NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Davante Adams to the Jets! Amari Cooper to the Bills! Justin Fields to the Bench?!

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Colleen Wolfe and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic to react to the Jets trading for Davante Adams (03:17), the Bills trading for Amari Cooper (20:19), the Steelers possibly starting Russel Wilson over Justin Fields (32:47) and other news from around the NFL. After the break, the crew tells you stories that will change as the season moves along (39:42) including the NFC North being good, the Bengals struggling, Justin Herbert's conservative play, and more! The show is wrapped up with a preview of the Broncos and Saints facing off on Thursday Night Football (57:46). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. 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. 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. 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, 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. Welcome to NFL Daily.

We're not waiting until November to make some big trades. I'm here in the Chris Wesleying podcast studio with my friends, Colleen Wolfe and Jordan Rod Rieg of the Athletic. And I told, I'm just rolling around here. I'm losing my mind. How are you doing jet lag? I'm doing great. But I told the NFL offices, I was like,

give me a shot of adrenaline coming into this show. I need the energy. So they made some big time trades happen. Oh. Greg did this. This is Greg. Greg, can we just talk about like how impressive your schedule has been over the last? I kind of need to know the details.

Like, when did you land? We have Devante Adams being traded. You're a machine, Greg. We have a Mari Cooper being traded. How are you functioning right now? We have a TNF preview with Sean Payton. But answer this. When did you land?

When did you get back from London? Like 5 o'clock or so. I was watching the first quarter of the game on the way home. We did the recap show last night. You did the recap show last night? We did the recap show. you haven't listened. It's great analysis. Me and Nick Shook. Yeah, we're back. London, that's old news. That was, that was what, 48 hours. Setting a dangerous precedent for everyone else

coming back from international. I know. That was not, that was not the plan. Listen, I don't care. You're not going to like that I say this. I'm sorry and close your ears if you need to. But, like, watching you work over this last week, because you're also consuming other podcasts, you're also prepping for every single daily show. I know you're, he's like, he's shriveling and embarrassment. right now because he hates this, but like, I am so amazed by what you just accomplished this. Oh, Greg. So, thank you for like making the bar so high for the rest of us that we can never. That I'm not really thrilled about. No, but in all earnestness, Greg, like, hell yeah, dude. You're doing great. I appreciate it. And yeah, coming back this side,

if I could have scheduled the days differently, that would be, that would be perfect. In hindsight, I hated the. No, no, no, I loved it. But the Sunday schedule, do in the game at Tottenham, to the Sky Studios and then doing this show, the NFL Daily show deep into the night. That's one of the most fun days that I'll ever have working, getting on a motorcycle. We need a GoPro next time. One of our,

one of our shadowy league figures, actually I saw, you know, a couple of them have commented me. Like, we wouldn't have been bold enough to get on, get on that motorcycle flying through traffic to get the sky by the kickoff. It was fun. That's fun. It was fun. I love that.

Colleen would have definitely. You're like Jason Bourne out here. To be fair, Colleen would have jumped off a building, parachuted into the next building. I totally would have. I wish I could someone bring me that opportunity. I'm like Jason Bourne. Yeah, if Jason Bourne was like five, six and 140 pounds. Nothing will get you more conscious of your size as a small man than watching Love is Blind on your downloads on the way back from London.

It's just like everyone when they're about to see them, it just says, I hope he's not small. We got to have Love is blind, but it's just like a bunch of small guys scoring like statuesque women. and see what happens. Let's go and talk about some news. Oh, my God. I would kill it on Love is Blind, by the way. I would, like, win them over, and then they'd be like, what the hell?

You know who is happy with what was behind the door when they opened it up this morning? Jets fans, like behind that Love is Blind door was a silhouette of Devante Adams. He arrived in New York, New Jersey, Monday night, maybe before the Monday night football game even happened. And then we learned on Tuesday, rather, that the Raiders are trading Devante Adams to the Jets

for a conditional third round pick in 2025. I want to let you know the conditions because it makes it pretty obvious that it's likely to stay a third round pick. The Jets have to either make the AFC title game or Super Bowl or Devante Adams has to be a first or second team all-pro, both of which are very unlikely. the Jets making it that far would be more likely

because we're in week seven here we're entering and DeVante Adams hasn't played half the weeks and his numbers weren't good. So you're probably not getting to second team all pro. That means they picked up a great receiver for a mid third round pick, Colleen. And yet, like, no one seems happy about it. People say, oh, this is, oh, the Jets doing Jets things again.

I'm like, what am I missing? I think it's good. I think it's smart. It's great for us just from a sheer entertainment value. I mean, him going to the Jets, there's no better place he could have gone. This is amazing. Going with Aaron Rogers in New York with that media scene

and a team that's two and four, the only thing like they're really winning right now is all of our attention. And it seems to happen every single Tuesday. It's very see you next Tuesday of them, the name of our text chain. And yeah, there's winners and losers on both sides. And I feel like Garrett Wilson is both a winner and a loser.

interesting in this trade because he's the most targeted man in football and this will now sort of things will ease up on him but that will maybe allow more opportunities for him to have positive plays but obviously he's not going to be the number one guy and how does that chemistry work in a locker room that's filled with big personality he was complaining about what was going on in the offense before any of this happened now he's got a guy who has like a mind lock with Aaron Rogers, but I think it's ultimately positive. Good point about the winners of this trade being see you next Tuesday. You know, NFL Daily. I didn't even think about that that the Robert Salah trade was the last time Robert Salah. You're just going to have to be forgiving of me on this show. But you're absolutely right

that we were here for that one. And it is funny how after every crushing Jets loss, they just completely flip the narrative before 24 hours or even up so that every one, one can be like, well, now it's a fresh start. We're starting all over. It's like that loss never even happened. My God, it's like you can get bangs. You can get a revenge body, but you're still going to be two and four. Right.

But if they lose to the Steelers this week, it's like, what more can they do? I don't think they can do many more things. But I thought it was a, I think it is a smart gambit by the Jets. I can help thinking that not only was this, first of all, the move that needed to happen. It's been in the works even before this last loss. you could tell with the timeline of everything that this was something that was a priority for this team to get done regardless of whether they were going to win or lose on Monday night football, especially after firing Robert Salo, like you have to do something like

this. You're basically pushing everything in on saying we are going to rebuild or not rebuild, but give the quarterback the things that he wants, the things that he needs. Devante Adams being a huge one of those things. I also think that it's a chips are on the table. we're going to try to push Woody Johnson is saying such things at the league meetings this week and we'll tee up the sound in a second. But it's also,

this makes the job vacancy look better. It makes this job in general. The job vacancy. What, for next year? For next year, look better. And I do want to point out too. How? Well, I mean, if you can keep some of this intact,

let's say you don't get as far as you want because you have had this chaos right in the middle of the season, but you believe you're now on the right track and the right structure, you're extending some timelines here. It does, having weapons on this offense and promising somebody, especially an offensive-minded coach,

and I love Oldbridge. I think he's a great coach, but saying, hey, you can come in and we already have this here for you. If you can basically be amenable to work with with the quarterback, if he decides that's going to be in the equation for him, too. This does make this job look a little bit better than it did three days ago, or even, you know, last week when we first got the news of the Robert Solof firing. and also wanted to point out

that Ian Rappaport was reporting that DeVante Adams and the Jets have agreed to a restructure even. So not only are you getting him for this amount, which is way better than probably what the Raiders would have wanted we're kind of putting out there

that they would be agreeable to. Well, they're not paying any money. So that was the part of it. I guess the Jets somewhat compromised. But then the Jets get a restructure out of it too. Right, but the restructure is just this year like kind of spreading it around. And he wasn't making that much money anyways.

He was making $17 million this year. So they just owe that salary essentially for the rest of the season. And they shuffled it around. The next two years, he is on the books for $35.6 million in each season. Yes, he probably will want more guaranteed money coming into it. But I kind of look at that. I was like, well, that's about right. That's about what a Devante Adams would cost.

So I think it's a good point that it's not necessarily just a rental. If Aaron Rogers is going to keep playing football next year, It is probably going to be with Devante Adams as his teammate. And I keep going back to a mid-third-round pick. So let's listen to the sound that you very professionally teased. Getting better every week. Woody Johnson at the league meetings explaining why he did it. Salvageable.

We're going to kick, you know, you can add the words after that. No, we're going to do really well. We're going to do well. Salvage is at the end, but this is the beginning. you know thinking is overrated you have to look forward you have to look forward to the games we're going to play each and every week

and try to win all of them and that's basic stuff right I was saying Teledega Nights you heard of that? Yeah. From that one scene he said you're not a thinker, you're a driver right? Well that's what you want to hear about about the person making the biggest decision. Like a passionate love scene in Talladega Nights

Ricky Bobby is not a thinker I love that. Well, I think that was prefaced by a question that said, well, the thinking is that you're going to do this. And so he's pushing back. He's going with instincts. He's extremely confident. Now, that's one of the reasons why Robert Salad doesn't have a job is the expectations were so high because there's so much confidence. And everyone's buying it. Roger seemed, well, he was in a great mood on the McAfee show. And everyone's talking up Brick, Jeff Ulbrook. And you almost wouldn't know that this team is two and four.

Now, I don't think Woody Johnson is on the DVOA future schedule rankings like I am. But the Jets do have the easiest schedule in the entire NFL, according to DVOA, for the rest of the season. And they've had the sixth hardest so far. So when you do look at the schedule, especially once you get past this week at Pittsburgh, there is some reason to believe, and you saw the offense play pretty well on money. Sunday night that this team has some winning left to do. Sure. For sure. But I mean, they also need to figure out the Hassan Reddick of it all too. And I guess

Drew Rosenhaus was at the game last night. There's just so much that is happening with this team. And they had the prime time game. It was a game that was super frustrating. Obviously Devante Adams today, the midseason firing last week. And now Hassan Reddick changing agents and being given a 48-hour window for a trade to be figured out. There's just so much happening in New York at once. Maybe they get a deal done with Reddick soon, and Woody Johnson alluded to it in that press conference saying that this was our week to make big moves.

And he essentially said more big moves are coming. What other big moves for their being? Not a few weeks ago now. Right. So you can maybe get the pickback that you sent for. for Devante Adams. And let's just talk about Devante Adams for a second because I've seen some commentary that, well, you know, he's in the decline phase of his career. You're not going to get better trading for older players. And so I went back and I watched a lot of his targets

and his snaps from this year. And Devante Adams is excellent. Devante Adams is still a top 10 receiver. Devante Adams is possibly, when he's on the field, still a top five receiver. So I I thought this was a great move for the price that they sent, which again, you're not going to get that conditional to move it up from a third to a second. We can assume that Jets are somewhere in the middle of the third round. This is a mid-third round pick for either half a season or a season and a half of a top 10 receiver. That is more than fair.

You should see the third-round picks that they've made in the Joe Douglas era. In the third-round picks, just the average third-round pick that is out there. People get so worked up about, oh, you can't trade him for a second. You can't trade them for a third. Half those picks just don't work. And I know there's value and controlling costs, and you just don't want to give it away. But those picks are being given away

willy-nilly once you get into the draft. It's like, hey, we want to move up 10 spots in the third. We'll give up a third. Like, that's what's happening there. And so to me, I think it makes sense for what I believe is a known commodity, which is Devante Adams playing with Aaron Rogers. We know Aaron Rogers is at his best with guys who understand how he's thinking. That's why Alan Lazard in 2024 is a completely different

and better player than Alan Lazzard was in 2023. Ronte Adams is one of the best route runners in the entire league. So this is going to make Aaron Rogers so much happier. The one thing I still worry about with this team is the offensive line. They make mistakes in singular spurts. Like they just don't feel like they're playing together as a full unit. When they make a mistake, it is one guy compounding mistakes or it is penalties, one guy or two guys at any given time

compounding errors. I did like, though, Todd Downing as the play caller, He put together a nice little pressure mitigation script to open up a couple of those series, including running the ball more, including looking more balance. I just think that not only does Devante Adams adding back into the mix give you more options with some of those pressure beater route concepts, including some of those quick slants in breakers and outbreakers they're using in the beginning of the game, but also it just spreads everyone out a little bit wider.

So you're not feeling so clenched and compressed as an offense in general. You have some breathing room. And I think that to your point, Greg, earlier, it is usually generally with the mean of teams. It is not generally sound practice to overinvest in veterans on the other side of a certain number of years. However, this is not a team that believes it is functioning in the mean. This is a team that quite literally gathered pieces in order to make a push. And so now if you commit to that, you can't sit in the gray area, can't sit in the halfway zone. And, you know, there's a lot of chaos around the Jets right now.

But one thing that I do think is the correct thing to do is to continue to push along the commitments that you've already made. And the, the ethos that you've already decided you're going to have, not change your entire build structure just because you fired the head coach. Right. So, again, I saw, like, getting put some pushback on Twitter that this wasn't a good trade. It's like, they're not going to go anywhere. They're not going to win.

It's like, yeah, I actually agree with that. I don't think they're going to get the second round pick because I don't think they're going to make the conference title game. Trading for Devonzi Adams does not change it enough for me. But I'm looking at this trade in a vacuum. They've already decided this is the strategy. And after deciding this is the strategy for this year, everyone's all in.

The GM could be gone. It's an older team. You only have Rogers for this year and maybe next year, whatever it's going to be. In that vacuum, I think it makes total sense because you mentioned it. Like, their receiver group now with Lazard as a three and Garrett Wilson as a two, it's a fun group. I think they have issues on their offensive line.

I didn't have them making the playoffs before the season. And I feel like you brought that up like five minutes ago. And I've been thinking about it ever since. So with this offensive line, because obviously last night with Todd Downing, they mixed it up a little bit more and ran the ball, which was something that we haven't seen this season. But the week before when they were playing the Vikings in London, Aaron Rogers dropped back 54 times in that game.

For the offensive line, at some point, aren't they fatigued because they're going backwards? It's way easier to play going forwards, like when you're run blocking. Just from that standpoint, I would think mixing things up with the run game, that might help the offensive line just a little bit because of that fatigue factor. Yeah, what they were doing was allowing pretty much any defense to stay in their A plus pass rush plan, which just means because of what you said and then a bunch of other circumstances of what that looks like structurally, you are basically facing the most arduous and extraneous amount of pressure that you possibly can because if you don't have dimension, because you're not

running the ball, the way that they were able to a little bit last night. Are those their best running game of the season? Yeah. And like, and he looked and he looked more like himself than he has and certainly produced like that. But and, and there was more balance. And again, getting some of the quick screens going, getting some of the quick slants in the passing game going, widens out the defense a little bit more. You're accounting for those there is a space on the field for the defenders. And then now you're able to, because you have a little bit wider space up front,

you're able to run the ball through that space. And the blocking becomes easier. So it all fits together when you have just like that one extra layer. But knowing what to do with it, Colleen, which is the point you're making, knowing what to do with that extra piece in order to alleviate some of the stress

and like tightness that you're feeling, some of the errors, some of the completely whiffed blocks because you're not letting a team stay in their A plus pressure plan against you, it's a ripple effect. Having him on the field, but using him in the right way. Playing way easier teams, playing the easiest schedule. Everything is amazing.

Everything is amazing. Looks amazing when you just suddenly start playing bad teams. Like, the bears are amazing now because they have four wins over like one win teams and play a bunch of bad defenses. The schedule really does explain a lot. Simplifying that a little bit. I mean, I'm just saying, you know what I mean, though?

Like, it helps a lot. And I think they need to make the playoffs. We'll see if they do, poor Mike Williams, who was thrown under the bus a little bit by Aaron Rogers in that post-game press conference and then also on McAfee today. Wally was on McAfee or a little bit after, like sometime in the same area,

Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reported that Mike Williams could be available in a trade, which just unfortunate. I wonder, I know it's a different scheme, but the Chargers, like, just give up like a conditional sixth for Mike Williams and pay for him. This all builds toward your...

Oh, that's good. I haven't even mentioned the segment that's coming up because we have so much news to get to. The segment is stuff that will change. Like, we're in one mode of the season, but the whole league is going to be so different by the time we get to December. And these teams that made moves today,

they're so different already than they were, what, 24 hours ago? I just want to, before we wrap up this part of the show, the Jets part, just want to say, the last two seasons that Aaron Rogers and Devante Adams played together, Granted, they were younger men. They were different men. Devante Adams averaged 159 targets over 1,450 yards, and 14 touchdowns in those two seasons.

And, yeah, I think he's just going to feel so much more comfortable knowing what Devante Adams is going to do. But then again, Devante Adams thought it was going to be great to play with Derek Carr, and that didn't work. And Rogers is stacking friends. Sorry. Yeah, no, he is. He totally is.

It's fine. It's not even a great point. But it was just going to be them in their subprime is an improvement. That is good. That is a good point. All right. I mentioned the third round picks that Joe Douglas has made, that everyone's in such an up in arms that they would dare to give away.

Chuma Adogo, who's now with the Cowboys, Ashton Davis, Jabari Zuniga, Jeremy Rucker, halfway decent tight end for them, and Malachi Corley. Those are their third round picks in the Joe Douglas there. Just saying, people don't need to go too crazy about that. Let's go crazy about the other big-time trade. on Tuesday. Amari Cooper is a member of the Buffalo Bills. He is going there essentially for a third round pick. The Browns, those dirty dogs. They somehow got, they somehow got the bills to give

them back a pick swap, a sixth or a seventh on the way in return. So like they actually are the bills are moving up from the seventh of the sixth round and getting Amari Cooper here. And so I just imagine, when I say those dirty dogs, I mean, I can just imagine the trade was essentially done. And they're like, it'll really be done if you give us more than that. And the Browns are just like, God, I guess we really, really don't want Amari Cooper on our team. I think it makes sense for both parties. Amari Cooper in a different situation than Devante Adams, because he is in a contract year. So that's an interesting element that on paper, it looks like a rental.

But once you have them in the building, you have more control. You could always franchise tag him next year. You certainly could re-sign him early. We saw the Bills last night not really get their wide receivers involved too much. Certainly on the outside, and Amari Cooper would certainly seem to help out a group that's given some concern for Bills fans.

What do you think, Connie? I mean, I just love the answer from the Bills to the Jets. With first it's Devante Adams. Now it's Amari Cooper. And I just wish that I was preview to all of the behind the scenes working, all of the phone calls that were going between the GMs and the agents

and the players. But in terms of this addition to Buffalo, I guess everybody doesn't have to eat now because that was their mantra. Everybody eats spreading the ball around. I mean, Kiann Coleman, he's not a number one wide receiver, but he's a great compliment to have. So this is going to

add so much another layer like Jordan was saying to the offense in general, but I think it was smart of them because they obviously had very little cap space. This deal worked perfectly because Cleveland converted the majority of Cooper's $20 million base

into a signing bonus. So that was why the bills were able to afford this. And yeah, Greg, they had to give up that third round pick, but also they still have the pick that they acquired from the Stefan Diggs trade, an extra 20, 25 second rounder. So they really do win out in this. Right. And the

contracts list in a million. I love this move. This was in part because selfishly this was going to be a part of my entrance to this segment, yeah, where I thought my, this could change would be the Bill's roster because I felt like they really learned and faced some hard truths about themselves over the last couple of weeks. And I think some of it was figuring out if things could work with that receiver core and how they were going to deploy everybody. But then just seeing that it just wasn't going to work, I love when a team is honest with itself, about itself, and then moves to

activate those changes and sort of like fix it fix itself you know in the eye can fix some era of of the bills and and I think that um you could see this in the last couple of weeks in these games defenses had no fear of their receivers they were playing man so much against these receivers um again last uh excuse me Monday night even the rotational corners on the jets were in man against this receiver core over 50% of their coverage snaps. No, there was not a huge sample size because Josh Allen only threw the ball 25 times, but still, there was no fear about this. They weren't threatening defenses. They were having difficulty layering concepts in order to spring each other open in different ways. And so I love

this. This opens up so much. Again, it spreads the field a little bit wider. It adds an actual threat that will dictate certain coverages towards a number one, a bona fide number one receiver. Once he gets his feet under him, he gets his rhythm. And I also love that the bills are starting to lean more into an identity that doesn't necessarily have to depend on the passing game. They're loading up in heavier personnel sets. Ray Davis, welcome Ray Davis to the freaking NFL. Love to have you here, man. What a brilliant debut from him. I loved watching him at the Senior Bowl this past year. And they are using this north to south running. They're using him in the passing game. They're using 12, 13, 22 personnel, extra tight ends, even a fullback. And they're leaning

on this to where they can now make this their identity and still have the multiplicity to pop out in the passing game because they can now actually, with Amari, they can actually rely on this once he gets his feet on it. Right. That switched to Joe Brady last year, midseason, was one of the best things that they ever did.

Absolutely. They are a run for team. Josh Allen running the ball I've pointed out on the show a number of times is the most effective play in football on like a statistical basis success rate. Like when he runs the football is always successful. And he helped the running game. They have a great offensive line. I think they could have won the Super

Bowl before this trade. I think they have a better chance to win the Super Bowl after this trade. I don't think Amari Cooper is a number one receiver. I don't think he's probably been the prototype of a guy who throughout his career is in that gray area. Like, yes, he's a top 32 receiver. Is he a top 10 receiver? Almost never. But he's so streaky. He kind of reminds me of the poor man's T.O. In that there's always a honeymoon period. But when you say number one receiver, when I say that,

I'm not saying he's going to have the entirety of the target share. I'm saying this is a coverage dictate type of player. That's what I'm saying. And I don't even know if he was doing that in Cleveland this year. He's looked awful. Like he's been open, but he just hasn't executed, like his drops.

Well, the drops are really bad. The context there is not great. No, it's not. But some of it when you watch, I did want to go watch these two. guys as targets him in Adams and the contested catches, like uncatchable balls. He's just been out of it. And after a career year too. Right. So that's the thing is he's had a really interesting career. He seems moody. I think he now he's not like to. What did you be? Yes. There was some

Instagram stories about when he was coming up and trade conversations. Yes. Some posts about like I'd go there, whatever, that kind of thing. I think, you know, that might be what you're referring. to here. I'm referring to his entire career. His career in Oakland, he was very moody, very streaky, very up and down. When he was into it, he was into it until he wasn't into it. And then he got out of it and he went to Dallas and he immediately started playing better. He immediately started being more focused. Everything was awesome. And then after a little while in Dallas, a few years, he was very much not into it. And he was almost not unplayable at points in his last year in Dallas, but he was not into it, and they were sick of him, and they got rid of it,

and then he gets to Cleveland, and he's all, he's back into it. It's awesome. It's honeymoon. It's working. And then this season, it was again, kind of the Amari Cooper is in happy season. So you would think they get, they get the history. Are we talking, we're talking about the bills. They are, they, they know how to capitalize on a thing honeymoon period. I mean, they have precedent with this. I mean, that's what I think. We're talking this about this contextually of what they believe their ceiling is and that is Super Bowl. So yeah, they're making this move and they're probably depending on the honeymoon. Hell, they even had a nice honeymoon period with T.O. back in the date. Now, that was really old Tio, by the way. If I'm just

connecting it. But people forget how freaking good Tio was. Oh my God. That when he was 36 and 37 in Buffalo and Cincinnati for those one years, it was like, he was still sneaky kind of awesome. I just remember how good he was on Jerry Rice Day. Yes. Yes. And like Philadelphia was a perfect So to me, he seems like the more low-key, maybe passive-aggressive-aggressive-tio, Amari Cooper. But I'll say that all to the point that I think it'll work out. Yeah, he was very passive-aggressive. Yeah, he was just aggressive, aggressive occasionally.

I love how you're existing in multiple time zones at one time as you're sitting there. Still connecting these dots. Like, that's incredible. Really impressive. Now, if we trust next-gen stats, average separation as a meaningful stat, which I'm not... Do you not trust it? What's happening there? That stat, I'm not sure.

I think it really... really is dependent on scheme, team, season. There's a lot that I think goes into it. But for what it's worth, Amari Cooper average separation this year is higher than it's been since 2018. It's a positive. Well, he certainly separated from the Browns. There you go. $22 million in dead money on the Browns books for next year for Amari Cooper.

So everyone who's saying, hey, they did a great job. They gave up a fifth for Amari Cooper. You got so much value out of him. Absolutely true. like the analytical way to look at this was they did a great job with this quote-unquote asset

and they got a third round pick back here and that's solid but they still do have Deshawn Watson and Amari Cooper on the books next year for $100 million and I don't think either of them are going to be helping that team so that's like from a Brown's perspective

it did make me think where are like they're in a weird spot right now they're one in five are they going to go into full tank mode if you were going into full tank mode, is that a reason to keep playing Deshawn Watson? I'm just saying, like, would you not want James Winston to go in there and get wins? That's dark. That's dark, and it's

craven and it's calculated and it's cynical, like, if they would make Deshawn Watson keep playing in order to lose. But this is the team that ignored everything about Deshawn Watson to sign Deshaun Watson. So I don't know. I wouldn't put anything past this organization. Two more quick, very quick points I want to make on the bills too. Still, one of the biggest concerns I have with them is something that's popped up all year. And I love that they made this move, even though it quietly wasn't necessarily their biggest need, which was, A, getting some defensive backs back healthy. Teron Johnson really settled in and made that huge play Monday night at the end of the game. But then also, they allowed 15 non-penalty plays of 10 plus yards. A lot of that is struggling

to tackle in the defensive backfield. A lot of that is just, just these holes that are happening against this Bobby Babich, Sean McDermott defense. And so, but what I love, on the counter what I love about this team is that they were like all right well we're just going to not play close games anymore we're going to try to do whatever we can to lean into this identity with and be a running team with multiplicity but also find a player go go out and get a player not necessarily one of our larger needs but a player who we know is going to shift coverage after we've faced this difficult reality about our current receiver gore we're just not going to play close games anymore solves a lot of problems at once because uh they can play ball control with their run game

they also won't necessarily need to depend on their kicker as much. They need to get a new kicker. Tyler Bass is one missing kicks for a while. He's had a nice run in Buffalo, but sometimes the run is just over. It's interesting. You don't think it's one of their bigger needs. I love the filthy.

No, no, I do think it was one of their bigger needs. I'm just saying my greater concern watching this defense can just be overly porous at times. Yeah, in the back seven, especially. Keep other teams in games. I do think, like I said at the very top of this, I do think facing that truth about how teams were playing their receiver, going out and getting a,

getting a coverage dictation guy, that was really crucial. They are the number three offense, according to DVOA, after six weeks. So it's not like they've been struggling offensively, but I think the highs of the first three weeks, yeah, they were going away. The bills are something that will change. They will change. And Amari Cooper, yeah, Amari Cooper is going to help them out a lot. It all makes a little more sense.

Shakir and Kincaid as a two and a three. And then the other receivers now just kind of helping out as role players, Keon Coleman, a little less Matt Collins. That play by Matt Collins might have been just like the Mike Williams play was like the one you remember that play by Mike Collins

where he didn't flatten out and couldn't get the touchdown and it was like okay we need to bring in Amari Cooper and it was a great response because I don't think there's any wide receivers

else available that might have been why they responded so quickly it was like Devante and Cooper I went and tried to look to come up with who could be available

at wide receiver Christian Kirk maybe uh huh he's do a lot of money but Christian Kirk maybe Tyree Kill in a different world where things get wild.

He doesn't think so. He likes Miami. Deontay Johnson, the Panthers say they're not going to trade Deontay Johnson and they want to sign them long term, which makes sense to me, but he could be so much. Not many people available. All right, one more big item today was the Steelers. Now, it's not official.

Mike Tomlin is not saying that he's going to start Russell Wilson on Sunday against the Jets. I mean, it's almost like when people come up with conspirators, The fact that this game is the Sunday night football game, like NBC did it again. You're getting Russell Wilson versus Devante Adams, Steelers, Jets. That is awesome. Let's listen to Mike Tomlin basically justifying a quarterback change. Even though for now he won't announce a quarterback change, our Ian Rappaport says Russell Wilson will be getting first team reps and that the change is coming.

Let's listen to Tomlin. Justin has been really good. And we've been really good at times. but not to be confused with great. Man, this is a competitive league, man. We're trying to position ourselves to be that team. And we've got a player with talent. We hadn't had an opportunity to play,

so we're going to potentially explore those things. Sometimes it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what Justin has done or has not done. I don't like this move. No. I think Justin Fields has played better this season than Russell Wilson has played since 2020. Now, you could look at Russell Wilson's stats in 2021 in that Seahawks season, though,

but I remember that season. He was not playing that well despite the stats. So at the worst, it's better than he's played in a couple years. I think he's made the surroundings look better than they really are. Justin Fields, that is. So I'm really surprised by this news. Jordan, what do you think? I'm surprised by it as well because I thought that Justin Fields,

even though it's not always pretty. And sometimes he takes a step back and then a couple steps forward. and, you know, he still, to me, feels like he's able to play the style of football that Art Smith wants to play. And it was interesting. I'm looking for it right now. I'm scrolling on my laptop here. I'm looking. There was some things that came out a couple weeks ago and even last week in the building, not just from comments that Art Smith made enthusiastic about coaching Justin Fields, but also players talking about how they like playing with him. So there seems to be, there's a subtext here that I'm not quite understanding.

I'm certainly not understanding why this is happening now. You're not alone. I must be missing something. Not understanding. It's so curious to me. At first I just thought it was kind of almost like a bit that Tomlin was doing. I did too, to be honest. I thought there's no way he's going to make this move.

The Steelers are four and two with Fields. And Fields has, I mean, even the X factor of his legs, and I know Russell Wilson is known for that. as well, but Justin Fields is different with it. And Mike Tomlin was even asked about it. And he said like, you know, if Wilson has the same capability to use his legs as

Fields. And Tomlin said, no. Justin's legs are the X factor. And it remains to be seen how the offense would change with Wilson. And then he said, I think that's one of the cute things about this discussion. So I don't know if Mike Tomlin is just messing with all of us or what.

Well, plus he had that press conference after Ian had put that report out. And then he did, you know, Tomlin did not say that Russell Wilson's the starter, that they'll both,

they'll look at them both and that he could use them both. Are they going to play both? I think they could use a package of Justin Fields, potentially in the red zone, would not surprise me. It would kind of make sense if both quarterbacks were on board with that. And I would make this move less annoying, but it would still be annoying to me.

This is Brian Botcoe, who covers the team for PG Sports now, so if the Post Gazette out there in Pittsburgh, I found the quote. So this is his verbatim from his post on social media. Steelers O.C. Arthur Smith says he's really enjoyed working with Justin Fields. Quote, there's no drama to him. He doesn't try to live through his avatar or create a perception.

That's probably why he was so endearing to his teammates in Chicago, extremely coachable, extremely bright. Brian Botko goes on to say, Arthur Smith also praised Justin Fields when it comes to his work ethic. Same thing as a play caller. You get in this business. People start making excuses. rationalizing, put whatever they want on social media or make sure certain narratives get leaked out.

He's old school. So was that first one just a veiled shot at Russell Wilson? I don't know, but I'm double checking to make sure that this account is real. I know Brian, but like that because when I saw that. That's a good one. And that was from October 10th. Yeah. And Justin Fields is coming off.

What I would say is his worst game as a starter. So it's, it's funny. I did see some Steelers accounts on Sunday saying, I wonder if this performance might make Mike Tomlin think about it because Mike Tomlin seems like he's had a loyalty to Russell Wilson that hasn't been earned by playing experience with him, but more by their relationship. There's been some reporting alluding to almost that when he met with Russell Wilson.

It was almost like a promise. Like, I'm going to give you a chance to restart your career and that they had a connection there on a personal level. and almost that Tomlin, I don't know if he feels bad that just hasn't worked out for Russell Wilson. I'm not saying in his career, I mean that he got injured

and he felt like he almost owed it to Russell Wilson to give him a chance because a lot of the beat reporters, not the national guys, were saying all along that this was going to happen and they've been proven right. I don't know.

I don't get it. I don't understand it. I mean, maybe we will get the answer. Yeah. And Russell Wilson will look great in this offense and then we'll understand what Tomlin has been talking about this whole time,

but I just don't know why we're doing it here now. It is very surprising. We wrap up the news just telling you where we will all hopefully be in 2028, which is Atlanta at the Super Bowl. Atlanta hosting Super Bowl 62. Now I think I can read Roman numerals. 62. We're going back to Atlanta, hopefully again.

No one knows if we're going to be. on this earth by that point. Like as Kyle Shanahan likes to say, or more to how I was thinking, if we're going to still have the opportunity. You can't take these things for granted, but I hope to be there. Atlanta, the first time around, was fun. I loved it. I liked it. The music scene is great.

It was a great stadium to be in, but I mean, we don't even know if we'll be here tomorrow, Greg. That is absolutely right, which is a reminder why we should go to break so we can make sure we get this stuff that will change segment in. Waffle House. Hang in a second.

Oh, Waffle House, that'll be there. That never goes away. Mm-mm. 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. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision-makers, share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on

game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is. for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sixth podcast on the IHeart

Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. 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. In 20, 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 I Heart 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.

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 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. And in the time that we went on break, we all survived. We're still here. Made it. But unfortunately, Marcus Valded to Scantling's employment with the Buffalo Bills did not survive. So that the news, which would have been part of that whole Bill's conversation that we learned, a free agent pickup that did not work out. Things that will change.

Yes, for the Bills. I still was right. The Bills roster still did change. You were so right. You were, you were prescient. Were you annoyed, actually, that they stepped on you looking very smart? because if we had done this show yesterday that the Bills roster would change

and Amari Cooper was traded the day after to the Bills, that's a win. As a podcaster, that's a win. I am not you, Greg. But I think you're projecting just a little bit. Yikes.

I don't know. I don't know what's going on with you guys. Yikes. That was the news there. A little bit of other housekeeping, Tom Brady's officially a limited partner of the Las Vegas Raiders. We expected that.

And Richard Seamwell. Finally a win for Tom Brady. Tom Brady owns 5% of the team. Richard Seymour owns 0.5% of the team and then one of Brady's business partners owns another 5%. So that actually adds up to a lot, 10.5%. That's not nothing.

That's not like when they gave Serena and Venus Williams like 0.000% of the dolphins along with Gloria Estefan. I don't know if that is still a thing that if you go to the Dolphins website and you looked at the owner web page, it always had a picture of Gloria Estefan. I always thought it was, is it Estefan or Estefan?

I don't know. I always thought it was Estefan. I mean, I'm not the person to ask about correct pronunciations. Let's talk about stuff that will change. Okay. It was in my head because we just get to this point in the season. We think we know something about the NFL. And I just look at the NFL as a seasonal sport where November is going to be totally different than October.

December is going to be totally different. You want to be peaking at the right time. But some of the things that we believe to be true now will no longer be true as we get further into the season. What is something that will change, Colleen Wolf? The bear's hype. The bear's hype will dissipate. It will, it's at a boil right now. It's going to come down to a simmer.

The Caleb Williams hysteria, that's probably never going to subside because of- I was going to make the second. I'm not buying it. Like stuff that has hype, but I didn't want everyone to have to go. negative all the time, but then you just came hard negative. I just like that it's spicy. No, no, okay, it's not negative in I have a reason for this.

What, that you don't like Hithem? No, no, because of their remaining schedule, they still have to play all of their division games. They have to play the Vikings twice, who are first in defensive DVOA. They have to play the Lions twice, who are fourth in defensive DVOA. The Niners,

who are fifth in defensive DVOA. Obviously, the Packers, they have the commanders, the Seahawks, and then like the Patriots and Cardinals. but this schedule is an absolute gauntlet. The NFC North in general, it's the first division since the merger to have every team with at least four wins through week six.

It's a killer. So yes, I think that Caleb Williams deserves all of the accolades and all of the love that he's getting right now because he played a great game and he threw some absolutely beautiful balls and placed them where only he could for his receivers to get them and score.

especially that one to Keenan Allen, the second touchdown. Maybe that was his best pass of the entire season. But the hype is going to diminish a bit because the schedule is really, really difficult. Okay. So it's just more about the schedule. I think that's true of this. So we can kind of combine ours because, yeah, mine was the NFC North in general being this good. And part of the reason that they have the top four teams in terms of point differential for the first time ever through six weeks is they haven't played each other at all.

So that's just like a quirk in the schedule. But you're right, other than the Vikings who have somehow gone undefeated, despite playing, like, a brutally different... Sam Donald didn't really look that great now. No. We might have to have a couple weeks of Florida Island. We're going to have another cover. Right.

It is funny that they have the number one defense in all stats. They have the number one, like, running game and a lot of different stats. Like, they're passing games, like, solid and Sam Donald still gets all the credit. I can't wait until they go to the Super Bowl. We're like, I still am not buying the Vikings. I have loved how a steady and consistent. Brian Flores' defense has looked. I think that defense, unlike probably some, like, for example,

the Bears' defense gives me a little bit of pause when you talk about being built to play when it gets way colder, when teams are running the ball more, when they're running heavier against you. But I think that Brian Flores and that defense has showed, even though we talk so much about the crazy pressures and those types of things, I think that he is malleable enough and flexible enough. And Jeff Hathley's defense is starting to look pretty good as well. Yeah.

So that was actually part of my reasoning that the NFC North can't stay this good this long, is that they have 17 turnovers this year. They forced 17 turnovers. And that was an idea that they talked about in the offseason. So maybe you can really coach up turnovers, but that feels unsustainable. They actually have some pretty big holes, I would say, in their defense. Their pass rest really hasn't worked. They're starting to play more rookies on their defense.

And I think that could help them long term. But secondary linebacker, I think they have holes on every level, but it's been covered up by just this crazy. turnover rate. And so that's part of the NFC North equation. The schedule was a big part of it, though. So the Bears have had the 31st, the second easiest schedule in the league so far. And they go to the hardest schedule in the league moving forward.

But that's kind of great, though, for Caleb to kind of ease him in. Because it is unfair to him. It's not like he can control all of the attention that he's getting. And he needs time to grow and develop. No. And he's going to be the next three weeks, they have the commanders, which, you know, for an offense is not a hard matchup. And then the Patriots and the Cardinals.

two, like three of the worst defenses in a league in a row. So they could really keep getting fat and then it gets brutal. But they're not the only team where it's similar to that. The Lions have had the 20th schedule in the league, like, you know, easy. They're going to have the second hardest moving forward. The Packers have been right in the middle of the pack so far. The third hardest moving forward. Now, part of that is just like everyone's got to play the Vikings and the Vikings are a load.

I think the Lions can withstand and hold up. I think the Packers need to keep getting better. and they are a team that you would believe will. But I do think their defense might be a little unsustainable. And it's hard. How can we really have four good teams in the same division? Maybe. We can maybe have four teams over 500.

It's pretty exciting. The Lions are the best team in the NFC. And then, I mean, the Packers, as long as they have a healthy Jordan love, they're going to be relevant. And obviously, Sam Darnold and those Vikings are 5'0. It's such a good division. It's more, yeah, a big part of it is just they're going to have to start

facing each other. And they lucked out in the scheduling, just what divisions they had to play. We thought the AFC South is going to be improved this year, and it's not. And so that's really helped them as an out-of-division schedule. What do you got next? Jordan, you give me something that'll change. One thing that I think will change is Jerry Jones's general demeanor and vibe with a certain Dallas radio station, his regular 105-3, the fan.

So he does this regularly all throughout the season and off-season. And that interview got extremely heated and we do have the audio of that. Your job isn't to let me go over all the reasons that I did something and I'm sorry that I did it. That's not your job. Well, my job is to ask what... Or I'll get another...

I'll get somebody else to ask these questions, man. Gary Jones will fire you even if he doesn't work for the company. Does he own the company? Well, your partners, if they're your radio partner, it's kind of like, does NBC work for the NFL? Not exactly, but, you know, there's, it's a symbiotic relationship where they have influence, certainly on who's, you know, hired and who is. Yeah. And let's not forget how open

and amenable he is generally to doing any interview, anything. He loves the spotlight. Yeah. And even at league meetings today, a couple of the national reporters who were there were talking about how he walked in way later than he normally does and then politely declined to speak with media. he was going to be late for the meeting, even though he's always early and he always holds court for, you know, even at times multiple hours. It's, it's tough. He's, he's going through it right now. It's not just that it was the loss to the lions that we were just talking about on his 82nd birthday. It's not that they got blown out. It's that they lost to a team that has no issue shapeshifting into a variety of different forms who are essentially like

comfortable just playing with their food at the end of the game as he sat there and watched. And it's also that the Cowboys feel like they're helmed by coaches and have structured their team who feel like the foundation and future, or the lines are helmed by coaches who feel like the foundation and future of a franchise, while the Cowboys sort of feel like lame ducks from a bygone era and they're struggling, the best player is injured, the game's iced by your quarterback who you're asking to do everything at the line of scrimmage and you're still making throw blind into the sun because you can't put a curtain over the ceiling. It's a lot of things that are making people very...

You want a curtain over the side of the stadium. No, no, that's an option. There is one that exists. It was curtains there. Very good. But I'm just saying there's a reason for him feeling like this right now, for bristling when people I think are fairly and rightfully questioning him for all of the either decisions they did make

or the decisions they didn't make, including the lame duck situation that it feels like in so many areas of this franchise inclusive to the coaching staff. I would be angry, too. If my team couldn't run the ball, couldn't stop the run, I had no home field advantage when before that was the main thing. There's no real identity. There's so many injuries.

There's a lot of problems. And every week, they're always like, we just got to practice better. Our practices haven't been great. And like, McCarthy will say that too. And, like, those are your practices, bro. Their offensive line, though, is the beginning of, it's why I don't think they have a very, like, even if everything went right the rest of the year,

Zimmer. I think their defense, speaking of things that could change, like, if you told me that their defense is average or better in December, I wouldn't be shocked. Yeah, they're missing so many people. They're missing so many people, and it's a new system, and it's a coaching stat, a coach that hasn't been in the league for a minute, his system. I could see that, that there's room for improvement. I think the offensive line might be cooked. Zach Martin is a problem for them right now. He's a future Hall of Famer coming off the worst game, I think of his career. Some people are wondering if he's fully healthy, but whatever it is, they've probably got four weak spots right now on an offensive line that used to be what they were all about. And now they've got Tyler Smith.

He's a really good player. And four problem areas. And that's something, I don't know if there's a solution. Don't you think the optics of this, though, are what I was texting you a little bit about this over the weekend in reference to another coach is like in another building. It's like, don't you think the optics here? This is, you lose to this team, not just that you're, that you lose lose, but you lose to this team that they're doing whatever they want to do against you from a variety of different concepts

and ideas. And then there's all these cuts to the sideline of this young, younger energetic and galvanizing head coach who clearly has his entire team just like living and dying with him and then cuts to the hot shot

offensive coordinator on the side of the screen who's basically like, I'm only going to read one of my plays off this play card and try to just get a touchdown to an offensive lineman and literally play with this food and there's camera shots to this guy who is the future of this league on the sideline and you're sitting there in your box looking freaking miserable. Like I think the optics have to be bothering him. What a terrible birthday. Yeah, I agree with that. That it was the most embarrassing loss you could have. I mean, I don't think it helps if we're going that far that

a long time Dallas Cowboys captain is coaching the lion. Not only that, but he was the protege of the guy that you supposedly have been pining over forever, Sean Payton. And you missed it. So many layers. There's a lot of layers here. Anyway, that's the reason for the tone. Okay. I love that. All right, let's go around one more time quickly, stuff that will change.

The Bengals will rise from the dead. Like that. They are sub 500 right now, but they are just too good. Joe Burroughs too good. their eighth and offensive DVOA. I mean, the offense is 10th and scoring, 12th and yards per game. And that's doing it without T. Higgins for every single game.

I mean, maybe the defense, maybe this was a turning point. I know that they were playing the Giants, but maybe this is just good for an ego boost at this point. Even marginally better for the Bengals defense would be an improvement. And their schedule, they have some softballs coming up. I mean, they have the Raiders,

they have the Browns twice, the Titans who are a good, defense though. The Cowboys, the Eagles, which we just don't know what those teams are. It's funny that the Cowboys and the Eagles now look like food. It's so weird. So, you know, if the Steelers start messing around with Russell Wilson and losing games, then the Bengals could probably chase them at the end of the season. Love that. Makes total sense to me. The Wesleyan brothers and I were texting over the weekend. Everyone is getting more optimistic about the Bengals already. I think it's going to happen. I'm going to find a glimmer of hope here in what Justin Herbert did over the weekend

to the Broncos and say, Justin Herbert is not going to be playing conservative ball for the rest of the year. That the real Justin Herbert is going to come out. He's going to be allowed to come out from Jim Harbaugh. What a celebration. In this, yes, he's just like a beautiful little butterfly. He's ready to come out of his cocoon. Ooh, I like that. He could be a candidate. in a couple weeks. So they've had him under lock and key. Part of it is the mindset of how they want to play offense. But I think the bigger part of it is he was just so injured.

That bi-week was really important for him. And I think it really showed up on film this last week. Not only that he was a different player, but that they treated him like a different player. So more dropbacks, more yards, more plays outside the pocket, more planting his feet and going down the field, more mid-range throws, more deep throws. He just looked like Justin Herbert again.

So I think people maybe attributed so much of the beginning of the year to, oh, the Chargers are just going to play this really boring style. That was a part of it. But I think it was just he was so banged up. And now we're going to see the real Justin Herbert. I love this for him, but I really love it for you, Greg. Yes.

I didn't need much. It's bringing you back to life after your travels, I think. It's lovely. It's reanimating Greg. All right. Wrap us up, Jordan. Yeah, quickly. I do think, so I don't want to undermine or undersell

like how brutal this Aidan Hutchinson loss is. First of all, horrific to watch, hate it for that young man, for the entire team, for the organization, for his long journey ahead. But actually, after they sort of emotionally recover from this situation,

I still think this defense will ultimately keep ascending. And so the initial panic that everyone's feeling right now because of the severity of that situation. And of course, you're losing the top pass rusher in the league right now. But after that subsides, I think that then you'll start to feel some hope and optimism about this defense, because every single week they're growing, I think they have the ability on the interior of their defensive line to sort of change around the identity. One of their guys, a couple of their players actually have some position flex where you could pop them out a little bit wider. And they're also getting good pressure.

They are, you know, 17 and 16 pressures between Onusurike and Aleem McNeil, and respectively, which is 11th and 14. among interior defensive line, and you can actually manufacture a little bit more pressure coming from that area. And as you see this secondary start to come to life, start to settle in, I think Brian Branch, in an age right now that we're in, that is becoming truly golden for safety play, where these safeties can do everything, they are letting Brian Branch do everything, and he is showing up. I really have faith in Aaron Glenn as a defensive coordinator, and I think he'll keep this group on track and ascending into what is going to is about to be a very difficult

back stretch for the entire NFC North. It's a good call because he's very creative at making up for what they're missing. And I don't want to hear that they're under talented because they've poured a lot of resources, a lot of draft picks, a lot of money into that defense. They've done such a good job. Right.

And so they can scheme around it. I also think they might add someone, you know, the next couple weeks. Yeah, I could say, well, they did. They picked some past rusher. Yeah. They picked, no, I think that would make a lot of sense. I know. Yeah, I do think so as well. And they also picked up, I'm going to have to go back and look at it.

They're scouring practice squads for depth for rotational outside linebackers as well. But maybe like a bigger name, like a Reddick, they would make sense for. I did look for some potential trade cans. We might do a whole show on this later in the month, but just for now. We should just do it now. I see. Yeah, what time are we at? I think is Jeffrey Simmons ever going to be available?

Harrow Landry, Jedevian Clownie. Chase Young maybe from the Saints if they bought him out. The trick is you've got to find a team that's bought him. I mean, now Zadaria Smith, I think, would make a lot of sense from the Brown. So just someone. I think the Lions will probably add someone at some point. All right. We're going to take one quick break and then we will wrap up talking TNF.

What's up, Daniel Jeremiah here? And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scatom. reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the

coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. 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. it 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 Podcast

or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. All right, it's the time of the show for our TNF preview presented by Amazon Prime Video.

I was so excited about Broncos Saints a few weeks ago. I'm still really excited, but in a different way, unfortunately, it's a little ghoulish. It's just wondering what could have. happen if the Saints don't win this game. Broncos coming in after a humbling performance of their own where they were down 23 to nothing. They made it look a little better at the end against the Chargers. But that was a little bit of a comeback to Earth game for them. After a week in Denver, where I was following a lot of these Broncos beatwriters and they're like, here's why the Broncos

are going to make the playoffs out of this thing. Oh, hold on. Then again, Colleen, they could very easily be four and three after this week because they are playing a Saints team that has injuries just everywhere. Not just three offensive linemen, not just Chris Olavé, which I mentioned on the Monday night recap show with Nick Shook. Rashid Shaheed is very possibly missing this game

with a knee injury. So we're talking about Spencer Rattler throwing to Bub Means and Cedric Wilson as his top wideouts. I hate that for Spence. Against a great defense. Great name combination. Spencer Rattler to Bubmeen.

I love that. And it kind of worked on Sunday, actually. It was Bub Means' first real action as a pro. And it was one of those things where those two guys were throwing to each other a lot in training camp as like the third stringers. And now they're starting. And Radler overall looks good in the first half. Interesting. Now, this is a Broncos defense that will probably not have Patrick Thertain, who also suffered a concussion on Sunday. So that's unfortunate. But they're going to throw a lot of blitzes at a bad Saints offensive line and a rookie quarterback. That's a tough recipe for the Saints. Yeah. I was just looking at the fact that you have two rookie quarterback starting and then two key players in concussion protocol, one on each team in

Sartan and Chris Alave. The Broncos offense has been tough to watch. They are really struggling, almost shut out at home. But Bo Nix intercepted on his first attempt in that game. Just really set the tone for the rest of the day. Really, truly. They have no run game, no pop whatsoever. So it's either going to be a really good day for the Saints defense who just gave up 51 points minus the one fumble return to the Bucks or a really bad day for the Saints at home in a game the Sean Payton invitational. So it's going to be tough. I don't know. I don't know if obviously on a short week with concussion protocol, I don't think that these guys will be available for the game. I wouldn't expect them to be.

No. And yeah, Sean Payton, you know, and meeting New Orleans again. And he said earlier this week, you know, he's not expecting warm fuzzies. And but to be put, you know, in the sense that he's expecting the Saints fan base to rise to the occasion like they so often do. And it's interesting because this could be a chaos game in just great, sloppy, but interesting ways. I mean, you're going to see two young quarterbacks, I think, really work through some stuff in. Oh, I love a chaos game. In just great, sloppy, but interesting ways. I mean, you're going to see two young quarterbacks, I think, really work through some stuff in. Oh, real time. Right now, Spencer Rattler is dealing with an offensive line and particularly a center combination. They've had four different linemen play at least 50 snaps at center this season, which is the most of the NFL in the NFL. They're

rolling him out a lot where actually he's throwing the ball pretty well on these designed rollouts in order to sort of mitigate some of the extra pressure that he's seeing, which you know that the Broncos, even minus Pat Certain, locking down so much area of the fields.

So you are able to send all these extra players and was playing at a defensive player of the year, candidacy profile to me. Even without him, I think they're going to try to get after Spencer Rattler as much as they can. On the other side, I think the Saints are going to have to try to manufacture some stuff against Bonix as well. And the Saints defense is, especially if Bonix goes on the move, they're kind of missing tackles in sketchy big spots right now. Their linebackers were terrible. that was a humbling loss for Dennis Allen and the Saints. Yeah.

He's supposed to be a defense. He is a defensive coach. He's been building this up. This was the whole vision of keeping Dennis Allen, who was the coordinator under Sean Peyton for such a long time at the end of Peyton's run. The vision was we're going to keep this side of the ball as our steadying force, and we'll figure it out on offense. They obviously haven't.

That's why they hired Clint Kubiak this offseason to run the offense. But now you're seeing some real decay. on their defense. The secondary is very talented. Marshawn Lattimore is having a fantastic year. Overall, the secondary hasn't been their issue. But their linebacker play, DeMario Davis is one of their best players, but it's almost like it got contagious. All their linebackers aren't making tackles. Cameron Jordan isn't as involved as he used to be in terms of playing. And yeah, I mean, this Broncos' offensive line for the most part has been good this year. And if Dennis Allen gets embarrassed by another, by like a rookie

quarterback at home, Sean Payton. It's an interesting organization in that I think Mickey Loomis has more power than just about any non-owner in the NFL now that Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick are out of the league. I think something really drastic

and dramatic would have to happen for him to really get the attention of his boss ownership. Losing to Sean Payton that'll do it. Yeah, losing to Sean Peyton and I don't think would be something where it would ever be in the middle of the season. That just doesn't strike me as something the Saints would do.

But it would be maybe the start of something of like, wow, this is not going well. Because frankly, I think they have the more talented rookie quarterback. I'm taking Spencer Radler long term over Bo Nix. Come at me. Are you taking the Saints this week? I think I will. I haven't thought about that yet. I guess we should as part of this.

Good thing. Well, my official picks come on. You just got back. It's fine. On game day view later in the week. by the way, ripped off a perfect record last week. A perfect? Well, I was over in 14 and 0.

Let's go. Let's go. Good job. It was kind of a chalky week where it's like favorites. Rained. Cynthia's still beating me, you know, overall. But good week. I think I would take them just because I want to root for it.

We're having the guys from the Saints Block Party podcast on live on YouTube after this game. Book that months ago, you know, thinking this is the game to have. them. It's going to be crazy. And I think it will be fun. So it's either going to be like a funeral for the Saints team because I think they become sellers at the trade deadline if they go to two and five here. But if they win, they're three and four and the division's not amazing. At least you're like still in the mix and you could hope that you get some players back healthy and get better as the course of the season goes on. I am going to pick the Broncos here. I am really looking forward to that live recap because win or lose, first of all, those guys,

have predicted so much of what's actually happened this season for the Saints, but also I loved when you had them on earlier because they just are so plugged into their team and they're also hilarious. And if it's a chaos game like I'm personally hoping for, I can't wait to hear their thoughts about that and what the future of this team is moving for. But yeah, I'm going to pick the Broncos in this. I think that Sean Peyton, it's like, you know, just enough juice. You know, the old cyclist, who's in the Tour de France or whatever and like you got just enough juice

to do the one giant mountain you know and then you're out then you're done by juice do you mean like illegal substances that you're injecting into your body through like a complicated formula and whatnot or no that's not what you're talking about.

I don't mean that no. I mean you say juice and you say cycling that's what I think. I'm taking the Saints. Okay. Oh, look at that. Yeah. That was what the face was for Greg. I was not figuring out why you're making that

face of me. And now I understand. Got it. Saints and Broncos on Thursday night. I'm wondering, like, what is the point spread in this game? The Broncos are favored by two points on the road. I thought it might be by more. Yeah.

But when you can't really throw the ball too well. And your defense can't get off the field. I think they will on Sunday. I mean, on Thursday night, rather. They have a good defensive line. My heart is saying Saints. My head is sane Broncos. It's more important to lead with your heart.

So I'll stick with them. That was this week's TNF preview. presented by Prime Video. Be sure to watch the Denver Broncos take on the New Orleans Saints this Thursday on Prime Video. Thanks for watching NFL Daily. Thank you guys for giving me that juice today. Oh, you're welcome, Craig. But not the cycling juice. Not the, nothing illegal about it. We will be back on Thursday with our preview show. Special guest this week. Steve Weiss is still over in London. So joining Patrick Claibon and I will be none other than Brian Baldinger. Paldi is on the show. That's great. That's going to be so good. When you're talking about a Dennis Allen team collapsing,

you know football is back. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6, 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 Sundays. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Thank you.