NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Danny Dimes vs. Richardson, The Vikings' BIG Moves and 3 Spicy Meatballs

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Colleen Wolfe and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic to break down all the action from around the NFL on day two of free agency. They start the show by reacting to Daniel Jones signing with the Colts and the impending quarterback competition with Anthony Richardson (02:50), followed by C.J. Gardner-Johnson being traded from the Eagles to the Texans (12:50), Jevon Holland signing with the Giants (18:50) and more! Plus, three spicy meatballs about free agency so far including the Vikings (29:07), Justin Fields and the Jets (34:20), and the Saints (36:15). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're always in competition for a starting job. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Wesleying podcast studio. alongside my friends, Jordan Rodriguez of the Athletic and Colleen Wolles. Hello, so much tampering has been going on. Legal.

We don't call legal tampering anymore. It's just the negotiating period. I like legal tamper. I think a few years ago, there was an edict. Don't call it legal tampering anymore. I miss that. Because, yeah, these deals are done. Good start.

It just feels like. Colleen loves her job. So now I miss that. Whatever. Happy legal tampering period. I don't want to say it feels like you guys got the leftovers a little bit. But man, like this market moved fast. It didn't happen like this last year, right?

Like it wasn't, I feel like the first day of the window was kind of quiet because I think I was doing the show and we're like, this is not a frenzy. Where is our frenzy? That might have been the first official day, which will be Wednesday. And you're right. There's not much left at that point probably to talk about. Just to give an overall view of it in terms of the top 101, you know, my freedom, there's only one player left from the top 20.

Oh my God. There's only 14 left from the top 50. And there's only 40 left overall. So like most of from the entire 101. So the list is mostly gone. But I think we could still have some big trades throughout the week. So obviously keep listening to this space. And even if they're not all the biggest names,

I think we got some some good ones today. we're going to cook up some spicy meatballs in terms of your takes later. Are you, in fact, referring to the Greg Rosenthal top 101 free agency list supported and endorsed by Drew Rosenham? That's right. Oh. The season is almost ending. This is it.

The week of free agency is almost ending. And I'm really glad we have Jordan, who's been covering obviously the Rams for the athletic. It's very busy. And I wanted to make sure we didn't lose Colleen too far to the off season. Because according to like her Instagram, she's just a lot of painting going on, like some hobbies, which I, which is great. You also were, you know, doing a deep cleaning on Monday and I'm thinking this is the busiest free agency day. I'm glad she's on the schedule for tomorrow because otherwise she's going to be too deep into the deep cleaning. I will clarify yesterday. I did not do any deep cleaning. The only deep cleaning I did was look at the box that had a deep cleaner in it.

And I was wondering if I should return it or not. And started to have the people say what to do. I needed that decision made. Did you keep it? I think I'm going to keep it. It's like 60% keep. Okay. 60% G, 60% keep.

We got, we do have some news. And I'm glad that we got some Danny Dimes news. That was the reference I'm making off the top of the show is that there's going to be a quarterback competition with your favorite team, Colleen the Colts, except for the Philadelphia Eagles. More on the Eagles in a second, too. But, you know, kind of your second team. the Indianapolis cults, who you always overrate every year. Danny Dimes chose the Colts getting $13 million guaranteed,

probably get about another million, with a roster bonus. So $14 million. And they say he is competing with Anthony Richardson for the starting job. Does this make you feel any better about the 2025 cults? Well, last year they brought in Joe Flacco, and now they're bringing in Daniel Jones. So I'm not sure why I overrate the Colts.

Holtz every year, but I'm sure it's going to happen. And look, I don't know if he has a real chance of beating out Anthony Richardson. I don't know if the organization is really seriously thinking of moving on from Anthony Richardson. But I think that there is more of an opportunity there for Daniel Jones to be a starter than there was in Minnesota. So it wasn't so much about the money. It was more about the opportunity. I wonder two major things about this. There's some skepticism locally in that market, that the Colts are actually being serious about, like, having a quarterback competition, like, that they were just maybe talking a big game, like Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen were maybe just talking a big game, less so actually believing, just to sort

of get the competitive juices flowing a little bit versus actually installing one. But there also is chatter coming out of that market locally that Daniel Jones picked that team because he believes he can compete for the starting job. So the second thing I wonder is, do you, if I'm Anthony Richardson, do I ask for a trade? If I'm, if I'm the Colts, do I trade him now early in, early on? Because if he does get beat by Daniel Jones in a quarterback competition, trade value is gone. There was a report from, I'm just, yeah, I know. I think of the possible places he could go to.

So I can fix him. There was a report from NFL Daily Guest. That's how Tom Pelliserro is best known now, you know, from a couple weeks ago. immediately that his agent says no plans to seek a trade, which is one of those reports. I was like, wait, I didn't know that was a thing. That tells me, though, that perhaps this is something that could have been discussed in the Colts building.

If they're that quick to say, we're not going to ask for it, the Colts have to do it. If they want to do it, like, it's them, not us. Right. There's a lot here. I think he is absolutely in an open competition. Yeah. I, because the money tells you he is. Joe Flacco got, what, $2 million or something?

They're paying him $14 million. Now, that's not, it's not even just in Fields money. It's somewhere between a starter and a back of money. It's exactly where it's a 1B option type of money. But that shows he has a chance. And the reason I think he has a chance to win the job is because five different national reporters all keep pushing it this way.

Mike Silver, your colleague at the athletic, posited that maybe Daniel Jones is even the favorite. I now combine that with James Boyd, who's also your colleague, got the athletic, a good local reporter. He had a really good article. If you're into the Colts, Colleen, I would suggest you read from about a week and a half ago. And he wondered if this whole idea of bringing these three guys back for another year,

Steichen, Richardson, and Ballard. These are supposed to be the three pillars of the organization. And the idea of bringing them back, like if we're going to bring them back, we're going to bring them all back together and we're going to make this work, that there might be some fraying here, that there's different agendas going on with different people. I don't know how exactly it would work, but it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people who think Daniel Jones could win the starting job are hearing from the front office. And then there's Anthony Richardson, Pat McAfee's talking about how he's not a hard

worker. He flat out said it on Tuesday that if people knew his work habits, that they wouldn't think he would win this job and there's this little hints in the media that like well this is supposed to make him work harder or this supposed to put some pressure on him and so it's all bad because to me it talks about it points out maybe a front office and a coaching staff

especially that aren't on the same page that's not good yeah and this is a well when he was a prospect it was a guy that needed to go to a team that had patience and I mean this is sort of what they were in store for they didn't know what

he was going to be and now they're learning and here we are. That's kind of the issue I take with it too. The entire thing is once people's butts get tight, you know, they're in fear of losing their job and all this. It's all of these platitudes that were offered when they drafted him and understood that he was going to take some time and then had the injury that really truncated what he was able to do biomechanically in his first off season. You know, this is the everything changes. The tone shifts. All of a sudden it goes from we know that it's going to take some time and we're going to be patient with him. And it goes immediately into, okay, we need to light a fire under him. And we need to do, you know, that's that those are the things that I think bother me about the

situation is over the top of all of this are two people who are worried about their jobs. And that's Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen. And when that happens, you see the messaging shift faster than ever. And on the point of Chris Ballard, I think that again, if all of this is coming out there and all of this is, there's a potential danger of Daniel Jones coming in and taking Anthony Richardson's job. If you're seeing this starting to happen, you got to trade him. You got to trade him before it becomes clear that Daniel Jones, if this happens, that Daniel Jones takes his job. Because otherwise, A, you already have made it clear that you're probably not going to

extend your first round pick, your top five pick. And B, you are never going to get higher trade value than someone who comes in and says, no, I can actually be the one to fix Anthony Jones. Unless you wait until the very end and there's an injury at the position in training camp, and then you can come and swoop in and maybe get a little better value too but it's like now or wait until the very end i mean anthony richardson is still only 22 years old i mean he must is he younger than cam ward i would imagine he is actually they're born the same month so the same age as cam ward you know much younger obviously than than bo necks and some other prospects that that have come out so he's still young i don't like that maccophie is putting

it out there that you know is he showing up to team meetings on time and work habits that said You know, he might be right on that, that Richardson does have some growing up to do professionally. I think your point about the offseason is really great because he wasn't able to practice last off season too. And that gets to the final part of this. We haven't really talked about Jones too much. This is not the Daniel Jones that I was kind of high on in 2022 and 2021. I always would say like Daniel Jones is right around the Dalton line. Like actually, if you put a decent situation around him, he's a mid-level quarterback. I don't think he's as bad as people think.

And then he had that one good year where he was better than certainly, or he wasn't as good as the Giants thought when they gave him all that contract. But he's not that guy. He just had a major shoulder surgery. And when he threw the ball last year, it didn't go very far.

Like, it went really slow. And then everyone seems to have forgotten. Like, I haven't seen this mention in anything with Dana Jones. Okay, that number one. And number two, he had recurring neckings. injuries that people thought would end his career, like multiple times. So this is not a guy that I trust to stay healthy or that necessarily is going to be great competition if Richardson shows up and plays well. And then the last little bit of that is the Vikings didn't keep

them. And I know the Vikings probably didn't want to extend too much money to Daniel Jones when it's going to be J.J. McCarthy's job. But they did have them in the building. They didn't make them the backup quarterback last year when they could have. during the playoffs and if they really wanted, they could have paid Daniel Jones a little more money. Seeing this salary, by the way, it made me wonder, did they offer about what Sam Darnel made for them last year,

which would have been about $11 million? This is $3 million more than that. You know, take it or leave it and he decided to leave. Yeah, and listen, I'm actually not surprised that he wasn't their backup when he's making a transition mid-season into an offense that literally constructs the schematic language like layer by layer by layer through the course of an entire offseason.

I'm not surprised by that. But I do think that this was a choice that Daniel Jones had the ability to make. That's kind of what it sort of sounds like, the tea leaves and some of the reporting that's out there. And so he clearly went to a place where he believes he could start. Now, whether it's J.J. McCarthy's team moving forward or there's, you know, again, my colleague, Mike Silver, has been buzzing a little bit about the Vikings talking about Aaron Rogers and considering Aaron Rogers.

So if I'm Daniel Jones, I'm not going to try to go beat the guy that they're going to bring in who's like a future Hall of Famer and probably going to be. be like their bridge designated bridge for the next year. I'm going to go where I believe I can really compete to start. And that's what I think is like subtly so key about this. He clearly believes he has a shot at that job. Right. Oh, he does. Yeah, I do too. I mean, I believe that there are members of the organization that are down on Anthony Richardson. Now, whether that's Shane Steichen or not, we'll find out. The one thing that does make sense is they actually are kind of similar. Jones and Richardson, not in a great way. Like they hold on to the ball too long. I think

it takes them too long to kind of go through their progressions. Obviously, Richardson is a better athlete, but they're both really great, like straight line runners. You can kind of make the same offense for the two of them. So in that way, they actually make a little sense together. I thought Shane Steichen was a nice offense, potentially for Daniel Jones. I don't know if he has the processing to exist in the KOC system, and we won't ever find out. Let's go to our next item. The Eagles and Howie, saying goodbye to another Super Bowl, trading Chauncey Gardner Johnson and a sixth round pick in 2026 to the Texans for Guard Kenyon Green

and a fifth round pick. These two teams, by the way, the Eagles and the Texans have made six trades over the last couple of years. So they just like trading with each other. Surprising. Although not as surprising because Gardner Johnson sent a cryptic tweet out a couple days ago that was like I thought they'd love me. Everyone was like, oh, what does that mean? Is he getting cut? And no, instead he's getting traded. Not CJ, G.J. Come on. I immediately had all of these text

messages from like family members that were like, what are they doing? No, why? He's the heart and soul the defense. And they're not wrong about that. And we, we, oh my God. It's totally fine. If you said it for the Colts, I'd be worried. You guys just won the Super Bowl. It's fine for the Eagles. Do what you want. But the Eagles just got him back last year. So I thought, oh, this is wonderful. He's going to be back. And he kind of provided that juice that the Eagles defense didn't have in

2023. He filled that void. And I just like, I hate it because I love him. And I thought that he would stay on that three year deal. And now he's gone. However, I do like that Howie is kind of planning in case Mackay, uh, McKay Beckton doesn't come back.

he's getting some depth on that O line. So that's sort of the thinking there, I guess. Yeah, Kenyon Green, very similar profile in a way to Bexton, which is a first round pick that was a disappointment in his first spot and seeing if they can put him in Stoutland University, Jeff Stoughtland. Yeah, such a compliment to Jeff Stoutland. Not that he needs any more praise. I mean, we should praise him at every chance we get.

He's amazing. But, I mean, it's such a testament to their belief and their faith that you can come and overhaul this guy and, like, develop this guy, get him on the right track and hope he could potentially be a long-term option depending on what happens with with Mike Khybeckton. I feel like Johnson and the Eagles have like one of those like on again, off again. Yes. Like ultimately, like ultimately I, they're going to end up together, you know, like it's, it is destined to be so, but there's going to be a lot of bumps in the middle, you know, she said this. Or they're just good for like quick, passionate, you know, times together,

a little like Affleck J-Lo, but ultimately like it's not going to. Okay. I'm really, was going to say, I'm like, J-Lo. Yes. Well, I also thought, and I love Chauncey Gardner Johnson as a player. I love watching him. I love everything is all about. He annoys the hell out of opponents.

He does. Like, no one annoys opponents more. That's why I love him. I think it's okay based on some of the reporting we've seen out there to surmise that he might annoy the hell out of the people he works with, too, at least some of them. And maybe it's just a lot to deal with. He is a really good player who is now changing teams for the

fourth or fifth straight year. So at some point it might be like, well, it's not about the team. It might be you. Let's also always wants a contract. Does he want a new one? Maybe he wanted a new deal.

Maybe that was it. Although he is under contract for two years, like 20 million more. Kenyon Green, by the way, is paid very little money this year, but he's a first round pick. So they'll have the option

to pick up his first, you know, fifth year option, but they probably won't be. They have to make that decision in a month. I mean, it'll be cheap.

So they could. Greg, the entire time you were talking, I thought of one of my favorite drops of all time. Can you imagine living with me? Oh, I think about that many times a month. Like, and my Emica brings it up. It just, like people don't know what it's like to live with you. It seems like you really have a psychic connection with what Chauncey Gardner Johnson.

Yes, I do like a little instigator guy. By the way, the Eagles moved down in the draft to trade them. So that part of it was weird. I was, with this trade. Can you imagine living with me? Yes. With this trade and then the Laramie Tunsell trade. And if you kind of look at the Texans overall,

they also cut Shaq Mason over the weekend. That's something we didn't hit here. So they've gotten rid of three offensive linemen. They did sign one on Tuesday like in Tomlinson. But it came back to Seth Payne. I've talked about he's our Texans correspondent. And we were texting back and forth last night or this morning about Tunsell. And he says, Damico Ryan's.

talks about is swarm. Have you guys heard about Swarm? I think I've heard Seth talk about. Okay. Yeah, I'm a Seth head. It's, uh, D'emico Ryan's is team motto, you know, that they have to live their lives by special work ethic and relentless mindset. That, that adds up to Swarm. And the way Damiko Ryans talks about Swarm, like he's a true believer. It's not just something they put up on the wall. It is everything that they are trying to be about. And I don't know if Larry Jeremy Tunsel had that swarm. You know what I mean? He was a great player.

But even C.J. Stroud in like a podcast, everything was kind of joked around about like, well, Tunsel's a veteran. He won't do anything extra at practice. Like, that's kind of who he is. He's accomplished everything in his career.

He's not about that swarm. You know who's about that swarm? Who? C.J. G. Yes. I mean. Yes.

So I think it's all about the swarm. Yeah. Swarm and C.J.G. Two acronyms coming together. Oh, I love that. It's beautiful. He fits perfectly with Dimeco Ryan's, I kind of think so. That secondary is nasty. Talk about an identity. I mean, the Eagle secondary is still pretty awesome. That's why you can trade Garden Johnson and totally be fine. Honestly, they're great in the secondary still. But that is a great one for Houston. By the way, Aaron Wilson, my old co-worker back at Pro Football Talk just for a couple months there, announced or reported Titus Howard will be their left tackle, who's been on the roster and gets paid a lot of money. So it's Titus Howard at left tackle. Blake Fisher at right tackle. Let's move on.

to the rest of the signings of the day. Javon Haaland got three years, $45 million from the Giants, $30 million guaranteed. We've seen a similar contract for a lot of safeties. I think that's a disappointing contract for Javon Holland.

I think, according to reports, he turned down more than that from the dolphins a year ago. So sometimes, you know, betting on yourself does not work. They also signed an edge Chaunty Goldston for three years in $19.5 million.

How about the Giants? The Giants. You know, rebuilding the secondary a little bit. Well, bringing in Javon Holland, that's the biggest move for them, I feel like, of free agency so far. And Holland is a good safety and he has good leadership qualities too. He was a team captain for three years in Miami. But I was looking at the fact that he's had four different defensive coordinators in four years.

So now it'll be five and five. Wow. Brian Flores, when he was the play callers, head coach Josh Boyer, Vic Fangio, Anthony Weaver. I mean, and now Shane Bowen will be his fifth. So he hasn't had any type of consistency or a chance to really get into a rhythm in the system. Yeah, I really like this. He doesn't turn 25 for, I think, a couple months still. So even though he is a leader, he's been a team captain three times, like you mentioned, Colleen.

He's a young leader. And I think that group needs it last year. They were hot and cold and had some, there was some reporting coming out of some of the issues they had with, I believe his name is Deontay Banks. If I'm incorrect on that. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So they, they were having some issues with him just in terms of inconsistency. And then they're just, they were, he was a disappointment, I think, for them. And so getting somebody with Javon Holland's leadership ability, but also someone who could impact all three

levels of the defense, I think is really important. Also a guy who is smart enough to team up with our co-worker, Cam Wolf for a podcast, the Breaking House Rules podcast hosted by Cam Wolf and Javon Holland. I don't know if that's continuing with him moving because they're both like Miami guys, they go golfing together. I follow you on Instagram, Cam. He's always got the good... Cam has an awesome Instagram. Captions. It's very good. So, good

on Javan Holland. Kind of an up and down year, though. Locally, people thought maybe wasn't like fighting through the injury. He didn't, he seemed to be more of a Vic Fangio guy, which was rare on that defense than he was playing as well under Anthony Weaver. And then we mentioned on Monday

show with Patrick how the 49ers keep losing players and they released Leonard Floyd on Monday. Not a surprise there, but it did inspire a Micah Parsons tweet that I just wanted to kind of throw out to the crowd here. And he was responding to a tweet

about the 49 years really gutting themselves from our friend Clarence Hill over in Dallas. And Parsons said, no more rookie QB, LOL, welcome to reality. And my immediate thought to that was, well, yeah, welcome to reality for some teams. I mean, there were two teams that are paying quarterbacks.

a lot of money that have won a lot of games that were in the Super Bowl. Like, I don't need to hear this excuse anymore. You think the bills are gutting players that they don't want to? Like, do you think the chiefs are spending tons of money? The Eagles are spending tons of money. I, uh, yeah, the Eagles, I think are a great example for this. I actually,

it's interesting. I don't think they're shedding players necessarily for the sake of the quarterback contract. Just sort of assessing and seeing patterns emerge up there, uh, patterns that we've seen in very recent years with other teams. To me, it looks like they're trying to go for a sprint

rebuild. Like they're going to keep a couple of pillars or weight-bearing walls, as we've heard in the past. And they're going to basically agree with those players that they're going to have to lift the floor of that roster. And they're going to go young at different positions. And I think they're going to bargain hard or negotiate hard with Brock Purdy in his camp on this. It's, you know what? It's so sad that San Francisco, the organization is ending my favorite tandem, which is Claire Kittle and Kristen Ustack. Oh, that's right. I do love their friendship.

Their friendship is nice. Yeah. I wonder if he could come back because the reports are that he didn't want to take a pay cut for a second straight year and so they released him, Kyle Eustach. But ultimately, I suspect the 49ers would be happy to employ him. And maybe they still will offer a better deal than anyone else, but maybe someone will want in on Eustach. So just hoping that could stay together.

And our producer Eric tells me, just to just tell you. 10 minutes ago, rap sheet reporting the Falcons are going to sign Leonard Floyd to a one-year $10 million contract. I mean, Mike, Leonard Floyd just keeps cash in those checks. Okay, so he is like the ultimate mercenary player, though, because he'll sign for like a year and 10 million, he'll play through double ankle and knee injuries and he'll still have like six or more sacks. Like this is, I know it was not the best season for him this last season. Oh, they're eating that money to get rid of him. But it wasn't the best season for him last season. But in a system he likes, in a system he knows,

reunited with Rahim Morris. I've seen Leonard Floyd play through a lot of stuff and somehow just keep churning and keep going. So I think that dude's going to go till the wheels fall off. All right. We're going to fly through the rest of these. The Falcons, while we're talking them, signed former Raiders linebacker, Devon Diablo,

two years, 14 million. Resigned Mike Hughes, who is solid enough cornerback for them. Three years, 18 million. We've quickly gotten past the first wave of free agency. These are definitely second wave types of deals in terms of the money. The Jets gave Andre Sisko $10 million.

I thought I'd point that out because I just feel like the Jets have had a weird one. I don't know if I'm like going to criticize it, but they've just had kind of an odd free agency period. You know what? I'm happy for him because I feel like he hit

Rock Bottom week six last year when he called out his own team and said we had a lot of quit from the players out there. When the Jags lost in such an embarrassing way to the Bears in London, that was rock bottom for him. So that's great.

Good job. good, good research right there. The Panthers Cup, Miles Sanders, and I left it open ended on Monday's show, whether they were going to finish that deal with Trevelle Wharton, who I really liked as a free agent. And they did. So that, that is agreed to. They were trying to sign Milton Williams. And we talked about this on this show with Ali Connolly that he thought maybe there isn't that huge of a gap between Milton Williams and Trevelle Wharton, that they were kind of two similar type of free agents. And so we saw the final numbers for Milton Williams. It was ultimately like a two-year, $51 million contract, fully guaranteed their first two years in New England,

25 a year. And they signed Travelle Wharton and Carolina, two years, $30 million guaranteed. So $20 million less, maybe not that huge of a difference between those two guys. I kind of like what Carolina did there. I like their line, their defensive line in general now. It's Bobby Brown, Derek Brown, Trevelle Wharton. They obviously are going to be looking for past rush help in the draft as well. It seems like I like what they've been doing.

Yep, they're building up front. They're spending that money, but I think they do have a line where they're trying not to go too crazy with some guys. And overall, I think it's been meat and potatoes, but it's been good. Just a couple other interesting signings from Tuesday.

Kavante Turpin, one of the best special teamers in the NFL goes back to the Cowboys, who also signed a former Dolphins guard, Robert Jones. Supposedly, they're calling it the largest special teams player contract in NFL history, $18 million.

But Turpin's not a pure special team, I don't know. He plays a little wider receiver. Brown signed Joe Tryon Yoshenka for one year $4.8 million. The Browns, it's been quiet over there. We'll see. The Ravens bring back Patrick Ricard. That is always making me feel better.

And then the Titans, just some punter news. I thought this was interesting. They didn't tender Ryan Stonehouse, which nobody cares about outside of Tennessee and any team looking for a freaking punter. He was like our all pro on our... I don't know if I've ever seen. seen a punter. When he punts the ball, the ball goes any further than it does with Ryan Stonehouse. I mean, that dude has a bazooka on his legs. So I think that's exciting for all the punter needy teams out there.

Greg Rosenthal, football guy. Yeah, I think too. So every time I would, I wouldn't watch a lot of Titans games this year. But to prepare for this show and for other shows, it's just like, this is sometimes you have to watch the Titans this year. And every time he punted the ball, I would go Stonehouse. Now I'm going to do that. Yes, good luck. You will never get it out of your head now. Make that a drop for when we talk all the Ryan Stonehouse highlights throughout the next season. Let's take a quick break and then we're going to come back and I'm going to hear some spicy meatballs.

What you guys are cooking up. Stone House. Jones. Now, I'm Drew Franklin, and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

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Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies.

Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back on NFL Daily. We're serving spicy meatballs. I just hadn't heard your guys' takes or thoughts of anything that happened over the weekend.

A lot of big news or Monday. So I just asked you guys because I do want to hear what kind of spicy meatball do you have to serve up as a take from the last few days? Let's start with Joaquin. Well, I loved everything how the Vikings approach free agency. Oh, okay. Actually, that's my spicy meatball,

my hot take from what's going on so far. I love that they did not tag Sam Darnold or extend him. I love that they reallocated all of that money into like their really legitimate scheme fits, like Byron Murphy, who really thrives in that Brian Flores defense and comes alive because of their pressure design and how he can cover to compliment that. A lot of his plays that he made on the ball this year were as a result of really understanding what they were trying to do with the pressure way up in front of him. And then they took the rest of that money and there was like spending on the trenches. Jonathan Allen, three years, $60 million, Javan Hargrave after he's released on Wednesday, guard will fries, five years, $88 million. son of Ryan Kelly, two years 18 million.

Like, I like that they're doing this. I like how Quasi's cooking right now. Yes. Some of those moves were from Tuesday. And so we saved them for the spicy portion. But they were the most active team, really, this morning on the West Coast, at least. Allen only gets 21 guaranteed, Jonathan Allen. And so that's more of a short-term two-year type of deal.

A guy who's really been good. Javon Hargrave is supposed to join the team when he, it's, these, rules are weird. He's literally still on the 49ers. It's a clerical thing. Yeah. And he's, they're quote, closing in on Javan Hargrave, but Tom Pelliserro essentially says it's happening. And even the base salary of Jonathan Allen is 54 million. So a lot of these, they throw the incentives in there at first. And then that will fries. I'm, I'll be curious to see the actual

money in that one. But either way, I had him ranked in the top 25. One of the better guards that could have been available and is making big time money. And so you improve. your interior lines on both sides, like that's going to make you better. Exactly. That's the point I was going to make. They focused on getting stronger.

Thank you, Greg. Up the middle. Their defense was good, but obviously they didn't do a great job of generating an interior pass rush at all. And then for the offensive line, building things up for J.J. McCarthy, just go back to the Vikings Rams wild card game.

That pass protection was brutal. Now, That is also on Sam Darnold, but he got sacked nine times. You think I loaded their defenses right now? Because it's not like this is a defense that you felt needed a lot. And yet, they did lack a little bit of interior push and difference making players. And now they add that to a group that's already pretty loaded. They signed Isaiah Rogers on the cheap while also giving Byron Murphy the money he deserves.

They had to let Cam Bynum walk, but they have two good players. We haven't heard anything about it. about Harrison Smith. So at this point, I think he's back with the team. There was some question about whether he would retire Stefan Gilmore, still a free agent. But yeah, a good couple of days because they've been talking about how bad their interior offensive line has been for years.

I just like how they took a bunch of money, a pool of money that they probably should not have spent on a player they could have potentially traded later in the year and reallocated it into five different players in some of the contract structures. And I really appreciate that type of thinking where it's like you're not, you're agile. You're not specifically so married down the road to this one plan that may or may not work, especially for someone who was considered a tradable asset. And you then reallocated it into multiple players that you know work within your system and that you know are a value add, either taking an A defense and turning into an A plus defense,

or taking a medium to mediocre to sometimes bad. bad offensive line, particularly the interior, and really giving it some juice. Yeah. And they bring back Aaron Jones and maybe they think, and I think this makes sense, that his numbers would have looked a lot better with a little better offensive line play up front. Although he looked great for most of the years. Also, hey, getting these players, particularly a guard center, kind of tells me that

they're going to, hey, maybe actually build in some shorter and intermediate pass concepts. Okay. Which is not Sam Darnel's strength. Nope. So that sort of tells you that. He's good throwing it deep, but not so much over the middle. All right, give me a spicy meatball. Okay, well, this is, first of all, I love meatballs.

You can put them on a salad and make it healthy if you want. You can do all sorts of stuff with meatballs. Do you make good meatballs? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Do you? No.

I mean, I'm just saying, I didn't know if that's in your bag or what. Is there like a Colleen specialty meatloaf? I mean, meatball. You know what? I do like a meatloaf too. So do I. Do you make a good meatloaf? I don't make anything good.

I've never made a meatloaf. Bad. Okay. So anyway, this is more of a like Serrano style pepper, which is green and it's fitting because it's Justin Fields and the Jets. They talked him out of going to Pittsburgh because I'm sure Pittsburgh they wanted him to come back. And it probably didn't take too many words for them to talk him out of coming to New York. But just the idea that he could tell the Steelers that I'd rather play for the Jets. You would. already chose Russell Wilson over me when we were winning

and it just feels like a chef kiss if Aaron Rogers ends up going to Pittsburgh. I mean, the swap there, I love it. Justin Fields is 15 years younger than Rogers and it's relatively low money for a starter two years. If it doesn't work out, it's not that big

of a deal. You know what too I love about Justin Fields and you heard this from all of his teammates last year as well, even when the shuffling was happening at the quarterback position in Pittsburgh, he's so low maintenance. His teammates love him. What a breadth of fresh air going into the Jets building where they've sort of just been all clenched up around Rogers for the last two years. I just, I really like that.

I really like that. Yes. Aaron Glenn is like that as well. Like, let's everybody, it's going to be different here, the culture change. And I really hope that is the case because that would fit with all the personality and all the things that they're trying to do. And I think they're looking at players. teams and team building a little differently.

And so like I said, I thought they were having a weird one. But then again, like a lot of the Lions decisions early on in their run were like, huh, they drafted him, huh? And it worked out pretty well. So I'm going to trust the process with Aaron Glenn. When I said a weird one,

like Brandon Stevens was kind of an odd contract, Andre, Cisco. They gave Jamie and Sherwood a lot of money. I like that move by then. I'm with you. That is a lot of fun, the Fields Redemption Tour. I am going to talk for my spicy,

Meatball about the Saints running it back. I posit to you guys that the 20-24 Saints might be the worst team in NFL history that decided to just completely run it back. Like, usually you win five games and your plan isn't like, let's bring back everyone. Like, let's change the coach, but that's just kind of a cosmetic thing. And I'm not really sure what his impact will be or what his vision is because everything else is the same. I'm going to make a list. This was inspired by them resigning Juan Johnson, their tight end. I was surprised he got $21.25 million guaranteed, you know, an up

and down career, but certainly hasn't been too productive for them lately. Joanne Johnson going back to the Saints three years, like I said, $10 million a year. And then there was another restructure with Tyron Matthew. Another restructure. The Saints? Here we go. Chase Young, by the way, is going there. Chase Young. We heard that they were going to make some big moves in free agencies. Reportedly, they were in on Charverius Ward. It didn't happen. They were in on a couple other guys. And yeah, other teams

could spend more than they could because they don't have all the cap space. And so what do they do? They give Chase Young. They bring back Chase Young for a ton of money. They bring back Joanne Johnson. Here are the players that they restructured over the last handful of days. Caesar Ruiz. Carl Granderson.

Kalin Saunders. Pete Warner. DeMario Davis. Derek Carr Eric McCoy and then Ryan Ramcheck that's kind of an accounting move because he's retiring

but I think any other team that was actually starting over would have said goodbye to half or most of those players that's what you see usually when like a new staff but it's not a new staff it's Mickey Loomis who has all of his guys

and is just like he's just going to stick with it and I know that it's only day two they're going to add some more pieces they'll have the graph they just did according to Ian Rappaport, our insider, Justin Reed, to the Saints,

three years, 31.5 million. That's about the salary I think they could go to. It's funny, when I saw a Debo leave for that money, I'm like, oh, yeah, the Saints couldn't pay that. So that's a good move. Like, I like that that they are trying to add. But in the aggregate, they're kind of just running it back. I'm surprised Justin Reed didn't do better in this safety market

where a lot of safety's got paid, but he is, you know, on his, what is it, third contract. So sometimes those guys don't get quite as much. 22.5 fully guaranteed. I like that signing. So good job, Saints. Yeah, Justin Reed's one of my favorite players in the league and certainly one of my favorite safeties to watch.

I really did like this signing. Everything else is meh with the Saints right now. I know. I love this. I don't know them to be boring. I hate when the Saints are boring. I'm totally with you. And it's like, Kellyn Moore, we'll have to see you with Kellyn Moore.

But it just feels like, oh, Kellyn Moore's there. but it's just the Saints from last year and the year before pretty much running it back. You know, we run it back every Tuesday, although Colleen won't be here next time around. But we're going to try as much as what we can. See you next next Tuesday. Yes. That's the British version. And my sister to Healdsburg.

Oh, I don't know what that is. Yeah, it's like a little wine town. Healdsburg? Oh, yeah. That's great. Yeah, my dad really wants to go. Oh. I think I've been to a wedding there.

It's a beautiful place. And I do like, by the way, Justin Reed's a Louisiana native. It seems like the Saints can only get Louisiana natives right now. Devon Gautja wanted to be traded there. Just look at how his last name ends. Like, he should be a New Orleans Saints.

Devon Gautja and Justin Reed. So that's their, that's their market. There's a lot of Louisiana players like Tyrant Matthew just want to go there because New Orleans is awesome. Just a couple other items we missed earlier, by the way. Christian Fulton is going to the Chiefs. I like that move.

They know ball for 15 minutes. guaranteed, like a little cheaper, but they're very good at making water out of wine with cornerbacks. And then I saw Pooka Nakua is switching his number from 17 to 12 in deference to Devante Adams. I don't know that deference is the right word. I hope he got the bag, first of all, for doing this. But second of all, to pay tribute, it was going to, someone who was going to change, right? Someone was going to have to change. I have no doubt that DeVante maybe, you know, offered the first initiated the, I guess the talks on the, this. He's been 17, obviously, for a lot longer. Puka Nakua wore 12 in high school,

um, war 12 in college. It is a tribute to his, his siblings, um, all raised by a wonderful single mother. Um, and so I, I, I get the speciality of it. Um, it also means for the Rams, hey, go buy a bunch of more. Oh, that's so true. New jerseys, which they love that you can jersey change now. Oh, that's right. So you can, so you can get your, your money back for the Nakua 17th. Because he literally was on a podcast, did the St. Brown Brothers podcast, and they brought this up to him. It must have been, you know, since Sunday.

And he said he wouldn't take less than $2 million. Now, I think he was maybe kidding. Maybe. I don't know. They brought it up and he's like, man, I wouldn't do that for under $2 million or something. That's a lot of money. He had a chain ready and is absolutely diamond encrusted.

It's a number 12. So I wonder if this is my, I suspect that this is not reported. I wonder if Devante, Devante is over in Japan right now. I wonder if he sweetened the pot a little bit with this incredible number 12 chain. I love that. I need to see the negotiations. I need like the receipts. I would like to read the text messages because I'm sure this is being done over text at this point if he's in Japan.

Yeah. I need to know the details. Now, Pukunakua is making a good living. He's making $1 million this year. But compared to Devante Adams and the money he's made in his career, Tuku Kua's entire rookie contract, I think, is about $4 million, which, again, great money for an average person. Absolutely brutal that you're making one-tenth as much as your number four receiver on your own team for now. But he will get that money sooner than later.

But this is a nice little, you know, advance. This was also brought up on a previous show that you did, Greg. But really sneaky smart move for the Rams to get the Gropolo signing done after the Devante Adams signing. Oh, my God. It is really funny because just thinking about it, they'll know that this will be a thing, and they'll probably make light of it in the media, but it is, it still is a little funny.

Sean McVeigh is the ultimate, I can fix him, Coach, with all things. So, wow, guys, enjoy the final hours of the legal tampering. Yes, we will. We are doing daily shows all week long. I'm going to be back on Wednesday and Thursday with Shook, and Patrick Claibon, but a thin slice I haven't

having you guys here. Also, got to be back on Friday, by the way, change and schedule doing 40s and Free Agents with Daniel Jeremiah, our new weekly show. I like it. He's away this week, so don't feel bad about missing a couple days. I'll call in. I mean, look, when Jeremiah's on vacation during free agency, you know football's back.

Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael F. Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Podcasts.

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