems to happen. I think that is how it should happen. Tagging Daniel Jones doesn't really make, like, a lot of sense to me.

I have a sneaky hot take. I've never gotten out about the Daniel Jones situation. I'm ready for it. I'm excited. Remember how everyone was gathering his friends, that he's got these super smart friends from, where was it, Stanford? I should know this.

You know, from Duke, rather. That helped, like, create this, you know, special brace that was going to let him play through a broken leg. And then he tore his Achilles, like, a game and a half later. And no one was like, maybe these are connected. Maybe you shouldn't have been playing on the broken leg. We're all giving your buddies a ton of credit for their great break.

and your career was kind of altered forever. Two games later. No one's seeing that there's a connection here? I mean, the base bottom of... You start using one leg a little more, and it's like, whoa, it was a different leg? Yeah, because you're making up for the other leg that's freaking broken. I mean, same thing happened to Lindsay Vaughn, you know?

It's like skiing on a tour in ACL, and her body's different. She's not as stable, and she shatters her leg in a way that she'll maybe never recover. Like, it's called cascading injuries, and like it really like one thing affects the other thing. And like, yeah, I mean, playing with the broken leg, I'm sure affected the... This is why, you know, Ian makes the big money. This is why Ian went out of his way to get here before the winter storm.

That's how much he wants to be on NFL Daily, that he flew to Florida to fly to Indianapolis from New York because he was afraid of getting stuck in the winter storm and missing NFL Daily. And so that's the type of person. Yeah, that was the The hesitancy. Yeah.

I will say, interestingly enough, flying for 14 hours. Yeah. Doesn't make you feel the greatest. Yeah. Interestingly. Yeah. You're being very generous for the time.

I have a lot to get to. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to come back. You have to fly through. Obviously, I'm a huge fan. I don't have to take a real break. I'm a huge fan of this show. Obviously, I watch a lot.

So I know that. I mean, it's more of an audio thing, but you can check us out on YouTube back in a second. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit. Push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors for the next era of gaming. Upgrade to smooth high quality streaming with Intel Wi-Fi 6E and maximize game performance with enhanced overclocking. Win the tech search. Power up at

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slash safety. Back on NFL Daily. Back in Super Bowl week, we talked to Kyle Hamilton, and he was there with Visa, who teamed up with Kyle Hamilton, to spotlight the communities that power game week, especially the small businesses in neighborhoods where culture happens. Through the launch of the Visa and main platform, Visa is helping local businesses get the visibility, tools, and support they need to capitalize on major moments like the Super Bowl and stay long after the crowd's head home.

Ian is barely paying attention to me. He's looking at his phone, but he's still given good takes. I was trying to lead to before about get a man that can do both, that you had good Olympics analogy. Did you have a favorite Olympics moment? I don't think we've mentioned the Olympics one time. I mean, the, you really not? I think it just hasn't come up.

It was, I love the Olympics, but I was in Deer Valley skiing, and like, Rich guy problems. Poor athlete problem is really the problem. Not poor athlete, mediocre athlete. I couldn't watch as much as I wanted to. I mean, the Olympic gold medal win for the hockey team

was an all-time, classic moment. And I'm like, I will nerd out like all of us do. Like, the call was amazing. Call was great. You know, like these are things I get weirdly nervous about is like great moment. you only get one shot at it. I know you have a spotter, but like, hockey's fast.

And, like, you don't quite know, like, is it a goal? Is it not? Guys streaking down the ice who score, like, it was amazing. It was incredible. I mean, to be fair, both Olympic gold and goals were great. I wasn't as big of a fan of the call on the women's one. But the woman's one was better. I mean, I was making, that's an all-time,

I mean, they're both all-time, all-time goals. But to pull a one-on-one move off like that to win the gold medal, That's an even better moment, but they're both incredible. I wish it was when I was sitting in front of a TV, paying more attention. Okay. I'm fascinated by the Eagles. Okay. I don't know if you have anything on the Eagles specifically.

First of all, since we last tape, Lane Johnson is returning to the Eagles this year. We don't know about Landon Dickerson. There's been reports that he's considering... Pretty beat up. Retirement. Multiple trade options here. Tanner McKee, A.J. Brown, a ton of free agents. Dallas Goddard, Jalen Phillips, the Kobe Dean.

I would throw in, and I haven't asked you this off, Mike, so it's going to be tough for you to answer it on. We'll be tough. I would throw in Jalen Carter as a really crazy trade candidate if someone wanted to come. Are they willing to go the extra mile and pay Jalen Carter, like a ton of money now would be the time? I just feel like the breadcrumbs are telling us

the Eagles are going to go nuts this off season. What does nuts mean? Are you talking get rid of guys or bring in guys? Because like, both. Both. You know, they can do it. I just think be extremely active in free agency, getting rid of guys, getting guys, trades, that they're going to be trying to win, of course,

but that the team you see in 2026 is going to look a lot different than the team you saw in 25. I think that's probably right. Now, trading AJ, anything's possible, but it doesn't really help them. It really doesn't. It costs a lot. It's hard on the cap. And he's a great receiver. And so, like, I understand.

and him and Jalen, from what I'm told, are in a much better place now than they were almost at any point last year until week like 14, 15, 16. So I don't know that they have to do it. Now, if you'd ask me in week eight, I would say you have to do it. I don't know that they have to do it now.

And just like money, like you would have to give them away and pay for it. I don't know, because of all the extensions they'd give them, I don't know that that really makes sense. It can happen. Now, the J-Lan car, harder one is an interesting one because he is a great player. But to have great players, you have to pay the money.

So what does he make? 32 million a year? If you pay him, who do you not pay? Right. They do have the fifth year option with him. So that can kick. Right, but every year, like when the team, they go for it every year. And so when you do that, you pay for everything.

And so like Dallas Goddard, like, I don't know what's going to happen, but generally when a player takes a pay cut one year, the next year they go somewhere else. That's just... So I do think they'll be active. I just don't know... I don't know that it'll be as crazy as we all were anticipating, but we'll see.

I have some more teams, but now that you mention some of the players there, and Jalen Phillips specifically, I might just rip through some free agents. Jalen Phillips, very interesting. Two sacks. Yeah, that was the one response. I do send my list out to various dignitaries,

including yourself. You were the last person to respond, but that you sent a response at all. I appreciate it. And the only response was like Jalen Phillips, really? Two sacks? I mean... Was it only two sacks?

It was two sacks? I feel like it was like three or something. I mean, he had two sacks. I think he had two sacks for the Eagles. He is a really disruptive player who made a splash and then didn't do much after. But like those guys get paid. Five sacks total, you know. Three before, right?

A ton of pressure. Pressure is production. Agreed. He's going to get paid. But I'm just, it's going to be really. interesting because they don't need to justify anything. Yeah. But you could justify that trade by giving him big money.

But like, and you've seen him in your system. You've seen him with Fanjo a couple of times. Fanjo's coming back. Which I definitely wasn't sure about for a while. So paying him makes a lot of sense. I just, the production, how do you calculate

the value is going to be really interesting? He'll get paid though. To me, he has a lot of similarities to guys that they used to pay back in the day. Now, he might cost more because now he's getting to free agency, which is like the first Josh Sweat contractor, Brandon Graham's contracts all throughout the years where guys who didn't rack up a ton of sacks, but were really complete, versatile players. And seems like a good guy, like they liked him a lot like that.

Keeping him makes sense. He had a monster year in Miami. It was just a few years ago before those injuries happened. So he's not, he's not just like a one-hit wonder. You thought Linderbaum is an interesting situation. And do you have any, if you have any possible teams for any of these players, just throw them out there. I do not. I do not like to do that.

I don't like to play that game because then teams are like, hey, why would you say this? And then agents are like, why would you say this? Instead of this guy. And I'm just like, I don't. When you say things, it makes news. Right. It changes like the prediction markets. Yes, I care greatly about the prediction markets.

Maybe I should. I don't know. But I just, I don't. There's plenty of people who will say like, like, this team should. sign this player and then it becomes a whole article. Anyway, Lunarbaum's interesting. I mean,

I do that all the time. I just did one with Bill Barnwell. Oh, really? I had no idea. It was a good podcast. The Loonerbaum's interesting because he almost, not almost, he cannot get tagged.

It's a tackle tag, right? And so what is the, what's the tackle tag? It's like 28 or, yeah, I mean, not going to be that. But it's offensive linemen tag. Right. But it's really a tag. Like, guards get tagged only when they're Trace Smith,

and that made the guard market go crazy. And, like, everyone else was like, seriously, but you had to do it, right? Linderbaum is the top center. He's a really good player who the Ravens should want to keep and feel like they have to keep. But every year, they've let a couple offensive linemen go and figure it out. They haven't seemed that, that interested in keeping him. They didn't fit your option.

They didn't fifth your option. but they have tried to negotiate with him. Sure. His agent is very difficult to negotiate with. Neil Cornwich is the agent, and his method is basically just not responding. We all have someone like that in our life. It's a pretty good negotiation, to be honest. Yeah, I mean, right.

It's like trying to get Ian on this podcast. I would think, so they've done deals. Ertikos, the way he does things, is kind of like Howie Rosen. He's very aggressive. and he will keep at it. So they locked Ronnie Stanley up. I think it was like the Saturday before Free Agency last year. Is that right?

Something like that. It might have even been into the negotiating window unless it was all tampering because the reporting afterwards was kind of like the Patriots drove up the price. But maybe that was behind. You're right that it might have happened on Saturday. Yeah.

They're talking this week. Now it's sort of like. I do like, that's one thing that's changed over the years. Maybe you can give us some context. You know, Florio used to always, you know, my old boss, Mike Flore, used to always be banging on about this during. Oh, they're tampering in Indianapolis. Oh, can you believe it? Agents are talking to players and teams are talking to agents.

And now it's like no one cares. It's just, the NFL was like, eh, we don't care, Florio. We're just going to allow this. What's the problem? I mean, I. Some rules are meant to be broken. It's like driving 75 and a 65. Right.

I officially have no stance given where I work. but I'm sort of not really sure I see where the problem is. No, I don't think there is a problem. The only, yeah, the only, you have to have a start date at some point, so it's always going to be bored before that start date. Well, they should just open up free agency at the temperament. I'm like, okay, well, then they would just start talking. And they kind of have, they kind of have, whatever, done that.

I'm going to throw out just some different names. Okay. See if any, strike your fancy. Mike Evans, Rashid, Jihad, Territ. Rick Woolen. Aaron Rogers. Like any of those stand out as like going to have particularly good markets, bad markets, stand out to you.

Like could Evans actually leave for one? I mean, anything could happen. He should finish his career in Tampa. Okay. I mean, he should. And I don't mean like, like, he should. It just would be right in the world. Now, he might get enough dollars where he could go and it'd be one of those like, you know,

Emmett Smith and the Cardinals. uniform type deal, but the bucks take care of their guys. I mean, they've had Levante. I can only see him with the Eagles if they traded AJ Brown. You could see him with any team. With the Chiefs. Literally any good team. That would be good team.

Chiefs receiving corps will be interesting to watch in general. Sorry, I asked the question in the middle of that. It was Evans, Shaheed, it was Rique, it was Rogers. Shaheed should be a Seattle re-sign. I mean, that makes too much sense. Rogers should be a Steelers, O. I would imagine. What else did you say?

They should be a Malik Willis team, but I don't think they want to be. I said Tariq Willan. The cornerback market is going to be interesting. Have you heard of who is potentially at the top of that? So some options. Jalen Watson from the Chiefs has had a good career. Alante Taylor of the Saints is an interesting player. Jamel Dean is out there.

Nashon Wright made some all-pro teams this year. and then Tariq Wollen. So Tariq Wollin is sort of interesting to me because I thought last year midway through that Seattle was going to trade him. I felt like he maybe fell out of favor a little bit and maybe the scheme wasn't great. But he kind of kept at it

and kind of started playing better and then they were like, we cannot lose him. And that was interesting to me. And I don't know that he's staying, but a lot of good tape at the end of the year on him that should, I think he should have a good market. I think Jalen Watson has the best. potential for to get a nice deal and people like, who the heck is this guy?

Jamel Dean took a huge pay cut. Yes. With the Bucks last year, which they wanted to start two young guys and came back with an excellent, excellent season. I could see him. Maybe he goes back to the Bucks saying anything's possible, but could be one of those final pieces to a good veteran playoff ready team. Like he's been through it.

He's played great last year. Like, he's a veteran, but not too, too old. Yeah. I'm making you work here. It's okay. familiarizes me with free agency. Well, do you have some surprise? You're like mentioning guys who people don't know that might get a ton of money.

Does anyone pop up? I don't work like that. They don't all like swim around in my brain. If you mention, I can respond. Yeah, I am like that too where I struggle. I'm showing you the list. Boy, Maffey, I think is going to get a lot here. Devin Lloyd, I think it'll be good.

Devin Lloyd will be good. I'll tell you what, I mean, Isaiah likely is interesting too because he doesn't have the production, but it's obvious why he doesn't have the production. I won't put you on the spot here. I have more specific stuff. I want to get you before you go. Max Crosby. Like, do you think in the end he gets traded?

I don't know. I really don't. It's going to be a while because rarely do guys get traded when they are coming back from many-month injuries. And so that's why, like, I thought, I mean, who knows? Maybe all my reports are dumb, but I thought it was an important thing to report during the Super Bowl because, like, I don't think people knew how serious his injury was.

No, he's doing great. But, like, you know, if you trade for him and then, let's say you pay him, you know, somewhere around where Mike is getting, like, you want him to be healthy. Older player, too. Yeah, guaranteed money this year and then you'd probably have to tack on some new stuff. Right. But, like, you want him to be healthy. So that might be, like, around the draft or maybe even before the start of the season.

it's going to be so like the timing no look he could get traded tomorrow who knows but the timing could be interesting because let's say it's before the draft okay you got Fernando Madoza coming in you've seen what this

coaching staff and GM can do in free agency they I'm sure are going to target a actually good offensive line they're going to make it quarterback friendly defense they got some pieces anyway but let's say they improve their team I wonder and you know they're going to try to keep them

So at that point, does Max go, I'm on out? Or does he go, all right, fine. I'm in one more year. Like, I don't know the answer to what he's going to say after all that. I thought it was interesting. There was like a list of teams. This was from the NFLPA who have to spend a certain amount of cash this year, you know, to hit that three-year average.

It's too complicated a rule that I don't totally understand to even get into here. But basically, you have to hit an average of money that you've spent over a rolling three-year period. And the Jets, Saints, Seahawks, Raiders, both L.A. teams and Titans were the teams that have to spend, like, over a certain amount of cash, like $50 million more than the rest of the teams. I mean, the Rams are interested because they have some of their own free agents who are going to get huge deals coming up. You know, like the Kobe Turner's of the world. Right. They could spend it on their own guys. I mean, I should. Jared Verst, yeah. Verse would be another one.

I mean, they have. Puka. Puka. Interesting offseason for Puka. I mean, it's just been, yeah, an internet. Why do you say that? No, it's just he's been in the news a lot. The internet loves him. I don't know if love is the word that I would use.

Do you think DJ Moore gets traded? Have you heard any, and have you heard anything about the Bears in particular, who have a lot of cap issues? Not a lot of defensive backs coming back to their team. Like, kind of a lot going on. I think them and the Patriots are very interesting in like, okay, how do you pivot off this surprisingly good year one with these new coaches? Yeah, I mean, I thought, I think last year they did an underratedly awesome job.

Didn't like what was out there in the offensive line market and said, you know, we're just going to trade for two guys. And I thought, you know, Ryan Poles does not get universally loved. I thought he crushed it last off season and set themselves up for big success. They'll have to make some decisions, DJ more. I mean, that one would make sense. but like could also make it work money-wise. You know, like, I don't know.

If you say to me, like, well, the bears need to do this, like, what do they need to do? I think they have another good draft year. And, like, what do they need? Pass rushers and defensive backs because half of them are free agents. One of the top defensive back is their own free agent. Yeah, Kevin Beard is also a free agent. Chonsie Gardner Johnson, who's lower on the list.

But I don't know. Kevin Byer, man. It was like a minimum guy a couple years ago. And he's like the best dude too. Chiquon Brisker is a free agent. They have a lot of work. And they're like way over the cap right now. See, I'm giving you good information.

Are you though? You could go to overthecap.com and find out about that. How about the bills and the chiefs? Do you have any like overarching thoughts of like the two most consistent teams in the AFC over the last handful of years and how they are going to attack this off season? You mentioned earlier the chiefs in the receiver group. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, they, I was not surprised that they shuffle their offensive coaching staff.

I was not surprised they brought Eric P. N. Me back. You know, there was certainly some frustration last year with the receivers. They fired the receivers coach. That generally shows that. Rishie Rice, who's also been in the news some, on the football field is a very, very good player. But like inconsistency around, like Hollywood Brown, sometimes, yes, some free agent.

Tyquan Thornton, I think he's going to have a nice mark. but like they have a chance to kind of rebuild that with some really good mid-level guys. Kelsey, you know, what happens there? Do you think Kelsey and Rice are on the team? My guess is probably, but I don't know why Rice wouldn't be. I mean, if you say like, are they going to trade them? I don't know that that would happen. And Kelsey, you know, he's been seemingly pretty positive about the hire of

Ropee enemy making me think he's coming back, but you like to work out a deal, too, and they got some cat problems. You said you weren't surprised that they made changes. Should that worry Giants fans that they now have the offensive coordinator, that you said? No, no, no, no. The running back and receiver position coaches, I think Matt Nagy intentionally put himself where he is. I think he was like, he was with Andy Reid.

I think they were really good until last year when they were not as good. and there was a lot of reasons they could be not as good offensive line. That's a mission. There's a lot of injuries, a lot of things. I think Matt Nagy wanted to be a play caller and was like, I'm going to take a risk, put myself out there and be a play caller and see if I could be a head coach, and that's what happened. All right, it worked out.

Yeah. A couple more for you. Is Christian Wilkins a name you've heard at all? He kind of was brought up on our show and I was like, oh yeah, Christian Wilkins, who was like top five on this list a couple years ago. Like, I see, I didn't know whether to put him in the top 101 or not? Is he helped? Like, have you heard, is any team going to sign Christian Wilkins? I don't know. I would need to look back at his contract situation and see. He's free and clear at this point.

Are they not? The Raiders got out of the guaranteed money business. They're paying dead money to him. Sometimes I don't know if the Raiders got out of the guaranteed money business. You usually are the one giving me information, but sometimes I'll send the in, be like, hey, you should check on. Every once in a while. Every once in a while. Now I'm blowing it because it's going to go on the podcast. But, you know, I was like, just do. No, I'll check. Just check on on Christian Wilkins. If you send a tweet out about Christian Wilkins,

I actually think it'll be a medium hit tweet. I think you're probably, if he signs. Medium. No, I mean, he was. No, I don't even mean signs, but just be like, hey, he's healthy. He's ready to go. There's some interest. If he is, I mean, at the time, remember, it was a fight over surgery

because he didn't want to have surgery, and they wanted him to. And then also they. There was also a lot of stuff happening. There was a report that, yeah, there was teammates uncomfortable with him. I don't know if any of that was true. Was that this year? That was last season. That was last season.

Seems like a thousand years ago. It does. You know what else does? The Starbucks incident that you had back at the combine a year. I'm going there right after this. Are you worried? I wasn't worried then. Why would I be worried now?

I thought it was like a little much, the NFL network with, you know, so much going on at the company and everything, decided to provide like a four-man security detail everywhere you go. Just like, afraid of Big Jordan Shultz coming around the corner. He is tall to me. He is tall in general. That was still the weirdest thing to

It wasn't the weirdest thing to ever happen me, but it was the weirdest thing to happen to me lately. That was still like, people laugh at my reaction because I literally just stood there like this, like what on earth is happening? Because that's what I felt like. You know, as someone who has annoyed

plenty of people. No, I'm talking about myself. I'm talking about you too. Yeah. And not the biggest guy. I have been in the situation, including even at work with an old, I'll say rival of yours, happened once. And it is a tough situation because you're not going to, what are you going to do?

You're just going to try to talk it out. In this case, you were very surprised by it. But, like, you know, I know right away it's not going to help me out to like try to be the man here. I mean, that's not, I mean, I haven't fought in a very long time. It's certainly not going to be my world. I was just mostly confused. I kept being like Uber stock? Right.

Is that something that's in the realm of possibility that someone offers players Uber stock for scoops? In hindsight, it's a bizarre story. Yeah, for some background, Jordan Schultz, who also breaks news, does NFL news, confronted you with an accusation that you were telling people that he was trading Uber stocks for information,

which is a wild claim to just come out of nowhere, but I was trying to make the point, though, that you're going to be a free agent coming up soon. And just hear me out. You did a podcast with Andrew Moshan, and he brought up how your contract's coming up soon, and you were saying you're excited that, you know, with this new ESPN world, maybe you and Schaefter can be like, you know, the Avengers coming together. Well, we have me, Mike, Tom. Right. Everyone. But I mean, I'm just putting it out there. We have our, IHart executive here, Jason English. They've been great partners for NFL Daily as you hit free agency.

What about NFL Daily insider Ian Rappaport? You know, we could get in this mix. Could you? Really? What are we off-train here? What are we talking about? That's an off-camera conversation. But they've been great.

Free Starbucks. I used to have a podcast back of the day. Right. We can give you, you could, yeah, maybe you could have your own podcast. You could certainly have like. Maybe I could take Greg's place. No, but you could have a regular part of the, you know, you could be a regular part of the same. There you go.

Just the thought. I have no idea what's coming. I am very excited about it, though. If the ESPN thing works out, I think the possibilities are really, really good. From what it sounds like, everyone should be pretty optimistic. That's a good way to look at things and a good way, I think, for people just. Also, reality, I think. To look forward.

Like, sometimes you kill yourself worrying about things that, You're not going to change the outcome of until they happen. So just be optimistic. I was optimistic about how long we would get Ian, and look, it happened. We just didn't stop asking questions. Strong minutes. You had great answers. We will be here all week.

There were some other minor news out there, and we'll hit all that on Wednesday's show with Jordan Rodriguez. We also are planning to have a couple guests. Some GMs are going to sit down with us, and so we'll go over all the the news that is coming out of Indianapolis for Ian Rapport. I'm Greg Rosenthal, and we will be back from Indianapolis on Tuesday. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit. Push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors for the next era of gaming. Upgrade to smooth high-quality streaming with Intel Wi-Fi 6E

and maximize game performance with enhanced overclocking. Win the tech search. Power up at Lenovo.com. Lenovo. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents,

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