NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - DK Metcalf to the Steelers, Geno Smith to the Raiders and Davante Adams to the Rams!

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to get you caught up on all the news from around the NFL ahead of the legal negotiating period and free agency starting. The guys talk about the Seahawks trading DK Metcalf to the Steelers (01:45) and Geno Smith to the Raiders (06:45), Davante Adams heading to the Rams (17:40), Josh Allen (21:49) and Myles Garrett (26:30) getting contract extensions, Derek Carr getting his contract restructured (31:10), and more! 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.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're going to look great in silver and black. I'm Greg Rosenthal, and I'm talking to my buddy. Nick shook just hours before the negotiating period between NFL teams and free agents officially begin. And yet, Nick, it's already started.

We got trades. We got big free agent signings. We've got an arrest. And we'll throw that in the mix as well. And we've got a million re-signings. Cap space is being spent like absolute crazy. And yes, I'm referring to what my new favorite team. the Raiders did acquiring Gino Smith.

No one I'd rather talk about all this stuff to than you, Nick. I'm happy to be here. The last six hours here on Sunday, it's just been absolute chaos. And it's only going to get more chaotic as the week begins, but we have so much to talk about. So let's not even waste any time to get ready to it. Yes.

Yeah, that's it. We're going to try to speed through this because, look, this week is going to move fast. We have shows every day. Obviously, keep a tuned to Enneville Network for Free Agency Frenzy. I'm going to be doing insiders all week, and we'll have daily shows. And look, these are the moves

that we're going to be talking about for the next four or five months. More news happened on Sunday than will happen from May through July. So we'll give you the top line stuff. And yes, it was a week and long battle between what would lead the show. I figured it's just going to be Gino.

That's what I'm referring to. For new listeners, I love me some Gino Smith. I don't know if the Raiders are going to be my favorite team, but I'm definitely pulling for them. But then it was Devante Adams who took away the beginning of the show. going to the Rams thought that's that's fresher we got a lead with that I mean miles Garrett stain that that was a good candidate but ultimately we're actually going

back to the Pacific Northwest because it's not just Gino Smith that's no longer in Seattle D.K. Metcalf is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers all they had to give up was a second round draft pick in terms of trade compensation but they did have to give up a hundred and fifty million dollar contract total it was an extension four for 132, and it's the type of move. The Steelers just haven't made that often in the Mike Tomlin era, so I know Steelers fans are going to be pumped. But they have made it before.

Remember, they sent a first for Minka Fitzpatrick. That worked out well. Do you think this one will work out just as well? I mean, you know, D.K. was underused in Seattle last year. The question for me is fit because of receiver type, but this is also a Steelers' offense that was going to benefit from any acquisition. any receiver. They heavily leaned on George Pickens, Russell Wilson, especially last year. Calvin Austin was probably their next best option. It just kind of fell off a cliff from there.

You add decay to the mix. Now you can't just focus all your attention on we got to stop Pickens. We got to take Pickens away and deal with Pat Fryermuth. Now we've got to deal with both of these guys. Big targets, big playmakers, one more of a spectacular catchmaker than the other, slightly more in Pickens. And I think it just helps them overall. But the other question is, is who's throwing them the ball now? It's fantastic, but who's going to throw them the football? We still have to find that out. Yeah, someone will. And that's what I'd caution with all these moves,

although I understand why Seattle fans are so frustrated right now. They were not happy with the Gino Smith trade. It's not fun to see D.K. Metcalf go out the window. I share your frustration, and I'm skeptical of where this is going. And yet, I would caution to wait till the end of this week at the very least to see what the full plan is going to be. Ultimately, D.K. Metcalf should be a stealer for longer than George Pickens. In a world where George Pickens gets it all together, he gets a long-term deal and they're both working there together going deep down the field.

Heck, that would work pretty well with Russell Wilson, not just in Fields, but it'd probably work even best with a quarterback that's in college right now or maybe is even in the draft. What I found fascinating about this is that the Seahawks didn't want to give D.K. McCaff that contract. when people say, what, they only got a second for D.K. They only got a third for Gino. I want to stop making this point over and over. But the reason the draft compensation is not that high is because it's the contract. They're getting off that salary. They do not want to give D.K. Meckoff that contract or probably anything close to it.

He wanted and now was the time to pay him that contract. And so it's a team willing to give him that money, which again, I'm a little surprised that it's the Steelers. plus the pick, and ultimately they get a second round pick where they took D.K. McCaff. Back in the day when him and his boy, A.J. Brown, were for some reason ignored by, you know, Draftics in the NFL, despite being like two Greek gods who were very good in college. Yeah, I just, I'm surprised.

You can't be thrilled with it as a Browns fan either. It doesn't seem like a normal type of Steelers move. No, it's not. But it also indicates where the Steelers are as a franchise, which is, we kind of allowed ourselves to be in a position where we didn't have quality options opposite George Pickens last year. We don't know if George Pickens is ever going to figure it all out mentally and emotionally. We know he's an incredibly talented player.

So why now go get a guy who at least has proven that you can handle that? Now, that's not to say that D.K. hasn't caused his own drama because he has in Seattle. Maybe with that money and a change of scenery and the right quarterback, it all gets eased and it ends up being a great move. But it definitely, to me, says the Steelers are not okay with just making the playoffs anymore. or they actually want to win that playoff game? You know what's interesting? I've noticed there's been no reporting

on the guaranteed money on D.K. Metcalf's deal yet. That is usually a sign that it's more team friendly than you expect. So you hear five for 150 right overall. It's 30 per year, right near the top. But the extension is actually four for 132, even higher. That's probably backloaded. Maybe the guaranteed money isn't actually

up there with some of the very best receivers in the league. That's why we're not getting the reporting on it yet. We'll see. DK didn't get everything he wanted. He wanted to play for a warm weather city. He wanted to play for a contender. He went one-ish for two. I mean, the kind of a contender?

Yeah, I'll get one. I mean, they're kind of the AFC Seahawks, you know, a 9-10 win type of team. Now, D-K also wanted to go somewhere with a more stable quarterback situation reportedly. He must have known Gino was on his way out from Seattle because that was a day before that. He did not land somewhere. The Seahawks getting off Gino and D.K. is so risky for John Schneider.

And let's transition to Gino there because I think you've got to view these in tandem. 40s and free agents, the new podcast. Got a lot of great feedback. Appreciate everyone that listened. If you missed it, I'm doing a new podcast with Daniel Jeremiah should be in the NFL Daily feed. And he really thought during that show

that Gino was going somewhere. I threw out the Raiders were just the logical pick, but DJ was all over that. They didn't want to pay Gino the extension that he was due either. And they got him for a late third, the 90-second pick in the draft.

We haven't seen the reports on what Gino's going to get financially, but supposedly he's getting a multi-year offer. I think it's safe to say he'll have guaranteed money through at least two years of the deal and the Seahawks weren't willing to do that. And suddenly this mini-era in Seattle, which I think the fans really enjoyed.

They were like a fun hipster team, but didn't really go anywhere, but overachieved. Suddenly he's gone. And you just wonder, Mike McDonald was very, like, out there saying Gino was his guy. He's not going anywhere. Without knowing too much, I do wonder, is the coach and the GM totally aligned on this? Clearly, the coach has to be down with whatever the plan is. but I believe John Schneider holds a really heavy stick there. He is one of the more powerful GMs in the league,

and he did not want Gino and D.K. Long term, apparently, a little surprising. Yeah, well, I think with the DK, you know, requesting the trade, the drama that had preceded him with not getting enough targets early in the season and everything else that they've dealt with, I can understand that. You don't want to hand him that contract. You might want to invest that elsewhere. But with Gino...

Like a slightly limited player before he move out. Like, he is a top 20 receiver, maybe even top 15, AJ Brown. He's not, he's not Devante Adams in his prime. He can't do everything. He, he's very good at what he does. All right, sorry for cutting you off. And he's not going to make the money that some of those other guys are going to make even if he wants it. So I understand trying to rid yourself of that drama and trying to capitalize on what he's worth. They were never going to get a one for him, because of like you said, the contract. So I think this is decent compensation for him, only a two, I guess, whatever. But with Gino, what that signals to me is that we realize we've maximized what we've gotten out of him. We realized that when he was on the team, as a backup and then proved himself to be good enough to be a starter, we rewarded him. We gave him the contract extension, but it wasn't super long term. It was three years. And we saw him play good enough to keep us competitive. And we both love Gino here.

But we also can admit that Gino was inconsistent or a little bit volatile at times, especially last season. There were some games in which the Rams game, for example, where his mistakes cost them a game. And in a tight division race, you can't afford that. The problem with that, though, is what is your alternative? You throw yourself into a very precarious position, but I understand why you might want to move on. And it also speaks to the Raiders knowing that they don't have,

they don't like Aiden O'Connell and they need something better because they want to be competitive now. We'll get to the Raiders side of it in a second. And these were the biggest moves of the weekend in terms of shifting completely what you think of two organizations in terms of the Gino trade and the Seahawks organization, even more getting rid of D.K. First of all, how dare you talk about that Rams game?

I challenge you to go watch the first three quarters of that game and tell me who the better quarterback was in that game, Gino or Matthew Stafford. He blew up at the end, but that game was typical. He blew up at the end. Yeah, he did and Stafford flipped it. That game was typical, and I know there's like a Gino fan in me that's obviously biased, but there's a lot of Seahawks fans

that are there too, and there's a lot of people that I think know a lot about football that aren't fans particularly of either that recognize how Gino is playing with one hand behind his back for most of his Seattle run, including last year. Like all the numbers,

like the on target throw percentage, things like that. The next level things that he's asked to do are so high level. And his numbers, when he's not against pressure, are outstanding. And his ability to survive

against quick pressure, statistically, we're outstanding. That was the case in that Rams game. For instance, now there's part of us out there, the Gino Hive that worries Seattle's now, you know, going to fix their offensive line. Whoever comes in their next is actually going to, they're going to invest in the offensive

line. The scheme with Clint Kubiak is going to make more sense and protect the quarterback a little bit and it won't be the tough situation that Gino played with. We will see. There is part of me that wants to at least slightly defend Seattle in terms of what they're thinking. I think it's going to be very hard for them to find a quarterback better than Gino Smith for this year or next.

I do think they need to, you know, think about restarting in terms of a young player at the position. And I do think bringing in Clint Kubiak, this was as dramatic a scheme change. And Gino's been through a different one basically every year he's, you know, the last three or four years there. Does he fit that Shanahan style, you know, back to the defense, like, you know, wide zone and what Kubiak wants to do? Is he like the perfect quarterback for that scheme compared to, you know,

let's say Sam Darnold at potentially half the price or two-thirds of the price, that's what I expect to happen. That's what everyone expects to happen at this point. The money is going to be very interesting. That to me is at least a reasonable thought, even though I believe Gino to be a superior overall quarterback for that scheme and where they are. Neither one of them maybe is their long, long-term answer, and they'll spend that money.

elsewhere. If you're a Seahawks fan, I think that's at least what you're hoping for. Yeah, both can be, and are true. And I think that it's just an example of Schneider realizing that we need a retool like you just said. And also accepting the fact that you're not going to invest long-term money when the fit is not there. So I think that they're first in line for Sam Darnold, but the thing is that's not guaranteed. We saw what he did in his last two games. So if their goal is invest in the offensive line, give him solid protection and then he fits the scheme better, then I see the vision. The next question, though, is who is he throwing to? Because all you have left now legitimately is Jackson Smith and Jigba. Now, are you a team that's suddenly in the

receiver market in the draft and you want to go grab another Ohio State guy in a Mecca, Buka? I mean, that would work out perfectly fine, but you're still lacking a little bit now. Then again, all you really need is two in a tight end, and they've got that. That's what Sam Donald did in Minnesota, and it worked out great. Well, yes, Jackson Smith and Jigba is great, and I think his ascendance to the number one target in Seattle was part of that D.K. trade. Maybe D.K. wasn't going to handle that well. He already kind of wasn't. I also think you have to just look at Gino Smith's age. He's still bawling. I disagree about him taking a step back last year. I thought he played fantastic last year. I thought his worst year in Seattle was 2023. That to me,

especially the first half of that year, was concerning. And I thought he bounced back there. But the turnover where he plays really cranked up there. For the most part, though, I think his ceiling and his floor is consistently better than Sam Darnold. We had him on QB Island. I think he's been about a top to 10, 12 quarterback. But he's turning 35 this year. Not everyone is going to be Tom Brady. And so let's flip to the Raiders side of thing

because I do want to get through this show and get it out there. Man, the Raiders, I think, made an absolutely awesome move here that should make everyone, including my trainer. They're going to send you a jersey. So happy. because Gino can ball and what is this cap space doing?

I think the best deals in free agency and this is kind of free agency for them. They gave up a late third. Are these short-term veteran deals for guys who you know can play and just spends that cap space immediately? There's no dead money in the future. It's like Devante Adams,

they just get better now. It's not my money. They have $100 million in cap space. Literally, what is the point of that? they're so much better at the most important position. They would have been so much better. They would have been better with Jacoby Brissette. They would have been better with Sam Bradford.

They're so much better with Gino. It's with a coach that got the best out of Gino. And I think it just gives them a chance. People are like, yeah, but they're not going to go to the Super Bowl. You're a freaking, you're a Raiders fan. Like you're going to be pumped if they win nine or 10 games or just know that you have a chance to win every game. Yeah, the connections were there too. Obviously, Pete Carroll, being the one who had him as his backup and realized that he,

would be the better option when they moved on from Russell Wilson. So that connection's obvious. And it's also the sense of urgency to turn this team from a bottom theater into something that's at least watch and fun to watch and not depending on maybe drafting Schroederer Sanders or somebody else in the first round, giving yourself an immediate

option to be competitive. Now, yes, you have other areas to address. You still have a tiny receiving core. You don't have a running back that you can rely on right now, but at least you have the quarterback. That's the first step. Well, you got the rest of the week. You got the rest of the week for that. By the way, they also gave Adam Butler a three-year, $15 million extension. A lot of the guys that, you know, aren't big names getting extensions. More on that later.

He's a defensive tackle for them. But the Raiders, like, they know ball. You know, who knows ball better than Pete Carroll? Wait a minute. Who knows ball better than Tom Brady? Tom Brady was doing those Gino games, and he's like, that's a real quarterback. You have to say he's kind of like Tom Brady's handpick guy after Stafford. I mean, they wanted Stafford first.

But he gave the stamp. We heard that they really weren't that into Darnold. He was into Gino. Understandable. I think it is a statement a little bit on Chaturr standards, which is totally fair. Like, why would you expect most rookie quarterbacks that aren't a Jaden Daniels

or a highly touted guy to step in and be as good as a guy like Gino who's been borderline or actually making the Pro Bowl the last couple years? So we'll see how the rest of the team build goes together, but love what they're doing. While we're with Seattle, before we go to the other big stories, just want to mention Ernest Jones is back with Seattle, three for 33, $15 million guaranteed, like that contract. Offball linebackers suddenly are getting paid.

Again, a bunch of them signed this weekend with their teams. I mentioned how it was a good offball linebacker class, and once a couple of them got contracts, they all slid in at similar money. So good for him after getting traded a couple times. And Jaron Reed, who is a good veteran player, got. quote, up to 25 million on a three-year contract, but scant details there. It's probably more like a one-year deal, but that's a guy that will help that defense. So again, it tells me Mike McDonald's kind of getting what he wants on the defensive side. I'm not sure he's

getting what he wants on the offensive side. Let's go to another team in their division. Devante Adams is a member of the Rams. What are your thoughts on this one, Shucky? Pure shock. Obviously, he wanted to go to the West Coast. That was made very obvious and apparent when he moved on from the Jets. But so many Packer fans were holding out hope that he'd go back to Green Bay. And yet that doesn't get done. He goes to the Rams. He follows in the footsteps of, I guess, O'Dell Beckham, Jr.,

but with more upside at this point in his career. And it all makes a lot of sense. And it also fills the void that you're expecting to exist when they move on from Cooper Cup. So it's a perfect landing spot for him. He's a guy who followed Aaron Rogers out of what was a terrible situation in Vegas to New York, didn't produce until like the last four games of the year. when it really didn't matter anymore. Now he goes to the team

that made the divisional round of the playoffs that has Matthew Stafford back. All the momentum's going in the Rams direction. Your daughter's got to be pleased. The whole Rosenthal household has to be ecstatic.

It's going to be fun. What I won two punch? Devante Adams and Pooka and Akul. Let's do it. Two great roundlers. Yeah. We were at, I was at a kid's birthday party at Dave and Busters with my son.

And I told a couple kids who I knew, including Walker into football. And I told him, they're like, no way. Because there's only so many Devante Adams is out there that just have like, that sort of name value. I love this deal so much for the Rams. It's $26 million guaranteed,

but it's only two for 52. I think it's six guaranteed into next year. So it's really a one-year deal. And that looks like big money, but the way this market is shaking out, that's actually like borderline one, two money. It's not even top tier one money. And I think that's where Devante Adams fits now, and maybe he fits even a little below that, but that's okay because of what I just said before about spending the cap space on short-term deals for veterans. They just brought Stafford back on a one-year deal. Devante Adams, at worst, is one of the best number two receivers in the league immediately. And on this team, he's absolutely a number two receiver. You want to know why you can afford a number two receiver this much, even when you're paying

two-at-well, $10 million? Because Pooka-Ku is a fan. fifth round pick, you're saving more money on Puka Nakua, you know, compared to a number one receiver contract than you are with some of these quarterback contracts. So I just love it. I think like a couple of the dads at the party were like, yeah, but isn't he kind of a pain? Isn't he kind of a diva one involved? No, he's actually not. I was like, no, man. He's just a, he's just a truly great player that if stuff is really mishandled around him, like he's going to want to get to a better situation. But I respect that because he's one of the smartest, most hardworking players of his generation.

And I love this combination. Even if he's 80% of the old Devante, I'm in. No, exactly like you said, Stafford in a one-year deal. You are winning now. When your quarterback is on a one-year deal and he's near the tail end of his career, but he can still produce you are winning now. You make these moves now. It's a perfect fit.

I'm excited to see where it goes. Yeah, I don't think they're going to be done either. They seem like they want to make a couple big moves. We'll see. Devante is great to get off the shelf. And if you're curious why this deal happened before free agency happened, we'll see it a little later with Harold Landry, for instance. Devante was cut. So he was free to sign over the last handful of days whenever any team wanted to get it done.

And so they get it done before the rest of the free agents can go out and start talking to teams. Like we know Sam Darnold is already. I mean, he's already a Seahawk. I don't think they have to worry about that one. Let's take a quick break. we haven't even mentioned Miles Garrett and Josh Allen got massive extensions left in the show then we'll run through all the rest of the news

and get you set up for free agency starting this week. Hey, this Matt Jones. And 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. 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, 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

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And yeah, I have a feeling, you know, Raiders GM John Spitek. He was invested in Stephen the trainer. He wanted to know, does this trade pass the sniff test? And yes, Stephen's thrilled about it. When Greg's claiming that the Raiders of all teams, no ball, you know football is back. Well, if nothing else, I always thought the gear looked cool, so I don't know. I'm not really going to wear Raiders gear, but I think Gino will look great in silver and black. Let's talk to, let's talk about players that are even better, ones that are going to Canton.

Josh Allen, out of nowhere, signed an extension on Sunday evening that paid him 250 million, dollars guaranteed. Congratulations to Brown's general manager, Andrew Berry. You're off the hook Deshawn Watson three years later, no longer the most guaranteed money in the NFL history. It goes to a guy who could actually play football. Alan also getting the most cash flow over four years in the history of the NFL. That's according to pro football talk. He'll make 55 per year average value. That's second only to DAC contract that might not be aging that well. This kind of came out of nowhere. I don't really know what to say about it other than, well, that's good for Josh Allen.

I mean, I guess it probably buys them more cap space in the short term to get some things done because they are very much in that title window still, which it feels like they've been there for five years now. But when you have an MVP at quarterback, first off, you pay him and you pay them strategically so that you can continue to improve the roster, much like the Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes. I think it's a smart move. It's a good team-building move, and it's a no-brainer when it comes to the caliber of player he is. Right.

And he had signed just in extension a few years ago. So he was like basically towards the top. But you absolutely said it right. What it is is part of a big strategy. And let's go through it. A couple of these teams had a lot going on this weekend. We'll call this Bill's Corner. They released Von Miller.

That was part of the move. A disastrous signing for them. One that we were all, at least I was, you know, excited about at the time. And yet the warning signs were there considering his injury history. It really hamstrung them. I hate to say it, but it might have cost them some major playoff wins just because that resource could have been used somewhere else. And he wasn't there helping on the field in the way that you expected. So he's gone.

You save some cap space. They send some of that and some of the savings from Allen's extension, which will be saving cap space ultimately because it's spread out to 2030 on Greg Rousseau gets four years, $80 million, $56 million guaranteed. Terrell Bernard, a linebacker. They've developed and plays quite well for them. All three downs gets 50 over four. That's affordable. Wow. 12 and a half?

That's pretty nice. I guess so, but it's one of those linebacker ones that I think set the market for the rest of them because that one was a little early off. And yeah, they're keeping. We did the AFC's preview last week. We said,

wow, all their best young players are up for extension. And so kudos to them. We'll see if Rousseau and Bernard are worth it. but I tend to trust teams that are paying their own guys. Rousseau, more of a disruptor than like a great sack guy. But you know who reminds me of a little bit is like a younger Brandon Graham or not in terms of his play style, but in terms of like, man, he's always up there on the hurries and hits

list, but not on the sack list. And like those guys have value. And Graham ultimately kind of got there with his sacks and game changing moments. And Rousseau's a little bit like that. Yeah, but I totally. respect and appreciate them paying him because he's a guy that on tape you see the difference that he makes and it doesn't show up in the numbers but he's their most disruptive like you said edge rusher on that front and now that you've freed yourself of the ghost that was von miller you can

redirect that money to him and reward the guy who is on you know an ascending path and then dedicate some of those other resources to guys like bernard and and when you look at this front like you know you talk about needs and everything i think about edge guys and i'm like i like rousseau that's a good number I'm fine with that. That's decent. At worst, these like a good number two or a one B, they still have needs there, but they weren't. We're seeing these trends are continuing all over the league. The smart teams are paying the guys a year early. I keep saying there's too much cap space. So now even more of my top 101, the middle and lower tier guys, they're getting resignings in the negotiating period.

They're not even making it to the market because teams are realizing like we shouldn't let anyone we even moderately like get out there. Who cares if we have to pay? We're not going to be able to spend all this cap space. You know one team that did spend, that consistently spends more cash than just about any team. It is your Cleveland Browns. Miles Garrett is staying with the Browns, $122 million over three years, $123.5 million guaranteed. He goes over the top of Max Crosby in terms of Gary.

guaranteed money, most for a defensive player ever. I fell for the okie-doke. I was surprised. I'm not as concerned of whether you were surprised or not, shook, but what do you think? Do you think this is the right move? Yeah, because you don't let Hall of Fame generational talents at Edge Rush or demand their way out,

because the compensation you get in that, it's like trading a great baseball player in his prime. It's never going to match. Like if you hit on every guy, it's still not going to match what you're giving up. And I thought when Andrew Berry spoke with the Combine about this, he was steadfast in the fact that they were not interested in trading him. He's a big part of their plans and everything else.

So it seemed like it just came down to convincing him to stay. And you know what convinces people, Greg? $40 million a year will convince you to stay. I don't know what else they told him. Maybe they told him their plan and he liked it. But I think that the power of the dollar was definitely significant in this one. And it essentially all but ensures that he'll probably finish his career there. And, I mean, crazy things have happened.

And from a football perspective, it makes all the sense in the world. I think the deal might not look great in the long run. We'll see. Well, yeah, because at the back end, if he's 36 and, you know, struggling. We'll see. He's 40 years old. I mean, he's 30 years old. 40 would be wild.

He's making $40 million a year. I just thought if what you're saying is true that you couldn't make up for what he was in a trade package, you're right. I guess I will never know that. I would think that Garrett could have gotten a good trade package, but you're right, there's a huge difference between getting two-twos and a five and getting two ones and a three.

Like, I don't know where that offer was. Or who it's from. If it's from the Eagles and they're drafting the back half of the first round, it's not worth it. I don't know. But they're in a unique spot where, because of the Deshaun Watson contract, if they got a big return,

I thought it did make football sense to not pay Miles Garrett $40 million a year and give him what he wants. I do wonder if the fact that, you know, Andrew Barry and Stefansky, they got a win now, but especially the front office, you know, that plays a role in it, you know? They're not looking to rebuild.

They just came off a disaster season. They have to win. And clearly they're going to be better in 2025 with Miles Garrett. And I give Jimmy Haslam credit for being the type of owner that will just spend. He really does spend a ton of cash. It just hasn't been spent well. And so you hope for the Rams, I mean, the Browns rather, that they can figure out quarterback and that Miles Garrett isn't wasting these years.

Because you're right, you're probably going to get two more great years out of him at the least. Yeah, before he starts to decline. Yeah, of course. But, like, it just makes, you can't weather that storm, that fire storm. Like, no matter how, because Miles was painted like the bad guy in Cleveland over the last month. And understandably so because of the media tour he went on. But yeah. Well, yeah, he was pretty agro about it.

And there was a report that Jimmy Haslam wouldn't even meet with him. And then suddenly this contract happens. It's interesting. I don't know. It's an interesting example of ownership hardball where he's like, I hired a GM to do the job. And I'm going to let him do the job and not, you know, undermine him by talking to the player directly. I think if there's players you talk to you directly, it's guys like Miles Garrett. But at the same time, like when you look at it from the full picture, they can't

afford to have a losing season. Well, guess what? They can't afford to weather the storm of trading away Miles Garrett for two ones in the back end of the first round that are consecutive years and lose, you know, what, 13 games again? Then they're all fired. Right. I'm kind of amazed Andrew Barry's still there, but for the millionth time. I'm like, who knows if he's the one that actually wanted Watson? Maybe it was ownership, but who cares? Let's go. I'm just like, man, if you're all part of that, you just have to wear it.

And that's just the reality of it. You just have to wear it. It's what they're all going to be remembered for unless they do something great moving forward. So Fansky will always have those coaches of the year. He'll probably get another job, too, after Cleveland, if he wants it. I'm going with Derek Carr as my next most important. story of the weekend. Very interesting. He stayed with the Saints. He didn't change his contract. They had an automatic restructure that they could put, that they could use, which just means

he gets all the money up front and they push it out into the future. He reportedly refused to take a pay cut. They were trying to extend him another year, but while doing that, make him take a pay cut but give him some guaranteed money for next year he reportedly refused to and it's being put out there that he was quite open to leaving and like calling their bluff he's saying like you want to cut me like cut me i'm kind of cool with that weird that that gets out there just what what are the saints like now you have a quarterback like you i don't i don't i just don't get any of it like that it almost is certain that now it's his last year with the Saints, but that's a weird way to go into the year because his cap number next year shook

is almost $70 million. Like they're not going to be able to renegotiate it next. Like because they didn't do it this year, it almost sets up a situation where he has to be cut next year and have that money spread out. Just weird. I want better for the Saints fans out there. I get the argument for it that they also put out there kind of

through the media is that it's going to open up space for them to spend more on free agency this year than you would expect. Yeah, because this cap number is only in the $20 million range. And so you can redirect some of that cap space to try to get better immediately. It's also essentially a stare down that turned into, well, you're our bridge quarterback now. So enjoy your last year here. And hopefully you play well enough to earn a deal elsewhere after we get rid of you next year. Because you don't want to put a new head coach in a terrible position where you don't have a

quarterback or you have a rookie. So it makes sense from that perspective, but it is still kind of strange. But that's where the Saints are. But you just put him in a position where he has a quarterback that he maybe didn't want. Our guys at the Saints Black Party podcast reported that Moore didn't really want it. Mickey Loomis is calling the shots here. And more importantly, like now you're giving him a quarterback that you only have for one year. That's probably not your future.

And frankly, I'd be shocked if they don't draft a quarterback. To me, they're the odds on favorite for Shishadora Sanders. That's my hot draft date. But what is the alternative? The alternative is Spencer Rattler and Chidor Sanders. I'd rather cut Derek Carr, take your pain, and sign someone that's basically as good as Derek Carr, Jacoby Brissette, or whoever.

Like, what's the difference? That's fair. But at $20 million, how much are you really saving by cutting him now? Like, it's the cap number this year is what makes it possible, which is why it's weird. So they are going to try to win this year, and they'll do it by using some of this cap space with one more year of Derrickard.

Just like, it's just, it's just one of from the outside, the most confounding organizations in the league. And it's not like it's going well post-John. They sold their soul to the football devil when they extended Breeze and pushed all that money down the road and they're still paying for it.

Sure, sure, but Carr is different. Carr is, he's Derek Carr. Ronnie, I think he was interested in what was behind door number two, which makes you wonder, like, what was that? Was it Tennessee? Was it New York? I think he did have a market

and I think he knew it. Ronnie Stanley is staying with the Ravens, Shout out to Jordan Rodriguez, who pointed to the signs that he maybe didn't want to test what was out there. $44 million guaranteed. Three for 60. Great money for a guy whose career was in trouble because of health concerns. But not a crazy huge deal.

Kind of like the Steelers and we'll see with the DK once we peek under the hood. The Ravens always get like better deals than you expect. This is like a little better deals. It's almost like they get a discount for being so smart. I'm sure he could have gotten more from the Patriots. How dare you? Yeah, I want to say I had him expected in like the $25 to $27 million reason for the year he had.

And this is an example of betting on yourself paying off because he took a pay cut to stay because he knew he wasn't worth the money they were spending him because he just couldn't be available enough. And then he went and had a great year, a fantastic year. And instead of going for the biggest dollar value, he instead stays with the team that he knows well that has trusted him and given him the time

just as he's given them the concession of financially. And now he gets rewarded. at a number that's not extreme and it's feasible and it fits into what the organization wants to do. Yep. Good organization. Stay good by making moves like this. One less thing to worry about. They have plenty more to work on for the offensive line and the edge group. We'll see what they do this week.

All right, the rest of the stories that we talk about today and there's a lot of deals would probably lead the show or be second on the show for most of the next three months. The funny thing is like the entire office, season is going to happen over the next three or four days and a lot of it's already happened and then we'll spend like five months talking about it but the chiefs who were very active nick bolton back for three years 45 million see it's all very similar ernest jones we'll have jamie and sherwood coming up for the jets three years 45 million glad they kept him really a linchpin

to their defense hollywood brown is back for the same contract he signed for a year ago basically one year for $11 million. And I'll stop there before getting into Xavier Worthy's arrest. I think they really wanted Ronnie Stanley. That's what Daniel Jeremiah was hitting around at. And look, he hinted around at multiple things to me on and off air. Every single one of them has happened except for Ronnie Stanley. And that makes me think that they saw or knew that the price was being driven up by their

rivals, the Chiefs and the Ravens stepped up to the plate. That is what I expect to happen. But they use some of that money on Nick Bolton, Hollywood Brown, smart moves. Yeah, absolutely. Hollywood Brown didn't get to come back to the team until the second half of the season. So he didn't have really got his feet underneath him. And then they were in the Super Bowl and had a dreadful performance. But it does hurt me that they don't address tackle and they don't get the opportunity to swing at a guy like Ronnie Stanley.

They got more time. They got more time. They have time. And Nick Bolton, I think, the Nick Bolton thing's weird. Because we've talked about this. I think we talked about this in the tag primer where, he makes big time plays in key spots, but play-by-play basis, he's not like the most consistent. He's actually like kind of declined in that regard, but he's one of theirs.

He's one of their homegrown. And you get him at 15 a year, which is like Terrell Bernard's 12 and a half. I mean, it's still pretty good for a guy who's still very young, who you expect to develop more. So both make sense, totally different moves, both fit into the grand scheme of this franchise, but they still have a lot of work to do. I can hear Claibon's voice in my head laughing that I think Hollywood Brown coming back is a good move. his speed changed their offense he's a good secondary receiver he he has already learned the scheme worthy who was arrested over the weekend um for a domestic violence incident that involved

strangulation at his house including a family member those were the details from the williamson county sheriff's office has ultimately they decided to release a statement that says the following After further investigation and further discussion with a third-party witness, Mr. Worthy and his attorneys, this case is being declined at this time pending completion of the investigation by the Williamson County Sheriff's Office. So right now, he was arrested, but the case is now being declined, but they are investigating him. Those are very serious allegations. We'll see what happens. If he's on the field, him, Rishi Rice in Hollywood Brown with Travis Kelsey and Noah Gray,

Maybe they'll add to that, but that's a receiver group. That's a, that's a rock solid receiver group. And it's not to dismiss the seriousness of these allegations, but at this point, they were declined, so it's hard to really speak on that. But man, the Chiefs, they have a lot of guys that have a lot of issues off the field. It's a little bit by design.

Yeah, I agree. They take risks, and sometimes it pays off in the football field, and sometimes it doesn't. And that is part of the risk. Yep. Commander's Corner, Jonathan Allen, we haven't even done a show since he got released. Unless I snuck that into the DJ show, I'm losing track of days. So he is out there on the free agent wire, and he's in my top 45 now.

I think he can help a team out as a helpful rotational end. They brought back Zach Hertz for one year, $6.25 million, and they brought back Bobby Wagner for $8 million, guaranteed. They've already made the trade for Debo. They bring back a veteran leader on both sides of the ball. I mean, that defense overachieved last year, and a lot of it was because of Bobby Wagner, and the offense kept moving because Jaden Daniels could rely on Zacherts and key moments. So both of them earn these contracts. They're both short-term.

They make a lot of sense, and they're obviously attacking this with the Debo trade, and I don't think they're not even close to finish yet. They were rumored to be in the mix for D.K., that's what I heard. And I still think that they can consider something like that. Who knows how much D.K. had a role to play in this? I mean, he wanted to play somewhere warm and he ended up in Pittsburgh. Look, if you want to play somewhere warm, you want to live somewhere warm, you just got to make a priority.

That was my number one priority for college. I wanted to go somewhere warm. You know, and I made it happen. I went to a state school in Ohio. I wanted to go to a warm city. I was like, I want to live in a city, and I want to go so warm. Kids out there that are listening,

I actually think that was pretty solid thinking. Yes, if you grow up on the East Coast of the Midwest, leave your state for school. I promise you it'll work out. And like, look, Ertz and Wagner could fall off a cliff this year. But that's why I keep saying, this is the benefit of having

the commander specifically having so much caps. It doesn't matter if they're a little overpaid. They're off a cliff. They wanted them back and they've got more than enough to spend Lyons Corner. They cut Sedaria Smith, very surprised about that. Derek Barnes, who I didn't put in the top 101

because he's coming off a serious injury, gets three for $25 million. He's kind of a hybrid linebacker, edge rusher, but more of a linebacker. And then they brought back Marcus Davenport, who didn't end up playing for them really last year, one for four, who did sneak into the end of my 101. An interesting set of moves,

none of which I particularly expected. Zadarius Smith, I thought, played pretty well for them, but maybe they just didn't see him as a scheme fit or something or just wanted to prioritize some younger guys like Barnes and Davenport, even that they know better. Yeah, it's prioritizing younger guys, and I think that they're still looking to make some sort of splash. It might be more in name value than actual player quality,

but there is some talent out there, and they know that they need to upgrade that position to opposite Aidan Hutchinson when he returns from that broken leg. I mean, yeah, Zadarius played pretty well. Like he played like the guy you traded for in the middle of the season, but I don't think that's good enough for them and they understand that. So Mike Gaseki, top tight end to me in free agency is back with the Bengals. So the Bengals spending some money, three for $25 million.

Nice career comeback for Gassiki, who was starting to bounce around. And I thought before that Bengals contract was borderline not staying in the league and had a great year. And Trey Hendrickson has said there's nowhere he'd rather be than Cincinnati, but he is on the trade block. The reports are that the commanders are in the mix, the Falcons and the Cardinals, depending on which local reporter, which national reporter you believe, have also been mentioned. So that's an interesting one. Vikings corner here. Aaron Jones gets $13 million for 2025. Shout out to Aaron Jones. I like them, but that shows how much they really valued them. Two for 20 overall. Pretty top-in running back money, like a little surprise there,

But I ranked him high, so I like the deal. And then since we've last talked, Nick, Darnold not expected back. That was thrown out there even before the Gino trade. It really makes me think, like, all these teams kind of know, there are all, there's the whisper markets out there. Suddenly, Darnold was not expected back. That was before the Gino trade even happened.

He must have had that contract offer in place. Supposedly they're into Danny Dimes. We'll see. Remember, they did have him back. As they're back, I mean, he would be a backup in that scenario. Two items before. Hendrickson, I want to pair him with the team we just talked about the Lions. I don't think that that market is only those three teams.

They all make sense. But I do want to pay him there. And then the Aaron Jones thing, 30-year-old, right? So like the 30-year wall, but he had like 1,500 scrimage yards last year, and he fit in really well and he loves it there. So I see why they front-load that and say, all right, well, we'll give you this year. And then if you still play well, then we have you even cheaper next year.

That makes a lot of sense as well. Now, on the other hand, the idea of being in on Danny Dimes. He could be reclaimed somewhere maybe, who knows. Yeah, let's save that till he actually does sign. I do have a lot of thought. I agree with you. He's not the same dimes that he was four years ago. He's had massive injuries.

But they had him in the building and they got to evaluate him. We'll see what the money is there. I really think J.J. McCarthy is the weak one starter if Danny Dimes is the other guy there. All right, I'm going to fly through the rest of these because I do want to wrap up here today. If you really want to jump in, do it. but Harold Landry got a minor, like a major deal from the Patriots. So he was released by the Titans on Thursday and he got $26 million guaranteed, three for 43 million.

Patriots fans are like, hey, we need Mike Rable in charge. Can't have Elliott Wolf running things. We need Rable to go get a former Titan to get like Harold Landry, a declining player that no one wanted to trade for that is in PFF's bottom 10 percentile in terms of pass rush rate over the last couple years, but he does get a lot of sacks. He is a good run defender. I don't know.

It was the type of signing that Belichick would have made when it wasn't going well late. We'll see. It's a lot of money. I know they have a lot of money to spend, but... He's a rabble guy, though. So, you know, they did history. The Bucks re-signed Levante David for $9 million,

guaranteed. Love Lamante David did show decline last year, but he's earned that money. Baron Browning is back with the Cardinals, too, for 15, so they trade for him at midseason, saw enough of him to get him back at a pretty low-cost deal, didn't want to bet on himself, probably had an idea he wasn't going to do better. I keep mentioning these lower-tier guys are getting signed now in the negotiating period when they normally wouldn't.

The Falcon signed Jake Matthews to an extension, two for 45, $38 million guaranteed. I present to you my theory, shook, that he is the offensive lineman version of Kirk Cousins. what slightly better than average player has made more money than Jake Matthews. And he just got more money per year than Ronnie Stanley. Right. And it was tacked on to a deal that their...

His contract is almost like the Derek Carr contract where it's like they keep having to extend it out to make up for what was before and help their cap space. And then just some one-liners here since we last talk. The Chargers got rid of Gus Edwards. The Gus bus is loose.

The Raiders got rid of their starting center, Andre James. The Panthers re-signed a handful of players including Austin Corbett and Tommy Trembal. They're tight end. Chris Mannhirts and then the Jamie Gill and the Scottish Hammer is back with the Giants. Let's go. The Tray Smith signed his franchise tag, which does that make him easier to trade? Just something to think about it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Maybe not. Maybe just want to lock in that money before something weird happened. Jared Stidham is staying with the Broncos, two for 12. He's been getting those backup quarterback he's kind of the sneaky chase daniel of his era making a lot of money as a backup austin hooper returns to the pats for five million dollars

we're going to have so much on monday the schedule this week shook you're going to be back on wednesday that's officially the first day of the league year could have some more trades by then monday figures to be really busy obviously we got you covered on nfl network i'm going to be on the insiders if you guys happen to watch that on the network and then we wanted to tape Towards the end of the day, that's going to be the schedule so that we get everything that we can into that show, at least on Monday. So Patrick Claibon and I will be taping, you know, late in the evening, West Coast time. So these shows will be coming out a little later the first couple days of the week. But we will be doing a show.

It's in the title every day this week. Great cast of characters. Colleen and Jordan will be in for Tuesday's show. And football, it was making me think, Shook. It's a little like the difference between football and baseball in general. It's like the seasons, like the baseball is like game after game, day after day after day. Whereas football is just like Sunday. It's just like an orgasm of sport.

And that's what free agency is too compared to baseball, which just drags on. There's some early. There's some late. There's some whatever. It's like football. It's all done. And then you can get to bed. You know, look, I'm going to tread carefully here.

But I would think I would rather do it all in a few days and really just go for. broke, then be like, oh, it's Saturday at 4 p.m. and so-and-so just signed with the Yankees. Cool. It is one of my favorite weeks on the NFL calendar. Looking forward to it. Thanks again to Shuki. Let's play it out.

What is it? It's noon on the East Coast, 9 a.m. Pacific. I mean, by the time you guys hear this, some more signings, we'll be kind of... I mean, yes, when when we're reshaping the entire freaking NFL, you know football. It's back.

Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to 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,

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