NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: AFC South and NFC West Roster Resets

Episode Date: April 9, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler and Chris Wesseling -- continues its comprehensive ranking of offseason moves across the NFL, diving into the roster changes for teams in the AFC South and NFC West. Plus, the guys discuss the latest in transition-tagged Cleveland Browns center Alex Mack's contract saga, and a series of tweets from Buffalo Bills linebacker Brandon Spikes that could become bulletin-board material for his former team.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. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the League podcast, excels at Pitching Woo. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Higgins and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes, Chris Wessling, Mark Sessler, and Greg Rosenthal.

What up, boys. Hey, Dan. How are you? I'm great. happy hump day that's wednesday it's true scintillating start to the show yeah i was waiting for you to chime in there great well i like to just listen and see see how you guys are doing behind the glass today the gold standard is out in his place one of the early members of the atl podcast posse he is alex wilk hey there what's up alex good to be back in the chair also known as wilk tie

Wilk Ty in some circles. How are you? What's going on? We don't work enough together. What's new with you? Nothing too much is new with me. Been off in Fantasyland and working on some other cool projects for NFL.com, depending on your definition of cool. So that's where I've been.

So I apologize for handing this off to Crystal. What was her? Kayrish. Come on, excuse me. Just some respect. Sorry. Totally knows it. I've been listening, I swear.

And the gold standard. And they've been filling in admirably. Little fun fact, Gold Standard was recommended by Wilk Ty after Wilty quit us. So good job, buddy. Thank you. We are on a time schedule. Cessler has to get to the dentist for major work that needs to be done inside his mouth region. Yeah, it's disturbed.

I mean, I woke up, I had an early shift. So, you know, all night long, I'm trying to make sure I'd wake up on time to get to work on time. And I know that just what's waiting for me at the end of the day is a three-hour long. appointment with the dentist that Dan West and I all go to. Yeah, Dr. Pivo. Great guy. And Chris Wessling, he's in here with a new pair of braces. How about that?

Hope I can still get a date to prom. West's going the adult braces route, and I respect it. And it's a lot different than when, Greg, you were saying it downstairs, and I agree wholeheartedly. Back in the 90s, when you got braces, and I'm sure going back beyond that, it was even more. archaic. It was, you know, this metal poison put in your mouth, stabbing away at you, cutting your mouth up. Now he's got clear braces. You wouldn't even know he has him.

Well, a lot of listeners don't know this because I'm not on TV, but I have a stray hand, David Letterman, Madonna-sized gap in my front teeth, and I am going to lose that, apparently. I'm on the fence about it, but I'm happy for you. Well, I needed to get the teeth straightened anyway. You know, Mark and I come from a generation where you didn't always get to go to the dentist when you were a child. that sounds sad were you guys born during the Great Depression well you know

my parents had seven kids so it was either Catholic school or keep going to the dentist well we're behind your endeavors they made the wrong choice I feel like and Dr. Pivo is really cleaning up financially off this group of men all right we got a big show today we're going to go back to our roster reset series

we started that on Monday's podcast we'll continue it today by taking a look at two more divisions, the NFC West and the AFC South. So we'll go through those divisions and break down what's happened since the end of the season through free agency and the draft on the way. We'll also, as we always do, we're going to start with the news.

And Alex Wilk, this is something that the gold standard is very good at getting us into. Can you now get us into the news? Yes, I can. All right, Alex Mack, expected to sign an offer sheet with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Of course, Alex Smack is the Cleveland Brown Center who was given the transitional tag, and now the Jaguars are expected to make quite a lucrative offer. It sounds like, gentlemen, I ask you, are the Browns actually going to let this guy

out the door? This is a big-time player. We talked about this on Monday, and now it looks like what was going to happen, what we thought was going to happen, the Jaguars are going to make their play, and it looks like it's happening. I think we have to see what contract is assembling. here by the Jaguars because it sounds like you can't do the poison pill with the transition tag but they could try to front-load it or structure it in a way that's not attractive to Cleveland

but the Browns have more cap room than any team and they've said over and over they want to keep him. Jimmy Haslman, the Browns, I think we're trying to fire preemptive shots by saying we want to match anything that comes out there. We want Mack to stay almost telling the Jaguars don't even bother with this monster contract. And I think this report initially coming out was really a shot right back at the Browns because it came along with some language that Mack really wanted to play in Jacksonville, you know, not in Cleveland. Let me ask a question to you three gentlemen.

If the Browns wanted him back so bad, why didn't they either use A, the franchise tags or no other team would come close to them or work out a deal themselves? Why are they going through a middle? man potentially and risking the chance that maybe there's some type of clause in the contract with the money, whether it's a bonus or something else that makes it not wise for them to go down this route.

Isn't this making the situation more complicated for them? Well, one thing with Mack, I think they are not lying in the sense that Mack did not want to return to the Browns. He played for Mancini, Pat Schumer, and then Chud, and the whole thing was a big disaster, and he wanted to start over. He's from Southern

California. You are Northern California. So then just let him go. Isn't a good part of his feelings on this because last off season he wanted a long-term contract and they wouldn't give it to him? Right, which was a different group of people to some degree but I think that he was probably done giving new chances to new regimes

and they did sit down with him and they sat down on the man and his agent for a long meeting and they said it was a positive one but he still wanted to go test the waters and here's Jacksonville coming after. Join a stable organization like the Jaguars. No change

there over the last five years. Well, wouldn't you argue that Jacksonville does have a plan right now? I like what I see out of everything in Jacksonville, but I don't think you're necessarily taking a sure thing when you go to the Jaguars. They've been one of the very worst franchises in the NFL for a while. Here's a hypothetical scenario. Alex Mack, one of the games Great Iron Men,

has never missed a snap in his career, 5,150 straight snaps. What if the Jaguars just guarantee like 90% of his contract? Well, it sounds like from the Twitter stuff going around before we walked right up here, that that is what the plan is. But why they wouldn't franchise them? Because you're right back here a year from now

with a guy that still doesn't want to be with your team. They were doing it, I believe, as a sign of respect. They were. And they were saying, hey, you don't like the long-term offer. We're giving you. Go see what you can find. Our NFL Media Insider, Ian Rappaport reports, he's going to be the highest-paid center in the league.

So whether the Browns choose to, match whatever the contract is or he goes to Jacksonville Mack wins so it worked out for Mac in the end either way and I think that's basically what the Browns were trying to accomplish after seeing what how the Jaguars GM operated

in the Kevin Costner vehicle draft day I'm surprised they are potentially pulling the strings on something devious here that's pretty impressive he was so frazzled in the film deal with Dan I think in real life there's a different man holding that job and he's done quite a good

It will be an awkward press conference when the Browns match this deal like we think they will. I would guess that they will. We have to see the contract. Well, maybe you don't do a press conference for that one. Maybe you skip the press conference. And Mack will have to talk that, of course, he was fine and happy to be there the whole time. We've been waiting for Brandon Spikes to speak out about his unceremonious exit from the New England Patriots. On Wednesday, the new Buffalo Bills linebacker lifted his personal omerta.

with a couple tweets from his personal account. It's a code of silence. It's Mafia talk. How about that? I think the viewership and Wesleyan by the look on his face needed that explain. And myself as well. I just issued my own emeritus thanks to that. Some tweets from his account, Spikes is, of course, Spikes just as a way of setting it up.

Spikes was deactivated before the AFC divisional playoffs by the Patriots with a knee injury. He said he was healthy enough to play The Patriots, there are reports out there That may be because he showed up late for a meeting Who knows what really happened He kept his mouth shut up during free agency But now he tweeted on Wednesday The first tweet

Great games on the schedule for 2014 But it's going to be like Christmas To hand the Patriots By the way, he wanted to get this across Because hand the hashtag Patriots Hashtag Patriots Nation An L twice Hashtag Bill's Mafia

Another tweet, it's icing on my to hand the Patriots two big Ls this year, hashtag Just Watch, and then, and my favorite, four years a slave. What a clown. Ooh. How about winning the division once first, before we talk about knocking the Patriots off twice in a season? I think this is just more personal.

You're talking about handing them two losses. Last time I checked, you still have E.J. Manuel as your quarterback. Let's calm down, buddy. And, you know, you've gone to a Bills team that has had, in terms of inter-division play, absolute design. disastrous record against the Patriots over the last decade. You haven't played a meaningful snap for this team

and you've already given the Patriots who don't need it, bulletin board material. Absurd. I like it. I mean, I do, too. I understand it's fun and stuff, but it's you, this is not the most valuable player on Buffalo's defense, by the way. How about get in there, keep your mouth shut, and

contribute. This isn't about the Buffalo Bills. This is about Brandon Spike's feeling he was wrong by that organization and he got a little frisky on Twitter. Come I like Spikes didn't like being in New England He never really got along with Bill Belichick It's fun division rivals Throw some shade at it

I like reading this post though I realize Dan plagiarized his own His own article Omerita is on there too It's Omerta And it's not plagiarizing if you wrote it Yeah that's true

It's more a script in this case What is Alex Will throwing his hands up behind the glass I'm throwing my hands up because I haven't been in here in a while, and I forgot that Greg Rosenthal makes the weirdest hand motions I've ever seen when he's trying to make a point. Are you conducting an orchestra in there?

You know, you're not the first person to make these comments. I get excited about the content. Maybe you sit in on podcasts or fantasy shows where they're just going through the motions, but I love what I'm doing. I get excited. Yeah, just wait until he gets out of the chair. It's coming. Anything else in this falls?

This is the most one-sided rivalry in the entire NFL. I believe the Patriots, they won 15 straight at one point, and then the bills won in 2011. I think that's what got Ryan Fitzpatrick, that massive extension, a September game where they went off on offense and beat the Patriots. That's all going to change now, though, because Brandon Spikes has spoken.

All right, moving on, the 2,000. 2015 Pro Bowl will be played in Arizona. Typically, the game is held in Hawaii. Of course, it was in Miami a few years back. When was that? 2006, about... 2010. 2010, excuse me. Now it's going to be in Arizona next year,

and then it will return to Hawaii. It's planned to return to Hawaii in 2016. What are we thinking about this? Well, speaking of Alex Mack, Kevin Patrick's wonderful Bert and Ernie-style friendship with the Brown Center would never have happened

if this Pro Bowl was not in Hawaii. Kevin Patrick covered the Pro Bowl for around the league this past January and met up outside a tiki bar of some kind with Alex Mack and talked literature? The future of books. Yes. Publishing, yeah. And that won't happen because it's a big difference.

I went to Hawaii for my honeymoon. It was quite amazing. I've never been to the Phoenix area Phoenix Glendale Mark I know you have some experience in that area it doesn't quite match up to Hawaii right Well I think if you're a skill player Or any player of note in the NFL

This might be your year to sort of tone it down Get a hamstring Yeah you don't this is not the year to go to the Pro Bowl But do you have any You have some personal history in Arizona You can't vouch for it Well no I'm not going to dig too far into detail here I think the listeners would like

Well, let's just say there was, in my early 20s or mid-20s, got involved in a scenario with an ex-girlfriend where we were planning to try to move from Boulder, Colorado to Los Angeles. And we had no money, and we had like a camper van with a pop top. And this thing was on its last legs when we bought it. Like your relationship, right? Well, we're not together. I'm with a, I'm married to a wonderful woman's thing. Yes, that relationship was heading in new directions.

and this van broke down in Phoenix in the middle of like late spring, early summer when it's 115 degrees. Maybe you shouldn't try to make a meth lab out of it. Well, I lived in a giant apartment complex and walked to work at a bank where I worked for HR. This sounds grim. It was awful. I mean, so I don't have, you know. I do like the fact that you chose where you're going to live based on the fact that your car broke down there. We, it was a microcosm of all.

things there was no money there was no money coming in it was desperate well could be cool there the weather shouldn't be a problem it was freezing the last super bowl in phoenix but i i don't like it i mean i can't imagine the players like it your story didn't really are you saying that arizona is a bad place for the pro bowl or for humans for humans yeah phoenix is a bad place for humans but glendale is a bad place unless you're rich i know interesting i know that they're trying to keep the pro bowl alive and I know there's issues with the game in Honolulu that maybe go into the financial realm but to me this game is still on life support

and they pumped in some new aspects of the game and the ratings were okay and it was a competitive game but now moving it to Arizona I feel like there's going to be players and I don't want a shadowy league figure knocking on the door right now but I'm a little nervous that the player is going to be less plugged in than ever and this game this might be a death knell for the game I'm a little nervous about it. Well, all the kickers and punters will be allowed in.

More people in town, though. So maybe they'll just hang around, do the Super Bowl. But that's what they don't want to do. I think they want to get away from a lot of that. I was there. I agree. This is not going to be as much fun as Hawaii. Why would it be?

I was there for the Miami Pro Bowl. It wasn't that big of a deal. They had said at the time that they were going to start working that into the mix often, almost every other year. and it's been a long time so they got back to it And you know what though? That was also Miami

One of the best party cities in America This is Glendale Which is Glendale It's like that scene in Wayne's world Where they're going through different states Where there's like a green screen And they're like, I'm in Delaware I mean Delaware

Anything with a Dale on the end of it Doesn't sound like a party That's interesting Sounds more like a mental institution here's a little bit of news that we that happened after our Monday podcast Jason Avant and the Carolina Panthers struck a one year deal

this is Wes in your piece you wrote this goes back to the money ball approach that the Carolina Panthers are taking to rebuilding their wide receivers so we have let's go over the list so Steve Smith Tedgin and Brandon LaFelle are gone Jason Avant

and Jericho Cottry That's their one-two punch now? Unless Tyquan Underwood is in that mix as well. They see Tyquan Underwood as their new Tech Ginn. They see Katri as their new Lafell. They see Jason Avon as their new Steve Smith. That doesn't add up. Got a bunch of threes and fours there.

I don't know. I saw someone tweet, well, they've replaced the reserves on their rosters, but they haven't replaced Brandon Lafell and Steve Smith. And I kind of thought, if anyone watched the same brand brand lafell was one of the worst starters in the NFL last year wasn't he and steve smith as much as we like them wasn't particularly effective last year either how many rosters i'm just saying they weren't good last year how many rosters are coterie and avon even making cotri would make most

let's not confuse who cotri is nobody wanted him two years ago because he had 10 touchdowns last year everybody thinks he's this playmaker now you know what though but nobody wanted him two years ago and that was wrong because I think he was a good player that was overlooked and now maybe people are overvaluing him coming off the 10 touchdowns but he's been a steady guy for a decade. There's not much difference between Jericho Cotry and Nate Burleson.

It's an awful group. There's no arguing that, but it was bad last year too is one of them. And it's even worse now. They're going to add receivers in the draft. This isn't the end. I mean, if they go into the season with this group, that is uninspiring. But I would be shocked if they didn't draft a wide receiver one or two. I don't think Avant's

particularly a good bet to make the team even. I mean, maybe he will. I'm sure the draft will turn up a Leonard Hankerson type of receiver. This is all an excuse for something else to do with Jason Avanto, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, really, this is all just to get to this moment. I'm just waiting what it is. Alex Wilk behind the glass. Lay it on me.

WATL right here. Jason Avon is a great receiver by the Philadelphia Sportsman. Jason Avon, he is the man. Jason Avon has got great hands. Jason Avon says, Avon, you catch a lot of balls, yeah. Jason Avon is a great, great, great receiver for all the Eagles. He's Jason Avon.

He's a fine man. Can you stop it for one moment? Or just lower You guys want to hear more? I think we got the idea. Let's hear a little bit more, just a little bit more. He's a tremendous athlete. Yeah, yeah, Jason Avant.

He's very good at catching balls. All factual. A ball gets thrown to Jason Avons. He catches it. That's what he does. You got the idea. That is the Philadelphia sports band. Available on iTunes.

Available on iTunes. Yep. It sounds like they took the intro from a 90s. sitcom and just threw Jason Avant lyrics on top of me have like Bobbert avant younger brother on bass or something how did that ever get clear by that band I don't know that whoever the philadelphia sports band must be pretty crestfallen that he's no longer the property of philadelphia sports not literally crestfallen though I feel like they could I feel like they could get back in the lab and rework those lyrics a little bit I think there's

a line in the end that he soars like an eagle but he could still sore like an eagle or We'll even offer the use of our lab. By the way, the Philadelphia sports band from my extensive research on the subject. You are a pro. I know. I believe it's also the same group as the Los Angeles sports band, the Boston sports band. And there's something called the Athletics Sports Band, and I don't know what that might be. So they half-assed this one.

Yeah. They really get around. Did they make the Blaine Gabbard song? It's very reminiscent. You all know there's no. We all know there's no Jacksonville sports band. Come on. Yeah, I think that Blaine Gabbard song just came down from the heavens. And if you don't know it, look it up.

All right, gentlemen. So we move on the roster reset. What do we do on Monday? It was... AFC West. We did. We broke that down. Why do we start?

Let's stick in the AFC. And we'll stick with... We just talked about the Jacksonville Jaguars and maybe having a new expensive center. Mark Sessler, you crafted the AFC South roster reset. So why don't we start, but just, Mark, give us a little overview of what's going on in the AFC South right now. I think one thing that's happening with this series, I've gotten a few tweets because what we're ranking is who improved the most from the end of the season to now. We're not re-ranking the AFC South.

I think some people just by looking to the subheads are confused because I have the Jaguars as the team that improved themselves the most. most. I still look at the Indianapolis cults. These people are idiots, though. I mean, Charles Barkley said that about the people who didn't understand the whole team cast. I don't know if you're aware of this over the weekend. It does say right above the rankings exactly what we're ranking. I am not going to call our readers idiots.

Anytime you do rankings, nobody reads anything before the numbers start. Right. The eyes go to the one, two, three. That's why I wanted this right above the numbers. Anyways. So the Jaguars got the... The point being, Jaguars improve themselves. the most. But it's the cults I think

that they kind of struggle to walk away with the division. They had a down spell last year. I think they've gotten better. They've plugged holes. They're the class of this division still. But the Jaguars to me, I think like you said before, I think they have a plan. I think that Gus Bradley at

Coach has been able to recruit players from around the lead to come play for him. And two of them were, what I think is the most improved position group in the division which is adding Chris Clemens and Red Brian on the defensive end position. I think they're improved. They can do more of what they wanted to,

want to on defense. And, you know, listen, if they get Alex Mack, that's a major, major coup d'etat. That's my team of the group that I improved the most. All right. Well, okay, tell us a little bit. You have the Colts second here. So while they didn't make the big splash of Jags did,

you're still happy with them. Well, I think they came close because Hakeem Nix is a guy that they got at a relatively affordable cost who was a chance, I think, to break out this season. And I am not totally sold on DeQuil Jackson, but that was a nice hole to plug. And Arthur Jones is, I think it was one of our favorite players heading into free agency as a pass rusher.

Definitely, Wes, he made three sandwiches off them. You know it. The Jaguars, who their line has been poor for a while, would, if they could get Mac, have Mac, Zane Beatles Luke Jockel We don't know how good Jokel's going to be But you got the makings of a pretty good group there

And I think I think Toby Gearhart was brought in at the right time And they decided not to keep MJD Which I think was the right time for them to let him go as well And they still have holes and they have needs But something about that team And I find them interesting this season I think they're going to be

Not the cakewalk they were last year If you got points in the NFL or wins for media members being on board and saying this team knows what it's doing, the Jaguars would leave the league right now. They are that team right now because everyone is loving this group and maybe it'll work. But the difference is they don't feel like a completely lost organization like they did a couple years ago. And remember last year in preseason, when they attempted to run this hurry up with Blaine Gabbard. And I remember in a podcast, we came in praising them.

I was all over them thinking, I was wrong. That did not work. but I do think that they have a significant upgrade in talent this offseason. And it always goes back to the quarterback, and they will stink again unless they bring in a quarterback that immediately, you know, hits it big in the NFL. They can make progress. Are they going to get Johnny football? I don't know.

Outside of an Armageddon starting in Indiana and really gradually hitting the rest of the country, Is there any way the Colts don't win this division by at least two games? Yes. I think the Colts, just their roster, they have Andrew Luck, but otherwise there's still so many questions that I don't think they're a luck. They have a lot fewer questions now than they did last January when they were in the playoffs. Their defense had a lot of problems last year. Plugging into Quill Jackson, who the Browns didn't even want,

doesn't make me think they're great, and Arthur Jones, who's a rotational. Question being, because the problem here is, is that this is one of the more bland divisions in the league. Name the second best quarterback in the division. Right. Who's going to overtake them? It's the worst division in football, I think. Let's talk about the Texans. They're a team that they have the number one pick in the draft.

Everyone picked them to be a super, or a lot of people did, picked them to be a Super Bowl contender last year. The quarterback play helped sink them. They have the first pick. They could potentially improve greatly this year, can't they? This looks like a team to me that has a lot more holes than the owner was willing to admit. when he says we're going to have a rapid turnaround and get right back to the playoffs.

There's issues all over the place, and they've got needs, and they also have no quarterback. What are the issues that you spit? All right, quarterbacks won. What else? I think if you're Houston, you need Romeo Cornell's running a 3-4. You've got no real edge rushers there. You know, you could get Jadawian Clowny. That helps. But, I mean, honestly, what...

That would be huge. Outside of Arian Foster, you don't have a running. back you can depend on he's coming off back surgery i think that there's issues at tight end potentially owen daniels is gone the problem i see here is that the move to make is jadevi and clownie yeah but then you've got ryan fit patrick as your quarter right well then you get a guy in the in the second round you're right all these teams the jaguars included need a quarterback and there's no easy solution because we don't know that these guys can step in the texans do if nothing else have some premier talent that even the cults don't necessarily have as deep.

Andre Johnson, Dwayne Brown, Chris Myers, Arian Foster, J.J. Watt. These are guys that have, Jonathan Joseph, these guys have been first team or second team all pros, like the very best at their positions. Yeah, I don't know if Joseph had a great season last year. No, he didn't. Their secondary has, their secondary is not deep by any stretch. All right, and then the Tennessee Titans. This is not a team you get excited about, right?

Titans seem to me like, who's the big difference maker that you, can anyone name a big difference maker on this team? Jack Locker, if he's healthy? Jarrell Casey. Casey? So your big difference maker is an interior lineman where you're missing players on there all over the defense. An interior lineman, mind you, who is changing positions because they're running a 3-4. I love Casey, but this is a bland roster. No, what I'm saying is he was great as a 4-3 defensive tackle.

Now they're moving to a 3-4 defense. What position does he play? And they've been very quiet. Probably the quietest team in the division. I guess the Texans have been even quieter. I mean, they brought in Dexter McCluster, Michael Orr, Sean Phillips, Wesley Woodyard. These are all kind of like lower-level starters, not guys that you're going to be excited about. I think for me, if you had to make the power rankings of the least compelling most milk-toast teams in the league right now, I think Tennessee is number one.

If I'm a fan of the team, it's hard for me to get excited about. the current product, and there's, you know, unless you really want to get behind Jake Locker is a healthy, the healthy guy that will put it together like Matthew Stafford did after a couple years of having injury woes, you know, that's a potential issue also. If he can't stay healthy, this team doesn't seem like it's close to anything right now. The Giants are grandfathered into that spot for me. For a decade now, they've been the least compelling team in the NFL. The Giants.

Yes. Two-time Super Bowl champions? Not compelling in the league. They've made, like, what is its second most move? moves of the offseason? That's true. They've added the second most amount of players from other rosters. I think with 16 players, the Buccaneers were first on that list.

You know that this team is not compelling if Dan Hanzas doesn't like him, even with the presence of his boy, Sean Green. I love Shawnee Green, the Green man, but... Shawnee. And, you know, featured back. Yeah, can step into the roll. Pencil in 310 carries. I'd say 1,800 yards and 21 touchdowns.

I mean, that's the type of season that we're going to see from Sean Green this year. I'm kidding. But I, you know, you can't get excited about this table. Well, the hope, I think, is Wisenhunt did do excellent work with Rivers last year, and he's done that with previous quarterbacks, and maybe he helps Locker turn it around. I think a healthy locker for 16 games, we've never seen that. I recommend any people that have time on their hands and like watching quarterbacks.

Go watch a couple of the Jake Locker games last year where he did well, and he was pretty fun to watch. He's athletic. And he made you think in those games, maybe he's, he could be pretty good. And then he gets out. Yeah, but a 16-game Jake Locker is like a chupacabra. Yeah, we've heard a lot about it, but I've never seen it.

Yeah. All right. So we talked about the AFC South. This is almost unfair to the AFC South, which is, you know, probably the least compelling division in football. And now we go to arguably, I'm going to say it arguably, the... Wow, Monson-Burner blowtorch out of nowhere. Now we go to the most compelling roster in the NFL. Excuse me. Now we go to the most compelling division in the NFL, the NFC West.

Greg Rosenthal, you wrote up our piece on the Around the League website. What are you seeing right now? I didn't see a lot of action. I would say this was the quietest division in the league this offseason. And I think what the Seahawks and 49ers are dealing with were some of the problems that come with great success. They've been adding big pieces three, four straight years. and now instead of continuing to add, they're thinking about resigning these guys long term.

Both teams didn't have a ton of cap room to play with. The 49ers have signed the least amount of people from other rosters, only two. They also traded for a couple, Jonathan Martin and Blaine Gabbardt. So overall, it's been a very quiet division. The Rams have done almost nothing, and the Cardinals were ranked first on my list because of that. When you mentioned as the key additions, Blaine Gabbart and Jonathan Martin,

It was not a big off-season splash zone. No, and the other moves that the 49ers made were just replacing their two cornerback. The only two free agents they signed from other teams were Chris Cook and Antoine Bethay, which were just replacing guys in the secondary that left, Wittner, and they cut Carlos Rogers. So they have big holes in the secondary. The Seahawks, I think, are thinking about the future with Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas and Russell Wilson and signing these guys long term. And the great thing for both these teams,

they have guys in reserve. The Seahawks are so good because they're developing players. And so they have plans for the guys they're going to step up off the bench. And the 49ers have all these injured guys that they drafted last year, at least a couple of them, Tank Caradine, and Marcus Latimore that can step right into the lineup.

All right. And you have Arizona Cardinals as the most improved team in the division and the denizens of Glendale want to know, are those improvements enough to make them a real player in the division in terms of competing for the title? I think so. If you put them in any other division,

I'd say they're a Super Bowl contender. Why not? Weren't they a player last year to some degree? Yeah. Two words. Quarterback? Yeah. All right.

That's a good counter. But I love Bruce Ariens' offense. I love the talent around Palmer. I love the upgrade in Jared Valdier. They added another guard in Ted Larson, who's just for depth. They also get Jonathan Cooper, their first round pitch. That's huge.

Right. So they go from a huge negative on their offensive line to the left side being very intriguing, and I love that defensive talent, and why not? Why couldn't they be a Super Bowl container? Joe Flacco won a Super Bowl. Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl. Carlson Flacco is a lot better than Carson Palmer. The current addition there.

I guess that's one of the best quarterback coaches. I'm stretching. I admit it. But you're right. Joe Flacco is maybe the 15th best quarterback in the league. All you have to do is get in the playoffs and then get hot for a month. I don't think it's impossible. possible that Carson Palmer could get hot.

I mean, he has tools, but it would be shocking. I think we've seen the best of Carson Palmer. Well, in one note, and Ariens has said all winner, we're not drafting a quarterback, not even on our radar. And then Daniel Jeremiah, who, remember, he's talking to all these teams, he's hearing stuff, he has them taking Derek card number 20. Maybe they've fallen, maybe it's, you know, at some point over the last couple weeks, months, they test someone, they bring someone in.

Carson Palmer's not going to be the starter for three or four years. You hear them say that. Who's buying that? I'm not saying this to get Greg caught in a double talk, but this is a quarterback who... Never. The second most interceptions last year of any quarterback, and you said a week ago,

that was a best case scenario for him. That was his Phillip Rivers year. It was... Greg? I think that the offensive line help will help him. I have a lot of faith in Ariens, and I think the talent around him is great. You're right.

Palmer's the big problem with this team because the defense is great. I love the coach. And I love the talent other than Palmer. You kind of have to hide him, which is tough to do. And I would feel a little bit better if Honey Badger wasn't coming off a reconstructed knee. Yeah. Well, they add Antonio Carmardi, which is a boomer bus signing, but I think we all like it relatively.

Put him, Patrick Peterson. For $3.5 million? Great signing. Right. Covering the number two wide receiver. Mm-hmm. And that's why they were an easy team for me to rank first because they really made the only big moves with Beldeer. Him, Ted Ginn, I think, is a nice role player.

He'll improve their return units. he'll be fine as a third receiver. They're looking, I mean, if they were in the AFC South, I would pick them to win the division over the Colts. Sure. And what about the great, talented, gifted, follicly, less need, general manager of the St. Louis Rams. It's a team that has some pieces.

On paper, they look like a team that's very close to competing. But that's a lot of talent in that division. They can be able to get through the gauntlet. I don't see it. And I hear people group the Rams and the Cardinals together, which makes sense, kind of these two teams coming up. But the Cardinals played great against NFC West teams. They went to Seattle and won.

The Rams got waxed. I don't know if people remember those games. With or without Sam Bradford, they went one in five, and those games were not close. Most of them were three-score games. And they have a weird roster where they said they liked their roster. They haven't added many people. They're very confident in it.

It's kind of a roster that every position is, but it's not very exciting. They just think they're going to get better. The wide receiver group is kind of emblematic of that. Just a bunch of guys that are twos or threes, but not great. They're a little bit like the Panthers if you took away Cam Newton. Because their secondary gets exposed too much on defense. Their front seven is pretty good.

And I just, Sam Bradford, I can't figure him out. He's the most confusing player in the league to me. And I don't think he's improved in four years. If we're concerned about Honey Badger coming off a major knee injury, so is Bradford. Here's one prediction I have. I think Tavon Austin is going to be a star in this league by the end of next season. And I think a lot of that will go back to what we saw from, you said that you didn't think there's a number one guy in that wide receiver group. I think Austin can be that guy if Bradford shows some growth coming off that knee injury.

Mm. Sessler on Austin, a positive Sessler. Yes. They do exist. Someone did tweet at us, is there ever a positive outcome in a Sessler? Does that sound like anything but an ominous song? Because it's ominous feelings. I was not fully briefed on the rules of these drops. I'm making it of it.

I love you. You're just jumping in. It's great. Usually with Sessler, his Sessler's ominous about a serious injury. Everyone else, there's a gleam of positivity. Is that fair mark? It is. But what seems unymed.

Unfair is to predict a big year for anyone in that offense with, in no disrespect, but with Brian Schottenheimer running the scheme. They're a quarterback. Yeah, I just, I don't, it's a tough offense to predict a breakout player. Especially when that person weighs less than Greg Rosenthal. Wow. Wait, but who's better, Sam Bradford or Carson Palmer? I'd say Carson Palmer.

Well, there you have it. If you think, you don't think much of San Bradford at all of them, huh? What has he shown in the last? I think they are right in the same category. How about this? Give me your big Sam Brad for a moment. His injury. He wasn't terrible as a rookie.

He had some big ups and downs last year. He had a couple of good games. But even those games, he wasn't the reason they won. Right. There will be no more excuses after this year. Let me ask you about this Tavon Austin prediction. Yes, sir. So do you see his best case scenario is Deshawn Jackson?

Or is he even better than that? I think he has a higher ceiling than Deshaun Jackson potentially. But even if he only becomes a Deshaun Jackson type or a little lesser, that's still a Pro Bowl-type player. Jackson's a great player. Maybe when he's traded to a team in the other conference three years ago. Listen, it's just a Sessler. That's all it is. That will ever be, and we'll see how it pans out.

The Rams, I think more than any team in this division, and maybe in the league, need to have a huge draft. With the number two pick, the number 13 pick, whether they're going to trade down, I think they need guys that come in right away. because they're looking at this roster is set and I don't think it has enough talent. And their free agent activity supports what they're saying that they don't think they need much. These are the guys they added. Sean Hill is their backup.

Alex Carrington, an interesting rotation guy we kind of like. And Kenny Britt, who's just a wild card. I've got a Sessler. Sean Hill makes a start for this team before Halloween and not because Sam Bradford suffers an injury. Wow. That would be a negative sassler. That's ominous.

That is. I'm not so sure Sean Hill doesn't give them a better chance to win. And the Rams, if they don't like what they see from Bradford midway through next year, have no reason to march out this song and dance about he's their quarterback of the future. They don't have to deal with him after next season. Well, like you said, he's coming off a torn ACL. Guys like Tom Brady have struggled coming off a torn ACL. I know Sneed listens to the podcast.

Jeff Fisher loves it. Brian Schottenheimer is a huge fan. If he's, listen, let's still think about taking a quarterback number two. We talked about it a little bit. Wouldn't that be fun? How about Sean Hill starts week one because he's the veteran and there's a rookie behind him? And then Johnny Football comes in and that just would make a more exciting NFL. Wouldn't it?

I like it. I love it. In today's version of the NFL, you don't draft a player number two overall and then sit in them. That's fine. Just start Johnny football. I take it back. All right. Now I'm on board.

Less need is a man to me that seems. He was quite pleased with himself and his last couple of years as a front office official to take a quarterback number two, would to admit failure in the Sam Bradford RG3 conversation. He didn't picked Sam Bradford. Pride cometh before the fall, Dan. Yes, very fair, but he didn't pick him, but he stood by him and viewed him as the franchise guy. So I just don't see him quitting on him just because he played half season and blew out his name. Does he have a tattoo of Sam Bradford?

Because we've seen Sanchez get cut. Weirder things have happened. I don't like talking about that. All right, guys. So that's it for the roster reset for the NFC West. We'll have another one, another two, another one. What are we doing, Greg? We've got another five.

Three minutes. Oh, on Friday. We'll do a couple more. Do a couple more on Friday. We'll talk NFL news. If there's no news, we'll make some up. That's kind of how we roll around here. But that's it.

Alex Wilk, thank you for sitting in for the gold center. Good to be here. That's it. We'll be back on Friday. Good luck with your dental visit, Mark. Thank you. Wes, I'm going to miss the gap, but I respect your decision. You'll still be around for months, I think. Okay.

And, Greg, you got a nice set of teeth. Thank you. That's not true. Thanks. All right. Until then, this is Dan Hansa signing off for the mailman, the Sizzler, the boss, and we'll tie behind the glass. Until then. Sound check on it?

Yes, please cough. Handsuze and Mr. Fancy Pants. The flames need NFL news and here's their chance. It's ATL around the league. Light of flame boys. It's hot tonight. Burn, baby, burn. Hey, burn.

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