NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Free Agency Week 1 winners & losers

Episode Date: March 14, 2017

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling & Gregg Rosenthal – recap all the latest in free agency news including the Patriots stacking their roster with wide receiver Brandin Cooks and defensive end Kony Ealy. Plus, the Redskins snag Terrelle Pryor, and DeMarcus Ware announces his retirement. Finally, the heroes break down the free agency winners and losers as the first week draws to a close.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL 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 99 problems, but free agency ain't one. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg. Rosethol, what's up, boys? Hey, Dan. apologies to the listeners I missed the show on Friday

the minute we were all going upstairs I got a call from hysterical is a strong word I'd get in trouble for saying my wife is hysterical Yeah don't go down that road But a very upset Emily saying that she had been in a car accident

nearby a few miles away Everything okay Health-wise for my wife and our baby in the back seat but the car it's over for the car it's older over for the old zeuser having a little extra pocket change this summer so i mean we're glad to hear she's doing fine that's the most important part that that harry and emily are fine but daddy's bank account takes a pop and it missed an important podcast so these are like the negatives and we have no car now or we you know so there's stuff but that's why i missed the show

I was bummed to miss it because what an action-packed show, I'm sure it was. Yeah, I mean, the positives were the first three news stories of the day getting an entire 45 minutes of airtime without you here. You got to keep things moving. Do you feel like, I mean, you did the right thing, I think, in terms of your family, but do you feel good about putting, you know, family needs and concerns above the podcast? Well, it's funny you should say that because I had, it happened so soon before the show that I had the budget, the rundown in my hand that I had been working on for like an hour. I just handed it to Greg and said,

Greg, got to go. Emily's been an accident. And Greg gave me a look like, are you sure? That is not true. No, we were all there. It just likes me. We were all there.

Network's Greg Rosenfold. I don't know. Did you sound of friend? Yeah. What's going on? Well, not be him then. This is a Judd-Apital movie? Let's trim it down a little bit.

Who was that? That came from Chris Kana in London. Thank you. By the way, Dan's now gone full damage. He's testing out bits for the show before the show. Like he did this one before at his desk. No, I gave Greg the rundown. And Greg did give me a look, but I think it was more like you were a little shocked.

Of course I was shocked. It was because all I heard was she was in a car accident. That sounds terrible. But the look you gave me was enough for me to think for a second to myself. if I was leaving the building. Oh, am I overreacting? Should I not be leaving right now? Really?

Of course, I made the right decision. Oh, I was just, that was the last thing because you were kind of, I've never seen Dan's eyes and just, he was very panicked, which I would be doing that. I was not panic. Not in the situation. You looked like you, you needed, in control. You needed me to get out of the conversation that I was in. I was talking to someone else, actually about our up-to-the-minute hit, which people should

check out. We have another one today. Monday, I guess it's too late, but you can check it on. on DBR, check it online. Two o'clock now, Eastern every day. You were in the middle of telling some sort of a story there. Yeah, I was talking to the producer of the show, but Dan was kind of like just motioned me over very quickly.

I had very little patience at that moment. And then I was out. Do you, well, one last thing, the three of us, without knowing if the situation was resolved, you know, positively, which it was ultimately, but we forged on and did the show bravely without knowing how the whole thing wound up. Do you think more of us, the fact that we're able to get into the chairs in that position and get through with the show the way that we did in an excellent fashion?

I think you know the answer to that. All right. Big show today. Sponsored, of course, by Mr. Flames' economics class in the Hague, the Netherlands. Mr. F. We'll get into a little bit later. We also as a foursome had a nice getaway day in Palm Springs for Gonzo's 40th birthday. But maybe we'll talk about that.

A little bit later. What is this? Turn this up. What is this? Palm Springs. Palm Springs. Go to Palm Springs and you'll find out what you've been missing. Live young.

Catchy little ditty. Just one little nugget from the journey. Mark and I drove up, Wes, and his Paramore got there a day earlier. Greg got there a little before us. Mark and I went to stop it a, a, bar and we asked a woman on the street working as a hostess said hey is there like a good bar and palm springs is a hotbed uh for the gay community and she kind of looked at us and said you're looking for a gay bar or a regular bar and uh it was at that moment that i realized that oh wow we do

kind of look like i'm the bear and you're the other what what's not a bear in that community would be you well and we're a good couple we are and we arrived in a car with a you know a it's child seat in the back and so it looked like we were you know getting away from our own kids for the weekend so good for us not too far from the truth all right gregg uh all right so yes we're going to get to the news uh this is now one week almost into free agency so where have where do we stand what's happened since the last time uh we uh had a podcast which was taped friday morning here in l a and then we're going to do some winners and losers of the first week of free agency So that all sounds fun.

Let's get right to it. La Cid behind the glass. Let's do some news. I want to make love to Greg. What on earth was that pulled from? Yeah. I have no words. I love it.

I have sources. La Cid is sneaky diabolical sometimes. That had nothing to do with me. That came from the live Periscope video. Greg, that Mark and I did in the car. Wow. I got to check this. And there was a F. Mary kill of the podcast group.

And I guess what Mark said at some point. We have to play this again. I want to make love to Greg. I don't know if that was a statement or if I was going through the options. I believe I was going through. You have to listen to it. Everybody check it out on my Twitter feed. I think Mark retweeted it as well.

Well, Mark's face indicates he does not want you. Yeah, I think maybe the champagne I had with our brunch breakfast had a part to do with that. I don't know, some part to do with it. Okay, let's go going here. And let's start with some big retirement news. Everybody loves retirement news. DeMarcus Ware, one of the best pass rushers of the last decade, it's over. He's decided that he will end his career.

He announced Monday that he's retiring from football at age 34, sent out on social media, a little speech or a little statement about his retirement ending a 12-year career with 138 and a half sacks. That's top 10 all time. That's eighth most. Also got a Super Bowl ring, of course, last year with the Denver Broncos. And here's the question, Wes. Great career. The Broncos, I guess, were moving on.

He didn't see a great market maybe or maybe you just decided to leave. But is being the eighth. Frank Sacker of all time with the ring. Is that enough? Is this a Hall of Fame player? The Hall of Fame voting body is one of the more unpredictable masses in America. But I believe he's a first ballot Hall of Fame or whatever that means to these voters. I think DeMarcus Ware is the best pass rusher of his era.

What made him special in your opinion? He got a lot of comparisons to Lawrence Taylor. I think an explosive first step, very athletic and a high motor, all those things together. And then I think also one of the most respected teammates. and opponents of his generation. And a small school guy who got taken over Sean Merriman, one pick ahead of Sean Merriman, and there were a lot of debates that year.

With more people being on the Sean Merriman side was kind of the bigger name. Where was one of those guys? You didn't know what position he was going to play. Is he a 3-4 outside linebacker? The Cowboys, you know, Jerry Joe's made a lot of good draft picks over the last 12 or 13 years, but none better than DeMarcus where.

I mean, that's in a draft where Cadillac Wood. Williams, Ronnie Brown, Troy Williamson, Carlos Rogers, Mike Williams was taking one pick ahead of DeMarcus, where Matt Millen said that was the biggest mistake of his entire career. Arctic find a top 10 list for that. Right. And where to do it, to have done it in two different kind of iconic teams and franchises and get the Super Bowl with Denver that you couldn't get in Dallas, you just can't write a career like that. That reminds me of when I was doing.

research for the pain rankings and writing about Matt Millen for the Lions that they he had decided to Marcus Ware would be their pick because they had taken wide receiver the year previous I believe and maybe two years before that they had kept drafting wide receivers and he woke up draft day and decided I'm going with Mike Williams and I think his son Matt Millen's son said something really striking in the NFL documentary was like oh my god you're an idiot dad What are you doing? And it turned out to be the nail in his coffin. The one thing, I mean, these guys come through the building once in a while,

and I got lucky enough to talk with DeMarcus Ware for an interview the summer before the Broncos won the Super Bowl. And, you know, no Super Bowl ring, and he was wondering if that would happen in his career. But also the thing that struck me about him, him and Von Miller, that he was saying that Von Miller was teaching things to him. He was teaching things to Von Miller about pass rush technique, that he was such a curious.

player. He kept wanting to get better and improve. He wasn't there. There was no, hey, I've done this before. I know exactly how to make the most of my skills. He kept learning. He said he learned an entire new pass rush technique from Von Miller that helped him have a great season, the previous one, and also the year after.

Incredibly athletic blew up the combine, but I think other players talk about him as a technician, a guy who had all sorts of moves. You could set the edge, you could do everything. The NFL research sent out, most career sacks per game in NFL history. Number one on that list is Reggie White. Number two on that list is Lawrence Taylor, and DeMarcus Ware is number three.

Right. That's all you need. That's a first ballot. There's no doubt. Plus the fact that reporters love him. I was going to say, if he hung around a couple more years and maybe got to 150 sacks and moved it to the top five or whatever that, wherever that would place him, might help him. But he's one of those, like, all-time good guys that everyone loves. So you've got all these things together.

Not even Bill Pullian can find fault with his Hall of Fame candidacy. All right. let's move on so uh congratulations to you mr we're on a great career and a handsome man i mean known as as one of the better looking men and a lot of that talk early in today's show just about men and you know just sexuality it's just a strange podcast so far on that front well we cover any topic that we feel like yeah nice henley shirt by the way right thanks it hugs your shoulders well it didn't know your body well i never knew these were called henley's until recently is that Has that been something that's always existed?

Maybe, maybe not. The New England Patriots. Let's move on to the throne of ease. My goodness. I was hoping I missed all this on Friday. That would have been the one positive. But apparently this stuff went down after the podcast. Brandon Cooks.

We had heard that the Patriots had attempted to procure the wide receiver for their first pick, first round draft pick. It didn't work out a couple weeks later or maybe a week later. It does happen because the Saints traded Cooks to the. Patriots in exchange for a package that includes New England's first round pick, number 32. The Patriots also send New Orleans a 2017 third round pick,

and they get back the Saints' fourth round pick number 118. And Greg Rosenthal, you have to be loving this move because the Patriots, no dearth of playmakers on their offense, but this guy brings a different skill set to that offense.

he's got deep speed he can move inside and out he's a logical successor to julian edelman if julian edelman ever left in free agency i mean this is kind of what the patriots are doing these days they bring in replacements while the guys are still on the roster and that was the one thing that i felt a little mixed about is what does this mean for malcolm butler i mean rather for julian edelman's career moving forward kind of the same conversation we had with stephan gilmore but it just gives tom brady so many options this year. I would think, I mean, it's everyone, you know, the diet's great and that's all important, but this is what will keep you young. Like having seven different good players to throw to, this is the best Patriots offense on paper, I think, since 2007. And on paper, their best deep threat since Randy Moss. They haven't had that outside receiver in New England. But isn't there some risk with this considering the history of Tom Brady and bringing in receivers from outside if you're not on the same page with him in your in your route reads you find yourself ostracized they must have done their homework on him is he it's not just can

you run fast and do x y and z well belichick loves him he said two years ago after a preseason game i'm glad i don't have to play against brandon cooks twice a year i glad he's not in our division i just give him the pain in the ass in new orleans a little bit yeah but he i think part of it was he was but part of it was at the end of last year he wanted to be a bigger part of the attack and he was you know but in new england you may not get that role right what changes now he he spoke out about being unhappy when he got shut out in a game and they have so many guys to pass to uh you know they they put up a ton of points of the falcons of the super bowl we saw it and that was without gronk you're going to add him and you have dwayne allen and you have all these other guys is one of these receivers

going to be gone now by the time the season starts danny and mandola i think will get cut but Edelman Malcolm Mitchell, may I be stunned if any of those guys are gone. So that's four wide receivers plus gronk. It's going to get spread around. Maybe that's the risk is just so many talented guys who are, you know, obviously want the ball. They're competitive. So far, everyone that's on the roster right now you would think is going to be with the program, but you never know. So we'll see how all that works out.

And the Patriots keep moving. They keep doing things. They wheel and they deal. They make another trade. They acquire defensive end coney Ely from the Panthers. Ely just 25 years old. It was a little up and down last year, but had a huge Super Bowl against the Broncos, you may remember.

So he's a guy that has plenty of potential, Mark Zessler, and they gave up a second round pick to get him. Your thoughts on this deal? Yeah, I mean, I think it didn't cost them much. And, you know, when you talk about giving up a first round pick for cooks, it's number 32. It's essentially a second round pick. I wonder if all these trades, though, are lining up.

They don't have a pick now, I think, until number 76. They are lining up. If they want to, out top of this free agency plundering, to go out and you move Jimmy Garapolo, you have reshaped the entire draft for yourselves, and you completely own the off-season. I mean, it's just like all these little moves open the door to a big move before the draft comes.

And that would be a big move you would think would tie into the Cleveland Browns. It feels like the final shoot a drop in all this, is it just a matter does the deal get done? I think it would be ironic if the Flakegate causes the Patriots to actually get more picks for Jimmy Garoppolo than they were forced to surrender for their offense in that situation. But his six quarters of football are what everybody's going to grade him off of when Tom Brady was suspended.

And they're among the six best quarters you'll see by any kind of guy who has been a backup or a fill-in starter. Yep. And the Patriots, this is a continuum. I think we saw it with the Browns using cap space to make trades. I think if you really look at the Sam Bradford trade that Philadelphia was able to do, the way they had front-loaded Bradford's contract, that was a way of kind of using cap-space to make trades.

And the Patriots are trading like crazy. They made more trades than any team in the NFL last year. And I think they're looking at this as a real sort of new market. Like this is a different way we can really get value. And now they've got three trades in the last week. That's some of the way that they used all their cash. They don't have to worry about, you know, Brandon Cook's his next contract.

They think they can get it done. And all the, this moving and shaking, one person that has not got paid. Well, he got Dante Hightower who's still on the outside looking and he's continued to visit. But there is some speculation or belief, I guess, some of these teams

that he's visiting that he's going to end up back in New England. Another player not paid yet is Malcolm Butler, who's under contract. But now he watches Stefan Gilmore get a massive deal last week. and here's a statement that came out from Butler's agent. The patrons haven't approached Malcolm about his contract since last year,

and anything that says he keeps asking for the moon is completely false. Greg, why you've got to do Malcolm like this? This is a Super Bowl hero. Very disgraceful. Very disgraceful. You're pulling out straws now. Okay. This is the best you can do.

It would be, I liked what I heard from him, though, that he will play, not even skip any off-season work at all under his restricted tender, which makes me think the Patriots would just be better off keeping them than trading them. I mean, just take this season, see what happens. Let's see what Gilmore looks like. Let's see what the cap looks like next year, whatever. Just keep Malcolm Butler. Quit the trading.

What a defensive backfield they'd have. I mean, I think that go back to what Belichick grew up as as a coach. It was excellent defense and strong secondary play. I mean, you'd have, this is sort of like the year they had Revis. you'd be you'd have strength upon strength i mean there's there's differing reports out there but there was some reporting that butler was originally in that trade essentially and he maybe didn't want to sign the tender to make to allow it to happen that he would be going to new orleans why if not if everyone says he's one of the best young

cornerbacks in the league he's already a patriot's legend why is he getting floated around like this why didn't they take care of him instead of going out and getting Gilmore they've got a number for him that they think is appropriate it's clearly less than stephan gilmore uh the reports are you know way on you know during the season it was under 10 million dollars i don't know they think gilmore is a better player clearly they don't love butler as much as everybody thinks they love butler what if behind the scenes the negotiations have been less pleasant than we even would i always believe an agent at face value he said that's that's they are not asking for the okay contrary to popular belief good strategy by you

Moving on, a former New England Patriot has found a new home. Martellus Bennett is the new starting tight end of the PAC. The Packers announced Friday if they signed Bennett, who obviously just won a Super Bowl with the Pats. The deal is worth three years and 21 million. And Bennett immediately went nuts on social media. He's been tweeting constantly since the signing, even tweeting out, hey, pick my number for me.

Let's go fly together. So everybody's happy about having Marty B. And Mark Sessler, this, Marty B gets it. This is Martell's, but he gets it because he's a guy that he's going to get paid either way. Maybe you can get a couple million more elsewhere. But the Packers give him the best opportunity. Go to Tom Brady to Aaron Rogers. And guess what?

It's probably going to make him more money in the long run. Oh, yeah. We're doing a little winners and losers from free agency down the road on this show. I mean, how does he not boil out as an absolute winner? I mean, the guy is a perfect fit for the Packers. We saw with Jared Cook down the stretch what it means when you give Aaron Rogers a capable pass-catching tight end. This is an upgrade over Cook, and it's a great fit for that offense. It was funny in our office when they tweeted out that essentially the talks had broken down with Jared Cook,

all these Packers fans on Twitter in our office all upset about we're not going to get our tight end. And it was someone that Aaron Rogers wanted to it. So it seemed like this is a bad move. And then 10 minutes later, they turn around and get Ben, and it's like, that's the life as a Packers fan. For about 10 minutes, you're going through a tough time. Then suddenly things get all the better. He's a better player than Jared Cook.

Yes. I think if you watch, go back and watch him in September before he had the ankle injury that he played most of the season with, he was a much more explosive player in September than he was the rest of the year. And, you know, we thought that Martell has been in. I think he was on our quarter season all pro team last year. He was the best tight end. in the NFL in September.

What a terrible job by Jared Cook and his agent, because apparently he, it was the same amount of money. Bennett took a deal, and I think this was a great deal. I don't think Martellus Bennett got paid nearly the same, nearly the number that he thought he was going to get. I mean, and this is just speculating, I tend to think he would have resigned with the Patriots if he knew how little he was going to get,

but he wanted nine to ten. They weren't willing to do it. They traded for Dwayne Allen. And now he gets this. This is an amazing bargain to have, like, a great option like that. Yeah, I mean, Cook was going to be one of my losers when we get to winners and losers, but I might as well share it now. Like, we were just talking about this.

And he might work against him in double here, because he might not even get more money now than even Marty Bennett. Well, I mean, I'd be stunned if he did. And it's all about these guys sometimes don't realize. Stick with the positive situation with the great quarterback. It will work out for you in the long run. And because of some hard. bargaining. He's completely potentially out in the culture, making less money with almost

certainly a lesser quarterback. Yikes. One little note on the Patriots. Marty Bennett's going to get about $7 million a year. Cooks, Duane Allen, and Connie Ely are going to combine to make $7.5 million this year. They got three players instead of one. That's why they have more cap space coming into this offseason than almost anyone else. It's unbelievable. Let's move on. Terrell Pryor. He will have a new home. The former Brown's wide receiver has signed a one year. year deal with the Washington Redskins at $8 million. He's six foot four coming off a 1,000 yard season and 77 receptions in his first real wide receiver year with a terrible Brown's offense and he still managed to put up

those numbers, but he gets a prove it contract out of it. Greg, I got to ask the question here. And we get with all the negative comments he got during the season, the Browns, a team with a ton of cap space rebuilding, have a young ascendant wideout. don't keep him in the building. He gets a one-year prove-it deal. What is the stink on Terrell Pryor? That's how I read this, that once again, we're having more evidence that there's

something about this guy that people don't like. You just said it. They don't like them. The league doesn't like him. And he is very similar to cook. He had a much better contract on the table from the Browns, a multi-year offer, reportedly around $8 million a year with guarantees into the second year. Pretty much the contract that Kenny Bray.

signed with the Browns. Torell Pryor could have had. He didn't do it, and he ended up getting six. It says $8 million, but it's really a $6 million deal. I mean, that's a great low risk, I think, high reward signing by Washington, but it's amazing he couldn't do better. I mean, in an offseason of ridiculous negatives for the Redskins, this is a player who's going to be interesting in this offense. And maybe it's just one season, we'll find out.

But I kind of think that we would have seen some sort of a tail off from Pryor in Cleveland because he said it himself. They said, you know, today you met with reporters. Are you sure you know how much drama is happening here in Washington? He said, I just played with six quarterbacks in one season. He's like, this is different for me as a player. Well, Mark, I have to ask you, because one of your great fears as a football fan is the team, the player leaving your team and then having big years after he leaves.

Pryor is like the prototypical case for this. Are you unhappy that they decided to get out of business with Troll Pryor? The only thing that I like about it is, by all accounts, the Browns didn't just screw this up necessarily. Prior thought he could go get much more, and I think a lot of players find out that's not the case. And I don't like the dynamic of bad team, kind of developing player, player goes somewhere else.

You have to stop that. But you also have to know this is our market value for this player. We're not bending it. The guy doesn't want to deal, do business with us. We'll find someone else. I'm not in love with the Kenny Britt signing. It sounds like he went back to the Browns at the end, too, and was like, you sure you don't want to get in on this?

I think that there was that report. I wonder how much is that is just trying to save face and going back and forth because I think the Browns set their value when he walked away, they signed someone else. They weren't left with nothing. You have to like Kenny Britt more than... A guy close to 30s, had knee issues,

he's had off-the-field issues. Prior, it gets back to the stink thing. Like, how does Kenny Britt get paid by the Browns, a guy that's had all sorts of issues in his past? And prior, you know, he is not even close to the Kenny Britt when you look off the field. in those type of situations. It has nothing to do with me ripping the Browns.

I'm curious what the deal will throw up. That was the signing of all Cleveland's. You talk about what their strategy is and what they want to do. Signing an aging Kenny Britt did not fit to that. That might have been we have to get someone. But you also drafted a bunch of wide receivers that clearly you don't like. And that says that you can make these trades. You have to draft players that are going to win for you,

that are going to be developed. Because if you're already looking for veteran wide receivers to sign over all these guys, you drafted. It's not a great sign. Let's talk some Brock Osweiler because he is a current member of the Cleveland Browns. Who knows for how long. But after one year into signing a multi-year deal with a ton of guaranteed money of the Texans, the Texans wanted him out of the building so badly that they're willing to eat $16 million in a trade that we all know about, which happened last week, that netted the Browns a second round pick. And there had been some percolations, I'll call them, Greg.

Something that may have happened behind the scenes in Houston that led to the Texans washing their hands beyond the fact that Osweiler stunk last year, something else. And in PFT, pro football talk reported this weekend that per source

with knowledge of the situation, the game in week 17 when Tom Savage was named the starter or was starting in that game, went out with a head injury, Osweiler went into the game. And then at halftime, there was a discussion where Savage was told he's out of the game per the concussion protocol. And when Osweiler learned he was staying in, he, him and Bill O'Brien

got into it because something along the lines of, oh, you didn't want me, and now you have to play me. And that led to almost a physical altercation of some kind. And the decision at that point was it was history. Well, yes. Tell me about it. Self entitlement of this guy is Unbelievable. You're number two on the depth chart. That's what it means when the first guy gets hurt. You go in. That's how football's played, Brock.

And for you to hold this offense hostage for 16 weeks and then like pull a diva move of that nature? Well, he literally used the words that he was being held hostage. That was those were some of the words, you know, according to, you know, the source here. That O'Brien was holding him hostage, basically. You're only using me because you need me. that's how it works that's how football works well also the other thing is it should surprise no one that there is uh soap opera antics in bill o'brien's quarterback room he hasn't been able to run that thing in two years at least brock is he's working on it his name and everything about him

including how he's like just a little too polished at everything in front of the camera he is like the evil character from a football movie the starting quarterback who gets benched Sounds like a perfect solution for the Browns, a quarterback. Where is it? Yeah, because I worry about he'll end up landing with a jets either via trade or some type of signing or the Browns. We don't want the Browns to secretly be talking themselves into a year of Brock. You don't want them on your team. Here's a weird angle.

The Broncos who were willing to give him a lot of money last year, they could sign him at like the league minimum if Elway still thinks he has skill set. Does that make any sense? Don't you think there's too much water under that brim? Probably. I mean, it was not a graceful exit by Oswald. That's a good point that he... Oh, he did talk. He spoke out in the media about it, didn't he?

I don't know if any team would even see him as a White House. Good move, by the way. Does anyone even see him as a starter at this point outside of the most desperate team that's... Oh, no. We're just thinking about backup spots. I was thinking Rick Denison is in Buffalo. That was his coordinator in Denver, had success under him. That would make sense as a backup job.

I don't think this report is going to help. him no yeah i'm i mean i'm all in for the jets kind of tanking in a classy way this year uh but i just don't want to even i don't want to see brock also in a jet unit unit well you'll get rg three then print that on t-shirt i'm kind of all in for the jets tanking in a classy way yeah i'll take yeah exactly tanking and take josh mccown and rg three that's how you go tasteful classy a bad rg three season you just experienced one yeah i mean i don't think you won a bad jac coloring season let's go looks better on the outside than it feels on the inside All right, fair enough.

Kaepernick, Brock, and RG3. It's like those, none of them are guaranteed to be in the NFL this year. I think Kaepernick's getting Barry Bonds. In 2007, Barry Bonds hit almost 30 home runs and led the majors on base percentage and never played a game again. And he was like the face of the steroids era. I think Kaepernick, a totally different situation, but I don't think he's going to get a job. Kaepernick doing that minus the on-field production.

right well except you didn't really do anything like that most sane people would really have that big of a problem with yeah but we're talking about you know I think it's football related I think that you know if you've watched Kaepernick over the last couple years you don't do you want him as a quarterback in your absolutely he had some stretches last year

where I'd want him as somebody to compete if I'm the Jets with nobody sure if you're the Jets I think the Jets are also there's a couple teams that are in a weird situation where they're the collectors for these crappy quarterbacks I think you'll get a job of those three I feel yeah most confident i feel like rg3 could be quitting football to you know take over his consuming life passion sloganeering maybe he can be a baller sticker maker uh yeah i'll leave it at this mark i don't think that the team owned by woody johnson is going to sign colin cappardic oh that's true

um let's move on t j lang has signed a three-year deal with the detroit lines this comes after the Browns got centered J.C. Treader and now Lange gets paid. Lang has been a starting guard for the Packers since 2011. He's 29 years old, a former fourth round pick, and now he joins the Lions. Wes, you know, it's good to be an offensive lineman right now. T.J. Lang got 19 million. Is this a deal that will work out? I'm sort of interested to see how the 2007.

lion season plays out because their GM is getting so much praise for these moves. Are we sure that Ricky Wagner and T.J. Lang are going to be better than Riley Rife and Larry Warford. I'm not. Right. It's kind of been a trend that teams with O-line problems have just been shuffling them around like one guy's one team's problem is another team solution. Lang wasn't a problem. I mean, Lang's a really good. Also coming off several surgery. Right. Lang's a really good player who's leaving that system and coming off hip surgery, and they have a good history of knowing when to say goodbye to their players.

But you wouldn't think there's some huge difference between the linemen leaving Detroit and the linemen arriving. Maybe a little better. Get excited about the Lions. Are you? No. It's March.

I think you have some time to build up that excitement. Get my DJ Hayden jersey. Get your Hayden jersey official one. You're going to get the $110 one, or you're going to get the $40? $1.40. Smart move. I'm not going to be there that long.

All in. Very fiscally responsible. And moving on, Jabal Shearer has a new job. NFL Network insider Ian Rapport reported Friday that the former Patriots and Browns passed Russia has agreed to a three-year, $25.5 million deal with almost 13 million guaranteed with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts later confirmed that signing. Mark Sessler, your thoughts on Jabal Shear to former Brown now in the AFC South.

Well, I know he struggled during part of last year with the Patriots, was essentially benched, came back to contribute some. One takeaway with him is that I, from watching him for years with the Browns, very tough player, played through essentially a something of a fractured foot for game after game for a team that had no real reason to make him do that at that point in the year, and played under four or five different defensive coordinators, whether it was 4-3 or 3-4, Jabal Sheard always found a way to produce,

and he was, I thought, kind of a violent impact player for them. I don't know if, you know, coming out of the New England thing, if you're getting the same guy, but always worked hard. I think it's a good signing for the cults who are rebuilt. They're doing things that their former GM couldn't get done in three or four years. You're adding the kind of players to make your defensive lines better.

Your offensive line. There were multiple games last year where the guy on the other side, John Simon, was the best player on the Texan's defense. And I'm not saying he's a pro-baller, but the Colts needed younger legs at outside linebacker, and they got two of them here. They're going for Don Terry Poe. We'll see if they get him. They've got Kevin Minter at Inside Linebacker visiting.

Their new GM, after years of the old GM, not being able to fix the defense, at least he's bringing in some quality play. And I think he's doing it. It's been great. Right. He's not breaking the bank. I think he's going after Duntary Poe because Poe's market really didn't develop and he's, you know, can you get him at a nice little discount?

Value shopping. I like Wes. How about the idea you've yet to procreate? As far as we know. You like that idea? I do like that idea. But if you have a son or a daughter, Jabal Wesley. Probably not.

Okay. Hey, listen. Everybody else had any ideas? Sounds good. It sounds good. I would call him, like, the return of the mailman Wesleyan, like, or Mailman, too. A little bulky. How about Stefan Gilmore naming his daughter, Giselle, born on the same day he's signed with the Patriots?

Greg, this is big for you. Some of Illuminati stuff going up on a... I mean, that wasn't the reason he did it, apparently. That's just coincidence. It is one of those names, though, that it's... You got to be a way... I don't know if they had that conversation. and, you know, him and his wife, you've got to have the, well, you know, our kids get, you know,

there's a famous Giselle. There's some names that are just kind of like the name is so famous that you've got to think twice. Twenty years from now, is she going to be a super famous person? I mean, maybe. It should probably be like the first lady of America by then. That's the kind of foresight that Gilmore's have and I don't. The first lady of America, I like that. Right?

Can you see that? Tom Brady goes right from, you know, retiring at 55 years old. His son takes over his Patriots quarterback, and then he. He assumes the White House. He'll still be under center in New England. He's got, you know what, the scandal from deflakeet. Anytime a politician has a little scandal around him, it will never haunt it. Yeah, right.

So that takes out time. The ship is completely stint. Dan brings his gradual decline bit over to politics, switches over. It definitely does not hold in politics, I can tell you that. All right, eight o'clock to light time. Actually, let's hear that, let's do the Palm Springs song. Oh, yeah. Let's have some fun.

Clearly, that's over 100 years old. Eight o'clock to light time. I love this Palm Springs song. Nick Foles back in Philadelphia, making $11 million on his new two-year deal, including $7 million guarantees. Greg, what does that mean for Chase Daniel? The sun used to be shining for old Chase. It means he's gone, and Philly's the place you want to go to if you're a quarterback.

You get paid. Weird career for football, by the way. Very strange career for Nick Falls, moving. I'll go back into college football after this. Chase Daniel, Week 1 Jet Starter. Take it. A little boring, but I'll take it. Let's go.

3.13 and we fly. Kendall Wright joining the Bears joining the Chicago Bears and a one-year deal worth $4 million, according to rap sheet. Wright was number 59 on around the NFL's top 101 free agents list.

Difference Maker Wes? No, I love the Bears' offices and philosophy of overpaying for everyone else's disappointments. The Cowboys expect Wright-tackled Doug Free to retire. Free 33 is playing. played in and started 107 of a possible 112 games since 2010. The tackles in the final year of a restructured three-year deal.

Mark, not easy playing tackle. That body must be burnt. Well, I mean, possibly. He's at the age where a lineman would think about leaving. He's now literally free to go do whatever he wishes. Oh, my goodness. Play on words there. Nice.

That was terrible. Terrible job on me. Lorenzo Alexander, coming back to the bills on a two-year deal. Rapsheet report Saturday, the pass rusher. Coming back to Western New York, two-year deal, $9 million, $4.1 million guaranteed. Oh, my goodness, 33 years old, and what does he do? 12 and a half sacks last year. He'll definitely repeat that, right, Greg?

Pay for that. Well, no one, everyone agreed with you in the NFL. He didn't really get a great contract. Four million. It's good for him. After a long career, bouncing around. Please, Western New York, you can buy like six houses for $4 million. You're doing fine.

And Rex Ryan's old pickup truck with the bills decals. The Jets have signed a new left tackle. Kelvin Beecham, formerly of the Jags, a three-year, $24 million deal. The Jets, of course, cut ties with Ryan Clady and Brino Giocomini. Giacomini. Jocomini. Anyway, Beecham, signed with Jacks. Jacks of the last offseason.

Didn't do much. And now he's with the Jets. Going to be a rock on that tack. Toast to the town. He's a regular Tyler Pullum. They guaranteed him $12 million, including money into this year. These tackle contracts are wild for players who struggled last year. Speaking of, here's DJ Fluker on the grid.

The Chargers tackle heading east, joining the New York Giants on a one-year deal. He started all 16 games in 2016, but he was let go by the Chargers on Tuesday. Mark, I believe he had some off-the-field issues, not maybe an all-time player, but a useful addition for the Giants? Again, at this position group, you just keep getting paid over and over again. You have nine lives. So I don't know the Giants are not going to center their offense around this guy. But finally, Chris Wilson and Robert Woods, formerly the bill, signed a five-year,

$39 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams, who last year handed out funny money to Tavon Austin, and now it's Robert Woods's turn. If you want to look at this with the contracts included, it's unfathomable that Robert Woods and Tavon Austin are making as much money as they are to get in the end zone to combine five times five touchdowns between the two of them last year i've got i've got a piece coming best and worst contracts spoiler robert woods is on there i won't tell you which side congratulations robert woods a little bittersweet

gregg thinks you're a joke so does west but you just got paid a lot of money he is a good number three receiver and he's a good blocker but he doesn't make big plays it's not a good sign when and i said this on the fantasy podcast. Wow, I did a fantasy podcast show. Oh, good for you. Both of you. It's a bad sign. It's a bad sign when they send out the tweet of his signing from Adam Schaefter,

and it said, one of the best blocking wide receivers in football. Because he's just saying what the agent said. That's the best thing they could come up with for Robert Woods. Well, it's a bad sign when two people in the room have not been invited on the fantasy show, and it's Dan and Mark. Wow. Thank you very much here with NFL.com's Greg Rosenthal. The NFL.com

The NFL.com. The NFL.com. The NFL. The NFL. com's, Greg Wilson. That's still who you are. Greg. That's who you are.

I got no problem with that. Before we get to winners and losers of the first week of free agency, any takeaways from our Palm Springs trip. We haven't been on many Forsome trips All four of us spent the night None In Palm Springs together

I would say It was a late night It was a weird trip None work related I don't think we have Totally non work related It was a weird trip in the sense That

We got there It was a three Basically a three day party to celebrate Gonzo's 40th birthday And Don Gonzalez, Colleen Wolf's husband

Yes I mean we've said that a hundred times in this podcast. I still bet the percentage of people hearing that on this very show is relatively small. Let the newbies figure it out. Sometimes you help out potential newbies. Sometimes they got to fly with the information as it comes.

I made a conscious decision to just detach and fly. Gonzo. It's a legend. All right. Do you want to tell the new listeners who Colleen is? Yes, she's a part-time host. Great job on that. the NFL now coverage all the time.

Right. She does some TA work, of course. Come on the edge of my seat here, waiting for this penetrating analysis of the weekend. Anyway, so, and this is a 40th birthday party. So you've got to understand the clientele. This isn't a party of a 27-year-old people. It's a party of people that are around 40, okay?

For the most part, not everybody, but probably the majority. So if you have a weekend party and it's going Friday, Saturday, Sunday, everyone gets to Palm Springs everybody flying in from Philadelphia the home base of Connie Fox and Gonzo all the old friends all the high school friends

the college buddies of the old friends from the old newspaper the old daily you know everyone's former co-workers is what I think you mean to say yeah whatever

and then we are newer friends from the West Coast very kind of Colleen to invite us it was a surprise party and I think Gonzo was very happy to see the four of us. But here's my point.

They're going to rage when they touch down in Palm Springs. And they had a great old time, West. I think you were there Friday. Oh, is there. The Paramour and I were there Friday night, a lot of cornhole, beer pong. Yes, your theory is correct. The revelry was going strong Friday night. Now, if this was a 30th birthday surprise weekend, people are flying high on Saturday, probably.

Yes, no doubt. But per my theory, because you don't bounce back as quickly as you age, it was a little more quiet on Saturday. And Mark and I, and Greg was there when we arrived, but Mark and I landed with like a major splash on the scene. We're looking to get messed up and have fun and party. The hurricane coming out. It was kind of a hurricane.

And people weren't really prepared for the hurricane because it was more the calm after the storm situation at the house. And it was like, don't play the music too loud. and everybody kind of, everybody, you know, piped down a little bit. People trying to sleep. People fell asleep. But we still had a great time. It was just a little bit.

And then I wondered, Weskus, you stayed Sunday. Did it return to powerhouse levels on Sunday the way it was on Friday? Did we just completely miss really the sweet spot? To be altogether, honest, there are some holes in my memory from yesterday. We did have fun, but I can't say with scientific fact, whether it returned to Friday night. Well, though, in fairness to this group that was here before. Now, twisted, Greg, make it look like you.

No, no, no, I'm not. I'm not trusting at all. I'm saying a big factor why it calmed down is because authorities came over from the middle of the afternoon, Saturday afternoon revelry. I think even in the few hours that I got there before you guys, it was kind of going Saturday afternoon. And then, you know, people came out. We got a couple knocks on. The authorities did put a damper on the. They got a couple of them.

got a couple knocks on the door and that's really when the chill comes in. I would say personally I think we showed up like fireballs from the sky and I don't care. There was some fake, it was fake police. It wasn't the real police that showed up at the door and I get all that and I'm not the person organizing the party. I would have had a whole

different mindset but I came in and none of these dynamics convinced me to slow my act down at all. I had a fantastic time from start. I have very little memory of the entire thing. Strong showing by both of you guys. I thought, thanks Wes. We all had fun the time we spent together, and it was a great party,

and Colleen did a great job with it, a great wife. That's what I tell Emily, my wife, when she's on point with things, I said, this is just great wife work, and that was... She did an excellent... It was months of, and, you know, Gonsa doesn't know this. He thought that they were flying up to Vancouver and then doing a road trip south back to L.A., which, you know, also sounds like a great idea. I would have maybe said...

It's a highly detailed cover. I say we have to go, you know, see someone's aunt and uncle where you're not... So when you find out what it really is, you'd be super... excited but I would say this like what months and months of planning she put into this emails all this stuff and great can you a plus job explain to the audience that might not know what an email is i stand behind my uh name checking gonzow everyone's like who the hell's gonzow all right so that was our part and then mark and i drove back and did the live periscope which you could check out especially at the top of the show you're probably curious about some of the topics it wasn't just

football it was football in life and we want to do more of them Right, Mark, the group that we should do some of these Parasco videos People liked them a lot I thought it was quite fun I don't know if you know, in the 24 hours after

I want a sound bite going viral two seconds pulled out of something I said that I can be completely ridiculous The Parasca I want to make love to Greg That's see, that's exactly what I mean The Parascove should have been going during

Mark's sublime performance at brunch Yeah, brunch was fun Mark had a lot of statement about domestic life We could leave with that I have commentaries about certain things, and I unleash them. Dan deserves credit, too, for dropping about 25 burgers on the grill, doing a great job and feeding the people, including me.

I grilled for the people. I did my duty. I don't think that you were adequately celebrated for that. Well, I just did it. I celebrate him. I was pounding those burgers. They were delicious. Good.

I'm happy everybody enjoyed their burgers. Let's now move on. good weekend fun weekend winners and losers of the first week and Wes I didn't even mention that I beat you in Cornwall I was just being respectful of you I mean I don't

I don't want to get into alibis or anything so I'll just pipe down winners and losers of the first week of free agency so let's have a fun let's kick the ball around so it's an old podcast expression just kick the ball around a little bit

and share some winners and losers, and Greg, I know you're itching to get this thing going. So give me a winner. Let's start out. You could throw out a winner or a loser, whatever you want to do, folks. But Greg, why don't you just kick us off with the winner? Okay. I'm going to fall for the Jaguars this year.

Usually I'm not the one. Usually I'm not the one falling for the Jaguars. Doesn't make it right that you're doing it this time. At this point, I think everyone's just so tired of liking what the Jaguars do in the offseason. And so it's kind of like, you know, wolf, what is it? Girl that, sheep that cries wolf? The boy that cried wolf. Cut this all out of the podcast.

It's over. I'm retiring. It's over. It was okay. I'm leaving the company. It is not the sheep that cried wolf. The boy that cried wolf. Sheep can't speak.

Which is a major problem. Anyway, go ahead. So you almost like ignore their moves at this point because it's like, okay, this is just what they do. I don't care. I love Calais Campbell. I think Bouye and Jalen Ramsey next to each other. I think they have reached the tipping point where the coaching staff cannot screw this up. I'm not sure about the offense.

We'll see what happens. It doesn't change my mind on Bordals. This team hasn't won more than five games since 2010. They're a disaster. And I think this time they just have so much on the defensive side. I think it works. And they're a great defense. And they're a lot more fun to watch this year.

Well, so you're going to just drop a 3 and 13? I mean, yeah, 3 and 13. But you're making a lot of sense. Right. I haven't been in on them these last few times. What's the flip side to this, though? Who have they released in the last couple of weeks? Julius Thomas, Jared Adrick, Devon House, all these guys who were the,

they were the Bally Hood class of 2015 free agency for Jacksonville. And the thing that you glossed over, not, I don't think, in an evil way, but you said, I still don't like Blake Borders. Well, he's still the quarterback. Yeah. He could foul up every. But you can't, you can't, like you did last year. I hate that.

I've said that a million times this offseason, but that's their, they've made that decision. I like the other stuff that they're doing. All right. Who's got one? I'll give you a loser. Give me a loser. This year's draft eligible quarterbacks

because instead of teams not having any sort of an answer in the first round for that position and these guys being overvalued and over drafted, not unlike maybe would have happened in 2000, and 2011, other years where guys who should be third, fourth rounders are going in the second and first. I think when you see the Bears go get Mike Glennon, you see the Niners basically tell you that Brian Hoyer is going to be their starter this year. And a team like the Browns could go get Jimmy G. still that the prospect for any of these guys

making first round money or emerging as sort of the answer going into this season for teams has been diminished incredibly over the last few weeks. It was already considered not a great class. but if you look up and down the list, it's hard to pinpoint teams that are going to take a first-round quarterback. Maybe the Jets, but at six, that feels very rich based on guys that what we know about these draftable guys. Cleveland at 12, maybe,

but there's no indication that they're in love with any of these guys in the draft. And you have to look down at teams like maybe Arizona takes a chance later in round one. Tops. I think it's a bad year for quarterbacks and teams this time around. First draft, first round-wise, aren't falling for it. It could be similar. In most cases, it ends up, we hear this, people talk like this in January, February,

and March, and then by the time we get to April or May, two or three guys go in the first round anyway or more. But it could be like the, what was it, the 2013 draft, where E.J. Manuel went in the first round. Gino Smith came off the board early in the second round, and it could be that type of draft. But I can't speak to, like, the quarterbacks that are coming into the league. But it makes sense because the teams that need the quarterbacks most seem to be taking a different approach right now. I think I nailed that one. You nailed it.

Wes, win or loser? Let's do two losers for the same reasons. I think the Cardinals found out that the answer to all or nothing is nothing. They looked a year and a half ago like they were about to go on multi-year Super Bowl contending run, and now they look like a team that their window passed them by. The Bengals, very similarly, from one of the strongest rosters in the league, now to a below-average roster, I think, in Cincinnati. And the Cardinals, you lose, Kaleas.

Campbell, Tony Jefferson, possibly Kevin Minter, three of your starters. The Cardinals, I see where you're going with the Bengals. I think losing Calais Campbell hurts. Otherwise, at this point last year, what are we saying about Tony Jefferson? What are we saying about DJ Sweringer? To me, those are guys that they helped coach up and make look good in their system that aren't necessarily the most talented guys in the world. They were caught a little bit with cap problems,

and I want to see what else they do, because I like Steve Kime. It's early in their process. They do sometimes some very good value signings. DJ Sweringer is a good example of a guy that they picked up for nothing, basically, and got to be a big-time contributor. That's fine, but talent's walking out the door,

and there's nothing to replace them. They got caught last year trying to replace guys with DJ Humphreys and Robert Kim D.J. and they weren't ready. So to say that they have someone ready to come in and beat Tony Jefferson or Calais Campbell. I don't see that. Well, they're not in the roster yet. It's March 13.

This is also a team that went from being reliant upon their offense to reliant upon their defense last year. And now what's the strength? David Johnson and what else? I think you're counting on, I agree, they're kind of just hoping DJ Humphrey's in their line works out. I think you're counting on their offense becoming great again. Or else you wouldn't be excited about Carson.

Floyd walked out the door. Actually, it was Kim Dice that walked out the window. That's true. Kim Ditche, Kim Dichie, why did you fall out that window? Kim Dice, Kim Dice, can you make an impacting year or two? You're right about Cincinnati, by the way. And I was a proponent. Sometimes I fall into the trap as a sports fan

when a team that I thought a lot of kind of gets banged for whatever reason, whether it's bad luck or a bad injury. And then you say, oh, let's bring back that team. next year and everything will work out. Cincinnati had a really, really good team in 2015, and they got banged by the Andy Dalton thumb injury and we'll never know if they could have broke that playoff streak, cold streak.

And then last year, a couple of things went wrong. And I said, okay, I'd be willing to look past last year as a lost year, bring back that team again and see if they can get things going. But it seems like, and I feel the way West is explaining it, like they've lost parts now and the offensive line is not as good. Is Andy Dalton going to ever get back to 2015, Andy Dalton, if he has a subpar offensive line? I mean, there are just some things that don't feel right with Cincinnati.

I'd be worried if I was a Bengals fan that your window closed in a cruel way in 2015. I got a winner and a loser. All right. Groups, and we kind of touched on one of them. First, middling offensive linemen. What a time to be alive. And these two groups connect with each other. Matt Khalil, Russell Okun, Kelvin Beecham, who.

am i missing there's there's been uh so many signs so and i like watson got decent money mike remers so much money guaranteed money going to guys that are clear i don't think these teams even think they're the answer they just think they're better than what they have and they're not going to find something better than the draft so what else do you do when you have a ton of money you just throw it at guys that you probably understand there's a good chance it doesn't work out but these guys still get paid despite it and then you have on the flip side the losers the running back so if you're a bad offensive lineman or kind of a middle of the road or underachieving an offensive line, you could still get paid a lot of money.

Guys without jobs after week one, Adrian Peterson, Eddie Lacey, Jamal Charles, Latavius Murray is not in that group in terms of resume, but the guys that probably could definitely help a team. Legerate Blunt, every running back, essentially except for Danny Woodhud. I think we're seeing the direct reflection of what these teams think about the upcoming draft because it's not considered in any way a good draft for tackles. And so they're so hard to find if you don't have, you already know if you have that guy on your roster or not. So these guys, they're reaching potentially financially for these available veteran tackles.

Flipside, the running back class looks fascinating. So why do you go pay for some guy who's 32 years old and overpay them when you could draft someone that's on your team for the next five years? There are like, this could be all this stuff about running backs no longer a first round type of player, which is already, I think that stuff always changes, but there could be a number of first round drafts. out picks running back wise this time around. It feels like it's not even like, oh, age 30, you fall off the cliff in the running back. It's like if you're 27 or something, you can't even get work anymore.

It feels like it's just a tough position to play and make money. And I think what you said about tackles in offensive linemen is so true. And I think it's partly like panic. I think teams do a good job and I think it's a reflection of their bad coaching. I mean, the Broncos said this, you know, they've kind of putting it out there that they thought last year was kind of about bad offensive line coaching, so they think Donald Stevenson can be fine at tackle. And we'll see if that's right or not. But there's no other reason to panic and give Kelvin Beecham that much guaranteed money into year two. Okung and Khalil got $25 million guaranteed.

That's basically the best you can now do as an NFL player is get two years, maybe a summed to a third fully guaranteed. And they all got it despite disastrous years. Like it's wild. it's at a position where you normally can coach guys up, where if you have a good system, you can find disparate guys and coach them up. Here's a winner. How about Russell O'Cung's agent, also known as Russell O'Coon?

That's true. What are they got? Laughed at in the past for wanting to be his own guy. And like, he looks very capable. In fact, it kind of makes you wonder if more players will try to do this same thing down the road. Counterpoint, he got lucky. He signed a bad contract last year.

and then because he signed a bad contract, he got cut loose and fell into an amazing market for mid-tier offensive linemen where it worked out for him the second time around. Well, he stuck to his guns at least. If he had backpedaled and hired an agent or a whole team of people and then he got him money, you know, so never try that again.

It's a reminder, though. I think that luck is probably the number one factor in, like, if you get your money or not. Like, if things... In free agents. Yeah, it depends on the year. It depends on the draft. It depends, like, what the cap's

bases out there. It's like if Alshan Jeffrey, I think got unlucky. I think if he had gone into different situations, he could have done better than $9.5 million. And that's what, that's just what happened to him. He timed it. Well, way to go, Alcum. Wes, give me one. Another winner, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I love the fit with Deshaun Jackson, his strengths versus what the buccaneers needed. They didn't need an Alshan Jeffrey. They already have a big bodywide receiver who can jump ball, a jump ball specialist. They needed a deep threat. DeShon Jackson's John Jackson will make James Winston a better deep ball thrower. And Chris Baker, on the other side of the defensive line,

one of the most underrated free agents out there. I think it's time to bring back with the last name Baker, the touchdown maker. Wrong position, possibly. Yeah, but maybe. How about Chris Baker, Chris Baker, the touchdown preventer? Yeah, but, like, I mean, the sackmaker. Like, you know, he's a guy that, like, not only is he going to, you know, take down the quarterback, he's going to strip the ball running in.

He makes touch. That's true. It would be very relevant probably. at most one more time in his career. Chris Baker, the one-time touchdown maker. Go ahead, Greg. I was going to say, how about winners' agents again just for getting John Lynch into the league?

It's just like, hey, you guys want some money? Here's like the United States Bank of Lynch. Just let's overpay different markets triple the salary. Let's go to the 49ers to give us some cash. I want to say Chris Ballard, we mentioned him quickly, but think about what the cults were, you know, in recent history. Ryan Grigson, not getting along with the head coach, Ryan Grigson not identifying the team's biggest needs

and either hitting them on them in the draft or in free agency. Chris Ballard had an amazing opening press conference, number one. I think he set the tone, and they're already talking about players saying that they're attracted to what he's had to offer, what he said he's about in the organization, and they've quickly started to address. They kept Jack Doyle. That was a good sign.

They could have lost that guy. get Shear, you get John Simon, you're starting to address the issues that the cults have had for years under Grigsin. Nice move. You, Mark, Greg, you and I were both feet away from Ballard in his press conference. Yeah. What are your thoughts about him? I agree with Mark. I was impressed by him. He's an interesting, I don't know. I don't know what it was. I put you on purpose. What's happening? No, there is, there's a strange energy coming from Chris Ballard that we need to investigate. He's got a lot going on.

I liked it. Are you reading with aura? Yeah. I'm impressed, but it was... There's just a lot going on. We need to dig in more. Well, we... Dan, did you have thoughts?

You have thoughts, too. I thought you nailed it. I think in terms of what we can say into a microphone, yeah. Suddenly you two are reading people's oras. There was an energy issue, whether good or bad, or just, you know, something in the air. Hair recognizes hair, though.

it's good hair solid hair yeah it's no sneedy no but who is here's here's a loser uh the new york jets and the rest of the afc east after what the patriots have done and the jets especially because they went all out during this danta hightower visit uh put happy birthday danta hightower on all the screens inside the facility and made him cupcakes i mean that wait they haven't even lost out on him it's very desperate this is a desperate team cupcakes aren't going to cut it how do you No, maybe that's what changes everything. Get them cupcakes in here. Cupcakes.

So I'm going to cut it. They really do that? Yeah, that's a, I was thinking of breaking news into the show with that, but yeah. How many ex-patriots spending their birthday with the New York Jets? Very strange move. Not ex-patriot yet. Well, you know. He'll end up back there because the Patriots have manipulated the cap.

I think Belichick loves this, though. He can convince this team that we're not the Super Bowl champions. I mean, that's always his goal. is convincing them we're not defending anything that's nonsense every year is a totally new thing and he's going to have a very new different sort of team it's going to be an easy sell winner patriots fans always and forever because i had under loser you you you stuck to the afc east i put the rest of the NFL in our NFL network hit that uh we did today the season's over everybody go home the patriots i listen i've been saying it for a year hashtag cancel the patriots hashtag

save football it has never been more dire And if there was one year to be relegated from the NFL as the Jets are this year, I am totally fine with not even like having flirtations in my mind about having a good season because the season's over. The Patriots are going to be back in the Super Bowl next year. And there's almost an absolute certainty they win another Super Bowl. How exciting for the entire league. And absolute certainty that we see what you're doing.

We see what you're doing. Wake me up in next February. Just reached his prime. I think you could be right. Yeah. I mean, Tom Brady will never get. get old. I mean, so that's the only chance the NFL has.

And now that he's cheated father time, there's nothing left. I like how he threw a cheated in there. Can't wait to get overly excited about some week five bears win over the lions. You know, I like, here's a winner, Carson Wentz. We talked all year about, oh, this guy's getting banged in a big spot. These wide receivers, they're terrible. I mean, they just, they suck. These wide receivers are the exception.

of Jordan Matthews, but then Alshon Jeffrey, Wes, I know you don't view him as a prototypical number one, but I think he has that top level ability. And he's better than Nelson Aguilar. Certainly better than Nelson Aguilar. Tori Smith, I think he is a prime candidate for a bounceback season if Carson once developed. So then you got Jordan Matthews back in the slot,

and they could do some damage all of a sudden. I really like that wide receiver core, and that changed very quickly. Free agency will do that for you. winner, Carson Wentz, who could have been a Brown, Mark. Well, we might have Jimmy Jean a month if you're a Browns fan, so. And I'll have nothing. I'm giving the- I'm taking that corner, Mark.

I'm coming. I'd be happy for you, too. Pack up your stuff. It's not made over the course of three or four months. The Browns have been suffering for 20-plus years at this point. Jets have had a great time. Jets have been to two AFC title games since we've worked here. What a long time ago that was.

Actually, one. All right, then won the year before we worked here. Okay, go ahead. Another one. I was going to give the Bears a loser. team that gives Marcus Wheaton the same contract as Brandon Marshall is a loser. Like, what a weird contract. They gave Deon Sims a ton of money.

The Bears, I think, wanted to spend money and they got caught. They didn't get Stefan Gilmore like they expected. I think the Glennon, I have no, I like the Mike Glennon contract. I like Mike Glennon, so I'm fine with that. But the rest of it. They also announce he's a starter, just so everyone's clear. Yeah. He is our starter week one.

The rest of it, though, the Dion Sims and Marcus Wheaton and. One of the things I've learned the older I got is that it's a little bit, you're a little bit disappointed to find out that sometimes corporations just earmarked money to be spent. And that's how people get paid. We got money to spend and somebody's getting it. Dion Sims, Mark is never us. It's never us. What, are corporations spending money on us?

There could be more of that. I have a, I had Malcolm Butler here. We kind of touched on that, but he can't be. happy right now after they're now paying another cornerback on the roster like a quarterback. And I can't hit this any harder. But we've already talked about it. It needs to be said, the ultimate loser, I think, of this entire free agency process, even though he's not technically a free agent yet, is going to be Brock Osweiler.

The fact that not only did he get sent away in a trade and then now it's on the Browns, which obviously we know is quarterback purgatory or held, depending on you look at. at it and he might not even stay there and on top of it Wes as you alluded to the fact that this report now came out that's like oh he might be a bad dude to have in your locker room too that borderline maybe quit on his team last year nothing good came out of Brock Oswald's life I hope in his personal life things are going well well he's an incredibly rich individual but that's not all that life comes down to enhance him money and tall he's got some positive things working but in terms of he'd do well in LA the first week tall

and rich got most of the boxes checked most of those are the key boxes bill o'brien said he checks every box that's a good point anybody got something else like like the gms and corporations we don't have to force it no i'm going to keep the rest of mine secret well i'm waiting this whole segment for gregg to start trashing the redskins somebody trash him well we've done that every episode But essentially what I mean, I like the Threl Pryor move at least. But yeah, we've done that. They're an embarrassment right now. They know that.

All right. I don't think they know that. They're probably. They're not even fighting back at people calling them these sort of names right now. I think they're just trying to get past this era. I've heard multiple locals in Washington, D.C. judge this last couple of weeks as the low point. Right.

Of the Daniel Schneider era. Wow, and there's competition for that. And on the football side, I mean, Terrell McLean and Stacey McGee getting huge money was curious, too. It was kind of weird things. I guess I was a little surprised that they stuck with Scott McLuhan's free agency board. I read that in several places that they stayed true to his board. That seems dirty. It's probably just that is input from not just Scott McLuhan, but other people too.

And then what do you reorganize in the course of three or four hours with bullets flying? It's hard to do. I forgot I did have one more winner. What? winner NFL network producers because the Tony Romo thing is just still hanging out there. We can hammer away on old Romo. It's just sitting there. Losers, the viewer.

There you go. Winners and losers are the first week of free agency. That's it for today's show. We'll be back on Wednesday, three shows this week. So tune in. We'll have a show on Wednesday and another show on Friday. And I'm going to tease it here. and it may be this week

it may be next week but pretty soon back on the around the NFL podcast one of the most popular fan segments ever done on the show makes its return in the very near future I know what it is

a little bit of a tease let's keep it where it is I won't say a word in the shadows do you know what it is Wes I have a feeling Mark and I both believe it's the same and we both know. Okay.

Greg? We're going to bring Greg Hardy back? Greg Hardy's sitting in. In fact, a full-time member, a new hero, Greg, no. All right, that's it. So thanks to everybody for listening. This is Dan Hansen. Signing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman, the boss.

A new money behind the glass. How'd you get all that money? The listener. Till Wednesday.