NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Free Agency Frenzy Day 2: Henry Headed to Baltimore, Darnold to the Vikings, and more!

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

In a virtual room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler react to the second wave of moves made during the negotiating window of free agency. The heroes start by breaking down Derrick Henry agreeing to a deal with the Ravens (04:40), Brian Burns being traded to the Giants (12:36), the Texans landing Joe Mixon and Danielle Hunter (20:51), and Sam Darnold getting a shot at QB1 with the Vikings (28:27). The guys also discuss moves made by the Patriots (42:44), Commanders (48:20), and Jets (01:00:20). Plus, a recap of their time in Austin for the iHeart Podcast Awards (01:14:52). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Derek Henry has a new home going from the Titans to the Baltimore Ravens. The quarterback the Vikings brought in after Kirk Cousins headed to Atlanta. It is Sam Darnold. Aaron Jones becomes just the latest former Packers star to cross the border to Minnesota. The Bengals are moving on from Joe Mixing, but they are instead of releasing him, making him a free agent, trading him to the Houston Texans. It is Zach Moss headed to Cincinnati.

Darnell Mooney, the former Bears receiver, has agreed to terms with the Atlanta Falco to become a key new weapon for Kirk Cousins. Day two of the legal tampering period. Maybe we need to get a new name for that. I know the league's trying to push back on it. It feels very technical. Because we know the league year is tomorrow. There's no tampering.

And this makes Andrew Siciliano very mad if you even say those words. No one should say those words. Yeah, but yeah, Siciliano is also out here on live television NFL network yesterday saying, oh, you cannot dip chicken wings in any type of white sauce. Like what? He's got the platform. He's allowed to espouse his views on all topic. That's dangerous, okay?

Well, from the Chris Wessling podcast studio. It's around the NFL. Dan Hans is here with Greg Rosenthal. Mark Sessler, you've already heard from all of us. We are probably going a little nuts, like the insiders, during these long days and long nights. And now we are back in Los Angeles. We touched down here about an hour ago on a plane.

And I would love to say we were put into like a, almost like a motorcade and taken straight here, but it was a mad scramble, finding a cab, get us in the building. And yet we're here now to give you the latest on the league. And I would say, again, another show coming off a wikily disappointing award show that we're going to get to later in the program. Spoiler.

That we're here. That we're here. Well, we don't need accolades. We need to continue to work. That's all we're asking to do. And for those that think that we've gotten a little too big for our britches, like I am an hour and a half removed from sitting in the very back row of the plane where at all hours, someone's hips are hitting my ears and my head as they attempt to go into the lavatory.

So like, like, does it sound like someone that just cares about status and, you know, material? No, I mean, it's always, we use the word heroes with, you know, just a little wink, maybe. It's a little, a little twist. Today it's true, though, for us to get off that plane straight from Austin and get back into the coal mine, the news mine. It's true. And it's, it's funny and I think telling, and I don't mind telling the audiences, because I heart radio and it was the Iheart podcast awards, they were nice and to send us down to Texas we go down first class first class baby daddy sitting there with the miller light enjoying myself plenty of room the guy from workaholics with the curly hair is sitting

in front of us yeah took a selfie with him everything is everything's hunky dory i think there's something symbolic about going to texas first class and then uh on the way to the award show and then a day after being pitiful losers in the uh and spoiler alert we'll talk about it later uh riding coached by the toilets. I think there was something there to dig into as well. I think you know, seeking humility matters as you gain in age and that's certainly, we discovered it today

on the way back. All right. So much to get to. So did you have to deal with it? Because I was a couple rows ahead of you. Do you get, I have to deal with any of those people just standing, like waiting to use the bedroom, like hovering over you? You know, these aircrafts have gotten smaller and smaller and people's hips

haven't gotten smaller. So I was like you know, sleeping during, for the first time ever on most of this flight, but kept getting jarred awake by, like, the side of someone's hip. Mostly, typically women's hips, just smashing me in the, in the ear. Wow. Why do you have to add that little details? Because that makes me think you like it. No, no, no, but that's how, that got him a little,

that's just called, like, like, biology. Like, it's just like, in the, I feel bad for them. You know, they're just trying to do what they're trying to do. And then, but I'm also feeling bad for myself. It's like, I'm in the aisle seat. You know, you lean left a little bit and you get, banged in the ear. Did not expect like an Americans

are turning into a bunch of fatty's take from Matt, Mark, but here we go. Matt. I don't know why I feel crazy. It should be fine. All right. Strike that from the show. Let's let's dig in. Let's dig into everything that's happening.

And let's start with the big news. I would say like hit this round of applause drop because we saw the Derek Henry to Ravens thing coming. but that feels, well, I'll give it to us anyway. I'll just get it. Because everybody seemed to feel like that was coming.

Yeah. And then, of course, it did happen. Derek Henry, who will be going to the Hall of Fame one day and barring some remarkable late period. You don't think he's going to the Hall of Fame? I just don't like it when people just put people in the Hall of Fame. I think he'll be a... I bet you like when certain people do.

You just don't like that I did it. Justin Graver tweeted today that he believes he'll be a Hall of Fame. He is... When we talk about Hall of Fame, Greg, we talk about Canton or any sport. Like, you can't tell the story of the league without talking about a player at his position. Like Derek Henry, I think, is one of the faces

of the running back position in the last nine years. Especially in this era, to do what he's done in this era of, like, running back by committee? Maybe it's just I've heard the guys, like, who have the votes. Their backs always just go up when you say, when you're just putting them into the Hall Fame.

Well, you know, that's on them. One, all pro, first team, a couple second teams. I would probably vote for him, but I'm saying he's not going to be like a rubber stamp. All right. How about we have a couple big years in Baltimore and it won't be a debate because Derek Henry is now joining the Ravens two-year deal worth up to 20 million. So there's nine million guaranteed in his first season with Baltimore. And that might be all he gets guaranteed. And if it seems like the money's bigger for the running backs this year, I read again, I'll quote them all the time because I read them all the time.

Bill Barnwell, the running backs are getting good money. but the salary cap went up. And running backs are actually getting, they're commanding less of the salary cap for these teams percentage-wise than ever before. But, you know, there's a lot of money flying around the league now because of the cap keeps on going upward. I would love to know, let's put Eric to work early.

Eric, what was the NFL salary cap in the 2010 season when Mark and I started at the company? Can I get a guess too? Yeah, well, take a guess. No, Eric, go first. Because right now, what is it, 220? No, it's 250 something. Yeah, 250.

It's up there, yeah. All right. So, yes. You got it already? Quick Google search. Oh, I thought he was going to guess. Why don't you? I was asking him to look it up.

Why don't you guess, Greg? Go ahead. I'm going to go 112. That sounds about right. I'll say 120. I'm going to go 42. So you said 2010, correct? Yes.

So first answer, with the owners deciding to exit the CBA in March 2011, the 2010 season had no salary cap. Oh. Well, wait, I was closest. Well, then pick a year. Close. 2009. This is Hollywood, maybe.

It was zero, and I said 42. We have to start the show over. 123 million. Ah, there we go. I got it. I said 120. So. Did you really?

The dub, yeah. That was pretty good. All right. I mean, I gave you a nice ballpark. That was nice. We got us going in the right direction. But, so anyway, that's all beside the point. The point is that Derek Henry is a member of the Ravens now.

And everyone is talking up, and rightfully so, mark this idea that, the reigning MVP, Lamar Jackson, is an explosive ability as an athlete. And now you add Derek Henry to that mix. And all that does make a lot of sense. I'll caution just a little bit. I would, I feel like I'd be a little more like, oh my God, the league is in a lot of trouble.

If this was 2020, Derek Henry and 2020 Lamar Jackson, they're a little bit different players entering 24, but still an imposing duo and a move that makes so much sense for Baltimore. I love the fit. I mean, we already, we've, you know, exclaimed that we wanted this happen. And it's, to me, it's about the player. It's like, because lesser backs or, you know, average to better than average backs have thrived in that system, whether it was the past Greg Roman offense or even this year. And I think when you add Derek Henry to an attack where if you're

a defender or defensive coordinator, you've got the one quarterback in the league more than any other running quarterback outside of Josh Allen, that you need to be hyper aware of where Lamar Jackson is on TerraFirm at all times. And now you add Derek Henry to the mix. It's like a double headache. And I guess part of it is, like, I don't believe that Derek Henry is going to fade come October, November. I believe he's got another year or two in him, and I think that makes the Ravens about as hyper-dangerous as they've been in the Lamar Jackson era. Right. You can use your rush yards over-expected. You can use your broken tackles, all these fancy stats. I sometimes use my eyeballs. It tells me Derek Henry's still running well. I thought he ran well

last year. I thought he ran better than his numbers would show on a per-carry basis, although he's still a workhorse, still 280 carries, second in the league in yards, so he can still get it done. And when I think of the Ravens' offense, you said it well, Mark, it's such a great place to be for a running back, especially in the red zone.

I mean, all you got to do is be a Gus Edwards owner in fantasy leagues and know when the ball is handed off to Gus Edwards in the red zone, he usually just like walks into the end zone. No one's really around. Now you have Derek Henry being the one that gets the ball, and the Ravens are so good at this, running back market goes crazy.

They just kind of sit there. They clearly had a price for Derek Henry. They weren't going to go above it. And somehow Derek Henry signs for like way less money than DeAndre Swift and not that much more than like Antonio Gibson and Singletary or Pollard and like significantly less this year than Josh Jacobs. I don't quite get how that all worked out because to me running backs are year to year anyways, all these guys are.

And I'd rather have Henry than any of those guys I just mentioned. Well, it's, I'm guessing. Maybe not to age and tread on tires. And he's not a third down guy all the time, but he's got a receiver, you know, like. He's gotten good at that screen game. I mean, you threw a touchdown against the Ravens in the playoffs. He could throw the football. Yeah, that's always been in his back pocket.

I think he's gotten better as a receiver, certainly over the last couple of years. I would guess a lot of teams, whether it's smart or not, are scared off by a guy that is entering his age 30 season, just turned 30 in January, and has over 2,000 rushes in his career. I remember when he came into the league and much was made about how. because of Alabama's, like, embarrassment of riches, he didn't get used a ton in college in terms of workload. But he's certainly been a bell cow guy for many years now. So we'll see how much they can get out of him. And if he does have a vintage type season, yeah, that is scary.

And to your point about goal line and the way it was for Gus the bus, like maybe Lamar becomes a little bit more of a threat running now that they have this like, you know, Great. I think so. I think it's right behind. Lamar's a winner in this, absolutely. And you got Patrick Ricard, their fullback,

who's pretty dynamic and gotten into the mix. They had an interesting offense. Did we bring up Keaton Mitchell, by the way? Keaton Mitchell's coming out. I mean, he was incredible. He's coming off a major injury that was a spice rack special. Keaton Mitchell. I don't think he actually said it on the show.

So it doesn't really kill. But I don't think we had him. And then he was texting it. He had receipts. I remember. He was very excited about. Right. There's a paper trail.

Keaton Mitchell. And they're a very creative. running game. It's very different than when Greg Roman was there, but very creative, mauling. And I just like when teams lean into having a personality, it's one of the reasons why the NFL is so great. And it's why you guys were on top of it, that this just made so much sense. It was such a Ravens move. It makes me more excited for whatever prime time game they put the Ravens in right off the top of the season. Yeah. I feel very good about the Ravens, barring catastrophic injury, catastrophic injury, being near the top of the AFC, and then it becomes

once again. Now what do we do? How do we take that step? And maybe Henry is a big part of taking that next step once you get to January football. All right. By the way, the offensive line of the Ravens graded out number six overall per PFF last year. So he's, Henry's also going into a much better situation there as well. Brian Burns, we mentioned it off handedly at the end of the show that there was something percolating out there with some reporting around the edge rusher from Carolina and a potential move to the giant. and it has indeed gone down rap sheet reported that they make the trade so burns goes to the giants in exchange for second and fifth round picks of course eyebrows shoot up because burns famously was a target of the rams who were reportedly looking to give up two first rounders or willing to give up two first rounders to get burns i believe it was last year or the year before while they were falling apart and and the and the management at the time for the Carolina Panthers said, no thanks. So it's a bad look, obviously. I know it's leadership changes, but organizationally, it's a terrible look. So it goes from two first to a second and a fifth. And of course, the Giants then turn around and give Burns a big new contract, a five-year extension worth a maximum, 150 million, almost 88 million guaranteed. So Greg, he's the second highest paid Edrusher in the lead, edge rusher in the league. He's 26 years old. He, I have to say this about Burns.

he's one of those guys you always hear about and this is part he's playing in Charlotte which is the black hole right now is he as good as you kind of hear is he as good as they say is he worthy of that type of money when it comes to edge rushers and football I think he has been

but not last year quite as much and so he was coming off of an injury and his numbers were still good and he graded out pretty well it wasn't like it was a bad year but to me coming off that injury he wasn't exactly the same player. Before that, yeah, I would say he's a top 10 edge rusher. Now, he's probably at the bottom end of that 10, but I'd rather have him then, let's say,

Daniel Hunter, who was in this market. And he's so young and he's so quick off the ball. He always rates really well in those stats of like pressure within two and a half seconds. And he's been in a spot where he's always been the man getting a lot of the attention on a team that's not often trailing. So he gets like less opportunities than everything. thing and just very dynamic and I don't think you can get a pass rusher this good for any cheaper than this. So I think it's a good move for the Giants and the Panthers just weren't ready to give him that money. I don't know. On some level, I'm almost confused because you do need good players, no matter what stage of your rebuild you're in if you're the Panthers.

Well, and understandably, Panthers fans, you know, famous ones and civilians are going absolutely nuts over this. Who are the famous one? There's a country singer that had like this gigantic tweet about like, Luke Combs. Yeah, it was like is this. I thought you meant David Ely.

Is this organization just, you know, trying to set itself on fire essentially. But I mean, I think if you're the giants because a day ago, it's all about you let's sit, you botched Sequin Barclay, you let him go and he went to your rival. And it's like a bad look for the giants who also lost Xavier McKinney.

But I would say that overall, when you look at what they, the value they got Brian Burns for, which is a coup d'etatheh compared to what the Rams were going to spend, they added John Runyon along the line. Germina Melanour and I don't love Devin Singletary but to patch up Seiquant

Like they had a pretty good day Like they are addressed I think Joe Shane is a quality GM Your locks in the building As Daniel Jones's backup Well to me it's pretty clear That they're open to maybe drafting someone too But like I just think that the Giants

Like it's not as big of a tire fire As it appear to be 24 hours ago Yeah that's why with free agency Everybody's got to chill day one everyone wants your team to go totally nuts you just got to let it play out and see where where things stand at the end of the week also from the office of corrections we got a van ginkle edit yeah we're just i'm going to move out of the way and you guys could discuss well that was on me i put him under the giants i'm not sure if that was even ever a report

or just my mistake throughout the day it was always on that rundown van ginkle's not on the Giants. I mean, if the only source you have of news in the NFL is the around the NFL podcast and you're a Giants fan and you just made like your own Van Ginkle jersey or posters, who knows at home, I have bad news for you. He's a member of the Minnesota of a fight. Can I just say also like I was surprised because all we've been hearing on this program is Mark's infatuation with the Van Ginkle. You would think that would not miss your radar mark that you would have been the one to. I am the one that put it down. I piggybacked off of, of, of, but, Mark was supposed to be the safety net with all things Van Ginkle.

In my notes, I said it makes sense that he re-pares with Brian Flores. And then I was like, well, I must be wrong because he's on the Giants. And it's like, no, he went back to pair with Brian Flores, the Vikings defensive coordinator. Right. And it doesn't, it doesn't, like, you know, decrease my belief in Van Ginkle, the fact that we made a podcast error. No, if anything, it's an even, it's a better fit for him in Minnesota. I like what it shook me a little bit. Right.

But a true, a true sports show of the year would take a minute to, you know, say on us. Well, they maybe wouldn't have made that mistake. Although I honestly can't remember in 12 years of doing this podcast where we had to come back the next day and we got a free agent signing just completely off. So that's a first. I do, before we go, Shannon Sharp has never made an error when he speaks. That's true.

I'm barely interesting. Good for him. I do. I have just two quick things. You know, one, congrats to, as Mark mentioned, Jermaine Illuminaur, who's like a close, a friend of our friend, Henry Hodgson, and product of the International Player Pathway program. At age 29, just got life-changing money,

two years, $14 million after he's kind of bounced around in the league and what a great moment for him. But I wanted to read this tweet. It was from Scott Barrett on Twitter of just if you combine the Brian's Burns, Bryce Young, and Christian McCaffrey trades for what the Panthers got and what they gave up. And this includes the trade they essentially didn't make.

with the Rams, which is, you know, kind of cheating, but it does make it fun. Here is what the Panthers traded. Caleb Williams, assuming that's the number one overall pick. Should we tell David Ely to cover his ears? Or the number one overall pick. Kristen McCaffrey, DJ Moore, a top 10 pick in the 2020s draft. That was the Rams pick. The Bears drafted a tackle.

A second round pick in the 2023 draft, a first round pick in the 2024 draft, and a first round pick in the 24-25 draft. That's what they passed on. Here is what they got. Oh, no. Bryce Young. One year of Brian Burns, a defensive or a linebacker by the name of DJ Johnson,

who was ranked 125th at the edge position by PFF last year. Promising? In two fifth round picks. I mean, that's an all-timer. That's, I mean, that is a series of moves, and it's like, oh, it's not all the same guy. It's like, it's your organization. That is a series of moves as catastrophic as I can remember.

I can flip it and say they're a very charitable organization. They give to others. And I think as always, Luke Combs has his finger on the pulse. Because he was the first one to point out 22 hours ago. No first round pick for McCaffrey a few years back and now none for Burns. Are we just firebombing the whole team here or what? Combs is right. I like that tweet.

I think he's, you know. I'm not familiar with Combs' catalog, but I know he's enormously popular. it is the 37th overall pick in this draft you know it's close to being a first rounder it's a long road for these all right anyway somewhere it's Scott Fitterer is driving around like in a cream

colored Porsche down in the south it's like you buried one of the 32 NFL franchises if I'm Daniel Jones by the way Drew Locke is it's like a medium result of what could have happened this offseason for your backup they gave him $5 million guaranteed which tells me like

He'll play. If you, if you're not playing well, Daniel Jones, you're not ready. Drew Locke will play. If I'm starting quarterback in the NFL and they, they signed Drew Locke is my backup. I'm not losing sleep. Okay. I mean, Drew Locke.

I think Mark's right. They maybe draft someone too, but maybe you have to be out of the time. Like, where are we going? Talk about. Drew Locke. All right. In other news, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Joe Mixen marriage is over NFL networks. The Enrap report reports that Mixin, who a day ago was believed that he was going to be waived

Instead, they pull the trigger on a trade. So they send him to the Houston Texans. So his eighth season in football will be with Houston. Of course, the Texans, as we mentioned, lost Devin Singletary to the Giants and free agency. Mixon joins Damien Pierce in that backfield now. So we'll see what we get from Mixen, Mark. On paper, it looks like a nice upgrade for the Texans. he had over 1,400 yards last year, 12 touchdowns.

In general, looked like a guy that had been trending downward and then said, no, I'm not done yet. So it's weird that this is when he gets cut, or let go by Cincinnati, but Houston takes on the former pro bowler. It's obviously not great news for Damien Pierce. They struggled, he and the rest of that team struggled to run the ball inside an attack that was so promising through the air. So I think it's a good landing spot for Mixon to come in and upgrade it.

It leaves me wondering a little bit about the Bengals because we've got a lot of moving parts in Cincinnati for a team that offensively was sitting in a Super Bowl window and it's like we're looking at wide receivers exiting stage left. They signed Zach Moss on a two-year, $8 million deal to essentially replace Joe Mixon. I think Moss actually looked really good in Indianapolis at stretches last season,

but that's the first season I really felt that way about them at all. Yeah, I'm fine with that move for the Bengals. I think they were clearly surprised that anyone wanted to trade for Mixon because it was announced as a release. You thought he was going to get cut last off season. Right. And it was an... I mean, 1400 yards and 12 touchdowns is not the work of a bad running back. No.

Not bad. And the techs, look, they know, you know, Bobby Slowick and Domingo Ryan's, they know more than I do about what they want and they're running back. I thought he came out of the gates looking very fresh and like, oh, the old Joe Mixon's back. And then as the season wore on, that burst isn't there. I always love Joe Mixon as a, as in terms of, of his running style, you know, he came out of college and had that questionable background and ended up having a nice career with the Bengals. But I think his best days are behind him. And my guess is they would draft someone too, but it's not a great running back class.

So you pair Mixen probably with like a third round pick and Pierce is probably in the rear view. There's always one of those every year, by the way, where like someone gets announced as a release and someone's watching free agency at home. And Nick Casero's like, I'd give up a seventh round for mixing. I don't want, I like that contract. It's fine. Still just 27 years old. But he's been around for a while now, and we'll see if he could still play the guitar. Dino Stone's a big pickup for them, too. He's making more than any of these other guys they signed.

Lamar Jackson tweeted Gino Stone and said essentially, you're gone. You're dead to us. There's been a lot of that going on with these. But remember, we have the conversation about you've got to be careful, like, when your buddy breaks up with his girlfriend and you bury her, and then they get back together. Like, what happens if that would have fallen through? And Gino's coming back. You're right. It was reckless.

Lamar just basically said, you know, I hate you. Right. We don't advise. I think it was tongue in cheek. I guess is serious. Also possibly dead serious. We don't know for sure. While we're on the Texas just quickly, I do like their moves lately.

They've been raiding the Titans, which is going to be annoying Titans fans. Aziz Al Shahir, Daniko, Atri. I really like the Al Shihir signing because he was with D'Amico Ryan's in San Francisco. I think he's really good and could have a like sneaky Pro Bowl type season with the Texans. They also re-signed Noah Brown. You also know what you're going to get with DeNico Autry. You know it's going to be production. It's good.

It's going to work. I feel like a lot of people are going to be picking the Texans to win that division. Sneaky, like financially exciting career from DeNico Atry. He's probably signed about six of these. Finanately exciting. I'm just saying like you don't, like you think of Kirk Cousin. Finan actually active or actually exciting? I mean, exciting is the way to describe it.

Briskey. I mean, my brain is just so off right now. but financially lucrative, I guess. Sure. You know. Adventurous. He just keeps signing these like $12 million contracts like every other, you know, he's getting it done at age 30.

Uh, breaking news. Whoa. Going on here. Breaking news. The Texans and DeNeil Hunter are in business. The Pell Razor reports that the four-time Pro Bowl defensive end is signing with Houston. credit credits rap sheet as well that's the same hunter

coming up a big year in Minnesota he has 87 and a half career sacks and he immediately fills the void left by Jonathan Grenard who left for the Vikings day earlier that's a that's a nice plug of a hole there in quick manner

by Houston interesting they just they've chosen over Grinard, who's, you know, he's three or four years older. He's certainly been a better player overall than Grinard in his career. He's, you know, three, four years older. Two years, but they're paying him more than Grinard is making, too. Two years, 49 million with 48 million guaranteed. We haven't seen many deals like that, that short and that big, but it's kind of perfect in this CJ Stroud has a low contract and they have all sorts of cap space. So he'll be back off the books before they even need to really worry about their cap space.

wouldn't have minded them hanging around with Grinard, who, like, I think showed so much promise. But if he's departed, you've gone and found someone to pair with Will Anderson. And, like, these teams that try to get by with one monster pass rusher, it's like, you're always going to be seeing that guy get double and triple teamed. And it's like right now, like this trend of getting two dudes that can kind of free up each other and the inside of the line as well, I love it. I mean, though, with Wilkins and Cosby yesterday with the Raiders. That coaching staff gets like everyone on that defense to play.

It's kind of Niners like. Ryan Burns and Kvon Tibido, yes. To be able to pair two studs causes a lot of trouble for opposing teams. They're going to be such a trendy pick, but it's like, well, it all makes sense. CJ Strouds, their quarterback, and you look at their defensive line right now. They added Foley, Fatukasi, they added Autry, and now they had Hunter along with Anderson. I had mentioned, I love the Alshahir signing, like, D'Amico Ryan's got as far as they did without really a great defense. I think they were kind of an opportunistic defense,

and now they have a chance to step it up while C.J. Straud gets better. That is something. A little challenge trade, though. Not exactly a trade, but Vikings say, we'll take your guy. Texans says, we'll take your guy. It's kind of interesting to think about it, but when you look at the two South divisions, will the Texans and Falcons come out of this offseason

as the two biggest favorites to win their division? Yes. Yeah, I think the biggest and eight. Any division? No, in their own. No, in any division. Wow. Really?

I believe the Falcons will be, whether or not they actually will be. We go over the Chiefs. No, well, the Chiefs, yeah, the Chiefs, obviously, who the Chiefs got in there? They got the Rainers. Well, the Chargers with Harbaal will make it a little interesting, but you're probably right. The Chiefs probably will come up. But I think you're talking about two teams that have shot up the charts. But after the Chiefs, it might be, to me, it might be these two divisions in terms of like where everyone's going to be put.

wild when you think about that they won three games a year ago but you're not wrong they'll both be favorites um all right let's take a break and when we return more news dear sam i'm writing you today to offer my heartfelt congratulations on the beginning of a beautiful new adventure six years ago you entered my world like an avalanche of hope I, and many like me, believed you would be our salvation after decades in the darkness. Alas, the fates played cruel tricks on us all. You were treated in a careless manner and casually tossed away.

As my people floundered, you wandered. This week's arrival with the mighty Vikings of Minnesota. An obvious choice for the 2014 team of around the NFL. Feels like the end of your undeserved exile and the beginning of, at long last. A fair and true opportunity to succeed on the grand stage. I have no doubt you will fend off any competition. Thrive in a healthy new environment and expose each of your critics as the rude, thoughtless little pigs they so clearly are.

As for myself, I will champion you from afar. My warm feelings tinged with the bittersweet. A wistful melancholy, only former lovers can truly understand. Safe journey aboard your Norse longship, sweet prince. Skull forever. Signed, your admirer from the far. Sam Darnold to the Minnesota Vikings. That the beautiful sound, romantic sound of the number two pencil on the...

Only lovers could understand that. even like family members or just only just physical lovers and that someone's writing your relationship with sam the heart wants what the heart wants and yes and i i commented on this that i really have wanted darnall to get a true fresh start because like what happened it's funny it was considering baker went number one sam went number three what baker got last year is what all i was thinking even during this 49er season where he was like you know one heartbeat a from getting into that lineup and maybe being able to make an impact just wanted him to have a chance and he kind of has exactly in some ways the baker set up now where we don't know and we could

they might go and draft somebody uh in april so i don't want to put the cart before the horse totally but and the contract came out and at first it was 10 million and i'm like oh he's definitely their starter we don't know how much guaranteed money is coming into this but don't you just get the feeling that Kevin O'Connell and he obviously likes him a lot. Kyle Shanahan obviously liked him a lot. There are people that are champions of this guy and

their belief in his potential, that I would not be surprised if O'Connell wants to see if he can get that Baker season out of Darnold and maybe reset the franchise with a depreciated asset who can outperform greatly on what they signed him for.

Yeah, for like the pocket of humans that continue to champion Darnold, and I think there's reasons to believe you look at where he was with the Jets and Panthers and say, you know, total disorganization, it, right, morphing right into total disorganization, where he was actually on the same team as Baker Mayfield. They went into the hive and they came back out. Baker's had his chance. This is the best situation Donald's been in in terms of the personnel around him. I don't put it beyond Minnesota. They are in a rebuild mode to some degree that, like, they are sitting at number 11. It just feels possible, maybe

even likely that they trade up to get, get up to number five somewhere and get J.J. McCarthy. And then it's Darnold in a competition. But Darnold is actually, I don't think he's a perfect bridge, but he's a guy you could, you could feel excited about seeing what he could do because it's possibly... I hope that's not what happens, but it's certainly possible. They also go out. They get Aaron Jones also, so he gets cut loose by the Packers, so they add him. I love that. I love Kevin O'Connell.

You know, there's a reason he's one of the most popular coaches in the league in terms of that union poll. the results you've seen. So I think he has the right coach. He has the best wide receiver in the league. He's got a running back, I think. It's going to have a chip on his shoulder. I think it's a pretty good setup if it happens for him this time. Yeah, they're not done building.

They hit a home run last year with their draft. I don't know if we're going to have KJ Osborne back, but I love Jordan Addison as a two, Hawkinson. You couldn't, I get it. The Darnold Hive is out there. And when this news happened, I just, my immediate reaction. was how obnoxious

the Darnold Hive is going to be for the next five to six months and half of our listeners appeared to respond with this here. That's a Dan Hansa's shout out. And it wasn't, Paul Rudd. It wasn't. That's why if I wanted to shout him out, I'm not into

blind items on Twitter. Well, I will say, but you understand why there might have been. Yeah, no, I get it. We do the show together with the listener. We happen to. But it's bigger than just Dan. It's Daniel Jeremiah. Yes, he's the leader. Number one overall.

It's Mina Kimes, who's, you know, always thought he was going to be great. It's Nate Tice who thinks he's this unhaired, you know, quarterback talent. It's Bill Barnwell. It's all the big tapeheads and names in the business. They've always all believed in Sam Darnold. And you couldn't even put him in your 101. And yet you watch him play football. Huh.

And it's never really happened for him. Because the people, some people. some people are able to look past the circumstances and see even you look at his last time as a start with the panthers he put some good tape out there and some of the data backs that up and they see that this is a guy that has never been in position to succeed and there are so many quarterbacks there are very few quarterbacks in the league that can overcome uh ineptitude all around them he's not one of them so i'm not saying he's going to become a top ten quarterback but i think he has a potential to be a guy that's on the right side of the dalton scale if he if he gets his chance. And I hope he does. And I don't think you're not going to, I'm not going to be too obnoxious. No, this. I'm having fun with it. If he, if he lights it up in September, it could be an issue. The only thing that the one little, I like that we get this that this is a great way if it happens. Again, I don't because the Vikings could go out and get a quarterback. Oh, I think they're going to. I do too. Well, if, if he gets his starts this year, it's going to put to bed something that

it's not just me. There are other people that have always wondered. And this feels like a good, like, healthy setup for him. The one little drama magnet out there that kind of concerns me a little bit is you've got to keep Justin Jefferson happy. I mean, he's become one of those wide receivers where it's like he can't float through his career with poor quarterback play.

You've moved on from Kirk Cousins. I'm sure he wasn't happy about that. And so there is some pressure on Darnold to come in and like he's now in that thing where like your number one star diva wide receiver needs to be fed correctly on a weekly basis. They will. You want to be happy?

Justin Jefferson's going to get fed. Right. You want to be happy. Just listen to Quessie at the Combine. saying that Justin Jefferson deserves and will be the highest paid player in the league non-quarterback, which is a bold statement. You know,

you're only going to say that. I think if he've already actually made that offer and he didn't accept it and you're still like working it out. I mean, that is an amazing thing. So there's no way they are ever going to trade him. And I think the contract, and we haven't seen the details,

but whether the base salary is six, eight, nine, whatever it is. To me, that actually tells you exactly who he is, which is an in-between. not a backup, not a starter, a guy you pair with your rookie, certainly above what Baker got last year and a lot above what Sam Darnold got last year.

You only got three or four million last year. But someone that's not necessarily expected to start 17 games, that the rookie is going to have a chance most likely if they can get one. And Quessie, you know, he's looking at it like, you know, we think we have something in here with him potentially. And if he can be a league average or better quarterback, would I rather have Sam Donald for seven or before? paying Kirk Cousins still 40.

Like, Hmm. Well, I think they did the right thing for their team. Like, we talked about that yesterday, yeah. When you needed to draft a new guy anyways, I think that that's the smarter move. Aaron Jones is an interesting signing, just that one day he turns down a pay cut from the Packers and then he joins the rival. We've seen this move before, especially with the Packers in the Vikings and adds a little

juice. I think he was playing well. At the end of last year, reportedly, he turned down a contract with the Packers that would have brought his salary down to $4 million. He ends up getting six. from the Vikings so he does come out ahead. He must have known that before he did it and now he can get a little revenge.

I still remember like broadcasting a show from home when he signed that monster deal with the Packers and like it just shows you that 700 days later it just doesn't matter. If he's healthy, he's in a block and change in 700 days in life. Especially in the other. It's disturbing. By the way, any Van Ginkle

Vikings takes about where he fits in in Fangio's defense? Well, it's Brian Flores who knew him so well in Miami and I think that Van Ginkle started to get on the radar of the hipster Van Ginkle crowd during that Flores run in Miami and then continued in a different

scheme and it's like he kind of seems like he could fit in anything certainly with the Vikings. Adding Darnold to they really are the hipster team this year so instead of signing cousins for all that money they get Darnold, hipster favorite, Van Ginkle Blake Cashman, Jonathan Gernard like they have been

Aaron Jones, been an extremely active here in free agency. It's like the silver lake of the NFL. They are not looking at it like we're taking some huge step back. They're year three under O'Connell. They're definitely trying to compete. They just thought this was the time at quarterback to make the change. Some real team of ATN vibes here.

No, we were never doing just a conversation. Well, but no, you know what? Can I argue why can I argue why it is a conversation? Because like we now it's like you bounce away from them for like four seasons. But we made a mistake last year. But now this would be the year that when we don't pick them, they thrive.

Or they start three and one. We pick them and they lose seven out of eight, which is typically what the Vikings are good to us. Get in early. It would be good to pick one before the season starts. Whenever we pick midway through, they immediately go on a losing. I also have a lot of fun Vikings drops.

Those are always fun. I'm just saying it's a conversation. And Vikings fans are screaming right now if they're listening device. Don't do it. Don't do it. Right. But it just might make the most sense. In other news, the Falcons,

speaking of Kirk Cousins. So Cousins has a good setup. I think Darnold is a good setup where Cousins used to be. I think Cousins has a nice setup in Atlanta because you have Drake London as your number one. You have Kyle Pitts as your tight end with number one potential. You have Bijon Robinson, who has potential to be the best running back in the league. They did seem to be missing that second piece after Calvin Ridley disappeared in the wide out game. How about Darnel Mooney?

So he lands three for 39, 26 guaranteed. This is one of my favorite moves, Greg, of free agency in the first two days. I think Mooney was a depreciated asset. He's he's one year removed from a 1,100 yard season with Chicago. And if you put him in a functional offense with a pocket passer with elite skills like cousins, I think that Mooney can definitely bounce back and become a real dude in that offense. I love this move. I do too.

He's a unique player because there just aren't many players that get open consistently deep down the field. Now, he's not a big player and you do see him struggle sometimes in those contested catch situations, but he was in a tough spot and there was a lot of chatter of like if you just watch the Bears tape, like he's out there getting open and they don't have anyone. Yeah, they need a two. They need a three and a four and a five. They are going to need to get active in terms of the draft and just like getting some

rotation players. But he's someone that I think you can be confident. He takes a full complement of snaps. And the interest was there for him. He got a lot more guaranteed money, for instance, than Gabe Davis. We'll see if he gets more than Calvin Ridley when he signs tomorrow. Sounds like he's probably going to sign with the Jaguars, by the way, while we're here. Because if he signs with the Jaguars on Wednesday, they only have to give up a third round pick.

If he re-signs with the Jaguars, which would mean today, they have to give up a second round pick. And the fact that he's just floating out there means I don't think the Patriots are going to get there. I was trying to make sense of this. Isn't that like an easy trade term to circumvent? Yes. Like, why did they... But that seems such an easy way to do it. I feel like this was the Falcons, right?

This is a... Why did they put it the language like that where the Jaguars could just easily just wait an extra day? It wouldn't surprise me if this is an issue brought up with, like, the NFL management counselor, whoever decides these sort of things. Iron it up. It seems a little shady to me.

and the Patriots probably aren't going to get him. That was a side point, but Darno Mooney. Well, Tulane Connection, by the way, Tulane GM, Terry Fontano in Atlanta. Greg, nobody. Couldn't get rid of him. Not a single person. Two lane wide receiver, Darnell Mooney.

It's a little green wave loyalty there. This is not a Tulane College podcast, but I appreciate the fact that you went to school there. He had 140 targets within that thousand-yard season. He's only had 122 over the last two years. So I do think that he's in for a larger role and they slotted incorrectly with the, Falcons.

Speaking of... And I'm glad you went to Tulane, Greg. That's... No, I just mean... Wait, you went to Tulane? I just mean this is probably the last time ever. There's going to be a big time of free agent signing Tulane to Tulane. Greg, by the way.

Ever. I mean, unless Fontano goes and finds... Who else we got? Don't worry. Don't worry. It won't get into detail. But how about some of those mega Greg reveals on the way to the airport today about his days at Tulane?

Whoa. Yeah, I thought it was confessional. Whoa. Learned a lot. I lose track of what stories I have told. told you guys and what's happy you're here explosive oh happy you're here um in other oh hold on to your butts patriots talk they signed jacobby brissette so they add the veteran quarterback to the room a guy that's you know everybody loves jake brisket i feel like we've

been talking about jake brisket on the show since the very beginning so much so that the Jake Brisket Drop that accompanies Yes Slides me off a piece of that Jake Bristick has gotten Use that You know

If Frags could get just a slice of royalties I would say Fragg seems like she's pretty good with money With some of these trips she takes in the summer But you probably wouldn't say no To more money Little mailbox cash as they call it She is how you make those trips

If I've ever critiqued her to her face It was like why aren't you actually becoming a voiceover artist in our town here in Hollywood you'd be making total bank a lot of competition as Zumwalt that's a lot

before you struck gold with our company Jay makes seven million a year doing voice for us it was it was a grind because there's so much competition you know that Zumwalt I went with him once

this is years ago it would have been 2008 we were living in Hollywood and I drove Jay didn't know how to drive or he didn't have his license at the time so i was he 14 like how was he hell was he j's your age around okay so he's you know he's not a kid uh so i drove him and we drove to a studio like um a production studio in culver city and i just sat in on a recording session where jason had to redub all of stephen segal's

lines to some like straight to video made in korea film or made in russia film uh At the time. And so just imagine watching Jason Zumalt, the voice of God and around the NFL, making grunting sounds in the voice of Stephen Seagal for three hours. It was amazing. Can we purchase this tape? I want to watch this. So that's the life of a voiceover. I almost need to leave the room right now.

Just too much. Also the voice of Roman Bellick and Graham theft auto is mega fan gamers. No. All right. Let's get back on track. a little Zumwalt shout out Jake Brisket is in the room he's a quarterback

Pat's going to take a quarterback number three overall maybe probably so Jake is in there as a great veteran alongside a young quarterback that is coming in now that Mac Jones is out of the picture with Jacksonville they also re-signed offensive lineman Michael Wennew I think I got it

you got it yeah to a three year 57 million dollar contract 38 million guaranteed that's nice money They also re-send Josh Uche on a one-year deal. He wanted to stick around. He wanted to stay with the Patriots. Calvin Ridley reportedly is potentially going to give up money that the Patriots want to give him to stay in Jacksonville.

There's a report out there. Right. The Pats are hot for Ridley, but Ridley's not so hot for the Pats and he wants to stay in Jacksonville. So Patriots active today. Look, if their plan here is to bring me back in, get me more in by the way and the only reason you're out is because you don't

go to the Super Bowl every year now which is always a little bit of an underreported aspect of Greg's not a big fan Underreported as soon as they stopped when it's I said it I said it on this show everyone was very a bad fandom upset it wasn't so much bail it's just like and we've hit the peak it's you're a little

less into it Tom Brady's gone what are you going to replace Tom Brady how about replace him with one of the guys that actually started for him while he was serving his suspension back in the day with some exciting moments as a rookie. I mean, you get Jake Brisket in the building, and then you get either Drake May or Jaden Daniels, and you got the perfect quarterback tutor. That is an exciting combo, and I do like they kind of, they kept, this is very different than the Belichick area. They kept the players that I would want them to keep. Ucheon

ended up only signing for one year three million. Mike Garifolo says he passed up money to stay elsewhere. He probably passed up like second year money and he's betting on himself to have a bigger year. But it is interesting to me that these guys want to stay with Mayo. And I really like Owen you. I mean, he's been their best offensive line and most consistent, versatile over the last couple of years. So it's like they keep the guys they like. They bring in the guy I like. I see you, Gerard Mayo. I see what you're doing. And their front office. It's not just a one man band at this point. It's probably not Gerard Mayo. But I think Peret is what lineage. Preset's the perfect person for this situation. And like he's proving he can

this over and over. And it's notable that, like, true, Alex Van Pelt is a true offensive coordinator. Like, he was under Stefansky during that year that, like, Preset's shining Cleveland, but he went after Baker and, or, you know, at least reportedly, and he knows what he's getting in Jacoby Preset. Jacoby Preset is a celebrated, like, Kevin Stefansky called him, like, the best teammate he's ever observed in a locker room. So this Patriots team could use a little bit of that. And whatever rookie they draft, and I assume they will, it's the perfect kind of path from the

here A to B. And it's similar. similar money to Darnold, I think he's getting $8 million. I think they are going to, we aren't going to know what they're doing. I'm going to guess until draft week or draft night. I think they're leaving themselves some wiggle room here. If someone gives them a godfather offer, they might say, let's move down, let's pick up a bunch of picks, who knows, maybe we'll take a second or third round quarterback, and we just go with that for now if we're not in love with who's there at three.

If Jake Brisket is one of the best veteran quarterbacks you'd want in a room with a a young hot shot rookie. I would say among lower on the list would be Marcus Mariotta, who quit on his team a couple of years ago. But apparently keeps getting hired. So people must like the guy. I don't get it. The commanders agree to terms with Marcus Marietta

on a contract that's worth up to $6 million, which is, again, you know, what has Mariotta done in the last eight years in this league? Everyone wants to fix these high quarterbacks. What? What is a pretty pick privilege, as I mean they called it. So he's the number two pick is going to Washington.

They're going to obviously take a quarterback. So this is bad news for Sam Howell, who went from midway through last season. Oh, maybe Sam Al is the long-term answer to. I don't even know if he's on the team anymore the way this looks. So that's one big move for Washington or a move for Washington. The other one would be Austin Echler. And this is, man, it is tough out there for running back because Echler went from scoring 20 touchdowns a year for a run there to. having a down contract year in 2023, and he signed a two-year deal with the commanders,

not a lot of sizzle there, worth up to $11.43 million, less than $5 million total in 2024. So that is obviously when Echler was holding out last summer, and he was like, look at my production, look who I am. The worst case scenario came true short of getting catastrophic injury, which is he didn't play as well, the tape didn't look hot, and then he didn't get paid. very well, but at least he got a job. Could have been worse. There were guys last year, if you remember, like the Davin Cooks of the world that hung out all

through the offseason looking for a job. Eckler gets paid, but not what he wanted. I mean, Antonio Gibson out the door to New England, so you pair him with Brian Robinson. I think, you know, reading some stuff that Eckler put out there today, Arnie's pretty active on social media, seems highly motivated

to kind of wipe away the narrative from last year and what happened on a bad Chargers team. I don't hate it. And this is a team also from a, you know, from the Marriota standpoint, absolutely they're drafting a quarterback just I mean I'm just assuming that without any question at this point and there's whispers that Howell if someone else

wanted to make something out of them that they would maybe move Howell which to me he'd be a fun backup I think so too to add to the mix look motivation's never been an issue for Austin Eckler that dude has maxed out his career in a way that very few players

his side is undrafted I mean he's had an incredible career so I don't know if trying harder is going to get it done for him. I'm not excited about that backfield, Austin Eccler and Brian Robinson. They've been incredibly active, Dan. Brandon McManus, there is a kicker changing teams,

is a commander. Dante Fowler is a commander. Nick Allegretti, the guy who you might remember stepped in in the Super Bowl for the Chiefs the last couple games, he's a commander. Cleland Furl, a lot of Super Bowl, you know, experience. And then Jeremy Chinn, That's one that I like out of all these just as kind of a bit of a flyer, one year,

five million had a nice early couple of years for the Panthers. They're turning that roster over. And yet until they need this quarterback to hit, until they get the new quarter, they got the owner out, now they got to get the quarterback right. And then there's just something so gray to me with that team. And they need that someone to kind of electrify the team. I know the fans feel the same way. It is a good sign that a bunch of players followed Dan Quinn from Dallas.

Dallas to Washington. And, like, this is a team that I feel like, especially on a Ron Rivera, it's, like, just plug in aging veteran milk toast quarterback for like 2,000 years in a row. It's like, it's a new experience for them to go draft a rookie. I mean, it might work out for the Patriots, but that win over the Broncos on whatever it was, Saturday night or Sunday night, it was like Christmas Eve. And the fact that you couldn't win one game down the stretch, Rod Rivera, like, how did that team turn into a four-win team?

They go and steal that two-pick and they're sitting pretty. that stiff kicker of yours pipes one with the game on the line after like missing 14 kicks earlier that's right so it it does annoy me i wish they had their welcome welcome to how the other half live great it's not fun uh all right one more before we take a break patrick queen the linebacker former first round pick of the ravens who had a breakout season last year um once roquan smith hit the scene in baltimore he was able to leverage that not into a new deal with the ravens but a contract with the rival steelers three years three years years worth up to 41 million. I don't know what the real money is. But Queen goes to Pittsburgh. Another one, Mark, that just makes sense. Well, it's two teams. I could pick league-wide to make, you know,

good use of these signings. Like, it's Pittsburgh and it's the Ravens. It does feel like this is the free agency maelstrom where like you're getting a lot of like player goes from A to rival B. And like there's some juicy storylines. You can already see that like, you know, in Patrick Queen's line.

up against the Ravens and Lamar Jackson in like week three on Sunday night football. That's your storyline going in there. This Steelers regime has really struggled to fix this inside linebacker position, something they used to be known for. And they've just been throwing good money after bad. They finally got a little more aggressive. They're usually not too aggressive in free agency. But the real money really is like a one year $14 million contract.

I think Patrick Queen would be high in the list of like guys who are most disappointed by the market he had. when he got to free agency. Jordan Brooks, Frankie Louvue. They got better deals, but really all the offball linebackers, none of them, like, hit it too big. All right, let's take another break, and we will continue on. Before we take a break, let's do a little breaking news.

Perfectly timed breaking news. Bang. The Steelers are sending wide receiver, Deontay Johnson to the Carolina Panthers. Hey, Bryce Young actually has a wide receiver. That's good. That's a good trade. I don't even know what the terms are.

We don't either. Nobody knows yet. Man, the Panthers need use. Adam Thielen, he, for, you know, all the tread on his tires, he put together a nice season for them. But they obviously need to fill the DJ more a hole. And, you know, does Deonté Johnson, is he a knucklehead? Like, is he a guy that you could trust to be your down-to-down number one dude and anchor of the offense? We'll see.

But he certainly has a town. No, he gets open and we've got an update. it is a quite interesting trade a player for player trade dante johnson and a late pick i think it's pick 240 what round is that sixth probably and then the steelers get dante jackson very confusing dante johnson for dante jackson we give him a new name too uh dante jackson who is uh kind of an up and down cornerback but good when he's been good and pick 172 so uh the steeler get or 175 They get a day three move up in the draft and they get a cornerback in exchange for Deonté Johnson. I mean, cornerbacks, they need cornerbacks in Pittsburgh.

I get it. I think that's good for Carolina fits for the Steelers. I really think he does. He's like a nasty sort of thing. He really does. I like Deonti Johnson. I think if you're inside the Steelers like world, Deonté Johnson had those weeks last year where he was accused of not putting in full effort.

And I wonder if he burned bridges. I mean, you know, he's talked about in trades for a while. But also barely disappointing because he's so talented. But he, I mean, his act obviously is what got him sent out of town, you know. And geez, that, so the Panthers are taking a little bit of a roll of the dice there in terms of who you're bringing in. But if it works, I think it's a good trade. Yeah, they need it. It is so hard to get wide receivers, which is why throwing DJ more of all people into that trade.

I think really hurt Carolina. they felt, I mean, they need two more, but you can't start getting two to three good ones without one first, and he gets open. I mean, he is a reception, favorite. We've got another bit of breaking news. I think it's never be talking? It's not, it's not Carolina, but it is a fun one.

You know, during the show, the top guy left on my top 101. Daniel Hunter, he got taken off the board. Now it's the second, the number two guy on the list, or number three, Chauncey Gardner Johnson is returning to the Eagles. on a three-year deal up to 30th. Took a little one-year break. There you go.

He's back. Eagles are like, oops, we messed up. Come home. They do feel like they messed up, I think, with that James Bradbury contract. They could have just given that money to Chauncey Garner Johnson last year,

but oh, well. Isn't it a nice one you could correct your error like that? Like us with Van Ginkle. How many? He's only been on, he's only 26 years old, and he has bounced around, but that was a perfect spot for them.

And their secondary was rough. last year. Like as exciting as they were or they look offensively, I still have questions about the defense, but this helps. Yes, that late season collapse was almost unique. Like, you have not seen anything like that from where they started to where they finished. So changes are being

made in Philly and we'll see what happens. Let's take a break and we will finish out the news. And now another edition of NFL media insiders, friends or foes. And Cowboys long time all pro.

Okay. Yep, never mind. Go ahead. I thought it was me. Listen. I was told I was going. No, no. It's okay.

You got it, Mike. Do it. Ian's not paying attention. I'm talking. I'm not even on the screen. It's the voice of God, Mike. It's the voice of God. Tell me about something else, please.

It's been a long, it's been a long couple of days. We'll be 25 hours into this frenzy. Oh, my God. We're live, guys. I mean, they're not. We're not going to tape. They're getting worn down with a, you know, a barrage of news that seems to never end.

I feel like the only one thing is what life is about at this point. It's just NFL transactions. Let's hear another one. You got another one? It's a good app so far. You know, Andrew, if I may, Tom is usually the most buttoned up, the most on the money of us all. So when even he is just like, oh, my, by bad, by bad, I thought it was,

you know it's coming unraveled. And that worries me because we still got a couple of days left. To think that Josie Jewell got us off the tracks. Yeah. Josie Jewel got a back on the tracks. You got the friend back on. You'd almost have to say that our critique yesterday on various platforms. Don't say our.

You made it a little personal and I was taking a bag. I wouldn't have gone there like out of pocket. But when the topic came up, I went down the road. But it's like it was a bit of a flashpoint focus on some level. A media, like an understated media because it just seems to be growing and growing. Wait, so you're saying this could be the beginning of the end for the end? No, I'm just saying that last point books

It's 24 hours later and that tension seems to be only rising. Right, you could also say an entire segment on the show called NFL Media Insiders Friends or Fodes might be teasing this as well. That's true. That's a good point.

It's a concern. It would be good to do a flashpoint focus on the insiders and just have one of them on. Mike G. Or all three of them. Mike G. I think Mike G would give us unvarnished. But Mike G also, like,

like what I love is he's willing to be just a tad removed from some of the deeper what it seems to be going on there from what we can tell and he could give us you know not a one-sided opinion but sort of maybe we can get my maybe we'll get Mike on next week or so I'm sure he'd be excited to discuss the status I think he actually would he might get a text about it after the appearance but all right let's get back into it so yes Tyrod Taylor leaves the Giants he gets replaced by Drew Locke the Jets ruined their season last year that's not a

overstatement by not addressing quarterback behind Aaron Rogers by going with Zach Wilson who had given them no indication of an ability to play starting quarterback in the NFL at a high level through two years

to then say he was the backup up. And in only the Jets moment, Rogers blows his Achilles, and we're going to get to Rogers in a second. On the fourth play of the season, Wilson is a train wreck. They end up using a bunch of quarterbacks season ruined with the great defense. Tyrod Taylor now joins the fray. And Tyrod Taylor is like the backups backup. Like he is, if Jake Brisket is, is president of the backups club, Tyrod Taylor might be vice president. Like Aaron Rogers might be vice president soon. But like I I love like Tyrod as a backup. I don't like durability concerns.

We already have a 40 year old quarterback. But I can't say anything else other than, okay, you've professionally filled the backup spot this year, unlike last year, Joe Douglas. So from that standpoint, good job by the Jets. They also address their offensive line in some way. Ravens Guard, John Simpson, who was a starter for all 19 games for them last year.

he gets signed to a contract so he immediately becomes one of their starting guards and they also take a flyer on former 49ers first round picture of on Kinlaw who signs a one year deal with the team.

Love Tyrod. Love the bizarre transformation he made. Love the Jets agreeing with me and not Nick Wesleyan who thought Tyrod was way too high in my rank as he was like 80 something. He was like calm down. Tyrod used to be, you know,

in my mind Tyrod was always overly safe like he can run and he's got a good arm but he's just like very conservative and then when he came in last year he was like this career might be ending soon I'm going to turn into Ryan freaking Fitzpatrick he led the NFL by far

according to PFF and big time throw rate he was slinging the pill 17 big time throws in very limited sample size but you know if it's anyone over 50 dropbacks in league he had a couple hundred easily number one and it's a good list too it's Stafford Josh Allen

Gino, DAC, you know, Trevor Lawrence, like, that's a good list. He was slanging it. And,

and he's like, the whole Zach Wilson thing beyond, like, his actual play, it was just a weekly storyline. And there was drama,

and then at some point, he and Rogers, you're hearing about worn his clothes as you thought. And it's like, Tyrod Taylor brings zero drama. And the Jets could use a player like that to just,

he's not going to get into the headlines as far as we know, probably he will. That's how it works. He also seems to get hurt, like, well, right.

His durability is like, is a continuum narrative everywhere he goes. hopefully he doesn't have to play at all and john simpson a nice little mauler uh you know blow up blow up uh your opposing defensive lineman with some splash blocks some of his uh his pop the hood analytics suggest he is uh after an up and down star two's career maybe a good signing so i hope so now uh Aaron rogers is still uh the qb one ostensibly uh he hasn't really played for them yet but we get everything else uh with Aaron Rogers including this from

the new york times hit it Aaron the new york times the new york times This is a headline that broke about an hour and a half ago. Aaron Rogers and Jesse Ventura top RFK Jr.'s list for running mate. Here's the lead by Rebecca Davis O'Brien. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently approached the NFL quarterback Aaron Rogers and the former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura about serving as his running mate on an independent presidential ticket and both have welcomed the overtures to people familiar with the discussions.

we have a lot of overseas listeners it is almost a certainty that it will be Donald Trump versus Joe Biden in the November presidential election one of those two guys will most likely become president RFK who seems like a nut

and is a big anti-vaxxer and all that other stuff and I don't even care enough don't come at me with actually RFK is good I don't care just take it somewhere else he's not he will

he's the Ross Perrault of this election for people that are old enough. Can he take votes away from one of these the Democrat or the Republican? So he does potentially have a big role in this election and the fact that Aaron Rogers potentially is mulling the idea of being vice president tells me again and let it be know that I'm on record.

I said it a month ago on the show. I feel terribly about this upcoming jet season. Aaron Rogers, who came out and said after the year, no more distractions. Now he's in talks to be a vice presidential candidate. And by the way, when Mark is the presidential election? It's right in the heart of the NFL season.

And when is the... And it takes months and months and hours and hundreds of hours of time to run. When is the very beating heart of the election process when you're on the run up to the election and you're traveling, crisscrossing the country? The autumn into late autumn and then... August, September, October. So, I mean, Aaron, come back

to us, number one, for even kind of allowing this to get to this point, but I'm sure he will explain it in a way that makes sense to him. The fact that it's coming from the Times and is reported by all the highest or most respected media outlets tells you it might be real. He said it. He's on record saying that those are at the top of his list and he's talking to Rogers consistently. Rogers, you know, just a few years ago was quoted saying, I'm an athlete and an activist and said he didn't want to be treated that way.

Now he has a legitimate chance to be the vice presidential candidate. And this isn't just like... Like lately in American politics, when there's a third or fourth party on the ballot, they don't get any meaningful vote. It can be anywhere from like less than 1% to 2% to 3%, something like that. At least right now, you know, it appears that RFK Jr. has a chance to get like a size, not a chance to win, but a chance to get a sizable part of the electorate to vote for him anywhere, you know, from 10 to 20% something like that. And Aaron Rogers might be on that ticket. Can't affect stupid.

I can't imagine this was actually going to happen. He's married to Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I think that she'd be fascinating. We probably should stop talking. I wouldn't be terribly, I mean, I'd be disappointed by the overall boondoggle when it was over. But if Rogers decided to retire tomorrow to take this run seriously with Kennedy, I don't think that would be the worst thing for the Jets. What if he runs and he plays for the Jets?

Nothing's off the table right now. And his weekly McAfee appearance becomes like his stump, instead of traveling the country, he just... Well, actually, because if you were, like, you're voting for a quarterback who could be, like, unfurling heroics every Sunday versus clunky speeches, it might be a better place for a vice president's to aren't seen in high esteem, typically. Does this sound like anybody you know in the NFL, Mr. Kennedy 70, as in recent years, become prominent for his vaccine skepticism and his promotion of conspiracy theories about the federal government and public health apparatus? Hmm. Yeah, there seems to be, it's a, it's a, you know, there's a match there. Greg, you're saying let's move on, but that's the news, dude. This is in the New York Times.

Brough. It's crazy, man. Well, yeah. This isn't us just like shooting from the hip, right? No. No, I know, but we're going to get the, there is, you know, we're going to hear from the RFK Jr. Bros. And there's no group that's more annoying.

I guess maybe they're in Rogers Bros. they're all there all is one lions gave up uh let's move on okay the lions got carlton davis uh to receive carlton davis they gave up a 2024 third round pick and two sixth so that's a nice move by detroit uh who really need to make upgrades to their defense and and davis helps there they also added marcus davenport and cornerback amic robertson so uh the operation in detroit making moves as well Little surprising that the Bucks did this, but it just was kind of a cap move. Carlton Davis is a number one type of cornerback when he's right.

But like so many cornerbacks, it's a tough position to, like, pick a guy long term. He'll look like a pro bowler one year and kind of disappoint the next. He's had some injury issues, but a little surprising the Bucks gave up on him. Like if Aaron Rogers retired. My choice. It had to be soon, by the way.

He'd have to get, like, the guaranteed money goes away, right? Like, that goes back into the coffers. I would say one thing about him. I think he would not try to fleece the Jets financially. I think he would... He says he had some interview. He says he wants to play four more years lately recently. No, he's talking about being president.

Yeah, he wants to do someone else for four more years. Errah, era. I'm Robert F. Kennedy. Ara, era. Welcome Aaron to the stage. Era, era. All right. The Seahawks keep Leonard Williams and tight end Noah Fent.

They bring them back on new deals. The Dolphins are. also staying busy signing line linebacker Jordan Brooks, Shaq Barrett Mark, center Aaron Brewer and linebacker Anthony Walker. Do you Dolphins fans? It's not all doom

and gloom. You're still making moves? You like the Shaq Barrett signing mark? I was officially wrong about Shaq Barrett about a half a decade ago when I thought like he had that one five sack game where I was like it's just sort of a flash in the pan. He was much more than that. Pro bowler, Super Bowl champion.

Like an anchor to a Super Bowl winning team. So X marks the spot on a bad opinion by me. Berks is a nice signing. A bad opinion I also would say is let's team up James Winston with Deshaun Watson in the same quarterback room. Did you read what James Winston said? No.

So he basically... Tell me how you feel about it. He had other offers. And he said he wants to go to Cleveland specifically. He feels like it's almost like a spiritual calling to go and work directly with DeShon Watson. It's a very James Winston social media posting it out there But like that's why you chose

What to like be his Svengali? I think to like to help him To guide him spiritually Help him grow That was the James Winston Yes that was the intonation if you read Well he I don't know if you've seen He's he's done some pastor type work

There was some great clips of him Speaking in church while holding a baby And making a very That's good thrilling talk. Weird QB. Did the baby get intercepted shortly thereafter? A very thrilling talk.

I mean, he's a legend. That is going to go down as one of the best last snaps ever. That's a great way to end. You knew it was over. And he had the fake kneel down. That's how it ends with the Saints. I can't get over.

And that's amazing that he's going to help Deshawn Watson see the light. Getting good backup money, which does to me indicate, look, they wanted something that could play. Sorry. They had the best backup in the league last year. And he's a free agent. His name is Joe Flacco. I'm with you. I think, but I think we've talked with this, like,

I think the Joe Flacco presence and what he created last year was probably like, is this too much of a distraction if Watson continues to be the bed? I hate that thinking. He was awesome for them. I agree with you. I think I just think that's an element here between the fans and maybe the locker

room and whatnot. They just... So we bring in a known knucklehead and James that no one will I don't think he's okay now I understand I mean he is a no knucklehead but I think teams enjoy the experience teammates like him though oh good well that does in football that does

Matt I'm not sure that's true of the other quarterback in the roster listen we just finished about my quarterback is mulling a VP run with an insane person but the idea that you would pair Winston and let flaco walk is

one of the crazier moves I've seen so far this week I don't like it. They did keep Zadaria Smith, which I think is very important to edge Russ of the pasture across from Miles Garrett. He was a big difference last year. Is everyone, because Flacco hasn't, obviously, you haven't heard his name connected anywhere.

Is everyone of the belief that that was just a little hot streak and he's now no longer? He said he wants to start. I mean, any quarterback would say that. Cleveland seemed like the logical spot. He wanted to go to. He's been connected with, the Titans, I think

would be a good backup spot. Yes, you mentioned Smith, Maurice Hurst, Neheim Hines, running back. Also joins that room, of course, Nick Chubb coming back from a really ugly knee injury and subsequent surgery. Afternoon delight.

8 o'clock delight. That's not the afternoon. It's either the morning or the night. It's not the afternoon. Gregi. Levante David stays with the Bucks. Wow. He's a Bucs lifer. just like Mikey Evans. The Rams springback, cornerback, Darius Williams. Kenny Moore staying in Indy on a three-year $30 million deal.

And the Panthers continue their spending. They guard Damien Lewis, linebacker Josie Jewell, and also Aishon Robinson. Anything there? Spending a ton of money. Damian Lewis got a big contract, so they gave two huge contracts, the interior linemen.

They think that's the key to keeping their diminutive quarterback up right. Does any team bring back X, safeties and cornerbacks more than the Rams. That's right. They've done it with three different people. They've played well with Jacksonville. And yeah, but now he's playing, he's going back. The Titans signed former charges first round pick.

Kenneth Murray. The Bills bring back Dayquan Jones. The chief sign Dionne Bush to a new deal. And Irv Smith, welcome aboard. So there's a new piece of the offense for Patrick Mahomes. The tight end, veteran tight end. Bears signed tight end Gerald Everett. Eagle signed Devante Parker, formerly of the Pats.

Packers bring back all pro. return slot corner accusian nixon anything on those patrick mahomes restructured his contract to open up a lot of space as we enter the new league year on wednesday where trades could happen just something to keep an eye with the cheese nice we'll be right back i'm paul shere and i am here to present the best sports podcast and i'd really just like to take a moment here to see how far we've come, because we just used to listen to dudes who didn't play sports talk about professional athletes, and now we listen to professional players talk about athletes. A lot. And it's pretty great. And now our nominees for the best sports podcast are

The nominees for best sports are... I remember this year from the best week ever. New Heights. We're probably Vikings. There's probably some Viking blood down the line, so... I was lifting weights down. the shore one time and one of the guys was like you definitely have Viking blood in you. Club Shay-Shay. But normally people that people normally tell the truth of kids drunk and angry people. So you're not a kid. I'm not a kid. You angry?

No, I ain't angry, but boy, hey, boy. Hardin my take. If you ever thought it'd be fun to like, like, hey, let's just try to hit 41 free throws in a row with your friends. It's not fun. It's not fun. It's not fun, especially if a lot of your friends don't play basketball. Around the NFL. the NFL patient when he needed to be an aggressive when he needed to and just always doing the

right thing because that's what great quarterbacks do the dan levitard show olson and romo make you feel like they're enjoying their sunday as much as you are brady's starting point is this guy the product's mediocre the moment i leave the field here we go everybody buckle up and the winner for the i heart best sports podcast goes to Club Shay-Shay! Boo! Boo! Boo, boo, boo, boo, boo.

I had this... Losers! We lost. We are losers. Feeling, mounting feeling that we were brought there by corporate types because we were going to win. But then when we got there to this actual ceremony... Yes.

Well, when you, when I... Because I was like, there's no way Shannon Sharp has come to this, but they flew us here. But then the minute Shannon Sharps... sharp, like, walked through the doorway. And then when we also found out that there was a roped off section for a level of talent. Yeah. And we were not allowed into that rope-off section.

Not a good sign. We're not winning this. That's when the first class in champagne days were over. When I saw literal red velvet ropes and a gleaming white couch for one of our competitors and while we were stuck amongst the riff-rap, I said, I don't think this is going our way. And sure enough, you would say, wow, club shay. you know that was a big Shannon sharp the cat Williams interview that was you know the viral hit of the year I can't believe they beat the Kelsey brothers well then they

the next category was best podcast of the year Kelsey brothers took that home they had a video recording of Travis and Jason with a just the vaguest idea what they were even accepting especially Travis Travis seemed to be completely in another world but congratulations all the winners right it is an honor to be nominated. As you heard from that crew, those are all huge podcasts. So the I-Heart podcast awards, we were there. It was cool.

We thanked I-Heart and they flew us down there. Not to win. That's the last time I ever go to award show and don't win. If that means I don't go to another award show, so be it. But I will never go and lose. There was a point where we were like, wait,

or have other losers have been flown here? Right. We started asking We started at a certain point after a couple drinks. The open bar was open. You start asking hard questions. It was like, is there anyone else connected with a podcast nominated that's not a winner tonight? That's literally, that's standing. Right.

And I came to the conclusion that we were alone in that category and that maybe we were behind the scenes, like, you know, the ruse was on. And we were being snickered out through the whole 48-hour process by various individuals. I did not share your guys as optimism, even on the way there. I was hiding behind the, like, hey, one in five chance. Like, I wouldn't give us any more than that. Why would you expect to? Probably in my heart, if I had known Shannon Sharp was there, that was the moment that we didn't have a chance. And yes, they have all these roped off couches and they have different personalities.

Kyle McLaughlin was there. Chris Pine was there. Adam Devine. Popular podcaster or YouTuber Bobby Altof was there. and she was there and i just you know i'm someone who wants to find out and just make sure even though it sure didn't seem like we had access to those couches but dan uh witnessed you know what what he termed a very embarrassing moment of me i wasn't going to bring it up making sure that uh we couldn't get into those uh couches and you know seeing if i could get in there and i was told no my i did

not have access to that and um i thought well at least i got my boy dan back at me up here but then then quietly walked away from me as i once once i saw the like the six foot eight three hundred and forty pound bouncer type dude in front of the velvet ropes give a gregg a look like what like okay i'm gonna take a just about a half step back here uh not to be connected to a very low moment in the history in the mean look did it dent my pride a tiny bit like a tiny bit but i think the calculation was worth it if i have it hadn't even three percent chance of sitting on that couch for the show instead of standing. I wanted to find out for sure.

I wanted to make sure. Always ask someone else to ask is one of the good move in that situation. If you're, if your talent especially, don't don't actually be the one like, sir, can I get behind well, I, you know, my plan. I think you actually had to say we're talent, which is a toughie to say, hey, we're talent. I don't think I said that. I didn't say that. I, my plan was to just walk in their confidence.

because that's a, it's a lesson in life. That works. If you're going somewhere, you're not supposed to be, just look like you belong. But he stepped, he stepped forward and the rope was up. Unless a guy that looks like Clias Campbell is the bouncer. I don't think I said we are. Yeah. Yeah.

Humbling experience on various fronts. We do, we did get you, and like I said, congratulations to Shannon Sharp. You know what? He was very, he made a very heartfelt speech that actually showed, it meant a lot to him. And I was like, okay, you got to give it to him. I like, I don't want to say, well, I didn't say. We have to give it to him. But I would say, you know, he did, he's had a meteoric rise in the industry and good for him.

He's, the club Shay-Shefiles him everywhere he goes. He did have something to say about us as well. I'm called the president. President, we need the National Guard. We need as many minutes you can spare because we are killing the- Heroes. Now that's turned into a low moment in Patriots history and my own personal history. Yeah.

But, again, who will. open bar had some good barbecue before at terry blacks with our old buddy matt tanton yeah and uh and another experience another notch on the belt humbling but also well it also it it instills in us a sense of revenge we'll be back i think that's what i think they lit a they lit a fire under our you should on the shoulders you said dan as this was happening this is just so perfect for our podcast it just makes so much sense how how it all uh sort of played out and you know what and we talked about it afterwards too

that was a scene because it was a strange you know it was an award show it was strange to be there on some level we thought Chris would have really gotten a kick out of it slash been disgusted by it probably enjoyed it in the end it would have probably it was an open bar Chris would have enjoyed that

as well I think it would have been I think we all were enjoying the it was kind of an outrageous scene the way and it was a lot it streamed live and everything so anyway like my wife was watching it live at my son's little league game so she got to see us lose and she doesn't listen to a single episode of the pod so that kind of you got her to participate that's true and i did uh i sent a text because i had alerted my parents

uh that uh we were going to be in texas and we were up for an award and when i texted uh deb and keith uh that we lost to shannon sharp my father's response and is always his texting is always as many men as age very taught. It's very straight to the point. We lost Shannon Sharp. I never cared for him. I don't

feel that way about Shannon, but I'm glad that dad has has our back. Oh, he also added, I didn't see this one. And bad on predictions. Wow. Okay. In terms of his punditry as well.

Love it. I thought he meant our prediction that we were going to win. Also bad. All right. Anything else? We got, tomorrow is the official start of the league year. Now I feel like we're doing too many shows. We're going to do tomorrow's show.

And then we'll see what comes after that. But make sure you tune in because we're going to have what's out there? What's the biggest thing still out there? I'd say I don't think anything's going to happen. Like the Justin Field situation. Well, it's a little strange. Poor Justin. Okay, so only six of the top 25.

are available, even starting that list. Who are the six? On Monday. And that's like a list. The entire top 13 off the original list are gone. But who are the six from my top 25? Tyrant Smith, Calvin Ridley, Kendall Fuller, Marquise Brown, not much of a market for him, Stefan Gilmore, Chase Young, who is reportedly going to take a couple of visits in

Arick Armstead, who probably shouldn't even be on this list because it was reported he was going to be released. I have some doubts of whether this is going to actually. happen on Wednesday, but that's, uh, that's the six. But 17 of the top 50, 46 of the 101 overall. These are, you know, we are getting to the point where like, yeah, we can make a 475 item news list, but the, a lot of the big names are gone. No, but here's what could happen is like that Mahomes restructuring that I mentioned, the trades, anything kind of surprising on the trade

front, I think still could happen Wednesday, Thursday. prediction what's happened one big signing or trade oh wow i'll say i'll mention you have smith atop your list pyru smith yeah jets been big on them and bring in smith that's my prediction um justin jefferson is moved oh no you're just getting old old sessler hail mary added again there are little little chirpings and whispers out there that i mentioned that's how you'd hasten roadopat how we yeah you know lost to club shayshay and he said it was probably his uh justin herbert for four first round picks prediction that that did and i was that hurt us the voters did make just seem to various voters came up to me and mentioned pat's uh herbert uh talk i i think we get i think we get a chargers trade

i think we get a joey bosa trade if we want to get wildly specific let's go joey bosa to the nineers even though they've signed a couple pass right who why not you know team up the bosa brothers i saw you know how about the chiefs make a uh a substantial move on offense. Yes. Yeah, they've done very little. How about like, all right, I'll do something with the realm of real. Brandon, IUC traded to the Chiefs. Wow, they couldn't do that.

Now, there are whispers about IUC. Yes, no, there are. And they have a need of wide receiver. Like the, I don't like, I don't like the, I don't like them doing that in general. It's like, then they're one injury away from having exactly the opposite of what they had last year. Patriots. And to the Chiefs?

I've read if they. lose out on the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes. They could dive into the trademark. They're just sort of like trying to plug holes and they might try to get in on the T. Higgins or Ayuk or on a lower level, Keenan Allen. And nothing from the Cowboys seems

weird. I feel like they are going to want to make a splash. Yeah, they got like Dak Prescott's brother tweeting ill words about the Cowboys front office compared to the Eagles. All right. We don't need to envy the Eagles after how last season.

Everyone's so quick to just dive back in on the eagles. I know, but we lose. It's like a paragon of how an organization is like, like create mental disorder. Yeah, it does. All right. That's it. Let's go. Let's get out of you.

It's time. It's been a long day. It's been a long three days. But we'll be back. Until then. Hit the call. This is an Ihaired This is an IHeart podcast.