NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - The Best Remaining Free Agents

Episode Date: March 21, 2018

A room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling & Marc Sessler- break down the remaining free agents that haven’t been signed. The heroes start off with some news, including a list of banger guests for the show during this weekend’s NFL owners meetings in Orlando (1:00), a potential change to a rule that everyone hates (7:30), a hot take on an ex-coach being hired by ESPN (22:00) and Dan rocks out to a kicker round-up (26:00). We take a look at the best free agents left on the market, including QBs (30:00), wideouts (35:00) and running backs (38:00).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the NFL podcast is hanging out its shingle. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I'm joined by a room filled with Heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

It's raining cats and dogs, non-lit cats and dogs outside. It was Sam Darnold's Pro Day at USC. You would have thought Sam, Greg, that you would have thought Sam conquered the Nazis in 1944 the way he was being the hero worship thrown his way because he threw some spirals in the rain. Yeah, I was a little taken aback by what was going on in reaction to his, like that he had battled through war and mud and everything to throw a football in the rain. I saw somebody who were like, Cleveland Browns could not have asked for a better scenario than this.

Yeah. The Browns were like, yeah, it's raining. Well, they also were like, Darnold. This is how Darnold wanted it to be able to spin in the elements. It's like, hey, hey, you can't predict the weather on Sundays in the Northeast. Sign us up. He can do it. I'm sold.

This guy's a warrior. Oh, boy. Meanwhile, our buddy, you know, move the sticks. is over on the sideline announcing it with NFL network. But unlike Sam Darnold, you know, he's not out in the elements. He's got an umbrella. He's got someone helping him, you know, with everything to stay dry. Hair being kept utterly perfect.

Jeremiah has reached the stage now, basically, where he's just, he has a handler. You remember when P. Diddy had the guy that walked around with the umbrella. Sure. And basically you had a caretaker. That's where move the sticks is now. Although I did notice in the picture, Mayock was there and had a better umbrella. It is possible to hold these events without blowing them out of proportion. NFL did it for years before Twitter.

Well, things are different now, Wes. Things are very different. I mean, it doesn't have to. Never mind. We're not going to go down this road. You want to save it for the personal grievances against the pro day structure podcast? No, I mean, it's just you get into this job long enough and you become convinced that things are important that really aren't important. And that's something that has really no importance.

I'll never forget sitting next to West during the. Teddy Bridgewater, glove, no glove, Pro Day that had Wes in a jumble. It's like, quit wasting your time and just watch his game film. I mean,

I just love that he was out there doing it because, you know, he loves the game. He's a ball player. You play ball. You don't have to do this. You'd have to do it. And here he is,

spinning it in the rain. He don't care. He loves it. This guy's a dog. All right. And he steps wrong, destroys his knee, and renders all of that irrelevant.

Thankfully, not happen. All right. Here's something that really is important, Wes, when you talk about the league calendar, F the Super Bowl, F the draft, F free agency, F, you know, week one, F kickoff night. What? That's a great night. The only thing that matters is the owner's meetings in Orlando next week.

And guess what? The heroes of the Around the NFL podcast, as we said, we'll be there with multiple podcasts. And it's going to be a little different. because, you know, we got some big fish. Want some big fish scheduled? Bigger than Evan Silva? Well, no, never. To bring him into the boat.

How about a little Dan Quinn? How about a little Matt Nagy? Does anybody want a little bit of Johnny Harbaugh? Why doesn't the music stay on? Hey now, how about a little bit? Oh, yeah, Orchard Park Hero turned head coach, Frank Wright. We're not done yet. How about a little, oh yeah, he's got his own booth at the steakhouse.

Andy Reed. That is the music I associate with Andy Reid. And last but not least, oh yeah, this guy's got a brain for football. He's Adam Gase. All scheduled guests next week on the Around the NFL podcast. What's Andy Reid got to do to be either the first one mentioned or the last? You just got to bury there in the middle, poor guy. In fairness, I just read it off an email that was sent to us yesterday.

We should play that clip of music. for each of these guys during the interview just to get the response to it. I agree. That'd be good for the intro. Yeah. How do you feel about your intro music? They all got their own songs too, Greg.

You asked why not just leave it playing. Did you not tell you're not a big fan of EDM music apparently? I did not notice the difference between some deep cuts. What's EDM? Electronic dance music. Oh, okay. As I just said, electronic dance music music. Gotcha.

I would say, Dan, we are maybe you and I are sneaky EDM fans. We were talking actually last year of going to. a downtown LA rave, which we never probably for the best for everyone involved with the rave. I think you guys should do it. I still want to go. Yeah, who did we see? We saw Steve Ioki, was it? At the Super Bowl? She should have the entire

experience, including waiting in line for like an hour to get in, speaking to 23-year-olds about whatever's going on. Stop projecting. I'm just saying that I got dragged to one of these events when I first moved to L.A. because I didn't have any friends out here. And it was the most miserable, like,

an hour and a half of my life. I strongly disagree, because the one that we attended, they were shooting, like, water balloons and shaving cream into the sky and, like, it was raining various other... A lot of things were raining upon us. I've been to some raves, Montreal, New Orleans. I mean, now I'm a little old for it.

Yeah. Anyway, so those coaches are going to be on the podcast next week, so we're very excited. We're going to be staying at the hotel where all the coaches are. So, you know, maybe... No, we're not. Oh, we're not?

No, didn't you hear? No. All of the league officials that are going to be there, all the GMs and coaches, they all invited all of their family. So not only did we all get bumped out of the hotel, but we also had a lot of people that were told they can no longer make the trip. I'm surprised because they bring their families every year to this. And the hotel, as Greg and I know from being the last time,

is a massive sprawling gigantic estate. It's where we ran past Anderson Cooper. I guess we're staying at the... We found something to be upset about. So that's good. Big show coming up today. We're excited to go to Orlando. Uh, who couldn't be excited to go to Orlando, uh, and put down your hand, Wes.

Uh, so a lot to get to today. Um, free agency now officially, uh, a week old, um, as you listen to this. So we are going to go through the what's left. The old best of what's left pile, which these are human beings. So you want to be, um, respectful, please. Respectful, but this whole pile of discarded human bodies, we're going to pick some out of the pile. and say, you deserve to live. You deserve to stay in the pile. That type of thing. So that's a little weird.

And we got some news to get to. In fact, let's get to it, starting with a big change coming up in the rules that might, maybe, we hope, make football a little more enjoyable in 2018 and beyond. Let's do some news. To the end zone.

Touchdown, Pittsburgh, Jesse James. After reviewing the play, the receiver, In the end zone did not survive the ground. It's an incomplete path. All right. You heard that. Jesse James had his touchdown overruled against the Patriots, costing Pittsburgh that game,

or helping to cost them that game. And that led to more fury about the arcane catch rule and how there needed to be a change. And we are heading in that direction now. The NFL took a step forward. that front. Al Riveron, the senior Veep of officiating, announced Wednesday that the competition committee will recommend simplifying the language of the catch rule. The proposed changes will be presented next week at the annual league meeting. The proposed rules defining a catch are control

of the ball. Number one. Okay, makes sense. Two, two feet down or another body part. Like your buttocks, Mark. Could be your butt. Number three. And this is where people are going to start getting upset again. But I still feel like this is positive momentum. A football move such as colon, a third step, semicolon, reaching slash extending for the line to gain semicolon, or the ability to to perform such an act. Wes, your thoughts. So my biggest problem with the catch rule, or I think society's biggest problem with the catch roll, was twofold. Number one, it lacked any semblance of common sense.

How can a player reach the ball for the end zone without first possessing it? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. We learn what a catch is in the backyard by the time we reach toddlerhood. We see an NFL receiver catch the ball, possess it, run three steps in the middle of the field, and have it ruled no catch.

That doesn't make any sense. We know what a catch is, and that's a catch. So that's insanity. I think this problem might not go away. The second problem was that the NFL should be encouraging transcendent moments that inspire fans, stretch physical limitations, and make an athletic achievement sublime like Des Bryant catch, which was ruled in no catch.

The NFL should be encouraging that play, not legislating it out of the game. And Riveron on Twitter went out of his way after this. announcement to say that Dez's catch and the James catch would both become receptions under the new... And that's what you want. If you're the NFL, those are things that... Not the entire three hours of a game is not all that exciting. There are a lot of down times, but the most exciting plays are the ones you want to keep

and encourage. The main changes here, the big changes, you do no longer have to completely possess it going to the ground. To me, that's kind of the headline, and that's basically it. The other thing they'll allow is, you know, there's a little bit of, you know, they can allow a little bit of juggling, you know, on the ground as you're catching it if you show that you have caught the ball. And then the third part of it, which really blew my mind and just showed how poorly they

were doing things last year, is they're basically just saying, we're emphasizing again, it has to be indisputable to overturn it. But that was always the rule. They're just admitting. Until Riveron got it. They're admitting that Al Riveron and the NFL. as a whole, we're making a lot of mistakes last year by not listening to their own rules. I don't think this is going to eliminate people yelling about the catch rule because ultimately

it's an impossible solution. I mean, Goodell himself talked about burning the rule down to the core and rebuilding it. That's not happened. But if they can, to your point was, the sublime plays that have been reversed and it's a massive PR headache for football and for the NFL to have to explain these from the weeks after, and what it does to teams, what it did to the Steelers, if they can remove five to ten of those a season, everything is better, in my opinion.

They're always just reacting to what happened the previous season. Didn't it get better down the stretch in the playoffs too? Remember we talked about that? They quietly changed the rule before this ever happened. But, yeah, bringing up the Jesse James catch and the Des Bryant catch, which was in the 2014 postseason, those are both incredible games that to me and a lot of other fans felt, we're spoiled by that rule.

And hopefully, if he could just eliminate that type of shenanigans, it's a success to me. I don't think anybody's ever going to be happy. I don't think anyone's ever truly happy about anything anymore. There's always something someone's going to complain about. And we'd have people saying, oh, I really miss the catch rule and all the crazy stuff. That would be weird. They totally fixed it. And the reviews, reviews just aren't a fun part of the game.

Like, I would ask Roger Goodell that next week. Maybe I can. It's like, does that hurt your enjoyment? in the game watching these reviews. He's not going to speak to you. He's not going to speak to you. This isn't exclusive to football. We see in March Madness, there are like 10 to 12 minutes delays for reviews.

And coaches want to keep that stuff in the game because it affects their jobs. Fans don't want it. So I think there should be more of a fan voice in this where you need to have the entertainment maximized and some of the over-scrutizing of plays minimized. Moving on to NFL transaction news. Alan Hearns joins the free agency field. The Jacksonville Jaguars released the wide receiver this coming two years after Hearns side a four-year, $40 million contract.

So the Jags decide, eh, we don't want to pay this guy anymore. So they save $7 million on their cap. No dead money. Hearns as a rookie had 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. Second year. Second year, excuse me. but has not been close to the same player since the Jags go in a different direction to wide receiver. The biggest mistake teams make, I think the most costly is when they self-scout poorly.

This contract had a lot of repercussions here. Alan Robinson and his price tag looking for a long-term extension was higher over the last two years because they gave Alan Hearn so much money. I read something from Tom Curran in New England that the second Alan Hearn signed this contract, that was the moment that Malcolm Butler essentially was on his way to becoming an ex-patriot. They were close to doing a deal, and when an undrafted player like Alan Hearns in his same draft class suddenly got $10 million a year, Butler was like, that's what I want. They went out of their way to pay Allen Hearns really early, and it just didn't work.

But think about that. Coming out of the 2015 season, Blake Bortles throws for 35 touchdowns, Alan Robinson and Alan Hurons, the two Allen's they're going to build this offense. They've got Julius Thomas. none of those receivers are left anymore. They end up paying Dante Moncrief $9 million, but they can't pay the franchise tag for Alan Robinson. It doesn't make sense.

The Moncrief signing is mysterious. I do like D.D. Westbrook a lot. In other wide receiver news, Ryan Grant thought he had a $29 million deal with the Ravens, but then he flunked a physical mark with Baltimore. Yeah, and obviously. Anything new on that? Yeah, I think the new aspect is that that sounds like utter bunk to me out of Baltimore,

which we can ask John Harbaugh about this weekend. Wow. Hard hitting. So you better. Now you're on the spot. Well, listen. If I want to bring some Ravens heat, that would not be at the top of my list. But I will make it clear that the ratings are a nightmare.

You got to do it right. You have to frame the question in an accusatory manner. That wouldn't even make the top of your list. We should just let the Harbaugh interview be just Mark with a list of grievances. We'll be there. We'll be like Jim Gray interviewing Pete Rose. We would have Ravens PR on us in. literally five seconds saying we will never cooperate with your podcast ever again.

So Grant goes from signing a $29 million deal with the Ravens to a prove-it one-year deal worth $5 million with the cults and Grant says he's healthy. He said, if there was an issue with my ankle, then I wouldn't have passed the physical with the cults and the Raiders, which, listen, speaks to Mark's point and he's going to get the, he's going to get to the bottom of this with Harbaugh face-to-face in just a few days. So we'll see. I don't know. Who knows what they're cults?

Maybe that's maybe a good signing if their quarterback's playing. They don't have a lot of depth of wide receiver at all. He had a remarkably positive attitude saying, you know, that that didn't happen. It wasn't meant to be not a big deal for a guy who lost, you know, tens of millions of dollars in that transaction. But that's the type of attitude and the type of perseverance you get from an education at Tulane University. Well, well done. I'm glad Ryan. Chris Ballard, very busy man.

in addition to inking Ryan Grant, he also signed Eric Ebron, the former Lions first round pick to a two-year deal can earn up to $15 million, which is pretty good money for a guy that just did not get it done in Detroit, but has some upside.

Also, they signed guard Jack Mejort to a one-year at $1.5 million deal, bringing him back, former second round pick in 2014. And also, Matt Slosson, Another guard, it was on the Chargers last year, one year, $3 million. So the Colts making moves. Now they just need their quarterback to be able to play football.

Seems like Frank Breck's going to use two tight-end sets because they paid Jack Doyle last year, too, and they like him. I think we'll see an increase in that. And I like that they're signing interior alignment, so it's not something they need to address in the first or second round of the draft. You can still go in the mid-round and try to pick up some guards. They need these guys to be healthy. Moort, Dan's guy, and Slosson. A 24 combined games missed over the last two seasons. I like what Chris Ballard has done the last week, though.

He sat out the first overpriced part of the agency. What's your favorite type of frog? The stupid money? Yeah, and he got guys at good value that can play. Danico Autry was another guy last week for the Raiders, who's a solid player. I think that's what you're doing. He's building it. I like it.

Is this quarterback playing? Well, that's all that really matters. From everything we heard out of them, they expected to play. Didn't we hear that last year? Sure. A disturbing story, actually out of Los Angeles, Buffalo Bill's wide receiver,

Zay Jones, their second round pick last year, was arrested on felony vandalism charge, but that doesn't quite paint the picture of what happened. There was the incident involved Jones and his brother, who's also an NFL player, and Zay Jones was completely nude in the surveillance video, also kicked through, a glass window and pretty thick plate glass window and leaving behind i think some of his leg because

there was a lot of blood he tried to crawl through the hole that he kicked yeah so a disturbing story in the sense obviously something was not right with jones and hopefully it's not something uh too serious but if you're the bills and if you're in zay jones's a friend or family member you got to be very concerned about what's going on with the young man i don't want to speculate but i mean if they were I don't know if they were out on the town or something. I would suggest that it may be more than one or two beers involved here. Maybe something else. That's what you hope.

It's almost like you have to hope it was just. It was a lot of similarities. Embibing. To the synthetic marijuana cases we've seen. I like that little speculation of synthetic marijuana use. I'm just drawing the similarities to what, who is it Cyrus Kwanjo who ended up in a cornfield naked? Yeah. Should we do a PSA for our listeners to kind of steer clear of the synthetic marijuana?

Yes, we should. Yeah. There's a great legal. stuff everywhere. If you feel like you must ingest marijuana products, you know, go for the real thing. As with most things in life, try the organic variety. And obviously, if it's legal in your state.

Yes. Play by the rules. We got to cover every base here throughout the NFL podcast. Don't do illegal things. There will be repercussions. Unless it's fun and you can get away with it. It was a- Unless there are no repercussions.

I mean, it's a concerning development for Zay Jones who had one of the most concerning, I guess, seasons for a highly drafted rookie just on the field. And it was drafted by Doug Whaley. Pretty erratic season. So he might, even though he's a second round pick because he was drafted by the old regime, you know, he might not, you might be on thin ice there.

No longer on scholarship. Good news for the throne of ease. Matthew Slater who shopped his wares around town including with the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to resign with the pass a two-year contract. Mike Garifolo reported Slater 32 years old.

The son of Hall of Fame tackle Jackie Slater, which I'm just learning this from Chris Wessling's copy. We've spoken about it on this podcast that you didn't realize he was Jackie Slater. Oh, really? Well, I've been doing this a long time. Someone said he didn't realize he was Jackie Slater's son. Whatever the point, this is the guy. And I think in my Super Bowl glossary write up before the Super Bowl this year under Matt Slater,

the guy that Bill Belichick will say is his favorite player ever during his Hall of Fame speech because he's a Belichick guy. Annie is an excellent tool for the Patriots whenever they say, we've got media availability and we don't want to put some sort of hot button issue personnel. It's always Matthew Slater commanding his own booth

during media day and during every, it is unrefected. He redefines polish. I mean, this guy, I was watching a little bit of his media night and opening night, Mark, let's get the verbiage crew.

I mean every day that they have media availability. Okay. I'm talking about opening night at the Super Bowl. Sure. I was really taken back by how incredibly well-spoken he was, how he was able to basically sound like a coach, a guy that's on the field as a coach, essentially, the guy you want to keep around.

He's got to be in the top five for most words ever spoken at NFL Media Night. No doubt. Well, he's been to five, right? I think. Got to be in the mix. He's been to the ones this decade. So he's been to five. And he's saying more things than Tom Brady is saying.

He's giving you more. Yeah, people aren't usually crowded around him. but those are the guys, Mark, you're a doggadjerno. Those are the guys that you want to zoom in on. I do. I spent a lot of time with him during those events if I can. There are two Patriots eras. There's only been, I think, four players, and I'm sure I'm going to be wrong now here,

that have been in the Gronk era. It's McCordy, Gronk, Tom Brady, and Matthew Slater. Gronk is one of those people? Gronk has survived the Gronk era, like the 2010. Is there any other Patriot that's been on the team that long, perhaps? Gistowski, you said? Gaskowski, that's right. Got you.

Moving on, ESPN has hired ex-Bair's head coach John Fox's studio analysts, and this reported by The Athletic. Fox is a guy that's been around for a long time. The reason I'm bringing this up, and I'm interested to hear what you guys say about it, but on Rodo World, the blurb is just fire and brimstone, and I'm going to read it to you, and I hope the big fish, the biggest of all fish,

Evan Silver, wrote it. We've got to get Evan. back on the show. When are these networks going to learn that hiring these past their prime former head coaches and players who have seen the sport completely passed them by isn't good for their viewership? Fox is another atrocious hire and a laundry list of them made by ESPN and NFL network over the years. It's time for forward thinkers rather than Stone Age football guys who still live in a 1998 world. Shot at John Gruden. Whoa. That feels right up Silva's tree. It's a hot take.

He could have co-wrote it with Roto Pat potentially. I might put my money on Roto Pat for that one. Hey, hit us up. Hit us up Roto World. Hit us up Roto World. This offseason today. Whoa. Roto World on what topic are you, are you?

I am always leery of people driving agendas and Roto World is now driving an agenda. And I think it's like first we get St. Hood for Shasi Brown. That's the first thing they want. Saint Hood for Sassie, who's never done anything wrong ever. Ladies and gentlemen, for one night only, Sashi. And has foreseen everything that could possibly be seen in football, Sashi Brown foresaw it. He knew that the Houston Texans were going to lose their quarterback, have a horrible season, and have a top four draft pick.

I'll credit to Sashi Brown for that. Whoa. And everything analytics is gold, and nobody who's made a career out of football knows anything. Roto World knows so much more than anybody who's ever made a career in football. Oh, this was unforeseen. I like this. I love the rant. I guess we're not going to have Evan on.

Well? I love Evan Sylvia. He's great. He's now has an agenda, though. Evan will be the first guide who will come on to share his opinion. Where does Evan live again? Chicago. Evan just, like, threw his smartphone off the top of the Sears Tower.

No, he likes going back and forth. I don't know what he's doing up there. He likes going back and forth. The one thing I would say on the Fox blurb, though, is I think it's very hard to predict who's going to be good who's going to be bad on TV. There were a lot of friends of Foxy on Twitter yesterday were like, trust me, he's going to be great on TV. He's so great off mic.

And we'll see. I don't know. But it wouldn't shock me if he was really great on TV. For instance, like Rex Ryan, not really as exciting on TV as you would expect. And sometimes guys like Eric Manjini was pretty great. And it's not a in-booth thing. It's an in-studio thing. And I will say for John Fox, as boring as the bears were and as boring as some of his

teams can be, he is not boring. at past owners meetings, for instance, when everyone is just in a room together tying and on. He is fun. He came to an Oscar party that NFL Network had a couple years ago and he was the life of the party.

Well, I mean, I was lucky to get through the door. It was back then, but it was like he was in there holding court for hours. It was like you and like, who's the woman who runs Vanity Fair? Wow, I really fall in the story here. Just like Mark hanging out at Oscar parties. Not at all.

Annie Leavowitz? She's a photographer. I know. We really are. Well, John Fox, I agree. You don't want him in the booth because... Thanks for sending us down that road, Greg. Sorry.

There's that potential for the Phil Sims. Like, you got the ball at the fourth and one at the 40-yard line. You got a punt here. You got a punt. You're going to get that with John Fox. But in the studio, I feel like he could be pretty good. I've seen him out during Super Bowl week. The guy has a fun time.

He's got a good personality. He's gregarious. Hold tight, Roto. Before we... More to come. Yeah. Anna Wintour. In a winter.

Okay. And finally in the news, you know, that I am the kicker insider for all things NFL media related. So I figured it'd be a good time now that free industry is a weekend to go through a little

kicker news. Like this. This is good. Gianni? Ryan Suckup. Resigned five years, 20 million with the Titans. Cody Parker

signed four years, 15. million with the bears. Dustin Hopkins, re-signed, three years, 6.875 with the Redskins. Graham Ganoe, four years 17, Carolina. Adam Vinitieri, one year, 36, with the cults. Matt Bryan, three years 10-5, Falcons. Chandler Cananzaro, three years 9.75, Tampa Bay.

Cairo Santos, one year two million, New York football Jets. Caleb Sturgis, two years, 4.45, Chargers. And finally, last but not least. We're signing an undisclosed deal with the Minnesota Vikings. Kai's Kai. Kickers are getting paid. Some money. When you, on the rundown that you sent out before the show,

you said there was going to be a roundup of kicker news. I went and spent about 45 to 50 minutes finding out nuggets and factoids for each one of those kickers not needed. I'm somehow now in the mood for like a little cinemax. A few notable unemployed kickers, sea bass, still on the market. market. The Chargers blew that. What, you, what, you think Caleb Sturgis is packing the house? You bring Sebastian. Danakowski's packing out? I think you bring San Jacowski. It's a little warning shot up to your friends in Oakland. We're taking over L.A. now. Let's have some fun with C. Chargers have bigger concerns than packing the house. Like, how about hit a kick?

Right. Hit a kick. Sebastian would be good. How do we know? Nick Folk, uh, the folk hero, after a disastrous, uh, has anyone ever called him the Folkley girl? Oh, yeah. The New York Tabloids did it like seven times over the course of his career with the Jets. Blair Walsh doesn't have a job. Nick Novak doesn't have a job. And Mike Nugent, your old favorite, Wes. The Nuge. Plus Cincinnati playoff game against the Jets once upon a time.

I enjoy it. Still unemployed. That's what's happening in the news. All right. So I just brought up some free agents still looking for work. Now let's talk about some respect to the kickers, more prominent NFL players on the market still. And we should start Greg Rosenthal

with Endomacin Sue, the defensive tackle released by the Dolphins last week. And the more, as the days and hours go by, the more it looks possible, Greg, that a super defensive line of epic proportions is being set up right in our backyard. I hope so. I hope that Endomican Sue is going to join the Rams

as we came up to the studio today, Ian Rappaport, our NFL Network Insider, reported that Sue's trip to the Raiders is off. The court sources told him and Mike Silver. He's back home. It's not going to make a decision. Rams made a strong impression, but also considering the Saints and the Titans. And I think you could, if you wanted to read between the lines on this tweet,

Rams made a nice impression. That's what they pay you for. Rams made a nice impression. You know, Sue wants them to pony up a little more. maybe they're not offering as much money as the Saints and Titans. Maybe he hasn't gotten to that point, but I just, you get the feeling that Rams are maybe in the pole position here.

Between the Lions visionary, Greg Rosentner. That's what he's known as. It will be odd to see Sue. I realize he had one or two Lions teams that were semi-success but he's consistently attached to lose her franchises that ultimately go nowhere. It would be nice to see him on the Rams. Saints, though.

Saints or Rams kind of fill that, hey, I've got a chance to make a contender better. I'd be shocked. like to see him on the titan i don't know i feel like he goes into totally anonymous land the way it seems like it's trending titans need more name players they can get a modicum of attention from networks i like i would be really surprised if he did not go to a team that was in the playoffs last year and is viewed as a contender actually the titans a lot of people might you know how they were in the divisional round they made the playoffs yeah further than the rain they won a game uh he ain't taking a penny less than a top

offer we already know that well maybe he's changed west people can change i don't think he has he has come out and said this is his M.O. Like no player I've ever seen before he's come out and said. It is an adjustment, though. He's going to get a lot less money than he was getting. And I think even my guess when we see these offers, it's going to be a lot less than people are expected. All right. There are three notable quarterbacks still on the market.

And Mark, you tell me which one's most likely to sign and which one's the least likely to sign a deal. Colin Kaepernick, you may have heard of him, who by the way, just held a work. out in Houston during his deposition in a case of collusion, NFL collusion against him. I feel like that could hurt his case to get a job, but we'll see.

Jay Cutler and Gino Smith, Greg's boy, most likely, least likely. Most likely, Gino Smith, to the discredit of the team that chooses to do so. And least likely, I mean... That was savage, bro. That's how I operate. Played pretty well on his one start last year.

Give me a break. That's not true. It is. It's fine. I would say this. Colin Kaepernick wants to keep playing Jay Cutler, I think, does not. So Jake Cutler, how do you pick a least likely? I almost think, like, Jay Cutler least likely because he will retire if he were not

choosing to retire, Colin Kaepernick least likely. Because Cutler's not getting a starting job. No. The bills are somebody. Let's hope not. No. I think Cutler's done. That would be my strong.

Kaepernick, though, I think the teams proved last year for, it wasn't every one of them, it's not that. It's just that he could not find work last season. He's not about to find it again, I don't think. I think we're all on the same page at Kaepernick deserves a job somewhere, but this collusion case, it cannot help his cause. And he's in the

middle of it, and it's just hard to imagine a team and an owner jumping into the fray and being like, hey, come on to my team, because there's a lot of politics at play. It always has been the case with the situation. Then be better. Be bigger than the situation. The NFL,

It almost felt like Kaepernick didn't get a job in part because they were worried about bad publicity. Well, signing Colin Kaepernick would be great publicity in my mind. It would help or at least start to end a chapter that has not reflected well, ultimately, on the NFL. And he absolutely deserves to be in the league as a backup in Miami, Baltimore, Jacksonville. I don't know which team could give him a shot. I still think we should mention it because I don't think we should give up hope that his career is over at 30. Maybe this case has to end, but to me, he should still have a route back into the other one. And I think it will happen.

He should have last year. I mean, the Ravens came close. And the Ravens backed off deciding to do it. And the more you learn about that, it was super clear that it had to do with people outside the organization saying, we won't support you. Sponsors, everything. And it's a very bad look for the league. And that's why what you're saying, Greg, makes sense.

Yes, that it would be good PR for a large portion of the country and media outlets. But behind the scenes, that team is going to have to deal with some things. And that's just the sad reality of the situation. There are going to be other owners that would be upset, advertisers, sponsors, you run into issues. And then it goes back to what you were saying, Wes, all last year. Does his playing ability at this point, is it enough to outweigh all the negatives that would come with signing him and stresses? Well, playing ability, what is his asking price? how is he going to be in the locker room?

Does he know the offense? Is he a fit for the offense? There's a lot of questions that go into it. It's not just about being black-bold. Okay, wide receivers. Wes, Eric Decker, Terrell Pryor, and Jordan Matthews, three quality guys. Which guy would you most want on your team?

By far, Terrell Pryor. Wow. By far. To me, he's in two tiers higher than those guys. Gave some of the top cornerbacks in the league fits in 2016 toward ligaments in his foot in week two of 2017 and of course it was not the same player while trying to play through torn ligaments in his foot so to me I throw out 2017 I feel like not enough was made of that

and I don't think people knew I don't think it was like public knowledge Charlie castley noted they were trying to use him all over the place use him inside where he just didn't look that comfortable and he might not be that yeah he's a former quarterback not that versatile a wide receiver he had a coach in Cleveland and Hugh Jackson that seemed to know how to maximize. Well, I mean, it's surprising to find out that Hugh Jackson can do something that Jay Gruden can't after what happened last year with a lot of other players in the Browns. But Terrell Pryor was dominant in games in a series of games two seasons ago, going up against

number one corners. And his body type is just impossible to guard. One of the best athletes in the league. Visited the Seahawks and the Jets. Initially, it was reported that the Browns and the Rams might have been interested from Mike Silver. But clearly, I think his best bet, would be going to the Browns, even though he might be their fourth receiver and just hoping, you know, you got Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman in front of you, and you might have to

take $2 million on a one-year contract. But wouldn't there be another team out there that would pay him that money? And you can go to a team with an established quarterback. He's not getting the offers he wants. I don't know what he wants. I don't know what he wants, but the Seahawks and the Jets aren't offering it or else he would have signed it. I think Jordan Matthews is being undervalued in this market, just because you know what

you're getting with him. He hadn't in any. No, you don't. You had an injury plague season on a terrible. A lingering issue? You had an injury plague season. And if it's all about the injury, then that's one concern. You don't know what you're getting with a guy who's got a lingering knee issue.

He had 2,900 yards in his first three years and 250-something catches. That's more than basically every wide receiver free agent that signed for huge money. And he's a slot receiver. We don't get a lot of money. But he should be able to help a team out there. Maybe like the Colts. Colts really need some wide receivers. And I know that Decker was a disappointment last year.

year, but he's still just 31, and he was coming off two major surgeries. I would not be surprised. If he signed with the team that had a good offense, that he was better this year, a full year healthier from last season. But I know he wasn't good. Would it be a shock if he wasn't playing at all this season? No. I mean, it's possible he had major, major surgeries.

It's possible he left that ability on the operating table. It's happened to other players. Had a huge touchdown catch in that playoff win against the Chiefs. He visited the Raiders, so that would fit in with their kind of Greybeards philosophy. The Raiders are taking a lot of your potential signings as GM of the L.A. Graybeards, Dan. I will be rolling out my 2018 graybeards roster in a couple of weeks.

So these guys, a lot of these guys could end up, or several of them could end up on my team. And what a great, a bunch of grinders they are. Just a little grizzle. There's a little grizzled the features. Gruden wants to make them his grinders. Nice. Running back. here's a nice guy who'd build my whole team around

in terms of the media campaign he'd be on the media guide I'd have him doing the late night talk shows I'd have him on Craig Kilbourne his Kilbourne's the love of show that was like four late show hosts ago Adrian Peterson does not have a job

he was initially on your top 101 where was it? He still is sitting there somewhere he's in the 70s I believe he is 76 Adrian Peterson looking for work Greg? Is he going to get it? I don't know if he's the guy to build your marketing campaign around, you know, considering some spotty. My people tell me that the public forgives.

It's true. At this point, I think people have forgiven him. That's totally fair. He's a first ballot hall of famer. He's not a versatile guy. Not going to help you on third down special teams. So how could you support a guy like that? I'm just joking.

It's a fair question. I have the people on Twitter. I think you should at Dan Hansis and with your questions. Is that something you joke about? It's like, well, it's a good point. I know Wes disagrees, but I'd rather sign Frank Gore right now. He had a visit with the Lions, but I think he's a... That's pure insanity.

He's a leader. He's a leader and he's a... Oh, Frank Gore, Gary Blunt backfield with Amir Abdullah nursing... No, I think Blunt knocked him out of contention. Go watch the Bucks game last year, Cardinals' Bucks game, or Cardinals 49ers and tell me Adrian Peterson can't play, and I'll say you have no... for football. He looked great in that game, the first game in Arizona, no doubt. My question would be more about if you're trying to add him and you have to tell him, you're not our lead

back, you're one of the number of running backs. How is he going to handle that? He did not handle it well in New Orleans. Well, he's a bit like Colin Kaepernick and that his skill set at this point only fits a limited number of teams. And to your theory, West, that you've brought up before, these guys that are one-dimensional, when Adrian Peterson's on the field, you know what's coming. didn't work with the Saints. Right. It's a bit problematic strategy-wise. If you have him just as your early downback, I agree.

That's a bit of a tell about what's coming. So he's got to play a lot of snaps in order to be effective, which is how the Cardinals used him last year. Kind of out of desperateness is when you use it. He's a guy wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't wind up getting the job. I wouldn't be shocked either way, but it wouldn't be surprised maybe if he's going into Canton with Joe Thomas in that same. class well i think you would see him again in october and november when injury strike and it's like

we need a guy to just tote the ball 20 times a game we're taking peterson and de marco murray we'll see not great tape last year but it was very good in 2016 i need him to wind up has made some visit oh was the nfc it was the nfc east because it's not where it's looked like it doesn't look like it's going in that direction right now he had a tip to the dolphins and i was like oh mark might get those sandwiches now i'll be giving them and mixed it up darren sprolls also out there uh speedy but old he feels like he'll be on the graveyards a couple weeks coming off a major injury yes uh marty bennett tight end the most prominent tight end out there right now him and jace amaro those are the two most prominent free agent tight ends in my mind he told rich eisen wednesday martellis

bennett that he's unsure if he's going to play and when eisen brought up the possibility of skipping the early parts of training camp martellis bennett was all about that he said i've played with about seven different coordinators. I don't need to learn offense. Wasn't Marty Bennett last, like, July going viral because he was sleeping in the Packers' locker room before training camp started? I feel like maybe he's...

Maybe the fire's not there anymore. It's possible. He's an animator now. He smells like a guy that might sign with the Patriots late for a... That would be highly tedious, and I could see a turn to the page. Wait, I need to find out with this title that he called himself as animator.

This is a great title. Isn't he the Black Unicorn? He is the creative director of awesomeness. That's what he has self-dubbed him. Okay. On the defensive side of the ball, Navarro Bowman is out there. Not really a cover linebacker at this stage. He's in his 30s.

Never quite the same guy after that terrible knee injury. Oakland moved on. Will someone else get into the Navarro Bowman business? this. Someone threw out his name in Dallas where he would make some sense. Jump in at anytime. He would make some sense. Anthony Hitchens left. They weren't really sure what they got out of Jalen Smith last year. Sean Lee's an injury play guy, but Bowman is not kind of an every down nine hundred snap linebacker at this stage. When some team gets desperate and signs Adrian Peterson for early downs, another team can sign Navarro Bowman is the bizarro Adrian Peterson on

defense when he plays early downs. All you do is tackle Peterson. Like that. Hmm. Twice a season. That seems like a really narrowing down a specialist role. He's a designated Peterson stopper. What if you make Bowman your running back and Peterson your early down linebacker? I'm really mixing it up. You want to throw teams off their game. Do we target this guy?

Do we stay away from him? I think Evan Silva would like that kind of forward out of the box thinking. Sosh, you already had that idea. A little safety talk. Kenny Vicaro, Eric Reed, Trey Boston, Tyvon Branch, all out of the way. work. Eric Reed, who also kneeled during the National Anthem next to his old teammate, Colin Kaepernick, there has been speculation that his fight for social justice or his displays have not helped him find work. So that's something to keep in mind there. Your thoughts, gentlemen.

Not a lot of them. If he doesn't, well, Morgan Burnett signed with the Steelers on Tuesday. He was ranked in our top 30 pretty much right next to Kenny Vaccaro and Eric. Reed. So if Vicaro and Reed, especially, if Reed doesn't get signed in the next week or two, then I think, again, the NFL is something on their hands that doesn't look great. But at this point, I wouldn't rise any alarms. For instance, Vaccaro hasn't gotten signed. I would think that Reed played really well at the end of last season when they started using him more. You also had like multiple concussions too. Yeah, Reed's injury history is about as big a red flag as you could possibly have. He's had

tons of concussions. Played very well at the end of last year. And usually that'll get you sign going into the next year. All right, so there you go. Those are the big names out there, and we'll see who from that list ends up on the graveyards. Whom? Who? Who? Which players?

Whom or who? No, who from that list? I believe that's a who. Who still uses whom in copy, nobody. I use whom when it's called for. West does occasionally use it. All right. A reminder.

The ATN podcast will not broadcast on Friday. We'll be on airplanes. Mark, maybe Mark will be a couple of drinks in on the plane. Not the M.O. this time. Why alone am I put in that situation? Mark, put it down. Come on, man. I'll let you play your little game, but that's absurd.

I know who would be doing that with me. I'll have a couple drinks. I'll have a couple drinks. Anyway, from Orlando, the Around the NFL podcast shows all next week, early next week. A reminder, Dan Quinn, Matt Nagy, John Harbaugh, Frank Reich, Adam Gates, and introducing Andy Reid. Andy Reid getting Adam Gase's music now. I can't be the only one that is imagining them coming from behind a curtain and like, hey, and start dancing out every time that you call out their name. All right.

Let's change it up and let's go out on that kicker music because I really like that. It was a nice groove. So, yes, you'll hear from us again early next week. We're going to drop a bunch of episodes, a lot of content coming your way, snackable content. So follow us on the Instagram, Twitter, and Instagram. Well, there's going to be some photos. There will be. Maybe some Instagram stories, as the kids call it.

And don't forget to a five-star rating, comments on Apple Podcasts. And thank you for listening. Sign up for the ATN subreddit. Subreddit, NFL, around the NFL. That's it. Dan Hansen signing off for the Quiet Stone. In the mail. man

and the old boss and don't forget about Lily Fulton money backs us down till next week

Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the I. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.