NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: Lance Briggs in studio, Running Back Roulette

Episode Date: March 21, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler and Chris Wesseling -- welcomes Chicago Bears linebacker and seven-time Pro Bowler Lance Briggs into Studio 66, grilling him on last season, how he feels about his career to this point and what the future holds for him and his team. Elsewhere, the gang plays a game of "Running Back Roulette," analyzing the biggest backfield names in the free agent class and where they fit best around the league.  So, tune in and join the conversation on Twitter by using @NFL_ATL or #NFLATL.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the League podcast. Could beat Dante Wittner D. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Chris Wessling, Mark Sessler, and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Happy Friday. And to you. I was in a chipper mood. I came in on my off day and we were walking up to the studio and at one point I put my arm around Mark and he he kind of physically withered within my grip and sort of shook out of it it a little bit and maybe I've decided you're a guy that just doesn't like the touching. No, no, that's over-dramatizing it a tad. I thought that it was a little bit flip on your part and so that was probably more my response and two key words. Off day.

and we're on the on day. Right. We're cranking high-level content. He's saying we're business? I am just in a mode that is less playful. Well, you are very upset about March Madness, too. You do not like the fact that people are watching it on the television's enjoying office life post-super Bowl. You want everyone focused on work?

I think that Wes and Greg are on board with this that it is a tedious distraction where you've got a small pocket of the room, it's football 24-7 for us cranking out low-level free agency transactions and the rest of the room essentially could be at a dive bar watching big-screen TVs and proffering bets on basketball. Am I wrong?

I know I'm alone on this one but I would rather hear about how you magically constructed your fantasy football roster than any thoughts about where you went to college or how your college team is doing or how your bracket is doing. You're a grown man, you're 40 years old, cares where you went to college 20 years ago?

I will retort that one of the reasons I got into sports was for a scenario whereby I'm in my office and March Madness is in the room. I mean, that's what's cool about sports and you work in a newsroom and people are talking and it's on if you can't, if people get out of line and they talk too much, I get it and they distract you from doing your work. Listen, that is an everyman opinion that's going to get win 93% approval rate from the listeners, sure. But I'm admitting I'm an outlier here. Well, when there's a big eruption, you know, someone hits a buzzer beater or whatever, I like to look over at Mark because he's so disgusted. I just can't wait for it to end. I'm closer to-

I admit I'm grumpy about it. I'm closer to Mark's side of things, but I can understand Dan's as well. It's a weird that I'm the outlier within the ATL group. Yeah. I grew up loving it. And it actually makes me wonder, why have I, like, something that meant so much to me for so long even as recently as six or seven years ago I was really into like you know i could care less i used to love yukon and i didn't even watch their game on purpose like i knew it was on and i just

didn't want to watch it you're a grown up now yeah i guess so i'm fine with it i grew up loving the field of 64 syracuse was my dad's team watched years and years of syracuse basketball so it's in my heritage but it's where i am today i don't care less you spoke of going to the motion pictures with your father in the last podcast and then West deflated the moment West how do you shoot down that childhood memory Mark is Gargamel

and March Madness is the Smurfs I like to see it the other way around Now all these people are out having fun Like the Smurfs just running around And you want to clamp down on that fun But you agree with me Yes I'm so we're Gargamel twins That would make me as real

Well you guys like that He's my little pet cat Wow You guys are the older generation of ATL And I do think this is somewhat about getting old. When you get older, you have to just start deciding things that are no longer

worth your time. You only have so much time left on earth that you're going to focus on the things you like and you don't need this nonsense. I'd also like to pivot it in the way that we are very focused on the assignments that Greg has given us. Very work focused. One of my observations

about adulthood, too, how it's weird that people over the age of 35 get into all these niche like fields. People get into like square dancing they only hang out with their square dancing how does a person end up like that just people need things to do

to get through life that's what it is I know yeah they need distractions all right so now that half the podcast is over let's get into some football talk we have a full show later on we're going to talk with one of the great defensive players of the last

decade am I overstating it who cares he was a guest so let's respect the man I don't think that's overstated All right, good. Bears linebacker, Lance Briggs, a seven-time pro bowler. He will be on the show a little later. He's going to talk with Mark, Greg, and I. And then we're going to... Wes doesn't like players, so we ask him to leave the room when the players come in.

That's fair. It's not exactly how to play it out, but let's leave it out like that. Also, we're going to do a little talk about the running backs left on the market and where they shake app. But before we do that, as we always do during the off season, the Gold Standard behind the glass, how are you? Doing great, thanks. I assume you were watching soccer in the editing room while everyone was watching. Pretty much, yeah.

Yeah, I was so confused. People were running around with using their hands and stuff. It was weird. Yeah. Can we do some news? How's the Oxford's team looking this year? We're all right. We're doing great.

We're in the Division 18 basketball, netball championships. The Gold standard wearing a football jersey. It's cricket, actually. It gets even worse. How did this happen? How did you end up such a... I played cricket in college. Wow.

You need to just start with a fake British accent at this point. I know. Did you have a wicked gugly? Oh, the wickedest of Gugley's, Wes. It's all over my head now. Anyways. Some news? Yeah, let's do some news.

Let's do it. All right, we start in Oakland, where the Raiders are close to acquiring Matt Schaub and a trade from the Houston Texans. this would make Schaubb the presumptive starter in Oakland after what was by all accounts, and I'm sure Matt Schaub would agree, a nightmare 2013 season in Houston. This seems a little strange to me. I mean, it seems like you're getting Schaub on the other end of it, but it also plays into this fact that the Raiders are in this weird, in the middle zone

where they're rebuilding and trying to somehow win seven games. What do you guys take from this move on the way? I feel like Reggie McKenzie is that baseball general manager that's spending all sorts of money just trying to be 500. There's no chance that they could win a title, but they're doing everything possible to save their jobs and win seven games. And Matt Schaub, Chris would argue this, is probably the best guy out there to go do that. I think Matt Schob was awful last season, and I don't think, I guess Reggie McKenzie and Gregie. Rosenthal disagree with me.

I don't think anyone who watched Terrell Prior and Matt Schaub over the last 20 games can say that Matt Schaub

is a better quarterback than Terrell Breyer or gives you a better chance to win. I know that football guys

probably feel in a similar vein about Tim Tebow and Prior that Prior is not a long-term answer

when you only use half the field. Teams are going to catch on it and progressively you're going

to get easier to defend. So I understand that. I don't think Shob's an upgrade in any way. I agree with you, Wesleyan, and one reason this is more fascinating than any basketball games going on

is because this is the team building time of year where we learn a lot about not only Reggie McKenzie, but I think the pressure that Reggie McKenzie is under. And there are obviously people, whether it's the coaches, the owner, whoever, are in his ear saying, we saw Terrell Pryor, and we don't want to do that for another year. And it seems desperate to us on the outside, but there's something they like about Matt Schaub. But like you said on another show, Shob's play dipped severely in 2012 at the end of the season. It wasn't just last year,

and they are paying him a King's Ransom to come in and presumably start from week one. I don't get it because I love the James Jones signing. I like some of the stuff that McKenzie started to do. They're taking us on a roller coaster ride. Yeah, you're right. It's not just choosing Shob over prior. It's choosing Shob for $10 million and trading

what will probably be a inconsequential draft pick for him. This is a different move than Houston bringing in Ryan Fitzpatrick, which they did this week. Or Matt Castle resigning in Minnesota or Jacksonville bringing Chad Henney back. This is $10 million. It's saying he's going to be our starter. I think they could still draft a guy. Do you guys think they could still take a quarterback with the number five pick?

It's possible. I think this. Yeah. I think this is kind of like the Jacksonville situation. It allows you to go best player available, but probably doesn't have a huge impact on your draft. They could potentially dial up a guy like car later in the draft or something where there isn't this pressure to put him out on the field. It doesn't seem like they're about to pick a rookie and have him supersede Shaw by week one. That would be very weird.

Isn't it certainly possible, if not probable, that the Raiders could have just let Schaub get released and then signed him to a two-year six and a half, seven million dollar contract? I think they were worried that Browns were going to take them. Which is Shanahan sitting in Cleveland? They were going to get outbid in a bidding war for Matt Schaub coming off one of the worst seasons in recent memory in terms of disaster plays.

I just don't buy this fact that they needed to give up anything and then pay the guy seven figures to make him their quarterback. It just seems like way too much for a guy on the downslope. I can't figure out what McKenzie's doing, and I've been trying to. I've been trying to check myself and wonder if I've been too hard on him. I understand you don't want to overpay for young free agents if you don't see their solution. Veldier in Houston, I thought were their best players.

McKinsey obviously didn't value them that much. And I guess I see getting some leadership in there, some proven talent. But I think Greg's right. You're spending your way to a seven-win team here. I don't know what's the end game. Saving your job, I guess it's the end game. But is there a coach in Oakland or someone with a voice that says, this is such a better option for us than getting Ryan Fitzpatrick or someone else.

I mean, who is lobbying this hard for it? I think Ryan Fitzpatrick's a better quarterback right now to match up. Someone obviously lobbied really hard for the Raiders to jump off the McClank and do this. This is an outrageous move. It's the same. It's either Mark Davis or McKenzie, and you'd like to think of McKenzie. It's the same guy who thinks Roger Saffold with multiple injuries over the last few years is a better player than Jared Beldeer. And I guess I'm just confused.

I don't think I can evaluate talent better than Reggie McKinsey. I'm just thoroughly confused by what they're looking for in players. We should call this the Reggie coaster now in terms of his free agency where it plummets and then it starts rising a little bit and now it's plummeting again. The Reggie McCoaster. James Jones was the rise. He had a nice little string of signings late in the first week of free agency, I thought, where he kind of, you know, at least was spending the money and was bringing in some guys that weren't terrible. It was obviously an upgrade over Saffold. but now with Shob, I'm back out.

They have a stronger roster than they did last year. Yeah. So in that way, I guess there's a roster. I think Shab with a good offensive line and running game could go out there, and he wouldn't embarrass you. Maybe he's the 22nd best starter in the league, the 20th best starter in the league. He's better than some guys. But the Raiders don't have that.

On a better roster last year, he embarrassed himself. I do think that there was a lot of... They lost 14 straight games with him. Well, and with your boy. Well, and one source called him... Case Keenham. broken man, that he is a broken man whose confidence is sapsed. Well, that's just the guy who's watching the games like us.

No, no, no. We have stats on this. Since Thanksgiving of 2012, Shab has 16 touchdowns versus 20 interceptions, yards per attempt down by two, from 8. something to 6. I think the fact they had to trade him and paid him this much, that is really a case where the Raiders being at a low hurt them. Because I think Dan's right that he shouldn't be paid that much. But if you're Matt Schaubb, I think he did have options.

They knew that, that the Browns wanted to get him with Kyle Shanahan, and maybe he would have taken less money to stay away from Oakland so they had to overpay. In other news, in Miami, well, this isn't in Miami. Richie Incognito would like to return to the Dolphins or the Oakland Raiders, as we've just been talking about. Maybe that would be the next step in the Reggie coaster to sign Richie Ancognito, bring him into town. But Incognito's return to the league is not that simple a matter,

just simply finding a suitor. A league source told NFL media insider Ian Rappaport on Friday that incognito could sign a contract, but he can't be paid or play until he undergoes a comprehensive evaluation by NFL and NFL Players Association designated medical advisors. And then Rogge, Roger Goodell, must review their report and recommend. There just seems to be a lot of steps they get this guy back in the league. And he was a middling guard entering his age 32 season before this, right?

I think he has friends in the media who, for whatever reason, have fallen under Ritchie Incognito's spell over the years that have been trying to sell that maybe he can go back to the dolphins or the Raiders. It's insane. Why would any team want this guy? He is a borderline, even if he didn't have everything going off, but he's got problems. He's been in three different facilities.

He's unhinged. It's insane. I don't think he's back. If you want to make a quick argument for him landing in Oakland, He has a relationship, you know, presumably not negative with Greg Olson and with Tony Sparano. But if you look at Oakland's current roster, they have six guards. They don't need them. And also, by the way, not a very good player.

If this guy gets back into the NFL and Tim Tebow can't, the NFL loses all credibility. There's no reason Richie Incognito should ever be on an NFL roster again. Right, exactly. Well, it's unlikely. Imagine if there was a guy coming out of the draft. that everything Richie Incognito did now in the pros, that he did that in college. He got kicked off his team.

He got suspended. And he was a third or fourth, fifth round prospect. There's no way anyone would think about it, right? If Tebow brings a circus, there's no way Incognito's not bringing a circus, no matter where he ends up now. Wes, you're upsetting me a little bit because you're mentioning Tim Tebow. I feel like the narrative in society, we haven't been talking about him. You're opening up Pandora's box by getting his name out there.

Nobody cares what I say. Just move on. But we, he's, Greg and I, this is really that the heart of this, have a sandwich bet involved about Richie Incognito, whether he returns. I think I thought he did. He would about three months ago.

I don't think that anymore. He's not going to play again. You have to wait years and years. You don't pay, that sandwich does not change hands yet. I've heard many people this week say that he's, that they think he will get back in the league, which seems crazy.

That's preposterous. it does help that society forgets everything that's true that's a really good point we do for it we've almost forgotten that ted wells report nfl gumshoe ted wells how much nasty stuff was in there the fact that this is even something that's a story today is interesting we can't even remember our sandwich bets from one show to the next good thing i barely remember any of your names uh all right jared allen has made a second visit to the seattle seahawks there was a report floating around on Thursday that a deal was just about done. It's not that quite far along, according to Rappaport.

This is something that Alan is going home and he's going to think about it. But as Greg, you pointed out on Thursday night in the newsroom, how often do you see a player make a second visit to the same team during a free agency run? Almost never. You don't want to make more than one visit to any team. If you're making a second visit, it just means that you're not happy with the deals that you're offering. And it's even weirder that he made a second visit and then didn't sign. So he's not getting the offers he want.

His agent and him misread the market. It's been a terrible couple weeks for them. And I would guess he's deciding whether he wants to retire or just take one of these deals. And I always thought this was a bluff with Jared Allen walking into the sunset. And to me, going back to Seattle after they didn't make an offer, the first time around shows again that he really does want to play. But it's almost like a guy like asking a girl out. She says no.

And then circling back a week later, he's like, you sure? Like, it's probably not going to change anything. But there's a level of desperation involved. Some experience in that industry? Listen, I don't want to get into it. But I can tell you it doesn't work. This is where we need the video podcast, which might be coming someday. Because the look and kind of the motion Dan made as he was doing that,

It was something. Fetching. Extremely fetching, I'm sure. So, yeah, I think this guy will absolutely be in the NFL next year. The only thing is he's going to, Wes, I know you're big on chips on people's shoulders. There will be a chip on a shoulder because it's going to be some one year, $5 million deal, and he will feel like he's been disgraced by society for getting paid that much. It's going to be hard to sleep on that hefty sum of money he's piled up over the years.

You can see how he'd have a chip over his shoulder for. for only getting $5 million. Correct. Moving forward, Antonio Cromarty signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday. Obviously, the Jets couldn't have been too interested in bringing him back,

but that's a good signing for the Cardinals who, if Honey Badger gets healthy, that could be a really good secondary. Quick from the Jets angle, people have obviously been flaming John Idzick all week long, and some of it rightfully placed, some of it, you know, know we don't know really what's going on in New York,

but they must have really had almost zero confidence in Cromarty's recovery from the hip injury or his overall durability to not match that offer, a guy that's so familiar with that defense and a Rex Ryan guy. The good thing about being John Idzik is that those flames won't reach him until next week. And it's not because he moves fast away from them. Glacial speed, John Idzick. That's his new nickname. That is a glacial.

That is one of those. Not something you usually want to have tides yourself. No, that's going to stick to him until he potentially makes a splash signing Vic in the next 48 hours. Well, even that wouldn't do it. Let me just ask you guys. What do you guys think about the Cardinal Secondary right now? Look, Cormardi had just as bad a year playing cornerback as Matt Schaub had playing quarterback. Good point.

And everyone likes this move. People bounce. And I don't think it's crazy for the money. People do bounce back. But that's how bad Cromartie was. I've had a lot of people ask me on Twitter, if I believe Hakeem Nix or Darren McFeng can bounce back, Why don't I believe Matt Schaub can? And to me, it's all about confidence and maybe a lack of arm strength.

Like, I see it as tangible. Whereas with the other guys, maybe it's, maybe you can get it back. But, yeah, I think Cromarty was playing through a hip injury, so maybe he gets back. He says he's 100%. He did not undergo surgery, but it's the same hip he's had surgery on in the past. He is now on the wrong side of 30. I think, you know, there are questions about it, but that's a perfect deal for him at this stage, at least from the team standpoint. You got Honey Badger in the slot, Patrick Peele.

Peterson on one side, that tells me Antonio Carmardi is going to get a lot of balls through. Well, and we don't know. Honey Badger's reports haven't been glowing in terms. He's going to be ready by the start of the season or training camp. But that guy's coming off major injury. If he were healthy, this secondary is one of the most tantalizing in the league. Cromarty, a low-risk signing. If he can get back to what he was, two seasons ago, he was impressive. He was great.

We'll see. And you brought up Idzik and what he could do to potentially change this storyline. of him being Glacier Guy. Trading for Deshaun Jackson would do that. And that leads us to our next topic. Nice segue. Thank you. Deshaun Jackson, there's been reports that the Philadelphia Eagles are listening to offers.

The Raiders, the Jets, the Patriots, the Niners have all been teams that are believed to have shown some interest. And Chris Wessling, you wrote a post on Friday for the Around the League page about the Carolina Panthers, not reaching out to the Eagles, but the Eagles. perhaps reaching out to them. According to the Charlotte Observer, the Eagles reached out, and they were among the teams that the Eagles reached out to. So this team, they are now initiating. Saucer.

Contact, which seems to me that it's escalating Jackson's exit from Philadelphia. You know, bad front offices these days, in the bold days of frequency, tend to lose out to a guy like John Elway, a guy like Bill Belichick. Some of these better teams that they go in and they go for the throat. And that's what I think the heart of the criticism of Idzik is,

is he's, as they say, deliberate, slow-moving. He's allowing more experienced guys to come in and get the deal done. If he wants to turn his reputation around, you've got to get all these guys out of the way, go get Deshawn, pairing with Vic and Decker. Because I feel for you as a Jets fan, actually, that you are trying to defend Idzik, but he has got to go out and change this offense.

They're an annoying team if they don't do anything else than add Eric Decker. I agree with you. On Wednesday, I defended, and I still defend it because I think some of this has been overblown. But the press, the conference call on Thursday morning reinforced anything you could ever think about Idzik and the way he operates, the way he answers questions, just the tone of his voice and what he's done to Rex Ryan, who's basically a neutered version of his former self. Rex at one point on Thursday on this conference call said, gee golly. This is Rex Ryan. I think Idick has like something. Seriously, Rex Ryan answered some of those questions on Thursday

like he had a gun in his rib rib cage. He's like, ah, Darrell Revis, he signed elsewhere, what can you do? He said it is what it is. He's going Belichick now. I thought behind the curtain, he's in quotes, pissed at everything that's going on, obviously, right? Right, and he even went as far as saying, he referenced, he said, I'm not going to use the P word, I'm not going to be a smart aleck. These are the words he's using. He's now talking like a 1940s newsman.

and he was saying that when he gets mad it's not at john idzick it's at the player that doesn't sign with his team after visiting and what happened to everybody wanting to play with rex see there's a lot of disconnect with the jet so i'm starting to get a little nervous i gotta be honest chris after writing this do you think now that deshaun jackson will be traded yes i thought he would already but i thought maybe it was about 55 or 60% before and now i think it's probably 80% And Mike Silver wrote a piece last night where he basically said that the issue with Deshaun, it's not the salary, et cetera. It is his fit in Chip Kelly's locker room. And I think when that's the heart of the matter, sometimes it's like Kelly does not want to go through another season with this guy. He's out the door. He's such a good fit on the Raiders. Do it.

Do it. Reggie. Just go crazy. At least they'd be entertaining. Reggie Coaster. So Matt Shobb's 6. 5.8 yards per attempt on play action can start throwing it downfield to Deshaun. on now? I don't know about that.

By the way, I remember when this story popped up, this is one of those that a bunch of Eagles fans are like, oh, why is the media stirring this up? This is not going to happen. This is one of those media-generated story. When these things happen, they don't just happen by accident. It's because the Eagles want to dump them. I mean, they don't

it just doesn't come out of the things from thin air. Oh, reporters, it's a media generated story. They'll deny everything on and off the record, but they know what they're doing. Another thing Eagles fans also said was Jackson's worth at least a first-round draft pick. He's not with $10 million.

Yeah, he's not with a $10 million contract. He's not. Wes, by the way, a guy that comfortable arm around the shoulder. And Huckaboo is a lot of that, right? Like, we're in the bar together. Great softball game. Yes, there is a lot of arms around shoulders in Huckapoo. It's a lot of everything in Huckapoo.

Maybe Mark needs to go there for, you know, shoulder treatment or whatever. You know, just to get used to, you know, again. It was because it felt a little flip. It wasn't a sincere... Yes, because many times I've hugged women, men, whatever it may be in various scenarios, and it's... Why don't you trust me? I've hugged you before.

You are my friend. And I hugged you when I hugged you after we... Have we hugged? We ended our moving session with you because you were so pleased with the job that Wes and I had done. Wes and Sess, movers. It just turned it into a commercial. You guys did do a great job. Oh, can you help me out again this weekend, by the way?

No problem. Oh, great. You guys are great. I like that I'm totally out of this. Well, on two levels, moving obviously, but also you definitely don't want to be touched. Not a touch guy, Greg. I wouldn't think I was against that. I don't know.

No, I'm fine. Really? Interesting. Bit of a prickly Pete. Wasn't that a famous racehorse or a famous cartoon racehorse? and maybe a long, long time ago. Prickley Pete, it sounds like a Seinfeld episode or something. I think it was like a sound to it.

I don't know. There's some famous movie or TV show where Prickley Pete was involved as a racehorse. Is this a silent picture? I don't know. George Costanza is coming to my mind or someone of that ilk. Before we bring Lance Briggs in here, one last topic to get to, and running backs don't really seem to get any respect in the NFL anymore. whether it's the draft or in free agency.

But there are some pretty big names out there. So what do you guys think about playing some running back roulette? Mm, I like it. Danger. Gold standard, can you put in any type of sound effects, maybe like a roulette wheel spinning, some chatter. Or maybe like a gun going off. Say that's a little dark.

Maybe it's a little dark. Yeah, it's a little dark. Maybe we fear away from gambling illusions? Backfield Bucker Rock. That's good, too, backfield Baccarat. So I'm going to go around the room, gentlemen. I'm going to throw a name out there, a little background of where he's at right now, the particular player, and see what you guys think about him.

We'll start with Maurice Jones Drew, former Jaguar Star, 2011 NFL rushing champion. He is turning 29 years old on Sunday. He had a visit with the Steelers. Apparently is looking for 3.5 million I've seen reported on a deal, which my people. be hard to get. I will start with you, the mad scientist, the mailman Chris Wessling, MJD. You buying? He's on my, he was on my pre-free agency list of potential bargains. I like him to have a bounceback year. I don't like to fit with the Steelers for two reasons. Steelers have enough cap problems that they shouldn't be paying $3.5 million for a running back.

second reason Labion Bell is a three down back about to hit his prime they need a backup and I don't picture Jones Drew as a guy willing to accept that role let's throw him in Miami split the carries there with one of those

younger guy maybe Lamar Miller he can help out the young group he can take their downs and be competent they need some veterans on that offense I like that as a better fit than the Steelers if his foot is healthy and he's in shade I still think that guy could have a year or two left in him.

Maybe I'm crazy. I don't think that's outrageous. I could hug you right now, Mark. Right back at you. All right, speaking of Mark, my hugging buddy, it's getting weird. No Sean Moreno. It went weird a while ago. Yeah, very long time ago.

No Sean Moreno, he's had a nice season with the Broncos last year. He's turning 27 in July, reportedly meeting with the Miami Dolphins on Friday. What do you think about this? Mark. No Sean Moreno. Well, I think, as we just said, the Dolphins are one of the teams that I think is a real candidate to add some help back there. I think Lamar Miller is definitely still in the plans. Daniel Thomas uninspiring, sort of a plotter, never average more than, I think, 3.7 yards

per carry in his entire career. Moreno's just 26. I think we saw what he could do last year, although those numbers a bit inflated in that offense where you've just got to be paying attention to Peyton Manning all day long. They brought him in. They must like him to some degree. The one thing, though, the Dolphins to me with Dennis Hickey came from the Bucks, and he was part of the front office that fell in love with Doug Martin.

And there's a guy like Carlos Hyde sitting out there that has dimensions and play style similar to Martin. There's been some reports that Hickey may be... The Hickster. The Hickster may be targeting someone to outright replace Thomas and go with a Carlos Hyde. So maybe Moreno is a backup plan. I like Moreno or someone else going to the Dolphins, though. Let's put a, let's put a Marino back in Denver. That's where he belongs.

I agree. No, I mean, Elway basically said yesterday, we absolutely need to get better in the running game. Isn't that a full-on indictment of Moreno? I read it as an indictment of Marino. At the very worst, can't he make their team better as a good role player? This guy had 1,500 yards from script. I think the difficulty with that situation, is how do you bring Noshan Marino back and after racking up 1,600 yards,

make him your third down back and give the job to Monty Ball? It's better than great. Who's Monty Ball's back up right now? Ronnie Hillman. Yeah, that draft pick went out well. Fumbles McGee. I like that name. Wes, Lamar Miller, we were talking about the Dolphins.

I know you were on his train for a while last year. Are you out on the Lamar Miller train? Derailed. No bounce back season in store? I like Lamar Miller, but it's clear that the Dolphins coaching staff does not. All right. Moving on. And they see him every day.

Yeah, that's fair. Moving on, this gentleman, Lagaret Blunt. Blunt? Blunt. Blunt instrument. 27 years old. He is set to visit reportedly with the Steelers on Sunday. A very strange player to figure out because he was barely, it seemed like he was barely in the league this time last year.

And then he became the greatest. running back in a history of football for a stretch this past winter in December and January, including an insane playoff game where he rushed for four touchdowns in 7,000 yards, something like that. But he's also Lagart Blunt. I mean, we're talking about the same guy. Greg Rosenthal, you are the resident Patriots fan. I ask you, what are we to make of Lagart Blunt?

LaGarrett Blunt. Pittsburgh makes sense for him. I like that as a clear backup hammer. just kind of fits with the whole. They want guys at the goal line, tough guys coming in. But I think an even better spot would be the New York Giants. These free agent running backs are so cheap right now.

You can just sign a bunch of them. A newsflash, Rashad Jennings and Peyton Hillis is a terrible backfield. Add another guy. Let's do it. That makes a lot of sense. It's not going to cost you. Imagine it'll cost you a million dollars. Bring in Blunt, see what happens.

If this was 1972, Ligarra Blunt would have $5 million already. in his pocket. Yes, he would. I like blunt to the Giants at Harkins back to my youth where all the dirtbags in my school were wearing Rodney Hampton jerseys. I feel like he is built in that mold. I think he might even have the same number.

I thought you were going to go Ron Dane. Ron Dane. Well, no, he's better than Ron Dane, I think, potentially. Jarrett Bunch? Jared. Jared Bunch. Why is that not hanging a bell? I think he played for Michigan.

A big power guy, right? Yeah. Big shoulder pad. West Brings the podcast. He was screeching halt. Pre-Christparry, Michigan. He was going to be a college in this room. No, he played for the Giants.

Oh, okay. See, I don't even remember that. But Rodney Hapton was a guy that he was the prototypical early 90s Giants player. Blunt kind of reminds me of that guy. Timbiak of Batuka. I think Blunt is going back to New England. They're letting him test the market the same way they did with Edelman, and he fits best to New England, and he knows that he's going back to the Patriots.

Well, maybe the Giants should listen up and take this Patriots approach. If you don't have some great LaShawn McCoyte player, just have four guys. Use them all. You'll use them. Blunt makes sense as a guy you don't use all year because when the weather's nice, you're passing all the time.

Right. But once the weather gets nasty, then you saddle them up for 30 carries when your defense is falling apart. Your wide receivers are out. Your tight ends are gone. Saddle up Blunt. Fresh legs.

200 yards, 14D. There's a lot of good pun opportunities, headline opportunities for the writers. A lot of winners GMs should listen to us more, I find. If they just listen to the podcast and took notes, that's a good... Gold Center, can you start transcribing entire podcast

and then sending it to the 32 teams? I'm already doing that. Oh, okay. I'm just not reading my emails. I know, I should read more. Some of the GMs entering into tailspin mode probably have been listening to us. All right, last one before we get to Lance Briggs,

and I'll kind of throw this one to the floor. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans running back, former 2,000-yard rusher, turning, people kind of forget he's starting to get older now. He's turning 29 in September. There was a report out there that there was, quote, real interest from multiple

teams in a trade, but we haven't really gotten any evidence that that's actually true. Chris Johnson, you guys buying or selling? Wesleyan absolutely ended this. What? Now we're game buyer-sell. It's all ridiculous.

Who cares? Wesleyan, absolutely. I completely ended this argument because CJ 1.1K Bang. Followed Jerry Jones on Twitter. It's all over. Gold standard missed a perfect opportunity

for Bunsen burner blow torch there. Do you want to do a delayed one? Yeah, just throw it in there. Give us like three in a row because Sessler just lit the man on fire. Well, I didn't know that I was going to sell Mark so hard on my tenuous Twitter

connection between Chris Johnson and Jerry Jones. That's pretty strong. I like that. It did seem like more than a coincidence that right as he hits free agency or right when free agency starts and talk of him being released or traded, he starts following Jerry Jones. I could really see Chris Johnson being a deeply disappointing player for the Dallas Cowboys. Doesn't he seem like a cowboy? By the way, a week ago, Dexter McCluster followed the Cleveland Browns on Twitter, then unfollowed them and signed with the Titans.

So, you know, these guys are throwing some, they're throwing some kerfball. Strangeness into the universe. Gold Sanders lost his confidence now. He's like, anytime Sessler talks, I'll just do it. Greg, your thoughts? You know, if we're not going to throw him to the Cowboys, how about another, you know, malcontent, miscreant, over to the Raiders.

Reggie McKenzie, just the aisle of misfit toys like John Gruden used to do in Tampa. Every guy that no one wants, bring him to Oakland. I like that. Good call. All right, up next we are going to bring in Lance Briggs. Wes has to go to the dentist. I don't know. Where are you going right now?

Yeah, Dr. Pivo. Dr. Pivo has got to give me some discounts, by the way. It's the entire newsroom, or at least the entire ATL crew, I've sent to that man. Everybody's using your barber, too. Camille, I don't steer people wrong. Dr. Pivo Culver City. My wife. I'm about to use your sports orthopedist, too.

That's a good man, too. See, it's all. You guys have a sports orthopedist? Of course we do. We are NFL writers, Greg. What sports are you playing? I hurt my shoulder playing softball. I have a torn rotator.

No, that's true. Softball doesn't count. Anyway. Oh, that's terrible. I'm going to give you a hug for that, Chris. All right, Chris's got to go. All right, very special guest now on the Around the League podcast. He is a seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker for the Chicago Bears seven times.

Yes, Greg. Entering his 12th season in the league. He is one of the great players in the league on defense. He is Lance Briggs. Welcome to the ATL podcast, Lance. It's good to be here. You were saying you're out here in Los Angeles interviewing. What do you mean by that?

I'm interviewing for a job, man, you know? But you have a job. I do. I do. It's temporary, though. It's temporary. You know the NFL means not for long. Well, you said you were on NFL AM this morning,

and you actually said, this is your quote. At this point, I'm losing a brother every year, one or two brothers every year. But that's just where it is. So I guess you're almost, are you staring down your NFL mortality? during your 12th season and you're looking forward. Is that where we're at? Well, you know, that's how the timeline kind of goes.

Yeah, right. You know, I come into the league and this is his guy's just running all over the place, just hitting everything, you know. Then you get to the point where this guy's at the top of his game, and then it's his guy's moving fast for his age. So you're looking for, when you say interview, though, you're talking television because you're dressed for television, not a podcast.

What do you think about hosting a podcast? Maybe the Briggs podcast. Briggs cast. That could work. That could work. A lot of both. Multi-platform, I like that. Is this what is required to dress?

This is about it. This about it. I can rock the bed. Yeah, the street continues. Every guest we've ever had on the podcast outdresses us by about 412%. You've done it in a nice brown suit, brown tie, nice design there, white shirt,

all class. A lot of bears have been coming through NFL network I've noticed lately. Brandon Marshall, Elton Jeffrey, Devin Hester, your ex-team. Well, you know, for a lot of the guys in Chicago, if they're out there, can't think of any better weather. That's true.

Speaking of Brandon Marshall, when he was in here a couple of months ago, we were talking about his season. He was happy with how his season went, but he also was a little banged up, and he was all about getting ready at a level where he would have his best season ever. He said he wanted to have the thriller of NFL seasons in reference to the great Michael Jackson album from 1983.

I ask you, Lance Briggs, if you were to have a great season next year, what album would it be? If I wanted to have a great season. Yeah, how would you describe it? He was saying if his season, next season, it was an album, it would be thriller. It would just be a game changer. 75 million albums sold, you know, conquers the world. Oh, shoot, you guys, I don't know. That's such a hard question to put something on the spot.

All right, right, without even hearing anything about it going into it. Mine would be the Phil Collins solo album. Phil Collins No, I'm just joking. Very disturbing. You're right, it is tough right off the top. Maybe like an early career tribe called Quest album. How about that?

You know, people like it. It's not going to blow the world on fire, but it's a crowd pleaser, good reviews. I'd go act tongue baby by you too, where you kind of revolutionize yourself. You change the game up. People look at you one way. You come out and you look totally different. Lance Briggs could do that 12 years in. Maybe.

maybe. Let's, like, change the topic. Dan, I see you more as an Enya vehicle. Another Irish person. Let's shift away from the album thing for a minute here. Let's put you and all your Chicago Bears teammates into a harsh wilderness environment. And it is a Hunger Games type scenario. You're unleashed for months and months.

One winner take all. Which one on your roster wins that battle? Myself. Oh, okay. That did not, no hesitation. That came quick. Now, let's say you were, what are your attributes that could really?

Why would you win? I'm a survivalist. I'm going to survive. I like that. Who would come in second? Who would he slay to win the game? Well, here's the way this is going to work, though. You know, I'm kind of like,

it was it Katniss? Yes. Katniss Everding. I'm kind of like that, you know, where I want to survive, but I don't want to be the only person that survives. You know, like, well, you know, I mean, we're going to build alliances and at the very end, you know, they're going to have to make a decision on having to kill us rather than us have to kill each other. I like that.

Now, let's say you were to look around the room at Greg and Dan and myself. You guys are going to be the first to die. Well, let's say the three of us were thrown into the same scenario. Who would you pick to win that kind of battle? Oh, just that's three? Yeah. And all they put in there was like a number two pencil. Yes.

Between you. Yeah. You know, that's a flip of the coin. That's a flip of the coin because, you know, where I think that you're going to have the brawn that you're going to be faster, you know, and you never know. If we're talking about a wilderness area, you're going to have to be quick on your feet. There's a lot more than just brawn involved. It could be weeks and months of endurance. True.

And what if they don't bring food for a long time? There you go. You know, that could come into play. I'm taking the number two pencil. somehow. Hey, I just was curious, Lance, you played with a double harness at the end of last season on your left shoulder. You're going to go with a single harness. What is the difference? And is that something, is your shoulder, is it at a state now where it's just not going to ever be fully healthy? You need that kind of support. How good do you feel physically right now?

No, I mean, I was coming off an injury where my, you know, ligament-wise, if any time of those last two games. If I would have fallen the wrong way or got hit the wrong way, you know, I could have set myself back, you know, over a year. Wow. So, um, it was important for me to protect that as much as possible for those two games. And if I needed to wear two harnesses, then that's what I needed to do, you know, and, uh, and I wanted little or no movement from my arm at all. Is that one of those things if you're making a tackle that every time you're making a tackle, it's painful? Uh, no, it worked out fine because of the restriction the way I was restricted you know I could only tackle a certain way you know I was kind of like this I had to reach out bam use my right arm but now you know I'm at the

point now where I'm just trying to get strength back you know and trying to get confidence back in my my shoulder throwing out the shoulder just assuming you're fully healthy and you're at the peak of your career anytime who is the guy that you hated to tackle the most is there a guy out there that's the toughest to tackle, bring down? There's nobody that I hate to tackle. I love it when I tackle somebody. Right. Because it means the play is over.

But, you know, Percy Harvin was one of the guys that was a real pain, but to prepare for it because they can line up in the back field and run the ball better than most tailbacks can run the ball. You know, you put him in the slot and he's going to burn you that way. Put him out wide and he's going to burn you that way. Or they can get you on a reverse. he was just a dynamic player, or he is a dynamic player, and I'm glad he's not in our division anymore.

Are there one of those guys that you just love to tackle, that you looked forward when he was on the schedule, whether it's a quarterback or running back anyone, you just, oh, I can't wait to hit him. Well, I mean, I love hitting everybody, but, you know, some guys you don't get your hands on, you know, as often as other. So a guy like Aaron Rogers, when you do get his sack on him

or anything like that, that's big. And when guys take the action photos of that, Those are the ones that are going in the basement, you know. Is there, you know, with your career at the stage where you're looking towards the future and stuff, if you had a chance to play with anyone in the league today that hasn't been a bear during your tenure there, someone you love to be a teammate with? There's so many. I mean, I wouldn't, I'd love to be in the meeting room or,

shoot me in a team meeting or a locker room and you know pick some of these guys brains like Aaron Rogers or right or Tom Brady or or or Peyton you know or you know you can pick any did DeMarcus Ware you know Jared Allen you know all these guys defensive guys and stuff like that I love to to go out you know she was the Brian Dawkins, you know, I got a chance to play in some Pro Bowls with him and just being in the huddle with him, you know, and I could feel his intensity. This guy is a real leader, you know. I would love to play with him, you know.

So, I mean, there's a lot of guys back in the day. I would love to play with Derek Brooks. Oh, yeah. You know, if I could. Derek Brooks, Ray Lewis, you know, there's a lot of guys. There's a number of guys, you know. You just brought up one Hall of Famer and one future. Hall of Famer before you go, do you see yourself as a future Hall of Famer?

Do you think you've put up that type of production? You know, I don't know. I know I'm a Hall of Famer in my mom's heart. Mine too. And the person that it matters the most, absolutely. I think Bears fans would put you there. I mean, how many guys have that kind of longevity? I know Brian Erlacher, of course, did alongside with you for so long, but it's pretty

rare to see someone with the same team for that long. and now do you feel kind of you're the standard bearer of this bear's defense? Coming off not as good a year as you guys are used to it as a defense. Defensively. All right, you said it. Terrible year defensively. Do you feel kind of you're the guy now that, you know, you and Charles Tillman, that you're the guys that stand for the Bears defense?

I mean, we, you know, I think we're definitely two of the guys that epitomize, you know, what you expect out of, you know, the Bears' defense. But I think we all represent it, you know, whether it's good or bad, we all represent it. And that's kind of our focus to get it back to what it's supposed to be, you know, in this 2014 season. Lance Briggs, thank you very much for stopping by the Around the League podcast studio. We hope maybe one day you're a colleague of ours, but hopefully not too soon. Right. And congratulations on your hypothetical Hunger Games championship.

I appreciate it, me. Thanks, Lance. Lance Briggs. All right, that does it for another edition of the Around the League podcast. We will be back on Monday. Mark Sessler and Greg Rosenthal. We'll be in Orlando for the owner's meetings. Ooh, la-la, to quote Damashek.

So we will touch base with you guys on that. We'll also play Win West's Toaster at the end of the week. So get excited. A lot of pressure on the gold standard, not to let us down. But until Monday, this is Dan Hentz signing off for the mailman, the Sizzler. The boss and the gold standard behind the glass. Until then.