NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Final Free Agent Lookahead with Mina Kimes

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

In a room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler get you ready for free agency with one final look at the NFL landscape heading into the frenzy. Before free agency talk, the guys get you caught up on news including rumors around Russell Wilson (03:58), the Broncos moving on from Justin Simmons (09:50), the Bills creating salary cap space (17:26) and more. After the break, Mina Kimes joins the show for a position-by-position break down of the free agency landscape, starting with wide receivers (31:25), followed by running backs (37:04), safeties (40:45), quarterbacks (44:17), linebackers (48:57) and cornerbacks (53:30). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast has downgraded Mark to questionable. I'm the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio. It's Around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis. Greg Rosenthal here. Mark Sessler, now you did take the serum. Is that why the injury designation you were downgraded?

I don't know the reason. These things are typically, you know, just dropped out of thin air into my lap i did learn that uh questionable to do what how about that like after uh dr tuffelhammer rest in peace by the way wow breaking news make it to today's show uh we lost uh the good doctor that cough was as bad as it sounded uh baker mayfield dealing with a really nasty case of uh gigantism in the head right now so hopefully that comes down by the opening of the legal tampering on monday i also like that Baker Mayfield

learned from a reporter during the Truth Serum interview that he was about to become a father that seemed to catch him off guard during the actual interview. It caught him off guard or maybe he just revealed that didn't care that much.

He was just like, got the O'Pair, I got things, I got money. Baker's still in the Baker zone. You know what I mean? I don't think he knew that his significant other was pregnant based on how that interview went.

I mean, he's got his wife in those commercials. too. So this is a big spot for Baker. Gigantism, though. That's... That's a tough one. I think he did say... He expressed a prize. I think he said, oh, really? I mean, she's, like, heavily pregnant, right?

So he's not very observant during the off season. He's off on his own, doing his own thing. As you wrote, Greg, in your 101, right up, he's gotten better with, you know, quick decisions. Maybe he's so quick now. He has not looked down and seen his wife extremely pregnant. I worry about how he sees the feet. then that seems like uh troubling as troubling as troubling as his career which like has one great year one bad year i you want him on the year with the one year three million dollar contract and maybe not the thirty five million dollar contract what's gonna happen i keep hearing he had a great season we'll see was it great

he had great moments actually his his finish strong and we're going to get into all the free agents uh with the franchise tag in the rear view and the transactions now largely done you would imagine his teams really dig in this weekend to begin there or finalized their plan of attack for free agency, which will be all over next week, shows Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, if necessary, Friday. A couple years back, we did a Deshaun Watson lands with the Brown's Friday emergency podcast. That was another time when I went out to lunch

and thought that that would be a calm afternoon and then bang and like a nuclear bomb lands on your face. We'll also be taping that. In your face. That Monday show from right before the I-Heart podcast. Yes. We're out, see if we win. Hopping on a plane on Sunday and heading to the I-Hard Awards.

More and more, I think we're going to win that, by the way. Really? I just feel like a sort of an energy. Like, we just assume we're going to lose to the Kelsey's. I think it's going to go the other way. I'm predicting I think we're going to win. Like a dune style disturbance in the forest type situation. I don't know what, I don't, I don't, not a dune person, but like, uh.

Isn't that a disturbance? No, it's not. And you know, it's not stupid. That's a strand. All right. So anyway, to talk about all that free agency stuff, we have one of the, man, let's be honest, one of the biggest names in the game. Mina Kimes, who does it all over to ESPN, and she's been on our show many times. And she'll be back on the show again in a little bit, talking over Greg's List and free agency in general.

But before that, let us get caught up on some news. Hopefully, give us our best chance to win the whole thing. Going to get a final, let's ride for Broncos Country. Of course, Bronco's Country. Let's ride. There we go. all right so russell wilson you've heard of this guy right oh yeah he now uh he no long he no longer he uh once upon time was a huge star for uh the seattle seahawks he went to the

broncos where he's expected to continue to be a huge star that didn't work out uh and now he is free to sign with any team and the steelers are on that list of potential teams beat writer jerry dulaq who's been there for a long time, reports that the team has interest in signing Wilson. Wilson, according to Dulac, also has interest in the Steelers. We talk about right church, wrong. Pew. I said last week when we were talking Justin Fields with Roto Pat,

that it's the worst smokescreen in Pittsburgh since the then Redskins, well, then, then Redskins, then coach, Mike Shanahan said he was deciding between John Beck and Rex Grossman. and he's ready to stake his reputation upon it. That's how it feels like with the quarterback room in Pittsburgh right now. They have to bring somebody in or we simply cannot take the Steelers seriously. However, Mark Sessler, I'm not sure if Russell Wilson joining the gang leads us to take them seriously.

But it would be an upgrade. It's and that's sort of what everyone's come to agree on. It's an upgrade. In theory over Kenny Pickett, it's like to me, I think it's a tough sell in some. the building. It's a tough sell to us. Fanbase that, you know, is not going to be, have the wool pulled

over their eyes. Like, we've all watched Russell Wilson for two years. And it's, you can spend last season as like, he was vastly improved. Like, no, he wasn't. Like, he is a shell of what he used to be. And I think it's a tough sell for Steelers fans to say, we're going this direction, or it's the only thing we're going to look at.

At least explore other options. I disagree with that. I think he was much improved from year one in Denver. In fact, and counting stats are they can mislead. But look at his counting stats with Hackett in year one in Denver. He threw for over 3,000 yards. He threw for 26 touchdowns, just eight interceptions, got benched down the stretch. So he could have flirted with a 30 touchdown season there in Denver, which we kind of don't even think about it that way because it didn't look so great. The tape didn't quite match some of the good production. But he had runs where he

did succeed. So yes, I think I agree with you, Mark, that it's a hard. hard sell. But maybe it's a bigger upgrade than we think just because we're so down on Wilson and the Wilson experience at this point. I'm closer to Mark here in the two polls just because what's that saying? Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. So that would be a reason, okay, well, Russell Wilson's an incremental improvement. I would say do let perfect be the enemy of good in this case. The whole point of a front office is to find a top 10 to 12 quarterback. That's it. That's the most important thing that is in your entire organization until you have one. You need to have a shot to go find one. And signing Russell Wilson is giving up on that shot to me.

He's not a big enough upgrade to me from Mason Rudolph. To me, he is the Kenny Pickett of like veteran quarterback options where Kenny Pickett was like the same. guy that no one really wanted to take in the first round and he was the 20th pick in the first round. He wasn't like a real exciting quarterback prospect. It was like kind of aiming for the middle. And that's Russell Wilson. There's no point in signing a mid-level quarterback because that's going to stop them from going after a great quarterback, which is what they need to do. Like, they need to spend all their resources on that. I think you might, I could have this wrong. But perfect is the enemy of good

would mean that they are only going for the best possible and because they're only going for the best possible they're not looking at getting something good or close to... Yeah, like don't ignore getting better and Russell Wilson in theory is getting better. So I say that does not apply here.

You want it be the... Hang on. Hang on. You want the words flipped. No, I say what I've heard before is good is the enemy of great. Well, that's... It's all in the same. Don't... So if you settle for Wilson, you're not going for the great, which would be the top 10 quarterback. Yeah.

Perfect is the enemy of good. It's all in the same idea. I'm more side with Mark on this side of the poll. This is going great. Voltaire is the man who is most commonly attributed to. So I wish we could dig him up and ask him. Right. I don't know where Voltaire had Russell Wilson on his free agency rankings,

but it's like, to me, it's not high. It's not enough higher than Russell, than Kenny Pickett or Mitchell, Well, according to your rankings, you'd rather have Jacoby percent. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. We'll get to that. I mean, Russell Wilson had also had one of the highest sack percentages in the NFL in each of the last two years. Important to note.

His yards per attempt last year. We're actually down from the year before. I like Jake Briske, but I mean, is he going to be the new Teddy now? We're going to be talking about him 12 years from now. No, but my point is. Don't get me start on Tyrod Taylor in your top eight. Can we please? He's not, he's not, he's, well, top eight.

free agent quarterbacks. He played great last year in his limited time, so he's a great back. He walks with a limp at this point. Backups are worth something. But Jacoby, to be fair, would kind of be in the same bucket

for me where you're not really trying for a great quarterback either. I think it'd be a better option. But the point is you need to be putting bigger resources into taking a big swing. You're not going to win with defense and running. In that division, too, please.

All right. So, yes, as we talked about at the beginning of yesterday's show, The decision to trade for Russ Wilson and Denver and then give him the massive contract will have continue to reverberate with that organization for years because they have $85 million and dead cap money. Not to bum out, you know, my neighbor or whatever. Sounds like he's already going through it.

They have no chance to win the Super Bowl in the next two years, in my opinion. And I think deep down they know it too. So is it affecting some roster decisions? now as they look ahead to the next season. The Broncos release safety, Justin Simmons. This man was a second team all pro in four of his last five seasons. He's been to the Pro Bowl multiple times. He's not young, but he's not old.

He's turning 30 at the start of next season. Had another productive season last year. But the Broncos move on. Greg, I think A, Simmons got to be in a good place on the 101. And B, is this a good place? Is this a direct correlation to Russ? I think it's a close correlation to Russ. I think they viewed Simmons.

It was written by one of the beat reporters as a luxury that they could no longer afford. I think it's a little more complicated than that. He's turning 31 this year and he's coming off, probably his worst season. I know he got that second team all pro that might have been off a little bit off reputation if you talk to some people.

So like you saw some decline and he's getting older at a cheap position. Would he have been released, though, if they just had like $80 million in cap space? No, probably not. So this is a rare case. I think it is a cap cut, but if he was playing at his very best level,

he wouldn't be cut. Every time these cuts happen, like some people point out, see, the cap is real. All you people that say, the cap's not real, it's real. I get that. But there's always, like, context to it,

which is these players still never get released if the teams really want to. to keep him. I don't think they really wanted to keep Justin Simmons. They didn't really view him as a difference making. Yeah, just against the combination of his age, his position, and the fact that they, like, they legit did need to make some tough decisions with the Russell Wilson situation. And 14.5 in cap savings is that matter. Well, and to Dan's, you know, good point yesterday. Take all the medicine you can now. So it's like, we're not winning the Super Bowl this year.

Justin Simmons at most probably has one more year left with us based on this contract. It's like, do the Patriots thing where maybe we'll risk getting rid of them a year too early, but it's probably not and just moving. Because they can have it be a $53 million price tag this year, and they'd have to make some more cuts, but it's like they can make

it not just split down the middle. For Russell. Right, right. For Russell's part of it, but that affects the rest of their financials, but I totally agree with Dan. It's like, use this year to get as healthy as you can for next year. So they, I'm with you. They can't win a Super Bowl in the next two years, kind of, of course.

But I don't think it's not just because of Russell Wilson. It's just because he's inheriting a pretty bad roster. It is crazy to me. And this is an anomaly. Last year, the Bucks had $76 million in Dead Capsby. 76. The Rams had over 70. They both made the playoffs.

The next two teams on that list were the Packers and the Eagles, who had nice seasons, you know, because they ate a lot for Aaron Rogers, over 55. So I think there's a route to being competitive, not winning a Super Bowl, certainly not this. What were those teams again? The Rams and the Bucks. Established star quarterback bucks.

Sure, but over under like win total was the lowest. I guess what I'm saying is what we're a surprise. Why I'm especially strong on that with Denver is not only did that move backfiring kill you financially, you're starting over again at quarterback. So it's like unless something falls into your lap, it's, it was a five-year mistake. Their route is the Baker. In there, it sucks. The Baker route where they, the Buck stumbled on Baker.

for that amount of money, got decent quarterback play. Could they do that certainty with Sean Pee? Or a rookie. I mean, they could do it with Baker. Right. The problem is the rest of the roster,

I'm with you, the Bucks, the Rams. Now in hindsight, the Packers had a lot more going on. We also spent about four off seasons in a row suggesting that the Broncos looked like an AFC title type roster.

And it never panned out. None of these guys ever panned out across the board. That always bothered West. West was always kind of big on the Broncos. They just looked loaded in the offseason. Even the Joe Flacco Broncos, he was like thinking they might turn it around. Yeah. I think we're done with the offseason hype pieces around Jerry Judy and Cortland's son.

Yeah, it's got a little tired. Yep. It's time. You know what else it's time for, Mark? Ezra Cleveland update. Bang! The Jaguars signed the guard to a three-year, $28.5 million contract. Rap sheet says that deal includes $14.5 million in

guaranteed money. So the Jags who got Cleveland from the Vikings at the deadline, they lock him up before he reaches the open market, a bully to them. And I'm sure bully to, you know, Trevor Lawrence. A lot of guards are going to get paid. I don't think Jaguars fans are too excited about this. But this is an indication that a lot of...

I've spoken to Deverell. And they are over the moon, Greg. I'm really basing this on John Shipley, who is a great reporter and his... He didn't seem too excited. He's a reporter, not a writer. Hey, I just, hey, listen, I just root for good storylines, okay? I mean, when I was a kid, you know, when I was a teenager, yeah, I had favorite teams.

But then I grew up and, you know, I'm not out here rooting for laundry. Oh, they said the report. I feel, you know, but the storylines, that, that I root for. I root for the players, you know, I root for certain players that are good guys, but root for a team? I'm a grown man. Why? Can I ask you one question? Why do you take this so briefly?

Can't they do what they want? Are you asking me or that guy? I'm asking you as the portrayal of that person. Every time someone's coming up with a viewpoint that you don't quite agree with, they, like, suddenly barely passed high school from Hackensack, New Jersey. I'm saying that's just a very standard block and tackle. Yeah. I mean, you have to, I feel a little attack because I almost feel like at this point,

I have to, I actually have to pretend I'm more of a fan of the Patriots than, than I am just to satisfy Dan's craving. No, you got a little bit of the... You got a little bit of the Sessler in you where... Yes. Your true feelings betray how you're trying to put out sometimes, depending on how the pads are playing. And you have a little more energy about them still when you talk about it.

Absolutely. I'm going to be following them and more into them than any other team. Hey, it's just laundry. But it's just the volume is so far down than where it was that it's tough. Well, you're not a child at this one. I'm a grown man. I don't root for teams running around with the colors on. Oh, I love it. like their colors.

Forget child. Grow up. I'm just a frontrunner because it's like I was just as big a fan in 16 and an 18. It was just like, okay, we've accomplished it all. What's the point? You can't be taken seriously in this business unless you really take a step back. I can't take him seriously in this business. Is that how he performs?

I also feel bad, though, Dan, because sometimes I realize I put the news rundown in the wrong order. and I did edit in our Slack channel. I did not intend to have Ezra Cleveland that. That's true me. That's true me. I moved it back down in a later edit, but I don't think you saw that.

That probably should have been. That was just one of the edit. That was an odds and ends on the end. It's in our pod now. Oh, there it is. There's the latest. Bill's News. We talked about Jordan Poyer being cut yesterday.

I don't think this falls on the wrong side of the vengeance scale. But there was more to come from Buffalo starting yesterday. They also cut cornerback Tradavius White, big name, Mitch Morse. They rework Von Miller's deal. We talked about how that was a mistake that they were living with. And they also bring back Mitch Trubit. I mean, that's weird. In all this like news.

Got to get to Mitch Travis. Got to get, got to get Mitch locked down before the open market really gets the size up where he fits in. And Taylor Rap also signed by Buffalo. So a bunch of moves there. And, you know, this is a team very clearly managing their salary cap and also Mark looking to take things in a slightly different direction next year. You know the coach is going to be there.

You know the play caller. You know the quarterback. But there's a lot of other things. You get the idea that Buffalo is a team to keep an eye on, how they attack this offseason after yet another really painful play. off ouster. Yeah, you saw this coming because this was another case where we left the building and then the bills flooded the newswire with additional cuts. But they were like when we finished our show from in terms of over the cap, like in the worst cap situation in the league, they shaved

37 million off of that. That helps. There's more work to do. But it is interesting because reading some stuff from people in Buffalo right now that like Sean McDermott, who has not nothing but success. If you go globally compared to what the bills were before Sean McDermott, seems to be about on as big of a hot seat as there is right now. I think, like, fans are going absolutely crazy. He just seems to be under a lot of pressure. I, I know, and I get it. There are some things about him that are frustrating to me.

And, you know, the 9-11 story and how he runs that team pointed out some of his weaknesses. But I also think, like, you got to give teams credit that are right in the mix every year. Like, that's the whole goal. Right, he succeeded. I know, I know we're in this thing that you only, these Super Bowls matter. It's like, no, that 2017 season was magical when they first made the

playoffs. And then in the last four seasons, they've been right there. And it's very frustrating. But this was, I think, a necessary day for them where they had to change eras a little bit. Poyer was part of that era. Tradavius White made some all pro teams. But he just tore his Achilles. He had a torn ACL. Like, this is a move they would have made in any season. Mitch Morris, I thought, was interesting because he's played like 1,200 snaps a season for four or five straight years. And he's a solid set. but just maybe a little overpaid. So that was the cap space thing.

And then Vaughn Miller only is keeping his job because he had all this guaranteed money. And I was curious, he actually took less money in this deal. Why did that happen? That's weird. And someone inside the league texting me, he could get suspended. And the way they structured it,

he's going to get guaranteed that money. So he took like $3 million less. But if he does get suspended, he'll end up with more. So, you know, it works out for these players with the guarantee. I know that football is completely different than basketball. But I don't feel that Sean McDermott, hot takes on 9-11, notwithstanding, should be on the hot seat.

I'm going to use my own fandom parallel in the NBA when Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and John Starks, and whether it's Doc Rivers or Derek Harper, could not get over the hump against the Bulls and Michael Jordan. And I don't remember anybody in that, in that, uh, media market ever saying, we got to fire Pat Riley because, yeah, but Pat Riley had won like five titles. But I'm saying like it was, it was, I understand that. But it's sometimes my point being, uh, you get good at the wrong time. And Buffalo running into the, the teeth of the Patrick Mahomes era is really tough. And I understand that like you could say, well, then you got to bring somebody in that

can figure out how to beat Pat Mahomes and maybe that time will come. but I'm just giving McDermott and the Bills fans in general and Eric Roberts behind the glass this is just a very, I've been there in a different way as a fan, like it's so frustrating to be here at this moment because if there was Noamah Holmes, yeah, the Bills probably get over the hump once or even twice by now, but they haven't been able to.

I guess also what I was noting was that like Bill's fans in that region, I'm not saying, you know, high-thinking Bills fans from, you know, other parts of the country, but it's like there isn't a level of agitation. I don't, how do we decide if he's on the hot seat or not? He just, I think there's a fair amount of pressure and a tightening vice around the bill's experience. And he, he adds to that because he's just about as tightly wound as ever. I'm feeling that now. I'll bring a basketball reference closer.

I consider the bill is the Lobb City Clippers and Patrick Mahomes, Steph Curry, and the Warriors. Like, you can't even get out of the West. They never even, right. They never even got to a conference final, but that, that's fair. I was thinking about my Celtics right now. We've had a ton of success. Football is completely different. And anything short of a championship

is going to be disappointing when you're the big They're on the Steinbrenner Doctrine. You must win the NBA finals. At this point, this season, which is not a great place to be. It's not great because if they lose to the nuggets, it's like, that's totally understandable. And yet, you know who found...

I also sound like an idiot in that clip, by the way. I don't think so. Football is completely different than basketball. That is an embarrassing soundbite. It's fine. It's fine. You're fine. No, I forgot what I was going to say But it was probably trenchant

All right, that's what's happening In the news We'll take a break And then we'll welcome in Meena Kimes Welcome back Sausage finger's getting a lot of use On the axe

recently because we've been having a lot of great guests and that role continues for around the NFL back for another appearance. Oh, it seems like so long ago that Mina Kimes was coming into our old studio in Culver City. It stopped at a gas station and got us some hip-hop-themed potato chips and it began a wonderful relationship, the ESPN star and the NFL heroes.

So what's up, Mina Kimes? Welcome back to Around the NFL. Hey, I don't know if that was the beginning of our relationship. I don't even know if that was my first appearance. I think it was your first appearance. And also, I believe you'd had a rough and tumble time at that 7-Eleven before picking up those chips. That is true. That is lore now in our relationship that I was so determined to make it that I...

Mina, you'll find out Dan likes to create narratives, which over the years, you know, just start forming into total fictions that... Create narratives? This is just storytelling. I mean a pop quick pop quiz what was the the hip hop star who was on those potato chips I think it was Cardi B oh incorrect Greg well I don't know if I'm right this came up we were talking about it you spoke confidently about it when it was me goes I thought it was megos chips that sounds potentially right all right no but you spoke with confidence when we talked about it last time one of your listener you guys have a very active engaged fan base I'm sure one of them

Good call. And, you know, and remembers your can dip, go back into the archives. Oh, you got that right. Let us know who is correct. All right, Mina, you have taken some time out of your busy schedule. And thank you for that to help us dig in on the updated rankings. And by the way, just to put it on your radar, Mina, because you're a major national personality. Mark Sessler and I are going to be putting out our free agency 213 at midnight on Tuesday.

So just let let if you want to us on one of your programs. Yeah, still working on it. We're available. Doggedly. We're available. Tuesday seems like a bad time for it since like kind of all the things happen. Don't need it. Don't need to hear from you and Greg on this.

Our way. Anyway, Greg's 101 is updated. So Greg, why don't you get us going here? How do we want to attack? What's going on? All right. So I thought it would be fun. We go through by position.

Now that all these free agent tags have been put on, we've had some interesting players added. to the list like Justin Simmons is now in the in the top 50 and maybe go through by positions good just do a quick run through of like a top 10 by positions and then you you guys throw out what you don't like or any sleepers any bus any fits that you like I think defensive end is probably still the deepest even though the top of the lot got taken away so at defensive end edge I have daniel hunter out there at number one Jonathan grenard your boy mina and number two I don't know if he's your boy. Bryce Huff. Chice Young, four, Zedarius Smith, 5, Andrew Van Ginkle, 6, Jedevian Clowney, Josh Uche, Dorrance Armstrong, Marcus Davenport.

I mean, even guys like Shaq Barrett and Leonard Floyd or good players are not on the list. This is a position where you can still find some players in free agency. I think Renard especially had a nice week that he's kind of the only guy in the sweet spot that is hitting free agency at this time and there's going to be a bidding war. And I think the Texans are comfortable, letting him go for whatever reason. Grenard, I don't know if he's my boy.

He's kind of like an NFL Twitter sweetheart, right? He's a hipster favorite, yeah. He is, well, last Obo Canranco was Jonathan Granar before Jonathan Garard, incidentally on the same team. He's like, I'll watch the tape and you see how good he is, how complete he is. Good player, though. He is a good player. I agree with you on Houston, especially since you got Will Anderson, Jr.

They do have a lot of cap space. So I like this group. It's a lot of one, Bs and twos. Hunters, I think, the only, like, real superstar. A guy like Bryce Huff is someone who, you guys know, you know, small sample size All-Star. Question, did New York just have too much depth? Obviously, they like to rotate their pass rushers. Or did they feel he wasn't an every down player?

That's the kind of question the acquiring team will have to answer. answer. Just looking at this list, I think that Andrew Vankeekle was like surprisingly great last year. That's a player that I feel like could be had at a reasonable price. He's a Mark favorite. It's not just his name. He sounds like it came from a child's fable. But like at the same time, like I feel like it's years in a row when you're watching the dolphins. And he pops up once a game or twice a game doing something completely different. it's like Greg notes in this that Bill Belichick was still in New England. He'd be going to the Patriots like today, right now.

But I think he can help. He's the kind of free agent pickup I like because you don't have to like blow your budget for him, but he always seems to make a difference. I think Huff is a guy you want to take a swing on, I think. As a Jets fan, I saw how constant he was in terms as a pass rusher. And yeah, like they didn't trust him against the run. So that is, you know, you got to watch your tape and make a judgment on your own outside the building but 26 years old with like win rates that are as good as like almost any player

in the league if if you can get him at he's going to be expensive but if you can get him at a little bit less than uh you know where the top names are going you might get the most productive you know sack specialist of any of them so i i understand why the jets might be going walking away but i also could see it ended up being a big mistake it matters so much like when you hit free agency because like josh ush coming off last year would have been yeah towards the top of the list and And the Patriots, like, they never just played him that much. And he's still a good pass rusher, but do you trust him? I have a little bit of, like, Chase Winovich, I don't know, fatigue is the right word,

or just remembering how poorly his post-Patriots career went. And he was kind of a similar type player. But it is a position. You need three edge players, essentially, in the NFL, three good ones. And these guys can all be number two. There's guys who aren't even on the list, like, you know, In Gakway is still out there. Epinessa, Charles Harris, like, that are decent. it's deeper than other positions.

You can actually find guys unlike receiver. Let's talk receiver. Wait, can we just, I have one last idea for Jadavian Clowny who's coming off a really good year in Baltimore. Can we, you know how we, what's the name of the event on NFL network where we come back to camp,

back to training camp or something? ITC, inside training camp. But like the big launch day. I think it's like we're all back together. Back together. That's what you guys call it. Yeah. So, um,

we're never actually back together. We're never included. We're just still here. Everybody but ATN back together Saturday. Um, but, you you jade a even clown he's at the event wherever one of the camps and you

get a big wheel and whoever it lands on gives him a one year seven million dollar contract I feel like he'll sign that and everybody wins I would not mind him for my Seahawks reunion with Mike Mack who I thought got the most

out of him that was a tremendous marriage of defensive coordinator with his skill set because he's so versatile he can cover he's so athletic already has to a jersey, right? If you don't kind of forget the Davian Clowny era in Seattle,

but yeah, you know, that's something that they need to augment. And that strikes me as, like you said, like that one year, single digit millions, maybe a high with incentives kind of deal,

but the coach already knows how to use him best. Good news for you under my plan, one and 32 chance. That is where the value is in the agency. It's like you're not going to get stars at good prices, but you can get especially these older defensive linemen or older defensive players in general. and you get them on one-year contract.

The Browns loved it last year with him and Zadari-Smith. Let's talk receiver where there won't be cheap contracts. The top 10 now has been decimated. And now Calvin Ridley's the best receiver available, in my opinion. Mark East Brown, who I heard Mina, you and our friend Patrick Claibon, dismissing on your podcast. It's a whole ATN Mina Kimes crossover this week, because you have our regular Patrick on your show,

and we'll have to check that out. You know when you have a player that you and a friend or a colleague of the media are obsessed with and whenever they do something good, you text it's, I'm sure like Greg Rosenthal and Stephen Ruiz, anytime Gino Smith did everything good. I'm sure you guys got in touch because he was your guy. So Marquis Brown is like the opposite for me in Claibon. And I think it's because we were kind of Lamar stands and we were constantly let down by his drops. And every time he would have a drop.

Instantly, I would pull up my phone and one of us would text the other and upset, be angry about it. I look at the scrup of receivers and I look at the draft and I just don't see why you would pay a significant amount of money for them. I think the guys at the top, you're Higgins, Evans, they're probably going to, you know, Indy has money and they can keep Pittman Jr. We'll see for how much. But beyond that, guys, wouldn't you rather have a rookie on a cost-controlled contract

given how well they've played in recent years? Yeah, so the rest of the list, they are. candidates to get overpaid. Gabe Davis, I have third. Curtis Samuel, who I'll never give up on and is somehow still only 28 years old and is a great role player. It actually probably won't cost that much. So I think he's not a bad pickup. Darnell Mooney, K.J. Osborne, O'Dell Beckham, Tyler Boyd, Michael Thomas, who we're going to get to a little later for Flaming. It's a bunch of malcontent. Jeff Duncan. Kendrick Bourne, who I always think is good, and then

Josh Reynolds, and it falls out for there. So it's like a bunch of role players. Brown, Ridley, and I think Gabe Davis are probably going to be that guy you're talking about, Mina, where they get paid a ton of money without, you know, having a ton of production. I like Markis Brown. You like he's a play. You have to keep him happy, though. It's like no matter what situation he's in, like you're playing with one of the best quarterbacks of our generation.

And by the end of it, he's like tweeting stuff and he's, you know, it's adjutant. So it's like you've got to be careful if you're going to go give him a ton of money. Is this the year where Odell's market finally kind of matches up with, where he is or where you know where is that he's still even another year later and he's still only he's 31 like what we did see some things mina from odel but then he was also losing playing time down the stretch in baltimore and i'm and and greg as you pointed out in your 101 right up which i agree with i wonder if they if they could do it over again would baltimore get new copkins and maybe things are different there but that's the past uh where do you think odel's market is uh this

off season. I think this is the year that it drops off because last year it was mystifying to me who Baltimore was bidding against when they paid him. What was it 16 million if I remember correctly? It actually almost felt like like a Lamar cost to get the deal with Lamar. That's total speculation. But you remember at the time when they signed Odell? Well, then it was worth it. But yeah. Yeah. They might have been they might have been negotiating a little bit against Aaron Rogers general manager of the Jets back then. He was reported. connected to them a lot and then Baltimore went and got him. That's how I remember that.

Maybe he'll be a jet. But, but yeah, yeah, I just, again, like I don't, there were moments where you saw with the ball on his hands still looks really good. But he's so, he was so inconsistent for Baltimore. And then at the end, you know, it just games where he wasn't used at all. Here at, um, NFL network, they've got paintings all up and down the hallway of NFL legends. And at one point, um, they painted initially and this got on my radar. It's all the yarn.

Well, Odo Beckham was painted as a Cleveland Brown because that's when we kind of landed here in theory. And then by the end of the season, some painter had come in and change him to a ram. And then they just stopped changing the outfit because it's like he's going to be on his, you know, multiple teams since then. So. Well, they made the mistake.

They should have just used the image on the wall of him doing the one head to catches a giant and away we go. When I was writing that write up, I actually was thinking about, you know, a theory which seems obvious enough. But as I get older, I think it's more and more true. like how much money would have, how much money less would O'Dell have made in his career

if he wasn't so good looking? This is coming up on you, you know, your pet project, love his blend. I think, I think it really has mattered. I think if he was like an unattractive guy

all along, he would have made like less money. Okay, he's attracted. There's a lot of attractive guys in the NFL, but he also has, I think, I just mentioned the catch.

The catch gave him a, he made him a legend. Yeah, it's the marketing aspect. of the catch, but again, but that all contributed to it. It's good theory, Greg. Greg, Sequin, though, I feel like is as much of a looker and he might get iced out here.

Although if, you know, I think the big data bowl is over, but if someone who goes to MIT Sloan wants to test Greg's theory and see whether pretty privileged exists in the NFL, obviously Jimmy G's going to drag up those averages. But beyond that, you might be on to something. Well, and even Seekon, maybe

he wouldn't have been as big a star coming out of college. You wouldn't have had as much hype. it, like, all feeds into itself. Let's talk running backs while we're here. By the way, I mean, can you come back a Saturday night live show at Jockers Daly and Culver City? Greg's going to unveil his top 10 babes of the NFL. If you could join us for that show.

Get a babysitter and, you know, just. I'm looking at this free agent now, wondering who is going to be the pretty privileged pick of this class. You know, Kirk's done pretty well in this career too. Okay. Top 10 running back. Saquan, Derek Henry, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Austin Eckler, DeAndre Swift, J.K. Dobbins keeps going.

Devon Singletary, A.J. Dillon. I'd go even Zach Moss is in my top 10. Outside the 10 is Antonio Gibson, Gus Edwards. This is one where the veterans seem like they're better than the rookie class. So not like they're going to get paid because there's so many of them. But this is the year, for instance,

I would like to get Tony Pollard. That would be the guy if I was a GM out of that group. And maybe DeAndre Swift would be a close second of like he's not going to cost that much, but Tony Pollard, a year removed from that injury. People didn't really give him much leeway for coming off that injury a year ago.

I would go after Tony Pollard. No? I don't know. I was like your 1B. Like you have like, I don't know. Like for instance, the Patriots, they could put a 1B with Ramandre Stevenson and that's a nice one two punch.

I increasingly am of the mind that that two track sort of approach to running back is the way to do it. You get a veteran who's kind of a mid-tier running back contract. So not that much. And then you draft you're running back in the mid to later rounds. So what Miami has, right? With Mo Sturt and A. Chan, for example.

So, yeah, if you could grab like a Pollard on a reasonable deal to pair with a rookie, Henry and Spears in Tennessee this past year as another team that did that, I think that makes sense. I don't think any of these guys are going to command huge contracts because, as you said, there's so many of them. And the draft is not great. Can I throw out one prediction? And there are some guys that are going to up getting paid a little bit more than we're expecting.

I think Saquan of the guys on this list, there might be a general manager to that view him as a little different. And with a higher ceiling and then right offense should be a better looking, a little different. Bronx native like that maybe he can be somebody that gets a bigger deal, not a monster contract, but a contract where it's like, oh, he got an extra year. It's some more guaranteed than we expected. He's different. We mentioned this yesterday, like, I love the idea of him on the, just plug him into the Houston Texans who have like the most second, third most cap money in the league and are to come out of this, like, some reporting they're not into him for what I think they're going, that team is going to come out of this like March to May process as like the darlings, the uprising darlings. But because the NFL probably is just a sigh up, of course, Saquan Barkley will wind up in the, on the Dallas Cowboys. Like, what do you think about that?

The nerd number is actually like Sequin more than I thought this year, obviously. super frustrating offense to watch. There were still games this year where Seguan would just take over, right? And it was very obvious he was still the best weapon in New York. But bad run blocking, the basic numbers were not good. The next-gen stat metric that I like, return over, rushing yards over-expected, which accounts for blocking and the positioning of the defenders,

still had Sequin as, I believe, a top 10 back amongst the high-volume backs. which was actually better than anyone else, I think, of these free agents when I looked it up. He's different. Yeah. So I think he's not one of those guys, what I'm saying, who's like all fluff and all fame and looks.

I do think he's still a really good player. I think he's better in some ways than he was as a rookie and is a smarter runner, like takes what's given. I thought he ran really well last year. I actually thought Josh Jacobs ran well enough in the last month of the season that you were like, ooh, that was Josh Jacobs again, that I was...

Didn't he miss the last month? He concerned. Or his last, his last games of the season, he finally started making people miss like he used to. Okay, let's take a quick break here with Meena, and we'll be right back with more discussion of the Greg 101. All right, welcome back. Let's go to safety.

I want to, that's, this is the deepest position, just because teams don't care about it. There's so many players available. It's kind of crazy. I have Chaunty Gardner Johnson at one. I feel like, so I did check out the rank. rankings of other places after I put mine up. And people are way down on Chauncey Carter Johnson now.

He's no longer like in the top 50s in any of these other lists. So I guess I'm on a limb there. Xavier McKinney, who's great, Cam Curl, who's great. Julian Blackman, who quietly had a really nice season. Then Justin Simmons, Jordan Fuller, Jeremy Chin, Gino Stone, Jordan Whitehead, Alohey Gilman. It goes on and on. Your boy, quandary digs, maybe he should be on this list too.

Micah Hyde, we're not sure if he's going to retire. There are a million safeties out there. Meena, pick, pick something you don't like about my list. I just, that's what is my, my love language. I miss, Wes used to just at this point in the show, just tell me what I had wrong. Yeah, I mean, CJ, like, I think you're right, people are probably too low on him,

just because last we saw of him, when he did come back from injury, he was very late in the season, and he wasn't quite himself, still a really good player, but I don't, I, I would put him outside of the top five, to be honest. I mean, these are some really good safeties.

Like Justin Simmons, I know he's 30 years old, he still plays at such a high level and he's so versatile. You look at, I really think he could probably play in any defense, but I mentioned on Twitter today that, you know, the Packers are a team that are going to be linked with a lot of safeties. They're switching to new scheme with their defensive coordinator, Jeff Haffley, more single high. Simmons is a guy who can play the post. He can drop down into the box. He's still a really, really good tackler. He's really, really smart. call the defense.

To me, maybe McKinney and Curl, I would put above him just because they're young and also very talented. But if you're a team, you're just like, McKinney's really good. If you're just like a safety away, though, and you're kind of filling out the roster like Green Bay, I would love like a Justin Simmons. And Simmons is like a like Walter Payton man of the year, locker room guy, like is the guy that you just anchor your defense around and like you plug it into this Green Bay team that's on the rise.

I like that. Green Bay does not have a safety. really on their roster. No. Right now. Like because the, and they struggled last year at the position. Maybe they think they don't need one.

Right. And the ones. Yeah. Yeah, go ahead. Well, doesn't it feel like that defense just, they keep drawing draft first round draft picks at it. And it just never clicks.

And there's always these coverage busts. And I know they hate Joe Barry, a defensive coordinator, but the problems precede that doesn't it feel like they need that veteran cerebral presence? I know J. Alexander is forever my honorary captain of that defense, but a guy to really be the,

leader of the defense. I don't know. Like, for me, like a guy, you have a lot of youth. Bring in that sort of veteran presence, super smart player, guy who's seen it all. And I feel like this roster is so close. Right. They should do what the best thing to do in free agency is, which is just get role players. Like, that's the best free agency is to fill role players, like lower level starters.

You just made me think, though, we're, everyone's going to be so high on the Packers this year. I just really, I'm going to, I'm going to be. because there are pretty easy fixes here, the coordinator on defense, the safety position, like stuff you can actually do to fix this team and so many good things that they are going to be the trendy,

like they make the Super Bowl team in September. What I do? Let's do quarterbacks. So Kirk's actually going to become a free agent. I do wonder if Denver is sitting out there as the team that, like, is getting no buzz, which is often the team that actually sign. makes the big signing because they

keep it in-house. And I just think Denver, Atlanta, in my mind are the two most likely places now with Minnesota. Then it's Jacoby Percept, Baker, Tana Hill, Russ, James Winston, Minchu, Tyrod. I got Josh Dobbs and Sam Darnold. There's a lot of people out there.

Drew Locke isn't even Matt Mason Rudolph. There's a lot of backup quarterbacks available. Do I have your, do I have Russell Wilson in the right spot here? Like, Dan, I think that some too much. I would put him over Tanna hell. Tannejole was really bad last year. It's fair.

Really bad. I mean, Jacoby over Baker is so spicy, Greg. That has stood out to all of us. He just skated over. He's like, yeah, then I got Jacoby. Then I got Baker. We've been trying to reason with Greg for years on this. I don't think you totally disagree.

Who has been better when he's actually played quarterback? I mean, I kind of think she does based on the way she reacted just. I don't believe it. I don't believe it. I would rather have Jacoby at the contract that I think he'll command relative to Baker in a vacuum, I would probably go with Baker. I thought he put together some really nice performances last year. But Baker at like 35 versus Jacoby at 10, give me Jacoby all day long.

I want to ask you a question. Do in your world, do you think it matters at all that Kurt Cousins' wife is from Georgia? This was a concern with Mike Mack, by the way, in Seattle because his wife is also from Georgia. And the Ciac fans are very concerned about the Falcons. the lure of Atlanta. I mean, less so than that to me is the Zach Robinson offensive coordinator, the Ramsification of the Falcons. It just seems like Kirk Cousins is such a natural fit

for what they're going to want to do on offense and they have the money to do so. I feel like they're the obvious leader in the clubhouse of Minnesota doesn't bring him back. You mentioned Denver. I mean, they would have to go full Saints cap to try to make that work. Pittsburgh to me makes way more sense than I don't think they're going to do it because it seems like they don't want to take a big swing, but that to me makes a lot more sense than any other team. I'm trying to wrap my head around.

We're just talking about how Denver just really screwed the pooch with Russell Wilson and it's messed them up in a lot of ways. We're going to get now, we're going to break the bank for a 36-year-old quarterback coming off in Achilles. How does that? You like that? I don't. I'm a Denver fan. I don't know if I like that. By the way, the top eight of this list of quarterbacks, Cousins, Brissette, Baker, Tannehill, Wilson, James Winston, Gardner, Minchew, Tyrod Taylor. What about this guy? Come on.

You know, Vic Fangio in the secondary as well. He's been trying to just piece this defense together as best he can. A blitz. Darnold is able to stay up right. Oh, he makes a guy in this. Now he's in space. Now he accelerates. still going inside the 10

for the touchdown. Look at the record. Oh and three. That is all Sam Darnold. That is all Sam Darnold. I'm still so mad we were robbed of Sam getting a real start in San Francisco this year. The few days where it looked like that might happen were like I was so excited. That's all I wanted me to just give him one shot

and see if he could light it up. And I got these bozos saying shut up about that. He's thanks if he would have had a chance in San Francisco could have been different maybe but another year another chapter of frustration for the Darnold Hive Mark. The discourse would have been so toxic if he let it all before. I feel like they're out there though they're all they're

they're a sleeper cell they're waiting me as part of it I've noticed Orlovsky Daniel Jeremiah they're all out there waiting and that means there's some in front offices somewhere so you might you might get your wish I mean can't just put it clearly a shot against me that you couldn't just put him at eight that felt definitely personal he doesn't have pretty privilege no offense to to Sam but he does

i think uh i'm stealing this from levitart show somebody pointed out he looks like a lego policeman and i've never got that out of my that's pretty good but but he does have uh pretty pick privilege you i mean you saw miss tribisky uh reissin with buffalo yeah how to lock that in pretty pick privilege yeah that's a real thing that is more of a thing than pretty you're right we didn't we didn't get the darnosar i would have liked to seen that just i would have been curious we didn't get the teddy start in Detroit, which I wanted. Oh, fine with that. Just one last one.

Linebackers, very deep. We'll do the top 10 at that position. Frankie Louvo. I went with number one. Patrick Queen, who... Patrick Queen's been so up and down in his career that I don't even feel good about my own ranking there. No, good this year.

I got to bring Rogan Swift this week. I know, but then his coach. So maybe if he's in Seattle, great. But I don't know, Roquan Smith. Man, people just forget he was getting benched like before Roquan showed. up. Jordan Brooks, Levante David, Aziz Al-Shayr, who our old producer, Justin, is really high on how he played in Tennessee. Drew Tranquil, Devin White, who a couple of years ago was an all-pro, Bobby Wagner, Willie Gay, Josie Jewell. You can get a linebacker. There's like a million

two to three round linebackers, down linebackers. It didn't even include Blake Cashman or Tyrell Dotson or Kyle Vanoi, if you want to call him a linebacker. So there are a million linebackers out there and none in the draft. And the top guys on this list, at least the top three, I think, will get a decent amount of money. Who would you take out of that list as your number one, Mina? Well, I probably would have put Dodson and Cashman in the top 10. I think they're both really good ascending players. Lou Vu, to me, like, he's the other, like, NFL hipster fave.

You got to have the right defense where you're asking him to rush the passer. And, you know, because he's got kind of Swiss Army knife type player. I don't think he's a guy you just plop down and you're like, all right, you're the mic, you're leader of the defense.

We're going to build around you necessarily. I am, I think you got the rankings correct. It really depends on what your needs are on defense. But I really like Patrick Queen. I thought he played so well this year. And it wasn't just,

when Roquan first came in, it was like, okay, great. Now Patrick Queen is this incredible athlete. We can just point and shoot, right? He can play fast and he can just get out. He can just play with his hair on fire.

But this year, saw him take another step in coverage, diagnosing routes, reading the quarterback, reading the run so well. He's sort of on that trajectory now. We're seeing with linebackers where it takes him three or four years to really learn how to play the position. I want to know what Mark's questions for Mina are. Mark is an ultra preparer.

He makes pages and pages. And I know it might not have to do what the group we're talking about, but I want to hear these questions. And also, Mina, you should know that Mark usually goes with Levi. his jacket of choice but he was wearing the blazer today which is kind of out of season for him but I think it connects to you and the level of esteem

that you bring. That's not untrue but we are also leaving on Sunday for Austin Texas and so I'm just wearing I think I have to wear this in Austin so I'm just going to drive home in it. That's the move. You're going to drive home all the way in a blazer? Well I mean to where I live in Los Angeles but yeah to that home sure

I'll do that. You want to take it off before the Getty and the I don't like you're at it was a decision I made also we have our suits to this thing well that's it up there kind of I'm not I'm not I want to drive in a blazer then it's all stiff and oh no I stick it over the no you stick it over the top of the passenger

seat and then when you get out of the car you put it back on do you think we're nominated for Best Sports Podcasts for the IHeart Media Awards are going to Austin on Monday for the show if we don't win Mina do you think we should do a Kanye Taylor Swift for the other nominees

well yeah tell her who we're up I mean it's bad it might be you Kelsey brothers are involved Like every other That's hard Lebitard Kelsey brothers We are the

I think probably the The least listened to Of the group Pardon my take I think is one of them This is really the titans Of the industry We do have the

We have pretty privilege though So We also don't know who's There's no proof For investigative knowledge Of who's voting for this It's not just out there In the public

And that that probably hurts us Because it's like You're kind of like The Lions of... Sure. I like that. I like that.

And we're hoping if we attend, maybe they're like, all right, throw them the bone. Hey, do you have questions, Ramina? I want to talk about one team that I think has a lot to do

this off season. And yes, we know about the dolphins and are like, Jeff Rebeck, who writes for the athletic about the Ravens, I want to read this paragraph.

The Ravens Unrestricted free agent class is set to include their 2023 touchdown leader, their top two backs, their most accomplished wide receiver, their two starting guards, a pro bowl inside linebacker, excuse me.

The return specialist, there's just the list is so long. Two of their three leaders in sacks and the ASC leader in interceptions. It's like the Ravens typically always find a way and I just assume they'll plug these pieces in with other players and go, you know, 10 and 7 again.

But that's a laundry list. How do you attack that? And it's hard, you know, with the brain drain and coaching too. It's one thing for us to say, well, you know, they're bringing in defensive veterans and they, you know, Van Nuoy has a career year, clownie has a career year,

but you lose not only Mike McDonald but also Anthony Weaver is now the defense coordinator for Miami they promoted internally but there's still some change there that makes things hard. I was just pulling up their cap because I wanted to see

what they could do from like who they can already restructure. I think Ronnie Stanley has a pretty big contract because they tag him out of weekend I think that they're going to try to get something done with him. It seems like I haven't really heard

his name come up in trade requests and in doing so, they might be able to create some flexibility there. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, you can restructure some of these. Lamar. Anyways, I think, though, that the bigger thing more than the defense to me is the guards. Simpson is either.

Because this offensive line is sort of like kind of flown under the radar. What a strength that they've been for this team, particularly in the run game. And I feel like you got to at least bring one of them back. Right. Both their starting guards are available. and John Simpson is a guy that I heard from people that is going to get paid.

Kevin Zitler is one of a sneaky all-time bag getter. I think he's going to hit his fourth good free agent contract which is fourth good contract in the NFL which is almost impossible for NFL players. They could have a surprising

cut or two here before Monday. I don't know who it would be or else it wouldn't be surprising. I guess Marlon Humphrey would be one that like I don't playing with the Spotrack tool right now. Have you guys ever used this to where you restructure the content? It's so satisfied. Whoa, really?

I mean, I use Spotrack all the time, but I don't break it down like that. Ronnie Stanley could be another surprise cut. Something could happen there. Let's wrap up one last position. We'll get you out of there. Cornerback. It is hard to get a cornerback in free agency. A couple are off the board already.

Kendall Fuller is sort of my number one by default. He's a good player, but he's 29 and he's probably better in the slot. than outside. So it's not like a number one corner. Stefan Gilmore is a good example of what I was talking about before where like the best values in free agency are these short term deals. He's still playing well, but he's 33. Kenny Moore, Chidobie,

who's coming off a bad year, Stephen Nelson, Christian Fulton, who I'm not going to give up on. I just think has some good ball in him. Adori Jackson. Kishon Nixon, who's an all-pro returner, Akella Witherspoon, and Tradavius White coming off of injuries. It's not a good list. This is the worst group looking at your list.

Oh, my God, looking at, I mean, I think Gilmore's the best player, but, you know, you can play, obviously, man coverage. You don't want to sign him to like a multi-year deal, though, probably. So your hope is that he's going to ring chase and maybe, I mean, seeing this list, my only takeaway is the chief should probably trade legurious need because some team is going to give up something ridiculous for him because he's so much better than most of these players. And they will.

I think they will. It seems like they are certain, like that they are just, allotting for Chris Jones to get re-signed and then them to trade but just corner if every if all cornerbacks are bad then they're not all and then like guys like Stephen Nelson are actually good because they're just like

not the worst thing ever in it's just so hard to find cornerbacks I don't know um all right Mina we're going to let you go because you got a lot to do you want to get any plugs in there you got NFL live later today what do we got Ron Rivera on the show with Ron Rivera

on NFL live in 50 minutes with Ron Rivera As we discussed, check out the latest episode of the Meena Kimes show featuring Lenny, featuring the great Patrick Claibon, who is always a delight talking about a free agency. Yeah, you can also watch it on YouTube. Thank you so much for having you guys. Thank you, Mina. Remember Mark and I have our Free Agency 213 coming out, Midnight Tuesday. If you need us, let us know. Mina Kimes, everybody.

There she goes. Thanks, Mina. Thank you. The best. Seeing that cornerback route. my god well let's take a break and when we get back we'll wrap things up uh oh great welcome back yes you just heard the great mienack heimes and seeing that cornerback group reminded me that it won't be long before uh zuzer will be putting together his

graybeards 2004 roster and it is always the the back end of the defense that i feel I'm feeling like I'm going to be in a position where I'll have, I don't know, Antonio Cromarty in the slot at this point. Once the bones are picked from that group. This is an old group. This is an older group of, I mean, that's how free agency works. It's not going to be 22, but it just shows you how it's so hard to find cornerbacks. Like, it just feels like it's like an impossible position.

I think about that too when they do the combine. They're the best athletes. I mean, you could make an argument for the defensive ends. or the tight end, like in different ways. But I think if you're... Wide receivers? I think if you're judging just total athleticism and it's, I think it's the hardest position.

It's sort of an impossible position. I think they are the best act. That's what I played in high school, by the way. There you go. You played a little line, too, as I recall. Running back, but then they, then it became... We would just take anyone that is of a certain size and stick them a cornerback.

Were you like the corner, like some cornerbacks, they get, they, you know, stick their nose in it. And other cornerbacks is like, oh, they don't really want to tap. No, I was a cornerback that they would do it all things under heaven to not put on the field. I'd love to play a little fly on the wall with the coaching staff of Camp Happiness High and just be like, you know, hear them be like, with Sessler's athleticism, we got to get them in an impact position, number one corner, shut down half the field. No, they were like, we've got to get him on the Ridgefield Press beat instead of the actual playing beat as fast as possible.

Speaking of Michael Thomas, by the way, we mentioned that he's, you know, he's going to be out there. And the Thomas Saints marriage had some really high highs, second round pick in 2016, three-time Pro Bowl or two-time first team all pro. I mean, this is a guy that once had 149 catches in one season. He got the bag because of it immediately suffered an ankle injury. His first game in the following season. And really, ever since that moment, has never been the same. a bit of a i don't think he qualifies under locker room lawyer which is always something i love but i think he does qualify under the uh the column of pain in the ass and he and and also a guy

that has opinions i saw jeff duncan i think who had a report out there that tom the saints were done with thomas michael thomas's reply under one of my favorite twitter handles of course can't guard mike i will read this verbatim and understand uh in terms of lawyers out there some looking to sue for libel or slander this is michael thomas and nod zuzzer jeff duncan is a trying to stay relevant so let's speak on it the saints leak information to him to try to ruin players value but see i'm not broke so i can speak on it he is broke so he needs clicks go look at all his articles that never end up being true now in thomas's uh defense you know there there's a lot of business being done by beat reporters to get favors and and and and saddle

up and cozy up with front offices for for work down the line that now is is he a don't know that for sure uh is he broke we don't know duncan's financial situation so i doubt it i mean perhaps then gainfully broke is strong point point being a little pot calling kettle black because i'm not sure the reporting uh specifically the one about mr duncan being a uh it can be corroborated uh without triple sourcing it well how do you feel about it tell me how you I don't know what he is upset about because the article

is only for digital subscribers but the news you know, they got to make money. Shout out to nola.com, but the news was just that the saints were releasing him, which I got to admit is a pretty big fly in the omen for the old top 101

because Michael Thomas has been there at 101 this whole time and I was like, release him he's a free agent and apparently they had this insane contract where there was saints insane contracts what they and his agent was quoted saying it's a one year deal always has been that's a hundred percent how it's structured no two ways about it he's an unrestricted free agent like everyone else but apparently he had some bogus void year that was like 80 million dollars in it and it was just like total fantasy so technically he wasn't um a free agent yet and jeff duncan releasing that Maybe Michael Thomas thinks like he's putting that out there to almost make him look bad,

that they're not releasing him. He was always a free agent all along. I don't know if there's more to it than that other than he has been, you know, down talking Derek Carr's quarterback, too, for much of him. It was nice of Michael Thomas at the end of that tweet. Right. To say, you know, not just he needs clicks, but go read. I believe he said go read all of his articles and find out if they're true.

Like, that's actually going to help Jeff Duncan. Well, Duncan did say, well, he got the paywall on top of it. You got to, if you're a paywall person, otherwise, you know, tough, that's going to be a tough road. He did put out an article, and this might be what he was upset about, about a month ago where he said it's time for them to move on from Marshall and Latimore and Michael Thomas with some sort of vague, you know, inside the locker room stuff. And that brings up Latimore, who by the way is like quietly one of the more interesting stories in the NFL. I think he's going to be traded and yet no one is reporting about how he's going to be traded. and that seems to be more of a Dennis Allen. Maybe you know, people don't want to be called a hibu in public.

Well, no, Marshawn Lattimore is totally separate. He hasn't had it. He can do it too. Well, he hasn't had any major issues other than there has been reporting that, you know, him and Dennis Allen don't get along. And then it's kind of like the Chauncey Gardner Johnson. So every offseason Dennis Allen has stuff of falling out with a key member of the secondary? The difference is Latimore is a top tier cornerback.

And if he truly was available, very intriguing. And I would think should get a high draft pick. Mm-hmm. Absolutely, especially in this market. Hamana, homina. All right. Good week of shows. Huge week of shows coming up next week.

Like we said, we'll be doing beginning of the week in Texas, but we'll be very quickly coming back to L.A. And doing a mixture of shows from Texas and mostly from here in Los Angeles in the studio starting on Tuesday. so we'll be all over the free agency picture as it unfolds and how your favorite teams fair in what is sometimes an unfair process free agency as a fan because you get yourself excited and then like I said it don't always work out but the excitement of the signings

you could always spin it in the moment as a beautiful thing and then draft season comes and that's hope season and everybody's staring at a playoff roster at the beginning of June. We're not there yet but this is the first step. toward that. I mean, it's ripe ground for heartbreak, and only at this point, if you're above a certain age in life or station in life,

you'd have to be almost an ultra rube to fall for some of these signings, because if you look at the vast majority of them two or three years later, the roadkill. Well, they can help you out as, like, rolled play. Mark, you're right. You're a technical lighthouse. Some of them. Like the top tier.

Like, yes, like, Sijiuzama probably got a little too much pop a couple years ago for what a blocking tight end could add to the offense. But there's a lot of good role players that you'll pick up. Mark, let's close the week with something that we touched down on Wednesday show, I believe, or maybe

it was Monday show. You had an abrupt announcement retiring from Twitter. The nature of the tweet seemed to be an attack of the analytics community, as I recall, followed by an abrupt, I believe the word Let me pull it up. Is it still alive?

I'd rather we gloss over the actual wording. Well, it's in the discourse. People can go find it. You could delete it. Oh, it's still there. No, I didn't need to delete it. I don't need to read the whole thing, but the final, just the reason why I'm saying this. You ended it with this is my last tweet ever, and I believe in you.

So that was February 28th. It is now March 7th. I don't see another tweet. I've done it over. Yeah, because like, it's a personal thing for me I think if you go read the guts of the tweet or at least

part of the guts it's more a little bit about how I feel that sports in general has lost it I think that numbers and analytics are fine if I could edit it a little I would take some of that acerbic out of it but like sports writing and everything

is just lost it's like beauty from the old days a little bit and I know Greg will say well you then go write a sports article that tries to bring that back but it's like I just think that the general environment has become like so... Can we get marked some dramatic music underneath this? Go ahead. And here's a second part to it. Like I've noticed that like, you know, I'm a 50-year-old adult that's like gets every week

they give you that chart, like that thing on your phone about how many hours you spent just sitting on your phone. And it's like when it comes to things like Twitter, I no longer feel joy when I tweet something where I just sit around and find out who likes it and who responds to it for the vast majority. of those tweets. To the point where I'm like, I'm kind of just post it in my life. Other people enjoy it, use it, have fun, people can find community on it.

I'm not saying everyone should follow me or anyone should, but I myself am a post like sitting around looking at likes. I want to carve that out of my life and it's gone. I think I'm excited about this as Mark's friend. We have been on the end of many a text

in the last 10 years, furious about what other people are tweeting. So it did seem like was an unhealthy thing. Not even so much whatever you wrote. Or what I was tweeting. That was also problematic.

But more like what you were reading from other people. So if that is going to make your life healthier and be out in the world more, interacting with the actual world, I think that's a good thing. I like Twitter, but, you know.

Yes, I agree with everything everyone said. Mark? Well, you don't have to agree with me. No, yeah, this is your journey. Right, right. It's just simply like it's a personal decision could I have maybe crafted a more graceful final stanza? Still reading all the tweets that annoy you.

No, I would only go on if there was like something I had to link into that I'd been told is for the show or something like that, you know. Well, good luck in this journey. Thank you. And I believe in you. What did you write? You wrote? Well, it's, I ended with a positive note.

Like, I could have, if there were an edit button, which people have always asked for, like I would have probably made a few changes there, but I'm not going to go delete it five minutes later. Well, they did add an edit button, but you have to pay for it. I'm not doing that idea. And then everyone can read your edits. Here's the thing. If you can read the edit, it actually makes it worse.

You look like a... Then you just check what the edit is and it's stupid. I, this morning, retweeted a post from Adrian Grenier, the actor from Entourage. And I think people should... This is a good way. This might be a good way to go out.

Copy this exactly with the photo. So it's a picture of the guy from Entourage, haven't been posting because I've been too present. Distracted by the moment. Sorry, but thank you. That's kind of what you're getting at in a way. I don't know. Like, that's, I mean.

Go full grenier, is all I'm saying. Like, do a goodbye post where you say that. That would be my. Also, you'll miss out on opportunities to do things like we can retweet. Our friend John Gonzalez just launched his own daily basketball podcast. transition. But he can't do that. To check that out.

I'm doing, now that I see it in my feet, I'm going to do that right now. Yeah, I'm going to do it myself. Yeah. I couldn't write back to your, the soccer owner friend that you have. Like,

and he probably thinks I'm not thankful, but I am if he were to dig it to this show. He's a listener, as I said, Shaleney. I think he would understand that I. He's aware that you actually can't. Right. Right.

Per ethics. Off the hook with him. Yes. All right. Thank you, everybody. I hope that clarifies everyone. Who's wondering about that tweet.

All right, until Monday in the beginning of free agency. Here we go. He the call.