NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: Rap Sheet in studio, 'What's More Likely?'

Episode Date: March 10, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Chris Wesseling -- welcome NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport to Studio 66 ahead of the opening of free agency. Rap Sheet drops some exclusive knowledge on the podcast, piecing together the offseason jigsaw from all corners of the NFL and delivering the latest news about the biggest free agents.  Don’t miss out as the heroes play the latest round of ‘What’s More Likely?’ and evaluate their predictions from last episode’s ‘Go Get My Lunch.’  Where might Eric Decker be headed?  How does one actually pronounce Jairus Byrd?  Is taking pictures of your food ever acceptable?  There’s only one place to find out -- this episode of the “Around The League Podcast.”  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 knows how to spell Humanawa Nui. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Henders and I'm joined by a room filled with some heroes, Chris Wessling and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys. Hey, Dan. That's not the only people here. Well, he's so special that he gets his own intro sitting.

in the Sessler chair, looking at his phone. It's almost cliche. He is the NFL media insider, Ian Rappaport. Hey, body. Also holding your headset like your vanilla ice or something. I don't want to mess up my hair. Wow. Wow.

That's where we're at. It's on your ears. No, it's going to fall off otherwise. If it goes above, I don't want to ruin the, make a dent in the hair up here. Ian, I saw you laugh immediately when Dan. started the show kind of like what the hell

kind of voice is this because that's not the normal Dan Hanses's voice what was that about um do you guys go back

we do go back back to our journal news days back when we were taking games over the phone making $12 an hour which seemed like a ton in New York

what year was this when you guys worked together Ian and Dan both worked at the same newspaper in Westchester County basically well Dan didn't have

gray hair then yeah it was a long time ago and Ian wasn't dying his yet, so it was... We haven't started yet, right? Anyway, 2003. We worked together. Then Ian started bouncing around the country going up the ladder.

And then we strangely crossed paths again, a decade there. What? Super Bowl. Wasn't it? It was... What Super Bowl was it where I first ran into you? That was the cult, the Giants Patriots Super Bowl. That's right.

Yeah, that was back when Ian used to work at the Boston Herald, and he would say, And me and my old boss, Mike Floreo at Pro Football Talk, about 15 to 20 emails a day. Every blog post that Ian wrote up for his old rap sheet, he would say, hey, here, guys, you can link to this. But there was no quality control. It could be like Dionne Branch is hanging out at a grocery store and need them. Deon Branch who was just in our newsroom, by the way. Right. And that would be good enough to send to us.

I don't know if I really recall it quite like that. I play things up to effect You haven't listened to the podcast That was the original podcast It was the original rap sheet wasn't it? No, the original rap sheet Was in Birmingham, Alabama For the Birmingham News

All right, Ian, if it's okay We're going to start talking about football I thought we were just talking about football Yes, you are here It is perfect actually Free Agency starts on Tuesday You are probably name dropped More than anyone else in the show

So it's fitting that you're in here this week We're going to go through some news and then we're going to go through maybe some speculation and then just get maybe a little bit irresponsible. It'll be fun. That sounds like a regular weekend for us. Do we have to preface every time we address you with the words NFL Media Insider?

Because we do that on the show anyway, so we make sure to do that. I would say yes. Okay. That would be nice. Yeah. We'll just try to keep them happy. When the talent is in the room, if you don't keep them happy, they're going to walk out at any moment.

We've seen it happen. You got me coffee. That's pretty much all I need. It's one way to play. Coffee's for clothes. When your son, Max, can first talk. Maybe he'll call you NFL Media Insider Ian Rappaport. I was just talking, I was talking my wife about this yesterday.

What we were going to try to have him do is address adults as sir and ma'am like a good son of a kid. I think that'll be a nice touch. He'll know you as Mr. Greg. I'm struggling. That's right. I'm struggling to take you serious with holding the headphones out of life. This is how people do it. No one's ever done that in the history of this studio.

I think that's how they do it. The gold standard behind the glass. How are you, buddy? doing great thanks um how is everything with you yeah you know pretty pretty light weekend he doesn't really care he's just making conversations why are you gonna put me down like that gregg no i'm putting down trying to let you into my life here i'm putting dan down the golden tate to the titan's prediction is hanging in the air over everyone from uh our famous game now fridays go get my lunch it's gonna be incredible people are excited why don't we start that's supposed to be

unsaid the last word that's all right it's implied let's start and do some new Why don't we? Let's do it. All right. This broke right as we were coming upstairs. The Carolina Panthers are attempting to trade wide receiver Steve Smith per source

informed of their plans. This comes from Ian Rappaport. So why don't we throw to Ian Rappaport? Yeah, not, I hate to say it, but not entirely a surprise. It's been like just a weird situation around Steve Smith. And, you know, really since Dave Gettleman kind of spoke at the combine and was vague about just whether he would even be on the roster, just sort of spoke about him in kind of a little bit of past tense, has had a great career, and you start to wonder kind of what's going on.

And then, you know, Steve is around. He's on TV. He won't address his future mostly because he doesn't really know. You know, what the Panthers have told him is they're going through the process. And what the process is is taking a 34-year-old receiver with a cap charge of seven men. million and seeing if you can get anything for him, which to me means it's a guy you don't think it's going to be on the field for you next year. Let's be honest about who created this story. A pair of super sleuths at the NFL Combine, Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler. What?

A little Barry Harowitz patting on the back action right now. Greg and Mark created this story. Well, Mark initially brought up the Steve Smith thing to Gettleman, and he just had such a weird answer. We started following up, and we were wondering, are we making too much eye? of this and then we asked Rivera about it the next day as well and and I guess we weren't making too much out of this. How are you taking this? I mean, Steve Smith has been one of your favorite players. My favorite player of the last decade probably. What are your thoughts here? I think we had that

stat when we were doing playoff previews that he was second only to Calvin Johnson and players over 20 yards from 2011 to 12 and last year there were 135 players with more plays of 20 yards than him, so the drop-off came quickly. Let me ask you guys a question. What could this guy get on the trade market? Is he somebody that you think they will be able to move? Could he get a fourth-round pick, a third-round pick? What is Steve Smith's value in 2014?

I think it's the CJ-2K treatment. Yeah, I think he'll be cut by Tuesday. By the time free agency starts are soon enough. Ian, you think, I mean, there's no chance to get anything for him. I mean, I would be very surprised. I mean, you know, it would have to be like a seventh rounder or something. Just someone where you say, I'm just going to, you know, I'm going to trade a conditional seventh rounder for the right to get this guy in training camp. But, you know, he's 34.

He's been a beast for a long time. But when it goes wrong, it goes wrong fast in the NFL. You know what you said that stuck with me is that they didn't think he was going to be on the field next year because this isn't all about the money. He has a lot of guaranteed money this year that they're going to have to pay him anyways. they'll probably call them a June 1st, post-June-first cut when they do cut them, but they don't save that much money from cutting him. So this is really about, we don't want to pay you that actual cash, so they save some money there, but they don't save much cap room

because we don't think you're that good anymore. That's basically what it is, right? I can already see it now that he's signed somewhere else with a contender and has one of the great, like, FU seasons of all time. I got one for you. He's a California guy. I think born and raised in LA I don't know

maybe San Francisco 49ers is the third receiver I don't know they're looking to get faster That's true that would be a slow group Yeah that's a fair point It's already a slow group I mean it's To me

The Patriots have feasted on guys like this for years I mean Andre Carter You know these types of guys Who come back Chad Johnson Joey Galloway Gerard Warren Yeah, I think he'll be great as long as he's in that third receiver type of role. I don't think he's going to be a big time starting.

It's sad, though. It's sad to see Steve Smith leave. That's one of the worst things about this is that when you see a guy's skills declined happens so fast. I mean, I remember Ocho Cinco with the Patriots. You're just like, I can't believe this guy used to be Ocho Cinco. That's what happened to Sessler. That's why he's not here to him. It's how you leave the chair.

It's been difficult to watch. Moving forward, again, Ian Rappaport reported Monday that, The Seattle Seahawks have re-signed Michael Bennett, who comes off the market with a four-year contract. What can he tell us about this deal, Ian? It's a little bit less than I thought than he was offered other places. I mean, it's $7 million a year when Everson Griffin is getting more than that. It's odd. I mean, obviously, he wanted to be back.

I think that's one of the things, you know, if you want negotiating leverage, you pretend like you don't want to come back. well, Michael Biden was in their building yesterday, two days ago, hanging out, clearly wanted to be bad. And even the thing with his brother, like, it was sort of like a half-hearted, you know, yeah, Chicago would be like, no, this guy wanted to come back, and they wanted to have him back. It was obvious fit from the beginning. Do you like the signing? I mean, keeping him in there.

I mean, they got him at a bargain discount. Now it seems like they kind of have him at a good rate. John Schneider, it seems like he knows what he's doing potentially. Yeah. Yeah, and I think this might, yeah, they won the Super Bowl, Dan. Ah, that's good. A lot of good info. I don't think, according to sources.

I think this might mean, we'll see, but it might mean the end of Chris Clemens, too. Big Cap charge coming off on ACL, obviously. It's going to be, it's a lot of money in one position. I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen. Let's dive into how all this free agency speculation sometimes works, because we were hearing so strongly, ooh, the bear. are really going to go after him and, oh, their price, his prices, right? And there were a couple Chicago papers, especially, that really on Sunday started hitting

that hard that the bears are ready to do it. You're a man. Take us a peek behind the curtain. How does this all work? You know, where does this come from? Well, you know, I think what happened with, I mean, obviously, you know, it comes from, comes from agents, a lot of it. And, you know, it comes from teams, too.

And, you know, a general manager in my experience is rarely going to say, yes we are going after this guy because there's nothing worse than you know the bears try to sign Michael Bennett and then they didn't and everyone's like okay great well we could have got and then every time you see him you're like oh great we could have got that guy

but it you know it comes from a lot of times the lower level people in the organization who just will who just will say it and they'll sometimes will say it to me and sometimes they'll say it to other reporters like yeah we're going after this guy that's right and you know I think with with Bennett he had an

offer for a while from the Seahawks, didn't really address it, and then went and shopped himself, saw what he could get. And the problem is, I'm not sure. You know, I think it got a little spicy yesterday or the day before when it seemed the Bears were really interested, but I don't think the Seahawks ever believed that he was really believing. To me, when you see those reports just having watches for a while, you just sort of think, they're wanting to stay with Seattle, potentially.

they're trying to get Seattle to raise the price. So they let it out there that Chicago is all into it. Or the 49ers, which come on. I mean... That never made sense. No. What? Oh, the 49ers. Where would he play?

It's such a perfect contract. $7 million a year for the first three years because that's the contract you get to a very good starter that's not dominant. And he's not a superstar, but he's a great player for them. And it's putting him at the exact right level so that they're not overpaying. But they might now have to cut Chris Clemens and make other big moves. Lamar Woodley signed a six-year $61.5 million deal with the Steelers after the 2011 lockout. We're now learning that he will be released.

It will be a designated post-June 1st cut. That was a tough situation for the Steelers, the Lamar Woodley era. It was. I think he had 35 sacks in the three seasons before that and had half that number in the three seasons since he signed. And there were a lot of complaints. Ian probably picked up on a lot of this. In Pittsburgh, a lot of complaints that he was out of shape the last few years. He was a tough guy for us to rank on our top 101 free agent list.

And we decided to put him pretty high, Ian. We put him around 21 because he's still young and he still has a chance to be the only good outside linebacker in this whole market. And when he's played, he's always been a factor. He's just been injured lately and he's still pretty young. It is a weird outside linebacker market. You know, he came in, he came in to camp in shape this year, which was good, and you sort of thought he was going to maybe have that bounce back here, and then he just got injured.

And the problem is, like you guys, I don't know what kind of player he is. I know what kind of player he's been. I mean, he's been very, very good. He's been sort of the classic Steelers, you know, outside linebacker, you know, pass rusher, hits hard. I just don't know what he is right now. And I mean, I think this was clear when they transition tag Jason World's, and he signed immediately, you know, this was something that was pretty clear to see coming.

I think he's an interesting guy to go up. Like I said, we had a tough time of where to put him. He could have been anywhere from 15 to 50. I think you could have made a good case for. But there aren't many guys that are still relatively young with that kind of production in the past. Only a couple of years ago, he was one of the better pass rushers in the league. Ian, you should know that these two gentlemen, Wes and Greg, are known as the scientists for the way they've talked about this list, formulating it. Both Mark and myself have watched it all happen.

Sometimes they get mad at each other, scientists going out of each other. I'll have to read it one time. Oh, wow. I just realized, by the way, what Ian looks like the way he's holding his microphone. You're like a 1980s video when they're at the benefit, like, for starving children in the studio. Yeah. It's like belting out some holiday jingle. Well, that's what I feel like.

Yeah, I think it's kind of one of those things where, like, I'm kind of the DJ and I'm listening to the record that's about to come up in one year and then I'm listening, you know. That's another way to go. That would be like the cooler way to position. You watch Jersey Shore. You know what DJ. I did. Oh, yeah, of course. You would be the least hip DJ ever.

No, I don't think that's accurate. All right. It would be, it would be hip hop from like 1987 to about 1998. That would be it. It's kind of like West. I'm on board with that. In about 2000. Cool, I'm in.

Some souls of mischief. How are we not getting to Master P yet? How has that not been dropped? That's true. I did have like a five-minute rant. I still wanted to go on for Master's Mee. But this show is too chock-full of stuff. I know.

Let's move on. Two expected moves by the Jets that have now happened. Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie of both been released by the team. This obviously clears a lot of salary cap. It also clears headaches for the jet. Jets, who dealt with homes for way too long. Carmardi could be back. Let me ask you, Ian, as the NFL media insider.

That is what you're known as. I don't know if you're aware of that. I've heard that, yes. Will Carmody be in a Jets uniform, week one? Very doubtful. I mean, they didn't offer it a restructure. They didn't offer a pay cut. I thought they would, and I think that was their plan originally, and then he said on

the radio today they didn't. So how bad did they want to keep him? he just doesn't seem like a John Izick type guy and what's interesting so there's two things here one he's definitely in position to sign somewhere for cheap and just have a ridiculous year because he's a great athlete and we've seen him play very

very well and the Jets have a lot of cap space they might be pretty interesting I mean I don't know like I don't know exactly what they're going to do and how whether Idzick's going to be a spend a ton on two Tuesday or a get-me-five-mid-level guys by Friday kind of guy. But they might really do some stuff.

So you think they'll be active at cornerback, especially? I think they'll be active at corner. I think they'll be active at pass rusher, probably running back, I would imagine. Maybe wide receiver too. I mean, Holmes, Carmardi. Yeah, I'd be surprised if they didn't add at least to name brand offensive players by the end of the week. At least. Yeah.

I mean, they could, a receiver, I mean, there's, you know... Altarod Werner is really talking up this. I'm going to sign right when free agency starts. He's on record. He mentioned the Jets and the Giants as two of the teams. Well, he's a big New York guy. He likes Broadway shows. He likes art.

He's... What? This is why you're the insider. You know. NFL media inside. It's true. Well, what kind? Musicals or more like the plays.

He likes the plays. He likes those cult. He likes culture. He's a smart guy. Wes, there's nothing wrong with going to plays. It's okay. No. I didn't say anything.

It's all right. I went to a play the other night. Where were you, Wes? It's culture, bro. We were probably at home drinking alone. Wait, you went to a play in Dallas? I did. There's like a traveling brother.

Well, you shouldn't go to plays in Dallas. No. Yes, it counts. When I was in Boston, we used to go to what those. Is it a high school play? No. It was like a real. It was the We Will Rock You Queen themed play.

It was great. It's kind of like going to an arena football league game. I mean. I went to an arena league football league. You know it's something, but it's professional, but it's not at the top level. I've only been to one arena league football game, and I met Dr. Drey and Ed Lover in the stands. Wow. Not the good Dr. Dre, but the other one used to be DJ.

The other Dr. Drey. People listening do not even know there was another Dr. Drey. The host of YoMTV Raps. He was more famous than nobody even knew who the real Dr. Drey was when Dr. Drey and Ed Lover, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. They were great in Who's the Man? Oh, my God, that's an awesome movie.

I just want to give you credit for knowing that Werner loves Broadway plays. No problem. 25 years old. I'm going to be bringing it up on air tomorrow when he signed. Well, there's no way he doesn't sign with the Jets or Giants. Guys got to get to Broadway. Who would you rather have Holmes or Cromartie for next year for one year? Let's say there are, let's say Holmes is a little cheaper because he should be.

Croms because, or Cromartre because Holmes is a crazy person. I can't argue with any of that logic. Why? Nothing. You can say what you want. This is a safe zone, Ian. You're in a trust tree here. Nothing you say here could be repeated elsewhere.

No one listens. I would say for both players, I would say he is not crazy. And I'll tell you why. Well, no, I'm not going to go that far. Holmes is his own kind of guy. But, you know, if he's healthy, I think. Holmes. Holmes is Holmes.

That goes back to a great Adam Carolla theory. Whenever you hear someone say, like, Jeff, you know, oh, Jeff's a nice guy. But if they go, Jeff, oh, Jeff's Jeff, then that means that they're basically an angle. Name me another player who got kicked out of his own offensive huddle. Oh, man. That's the only time in NFL history that's ever happened. All right, I have some little quick hitters here. So we'll just go through other news and then we'll get into some speculation.

Everson Griffin and the Vikings have struck a five-year deal. Wes, your thoughts? Everston Griffin, $42.5 million, $20 million guaranteed. Career 17 and a half sacks, which is four and a half more than Jared Allen's best season, or four and a half less than Jared Allen's best season. Kind of incongruousness there, I guess. But Griffin's seen as a versatile guy, very athletic, was one of the better backup situational past rushers in the NFL the last couple of years. I think that's the contract that showed people are going to get paid this year.

Don't you think that one? Absolutely. Well, Grimes was the one for me, but that's... Sam Shields? That's a contract, though. Other agents and teams are seeing, and agents are clapping and cheering and all sorts of stuff. You might remember from a few weeks back, Richard Mendenhall wrote that open letter for some publication. It seemed to be hinting at retirement or at least swimming in the middle of an ocean.

It was something going on, but now it's official. He is retiring. He wrote another piece today or a piece this weekend in the Huffington Post that he is done. I'll just one quote from, I've always been a professional, but I am not an entertainer. He's out. He's leaving the NFL, 26 years old. Blames fantasy football in part, right? Yeah, that was part of it.

It was a very long-wain. Dancing with the starters. He wasn't that guy. And he brought up dancing with the starters. Did he really? Yeah. He has a very long-winded explanation. He took a shot at Ochosenko, too, I think.

He's young, though, and it was an interesting column. Chris and I were talking about it yesterday, and we were just saying how glad we were that no one was listening to what we were saying when we were 25 or 26? Right. No, God. Because we would have sounded like an idiot. I listened to what Dan was saying when he was 22, 23.

It was horrible. I will not deny any of that. Jason Babin voids his deal with the Jaguars. He had two years, about $6 million a year. They weren't going to pay him that, so I guess he beat him to the punch. Voided his deal. He becomes a free agent. I'm putting this down for one second.

Okay. Now, this is what happens. He takes it off. He is the deal. the NFL media insider, the phone is in his hand, he's scrolling. This means something's going on, fellas. It's in real time. Someone has been traded.

Something's happening. His hair is still in place because it has never been touched. All right, let's keep going. All right. I mean, this isn't more fascinating to watch. I guess the listeners don't get to soak it in, but he's at work. So, Babin, what is his value at this point? Greg and I were trying to decide if he was even in the top 15 defensive ends available.

He's just borderline there. He's 34 years old. Seven and a half sacks He's like a borderline starter, I guess Yeah, he didn't crack our top 101 So that should say it all Arthur Jones, Wes is drawing Very real interest from cults

According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rappaport Hey, we were playing What was that? Michael Bush has been released This is all happening in real time right now This is not going to seem fresh When you listen to it

But as life was happening in the studio I'm back Ian's back. Ian's back. Hey, we'll get to that in a second. Gold standard behind the glass. Can you play something from Friday show from Go Get My Lunch? I can indeed.

Arthur Jones, Ravens' defensive end. Older brother of Patriots sackmasters, Chandler Jones, and M.MA fighter John Bones Jones. So much info. Jim Harbaugh, or John Harbaugh said the other day, if you put the game tape on, you know teams are going to bid high on this guy. I'm taking the Colts. You guys get the rest of the field.

I mocked Wes on Twitter Yesterday or Sunday when there was some speculation that other teams were interested in not the cults And now it looks like I'm going to owe you a sandwich Well, we'll see Yeah, there's still a lot of teams interested per But you don't feel pretty good about yourself downstairs I am feeling good about this You

That was a bold bet That was a bold bet So if you missed Friday show Ian, I know you're a religious listener He's missed every show I almost clicked on it one time But if anyone listening didn't listen to Friday show, we started a new game called Go Get My Lunch and we put something on the table, a statement,

and if you want to challenge the person on that statement, they have to go get you a lunch. And so that was a really bold one. So Wes would be down three lunches if he was wrong. What is your confidence level that we're going to be getting Chris a fancy sandwich? I think he's getting a sandwich. Yes. Three of them.

And this is one that. He was getting a lot of interest, and then I heard this today, and you're kind of like, you know what? That actually makes more sense than anything. I mean, Pagano loves him. He's a tough dude, and he just fits what they like. He'd be great in that locker room. I think it makes a lot of sense. And, yeah, I mean, I think for a guy who likes sandwiches, I think he could be eating one.

Yeah. That's you I'm talking about, Wes. There's not a sandwich I've met that I haven't liked. You love sandwiches. You take pictures of any time you eat. That's true. A lot of food pictures. I tell you what, you're proud about the, because a lot of people are like,

I don't like when people put food on their Instagram or Facebook. Ian's the guy, it's like, I don't care. I'm putting it up there anyway. Well, what I found, there's a lot of dumb things that I tweet. Yeah, there's just a lot of dumb things that I tweet. But food gets a really good response. Mainly because I feel like I have good, I have good quality control. You know, like there's not crap on there.

It's just like this is a really tasty looking. Well, I have less problem with seeing your food pictures than I would have being next to you at the moment you're taking the food pictures. Because my wife does that as well. She takes food pictures. And it really annoyed me for a while. I've gotten used to it. But you're at a nice restaurant. You're having a time and you take out the photo.

I don't know. Something seems wrong about that. There's only one thing that's bad and it's the flash. And that's the real embarrassing thing. Like we're sitting at a table and all of a sudden the flash go. Everyone's like, oh, that guy's taking a picture of shoes. It's like a built-in punishment. Yeah.

But doesn't, you know, the banktress, your wife, she's famous on Twitter. Yes. She doesn't get enough time with the NFL media insider. And here you are at dinner. You're not even paying attention. You're just snapping photos. Well, she is also a food Instagrammer. But I have since tried, from the hours of like 7 to 10 or whenever she passes out,

I have since tried to put the phone down No food pictures, no nothing Just from that sort of safe zone His hands is might turn See, we get into it on the podcast We get deep into the personal, the family I'm just curious NFL now Our digital network is launching this summer

How long until Ian and the banktress and Max all have a reality show on the digital network? What makes you think we don't have one already? You're probably locked in I could totally see it. Why settle for network now? Let's put this on the big boy. So what are you saying about network now?

You don't think it's big time? Hey, I'm just saying... There's a shadowy league figure sneaking into the room right now, knocking at the door. All right, fellas. Anything else we need to... Oh, Michael Bush, what happened? Just got released. Okay, that's about all I know.

Thoughts about that. I guess that wasn't a great signing either, ultimately, in terms of bang for your buck. That's fine. For a couple years. Forte's been... as good as they thought so maybe it's kind of like which was good as a running back you know that signing always seemed weird to me because you would have thought he would get his own starting job and he settled for that bears off right off the back it's just hard to get paid as a running back i mean

yeah you know we're going to see unfortunately we're going to see this year when it's i don't know we'll find out but when it's thursday or friday and no sham merido still trying to figure out where he's going you've heard the running back market which isn't a shock, is going to be very quiet, is what you expect. Even guys like Lageret Blunt, who's coming off as strong end of the year, you don't think he'll get much. I mean, you know, I could see it being in the, a good deal being in the Sean Green 3 to 3 for 10 range, which would be fine. I mean, if Lagerbblanc got that, that would be good. I mean, how much better is Ben Tate than Michael Bush right now?

And we've agreed he's maybe the best running back on the market. Five years younger probably. I'm not a big Michael Bush guy at this point. He's not going to, I don't think he's going to crack our top 101. Talk about doing something live. Let's make this decision live. Toby Gerhardt's the last running back on the list. The last one before that is.

This is scientist talking. You could work on your phone while this happens. I'll sit this out. I sit this out as well. I've been trying to get this move done for a while now. I would put him in and take out Kendrick Lewis. Oh, you and your Kendrick Lewis stuff. He's just been killing Kendrick Lewis as a.

the guy who should not be on this list. All right, actually, Ian, I'm glad you're here because you're someone that could answer such a ridiculous question. Who do you think gets more guaranteed money? Mike Mitchell or Kendrick Lewis? We have a sandwich on the line with this one, before the game even happened.

He's such a weird one because he really is fairly talented. He actually played pretty well this year. That's what I'm talking about. I'll probably go him. Yeah. But we'll see. I don't have to pay anything if I lose.

Sorry, Dad. I know. I've just completely. ruined our game here. Not really. Dan has tuned out and he's now writing things on his piece of paper. I told you, whatever I'm done. When the scientist's talk, I go, I stay out of the left.

I'm going to draw. So Dan's got crayons. He's like the kid at the restaurant where they get the crayons. And then there's also the game with the pins, you know, like that's it. Home run, Ian. Okay. So, since you're here, by the way, do you want to play a game with us? No.

You don't really have a choice. Okay. I mean, you're in here already. Gold standard behind the glass. I think it's time. don't you let's do it live from Culver city California

it's America's favorite game show what's more likely you know you got your NFL network TV shows and you know that's fancy production but how about that yeah I like how you had to kind of wake him up to he's like Gold standard does great job

and he's like what huh It's a complicated operation. Scratches his eyes, yons. Oh, I'm sorry. Push the button. All right, so this is how the game works. I'm going to put on my wink tie. Is that what it is, Wes?

Sure. Okay, I'm going to ask a question and ask, what's more likely? Makes sense, right? Yeah, self-explanatory. It's one of my favorite games of the couple games we play. What's More Likely? All right, fellas, what's more likely? DeMarcus Ware is cut by the Cowboys or Steve Smith is cut by the Panthers.

Well, I would say Steve Smith, after today's news. You have to go, Steve Smith. I still think DeMarcus Ware has, he's expressed the willingness to be a good team guy and take less. I just, I, if it's haggling over a million or two, I can't see him saying, you know what, just cut me. Don't you think this whole DeMarcus Ware conversation about getting cut is just a lot of talk? Can you really imagine Jerry Jones releasing DeMarcus Ware this year? After all the over-emotional decisions they've made over the years where they keep guys who aren't very good way too long?

Some teams, but not the Cowboys. I mean, if we're talking like the, you know, if it's the Patriots or something, if it's the Ravens, I would do it. Yeah, I think it's possible. But the Cowboys, I just don't see it. So this is a stare-down? I think so. Yeah, but I think both sides kind of.

know what's going on so i mean they're under the cap now right so it's not yeah they're you know it was painted and this speaks to your point gregg a couple weeks ago that sometimes the salary cap stuff gets um you know overvalued about these teams being in deep trouble everybody was saying the cabboys weren't a really bad spot they restructure a couple deals and all of a sudden they're under so they're still on a bad spot you think they'll be active i think they'll look at defensive line like i think they could i think henry melton would make a lot of sense for them and I think they need a little money they could be in the safety market

I think that could be interesting too they've struggled over the years trying to sign safeties they've spent a lot of bad money on safety do you think the Redskins are going to be very active the free agency market is more fun when the Cowboys and the Redskins are spending stupid money I think the Redskins

will be active I think they're players for to help that defense for Jaris Bird for Akeeb Taleb Mike Mitchell What was that first safety you mentioned again? His name is Jarus Byrd.

Jai Ruse Bayer. Oh, my God. Jai Ruse. Byrd. Multiple pronunciations are all accepted. You just got to know that. Wow. Yes, that guy.

All right, let's move on. What's more likely? Eric Decker signs with the cults or Hakeem Nix signs with the Panthers. And keep in mind, there were reports on Twitter that Steve Smith's jersey was pulled from the panthers team shop today i don't know if that's true i'm just saying i saw it you know i would have gone with decker to the colts before the news on steve smith broke today now the panthers seem desperate for a wide receiver don't they i'm going heem nix to the panthers can i go both we're just guessing though you have information i would go both but which one would you be more

sure about what's more likely oh what's more like see you're playing the game it's funny you took Sessler's chair and you took over his mealy mouth, you know, indecision in this game. I'll go with, I'll go with, I'll go with, I'll go with Decker probably is more likely. Oh, I like this. See, when Wes and I are answering these questions, you know, I don't want to give any trade secrets away, but we're just pulling stuff out of our, you know. Oh, yeah, definitely. But what Ian's doing, it's like it's based on some real information, so that's interesting. He is the NFL media insider.

I was going to go with Decker even before Ian said that. And now? And now I'm definitely going to go. Oh, come on. I love that fit, too. Yeah, I like that. What's more likely? Chad Henny is a 16 game starter in 2014.

The other thing. Or Matt Castle is a 16 game starter. Oh. What kind of question is that? What's more likely, fellas? We kind of need to see what happens in the draft to see which one picks the first round Quarterback. No, I don't think we have to wait for that.

Let's go. Well, I'll start with Castle because he's slightly better as a player. And I think there's a better chance somehow that the Vikings don't draft a really top-notch quarterback in the first round than the Texans. And no matter what Chad Henney does, he's going to get replaced. It doesn't matter who else is on the team, he'll eventually get replaced. So I'm going Castle. I agree with you for the same You're being pumped up about this one

Well I would Henny and Castle are involved You got to sell the sizzle a little bit To keep the viewers listening I agree with you for the same reasons And I can't watch Henny Put quarterback 16 games again I'm going with Henny I don't think it's a given that they draft a quarterback

I think they're still a year or more away So I don't think they're going to reach for one If they don't love them Whereas the Vikings are Definitely closer to be a contender, and I think they may draft a quarterback

in the first round. What's more likely? Santonio Holmes resigns with the Jets or Usher become a speaker of the house. Wow. It's a serious question.

Usher. What house? See, you left it a little vague there. House of Representatives. Well, maybe it's just in his house. I'm going Usher. He's replacing John Bonner.

I'm going to go with Usher. I think he'd be really good. He seems to the people are behind him. Yeah. He's well-spoken. He's rich. You know why? Why? Because it's 7 o'clock on the dot.

I'm in my drop-top. Oh, wow. Wow. What was that? Isn't that an usher song? I don't know. I think it is. It sounds like an usher.

If you're going to go usher, I think you've got to go all the way. But I love that. That was great. Gold Center. Do you know, was that an usher song? It was something I heard back in the Bar Mitzvah era. But I'm not sure if that was. I think that falls in Ian D.J. era.

Well, he didn't come out until the late 90s. I guess he could have got in the back end. I thought most people would go with something like, yeah. Remember that one? How's that go? I don't know that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then who had the great guest verse at the end of that one?

All I know is we've got to keep that as a drop for future shows. Oh, my God. I don't know. Wes makes his debut as a rapper. Wait, you don't know that. maybe I'm wrong I don't know no no it sounds if there's no way you made that up out of nowhere so it sounds great wait are we are we allowed to jump in wink I would love for you to jump in wink says it's okay all right wink is our wink martindale he always hosts the game shows that's

kind of his so it seems that's his thing but I'm gonna ask a question as well or maybe a couple all right well you got to see wink knows the production side of this here you go What's more likely Fonte Davis is the highest paid cornerback on the market or Alteran Werner is the highest paid cornerback on the market. I'm going to let Ian answer this first. And if you think neither one of them

is going to be the highest paid, then just tell me I'm an idiot. I mean, it would take a lot to Eclipse Shields's deal. But they are free and he wasn't. You don't think, you think Shields might end up being the top cornerback after all this. Vante is a very, very good player, but he's been inconsistent.

And so if you're someone who, if he doesn't sign with the Colts, then you're someone who's going to say, we're picking the good side. So maybe he breaks the bank. And Alter and Werner has been very good, but only not for that long. I mean, he didn't even start out as the starter this year for them. Could Talib get that money? That level of money?

Could. If it's Redskins, could. What are the issues? issues with Davis that would be preventing him from a big contract? Not talent, but it would be inconsistency, some immaturity. But, you know, he could get it. It only takes one. I wouldn't be surprised, but it's an odd, it's an odd cornerback group.

There's no, like, Derell Revis out there, for instance. I think Werner's been the better player between the two, but Davis has seen in the NFL as more talented. I think that the word immaturity means Ian's got some real dirt, but he won't spill it to us. No. Maybe the next time around... He's got to keep some of it on the inside. I'm going to make my guess.

All right. Werner gets a higher deal. I think somebody would... Well, why? Why do you say that? Because it seems like he has more teams interested in him. That seems like to me, too. But that could just be that he has a loudmouth agent.

Yeah, do you find Ian that when you're seeing all these reports, over the weekend especially, all the stuff coming out, that the players that seem the most popular are sometimes just the ones that have agents that leak everything, that there are often really popular players that you don't hear that much about because they're not trying to play the whole media game. Yeah, and there's a couple, you know,

there's a couple good agents who just say nothing until they absolutely have to, and they don't care about any of this. But, you know, I don't, I really don't think it matters either way. It matters some in the world of public perception. Like, there's a lot of people who think a lot of teams are going after Altron Werner, but there also are a lot of teams going after them. So I don't think it really matters.

It's like, you know, Eugene Parker hasn't been all over the media talking about Jarrett and who's interested, but I think a lot of teams are interested, you know. It's just, I think in the end, it's interesting. We get to find out about it. It's kind of fun. The weekend was wild and ridiculous. Everyone was interested in everyone But I'm not sure it means a whole lot

I guess Greg do you have another one? Yeah sure What's more likely Michael Johnson goes down as the highest paid player in this free agent class Or Jaris Bird Goes down as the highest paid player

Michael Johnson I'd say Michael Johnson too Really Just because no one pays safety He's like over 10 million a year. If you were setting odds, is Johnson the favorite? Would he be the favorite of everyone? Eugene Monroe is another name I could throw in there.

Brandon Albert. Brandon Albert. I would say, if I had to say right now, I'd say it's Michael Johnson or Brandon Albert. It'll both be in the range of $9 million. You guys are sleeping on Jerry's Bird. Jiris Byrd. Jiris. Is his value going to be, is he going to, is he, everybody knows he's trying to be the highest paid safety?

Is he going to scare teams off? and somehow bring them back to the bills, as was my prediction on Friday, shocking the world. Anyway, that happens, Ian. Yeah. I can see it happen. Bills have left the door open. Negotiations have been fine.

They just, the bills set a price. They say this is what we think it is. He has wanted very badly to go out and seek what is my value on the open market, and the bills have said fine. Is he scaring teams away maybe with this price tag a little bit? No. There's a little bit of that going around. I don't think he's scaring anyone.

I think it's just what do people think is his value. And he's a safety. He's very, very good, but he's safety. And, you know, it's, if he gets $9 million a year, there are a lot of people who go, wow. And I'm not sure he's going to get that. All right. Last one.

What's more likely? Ian Rappaport sleeps six consecutive hours at any point this week, or Peyton and Eli go on a countrywide bank robbing spree. What's more likely? Can't imagine it's a big sleeping week for Rappaport. No. Especially when the phone is under the pillow. Is that where it goes?

Just because the vibration from text and you wake up. Because some of these people wake up at like six and they want to send news and say, oh, what do you want? Oh, okay. You know? Does your wife resent you for all the buzzing under the pillow? Or do you sleep in a different bed at this point? Now, this is a little personal, don't you think?

It's getting there. That's what we do. We're in the church tree. You're here in L.A. this week, so it doesn't really. matter right right um this week we'll be sleeping in different beds because i'm in la and she's in dallas but that checks out the phone is usually thank i appreciate the confirmation yeah the phone is usually on the night table i want it's buzzing uh she gets very annoyed and sometimes i have to put it on the floor or now usually put it underneath the

pillow see this is how the sausage gets made yeah that's interesting hmm odd use of words there i feel it yeah it's just i don't unfortunate but i mean that was wink said that that not me or as they would say on archer phrasing um all right before we go ian rappaport what a lamb here for the whole show today looking at his phone holding his headset um like a live aide singer did a great job thank you for coming in and that's real applause and come in again won't you it's not real applause no that was taped how long are you in l.a this week uh leaving thursday morning if i make it that far we should all break bread together at some point no i'm really busy guys sorry Got a lot of better plans

That's Ian Rappaport in a nutshell I like to call you like You're like a butthead with a heart of gold That's not a compliment right It doesn't sound like a compliment It's like when you hear people talk about You know really famous people that have made it like Ian They're always like oh yeah he's a regular guy

Like he's a man of the people Those are the types of things you never hear I would say about Ian It's funny you certainly There's some people saying that right I can honestly say having known you before you became NFL media insider you were always this guy so this is not an act like you know what that means you haven't changed i'm complimenting you not changed no you're the same guy you were when you

were driving the green mustang at the red mustang oh it was red i miss my red musting man so we thank you for coming on west before we go what's going on with the map we have app has arrived it's in the studio i'm waiting for the tax to arrive and i have to all these places that i'm waiting for the tax to arrive like it's some sort of amazon prime has let you down he's like i i know a guy who knows a guy who can get me some of these tacks you guys are talking about. Amazon, Amazon Pasture Prime has let me down. Wes, of course, is buying a map, so all the listeners around the world, yes, the world, Ian Rappaport, can, we could put tax in wherever they're listening. So the project that we're getting toward the home stretch.

The greater part of the project is that all these tweets that I've favored it, I have to transfer to a spreadsheet or something and then pin the actual map. Are you regretting this yet? No, not at all. This sounds like a fun deal. And I just want to give a shout out to Scar, the Raiders fan. He sent me a shirt. I wrote about him on the end around, and he sent me a shirt with some writing on the back

and my name on the back of it, which was very nice of him. He's a good man. Scar, a very loyal Raiders fan. Anything else, fellas? That's all I got. Let's go write some news. All right. So that's it for today's podcast.

We will be back on Wednesday to talk about the first day of the free agency period. Thanks again to Ian. the gold standard behind the glass. Signing off, this is Dan Hensis, for the mailman, the boss, and Till Wednesday. Jirut. Bired.