NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Graybeards 2024: Best available free agents over 30 years old

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

In a room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler draft ATN's 2024 Graybeards roster. Before the draft, the heroes react to news from around the league including Stefon Diggs' new contract with the Texans (06:52) and Jordan Mialata getting a contract extension with the Eagles (19:34). After the break, the guys go position by position and draft the Graybeards roster (28:12). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast is a total eclipse on our hearts. Kill me. From the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio, it's Around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansus back from vacation. Got heroes here. Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler. Yes, we just did see the eclipse.

Or did we? I don't know. I looked up at the at the sun directly. But you mustn't, Mark. Yeah, but let's say your eyes are like your eyeballs will be singed and burned out. That's not the case. As far as I know. Right.

See where you are. Oh, you are bleeding from the cornea. Other than that. Yeah. Otherwise, fine. Dan motivated us to go. We sort of missed the peak of it, but we were about to start taping. It was time.

So we went up there. And unfortunately, we realized it's possible to be in a group of 35 NFL media employees. And we didn't know anyone to ask for their glasses. problem. So I went, I was a little head of you guys. I made a straight B line looking for literally one person I knew here. Well, I like the, the concept that in a dangerous visual setting, we would just take other people's glasses. Well, just ask for them. You don't need them. Uh, we'll take it. Um, yes. The three of us back together for the first time in, what? Well, over two and a half weeks. Yeah. So, uh, we are also closing in on the draft. We are, taping April 8th. The draft is April 25th.

And this one you get to and it's just simply should try it 8 and 20 10 days away. Masterful. Right? Masterful numbers work by you. My eyes actually are bothering you right now. I'm seeing seeing some splotchiness.

I did do a lookup. Did not have the 3D glasses because didn't know anybody. But like first day of school. Um... Today's episode. Special one. It's an annual tradition on around the NFL.

Free agency, and it was a very strange free agency this year, or maybe it's the new normal. We'll have to see, but very aggressive. Teams are more aggressive this year. They got going earlier. Players that usually, or the types of players are in some cases individuals, Jedavian Clowny is a perfect example. Instead of lingering on the market into late summer, got scooped up in the first week or a free agency the first time he signed a multi-year contract since his rookie contract

that is a fact so just like the way the machine worked was different this year so the annual graybeard's exercise which is pulling together the best roster of 30 and over talent there's been a depreciation of talent in the pool we're also doing a week later although how many names came off the market in last seven days not a ton it's a different different set up I know is the only one we might have lost that's a That's it early yet. But coming up a little later, we're going to put together that Greybeard's team. And also just check in on, in general, notable names still on the market who can make your team better.

And this is the first time that you've allowed Greg and I, I wouldn't use the word allowed, although I said, but like that we are part of the process that we're pitching. Yes. Yes. Yes. This is going to be a collaborative effort this year. We'll see how it goes. I see what you're doing, though, because it's, it's going to potentially, but the name

that are out there, it's going to be one of the most challenging seasons ever for the graybeards. Oh, yeah. Dan looked at this list of players and said, I need help. Let's get Greg and Mark involved so we can point some fingers. You're working under the assumption that when I was in Maui, I looked at the list and I was like, foo, it's a little tougher this year. I'm going to call some help. That's exactly what I think you did. That would be way too much credit. It's actually a compliment to you that Mark thinks you're this. I don't know. I did not look at it beforehand, but I just thought this would be a good time to mix things. up and see how it goes. And if the team, like last year's team, I predicted six and

11, they went four and 13. We'll see what this, where this team comes down and where we go moving forward as a group or me again as an individual. We will see. But before that, let's do some news. Well, Marvin Lewis is an idiot. Before I went away on vacation. That's it all sound drop. Yes. While you were in Hawaii, Greg. And by the way, what a state. Great state. Where is it in the top 50? I mean, it was the last one to come in, I believe.

Was it after? I believe it was. At the right time it came. What about Seward's Icebox up there in Alaska? Pass. Strait's a number one. Streets number one. It was a state. Actually, our Alaskan listeners, I apologize. Yeah, they don't have much to do.

Like, they would cling to a podcast in certain parts of the year, whether or wise, more than other 49 states. Beautiful in terms of nature up in Alaska. We got the pipeline, so we got some guap coming out of there. Also, territory-wise, close to Russia from a military perspective. Yeah, it could be very valuable. Yes, Sarah Palin famously, her lawn looked out on it.

She can see Russia from her right yard. But Hawaii, Aron. That's all I'm going to say. Mark, it's all. Well, I'm glad the two of you enjoyed your lush getaways. All right, let's get to the news. Oh, but what I was going to say was before I went on my vacation, we ended our podcast with Connor or after a very eventful week

for the around the NFL podcast with a Mark Sessler top 10 drops. And I was, many people reached out to me angry that that drop. Well, Marvin Lewis is an idiot. Was excluded. And I just want everyone to know that was an oversight by the board. I obviously would have had that very near the top had I realized it, but we didn't have it. Yeah, I mean, quickly, like that came off

a mailback question that came in just hours before the show and you did from another angle, a lot of work to compile what you did. I did, that is one of my more favorite self-drops. I will say there was a time that Marvin Lewis was actually in our green room. He was sort of being dipped into the network rounds a little. And I don't know.

It got a little uncomfortable after a while. I would assume he'd never heard that in his life, except you never know how these things filter up and he just gave me a weird look and I kind of was like I feel like it's safe to say he was, I don't know about the job. I'm not walking around thinking he knew it just there was a weird interaction at the beginning. He is back in the

league. He's assistant head coach of the Raiders. How about that? That adds up. Heavens to Betsy. Let's move into the news and let's start with, yes, the big news that broke late last week. I was vaguely tracking it from a bungalow. Stefan Diggs got traded.

Not really a surprise, but still huge news in the NFL when Diggs gets moved to, of course, the Houston Texans. And we have a little more details that have come out around the trade, which, of course, went for a 2025 second round pick via the Vikings for Diggs, a six round pick of 24 and a fifth rounder in 25. So after the trade, Houston, Greg, he does some business with Diggs. they give him a raise a flat a straight up raise his previous base salary went from 18 to 22 and a half million in guaranteed money and importantly for digs they also voided the final three years of his contract which were going to cover 25 26 27 so he is now on essentially a prove a deal at age 30 in a new environment making a little bit more money so as far as fresh starts go for stephan diggs and considering the quarterback he's with this sets up pretty well for him him and really both sides because I know you guys already talked about this, but there's no, there's, there's a non-zero chance that Diggs isn't a big time player anymore. And the Texans in that case would probably want out after one year. It's, it's, that's the whole setup here.

Yeah, a lot of people had their takes on the Diggs trade, and we, we spent a lot of time talking about it. And then this news comes out a couple days later. And people adjusted their takes that it wasn't as good of move for the Texans, that it's essentially a one-year deal. And I pushed back on that because, yes, he had a few years left on his contract before. But if he had played at a level that they hoped to get out of him this year, he would have been wanting more money right away because his base salaries were very low. And it would have became a whole thing between the two sides. And they're trying to avoid that.

So I don't think it dramatically changes the move that much. I liked it before. I still like it now. And there's a very different thing. And the ESPN headline to it was, will let him get to free agency. But that's not true. They have the franchise tag.

They also have exclusive negotiating rights from basically now until next free agency. And that's a totally different situation than all the other team. So if he does play well, they'll find a way to pay him. And if they don't, they'll franchise tag him. And a lot of angry Bill's fans

are like in my mentions being like, well, how do you, he's not going to be happy if they franchise tech. It's just, why are you worried about all this stuff that is going to happen if it's a good outcome for the Texans? They'll figure it out. And if he doesn't work out, then he will be afraid.

Yeah, we mentioned at the tail end of that conversation that this very well could have been a one-year situation for Houston. And from that angle, like the money aside, we don't have to worry about the money. They've got the money. They can pay them. They can front-load it all to this season and then see where they are a year from now.

Because what I think a bad team does is turns around and gives Stefan Diggs a ton more money when we don't know what kind of player he is right now. It's a perfect fit for one season for a team that is, you know, kicked open their Super Bowl window. Right. And if he does kind of get the magic back and has a huge year with a great

young quarterback, I would not even think about tagging the man and sitting on that tag because you're going to end up with an unhappy wide receiver, which has been the case in multiple spots for him. But that's best case scenario situation. Because if you're going to want to put the tag on that man,

he was the star that they think they're getting. By the way, speaking of money, Diggs has a lot of money. He's had a fantastic career. big time receiver so he could do things like paying new teammate jimmy ward the safety a hundred grand uh to get the number one jersey so he moves from number 14 his whole NFL career to number one which he wore in college and ward goes back to number 20 which he already had previously worn with the nineers so a cool hundred geez mark gets you any number you want i i wish that in the

in the world that we work in the media um you know circle that we had numbers and someone like some big shock could be hired by this place and like oh mark i want to take your number let me get you hypothetical 200 000 this little inside baseball for this particular studio the chris wrestling podcast studio but famously um you struggle with the uh recording box that we plug our jacks into our headsets into my right infamously you might say yeah it it has been an ongoing source of tension uh since we moved here how much would you pay let's say Greg for his box so you would switch boxes and never have to

worry about that again. Would you pay... Not even a cent. Oh, really? No. But you talk so much about it. Yeah, but I'm giving you a ticket out. Because then it's then... Mark's sneaky cheap, you know? Then it takes the onus off of management to correct the soundbox. I'm still trying to, you know, strong arm them into, you know, paying attention

to the situation. My grandfather, Paul Hanses, Elk of the Year, 8990 in Pearl River. Big deal. He, you know, basically the Elks are like many other what do you call those places well it's like social clubs

for veterans typically an Elks Club typically my grandfather was a World War II veteran and and we would occasionally because my dad and my brother or my uncle my father's brother Uncle Ed because of

Baba's his name strong ties to the Elks they kind of came into the Elks as well they signed up for the Elks and then occasionally we'd be taken to get drinks where we go to the bar which is a wild scene i can't even tell you everything i was going on at the elks okay but it was wild long way to get to that all the veterans did at this bar and i went in there a couple times when i was in college we just call each other cheap

the whole time that's all it was that was the only way these like 70 year old men could uh communicate and bust balls was just to go like college a alligator arms one of that you pay for a round. All right, T-Rex, arms and all sorts of terms in that range. So what Greg said to you just now,

Mark, triggered memories of the Elks. And I do agree that you are, in this case, showing a desire to stay away from your pocket. No, I strongly disagree. A little alligator arm action.

Who do you think most liberally A gecko arms? It's weird they just use variations of arms. Who throws money around town? Oh, that Kristen Whig character on SNL. Old C turtle arms.

Who throws money around town? Like, at what order would you put the three of us in. I would say, well, throw some money around down is kind of a wild term. But just absurd

that you would like think that's how I operate. You do, you are in many ways, you're handing out a lot of money a lot of times and a lot of situations. That is accurate.

So no, you're right. That was unfair. You really added the context that was necessary there. I corrected you. You did. He was lucky.

I apologize. Okay. Stefan Diggs was lucky, but first of all, good job by Ward. I mean, holding out for 100K that he kind of held his feet over to the fire.

It's a lot of money. And I just checked, Jimmy Ward's made $55 million in his career. Yeah, he's not a lot. Diggs has made $1.36. He's been in the league a long time, Jimmy Ward. But he's lucky because Ward is not that popular of a player relatively. I don't think many people own those jerseys.

And Kirk Cousins brought up that he wasn't going to get number eight from Kyle Pitts. We never circled back on this because he found out someone's got to buy all the pit jerseys that have been produced for sale to fans for him to turn it into Cousins jerseys. and that would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars and Kirk was like, I just don't care that much about it and neither did Kyle Pitt. That doesn't seem fair. They were just like, forget about it. It's fine. I'll wear 18. I think it's like a year or something.

Yeah, it's a year. And there's a lot of Kyle Pitts jerseys out there. Well, Greg, what about all these players that switch to zero or two or whatever? Like, were they yanked to do the same thing? Yes. Okay. Well, then, fine. Just stay consistent. And I want to give Diggs a little credit because, yeah, sometimes he could be

a pain for teams, but he's also big-time player. Also, he's, he's, did not, he had a chance when they did the whole switcheroo, uh, and let skill players get single digit numbers to move to number one with the bills. And he decided it wasn't fair to Bill's Mafia. The fans that had his 14 jersey. So that's why he held up. It's a little pop for digs in a big spot. Fair reporting.

Greg, do you have your Kyle Dugger jersey? I don't. I only own one jersey. Ever. I think I've only owned one jersey. It's a Troy Brown jersey. with that. Nice. First jersey. Mine was Boomer Assison. Got it from Santa, 93.

Bernie Cozor, although I would not say it was one of those official. It was like, I was a child. It wasn't like one of those like $180 official ones. Yeah, my parents were not getting me a jersey. It never happened. Yeah. They're like, that's too much. Well, not the official one, but you could get the ones.

Get a T-shirt. I mean, I couldn't have been too hard, scratch. out. Well, like, you could get the jersey was like 35 bucks or something. Like a B-minus version. Right. You didn't get the official $150. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. That's what I was talking about. Yeah, yeah. Right. Anyway, Kyle Dugger. Patriots continue to light up the imagination of the football public. They sign the safety to a four-year $58 million contract.

The deal is worth up to $66 million includes 32 and a half fully guaranteed. He's 28 years old. But just at the end of his rookie contract. So he came into the league a little later, but Gregi, a lot of, and I just did it a little bit too, a little bit of snarkiness around the Patriots off season about how many of their in-house guys they're locking up considering there's just no buzz and energy around the team the last couple of years. But logically, you know, you keep your guys that are good and then you've got to find a way to supplement that with fresh blood. I look at the method that Ron Wolf used to use, Ellie Wolf's father, and then certainly Ted Thompson and Brian Gouda Kuntz, the Packard. This is what they did. And it's just a coincidence that the few good young players on the Patriots roster and there's not a ton happen to all come up for free agency this year.

So I think it was smart. They kept him. They kept a one new, who am I forgetting that they also Hunter Henry? Hunter Henry, not a younger player, but worth keeping around. And they're probably going to have to pay Christian Barmore at some points. I'm fine with it. They do have a, they have like a solid secondary. So it's like you don't want to have that be torn down on top of it all. Their defense looks good on paper. I mean, their defenses are unpredictable. But on paper, they have a top 10 defense. But they haven't had it.

They were a top 10 defense last year. They haven't had a cue rating this low since, like, the, you know, mid-90, or like pre-parcells Patriots. No, there's not a lot to get excited about in terms of the moves they made offensively that's bringing players back. The news wasn't all bad for the Panthers last season. It was mostly bad. But there was a breakout player in Derek.

Brown, the defensive tackle, who really thrived under Agero Everall. A pounded in the three-four scheme. He was, he set a Panthers record for tackles by a lineman. He is a big time run-stop stud. So what do the Panthers do? They said, that's a guy we want to keep in our building. So he agrees to a four-year contract extension. The team announced on Friday, it's a $96 million deal.

market includes over 63 million guaranteed that per year average of 24 million puts them in the top five for a defensive tackle so you're paying them as an elite player I don't have mega takes about Derek Brown whether he deserves to be in that class but perhaps you do I would say that like he from a physical perspective he is a dominant

gigantic human being and this is a team with no first round pick you moved on from Brian Burns DJ Moore Your Tor Gros Motos goes to San Francisco. It's like, at some point, Carolina Panthers, you've got to do what the Patriots just did. Keep one of your foundational guys when you're running a three-four scheme.

Like, no brainer to me. These nose tackles are defensive tackles. Closest thing we have to nose tackles, like a run-stopping defensive tackle. Take a little time to develop. He reminds me a ton of Dexter Lawrence, who the first year or two, Giants fans and Panthers fans

talking about Dexter Lawrence and Derek Brown are like, man, we used a pretty high pick on like a plugger and then they get older and they get tougher and suddenly they're the best players in the league at their position. So it's a defensive tackle, you know, I don't know what you, explosion in terms of the money that was been out there the last couple years between Chris Jones and Wilkins and Madabweke and even Jeffrey Simmons, Duran Payne and Brown fits right in as one of the best players at the position. Jordan Milata in other news. the international pathway program

thriving thriving we talked about the new chiefs potential playmaker added to the floor like a highway than a pathway at this point a highway paved solely by Henry Hodgson with gold with gold and in a handsome manner by Henry the IPP program is a method being employed by the league to get more players

in international markets trained up exposed to the game giving them giving them opportunities and when you hit on one of these players man look at

I'm rewatching the which I highly recommend sports fans because we all watched it during the pandemic we were all kind of in a like a drugged state in a way some of us literally

some of it's just the whole thing you remember 2020 in a hazy manner the last dance the Jordan doc rewatching it with my sons It's a little salty language in parts. But overall, they're fascinated by this Jordan figure

who's like Babe Ruth for these kids. The Dream Team opened the doors for international play for the NBA. And now, like, Greg, you follow the NBA closer than either Mark or I. Like, the percentage of, like, star players in the NBA, what is it? Like 30 or 40% are from overseas now?

The last handful of MVPs, yes. Yannis and then Luca's on first team NBA. Yes. It's a totally different league now than it was 30 years ago. Jordan Milata is the shining star of this international movement. A left tackle that the Eagles drafted as a seventh round pick. He didn't have really, he had very little experience with football as a sport, but had the tools and then they got him trained up and he learned the game

and became a dominant tackle at one of the game's most important positions. So he gets paid, a extension that is three years. years, $66 million. He remained a top level tackle last season. He hasn't been, Greg, seen by people who vote for things. He's never been a pro bowler. That surprised me. That threw me too.

Never been an all pro. But anyone you talk to, the baldies of the world, say nothing but big time positive things about Milata. So another no brainer to keep in your building. A PFF star, too. Always in the top five, six. What gives? What's with the Milata bias?

maybe people were just like were giving too many Eagle offensive linemen these awards because what if it's a Hodgton bias? Kelsey and Lane Johnson handsome Hank bias have dominated it you're right sometimes offensive linemen people are a year or two behind now they're really behind on Milata where they get the Pro Bowls a little later

than you expect Kelsey and Johnson by the way starred at WrestleMania over the weekend showed up. I did see that. I made a little... Kelsey was very involved. Made a little attention. I mean these guys they got so much talent. Jordan Milada's also famously a great voice. You know, did a bang-up job on the Kelsey Christmas album

and also a great around the NFL guest. Remember that. Yeah, our Super Bowl He was legitimately a great guest. In fact, we should get him back on the show. We should try. His hand... I think Henry can help us with that. His hand was as big as any of our computer screens. That's what I recall. Most of your analysis today, Mark, just based

on the sheer size of the humans involved. He was a stunning, because like, you know, you get us and then you got like Derek Henry came on that same week and my lot on it's just like oh these are gigantic people and i don't want to i don't i'm done with these group photos right like five foot eight when we when we do these remote shows and we have the guess on mark does not like to be next to the the giant player typically it's i enjoy meeting them and stuff but it's like that's that's not a winning photo up in my opinion where it's like oh you're four feet shorter than this defensive tap we should start photoshopping the photos and

make you taller than whoever's there stupid very subtle miles garrett was a tough tough scene for i couldn't even speak that day. I think he thought I was from another point. This is why the Eagles stay good though as they get ahead of things on these contract extensions. They also paid Landon Dickerson this off season. So not only did they bring in a lot of people and you think, okay, Kelsey's retiring, is it going to be a big transition

for this offensive line? And they've planned ahead pretty well. They draft Cam Juergens. They have a third round pick, Tyler Steen, who's ready to go. It's like they just invest over and over and over. And that's why for them, like a bad season is 9 and 7 or falling apart late to go 11 and 6, whereas, you know, for most teams the bad season is the New England Patriots what happened to the last.

Yes, but the future of the tush push remains enigmatic. I love that for the Eagles. How the Eagles stay good. The football cognizanti paid those big guys. Ability to completely wash the end

of last season from memory is astounded. I just mean on a relative scale, their strategy is clearly pay for linemen. I agree with you. And that's worked in the long run. I agree with what you're saying overall, but that was a historic meltdown. Yeah. I know we're not, listen, we're supposed to now turn the page and everything's fine again, but I still have questions. It has been pushed from memory. It has been push for memory, I think,

a little bit. And I'm with you. People don't like it. You still have the same head coach and people are talking about, like, you know, the personality there and Daniels fans don't like it. No, of course. That's why we need you, Dan, to be the truth teller from now until week one that they're going to think you don't believe in them. Here's the thing. I'm not even saying that. But it seems as if we've decided. No, we've decided that that didn't happen anymore.

So if I have to be the person that say like, oh, the Eagles have done it again. Oh, this is how the good stay good. And like, oh, man, the Eagles are killing to this off season. Someone has to say they also had one of the most unbelievable collapses in recent NFL history. And they kept the coach and they kept the quarterback. And they're running it back again.

I don't think it would be fair to suggest that you're the only person in media saying that they didn't melt down. Go find it. Go find it anywhere on the internet. It has been scrubbed. I will take a look after the show. You know who did it? That Bradley Cooper.

With his charm, he wiped it all. Him and Lurie working together. It was a tough winter for Cooper. The Eagles fall apart in the same way that his Oscar hopes on that movie. Has there ever been a more. like bald-faced attempt to win an Oscar. Cooper get back to what you're good at.

Get out of the luxury suite. All right. Now I've got to stop. Did anybody see that film? I watched it. I was it. I think I mentioned this on one of our like suggests something that you've watched it. We're not giving you a trophy because you got a fake nose on, bro. I openly could not stand it, but then I thought about it

a lot afterwards. It made me think and it was a very strange, but it felt like Oscar bade to me, which is worked for him in the past. We know that much about him. Why are we still talking about him? I don't know. Did you guys talk about the Jets getting Hassan Reddick?

That was a nice move. I thought we were very fair in our coverage of that and praise them. I think it led the show. Nice. All right. 8 o'clock the light. The Chiefs re-signed Mike Dana to a big deal. You know who else?

Clyde Edwards-Hlair returns. Greg, I have to say, C.E.H. coming back is one of the the more the underdog tails of the first round. Well, no one. I thought there was no chance he would ever get a lot of interest in him and I got to say he did make some plays in the stretch run. He only was given the ball like three to five. Did anyone ever see

more DOA as a first round pick after like two years ago? They were telling you to draft him first overall in fantasy as a rookie. Took him a number 11 overall. Anyway, the voters shoot down the stadium bill by the way for the Royals and the Chiefs, which tough spot for the Chiefs

who coming up back to back titles probably thought they get that bump. They did not. So there's a lot of uncertainty around that situation. It got blown away, too. Like, it wasn't close. And I think it's tough for civic groups of people that suggest they're going to pay for these things at this point. It's old news now. It used to be the way it was. Draft prospect Evangre Sweat gets a DWI. My goodness. It made me think of Dak Prescott getting a DWI. Two days after his pro day, he dropped down to the fourth round. Let's see what happens with Sweat, who was supposed to be the first or second rounder. The Colts re-signed Julian Blackman, the Dolphin signed Teilart Tart. And Kyle Van Nooy goes back to

Ravens, Greggie. Three players that were in my top 101, and there's only three left total in the top 50. Woof. Segway. Yeah. Up next, Grabeards. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin, and this is NFL cover zero.

We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find

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We're here today, gone tomorrow. Will you watch or follow? It don't mean I cannot play. You will see me leave the way. Gray bits never go away Gray bits never fade away There goes my hero Watch them as he goes

Watch as he goes Goals my hero He's over 30 The gray beards are back Yeah We've been doing this exercise How many years now? Ten years?

Decade How many times I've been singing that song? What a song. It's getting better. It's like the I'm, what I'm hoping for is the Mariah Carey Christmas song bump

where it just charts every year Yeah, at the same time. Who is your greatest influence as a vocalist? Dave Grohl maybe, but maybe roll adjacent. So let's go Pearl Jam a little Eddie better. I've gotten one of your favorite bands, the National. I've gotten

that in the past. Well, I'm surprised you didn't bring Greg in for some sort of a singing role there because Greg is a renowned former singer. That's true. In fact, last year, I think you might have had the last line, and I apologize for taking that from you this year. I think you've done it

the right way. And I do think You know, now that I'm a member of the organization, the controversy that we've had over the last year, you know, the graybird, graybeards that, you know, many groups were saying, you should play that song and the national anthem at your games. And I say, no, this has replaced the national anthem. For the graybeards, this is their anthem. Yes, you have said that before. And I'm glad that you've said it again. This year is a real tough one. because like I said at the top of the show teams have been more aggressive and as a result when you look through the list and and you guys like we said earlier changed it up this year I used to write this as an article on the site now we're just talking it out as a group and going through it and we're going to land on some things together perhaps if you guys maybe I could serve as a bit of a tiebreaker in certain situations but in general I'd like us to kind of build this team together it's not going to be easy because there's there's a there's a

Not a lot on the, on the bone. Not a lot of meat on the bone. And I want to say one other thing before we get going, that this has always been, yes, the players from the gray beards have to be either over 30 or turning 30 before the Super Bowl. I am like the NFL. The NFL makes changes to their product every year. And I've been resistant to ever change the graybeards process.

But you have to go with the times because of the lack of options, because of the way the NFL views skill position players. Wow. Especially running backs, where 30 is basically the retirement home. But that's not necessarily what this is about. When they get to that second contract, around 28, I was thinking that's when running backs,

wide receivers will throw tight ends in there as well. So I'm changing the guidelines. Oh, for those three position groups. Okay. Or I could just keep it to wide receivers and running backs. Let's do that. 28 at some point in this season.

and it makes you a gray beard because that's really the way the league is now. Greg. I don't think this is going to change my picks much at all. To me, it's just there aren't many free agents available, whether they're 28 or not. I do think it's going to mess up how the song goes.

That it'll be like, they're over 30, except for running back in tight end, which are 28. Give me a chance to work that lyrically and find a melody to work. I think also, to be fair, it's inclusive,

We've always had that friend in their 20s who suddenly had white hair or, you know, when they went gray or white much earlier, and they probably feel not part of society in some way. And this says you are part of this operation. I don't know who these 28-year-olds are, so I'm curious who you threw out. It didn't change the list. Much for me, yeah. In terms of like an earthquake level. And I'll just real quick, because usually I look back at the graybeards the year before,

and as I usually say before we get into it, there are players that are available now to any team that will play a big role for teams in the upcoming season. And that is true. But I'm looking at last year's team and you didn't see a lot of that. So last year I'll just go real quick. At quarterback, we had Wentz and Bridgewater at running back, McKinnon and Latavius Murray at wide receiver Odell Jarvis Landry, Julio Jones and T.Y. Hilton. At tight end, Mercedes Lewis and Cameron Bray. Who's 40? You know, if you really want to know, the line was Donovan Smith, Roger Saffled, Ben Jones, Gabe Jackson, and Taylor Luan on defense, I'm really hurting. David and Clowny not being a gray beard.

He has been a gray beard more than he's not been a gray beard in his career. Last year was Clowny, Leonard Floyd, Frank Clark, and Justin Houston. I mean, these are name brands that you're just not going to see in a lot of cases this year. Somehow, Dominican Sue was on our interior line last year, Quentin Jefferson, Shelby Harris, Matthew Ionitis, Anthony Barr, Marcus Goldman, John Bostic at line. It feels like some of these guys are already ancient history. They never got that chance those graybeards. And then in the secondary

Marcus Peters, Bryce Callahan, Byron Jones, William Jackson. Robbie Gold was the kicker. Wow. Retired. Andy Lee at Punter. So that was last year's team. I didn't hear a lot of guys that actually had big years from that list. If you guys can throw any, do you hear any of there? Their names did

in a big years though. Clownie had a good year. Oh, Clownie did one of his best years. Yes. Donovan Smith, you know, started the Super Bowl at left tackle, so that was an effect. Sue did a lot of sky sports coverage the offensive line in the defensive line was doable um all right who was the quarterback last year quarterback was when let's start there so wents and bridgewater joe flacco was out there isn't that crazy he was out there was not even selected for a fake

football team so let's start with the quarterback position this year because it is not in a great spot greggie uh i think we all agree ryan tannahill age 35 um is a perfect guy to slot in first time gray beard yeah so Welcome to the team. But thank God, Tanna Hill didn't get signed in the last week or so because where are we going if Tannhill goes down? He's had injury issues. You'd have to go to like Blaine Gabbert, Trevor Simeon. So yes, there's a steep.

We do need to keep him healthy. You know, Teddy Bridgewater, I think is familiar with my appreciation of him over the years. You know, he's known as a leader, a coat. He's becoming a high school coach. I would be willing to offer him even more money than that high school could possibly be giving. To bring him back. To bring him back as a backup. And coach.

Maybe he can start. I mean, he was giving interviews about. That seems like it's breaking the rules, though. Like, here's the thing. And he's three years. We all love Teddy, but Teddy was given interviews to the Detroit media in, like, early December saying, like, how excited he was to leave the NFL. And he was like, dude, you're the backup quarterback.

I think he's going on to a different phase in his life. I kind of threw out Brian Hoyer because he is a good locker room, dude. But, I mean, he can't play anymore either. It's very rough. We'll take Hoyer as the backup, I think. Do we have backups or we just? Yeah, we, oh, we need back. I believe in Tanna Hill.

I think he provides the right kind of spark for this. Locked and loaded QB1. Maybe one of the best QB1s we've had in this exercise. Isn't it also crazy that Blaine Gabbard is 34 years old now? Well, a lot of these names would make all the three of us feel... And he's been much older than one. ...replaced by last year's Greybeard Carson Wend. So that might spell the end of Gabbard's.

Although he was with the Chiefs. And if Andy Reid thought he was a sound backup or a good option, and should we perhaps go with Blaine as the backup? Bruce Ariens. Well, the reason they wanted him there, apparently, was because Mahomes especially was obsessed with Tom Brady and just wanted, like, Tom Brady's backup. So, like, you know, that was part.

Do we want that? I mean, there's worse. What do you guys think? There's worse reasons. I'm a little worried, too, Tan Hill. That's a really weird explanation, but. Well, it was part of it. They just thought, like, you know,

he was around him for a couple years. Like they called Drew Bledsoe first. And they're like, Drew, you want to be my backup this year? So, all right, should I put in Blaine? Tana Hill also had some rough moments last year, but Yeah, behind a terrible offensive line. Some other games where he looked better.

All right. Yeah, let's put Gabber. He's a handsome guy too. Very good looking. He'll pop in the team photo. All right. Running back. So this is where, again, I had to make that change.

It changes things because Zekiel Elliott is in his age 28 season. A lot of rumors connecting him, going back to Dalser, it's being floated out there by certain people. What are you laughing about? that I... We could call this the Zique rule if we want. Yeah, it's funny that you change the rule to get Zika on,

although he does feel like a graveyard. And I think he literally does have great hair. Is it? Is it gray in it? I think he has some gray in it. I just assumed he was over 30 without checking. So that's why I'm laughing. A lot of Miles. I wrote his name down without even checking.

Yeah, we got the original age boundary. Right. Clipped him and it clipped guys like Kareem Hunt, Delvin Cook. But I guess now all these people are back in the conversation. It's funny because I had the same two guys we had a year ago Latavius Murray and Jericho McKinn and I'm like okay

we can get by with that So I had I said Zeke and Kareem Hunt But we're going to lose I think we're going to lose Zeke in a couple weeks That's the one problem here right now Once you once they're gray beard They're gray beard forever Okay cool

That's an important distinction that I always have to lay out there Okay So you're saying you think that But you also listen All right I'm gonna I'm gonna put up a stop sign on Kreme Hunt He looked okay Woeful last year He also had

soft field issues. For a fake team, we can keep Curran Hunt and his three yards per carry off the list. He did not look like the same Cream Hunt to me a year ago. It looked like he might have suddenly kind of hit the cliff.

I'm fine with that. We can let Kareem walk. I will say just from, because you're being very analytical and that's important, Greg, you're looking at it's not, as Wes always said, it's not just about the name,

it's the game. Yeah. But we also put some, we've got to put some meat in the seats. Yeah, but Kareem Hunt's not. No, I'm saying. That's why Zeke. I want Zeke on the roster.

Oh, I get that. I get that. He's on the ticket. You know, he's on the... Meat in the seats. Like a lot of... Bucks in the chairs. Like a lot of sad Patriots fans,

I will defend the Zeke era in New England that I'm sure people weren't like... He obviously doesn't have the greatest explosiveness ever now, but he was okay. I think he's... I think he's okay. He's perfect for this team. Wait, so we are pairing Zeke with someone else, though, right?

Yes. I would lobby for... Eric McKinnon. Okay, so Greg said that too. So let's roll with that. Good. And just, I'm going to, and these guys are. He can also tell us about what it's like to win a Super Bowl.

That matters. Multiple times. Yeah, that's true. Here are some other options. So we said, Zeke, Boston Scott, Damien Harris just retired. Cam Acres, not eligible. He's only 24. Whoa.

Daray Agoon Boale. Poor J.K. Dobbins is out there still, but just 25. Matt Breedah is an option for us. Rashad Penny is an option for us. he's got to be under 30 as well. He is. I like what we've cooked up here. Tavius Murray is 34. Latavius Murray

has had a strange career where he never seems to age and always like is better than the younger people around him. But I like what. So Jerrick makes the graveyard back back. By the way, as a guy I would be intrigued about as an NFL team. I know he's coming off a serious injury but I think he'd be worth a shot.

All right. Wide receiver. Here we go. A lot of options. We're going to lead with someone who was a gray beard last year for the first time. And again, meeting the seats. You need somebody on the cover of the media guide. It is Odell Beckham Jr. once again leading the wide receiver group. Anybody disagree with that? Well, I don't

disagree, but according to the rule that he's on, he's on, I would say yes, absolutely you want to sell the tickets. Children and adults alike would be fascinated by the concept. You know, he's linked very heavily to the dolphins right now. Would children be into it? It's been a long time since the catch at the medal. I think you could sell

a little bit of a buck. Walker's pretty into O'Dell. He still sort of has a there's a juicequa with O'Dell. In the catch. And there there's some highlights you can go back. But yeah, him in Tannahill, you know, it's a bigger picture of O'Dell. It's like he's got the big face and then Tanna

hell's maybe a second face. Turn in the other way. I think that's the cover of your guide because that's a real quarterback people know. But O'Dell's a little. Remember those in the 80s they would do with the family pictures where it would be the profile, the child's head and then the pose of them together like holding

blocks. They do that with like people and their cats. Like there's a second circle where the cat is looking in a different direction. We got big funk behind the glass who, you know, the stuff this guy can do in the edit is remarkable. It's phenomenal. I think you're going to talk about it as cats because there's not an animal that

Randy Chavez is not taking care of in the entire animal planet. I'm not talking about cats, but we can have a separate, let's save for the feline podcast. Randy, if you know, we'll talk about it off, off Mike, but we want the old 1980 perspective shot

and then that's kind of in the distance maybe it's a little phased out a little bit like it's not as clear and then in the foreground it's some type of like action shot something like that okay okay good anyway Odell I'm going to throw out

Tyler Boyd who's 29 years old you guys think about Tyler Boyd well I think this rule is you know I don't know why this rule exists if we don't use it to get the younger player that still has upside I thought he turns 30 during the season, so you don't even need the rule. He's good either way.

Solid. You know, the Zeke rule. Maybe coming off his worst year, but he still had 667 yards in that year. He just seemed like maybe the contract situation was bothering me. He did some mental error, some drops. Well, we don't love that, though. But a nice slot receiver. I mean, he's, I think this is our strongest position group on the team.

He has upside. I like him. And I think we've got to add a little spice to this. Go ahead. too. I think we got to bring in Michael Thomas. It's time. I have them to. Come home to the graveyard. A little bit of a locker room lawyer. We want a locker room

lawyer in the building. It's a fresh start though. And there is this like, what if he stays healthy and he doesn't have this 18th row injury? Media guy's not looking too bad, by the way. We have the guy that has the catch record. We have Zeke was one of the most famous NFL players of the previous decade.

Yeah. We have Ryan Tannahill. carried multiple episodes of Hard Knocks. That's true. And also, when you get Ryan Tannhill, you get Lauren Tadahill as well. You do? Yep. I would say especially for, you know, fans that have been in a coma for two and a half, three years.

Like, this looks like an all-stop. I would push back in terms of the locker room lawyer aspect. But? I think we're looking forward to 2024, 2025. Social media is key. Yeah. If things go wrong, he'll keep, like, all attention is good attention. And I think Michael Thomas will keep us in the news.

Right. I don't like that Saints element bringing it into my building, but I understand Thomas is someone that you want to bank on maybe giving you a little. And he's got, he's got it. He's a name brand. So I'm with you. I'm just a little worried about it. Just lean into the marketing side of us. We need a strong base in terms of leadership. All right. I also, I'm going to add a fourth receiver here. I know Thomas we're going to put in the slot. But I also like Hunter Renfro in the slot here. Now you're using the age rule for what reason? What do you mean? Although he has been balding for a long time. He's older than you think like he's just under the line there. His hair line was hurting on hard knocks as a rookie. So yes, he'll he'll fit in visibly. But also, um, I know you have, you, uh, waged a war against Renfro early in his career, uh, Greg. And then he fell out of favor with, uh, the Raiders. It felt like the last couple of years, but he's still just, this is his age 28 season.

Uh, I want to, I'm going to put him up. Is there someone else that you guys? Yeah, I, I want MVS on this team. I think we got the. slot handled with Boy and Thomas. I want some speed. It's pretty rare to have a gray beard with some deep speed. He's

quiet all season, but in the non-existent playoffs that the gray beards have never made. He comes up big in the playoffs. MVS, what do you think? Very frustrating player, but that's not going to be on like three quarters of our roster. So that fits right in. You, VS

over Runfro for you? Well, Renfro, you also have to bend the rules. I thought Renfro was already in and we were picking our one-file I was pushing. We have Odell, Tyler Boyd, Michael, Sterling Shepard. I don't know. Like, it gets ugly, Marquis Goodman. I'll go MVS.

I just find him frustrated. All right. I'm okay with that. You know who actually had this? I think it was the second highest percentage of snaps of any available wide receiver free agent that was over 30 was Alan Robinson. I was like, wow, Alan Robinson played a lot for the Steelers last year. But I do not feel like bringing in Alan Robbins.

Alan Robinson is not on this team. He can't. And Julio Jones caught a pass in the playoffs last. year. Do you remember that? 35 years old. For the Philadelphia Eagles. It's a thing that happened. Yeah. He was gray beard last year. Randall

Cobb is out there. You know who else is out there? Now not gray beard eligible even under the Zika rule. But Chase Claypool is not employed anymore. And I don't know if he's going to get employed anytime soon. Like he might be in the

whatever, what's the, you know, Foucaque the Spring League called it now, UFL. Yeah. Like he might have to go reestablish the brand at this point and to think that the bears surrendered a second round pick for him two years ago. It was crazy. That gets washed away in the current hype. I went to

confirm that Julio Jones caught a pass. He caught three passes in the playoffs. Hell yeah. You're wondering how far that Eagle's offense fell. All right. Do we have to take a break? We're due for bigger out. Let's take a break and then we'll get through the rest of the Greybeard's roster. Hey, this is Matt Jones.

I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL. cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner. of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture.

If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. all right so so far so good i have to say i mean when you look at the offense now let's it's let's get to tight end um there's there are some options here um the one that kind of jumps out to me is logan thomas 32 years old i'm with you yep uh see ju ozama uh is coming up a bad knee injury. He is on the market. Bobby Tanyan's out there.

How do the real health situations factor into this? They factor in. Okay. Well, I love Logan Thomas as an option, been productive throughout his career. Do we want Jimmy Graham on that media guy? I'm not an injury. I, you know, we keep bringing back Mercedes Lewis and so does the

NFL. He's now 40. To have a 40-year-old gray beard is pretty exciting. I, yeah, I'd Lewis. We can put him on the coaching stuff. Notch with Jimmy Graham, though. I think Jeremy Graham is better for the for the media guide. Does Jimmy Graham put me in the seats? I don't know at this stage he does.

He did release a... He had an Instagram post a few weeks ago that seemed to sound retirement-ish. Just kind of like, hey, the end of the season was quick, didn't get a chance to thank everyone for like a fun year in New Orleans. I think Logan Thomason, I like Mercedes-Lewis as their backup, just like keep...

Is he turning 40 this year? He's 40. He actually is 40. Yeah. That's special. I think that that has a nice, get some think pieces and some nice. He was literally drafted with Maurice Jones Drew. I know.

MJD is always talking about him. MJD says he's still a player in the league. It's cute. Let's see. Let's see. Kicker. Man, I really wish I could put Robbie Gould on here. But I think he retired, didn't he?

I don't think he fits for this. Like, if someone didn't even exist last year. But has he filed his paperwork? I'm just asking questions as one must. I'm sure he did. I think we talked about it. I think you're right. Big-boned Randy is out there.

Oh, yeah. Now, we have a special feeling for example. I don't like him as a kicker. Well. And his Zafthig figure, I like, I relate to it. I feel like it's something he battles, but he also has now been kicking for about 10 years. He's getting the full pension.

And this is a way to say you've battled through a lot of adversity. come on in. Like, your other options are like what Brett Maher, like I'm going, I'm with you, like Fat Randy's been in our Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's what the nickname was. I didn't come up to that day.

Not on our show. To be fair, he's slimmed down. He's gone up and down over the years. Now that I'll have to see him in the hallways, you know, inside the team complex that would probably shy away from calling him that. It's also a connection to Chris. Probably shit. Chris Wesleying.

What up Fat Randy? I feel like he had a lot of opinions about Randy Bullock back in the day. Who, Wes? Yeah, he got a kick. out of his figure, yeah. He's Rubin-esque and it just, I like, yeah, I like that. That's good. I think it's important for our team

to embrace all body types as well. It's a good message. Body inclusive is a big thing now. So, welcome, Randy. All right, punter, punter, punter. I don't know about you guys, I was like literally looking for punters. Like, I, at some point the search stopped.

As far as I can tell, there is not a punter who punted the ball in the NFL last year that is a free agent. that is over 30. Yeah, but how about this? We don't punt. We don't punt.

You can get fans involved with that one. I could be like searching it wrong, but I don't think so. I don't think there is an available punter. I have an idea. I had a punt. Presley Harvin, again, body diversity, inclusive, but he's quite young.

The Steelers cut him. But if you go to like spot track, over the cap, all these sites, they don't list one of these punters. There is not a punter. I'll throw one out there. Sean Lundetta. Okay.

What did I literally write on my screen? Sean Lendetta, who's 62. Okay, let's see. Dan, that's how legends are made when you're team building. We both have Sean Lendetta down before the show. This is why I was pointing out to Mark last week

that it was tough for him when Dan's out of the state. Sean Lendetta, 62. We both thought of Sean Lendetta. Somewhere Poppy is smiling on the brown couch drinking his root beer, not talking to me. All right, Sean Lendetta, welcome to the graybeards.

hopefully he's staying in shape. All right, offensive line. We'll keep an eye on the waiver wire in case anyone loses a job in camp elsewhere. I'm going to throw out just what I projected the line, and if you guys want to replace anyone, I'm totally open to it. Right tackle, Billy Turner, right guard,

Cody Whitehair, center, Connor Williams, left guard, DJ Fluker, and bringing in David Backdiari is a perfect gray beard at left tackle. Oh, I got about that guy out of Tari, Connor Williams as well. Well, Connor Williams is like 27.

Yeah, knows. That's why, well, is he, wait, he's young. Hold on.

Oh, okay, okay, get rid of Connor. Yeah, he's 26. He said, yeah. I thought he was,

oh, no, I'm thinking, no, hold on. There's multiple. Connor McGovern. Connor McGovern is only 30. And the 33.

I'd like to avoid anybody that's played offensive line for the New York Jets in the last three years. I like to, because I actually had Lake and Tomlinson maybe as one of my guards.

The tackle position might be the best on the roster. I take it back from the receiver. Andrews Pete played quite well late last season at left tackle for the same typically a guard but yeah typically a guard so you could play him at guard or tackle but I'm a little surprised he still

out there and then Donovan Smith I mean he wasn't lighten it up but he did you know start for the Super Bowl champs and most of the season for the he stepped in for him he was okay no he was there all year oh yeah right right I'm thinking of right tackle yeah he left he was injured and then he came back so who did you have it as your left tackle

before I had back there he's good though I like yeah I think he's like that too That's like he might be He's putting me in the seat That's a name brand People are like They want to know What's next in his journey

I think it's the draft That's keeping these guys out there Because compared to other positions I was like a number Charles Leno is another one I was like A number of these guys Could actually play meaningful NFL

Snaps in the fall And I don't see that at many positions Where there is like five or six tackles out Do we want to kick Donovan Smith To write tackle? I think it's that It's that type of versatility That we're looking for

Who we put in the pivot? I guess Bakhtiari, but he hasn't stayed healthy too often, you know. Bro, the pivot center. I think Connor McGovern. You got to get in the term terminology. If you're going to be a true front office head. Connor McGovern was the PFF's 33rd ranked center. I wasn't listening as closely as I should have.

Lucas Patrick. One of my favorite, like, tropes of people talking ball. Like, how about the pivot? Who's in the pivot? Okay, let's put Pete in at guard. All right. We got Bakhtiari and Donovan Smith attack. tackle. Yeah, Flucer's gone. All right.

So I'll put Andrews Pete. These guys Cody Whitehair you had. I like that. Cody at Wright Garden and then who's in the pivot? There weren't many. I think Connor McGovern. All right. He's 30 years old. I looked at Lucas Patrick. I looked at a man, uh, Tyler Shatley, just for the name as

we clearly were, uh, quarterback's going to be shatling his pants when he lines up behind these guys. We were clearly sifting through the same software. Yeah. Justin Pugh was a man, um, who had some, social media excitement last year for the Giants when he said he was straight off the couch

as the team that he played for on Sunday night football I believe so that was exciting. All right, let's move off the line before people fall asleep. All right, how about the defensive line? Okay, who we putting on the edge? Okay, I'm excited to get Jerry Hughes on the team. We play three, four, four, three. I would say we are

you could go four three here if you wanted to yeah, I think four three. I think so too. Emanuel was still out there? Yeah, I think Jerry Hughes, Emmanuel Agba. But DePri? It was in a weird system. You know, our friend Henry Hudson pushed back on me a little bit that I had Agba in my top 101 when Xavier and Howard wasn't there.

I'm just like Agba always used to be good. And then he didn't really fit in the fan geo scheme, maybe. Melvin Ingram's never disappointed when he signs with the team halfway through the season. Justin Houston? Somehow unique. Gray beard last year. Somehow unique and Gakwe is not old enough to qualify still, yet he's been in the NFL for 73 seasons.

Who's putting their hand in the dirt? Well, both the edge rushers. Yeah. I'm trying to use Terminal. Who are the D-Tackles? Cleos Campbell. Yeah. Oh, that's a great one.

38. Oh, that will alleviate my concerns about Michael Thomas. Because Campbell will keep that. Yeah, he'll keep him in. Well, I think we haven't gotten to our coaching staff, but there's some pretty good names available. Yeah. And I think could really keep the discipline on the game.

Did Duncan Sue retire? He's doing British television. He did not get a job this year. Is he still spending summers with Lee Ayacocca on the plant? Assembly line? Lawrence Guy who. Larry Guy, okay. You know, famously made the all decades team for the Patriots in the 2010 somehow.

William Goldston is out there. Jordan Phillips. I'm going to go Campbell and Guy as my picks at defensive tackle, but it's not a strong group. Yeah, I didn't have a long list. I think Campbell. Campbell will help make up the weakness of the other candidate. All right, linebackers. Anthony Barr.

Barr was there last year. You've got Zach Cunningham came in and played some snaps. Kwan Alexander. It's not a strong. Kind of like Kwan there. Position. Nick Vigil. It's a bunch of guys who keep getting signed like late in the mix and they fill in.

I think the linebackers making a comeback in the NFL of teams realizing that they're important. and the lack of lack of names available might spell that out here. All right. So let's go Bar, Alexander and give us one more. Cunningham.

Jack Leonard is too young for this. He's not with the... Barely, though. I've lost many, many... Jack Leonard has not turned 28 this year? Oh, we're doing this with all positions. You're right, you're right. All right, this is where I've lost many seasons

is in the secondary. We are too slow. I don't hate this group. It's ironic, whereas... You know, I think I keep saying it. Now this is the strength of our team. I think the secondary is... How could that be?

How could there be... I don't know why. Impact makers in the... It could be draft related to... On the open market right now. There's a couple guys in there, like, 30, 31. Like, you got Stefan Gilmore's out there. That's a whole run.

And Stephen Nelson are two guys who play... You know, Stephen Nelson was a lower level, but played starting cornerback at a pretty high level last year. I love Gilmore. Xavier and Howard. Oh. That's... That's right.

Corners, right? Oh, yeah. Okay. Who are we playing in the slot? Well, they're also experienced that we can... Put Howard in the slot? Create all sorts of strategic chaos for the... We put Gilmore on an island and say, good luck.

One more year. One more ride, son. Yeah. Just leave on an island. These are some reasonable players, though. By the way, Dori Jackson does not qualify, but he's a reason. Whenever you can leave a 32-year-old cornerback on an island for 60 minutes. In the end of the end of there.

But you know, I want to play a lot of zone because, you know, because of their age. And also because we've got good safety. the safety position. That's always flush in this exercise. Justin Simmons is like a recent all pro Justin Simmons. Gilmore's turning 34 in September by week two. Okay.

But he was playing well. All right. Yeah, we're definitely playing zone. It's still a quality player until I mean, look, it's the NFL or wherever we play in 2024. We got to be diverse. We've got to mix it up.

We've got to mix it up, yeah. The scheme is fluid. It's not the old days. Scheme's fluid. Don't try to put us in a box. If they join a team in real life and get hurt in real life, does it affect their health? Tell me this safety group isn't better than some NFL teams.

Justin Simmons, quandary digs, J. Ron Curse, and either Micah Hyde or Tashon Gibson. Hyde might be retiring. How many roster spots do we have for safety? I don't know. I just usually do two. Let's go three because we're going to play where again, we're trying to be different. We're mixing a match. We're playing a three safety defense.

some time. Let me try to see a 12 guy. The linebackers are so bad, I want to play one linebacker. Right. We play a 4-1. Right. Six. I'm going to do a little sneaky, get a 12th on the field move. See if anybody catches it. I just think I want to play.

We don't have a lot of speed. Like, McQuandre. Yeah. Get out there. That usually works. We don't have a lot of speed. I just want to prevent the big play. I'm going to play six defensive backs at all times. Six D-Bs. Yeah. And just like the umbrella is kind of let them, let them complete five-yard

the rain shower's office. Yeah. It's like 18-yard screen pass after 20-yard screen pass. These are guys that are in my 101 or close. Who's our third seat? Diggs. Simmons Diggs and... Let's go J-Ron Curse.

All right. Good player. All right. Head coach. There's only one choice. Go ahead. I mean... He's writing a book right now.

He was wearing a University of Washington, or is it Washington University sweatshirt this weekend, and giving people in the Pacific Northwest just the feels, I think, because he was with his son, Steve Belichick, at a Washington coach's clinic. Did you watch the game on Monday?

Bill Ehrlich is our head coach. Hell yeah. And I know that that doesn't mean a lot in the modern league anymore. But for the graybeards, there's never been a more perfect synergy of a man who's been counted out because of his age.

I don't tell me anything else. Belichick is the bell of the ball. if he's 62 instead of 72. He has been counted out because people say the game is passed him by. The gray beards are here to prove. Yeah, like, when we... Everyone wrong.

When we talk about like a violent coup d'etat in terms of a hiring cycle, this would be it because this is someone who could go break Don Schuil's record as the coach of the Greybeards. And... Wow, that'd be good. That's pretty good.

And I'm going to say, these two men, although they seem like they wouldn't be a good fit, they have actually, if I'm not mistaken, been on the same staff together. It is a man who famously said he didn't come to kiss Bill Belichick's rings, but I kind of like pairing Bill with Rex Ryan. Oh, absolutely. The Rex is DC.

Bill is the head coach. It's Bill's defense, obviously, but it's Rex there. You know, Rex famously cooked up Bill in the 2010 AFC divisional playoffs. They can work together and make magic. I mean, you talk about that, that, you know, the team programs and stuff. We've got Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick joining forces. Was he on the Patriot staff?

Rob Ryan. Rob Ryan. Rex and everyone. Oh. Not Rex. He was on the Ravens staff. Okay. So maybe Bill might veto that.

And I'm going to do what other people were unwilling to do. I'm going to give Bill the final call. Like if Bill isn't comfortable with that? Yeah, I thought you were going somewhere else with this. And I kind of like the idea of, first of all, this is the roster Bill's always wanted. just a bunch of hard-nosed, intelligent players, old, slow, smart. A bunch of progress stoppers. He likes that in the NFL.

He's going to like it on the graveyard. I think, you know, give a little sugar with all the sourness that Bill gives you and bring in Pete Carroll. Those are two of the greatest defense of mind. Ooh, that's a good call. You know, just to pump everyone up. I'm so freaking jack. I'm so fucking Jack.

Can we only have two coaches? We get a multiple coaches. I think, I think that's the play. As much as I love Rex, I think Bill, who, Bill replaced Carol, didn't he? Once upon the time in New England. He did. And that was an ageism type thing, too, the Pete Carroll thing.

Exactly. So I think he's a perfect fit. So DC, Carol, head coach Bill, I think we got to give Frank Signetti another chance at O.C. I think Frank deserves. How old's Frank? Yeah, that's got to be over. He's 56, I think. Hold on. Frank's in a

okay, let's see Frank. How old is Frank? Yeah, he's turning 58. 58. So, yeah, let's get him. Because he got bounced by the pit Panthers. Right. And that never felt fair. They said he wasn't good enough.

Probably ages him. Like looking back, probably ages him. I think so. And of course, special teams coach always and forever. Mike Westoff. Ooh, he trashed. No, he didn't trashed Belichick. He was on our show and was annoyed that we were asking him like questions he didn't want to talk about.

Westoff trashed parcels in his book, which Belichick's going to love. So they're going to and they once upon a time coached together on the Jets. So, yeah. This is an incredible staff. Belchek, Carol Westoff, Signetti. Let's go. And I just, just to get the gang back together because you don't hear about them much lately,

let's bring in Charlie Weiss as like a consultant. Get him in that week. Remember Charlie? Consultant. Good times. Hard to forget him. Tom Brady. Get him in the building.

It's not that old, actually. 668 years old. Charlie wise. His son is the offensive coordinator for Lane, for Lane Kiffin's old Miss team. How about that? He's going to put him captions here. Get him in the building.

the coaching staff really changes my opinion on this team because before I learned about the coaching staff or thought about it I was going to predict oh and 17 I did not think this team was winning a ball game not a single game you're telling me Tanna Hill can't get hot

the defense can't get some stops What did they go a year ago? What was the I predicted 6 and 11 and they went 4 in 30 They won four games with Carson Wentz I believe I predict that they would go 1 in 16 or 2 and 15 last year. This team seems worse. But actually after talking through it,

it's a little better than I thought. I think 5 and 12. We got to keep Tanna healthy no matter what. And we got to keep Wyss health healthy as well. All right. Yeah. I'm going to put with this coaching staff

and the chips on the shoulders, I'm going to predict 9 and 8. That is how that is insane. Because of the coaching staff, I think you put it in an average coaching staff. It would be Owen 17. I think Bill coaches this. That's so messed up.

How many... Does a great job. We went through all these position groups saying, oh, this is a great group. This is a really good group. And we're not going to steal a win with a basic coaching staff like that. I think it's unfair to these.

Well, there's just a couple of positioned groups. That betrays the very nature of the exercise, Greg. We're not nihilists here with the gray beards. Like, we believe in these guys. Just trying to be realistic. It's, I'd say it's maybe the best secondary

the gray beards have ever had. And that was killing them. It's a great. secondary two years ago i don't know where we're getting pressure i think they're picking on our linebackers uh the protection we'll see but if they can't keep tana hill healthy we're in trouble that is everything starts there by the way we haven't had a consistent pass rusher by the way since john abraham no story all right because of the coaching staff i think it's it's a magical season and they coach them up to six wins and it's they actually he gets coach of the year votes

getting those six team of a tn i'd do that today all right there you go that is the uh the graybeards of two thousand twenty four uh geez tannahill ice that ankle bud ice them both get in the hyperbaric chamber until training camp that that's what we need health of the qb position and i think we can steal we could steal a lot of wins all right uh we'll take a break and then we'll close things out Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.

Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision-makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow.

We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Help it. I'm so hungry.

We need you help. We need this. Come on, Greg. We are in the future. Will you be my dad? We need your help, Greg! Can I trust you? Hey, Jack.

Ha. We must listen to Delaware. Do it for us. We need your help, Greg. Okay. We love Delaware. We really need to listen to Delaware. It's up to you.

It's up to you. Wow First of all adorable Yeah Those are all of our children I think it was Walker in there No my kids

Your kids were not involved I texted your wife She didn't reply I believe mine were But I'm not certain about that No oh you didn't hear I heard Luke and Colton in there I went in thinking it was just your too

So I'd have to listen again Really? Yeah but that was also a long time ago So their voices have changed Many years have passed Is I on a podcast? many years have passed since greg we first have asked about the tapes the delaware tape

and um it's this is not by the way this isn't an ambush so don't worry but developing news i don't know when you went away on vacation yeah there may have been some conversation about reopening the investigation for the tapes. Okay. And I want to tell you

that we are in possession of the tapes now. Wow. That is an ambush. But I'm not playing the tapes. And I haven't listened to them either. Well, you're going to be disappointed. But I have the tapes.

We put a call out. Yeah, call to arms. People responded. Call to arms. I don't want to give up my source here. But we're in possession of the tapes. Now, I want to just cycle back, Greg. I want you to think about this

because I know your first thing. instinct is going to say F you, they stay in the vault. We never hear them. But those children that you heard. Better for the bit. Those children that you heard were begging for it. Yeah. Begging. And it reminded me why that existed in the first place, which was the idea that if we can put together some type of charitable donation and the listeners could get involved as well, as Mark and I will as well. Toward Greg's charity of choice. The Food Bank of Santa Monica isn't.

Right, sure. That would be appropriate. In exchange for giving us access to a listening session, a one-time listening session of Delaware. So I'm going to, again, put that out there to you, Greg. Now that we have the tapes out of respect for you as a friend, I would never just ambush you and play the tapes. But we do have the tapes now.

So now it's just a matter of you agreeing and giving the listeners. And I, the reason it came up while you were away is people have been constantly hitting us up about this for years. Constantly would be the right. Right. Like where are the tapes? The Delaware tapes. Come on, Greg. So the fact that now we do have the tapes, it is fully the ball is in your court to give the, it's really twofold.

Give the listeners what they've been clamoring for a decade. And two, to actually help people in need. be a donation to charity. You also could factor in the potential outcome that Dan and Mark cannot find a tape player anywhere. So that's the second part of this mission. It's an MP3 file, don't worry. Okay. We're set there.

I don't believe you that you haven't listened. Wow. I promise you. Actually, I do believe you, but I just, I'm surprised. I was in Hawaii. It was the wrong words for it. We put the call out and immediately heard back from parties connected in West and Massachusetts. Lighten quick. This is, I mean,

is an ambush is quite a surprise it's going to be you want to think on it we don't need an disappointing um it's going to be disappointing to hear the 45 second like joke songs over like a tape recorder that were made with us in a piano no it will not be disappointing but maybe it will be disappointing uh or as mark points out rightly probably not going to be disappointing uh yeah because he did this the source i shouldn't even say he this person this individual even gave me some background information. I mean, I know who it is. How would I not know who it is?

I don't know. What do you mean? We don't know what you know. There is only one person who would have kept, kept that everything, kept a record, kept kept everything going. So it's- Well, they betrayed you. Well, that start right there.

He wouldn't look at it like that. Are you upset with me or this individual? No. no I can't be upset you know that you just dug it up finally it happened uh if you know who this is he does he has a kind of a funny little story also about your time together in high school um working at the local newspaper it was not the local newspaper uh but it was our school newspaper in which we were co sports editors for a hot minute and then i sort of just bailed on it and left him to do all the work he kind of hints at that

but he it the email sent by this source was very jovial in nature oh yeah so this there's i don't believe there to be and mark i haven't shared this with you either um any bad intentions it was more oh you know do you want this here it is and now gregg has a big decision to make uh and i wouldn't betray you and your privacy if you want to keep the past in the past but just letting you know okay that it's out there think about and that is i mean that's a major score by the way the Zuzzer as a journalist to, after years of looking, to find the tapes

and now it is in your hands and you tell us if you're open to the idea of a donation to bring the tapes forth, perhaps we play them at our podcast, remote podcast at the Strand in about a month. I think that would be a listening party, if you will.

These are all just ideas. I would like, you know, Greg, I mean, sleep on it multiple times, just stretch this out for, like, let's really build up to that live show. That's a good idea. And that's, yes, what great journalism worked by you, Dan, to read the tweet that was sent to you. Okay. So you don't. Don't hit out at me. Instead of it doing my job. I actually do remember when Jeff sent a similar one seven or eight years ago. It might have been over Facebook or something like that and just everyone ignored them.

And I was like, okay. Well, the investigation took on your legs from that. Or it was even brought up on this show as many years ago, maybe 10 years ago. the investigation is doing yeah has been completed and now it now it shifts to decision time yeah in this a decision year for our country uh a pivotal election coming up it is greg now that first has the pivotal decision and for new listeners yeah it was a it was a band i was in joky band i mean we didn't really play shows other than i think our school's talent show a few times and we had some we had some songs we had some tapes And the call was put out there.

And my source, a listener tracked down the source on social media to let him know that the call was out. All the president's men, 2.0. Unbelievable. All right. So there you go. Let us know. We want to hear your debut album. How do you want to cook?

We're interested in maybe shiny man went to Frogtown. Was that second? That was second? I don't know. All right. We'll be back on Wednesday. I mean, what a bombshell. You get the tension in the area.

It's not even like an unhealthy. I could feel Greg's gears turning like, should I or shouldn't I? And I can help people. Like, all that stuff is happening in real time right now. Mark, it really is. It is a fascinating subplot to our lives. As much as I am loath to help people,

it's a tough decision. All right. Well, you just try to sleep with it if you can. Until then, we'll maybe get an answer. and the hopefully near future. We'll be back Wednesday, another episode of around the NFL. Until that, he the call.

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