NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: League headlines, who's getting cut?

Episode Date: February 19, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Chris Wesseling -- continue their comprehensive analysis of the offseason, picking apart the latest headlines around the league ahead of the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine and the onset of free agency.  The heroes discuss which players may soon find themselves without a team -- including more than a few surprising selections throughout the NFL.  Elsewhere, the gang runs through an exhaustive offseason forecast for two more NFL teams, delivering a top-to-bottom report of what they’ll need to do to find success in the season to come.  So, tune in and join the conversation on Twitter: @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 can throw from a muddied pocket. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by a room filled with some heroes, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys. Hey, Dan. The return of What Up Boys. Yes.

I made sure not to mention it yesterday. I was hoping. I was listening and I was hoping Greg you were going to drop a what-up boys I have to be honest wasn't totally intentional you know I know how it feels

in the host chair you got a lot going on you're thinking about different things but I'm glad I didn't I would like to point out sometimes I'll make a point that someone made 30 seconds earlier and I get called out

for not listening to anyone but sometimes it's me going through notes or clicking through something trying to figure out where to take the show next that's a fair point and after yes

we missed you you yesterday and we get up to leave you alone from hell on. Why is that? We have an appreciation for what you bring to the table. Well, you know, I appreciate you guys too. I also got some shade, some heat from our boss on my performance as the host, so we needed you back. That seemed a little tongue in cheek, but yes, he did roll over and make a few comments.

I can take it. Hey, we're heroes. We are. All right. So obviously, you two gentlemen are heading to Indianapolis for the NFL. scouting combine, Mark Sessler, will join you. I will be holding down the fort. Everybody's getting excited.

The thing that I'm missing the most, because, Greg, you essentially offered me the choice of going to Combine or the draft. I like the draft. You know, I like going to New York. I like Radio City. This is how I'm rationalizing it. So one thing I really miss is Chris Wessling this week, and it will happen in Indianapolis, turns 40 years old.

That's true. That's a big one. Looking down the barrel of age 40. And coincidentally, Greg Rosenthal turns 35 years old the same day. Little known fact. Something about February. Exactly five years apart the same day NFL ATL ties. And then there is one other fun fact about birthdays in ATL.

And I know people are really interested in this stuff. I was born on April 23, 1980, the same exact date as Mark Sessalon. his wife. Wow. How about that? Get excited, society. It's eerie. There's something to that.

Maybe Wes and I had, you know, when I first learned of West on some strange football message board writing 7,000 word screeds about, you know, Kiri Colbert's dynasty value in 2004. I just, I felt a kindred spirit, soul. Same birthday? They both straddle that line between Pisces and Aquarius. And of course 40 comes with its own burden and baggage And even Judd Apatow wrote an overlong and boring movie about turning 40

Oh, it was not that bad Ah, come on, it was really bloated But 35, Greg You know, that's pretty old You're not in your early 30s anymore And, you know, it's heading towards a dark path I'm right behind you, but Well, if you noticed, I did something different for my 40th then

What? Ooh The hair's gone again Oh, I mean, it looks good, but I liked when you were growing it out. I ran up against a wall, though. It just stopped, like, growing in some places, so the experiment's over. Well, I like that you took a chance. I liked 35 because when I was 25, I felt 35.

I was done with having fun at, like, 25 or so once I got a decent job and stuff, and all my other friends in New York, you know, they called me names. But now they're all whims just like me, so I'm just catching up. Oh, I thought you were going to say you were going to start having fun again tomorrow. Oh. Yeah, we'll do that too. Well, to put a bow on it, don't have too much fun in Indy with me not there. I'd rather you guys be like, well, let's stay focused on the work.

It's not party too hard. And when you get back to California, then we'll have some fun. Well, I've got my Cincinnati people coming in. It's only an hour and a half drive. So we're going to have fun, but we'll just tell you that it was boring without you. See, that's good enough. That's all I really care about. All right.

So we got a pretty good show today. You know, pretty good. Pretty good to very good. Potentially great. Stellar. depending on the next 34 minutes go. We are going to continue our offseason forecast. We've got two good teams to go over.

I'll leave it in suspense. We won't say who the teams are, but they're good ones. We're going to go over. But one of them's good. One of them's an actual good team. One's more just an intriguing type team. That had something to do with softball pants. Yeah.

That's a hint. Softball pants related. For sure. Greg, you have a post up on strong candidates for release, kind of notable names. We're going to go over some NFC players that could get cut that maybe we haven't talked about But before we do any of that, let's start

The Gold Standard behind the glass. How are you, buddy? Yeah, doing great, thanks. Have you shaken off the effects? I haven't spoken to you since Win West's Toaster Shaking off the effects of a really rough scouting process of Win West's Toaster. No, it's been rough looking in the mirror

and having to deal with my own mediocrity, but we've really retooled this elimination chamber. It's going to be unlike any. anything you've ever seen before. You already have challenges looking in the mirror any day. Every day. Right. It's been a lifelong struggle.

If there is a silver lining, the poor performance of your previous contestants has meant that so many people are now coming out of the woodwork saying they can do better. So you already have a dozen people lined up for the elimination chamber for next time. Their names are down. We're getting ready. We're building it right now in my dungeon. The game has come a long way because a few months ago we struggled to get two or three contestants. now we've got a whole dozen lined up

just to get into something called an elimination chamber so people are into it. Time to filter out the riffraff. All right, Gold Standard. Let's do some news. All right, we'll start with Eric Decker. Decker appeared on Sirius XM NFL Radio Tuesday said he'd welcome a call from the Broncos

if they can get on the same page on a new contract. Of course, Decker's heading towards free agency. but he needs to do what's best for his family. Greg, I want you to translate that for me. He's gone. He's gone. Translation. I'm not happy with the money they're giving me or they're offering me.

I'm ready to go because if any family doesn't need more money, it's his. I mean, his wife is making more money than he is. Maybe not actually. I don't think we know much about her career. I don't think she's actually very successful. She's attractive, though. Plus $9 million a year or something like. that.

That's tough to match, really, on any level. I just don't. I think this is not just cliches. This is a guy who is probably not too happy with the report that came on the NFL Network on Super Bowl Sunday that said the Broncos see him internally as a number two receiver. And this is him firing back a little bit. I don't blame him.

Yeah. Whether we think he's a number two receiver or not, whether we think he's replaceable, as Greg suggested yesterday. He is. He's the Jabar Gaffney of the Broncos. This is so unfair. Jbar Gaffney. How many players have more touchdowns than Eric Decker over the last three years?

Touchdowns are not a great. Calvin Johnson and Des Bryant. That's the list. Wow. Averaging over 1,000 yards in those three years with Tebow, Orton, and Peyton Manning. This is a good football player. Tremendous hair and bone structure. If Chris was a GM, he would be the guy lining up to overpay Eric Decker.

I would not overpay Eric Decker. I would not overpay him, but I think. I think, honestly, I think he's underrated because he's white. Hmm. People think he's replaceable because he's a white wide receiver. I don't think that. I just think he's not a, he's not nearly as dynamic a player as Demarius Thomas. No, I agree.

And I think they have to make a choice between those two. So it makes sense to me that the Broncos would let him go. And isn't it possible that all this talk about him being overvalued, it's going to end up hurting his value once he actually hits free agency? Is it possible that a team won't end up overspending? he won't get a great contract or one that we think he's... I think someone will overspend

and if Brian Hartline's worth $6 million, Decker's worth $10 million. Although Greg Jennings... It's fair. He ended up getting a pretty good contract last year but the free agent wide receivers overall did not make the money everyone expected and this is

beneath the surface of all these free agents is a story that the salary cap has not risen in years and years now. I mean, it's been a huge problem for the players. Yet, players like the quarterbacks are getting bigger money, and I think other free agents are not seeing the prices rise like we were used to seeing. And maybe it's really logical to me, but I think if I'm a free agent wide receiver, I put a lot of stock into who the quarterback is of

that team. You look at a guy like Greg Jennings. Yeah, he got money, but where's Greg Jennings now in terms of where his career is at? If you do, play it smart, pull a Welker and go to a team that has somebody established. You don't want to go from Peyton Manning to Gino Smith. Take that money. Take what you can. You might never get that chance again. Unless you get cut after two years.

If it's close, of course, or if it's a million here or there, which a million, you know, but if it's a lot, you've got to just take money. This is a major difference between football and then other sports like baseball and basketball, where contracts are guaranteed and you have a longer career. You can afford to, say, a guy like Tim Duncan, take less money to stay with the Spurs. But in football, you have. I agree. You have to take the money when it's there.

Moving forward, Chris Wessling, I bet you a elaborate sandwich on Twitter that Tony Gonzalez would play a snap in 2014 in the regular season. That does not appear to be happening. Wow. That's two bets. They're not bets, but they're just friendly. Wagers sometimes. Sandwiches. Yeah, because you also have some steak in Richie Incognito joining a team this year.

I do. That was made months ago before the release of the Ted Wells, the NFL Gumshoe Ted Wells's report. But anyway, Tony Gonzalez has been hired by CBS to be one of their anchors of their pregame show. It's kind of a overdue overhaul of that show, which obviously is kind of viewed as an inferior product. Sent packing with Gonzalez in is Dan Marino and Shannon Sharp, which for people that are into the media of sports. That's kind of notable. They've both been there a decade. But the big picture here is that Gonzalez apparently is ready to go all in on this retirement and move forward.

He's not coming back, as we said. And I think that people on the west side of Cincinnati, blue-collar people, would be very dismayed to hear that I was making wages involving elaborate sandwiches. I heard you got upset. You were upset that I went to a breakfast place in Palm Springs on Monday morning and ordered a flight of bacon. That was too fancy for you? No. I think he just... At West, there was a little heat down.

You order it like the old man and grumpy or old man. Bacon. That's all you need to say. It was on the menu. You don't need to throw a flight in there. Did they call it a flight? Yeah. It was a flight of bacon.

It's awesome. It was pretty great. A bunch of different types of bacon on a plate and you're... No, no, no. And you're picking nits with that? That's great. I would love to have, like, fancy bacon. Just don't call it a flight.

That's pretentious. Talk about missing the forest for the trees. This is a beautiful world we live in. order fancy bacon spread out on your plate. Wes, you know, Wes of a month ago was grown out his hair, was kind of fancy and free. Now you're putting the hair back, your back shaved, and you're cutting out any chance of a flight of bacon being in your life. Did you say I shaved my back?

Did you? Did you? I don't have hair on my back. Oh, you shaved your head and, you know, you're not going to have a flight of bacon. I thought you were going to open your arms and horizons. There's a lot of going on in my life, turning 40, and a lot of things over the past month. You know, I got to put myself through a personal boot camp. here.

All right. I'm just saying I wouldn't rule out a flight of bacon. Moving on, DeAngelo Hall and the Redskins agree on a four-year contract. Wes, as you wrote in the ATL post, DeAngelo Hall on his NFL obituary one day, his ability to perform when the contract is at stake will be something that will always be identified with his career. Yeah, I think he can thank Al Davis for most of that. And I think Greg has a few things on this, too, don't you?

Well, he's one of the most highly paid NFL players that doesn't play quarterback of the last decade. That's insane. Isn't that crazy? I mean, he is. So does that make him one of the most successful players in the NFL the last decade? In any other industry, people right or wrong tend to equate money with success. Based on money, DeAngela Hall, especially considering his relative talent, maybe it's just luck has maximized his earning about as well as any player

maybe Richard Seymour is in there with him who also made a ridiculous amount of money not as good I was going to make this point when Dan questioned Eric Decker's wife success I think America too often equates money with success and they shouldn't but I get your point and I think it has to do with his first round draft pedigree his ability to make plays on the ball He has ball skills, even if he takes too many chances and gets burnt. I think when you do have that playmaking ability, you have the pedigree, and you can sell yourself pretty well. I think that's a big part of it.

He sold himself. People talk about the off-field stuff is a distraction sometimes, and what's the point of he made himself money by hyping himself. I mean, he got paid huge in the draft. That was before they had the new CBA and you could get that money. He got a huge contract from Atlanta. And then another one for Malk, I mean, he kind of hyped himself into some of this money. I created a nickname for him about five or six years ago, and it never took off.

Okay. What is it? Big Hat, no Cattle. What does that mean? All talk, no action. Big Hat, no cattle? Big Snake, no rattle. Now we're going deep.

Big Hat, no cattle. Big Horse, no saddle. You're just rhyming things now, right? It's a Rainy Newman song. Oh, okay. Big Hat, no cattle. That's a common phrase, Big Hat. no cattle, right? Relatively.

So you wear the big cowboy hat and you pass yourself off as a big dude, but you're really not? Yeah. I like that. That's good. But the one question I have is... It's still got a chance to catch on it. It's a four-year contract.

Well, I didn't put it in that article. I should have. You might have had a chance to catch us. We can do it. It's better than downstairs our editor David Ealy wants to get to Mike Mayock, the term, beach ready for a prospect that can just suit up and play in the NFL at a high level.

There's no chance that's going to make it. That's terrible. I'm upset. You even mentioned it. Beach ready. Beecherty. Oh, but the last question about Hall, I don't know if you guys touched on. We all talked about Hall's ability to get contracts, but is this a good move by the Redskins?

I'd have to see the details. If it's just a one, if it's just a deal that he's only making $4 million, $5 million this year and then get out of it, whatever, it's fine. No, I agree with Greg. We're probably going to see in a day or two that the first year is guaranteed and nothing after that is. And if that's the case, it's a fine deal. If it's guaranteed for two or three years, I would have some issues with it. All right. And finally, Mike Mayock released this week as position rankings for the 2014 NFL draft.

There are many people that are deeply interested in this kind of stuff for Mayak. He also on Tuesday had a never-ending press conference that last – well, it did end, so it wasn't never-ending. But it went nearly three hours in which he answered several questions. But as far as his positional rankings, which are up on – NFL.com. I don't know what jumps out of us. Teddy Bridgewater is his number one quarterback. He's got Manzell at number two.

Jadavian Clowney, as you would assume, is the number one defensive end. He did say during that conference call that this is the best and deepest draft in, I believe, 10 years was what he said. He said in his 10 years of doing it, and he thought the number 20 pick in this draft is worth as much as the number 10 pick

in last year's draft. so it's sometimes what draft that you're in in terms of where you are in the draft and he thinks and he says this is supported by a lot of people in the league that this is one of the deepest best drafts in a long time and he also said the best and deepest wide receiver class that he's seen yes um yeah you think your jet i know the jet mayaq said during that uh conference call that he wouldn't be surprised of the jet's draft two wide receivers which would make sense considering this considering the state of their wide receiver

or corpse. It's core, Dan. No, no, no, no. Speaking of last year's draft, it's like almost a nightmare now thinking about it, but remember having to write stories almost every other day about Luke Jokal and Eric Fisher. Oh, yeah.

Wow. And those are dark times. And Gino Smith was the number one quarterback off the board. This draft is so much more interesting, and we're getting help from our boys at College 24-7. Hallelujah. If you guys haven't noticed, we're a little lighter on draft coverage on around the league.

it's because college football 24-7 is handling a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of who's rising, who's falling. But I think it's interesting that there's a consensus forming on the quarterbacks. For a while, people didn't know where car, for instance, fit in or McCarran. And now there's clearly a top three. It's Bridgewater, Johnny Football, and Bortles. And Mayock thinks Bridgewater is the most pro-ready guy. And that's important because you could get fired after one or two years,

as Rob Shenzky knows. He thinks Bridgewater is the guy of those three who he has number one that's ready to come in and play right away. Isn't it more important just to get it right? Yeah. But I think if you're somewhat, if it's close, can you wait a couple of years for a guy that you think's going to take a while to develop? We're impatient.

We're killing the bills for not coming up with a better solution than E.J. Manuel. No, I agree with that. If that's the tiebreaker, definitely. But it seems to me with the first pick overall in the draft, teams tend to galvanize around one guy. And he said those three he thinks could go in the top 10. If they're that far ahead of the pack, how are they slipping out of even the top five? I think in the top seven, there's four or five teams that need quarterbacks. They'll be trades up.

And I think all three of those guys you would think is just going to go quickly. Mayak also said, for those that are interested, that he sees Michael Sam as a situation. pass rusher and nothing more he said third to fifth round mid round guy um all right moving on greg rosenthal you have a post up on the around the league blog um what is it exactly if you could paint a picture for what it is that people can go to the site and read well we're going to have a two-parter i did the first on what players in the nfc could be cut and it's already started we've seen the saints get rid of four defenders that helped them win a super bowl we've seen nate burleson get but it's going to pick up until March 11th when free agency starts there's going to be a ton

of cuts so we looked at all the guys in the NFC that are strong candidates for release and then some surprise cuts let's hear some surprise cuts all right i looked at you know a couple guys that i haven't heard mentioned demico ryan's is getting paid 6.9 million dollars there would be no cap hit whatsoever in terms of dead money to get rid of demico ryan i don't think he's worth that kind of money at this point from philadelphia eagles fans are going to hate you you. Why? They love D'Amico Rhyans. Everyone loves D'Amico Rines. Wasn't it just yesterday that he was viewed as one of the steals of the offseason, getting him in their uniform? Yeah, but he's a middle linebacker making $7 million. If you want to hear like some great Homer analysis on Twitter,

tweet out defensive player of the year candidates and see what rolls back at you because D'emico Ryan's was tweeted back at me by a half dozen Eagles fans that he was a defensive player of the year candidate in 2013. Stop. Really? Yeah. I think you get mixed reaction when you look into how he's played, and a lot of people think he's a below-average starter.

He's limited on passing downs. I think the Giants are an interesting team to watch. For Matthias Kiwanuka and Antroo Roel are two players that people know very well. Role's coming off what seemed to be a great season. Was he their best defensive player last year? And that's why it would be surprising if they cut him, but he's due $7, $8, $9 million, and people around the team think if he doesn't take a pay cut, that he probably would get cut and he might be willing to roll the dice

and not take the pay cut and see what's open on the free agent market. I see here you have Roddy White listed as a potential surprise. Well, that would be a big surprise, but he's another guy that I think, like Terrell Suggs, the team is going to him and trying to redo the deal in a way that's more team friendly. And if he doesn't do that and if there's some disagreement and everyone seems to want to keep Roddy White,

but if for some reason he's unwilling to do that, I think they'd cut him. Yeah, I agree with that. I think it's a long shot, though. I think they'll find common ground. That's why it says surprise cuts, potential surprise cuts. Those are probably the highlights of the surprise cut. Chad Greenway in Minnesota, not a lot of big names.

I found the bigger names are with your guys in the AFC. All right, and who are the guys that you believe are kind of safer bets to be on the street? We've already talked about a lot of them, Miles Austin. Cortland Finnegan, I think, will be gone. Julius Peppers. I think Sidney Rice and Zach Miller of the Seahawks would be shocking to me if they're back. Some lesser-known names, maybe Jonathan Baldwin.

Remember him? That trade? Carlos Rogers and San Francisco. Those are probably the highlights of the other cuts. And I think those guys I mentioned are all pretty safe guys to get cut. It is funny. Like going back to D'Amico Ryan's and, you know, when you mentioned Cortland Finnegan,

how year to year this league is, that these guys can go from keys to the roster to potentially not even part of the equation. I didn't even mention Thomas Dekud, who was a pro bowler last year, and I think he's very likely to get cut by the Atlanta Falcons. So, I mean, that speaks to what you're saying. It's year to year. One year, you probably got a little too much credit because your team went to the playoffs, and the next year you're on the street.

ATL is similar, though, I feel like. Right? Yeah, it's almost week to week. You're in good standing. You could be gone. You never know. Why do you think Sessler's not? here today.

I think we know. All right, moving on, we're going to continue to roll through our off-season forecasts, as we teased earlier. Two prominent teams, one good, one not very good, one involves softball pants. West, do you want to start there? Sure. Wow, blast from the past there. Haven't heard that in a while.

I know. So the Oakland Raiders, Chris Wessling, obviously, are coming off. got another down year. But the salary cap hell, they're starting to get out of that. And is it a brighter tomorrow? Well, relatively, yes. They have more salary cap space. You see how I said brighter tomorrow, and this is the off-season forecast?

I like, I see what you did there. You tied it all together. Professional. They have more salary cap space than anybody in the NFL. They also have probably more holes to fill than anybody in the NFL because their best players are free agents. Jared Veldier is their most valuable offensive player, left tackle. Candidate for the franchise tag.

Lamar Houston is their best defensive player, defensive end. Darren McFadden had a couple of disappointing years, but arguably the most talented player on the roster. Rough. Arguably. I don't like that word arguably. You can throw arguably in front of anything. Just say it, Wes, if you feel it, say it.

I do think he's the most talented player on the roster. Bang. I think if he goes to Hugh Jackson's system, he'd probably do much better. At some point, doesn't talent get exposed as not that talent? I've heard Darren McFadden is so talented for so long. Don't we need evidence of this? Maybe he's not that talented.

Maybe everyone's been wrong the whole time. 2010 and 11 are evidence. He had one great year. So did no Sean Moreno. It doesn't mean he's that talented. I also did Sean Marino and Darren McFadden's years were a lot different. You know what the difference between the two of them is? Moreno makes people miss every now.

and, you know. McFadden's great years, he made people miss. Marino does it. Marino plays with Peyton Manning. I didn't like that McFadden blamed his down 2012 season on the offensive scheme, and then the next year did nothing in a scheme that was supposedly a match for his talents. So, you know, there's a lot of evidence pointing us to this guy is not as great as maybe we thought he was. I agree with that.

I mean, he doesn't seem like a natural runner or player compared to the guys, like Gore or Lynch or the running backs who do it every year who seems to have an instinct for the game. McFadden does not seem to have it. He could be a good buy-low candidate. You know, maybe a team like the Giants or someone that wants to split carries gets McFadden. That would work out nicely, but that's about it. I'm just saying 2010, 2011 did happen. He was one of the best running backs in the league during those two years when he was on the field. Well, you have as your biggest free agents in your rundown that's on the 8th,

T.L. Blog, you have Veltier, Houston, and McFadden slash Rashad Jennings. Would that be the order in which you would say they, at, you know, how important it is they get brought back? Well, McFadden's not coming back. They want Jennings back, and it would seem to be able to work something out with him. Yeah, I would say that's the order. Veldeer and Houston are definitely the top two. Why are you so confident that McFadden's not coming back? because McKenzie already said he's going to let him test the market and in the same sentence basically he said we want to re-sign jenny's fair answer who else has gone for sure I like to put you on the spot well this is good this is good

well I could be just blowing smoke that's what I would never know I was seen if you were just throwing that out there I didn't know why you were so confident I didn't know that thank you for keeping me on my toes so what to you say this is a team with a lot of holes what do they need most right now everything they need a quarterback desperately their offensive line is in tatters. The defense basically is a bunch of a bunch of guys that they signed off the street later here.

Just another guy. Yeah, they signed them in the second or third wave of free agency when nobody else wanted them. That's how they fielded a viable starting lineup for most of the year. Which is why Dennis Allen did a pretty good job, I think, overall, although it fell apart. Well, half of those guys are free agents again, and the other half aren't that good.

So they need playmakers at basically every level of their defense. and yet they're probably going to lose their best defensive player do you think they'll lose Lamar Houston I don't know Well they have all this money Why don't they make sure I'm saying Lamar Houston thinks they're going to lose

Lamar Houston he thinks Not a good sign That typically it's a bad side Did you just talk about him in fourth person What is the fourth That doesn't exist The universe collapses into itself Once you hit the fourth person

Lamar Houston thinks he's not necessarily a fit for Dennis Allen's scheme that they've always wanted different things out of him that he maybe hasn't been able to deliver. He played awesome last year. He's got a great Mohawk hairdo thing going on. He is about to make a lot of money. He is the profile of a guy who no one really knows about that much around the country and is about to get $30 million guaranteed or something crazy.

He's going to do exactly what a Raiders defensive lineman from last year did Desmond Bryant. Something like that, yeah. Or that Tommy Kelly once did with the Raiders. This would be my advice to Lamar Houston. If you don't like playing in Dennis Allen's system, take the massive paycheck from the Raiders and then wait a year. And you won't be playing for Dennis Allen anymore.

Wow. Wow, that's not nice. You're telling us that Dennis Allen will be fired. I feel like you just... There's no more patience in that building and they have so many holes. Even if they have a great off season, they're still probably going to stink. and they're just, they're going to candle the guy. I don't even know if you believe in all that.

You just like that joke that you were setting up. I can't wait. That was not a joke. That was hard-hitting hashtag analysis. I can't wait to wager my softball pants again next year, knowing that Josh Freeman will be starting for them on open-day. Is that what you think? What's the quarterback situation?

They need, they've talked about bringing in a veteran. Josh Freeman is probably going to need a team to play for, and his former offensive coordinator from the Bucks, Greg Olson, is now the offensive coordinator for the Raiders, and has been an avowed Josh Freeman fan. But Josh Freeman stinks. I agree. Well, we don't know that.

We don't know that. He was okay for a couple years in Tampa. Was he not? He was okay for a couple years. Going into last year, we thought he was okay. Wasn't he very good one year and then okay another year and then terrible another year and then benched last year? I think your recollection is pretty much spot on. Yeah.

And then he had the worst game in NFL history of the Minnesota Vikings. That's the last thing I remember. I don't know. I've seen some of Craig Wheelahans games. What he is in Oakland is a big upgrade, though. He's better than Terrell Pryor and Matt McLean, isn't he? I think if you throw Freeman, McGloin, and Pryor into a hat, they would all have like three decent games all year,

and then the rest of it won't be terrible. That's a sad hat. That'd be a big hat. They'd end up doing a merry-go-round. That would be a carousel of awful quarterbacking. Well, this is McKenzie's time. You know, they've talked, oh, here, the pain of getting rid of all this salary cap stuff and we need picks and we inherited a disaster and blah blah for a couple

years this is it they've got all the cap room in the world they got all their picks no more excuses let's do it reggie offseason crystal ball west what are the big moves they make i don't know that's not how crystal ball works you look into it they uh slap the franchise tag on veldier outbid everyone for lamar houston whatever impact defender is still out there in the market that hasn't been franchise tag, they'll probably make a play for him. Right. At some level of defense.

Signed Josh Freeman. Signed Josh Freeman, re-sign Rashad Jennings. And draft a quarterback. They have to. At some point, maybe it's not their first pick, but they have to draft another quarterback.

It seems like a Blake Bortle's kind of place to go. Five and 11. That's generous. Uh-oh. Oh, wait a second. Where do you put him? I don't think I can put softball pants. I don't think I can put softball pants on the line

until we see what happens in free agency. If I had to, where this team is right now, it's a two-win team. I like it. We've got to be playing softball pants again next year. Gotta do it. Everybody on Twitter, tell Wes that he needs to double down on the softball pants in 2014. All right, let's move on. Another Chris Wessling joint, he wrote the Green Bay Packers offseason forecast.

The Packers, of course, snuck into the playoffs, then got knocked out. Ian Rappaport reported last week. that they're going to make an aggressive play in free agency to remake their defense in the image of their 60-year-old defensive coordinator, Chris Wessling. Tupays, lots of oddly shaped bodies on the defensive line. It seems, you know, partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms in Green Bay.

Accurate? Yes. Now I'm going too far with the forecast. Okay, go on. They have four pretty talented free agents of their own. B.J. Raji, Greg does not think he's going to get the franchise tag, nor do I. But when I thought about it, I wouldn't be surprised if Sam Shields gets the franchise tag. Cornerbacks with 4-3 speed who have shown they can cover guys like A.G. Green get paid.

But what about B.J. Raji might not even be in their plan, according to Rappaport, if they want to get lighter and quicker on that D-line. He's not a light, quick man. I think he's gone. I think you're right on Shields. I read an article this morning that made me wish I had put him in my franchise tag primer because they have so much. Regrets.

They have so much cap room. Like you said, they can't lose Shields. He's their best cornerback. And it goes by my theory, you don't just let young enough quality starters walk away. They would have a lot of money tied up in cornerback because Tremont Williams makes $8 million a year. I think it's more likely they get a long-term deal done with Shields because they like him a lot. James Jones is an interesting other name.

Is he a guy that ends up getting paid big money? He's been a free agent before and people weren't really that into him and so he kind of settled to return. Seems the Packers are willing to try that same strategy again, let him test the market and see if he boomerangs back to them. But I think as well as Jared Boykin played in the second half of last season, they have to be confident in him as the third receiver. I like James Jones

I know you told me he was as good as Eric Decker I stand by that I don't think that's even close when you watch James Jones he doesn't have great hands which that's a factor for a wide receiver that's important but everything else he can do it

I mean he's great after the catch he's tough he's durable seems like a smart player seems like a good guy to have he would be a guy I would look to as a nice value second receiver none of those things in 2013

team didn't have his best year but he's young and for the most part over the balance of his career he's been good i agree with it so west what do you think this team needs more than anything else they need the rebuild their defense uh like you said in the image of their 63 year old coordinator with a bud ceilock haircut but they they need playmakers they need another pass rusher opposite clay matthews they drafted nick perry in the first round to be that guy it hasn't happened they're going to have to rebuild their defensive line we've talked about that and they're going to need a tight end because your Michael Finley probably isn't coming back.

He thinks he's coming back. His agent keeps putting it out there that he's 99% certain to heal from this spinal fusion surgery. However, he underwent spinal fusion surgery. So that's a tough thing for a football player to deal with. Packers have a track record of not bringing back guys with neck injuries. And maybe the Giants take a chance on him. They're quarterback's coach, Ben McAdoo, who was the tight ends coach,

when Jim Michael Finley was developing is now with the Giants as the offensive coordinator. That seems like it could be a fit. It's clear that they are not going to give him a good contract offer and that he's likely to leave Green Bay. But if he's medically cleared, I mean, he's not going to have any shortage of suitors. He might not get a monster contract or anything, but there'll be plenty of teams willing to roll the dice. They say, although they haven't come out, it's not for certain,

but it's been reported that him and Nick Collins had the same. same exact surgery, the C3, C4, and Nick Collins was a great safety. He can't get a job. If you were a general manager and he was medically cleared, would you sign him knowing he's coming off of cervical fusion surgery? I don't think we know enough to answer those sort of medical questions. I think necks are different than knees. If Cessler was here, we would have been in good shape. Mark would have all the answers. However, the three of us not qualified, gold standard completely unqualified. Correct. In every facet of life. So you're beating yourself up because of Win West's toaster.

You do a great job behind the glass, but, you know, try to move past the toaster incident. I've been seeing someone about this, so I'll get back to you. Chris Wesleyan, can you, I know you struggled last time to ask you this question. Can you look into the metaphorical crystal ball and tell us what's going to happen with the Packers in the next few months? I think Raji's gone. Finley's gone. Sam Shield stays there. They let Jones test the market.

there's probably a 40% chance he returns. And then they pick up maybe a free agent or two on defense. But even if Ted Thompson says he's going to do that, I don't, I'll have to see it to believe it. Charles Woodson. Ryan Pickett. Some of their key. 2006. No, I know.

But some of their key guys in that Super Bowl run were free agent pickups. They haven't done it in forever. Right, which is, okay, you picked up these guys and they worked out. So why are you staunchly against free agents? I hope Ted Thompson just goes the other way and goes like 2000 era Dan Snyder and just starts handing out $50 billion contracts Like a midlife crisis

Yeah, it just goes crazy And just against everything he believes in Yeah Well one thing I miss that Dan Snyder era Where he literally saw Albert Haynesworth waving a red flag And he took the flag And he put it down on the ground

And just gave him a gigantic check That was great Are we allowed to be talking about this? I don't know. Yeah, that's fine. Just to button up the Packers, I would say the biggest thing they have going for them is the players they're getting back from injuries. Clay Matthews and Casey Hayward, especially Nick Perry there too,

but they get some good players on defense back from injury. They need all those draft picks over the last couple years, especially on defense, to just start playing well. I mean, that's the biggest thing. Dayton Jones. Right, just they've taken all these guys. They need to develop them like they used to. Okay, so that is it for today's edition of the Around the League podcast.

Greg, as the boss, can you tell the listeners what to expect when you guys are in Indianapolis? I am, of course, going to be in California. The show will go on, though. Chris and Mark and I will do a podcast on Saturday. We'll actually be doing it on a television set, although no one's going to be recording us because we're just not good looking enough. We have faces for podcasts. Yeah, well, that'll go up Saturday afternoon and it will stand as a nice, recap of what's happened so far in the Combine.

We'll get to talk to all the quarterbacks. We're going to have a lot of inside nuggets, right? Whispers. Whispers from around the league. General managers and coaches speak nonstop from Thursday morning through Friday night, and so we're going to be talking about it with all of them. We're going to be working the room at happy hour. That too.

We might actually overserve a few of these insiders just to get information. I like that. See, that's the type of stuff. That's what makes Chris Wessling, a skilled man in matters of the bar. He knows how to overserve someone. And wanted in three states. Wanted in three states.

All right, that's it for today's show. This is Dan Hensis signing off for the mailman, the boss, the gold standard behind the glass. Next time you hear from us, it will be in Indianapolis. Bye. I think there's just maybe a blockage in your nose.

Yeah. This is an IHeart podcast.