NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Crowning the 2025 Offseason Champions

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Colleen Wolfe and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic to crown the 2025 Offseason Champion. The trio brings six teams to the table and crowns one winner including the Bears (03:20), Vikings (09:20), Cardinals (15:15), Commanders (24:30), Rams (30:17) and Patriots (37:55).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Let's play a round of, and the winner is. Today we will crown the NFL's off-season champion featuring a panel of some of the top football minds in the world. He's a long-time-suffering Boston sports fan. If you don't count the first two decades of the 2000s, it's Greg Rosenthal. She's a Philly fanatic who's only L this season came in the form of a dog with separation anxiety. It's Colleen Wolfe. She's a journalist who loves talking about the team. to cover and loves when you mention it. It's Jordan Rodry. Now let's welcome our host,

the man who puts the Greg in the Gregular season. It's Gregorzenthal. Welcome, welcome, welcome. And the crowd goes wild. I'm not only a host. I'm a client. I'm a presenter. I'm a contestant on this show where we will crown the most important championship of all. Is that a conflict of interest? The off-season champion. I do feel like we ran into We only have so much quote unquote talent. All right. Although, you know, Eric could handle it. Those pipes are absolutely fantastic. And we'll get to

how the production room is going to be a part of this show in just a second. But yes, the Eagles, they got their title. Their second one, Colleen, three months ago or so. It's been a great run. And now it's time to crown the off-season champion. I love champions. I love talking about champions.

I like hanging out with champions. I like supporting champions. So this is a segment for me. And it's an important championship. I remember the dolphins used to win it a lot back in the day. The Bears have won it many times recently. When you win it, they actually put a little printed out piece of paper in the facility off-season championship. Kind of like that Lakers in-season tournament title.

Wow. Wow. It's going to be simple. Here are the rules. Okay. We each present a team to be considered as off-season champion. You give a little spiel. We'll maybe give that person some questions, have a little discussion afterwards,

and then we each score whether that team 1 to 10, how we evaluate, whether they should be off-season champions. The production room led by our friend Eric Roberts will have one vote. You cannot vote for your own or not score for your own team. I think it should be pretty simple. Yes, it should be pretty simple. And we have gone over the rules and the math and the accounting many times in advance. So this has potential to not be anything like quarterback island.

This has potential to work. This has potential to be a running segment. Or not. It's up to you, Colleen. I'm going to get you going. Okay. Colleen Wolf, aka Kaliana Grande with their new ponytail. Whenever I have the ponytail in, I am Kaliana Grande.

I would like to be. you know, talk to us that way. And to be clear, what's the word I'm looking for? I hold space for that nickname. Thank you. It is great. We're going to each nominee. Two teams, by the way.

So we'll go around the room a couple times. Okay. All right. So for my offseason winner. Mm-hmm. The Indianapolis Colt. Of course. Come on.

Just when you thought she was out. Just kidding. I'm not going to do it again this year. I swear. Oh. All right. Okay, good. The Chicago Bears.

Oh, my God. I love. I love. Love what the Bears have done with the place. They've made this entire offseason all about setting up Caleb Williams for success. Ryan Poles is building a roster like a man who just got designated DJ at the party. He's aggressive. He's confident.

He's just committed to the vibe at this point of everything that's happening in Chicago. Ben Johnson was the bell of the coaching cycle ball. I loved that higher the most. He's modern. He's creative. And maybe the Bears first head coach that knows actually how to score points on purpose. We haven't seen it. The offensive line

looking like a group that could give Caleb Williams an extra second to breathe. That's, you know, recently seemed like a foreign concept. Caleb, he was sacked a league high 68 times. We know that.

So what did they do? They went out. They traded for Joe Tuny and Jonah Jackson. They paid the center, Drew Dalman, a nice amount. And then they drafted another offensive blindman in the second round.

They're hoping that he can eventually be the starting tackle for them. Like, that is how you protect your quarterback, quarterback of the future, your franchise quarterback with linemen, not just like prayers at this point. Defensively, they have Grady Jarrett now that they brought in. And Deo, adabangio. Dingbo. Okay. We're going to work on that. Came over from Indy. And I like Shamar Turner to the second round rookie who at that point, I mean, he's going to, he's, I think, going to have a huge impact. But the bottom line, I feel like the Bears, if everything goes right for them,

they could be vying for the division in the most difficult division in all of football. It's just, it just got that much more talented. I love it. I think it makes a lot of sense. Are you concerned at all that the Bears and their fans claim offseason championship status basically every season? And this could be a fun document looking into the future of NFL deal. we'll see how the off-season champions actually do in the season. It's like, I don't know, they've gotten us hype before.

Any concerns there? You know what? I would like to go back and see how many times off-season champions have hit and made marginal kind of progress because I feel like the Lions that year, like the second half of the season when they finally started to turn things around. Yes. Was that a huge off-season for them? Were they one of the off-season winners then?

Or were they still just like a team? that was downtrodden. I'm trying to remember. But I mean, you're right. You bring up a great point because these teams are perennially in the conversations. And you know what? Inevitably, you end up talking about them so much during training camp. And they're the teams.

That's when they shine during the offseason. And then once the regular season begins, it's like business as usual. I think what helps the Bears here is somebody who always is like so on board with the bears in like March and April and, wow, they drafted well. And, oh, they brought in the right free agents. And, you know, of this is that their floor is that they are a team that hasn't put it together on offense yet that has a really solid defense. And now they have the added teeth of having a head coach who

knows how to win, who gives them an edge unlike previous regimes recently have. And somebody who in Ben Johnson, who I do think is a legit, bona fide person to take what this offense was looking like and sort of flailing and, you know, directionless and take it into having an identity having a cohesive plan. And you can already see that he's working really well with the front office in communicating that plan. You could see it by how they attack the draft, the types of skill players going after Colston Loveland versus

So that was the one thing that I forgot and that's my favorite move of the entire off season is drafting him so now they can have those two tight-end sets with Colquamette. I also, you know, I'd prep this one a little bit because peek behind the curtain. I was ready to go for the Bears and you stole it. No, no, I like it.

And I actually kind of think Dennis Allen is a sneaky good defensive coordinator who's going to be good in that role. That's part of it too. It is the upgrade from Eber Fluse to Ben Johnson. Huge upgrade. Like the biggest thing to me.

I think if you were going to pick any nits, it's this idea that they fix the offensive line. Like, we've got to see it. Jonah Jackson was a complete bust. We'll see if he helps at all. Drew Dalman ultimately was a guy that the Falcons didn't want to keep, even though there was a competitive market for him.

Like, we'll see the history of guys changing spots. Like, they have to prove that. But the rest of it, I'm into it. I'm into the continuity with pace. Let's score it. You cannot score it. Colleen,

Jordan and I will and the producers in the back will come up with the score. This is just off season. This is just who do we think won the off season on a one to 10 basis. I think Colleen made a really strong case. Thank you. I will announce my score first. It is an 8.9. Got it.

It's like a B plus. Oh, 9.2. Second 9.2 smiley face. Okay. Like that, like that. And then we are going to Eric and the producers in the back for the final score here. Eric, what do you got? Me and Chris decided a seven.

Okay. A solid seven. Okay, fine. It's also you went first and, you know, you maybe you don't want to set the bar too high back there. Eric in the crew will be adding up all the numbers to determine who are the offseason champions. We've come out strong. I'm also writing down my personal grade. to the left on my whiteboard so that certain people don't try to pull a fast one mid-show.

Oh, wow. And do what change the scores? And change the entire outcome. That's terrible. That's terrible. Check in your work. Watch out. I'll go Vikings. I'll go Vikings with my candidate as off-season champion. So there's going to be a lot of talk. I have a feeling today. We already started it with Caleb Williams of like supporting the young quarterback, like supporting the young quarterback. You know what the best thing you can do to support a young quarterback? Take a a couple of the guys from one of the best offensive lines in the league, Indianapolis, and bring them together. They already know how to work together.

Will Fries and Ryan Kelly, interior lineman. After they signed Will Fries, we actually heard excuses from all over the league. Seattle said, oh, we tried to sign offensive linemen, but Will Fries, he was too expensive for us. The Giants were really in on Will Fries, but they're like, hey, the price got too much. You know who didn't care about price? Vikings. There's not too much money you can spend on Will Fries.

They also, in the first round, took Donovan Jackson, who was really like the last good interior offensive line. So I like a vision. Kevin O'Connell at the end of the playoffs said, our interior line needs to get better. They did it. I think they did it better than anyone else. Then you flip to the other side of the ball,

and you think this defense is already loaded. We don't even need anything more on this defense. How about we add more beef up front there, too? We don't have a lot of draft picks. So we get Javon Hargrave, who a couple of years ago was the number one free agent in the league on a discounted price.

We get Jonathan Allen, a former all pro, to fit in. And you're not asking him to be an all pro. You're asking him to fit in to a defense that was arguably already the best in the entire league. While other teams are like spending

second round picks on running backs, first round picks, that's fine. Hey, let's just bring in Jordan Mason for a very small price from San Francisco. He's going to be just as good as this. second round picks. I promise you.

Like, there's not that big a difference between running backs. We're good at running backs. And then finally, here's what you don't want to do if you want to support your young quarterback. And that's sign Aaron Rogers. They stayed away from signing a deal with the devil. And they supported J.J. McCarthy in every way, emotionally,

physically. And then, of course, in the room with all these big beefcakes up front. So the Minnesota Vikings to me, they won the off season. I think that's, you make Really good points. Your last one, especially, is sound because you don't want that sort of presence lurking over your shoulder as a young player. From everything I've read and heard about J.J. McCarthy, it is something that I believe he would have handled well or relatively well, considering the context of what the situation would have been in terms of his mental process and his mental health process specifically, a big meditative guy. But I will say the most important thing the Vikings could do this offseason after all of the sort of noise around Aaron Rogers connecting with them and sort of his desire to go to Minnesota was unearthed was for the Vikings to double and triple down with all the moves they made in the draft and all of the things

that they kept doing in free agency to adamantly basically support JJ McCarthy not just with their words but also with their actions and especially getting that interior line I mean he is not a massive framed quarterback so he can move but he's not he does not a big framed quarterback so having that offensive line around in particular that interior of his pocket upgraded from the disaster that it turned out to be at the end of last season, I think will be super important. And I am interested in seeing if Kevin O'Connell is also going to build in more outlets using a couple of their different weapons for J.J. McCarthy. Added a couple guys. Ty Felton's a fun little third round pick, a little after the catch guy. Rondale Moore. I

kind of like me some Rondale more in a wide receiver four role like Brandon Powell used to have there. Like they got a lot of weapons. Yeah. And I like the backfield. Like you mentioned, bringing back Aaron Jones and then adding Jordan Mason, that's going to be great for J.J. McCarthy as a young quarterback to be able to lean on some semblance there of a run game, especially with the upgraded offensive line. But really what did it for me is nobody likes fries and beefcakes more than me. This team has a lot of both.

A noted fry lover, Colleen Wolf. All right, let's put our scores out here. And beefcake. Colleen, you could subtract one point from me because I kind of forgot that Aaron Jones was part of the off season. I should have mentioned that too because he was a free agent. Let's actually start in the back here.

Eric and the crew, what is your score? We're going with eight. Oh, okay. We like the no Aaron Rogers of it all back here. Addition by subtraction. Appreciate that. Appreciate you scoring mine higher than Colleen.

I'm looking at you. Colleen. I gave you initially an eight, but then when I heard that they gave you an eight, I wanted to do a little bit better. So I gave you an eight. Price is right, okay, this is a winner, right? And Jordan?

I did an 8.7. I would have gone even higher with the Vikings off season, except the quarterback is still so unproven and such an unknown variable. Well, but that was, you know, he's there. They did everything that they could. Last off season. That's last off season. Yeah, exactly.

That's when he got there. If you want to knock them for their quarterback off season, you could, yeah, Sam Howell as a backup. He does fill the role of not threatening to J.J. McCrack. But he also fills a role of, like, probably not winning a lot of games for you if he does play. All right. I'm interested with what Colleen thinks. So do you know Steve from Stranger Things?

Yeah. So me and Patrick were talking last show about how J.J. McCarthy looks just like Steve from Stranger Things. Oh, my God. Hold on. I think you're right. Oh, my God. Like so much. Right?

That's what a good poll. He's hat fishing a little bit right here, especially without the hat. The lettuce is like. long and strong. Really? Yeah. A very young-looking man, J.G. McCarthy. A lot of people's livelihoods in that young man's hands.

All right, Jordan, you are up with your first contestant. I'm going to start with the Arizona Cardinals. For almost 365 days now, I've been hunking about the Arizona Cardinals, a team brimming with ideas and possibility and all the joyful hubris of a 22-year-old journalism grad, sending dozens of resumes off into what they don't know yet to be the void. I have to believe that this is the year that they put everything together after their off season.

I believe they think so too and they have to or else everyone could be gone. They're a rare team with actual continuity at all their major coaching positions into their third season with the first time head coach. Jonathan Gannon, defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, they've been sort of orchestrating

what equates to me like mad scientists working out equations on a whiteboard where they're trying to add different variables, different letters, different symbols here and there, seeing what actually works, what makes this defense actually go. And when you have a roster as limited as it has been over the past couple of years on that side of the ball, that's where you have to also verify what you need. And this offseason, I think that they were super aggressive in actually going out and getting

what they need. They also have continuity at quarterback, running back, actual continuity along the offensive line, which is someone who was born raised in Phoenix, is not something we could always say in that town, high profile skill positions, and an offensive coordinator, of course, where Drew Petsing will return. And I thought they were aggressive, like I said, in free agency with not just low risk backups and depth players, like Jacoby Brissette, I think, is quietly a great backup quarterback

for them to have brought in. But also they made splashes like Josh Sweat on a four-year deal. And then they brought back core culture guy, Kaleas Campbell, who, I mean, beaming at his press conference being back in the Valley. I just, I loved it so much. I love that front line. I love their draft. Walter Nolan, their first round pick.

defensive tackle is a total scheme fit. And I think that he represents the next era of their defensive line rebuild, which is a mixture of veterans and also really talented and ascending, maybe still a little bit under the radar players. So all in all, I think this team has substance and they have plenty of ideas. And I think they've been overlooked because they've been less exciting than the rest of the NFC West. And they've self-inflicted imploded a couple of times. But they also, even when they lack talent, they play really hard and they're smart. And that's why I think that putting all the pieces together to match their ideas that they clearly have showed is what wins them the offseason. Well, their defense is absolutely going to make a huge jump.

Also, they brought in Dalvin Tomlinson too. But that defensive front, all of the moves, I absolutely loved. Josh Swett was the best available edge rusher. They got him. I feel like I was one of the people that was overlooking this team. And now I'm reassessing things. I look at like, they're a good team where if you look at their hour lads depth chart, there's just so much red and I don't know what the other color is because I'm colorblind, maybe blue or something.

There's orange. There's the new starters. That's the new starters. I love what Will Johnson, you know, their second round pick who could have gone in the first round said this week that teams are going to pay. They're going to pay for this shit for passing on him in the draft. Arizona is getting a dog there

and I totally agree that they were my favorite draft team in terms of the talent that they added and then you also they also get to return like some of their injured players BJ Ojalari was a good player a couple years ago they're another year removed from injury for their first round pick Darius Robinson

sweat was a weird one there was some like talk about like maybe teams weren't going in on him as much because of some like long term injury concerns I don't get that because he always played someone would know yeah it would be Jonathan Gannon and then they Extended Trey McBride, who is a franchise pillar at this point and one of the most productive

players in the NFL. And you got to love that in combination with Marvin Harrison and then really getting serious and getting physical and getting ready to make sure that they don't just fizzle out midseason. All of their moves this offseason have pointed toward a team that is finally actually aware of its potential and wants to meet it. It's year three. It's go time. I like, you're giving them a little extra credit for how they've played. We're trying to look at this in just the vacuum of this off season. Ideas have no season. But I'm with you that they are a team that, like, they didn't quite have the personnel.

And now they did year three of the program is the big year. And I'm going to get us going here. I'm going big. I'm going 9.5. Hey now. I got you the Walter Nolan bump right there. You like that. I mentioned your favorite player right up the top.

I do love me. That was good. Walter Nolan. And I love that secondary. I think this is a team on the rise. They feel like offseason championship worthy. 9.1 for college. Wow.

Although I am slightly concerned that the Cardinals are going to be your Indianapolis Colts. But so just be careful. For some reason it took me. They have been my entire life. Right. For some reason it took me until now to realize like, oh, Jordan's a closet Cardinals fan.

I didn't totally track that. That's right, man. No, I'm not. He's such a professional and talks about the Rams so much that, you know. I cover stories. I don't follow teams. Eric, give us a final score here from the back.

So I want to preface this, that I'm in a room back here with a Rams fan. Okay. A Rams fan that said several weeks ago, Oh, Chris, I have something for you. Actually, my back. So I go to him. Hey, what do we score in this?

He said six, guys. Oh, what? He said a team on the rise doesn't just give him a score. Just kidding. Wait, and you just do whatever. Chris Bobona says, you're the boss back there. I am not the boss. We are peers. It's a collaboration, Greg. You're dead to me.

Collaborations means meeting in the middle. Man, I'm annoyed. Chris, I brought you a patch from the Los Angeles Fire Department Air Operations that is a Rams patch. And this is what you do? That's what he did. Good luck. Good luck getting it now. Cardinals in a big spot. He should have given it to him before the show. All right, we are halfway through nominations. We are going to be back in just a second on NFL Daily, a very special. what's up everybody Daniel Jeremiah here

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back on. And the winner is trying to determine our offseason champion. We can update our scoreboard and tell you two teams that are not going to be off-season champions. Sorry, Bears. I was kind of surprised. One of the favorites coming into today.

I don't like it. Bringing up the rear very close in the scoreboard standings right now, but they have 24.2 total points. The Cardinals, not going to be off-season champions, 24.6 points total. And the Vikings right now in the lead at 25 points. But to discuss his decision. Controversial. Torpedo the Cardinals is champion chip aspirations here.

Let's talk to Chris Bobono. You're a Rams fan that the Cardinals are the only team to get scores over nine. They got it from two of the judges, and you gave them a six, and so they're not going to be off-season champions now. I think the Cardinals are going to be fantastic. I told Eric, they might win the division next year. But under the constraints of it being the off-season, I think what Jordan said, the continuity of the team,

it's good enough to put them over the edge. I thought that their additions weren't necessarily to the level of some of the other teams that we've seen. Like the Bears, the level of talent they added specifically in the offseason might not be to par with the other teams we might discuss. So you're disrespecting Cleas Campbell. You're disrespecting Josh Sweat, who got a lot of money. You're disrespecting our draft analysis.

And frankly, you're disrespecting Eric Roberts, who's produced the show a lot longer than you have. And yet, are you losing any respect for him that you said six? He said nine, and then he just wrote down six. What is that? In Arizona fashion, like John McCain, I don't mind being the Maverick, having the... Wow. Hey, Chris, I do have one question.

Yeah. How dare you? Yeah. I kind of was hoping they would be off-season championship. You know, I was putting my finger on the scale there. But no, Chris, with the big... Biggest setback since Colleen's dog took a shit on her table or whatever a couple of weeks ago. No.

No, this was a couple days ago. I don't know why I'm swearing in this show. I shouldn't be doing that. It wasn't just a... What happened again? I... Quickly. Speaking of offseason change.

On one of the days that I was hosting GMFB, I left her home alone and she previously the day before had ripped a mirror off the wall and shredded a jacket, but like, you know, with Tras and owned her up, so it was fine. Got home. an angel. Nothing was out of place. Everything was perfect and I'm praising her and I'm giving her treats. I'm like, look at you. And then I go to grab the remote on the coffee table in a tray. And next to the remote on this tray, she took a shit. Like on the coffee table, perfect placement. I don't even understand how it's possible, how she did this. It felt personal. I think she is an artist who is making a

profound statement about the status of modern media and programming. We could have just said, poop, you went back to it. I feel self-conscious because we have a new producer quab in the back who's going to be helping out on the video side of the first show. We're going blue. All right, let's go around the room one more time and let's start with Colleen again. Oh, okay, great. Hold on a second.

But yes, the Minnesota Vikings right now have a chance to be the offseason champions. It's not going to happen. But it's an honor to be nominated. Cardinals and Bears. You're top six. That's pretty good. Okay. I don't want to say that the commanders made a deal with the devil,

but there absolutely is a commanders fan down there right now because they crushed the off season. After flipping an entire franchise and ending up in the NFC championship game in one year, now they're here. Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, I don't know what kind of like Illuminati War Room they're working in, but I like it because of the disaster that was left by. Dan Snyder. This was a franchise that immediately rose from the ashes to become a contender with Jaden Daniels. Now the offseason, they built around him. And it's just like the Bears did. It's just

like the Vikings are doing. That's what teams do with young quarterbacks, especially while they're on their rookie deals. But the commanders were especially aggressive about it. They traded for Laramie Tunsell, top tier left tackle. Then they grabbed Debo Samuel during the Combine that stole all of the headlines at Combine and had everyone talking. He can turn a five-yard pass into a 50-yard touchdown. And then just for good measure, they used their first round pick on another bodyguard, another offensive lineman, Josh Connerly. So that's on the offensive side of things.

Then on the defense, I feel like they got a serious deal in the cornerback that they selected in the second round, Trey Amos. He's a perfect fit opposite Marshawn Latimore. And Mike Sarnreil still? Sanra still. Sanra still. Listen, I don't say these names a lot. I do like how you emphasize real in there, though, because like,

that that shows your respect for this man real real Mike Real is holding it down all right in the slot so I think that that secondary really will be a problem and that Mike Real will become a household name but bottom line I feel like they're loaded their front office is moving in such a fast-paced direction and I feel like they will within the next five years be like probably at the top of the division for me two things are true about this five years that's you know maybe too long time time. I know. Well, the Eagles are still really good. I mean, just it's not very generous of you. Yeah, just statistically each team would win once every four years. In the next decade, they could get a division title. Bold.

Okay, so I love this team. You guys know this. We had so much fun watching these guys all year. I will say two things are true here. While I like their offseason moves on paper, and I do think that they clearly showed they believe they'll still be a contending team because they of the way

that they approached free agency, a way that they're approaching team building, especially when they're limited with their draft capital right now. I also don't totally love continuing to add older players at the level that they have, players that they were all over their defense last year. There is continuity on that defense.

We all know we love the linebackers on that team. I think Trey Amos was one of my favorite draft picks slash matches to team in the entire draft because of how well he fits there. But I don't love immediately having to flip Josh Connerley over to the right side. If he is the air, I can definitely see the vision there at left tackle, but I don't necessarily love again going older at the, at pretty, you know, on both sides of the ball.

I feel like it was a high risk off season. Laramie Tunsell, great player. Yeah. A guy that the Texans wanted to get rid of on some level because of culture. And in, in Washington can can help with all that. And then you mentioned the Connerly pick was weird to me. Debo feels very boomer busted. at this time of his career.

And I got to say, just the Javan Kinlaw contract that they had in Free Agency was probably my least favorite free agency contract. So when you started this case, I'm like, I'm just going to bury her. I'm going to bury the commanders. It's not personal.

Let me finish. Five and O. Let me finish. Oh, Greg wants to finish a sentence. You made such a good case that I'm going to bump it up from two to four. Four? Yeah.

Or maybe actually now that I remember, that you mispronounce, Mike San Ristel. Actually, I'm going to go three. San Rissil. I just needed to hear it one. I'm going to go three for the Washington commanders. But it would have been a one. You just made such a great case.

Oh, dangbo. I bumped it up. San Rissal. Okay, well, I actually think I bumped her up because we did actually get a really great nickname out of this prior process. I gave her a six. Mike, real. I love it.

You're giving her a second. And it's not you that's getting a six. No, no. I'm giving the commanders. That's all right. It's the commander. I can take it. Are you saying that I can't handle it?

I mean... You're built for this. Colliana Grande is here for it. Let's go to the back room and see what they're scoring. Doesn't really matter. Wow, they're giving a perfect 10, guys. All the additions, they got a new stadium. They got the draft.

Like, come on. Oh, my God. Lunch on me, guys. And you gave Chris crap for torpedoing the Cardinals, and you just torpedoed the commanders for no reason. Yeah, it wasn't no reason. I just disagreed with the, take, but she did a good job presenting it.

Yeah, they got the draft now. That's a total of 19. Unfortunately, I torpedoed them right into last place in this exercise. They will not be off-season champions. I think we all know what Greg's actual strategy is here. You guys will learn about it in the coming presentation.

I wonder who's next or in the following team. I'm going next. I'm going to go Rams. I've been given high scores. You guys buried my bears. My bears, nine point. Your bears. I don't know. I gave them a 9.2. I gave it 8.9. And you know what?

I kept the receipts just for this. I know. This is exactly what we knew was going to happen. You presented the Bears. You didn't score them at all. You don't know what you're talking about. I'm doing the Rams just because someone should.

And I was surprised no one was going to take them on. Okay. They have less players that they added. But when you really look at big offseason halls, a lot of the times the teams that win the off season are not the teams that add a ton of flashy players because it ultimately doesn't usually work out. It's the team that added one incredibly important piece and knew the right pieces to hold on to. That's what the Rams did. Devante Adams will be the most important player added from

another team in the entire NFL this offseason. Not only is he a huge upgrade on where Cooper Cup was, sorry, I don't think it's going to work out for Seattle. I think there's a reason the Rams let him go. I think Devante Adams is exactly what this offense needs and is still a top 20 receiver. If he like was five years younger but played the exact way that he plays, I think he would have gotten like $70 million guaranteed. I don't understand how they got Devante Adams in, how the rest of the league let the Rams get him in at that salary. It's amazing. Matthew Stafford, his contract details came out over the last week. They didn't have to give him any guaranteed money. into the second year. He's only getting 40, only getting, $44 million this year. That's great for...

And four million of that was paid last year. Right. Like normal people, that's good. But that's like the Gino Smith area, a little less. That's the 15th highest paid quarterback in the entire league. And not only did they get them for that, but they're like, we're not going to guarantee you any money next year, even though the Raiders and the Giants are going to guarantee you like $90 million over two years. He's taken less money to give them more flexibility. so that they can quietly keep their offensive line together. Alarck. Jackson was a nice resigning considering what was out there. They got off the Jonah Jackson contract.

That was painful, but it was a mistake. And they want to stop the run. They bring in Puna Ford. But to me, it's more about those two guys. It's a clear vision. It's Devante Adams. It's Matthew Stafford. It's building up such a good culture and a coaching staff

that Matthew Stafford even wants to stay over getting more money elsewhere. That is why they won the offseason. The joining thread between both of those players that you mentioned and you alluded to this was the recruitment and the pursuit by Sean McVeigh of both players. Devante Adams, you can read about this at Theathletic.com exclusively, by the way. Devante Adams was in Japan with and thought that his like phone was broken because he saw he had gotten a video from Sean McVeigh that was taking forever to load. And he was like, oh my gosh, what could this possibly be? Is my phone broken, restarted it, like updated everything, whatever. No, the video was taking that long because it was seven minutes long, and it was one of two videos that Sean McVeigh sent him narrating DeVante Adams' highlights while holding his phone up to a TV and playing Devante Adams' cut-ups.

You got to cut up the video a little bit, though, seven minutes is a lot. Like a baldy breakdown? He had cut-ups. He had them made for this exact recruitment. It was so interesting how he was like, I don't care how this looks. I'm going after this guy, you know? And like he, it was so, it's the same thing with Matthew Stafford, getting him in a room sitting down, talking about the short term and the long term future after Matthew Stafford has two offers with hugely amounts of guaranteed money on them from other teams, getting him into a room at unhinged hour behavior, 5.30 in the morning, 6.30 in the morning on a Friday and saying, okay, this team wants to win a Super Bowl and laying out a plan of how they're going to try to get the second Super Bowl. with Matthew Stafford, solidify a Hall of Fame case, solidify, you know, all the things that come with that. And I think that that's an important thing with his head coach who commands the belief to do it.

Yeah, and their top pick, the tight end, Terrence Ferguson. He was the top tester at the tight end position at the Combine. And I feel like the Puna Ford replacing Bobby Wagner was a necessity, and I like it. I love that they addressed the Puna Ford thing because they needed a run stopper. And yeah, they've been wanting that. second titan. Thank you for help me out, Terrence Ferguson. I'm going to give myself a 10 on that,

just because I think you're fired up. Self-love is important, but I'm not allowed to grade myself. So I'll start with Colleen. Colleen, what is your score for the Rams? A seven. A seven. Okay. Jordan, what do you got? I want to hear why she gave him a seven. Because I actually think the Cardinals had a better offseason and I gave you a higher grade. So now I have to go lower. I love that explanation. Yeah, no problem. Jordan. Okay, I gave them a 9.5, certainly no bias here.

I was going to say you made a strong case for them in support. So it's good to see that. But also the reason why I didn't give them actually even higher because I thought they had the exact off-season that a team that thinks it's going for a Super Bowl this year has, including stocking of future first-round picks that they may or may not even have next season. They may use it before the trade deadline to build up more weapons.

Less need cooking. Back to F them Pixar. They've sent the signal. So this is a worry for me as the secondary. And they may add Jalen Ramsey still, but the secondary is thin, and they've taken the strategy of late of adding plug-and-play veterans

and sort of patching the outside, the perimeters of the secondary together and playing really talented young safeties in the middle of the field and in the box, but then having sort of like these patch-and-play vets on the outsides that they think are assisted by their pass rush, which sometimes, can work and sometimes can really make you pay.

So, and it did at times last season when quarterbacks could break, contain, and work out of structure against them. So that's still an area that I'm concerned about with them. They may change that before the summer is over, but I gave them a 9.5. All right. We are on the edge of our seats here, waiting to find out. You have to get over the top at 25. We're at 16.5 now.

Using my brain, I think it needs to be over 8.6 to find out whether the Rams could get into first. We're going to the producer room. Oh. What's the score here? I already see it. Oh my God. A perfect 10.

A perfect 10. No way. Not the 11 that Chris wanted to hand out, but a 10. Wow. What's going on back there? No, this is, I mean, it makes sense. This is the only team you guys are talking Super Bowl with. Then they talk.

They're one play away from last year from making, you know. Chris is clapping in the background. Hold on. Wow. The Rams into first place at 26.5. Chris, ripping the head. set off of Eric. Yeah.

Asserting dominance back there. The pick swap and they're building a city in Woodland Hills. Like everything is going on with the rain. Okay. We're not going to give. It's a great off season. We're not giving them any extra credit for building a facility. Okay.

More than a decade after they moved here. What's taking so long? You let the charges beat you at that. All right. Let's go. Let's move on. Hang on. Too much.

I just want to, I'm next. So I just want to say. Okay. I just want to say, I'm still going to be the one that gets trolled, even though we have a literal Rams homer. Behind the booth right now. Although you did give them a 9.5. They deserved a 9.5.

I agree. Let's wrap things up and let's do it with Jordan Rodriguez. This team could actually at the end of the day take the lead. And I think they have among the strongest cases of any team in the NFL, especially relative to what last season looked like overall and how much of a difference this offseason so far has made. I have the New England Patriots to. somewhat grimacingly present for your consideration. And yes, I do believe in. This is why, as someone who doesn't

necessarily talk up the Patriots a lot, I happily present them because the best move they could have possibly made overall was hiring Mike Vrable as their head coach. That alone gives them a ton of points because Mike Vrable is also the type of coach who will be seen and heard in every part of the building, bringing a cohesion and also like getting adult decision makers in every part of of that building, including the front office, and look no further than their offseason as proof. It is natural and normal that bad teams have to overspend and free agency to get above average players to lift the floor of their roster. So be it as long as they also, and I want to emphasize this, also nail the draft in compliment, and it especially helps to already have your

quarterback figured out, which they do. New England does owe a league leading $197.8 million dollars in guaranteed money on contracts signed this offseason, including winning a few bidding wars in Milton Williams and losing a couple of ones, Chris Godwin, Coleman Shelton, and I'm not judging about that amount. Why? Because they did nail the draft. I can actually see the vision for every single pick, and especially with their first four picks, how they specifically maximize the help, outlets, protection, and production for quarterback Drake May. Will Campbell, a top offensive lineman who literally said he's willing to fight and die. for his quarterback, is now one of the sort of captain material, young core players on that roster.

Travion Henderson, also a captain material core player on that roster, a pass protection expert and a great outlet for Drake May, especially, and a great runner, especially outside the guards and in the passing game. Kyle Williams, one of the sneaky best receivers in this class. All he does is get open. And Jared Wilson, who eventually is going to take over for Garrett Bradbury, if that investment at Center does not work out. And I could see that happening sooner than later. My only question that actually remains about this team is how they go about sorting out

all of the pieces that they added this off season and also still a little bit of hesitation about Josh McDaniels, who outside of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady has question marks about his communication, his style of coaching, and the way that he can teach and communicate his offense. But here's where I also think they won. Mike Vrable said about hiring a staff of people who are really solid teachers and communicators, almost making up for the fact that he understands he's self-aware of how difficult that offense is to pick up and understanding that in order to actually build a functional group that lifts the entire floor of this team together and raises the ceiling, they're going to have to all be on the same page from how he hired his staff

to who he added and who all of this team, how this team is overhauling and overturning in one off season. I think it is special. And whether or not their record reflects it at the end of the year, it is a new day in England. You should be a lawyer. That was, that was beautiful. It really was. Yeah, I'm all in on that. They win just off that. They win off of the most, like, people added. I mean, that's usually kind of wins in terms of off-season championships, and then it usually doesn't look good in the end.

I'm a little concerned about Mack Hollins, not wearing shoes. Yeah, that's a problem. Like, they might have... They just did in Buffalo. If you just counted, like, the new starters that they have, it could be, like, nine. Like, Will Campbell, Garrett Bradbury. Both of those might be below average starters.

Morgan Moses. You hate Will Campbell so much. I'm just saying a rookie, how many rookie tackles have been above average starters as a rookie? He's a top five pick. It's not too often. Sure. So was Neil and O'Conwood. They were top 10 picks a few years ago.

I'm just saying as a, you can't expect Garrett Bradbury and Will Campbell to like be plus players. That's there. But in terms of new starters, Campbell, Bradbury, Morgan Moses, Stefan Diggs eventually, Kyle Williams, Mac Collins-ish, Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, Roberts, Fulane, Harold Landry. It's a totally different team. So whether it is. And it needed to be. It had to be a totally different team.

If you hit on five of those, then I think you did well. The McDaniel's point is a good one that he needs to show. But I think there are enough people in that building that make up for him. I mean, he also, you know, he had the Matt Castle season, you know. Was he still there then? I don't remember. No, he was in Denver at that time. All right, Colleen, let's go to your score first.

Perfect 10. Wow. Even from the Russian judge. Let's go to the back here, and Eric gives an eight. Strong. Eight. An interesting. You get the coach right.

That's a big thing, guys. You know what? An interesting score there. Eric, that's an honorable thing to do because we know where your allegiance is lie in Buffalo. I mean, they're still going to finish like third in the division, but it was a good all season. That was a sub tweet, Chris. Yes, because I think, you know, now that it's down to the last vote here and what they're at. Oh, shocking.

They're at, Greg and the New England Patriots. They're at 18. He's doing the math I'm trying to do the math I did it last time too You're counting cards But do you really want to be Offseason Championship

I mean that might be like a scarlet letter A little bit You know For these New England Patriots The Rams are sitting at 26.5 And so the Patriots would need What, over 8.5 To be the official offseason

You play to win the game Championship Oh no I know what you're doing I'm going to give them an 8.4-999-9-9. The Rams are off-season champions. Congratulations. Congratulations. Wow.

Greg just wants my mentions flooded with me. Oh, no, I don't. No, I don't. Yeah. But they have the potential to win both the off-season and the season. I, you know, even though I'm having a little fun there with the Patriots, if I was ranking these teams, it is why I chose the Rams. Like, I believe in the Rams.

And I would have put the Cardinals and Bears maybe ahead of them, too. But, you know, to each his own, they're all great candidates. Do we have any honorable mentions? Yeah. Okay, this was so fun, by the way. Congrats to all the contenders. Congrats to all the officers. Congrats to the Rams.

This is important. Confetti is falling right now. Whether or not everything completely implodes through whatever supernatural force exists, it's going to be fun. Every year that I've covered that team, it's either been a completely. complete disaster or the absolute highest of highs. And there's no in the middle. And I call that the reverse Jeff Fisher. There's no, there's no middle space that they existed anymore.

So my honorable mention for offseason champions, I love the Denver Broncos off season. They were already a strong team. They made their defense stronger. I just, they were already such a quiet threat to really watch. I love that they added running back in the draft. I just think that they are going to be a team to seriously watch out for. they're in such a tough division. I know, but it just is going to be so much fun watching how they continue to build off of a strong first season. And I had so much fun watching that

defense last year. And I don't, I said this on the other show. Like, I don't know who the hell opposing quarterbacks are going to throw at. Right. That entire secondary. It's full of players you want to avoid now. I love that. They're off season. The chiefs were the hardest one for me to leave off. I think they've had an incredible offseason to get two potential left tackles in an offseason where it's impossible to get it. I like their backup quarter. I get like that they brought back Hollywood Brown. I think they quietly were awesome.

The Colts, if it wasn't for Daniel Jones, I would throw out there. The Raiders were another honorable mention for me. The Jets I've liked in general with just the approach that they've had. I like the Jags too. Okay. Jacks or another one. And Travis Hunter doesn't even have to leave Jacksonville. It's like the first time that someone is happy to stay in Jacksonville.

A bold, a bold new era in Jacksonville. And a bold new era on this show, the first ever offseason championship. surprisingly won by the Los Angeles Rams. I did not expect that coming into today. Yeah, what could go wrong? It's an off-season of change. Yeah, maybe they are the team of the ones that we talked about that I think has the best chance to go deep in the playoffs.

So maybe it's good for the off-season championship. Branding to go with a team that we think could have some post-season championship as well. It really showed that we were ahead of things. Okay. I don't know. If you guys, if you guys, listeners, viewers, if you liked this, let us know. We had so much fun doing it. We want to do more. So if you liked it, let us know.

And if you didn't like it, don't let us know. Yeah. Who would your vote be? If you didn't like it, I don't give a shit. That's it for today's NFL Daily. We will be back on Thursday morning. Thursday morning with Patrick Claibon. Really looking for to that. Talking about

some players, some teams who suffered some collateral damage after the draft. Always love having Patrick back. But yes, this was the first and not the last episode of And the winner is Congratulations to

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