NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 234. Every NFC Team’s 2024 Focus: Free Agency or The Draft

Episode Date: February 22, 2024

Trevor Sikkema and guest host Brad Spielberger dive into every team’s offseason situation and determine whether they will be more in on free agency or the draft for certain team needs. In today’s episode, we’re looking at every NFC team by division.

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It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast. I'm Trevor Sikma. That's not Connor Rogers. That's the one and only Brad Spielberger here to join you for a little bit of free agency episode, right? Free agency is about to kick off. Obviously, this is a draft

podcast and we talk a lot of draft here, but as anybody will tell you, free agency happens first, right? And you got to figure out what teams are going to do with some of their needs there and what that's going to mean for their draft strategy when we get to the end of April. So Brad, one of the best in the business, I would say the best in the business at taking a look at the free agency pool and what teams are going to do, their salary cap situation, their team needs, all that good stuff. Brad does so much great work over at PFF.com. So I felt like what a better time to get him on than as free agency is only a couple of weeks away. So we talk about those team needs, whether or not we think teams are going to be more in on free agency for their needs or more towards the draft. So we're doing NFC

today. We'll do AFC in a part two episode a little bit later this week, but Brad, it's so great to have you on the show, my friend. How are you feeling? Yeah, great to fill in. I'm feeling pretty good. And like you said, we have this one-month window right now. I'm cool for like a month out of the year. You draft guys are doing mock draft 6.0, and it's only February 15th. So I'm battling out here and trying to fight against the draft, the mock draft conglomerate that is spearheaded by Trevor Sycamore. But no, doing well, looking forward to it.

A combine is always when you get all the little intel and nuggets and hear some things. So it's going to be a fun couple of weeks and month ahead of free agency. Yeah, but you are truly all powerful for like 10 days. You know what I'm saying? It's like the week leading up to free agency, the tampering period, and then when guys actually start signing. It's like everybody, like your name, I feel like is one of the most Googled names just in all of Microsoft. So look, you talk about ours is a little bit more spread out, but you've got the concentration of dominance here within the 10 days. But we're getting ahead of it here. We're doing that here with some NFC teams. And I'll give you the choice choice which we'll go division by

division it keeps it pretty clean so is there a division i don't know that you want to talk about the most in the nfc the game is kicked off we're obviously going to talk about all of them but where you want to start here my friend you're the guest i'll let you be in that's interesting yeah um we could just go you know kind of straight through like east north southwest if you want to just keep it real clean all right and i think I think the NFC East is compelling for a couple reasons, which we'll get into. Okay. All right. So let's talk about – oh, God.

Now I sound like every television. Let's start with the Cowboys. Let's talk about Dallas first. Let's pay the bills. Let's get the clicks. What do we think about Dallas? Dallas is in a situation where it feels like a lot of their guys should have been there. It should have been a little bit more success than we saw in the postseason from them. And there's a lot of reasons why and why

this didn't happen. But, you know, when we talk about the potential draft needs for the Cowboys, we often look at offensive line because Tyron Smith's a free agent, right? They've got some interior guys as well who might be on their way out. What do you think about the Cowboys? What's their salary cap situation look like? Do you think they're going to be more in on free agency or is this a team that's going to lean more on that back end of the first round pick to supplement some of those needs? Yeah, Dallas is one of the lowest spenders in free agency almost every year. They are a draft and develop franchise, always have been. That is the you know kind of jerry jones philosophy and i mean he'll pay his guys internally but but doesn't really want to make a bunch of splashes and i think you'll see the same thing here because

you know dac prescott probably looking at one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the nfl i think cd lamb probably joins the you know maybe gets into 30 million per year conversation oh yeah and then he is eligible it's not going to happen and i actually want to give mike parsons a shout out dude he like knows ball at an extraordinarily high level and by that i mean like every element every aspect he said in his show like i know i'm not the priority this offseason i'll get taken care of next offseason which is like that's how it works so it's just it's just but it's interesting because most players understandably are just like, yeah,

I want to bow. I'm eligible for a bag. Let me get a bad. Mike is going to. Yeah. So, so the Mike is going to get like, I think he'll become the first 40 million per year defensive player in the

NFL. If I had to bet. So, oh yeah, I think that's, we're going to get next off season is we'll get, he'll have to be, still be Michael Parsons,

but you know, both is at 34. If we can get some guys to get in that, get in that range and then, and then, and then maybe not 40, but it'll be close. Yeah.

It'll be close. I mean like to even talk about it like that. Yeah. The league, obviously it's just, they're making more and more money. And you know, people talk about,

Oh, you know, like this guy versus the past player. It's not just that the, the, the latest guy always signs the biggest deal. Like the salary cap does rise almost every single year and so that goes into it as well so it's not like oh it's michael parsons six mil

a year more than boso or some of these other guys it's not exactly the way that you would want to go about it but still hearing that number a defensive player getting anywhere close to quarterback money if you will getting into the uh the high 30s at least. So, okay, what about offensive tackle? We talk about offensive tackle often for this team in the draft. Do you think they lose their guys? Do you think that Tyron Smith's going to be out of there? Do you think they're going to lose the rest of their free agents

that are along that offensive line, or what do you think? It's interesting. So, you know, Biotis has been an important piece for them. I feel like he's been a leader and vocal guy along this unit, but didn't get the early extension, which can happen at center if you're viewed as kind of a focal point, because you're not going to break the bank at that position necessarily. So I feel like he might be on the way out,

and I think they can just kind of churn and find a new center. Tyron Smith, it seems like he is a either play for the Dallas Cowboys or don't play football anymore type of guy. Like if I'm him, the Kansas City comes in and says like, hey, we're moving on from Donovan Smith. We want Tyron Smith. I probably listen to that offer. Otherwise, though, I'm like, yeah, I'll just stay in the Big D

and just like try to make it work, see if I can get a ring with the team I've been with forever. So I do think they'll keep the tackles. Terrence Steele should be better next year when healthy. Center is the interesting one. There's a ton of options. But, yeah, I think they're going to attack it in the draft as they always do. I think they'll probably add a tackle very, very early,

no matter what happens with Tyron Smith. Or think Tyler Smith could kick back out, or do you think he's too good and you've got to just leave him where he is at this point? Right, right. Yeah, some other needs for him. A potentially wide receiver for this team, given that Cooks is going into the final year of his deal. Gallup wasn't as good as we thought he was going to be this past year.

Potentially running back as well with Tony Pollard being a free agent. So just some – but like Brad said, this is a team that doesn't tend to spend a lot of money. So don't expect a huge splash. If anything, they're going to bring back their guys, but that's the big question with Dallas. Let's go to the Philadelphia Eagles next. What do you think about the Eagles situation?

Start of the year, hot, right? A lot of wins, and it just did not manifest itself into a good football team when January rolled around and they had to run into the Baker Mayfield train. That's not their fault. It's just a bad luck of the draw right there. Nobody's beaten Baker on wildcard weekend. Everybody knows that. But look, you've got this Son Reddick situation where it's like, all right,

did he request a trade, didn't request a trade, wants an extension with the team. I don't know. You had them make some moves last offseason with being able to bring back Bradbury, trade it for Kevin Byard. What do you think about this team overall when it comes to their salary cap and what they might be in free agency versus the draft? Yeah, the Redding move is interesting because it can be a bit of a tell, but we sort of saw the same scenario with Darius Slay last year. And that's the Eagles

basically saying, all right, we don't think we're going to find a number on an extension that the player is going to sign. So we're going to get out ahead of this and very quickly make it clear, look, we're trying to trade you because there's still value there. We're the Eagles, so we're never going to be a year late. We'll always be a year early. So, hey, we're not going to extend you to the money you probably want. Therefore, you can go seek out a trade, and that new team can bring you in and then extend you to a number you'd like to see,

and you see Reddit come out and be like, I don't even know what you're talking about i didn't ask for it um that's you know that's going back to what you said before i just want to back like just give me the bag yeah so but then slay like that kind of happened last year and then they circled back and found a way and i probably can't say the team name but like there was a team that thought they had a deal done or very very close to done with darius slay um and then at the 11th hour philly was like actually no we're gonna figure it out so i don't know if i get the same sense here though because slay is like a what a 30 year old corner at that point about a 29 year old edge rusher that never got his massive payday because he basically got signed still as a okay now he's an outside

linebacker but he was drafted to be an off-ball guy and got a decent three or 45 from philly so anyway i don't think they're going to spend a ton you know they're they're going to i i imagine on the interior just kick kim jurgens back to center maybe have tyler steen take over right guard um but again a team that you, you know, they have some flexibility, but I think they're going to focus on just, you know, they have extra draft capital, all those things, and just try to get younger because that team is too old right now. Yeah, no, I agree with you.

I feel like Philly is one of those teams where it's like, hey, you kind of went pot committed with some veterans and some trades already. It doesn't feel like they're going to be able to do that in free agency. So, you know, corner often something that is mocked to them. You know, they've got two second-round picks. They've got New Orleans' second-round pick as well. So then I'm seeing on Tankathon that they do have a third-round comp pick as well. So they got four picks in the top 100.

We talk about linebacker all the time with Philly. I don't know how early they're going to draft a linebacker, but that's a need, Potentially offensive line you mentioned. And then corner. Corner's the big one. I think that's where we always gravitate when it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round. And from your conversation,

it does sound like that is the area that they are going to attack if they're going to keep it need-centric. What about the Giants? I feel like the Giants are a mess. I feel like we don't know what to think about the Giants. A year ago, turn back the clock, Brian Dable is winning coach of the year. They're making the playoffs. They're way

ahead of schedule. They're thinking that Daniel Jones could be worth a contract extension, obviously because they give it to him. Boy, it fell apart. Boy, it fell apart in almost every way. Are the Giants going to be a team that needs to be active in both?

More to the draft? More to free agency? Because now all of a sudden we're at a point where this regime's kind of on the hot seat going into the season. So they've got to use a lot of their resources. Do you think that that will mean in free agency or who some guys you think might be in and out there? I think they could attack guard in free agency or who some guys that you think might be in and out there? I think they could attack guard in free agency. I think you can't sit around and try to fix this offensive line with more draft capital, hope that some young player can step in. It's just unrealistic.

So I think they could make a splash potentially, you know, a guy like a Robert, a Kevin Dodson, you know, with the Rams this past year, good gap scheme guy. I know the Giants offense is pretty diverse, but I think Kafka wants to be downhill, and who knows what happens with Saquon Barkley, but he can work in any system really, and I think he'll find a way back. So I think guard is a big one for me. Mark Lewinsky, not a free agent,

but it's probably going to be a cap casualty if I had to guess. And I think getting a really, really good right guard also maybe helps an Evan Neal grow a right tackle. So that's the big one for me. I think they are going to be in the market for those top end. I was trying to say Robert Hunt on top of Kevin Dodson, two very, very good football players. A lower end guy for me that I like as a potential fit would also be John Simpson from the Baltimore Ravens. If they want to just add a little bit of a nastiness.

Sure. He has, I've said this before, but his pole blocking snaps in ultimate are like the funniest thing he he destroys dbs and linebackers and he gets ahead of steam like the guys uh this year alone he had like three or four of the like laugh out loud uh reps so if they want to bring like a nastiness and an edge to their team i like him as kind of a cheaper option too. Okay, I like that. It's good. I'm glad that you focused on offensive line there because the other question is like, playmaker

in the passing game, right? I mean, that's not even touching the quarterback conversation. I think that they'll be looking up to trade up to fix quarterback, but I don't think they're doing that in free agency in any way. So you giving out a lot of options for them along the offensive line to make some improvements does to me aid their flexibility to go get a pass catcher rather

than the other way around. I think there's a lot of wide receivers that hit free agency. Obviously, you know this, there's some guys that you can get even in the top tier that might be available because it feels like that's the case every year. But for the Giants, offensive line, I agree with you and just listening to you. I think that makes the most sense. Hit, offensive line, I agree with you and just listening to you. I think that makes the most sense. Hit an offensive line in free agency and then going after a premium pass catcher, potentially at number six. I feel like that's a good way to go for them.

What about the Washington Commanders? Rounding out this division, a lot of unknown, right? You talked about how Dallas is, oh, they don't really spend a lot in free agency. You talked about some tendencies with both the Giants and the Eagles. Completely new look Washington Commanders team, new ownership, new general manager, new head coach. And we might be able to get some nuggets from what Dan Quinn has done in the past, back when he was with Atlanta. But it's just totally different there. So what's Washington's flexibility?

What do you think they're going to look towards towards the free agency? And then obviously we'll go into draft talk with them. So this is why I wanted to start here. Here's our first soundbite of the pod. If I had to place a bet, if you and I were back in Vegas, crushing the tables as we both totally did. Mentally, I am. Mentally, we're still there.

Yeah, mentally, we're still there. And neither of us lost a bet the whole weekend. No, of course not. I would say that commanders spend the most money of any team in the NFL and free agency this offseason. So, okay. Wow. They basically set out the last two years. I think you get an element of new owner syndrome.

Josh Harris comes in. He wants to win right away. He wants to have an exciting football team. They're trying to build a new stadium, get some old fans back and get them excited. I think they attack edge rusher. And you mentioned Dan Quinn. I think he wants to have new guys to replace Montez Sweat and Chase Young, whether it's the top of the market like a Daniel Hunter veteran.

I think a Bryce Huff can make a lot of sense as a just pure pass rusher alongside those interior guys. I'm sure he'll be a top target of Washington. Maybe a little bit in the secondary as well because they have Cam Curl and Kendall Fuller, both as pending free agents. They obviously did use top-end draft capital there. But long answer short, I think Dan Quinn is going to try to build his defense pretty quickly in free agency and then maybe allow themselves to draft more of, hey, let's draft offensive line and Drake May or Jaden Daniels and build around a young nucleus on offense. Man, that's, I think, a great game plan for them because this is a team that not only has a lot to spend,

like you mentioned, if you go a little bit further than the top 100, because they have pick 103 in the fourth round, they have six picks in the top 103 this year in the draft. And so this is going to be a new look Washington commanders team and I like how you kind of painted a picture of them going defense first and free agency supplementing a lot of those needs and then we assume it's going to be quarterback at number two uh and then continuing to build out that offense get skilled position players get offensive linemen they've got two second round picks a third third round pick, actually two third round picks, and then that early fourth round pick as well. So a lot of different options for them. But yeah, I do agree with you. I think that

I often look at pick 36 and pick 40 and I go defensive line with one of them just because the way that the roster looks right now, you can't do a Washington Commanders mock draft and get past those three picks there and not have an edge rusher go, you know, fans will be like, Oh, okay.

I guess I'm rushing the passer this year. And so you got to kind of wait for free agency a little bit, but if they're able to at least beef that up a bit, I think it will be at least two out of those three picks will be offense. And I think it'll obviously be quarterback at the top. And probably a trench player is the other one. If it's all three, then you could throw in wide receiver or tight end as well. I think Jatavian Sanders

is an option for them at the top of the second round for the tight end spot. Just throwing that out as a little nugget there. All right, let's go to the next division here. Let's go to, what did you say, the North? North is next? The North. Let's do the Detroit Lions. We'll go to Detroit Lions first.

Obviously took a big step in the right direction this past season, very close to a Super Bowl berth. Where's this team stand? What have we learned about Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell about what they do in free agency? Obviously, he had a home run in the draft, especially last year with what they were able to get in the return on investment. But it feels like the last couple of years, they've been drafting really, really well. They've got an emphasis there. But what do you think they're

going to do in free agency this year? Yeah, they're still healthy on the books. They were super patient when they came in. They really tried to kind of clear everything out. They had some veteran players like Jamie Collins and a couple of guys that stuck around, but they really tried to just get super, super young, let those guys play and play through growing pains and learn. And like you're talking about, it has paid off for the most part for a lot of the foundational pieces of this offense. So I think trenches for them is going to be, if they do spend, it'll be trenches on both sides of the ball.

Both of their guards from this past year in Jonah Jackson and Graham Glasgow are pending free agents. Obviously, Glasgow kind of a veteran at this point, but Jackson, the young piece that some people think is going to get a monster deal. Jackson and Graham Glasgow are pending free agents. Obviously, Glasgow kind of a veteran at this point. But Jackson, the young piece that some people think is going to get a monster deal. I'm a little bit lower on him than others. But like Matt Bowen, who does great work at ESPN and others are huge, huge fans. I see the athleticism on tape.

I just, I don't know. We'll have to get into the weeds of it. Do you think, is the Jackson, because I've seen him just as a free agency guy for a lot of other teams. Are you a little bit lower on him play-wise? You're saying you're a little bit lower on him free agency projection-wise. No, play-wise, and that's why my projection is lower. Okay, I got you. If I loved his tape, he would probably have one of the highest projections on the board. It is a loaded guard class.

I mentioned Robert Hunt and Kevin Dotson. But, yeah, i don't know i just i see him like narrow pass sets that kind of lets him get pushed over a little bit he kind of trips over himself at times and i don't know he's a good player and he's a mauler in their own game no question about it but um no you clearly hate him yeah i hate his guts yeah yeah i mean clearly you know you think he's an AFL player. So, you know. UFL. UFL. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. RIP the AFL. Yeah. I mean, the arena. He'd be causing problems in the arena.

Yeah, I know. So, like, I think they either go there or, you know, continue to add alongside Aiden Hutchinson and Ali McNeil in the trenches. And, of course, you know, DBs. They go out and sign Chauncey Gunner-Johnson. Basically misses almost the entire season. You know, same with Emmanuelmanuel mosley which was tough because if those two guys play uh you know that secondary is not quite as bad as we kind of made it out to be so i think there but they are there are drafts and develop franchise i do think we'll see a little bit of brett holmes though

and his end of season press conference was awesome but like there's not always a philosophy for the sake of a philosophy a lot of times it's like understanding the context of your roster this team right now if if it aligns well with a marquee free agent like they should strike they're a really good football team they're a clear-cut top five team in the nfc um it's not a good conference like abandon your precedence at times and i think this offseason could be one of them. Do they have the funds to, like, go after one of the, like, because I agree. Mosley would have been great if he doesn't get hurt. I really like that addition for them. But, you know, I look at corner, I look at edge, right?

Those are the top two needs that we continuously mock for the Lions with either their second-round pick or their first-round pick. Do they have the funds to, like you said, go make a splash in that area? All right, signing one guy here or there, that's fine. But it sounds like what you're talking about is like, hey, they're in a winning window. Go after it. Put your pedal to the metal. You'll sell out a little bit and go for this Super Bowl. There are some pass rushers, some really good ones that could be available.

You know, Josh Allen, maybe. I mean, he's probably not getting out of Jacksonville. You know, Brian Burns' situation is kind of up in the air. But it's like, do they even have the funds to go potentially make a major splash like that at Edgerusher or Corner? Or is that going to be something they kind of got to prioritize in the draft? I think they can. I mean, they got to extend Goff and Amon Ross St. Brown. You know, get ready for Panay and Aiden.

But I think they can. Like, for example, I put in an article this week with four trades. It's a different context, but like Khalil Mack, like to the Lions, like I love the idea. Ooh, nice. Yeah. Like make a splash like that where it's like, yeah, we're going to add in a, we're not going to go like, you know, Josh Allen,

I think he's getting like a bag and a half. Yeah. And like you said, probably getting tagged, not going anywhere anyway. But like that next tier, like Daniel Hunter, like steal a guy from your own division who has shown to have a very, very high floor play against the run and the pass, like stuff like that. Like I'd be in those markets if I'm them. And I get where they normally aren't, but right now,

and I'm not a window chaser per se, but they're in one. It's undeniable they're in one right now. What about the Packers? Packers are next. Big youth movement on this team. I think certainly down the stretch played well than a lot of other people believe that they were going to, especially when you don't have David Bakhtiari. You have a super young receiving core and even younger tight end group that you're leaning on. AJ Dillon was not effective for you. Aaron Jones was hurt. You're starting Jordan Love for the first time. You've got a lot of young pieces on defense. It feels like this is a really young team. So,

does that mean they're going to continue that youth movement? Or do you think it's going to mean, hey, it's time to get some more veterans within this group? Which way do you think the Packers are going to go? I think, so they really don't spend a ton, although Glutakunst has in the past. The Smith brothers were kind of deviating from his norm. Adrian Amos. And I think think they gotta go safety like i don't think they can bring in what they had this past year was borderline untenable and darnell savage is a pending free agent they've said they like him want to bring him back now i'm being mean i don't really know why they feel that way but they do um i don't know when i watch him against the run it's like he doesn't even want him to tackle um he's good he's rangy he's got good good ball skills. And maybe the switch to Joe Barry or away from Joe Barry could help.

Right. But, yeah, I think having a safety that can come out of the box and make plays and can make splashes in the line and scare opposing offenses, they were not striking fear in the eyes and hearts of their opponents up the middle this year. And I think they could use that element. Yeah, that makes sense.

Is there a – I mean, who's the safety that they might be able to go get? Is there somebody on the market that – I mean, don't say Antoine O'Neill Jr. He's not going anywhere. Don't you dare. Don't let the words come out of your mouth. I'll correct you or I'll mute you or I'll tell Ryan to just get you off the podcast entirely if you say Antoine O'Neill Jr. But I don't know. Like, is there a big splash to say?

Cause I totally agree. Again, when we mock guys to the Packers, people talk about the safety need being more than the corner need. And I get that. That's why Cooper Jean sometimes a pick there, but it's more of just, Hey, we'll address this need here. I don't know if people believe that Tyler Newman from Minnesota, who I think is safety one in this class is worth that back into the first round pick but the packers have two second round picks i think he's one is 41 and the other one's at 58 i think safety could be in play there for them um yeah like is there a safety that they could supplement maybe it's maybe it is just bringing savage back but maybe it is going out and signing somebody else the big splash would

be xavier mckinney for me from New York, who I think would be interesting, who just has good ball skills, good range on the back end, and I think would just help the rest of the secondary to where if he's cheating to his side, I think quarterbacks are going to avoid throwing on that side of the field. He also can come down and make plays. He's not the most physical player in the world, but can come to the line of scrimmage and play nickel a little bit and is a good coverage player, good lateral agility. So he'd be exciting

to me. Just add an element to kind of tip the scales for that defense. I don't know, they've spent like 10 first round picks in a row there, but they got to get the results. Any idea what they might do with Runyon? I know I'm kind of putting you on the spot there, but that's the other position that it feels like you're either drafting Cooper Dejean if he makes it down to the Packers pick, or you're just going offensive lineman. And a lot of times it's one of these hybrid offensive tackles that they're going to push inside, like a Troy Fountainow, a Graham Barton, a Jordan Morgan, like somebody like that, they would be able to move inside. And if Ryan's there, maybe that's a little bit less likely, likely but if he's not certainly that becomes more pressing at that point yeah the fought now pick i would love from washington i think he'd be a great fit i i could see them letting him go he's solid he's a good

pass protector but i don't think he's a good mover at the second level um which they obviously want for their run scheme uh we saw him at the combine we noted on Stephen Stam's show he had a good body. That's a whole separate conversation. Out of context, that's great. Yeah. Anyway, I could see him moving on. Don't worry. Ryan will clip that for the opening of the show, the cold opening of the show. Don't worry.

Yeah, exactly. No, I'm going to move on. So I love that mock. When I do mocks for them, I'll be doing stuff. It's the exact same thing. Position flex, college tackles that kick inside the guard type players is exactly who i'll pick for them minnesota again feels like you know they're still turning the page in a lot of ways i feel like on most of that roster

um feels like it'd be a much stronger youth movement for that team but now all of a sudden do they need better results than what we've seen over the last couple of years? I don't think Kevin O'Connell is in trouble at all. But some of the picks that Questio D'Apomensa has had haven't worked out. And they've had a lot of younger guys kind of fill in there. But just what do you think about Minnesota's overall situation?

Do you think they're going to be big buyers in free agency? Or do you think it's going to be more of that draft youth movement? I think they're going to have to, to a degree. degree i mean they're going to have to invest in the defensive line um you know whether it's bringing back the neil hunter obviously is a good starting point but you look at the defensive line like dj want him who played 900 snaps for them also a free agent they try to make that kind of one-year flyer splash the one-year 10 million dollar deal for marcus davenport he barely played yeah played. He's a good football player. And then that interior of the defensive line,

it's just not a good enough unit right now to really be good against the run, to enable them to not blitz on 60% of dropbacks or 60% of snaps. They had to do that. They had no choice. So I think that'll be interesting. The interior of the defensive line for me, I think will be very, very interesting in particular for Minnesota under the assumption that maybe they just go ahead and bring back to Neil Hunter. I'm keeping an eye on that.

Maybe trying to take a one-year flyer on like a DJ reader coming off his injury or even taking a gamble and giving him a multi-year deal. I think Jonathan Greenard is really interesting from the Houston Texans. A very good run defender. This year, more promises of pass rusher, not a guy who's gonna win but like a guy who if you manufacture pressure for is a good straight line athlete and a good closer which like was what brian flores was doing um like guys like that i think would be very very fascinating um so i guess he was an

edge rusher but yeah those interior guys uh sheldon rankins may bring him in, Tyer Tartt, who I can't quit from Tennessee. Those type of players I think are interesting. Yeah, man, you're just looking at the Minnesota depth chart right now and how many other pending free agents you have. A lot of players in the box, linebacker level, edge rushers, interior defensive linemen, a lot of these guys are up. And you figure some of them will be back. But it makes a lot of sense why, yes, and you figure some of them will be back but it

makes a lot of sense why yes we think minnesota is going to be one of those teams it's aggressive for a quarterback in the first round currently sitting at 11 but if they're not it's a very popular jerseon newton byron murphy the second spot which would be hilarious if they drafted byron murphy because they would have byron murphy Murphy Jr the corner and then they would also have Byron Murphy the second defensive line I'm mocking that every time it's irresponsible not to Connor this is this so Connor and I do a segment during the season where we will kind of like shout out a player who's under the radar. Somebody who's really flashing during the college football season. And I, I think it was like in an October episode,

I watched a game of Byron Murphy, the second from Texas. And I was like, holy shit. Like this dude was out of his mind. And so I shouted him on the podcast and just at it. Like I was, I wasn't thinking.

And I was like, Byron Murphyphy the second from texas and i have no idea if he's named if he's related to byron murphy who plays in minnesota and connor just like quickly just goes like yeah they're related and i was like oh are they and connor's like no you idiot what do you think their parents named them byron murphy and byron murphy at once junior one second yeah so they have different middle names that's it Parents named them Byron Murphy and Byron Murphy. And one's junior, one's the second. Yeah, so they have different middle names. That's it. They're just different middle names.

Oh, I think of that clip every single time I say the name Byron Murphy the second. I think of that clip. We need it now. This actually could happen. So it might be my greatest nightmare here coming alive if this happens here. We'll round out the division with your Chicago Bears. A lot of flexibility on this team, obviously. What do you do with Justin Fields?

What are you doing at number one overall? This is a team that I feel like has spent a good amount over the last couple of years, but not recklessly. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know. What do you think about Chicago, where they're currently sitting, where it's kind of, I don't want to say a do or die year, but you went in the right direction in a lot of ways. You got to keep going in the right direction.

This cannot be a stalemate kind of a thing, or else I think jobs maybe you're talking about them potentially getting lost here. So what do you do in free agency if you're Chicago, maybe you're talking about them potentially getting lost here. So what do you do in free agency? If you're Chicago, knowing you've got a lot of draft ammo as well. Yeah, I think they'll spend a little bit.

I think the big thing for them will be center. I think they will be adding one of the many great centers in this class. They just couldn't, you know, it was, it was untenable last year, but they had, and also when you're probably ushering in a new quarterback,

if you can bring in a veteran center, maybe that has familiarity with the system and Shane Waldron, I think that just helps that transition and ease that for the young quarterback. So I expect that to happen, no doubt. There happen to be two centers that have played for Waldron in Evan Brown and Coleman Shelton. There's also Aaron Brewer in Tennessee who makes sense. It's kind of a scheme fit.

So that's one spot. And then I do think they are going to take a stab at some edge rushers for opposite of montez sweat because you know i've talked about this like nine might be a little rich for a dallas turner or jared verse or lay out too lot to or whoever um also you know i don't know how many of those guys they've used fits because they want these big big defensive ends but that makes me think like i know chase young didn't have a great playoffs he did have a good super bowl um maybe you just reunite you You just recreate the Commander's Edge group in Chicago. I don't know if you don't sleep on it.

That's interesting to Neil Hunter if they want to go older, but they like to go young. But I think anyway. And then the interior too. I know I just mentioned a bunch of names, but interior defensive line as well. I think they will explore those contracts. Again, you go veteran like a daquan jones good

interior pass rusher uh when healthy do you go younger and you know try to try to kind of just continue to stay young i think they're gonna just like detroit they're gonna in a different way but they're gonna be open to now saying all right we're not gonna just stick to our principles like you said there's there's expectations now even the rookie quarterback they can't be bad bad they have to win like seven eight games or be very competitive, I think, next season. Yeah, I think that that context is really good because we think of the Bears having a lot of draft ammo, and they do. Like I said, they got picked number one and picked number nine. But then after that, because of the Montez Sweat trade, they don't pick until 75 in the third round. So you look at a situation where if they don't go out and get an edge rusher,

and let's say they really would like to get out of the first round with one of them, I think verse makes a ton of sense for them as the more heavy-handed 4-3 defensive end, a guy who plays with a ton of power, like I said, that fits what Matt Iberflues wants to do. Do you sit there at nine? Let's say the wide receivers are off the board. Let's say we're in a reality where Malik Nabors, Jomo Dunze, Marvin Harrison Jr., they're all off the board. Do you trade back to, I don't know, 14 with the Saints, 15 with the Colts,

like whatever. One of those teams that wants a quarterback, although I think a quarterback is probably going to be off the board that they would want at that point. But do you trade back? Do you try to get one of those second rounders to give you a little bit more spread out draft ammo in hopes of drafting verse? Or maybe you just stick at nine and draft verse.

But that kind of paints an interesting picture of what Chicago could possibly bring to the table. We're going to get to our next division, but before we do that, if you've got a family out there, you need to get them term life insurance to protect them. It's plain and simple. It's one of the smartest financial decisions that you can make, and the start of the new year is the perfect time to get it done so you guys can focus on whatever else 2024 has in store for you. Fabric was designed by parents for parents to help you get high-quality, surprisingly affordable term life insurance policies in less than 10 minutes. Fabric was designed to have flexible policies that'll fit whatever your family's budget is, like quality policies such as million dollar coverage for less than a dollar a day.

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meetfabric.com slash stock exchange. Policies issued by Western Southern Life Assurance Company not available in certain states. Prices subject to underwriting and health questions. If you type in meet-e-a-t fabric.com it just takes you to brad spielberger's um uh free agency tool ranking so that's what happens it just it just yeah it just redirects right over there if you go m-e-a-t meat fabric trev if they have viruses in their computer from these you know they can't they can't access our articles if they're trying to battle with, you know,

malware out here. So be careful with your jokes. We're not, we're not responsible for, uh, we, we've said for a long time, if you, if you just go to meatfabric.com, it just redirects you to the stock exchange YouTube channel. That's, that's we should buy that domain. Yeah. Whichever roast beef pornos crossover is out there. We should, we should from whichever roast beef porno crossover site is out there. We should get it to the market. No, it just takes you to Arby's website.

Okay, sorry. Moving on to the next division. We're going to go straight to the NFC South because directionally that's how it goes. Start with the Buccaneers. Start with the NFC South division champs once again. Tampa Bay buccaneers start with the nfc south division champs once again tampa bay buccaneers there's a lot of things that could happen in free agency with this team obviously they've got some big names up levante david baker mayfield mike evans what do you do with antoine winfield jr got to think about tristan werfs what do you think ultimately happens with

this team though because they have some guys that they could move on from as well to give them a little bit of flexibility, knowing that they've got to shell out a good chunk of change. Now that Mayfield actually played well, what do you think the bucks do here? And then what targets that leaves them for the back end of the first round when it comes to draft? Yeah.

Shut up the box. 80 million dead cap last year. Most of the NFL, 200 grand as of today, the least in the NFL. Mike Greenberg goaded. Mike Greenberg goaded. And they won the division, beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a playoff game.

I mean, you just can't beat it. So, yeah, you're going to get Baker. And I think Baker's looking at like three years, 90, maybe high side three years, 100. And maybe I'm still too bearish on that. But we'll see. I think we've talked about like maybe takes a little bit less because he wants to go to an organization he loves liam cohen was clearly a baker mayfield hire um so he's going to be there uh as you've made it

very clear like you've like guarded off the baker mayfield he's like no he'll be there he's a he's a buccaneer for life um anyway i think they'll spend a little, but I think they are, again, a team that just wants to draft and develop. And because of all the spending they did to try to add to the Tom Brady run, they're not averse to doing it. But they've also recently had some misses, some injuries, like Russell Gage types, and now working through the Ryan Jensen situation, which wasn't a free agent.

I guess it was, I think. But anyway, I think they are going to be patient and pick their spots. I think for them, off-ball linebacker you mentioned, you have both Levante David and Devin White pending free agents. I think we both do not expect Devin White to be back. So I think that will be an interesting spot. And then corner, if they move on from Carlton Davis, maybe they make a minor splash there.

They've had some injury issues with both of their guys and him and Jamel Dean. So, yeah, I think it's more like, you know, kind of non-premium positions and mid-tier market players, you know, particularly on defense. Because, you know, the offense, the line's getting better. We've seen growth from Cody Mock and Luke Gadecki and all those young guys. So, yeah, just kind of you're filling out your roster, like linebacker, safety, corner, stuff like that. Yeah, I'm praying that Levante David doesn't –

because I feel like Levante David can get more money elsewhere, not in Tampa Bay. But it would eternally pain me to see him wearing another team's jersey. So I really do not hope that happens. The same with Mike Evans, obviously corner is very interesting for this team because I agree. I don't think Carlton Davis or Jamel Dean played very well this past year and you could move on from them,

but those are kind of, I feel like those are like Todd Bowles guys. So the fact that Todd Bowles is back, I don't think they're going to move on from him. I continue to look at edge rusher as the area where I feel they're going to hone in on the most when it comes to the first round. But I'm also not, I'm not totally off on them going offensive lineman if the right guy is available. I put this in my most recent mock draft. I think Cody Barton's a Jason Light type of player. And I think that if Cody Barton's available for them at the back end of the first round,

I think that they could go that direction. So those are a couple names there. Obviously, a corner as well, like Ennis Raikstra Jr. I think would be perfect for this team. But do they go that way? I don't know. It feels like they're just going to kind of roll in the next year with Jamel Dean and Carlton Davis and then let next year um really be the difference a corner seeing the direction they're going to go

so no it's fair I think they're scared at all because of Joe Tryonchenko and Logan Hall just like hey we've we've tried that like late first early second you know D lineman it's not really like let's just go I don't know a different position or or a different philosophy or you got to just keep swinging yeah i mean i think you got to keep swinging but there's no doubt that those guys have not impacted the game the way that they've needed to um anthony miller as well was a later draft pick but it's like he was kind of touted as somebody who could really help out the pass rush rotation. I don't think that he has, or sorry, Anthony Nelson. Sorry, Anthony Nelson. So I don't know.

They obviously like Yaya Diaby. Marquise Watts actually was really nice for them in the preseason as a nice depth player. So I don't think they're going to shy away from it, even though they're at the back end of the first round when it comes to edge rusher but we'll see i i do think it's going to be trenches either way i think that's more likely in the corner anyways let's go to the atlanta falcons falcons made a lot of changes this offseason right fired arthur smith basically 60 seconds after midnight when they had the ability to call it a Black Monday hiring, they went and they did that. Hire Raheem Morris as their head coach.

He's going to be running the defense, or he's going to be in charge of the defense, as we know from a defensive background. Hire Zach Robinson as the offense coordinator. The quarterback position is straight up not good enough. And when you look at free agency, we already kind of went over the fact that we don't think Baker Mayfield is getting out of Tampa. Kirk Cousins is out there. Justin Fields is out there for trade.

But first and foremost, before we get into the rest of the Falcons, what do you think is most plausible for them? Do you think they're going to be a major suitor for Kirk Cousins? Are there any other quarterbacks that are out there that they could take a chance on? Because this team just cannot go into next year with Des Morales as their starter. I think they are going to be the main contender with Minnesota for Kirk Cousins' services. You have Zach Robinson who came over with Raheem Morris, obviously worked with Kevin O'Connell for a while,

knows probably that Kevin O'Connell likes Kirk Cousins quite a bit, can run on offense, can get the ball out quickly and accurately to all three levels of the field. You have the young weapons. You have a very good offensive line, so you don't have to you know with Kirk like you want a good interior in particular which Minnesota has kind of never had uh and Atlanta really does um which is helpful with you know with the emergence of Bershron obviously Chris Lindstrom one of the best guards in the NFL so I think they are the big Kirk Cousins spot and that obviously dictates everything if they do that they probably don't

make a whole lot of other moves if they don't go the kirk cousins route i think they are going to be very in on the edge rushers they just have not had a good edge rush in so long um and once great jerry gets healthy you have him and on yamada i think if you add in a good edge rusher that it takes the entire d line a whole another step so you know we've thrown a bunch of names but um a lot of the guys who mentioned already would be good fits i think for them i'm trying to think i guess ryan nielsen left announced where he morris for you morris what's where he morris's philosophy i know he didn't really run it with the ram so i guess his philosophy is catering a defense to his players but i can see him going after a guy like doris armstrong in dallas like a good kind of a cheap cheap version of a bryce huff like he's

a very good pure pass rusher good long arm move um good on a good unit which a cheap cheap version of a bryce huff like he's a very good pure pass rusher good long arm move um good on a good unit which obviously he had in dallas i mean i'd like i'd like bryce huff as well for this team yeah you know i think he'd be an option for them yeah we when i mean we talked about first round they're either doing something with a quarterback or they're drafting an edge rusher, essentially. And I think that you bringing it up this way means that whatever they do in the first round is going to supplement whatever they weren't able to do in free agency. If they weren't able to get a quarterback,

they're going to be as aggressive as possible to try to go get a quarterback. If they didn't get an edge rusher and they did get a quarterback, then obviously, number eight, you're talking about probably taking an edge one off the board, whether it's Jared Verse, whether it's Dallas Turner, maybe Laatu Latu, although I've said before on this podcast, I don't think the NFL is going to be as high on Latu just because I I never know what's going on with them because the salary cap feels like it doesn't exist for them it feels like they just you know make magic out of it they seem to be committed to Derek Carr at least for another year maybe another two depending on how they can get flexible with his contract. But just overall, it felt like this should have been the year that the Saints absolutely won the division. Going into the year on paper, the resources that they had allocated

to the team, where they were, it felt like they should have. They don't. It's incredibly disappointing for them. Where do they go from here in free agency? Yeah, no, they're not winning the division. I think they had our easiest schedule in all of PFF, they did real like marcus may instead of marcus williams peyton turner instead of trey hendrickson like the reason they're they missed the playoffs three years in a row uh has a little something to do with the fact they can't retain good players so

um and of course they could if they wanted to but they're making more tough decisions so they always splash here and there like they'll randomly add a Tyron Matthew or a Marcus May or what have you. Last year, it was like Keelan Saunders and Nathan Shepard on the interior. I think more of that, maybe a little bit more juice on the interior of that defensive line. Brian Brisey, he should flash at times, I feel like, but he's still kind of a rotational piece as of right now. I could see more additions on the defensive line because carl granderson you know very good player might be the best edge now on the team with all due respect to

the legend cam jordan at a very down year this past season and maybe that's playing through injury or something like that but i could see them go continue to pull resource on the defensive line because it just just was not a good enough unit this past year um i'm surprised their defense held up as well as it did but i think it was mainly because of growth on the back end from Elante Taylor and Paulson Adibo and more Pete Werner at linebacker. That D-line is not what it once was, and it was a great unit for a long time. Andres Pete is also a free agent on the offensive line, and Trevor Penning has been bad.

Do you think that they look tackle at all? Cause there's also some rumors about what Ryan Ramchick had to go through with his knee, just to, just to play every single week. And he's getting a little bit up there in age and he's great, right tackle. But now you're in a situation where,

okay, you're losing your flexible interior slash tackle player and Andres P or you might Trevor Penning has not been good. And now all of a sudden, okay you're losing your flexible interior slash tackle player and andres p or you might trevor penning has not been good and now all of a sudden if ryan ramchick is like i gotta i gotta hang it up you're screwed at that point so do you think that they're going to proactively look at offensive tackle as well because that to me the saints draft pick in the first round when it comes to primary needs always seems to be it's either tackler or edge rusher for me what do you think and i think when you mentioned earlier like you know train with the bears maybe

and then why would they do that they do that if olu fashani was sitting there at nine i think they would do something like that um if not like do you think that they're you know like would they find a spot for i don't know like a fuga or something like that in the i don't know i feel like to me he's more of a either like zone scheme or maybe playing a guard in a gap scheme and they do move guys around obviously they're very flexible there but yeah i think tackle in the first round for them is like a very very likely pick uh whoever happens to be there at 14 or again if if tackle two is available around pick eight nine ten uh like I think they'll pounce.

Okay. All right. Speaking of pounce, Carolina Panthers. Last team in this division. See what I did there. Meat fabric. Yeah. See what I did. Yeah, just go to meetpanthers.com.

M-E-A-T, panthers.com. Don't go to meetcougars.com. Dude. Yeah, whole separate idea there. Or you can. It's up to you. Yeah, or you can. It's up to you.

Just change the browser to private first. Okay, so Carolina obviously does not have their first-round pick, which is quite the bummer because it's number one overall. This team was – I'm looking at the PFF numbers right in front of me here. Cheeks last year. And so it was tough to watch in a lot of ways. You think you still have the quarterback position you hope figured out by getting Bryce Young in there. A lot of changes to this coaching staff.

I think it's going to be a major philosophical change in a lot of ways. Tepper himself as an owner is certainly still learning what works, what doesn't. What do we do here though? Because this is, you've said this before, Tepper's one of the rich, he's not just rich, he's one of the richest owners in the NFL. So he does not like to lose. It's very evident after this season with the things that happen in Carolina, he is not okay with losing. So is this a team that, do they have the salary cap? Do they have the ability? And do you think they're going to be aggressive in attacking a lot of needs that they have in

free agency? Yeah, it's not as clean as you'd like their books, but I think they will. You won't like this one, but I do think they're a team where Tepper might say, hey, Dave, call your friend, Mike Evans, and just tell him we'll pay him more than anybody else. Like, yeah, he'd go chase a ring with Aaron Rodgers in New York or whatever. He can also get a deal that no one else – Tampa, in Tampa. Yeah, chase a ring in Tampa. Chase it with Baker.

Right. Yeah, right. The house that Baker built down in Tampa. The bake boat. Anyway. The bake boat. Yeah. The S.S. bake.

I think that's Tantillo's riverboat. The S-Bake. Anyway. Oh, my gosh. Oh, Morgan, my Tracy. Yeah, meatbaker.com, M-E-A-T, baker.com. That's probably good. That's probably cupcakes and croissants. But, yeah, so, like, I think that's the receiver where they're like, you know,

we have Adam Thielen, Jonathan Mingo. You know, Chark's going to be a free agent obviously wasn't a a really solution for them like a marquise brown maybe offer him more than most people want to offer and i think it makes sense honestly like just get more receivers my hot take for them is people are going to say offensive line offensive line offensive line i think we're going to see to a lesser extent but I think we're going to see to a lesser extent, but I think we're going to see the same effect that happened in Indianapolis when Reich was there, the entire Colts O-line played worse. And then he left and this year it was like, Oh, it turns out that Braden Smith and Quentin Nelson are studs again. And Ryan Kelly, maybe he just took a scheme that made things easier for them. I think the same thing happens where I liked rookie Ikea Kwanu.

I've always liked Taylor Moten. And then like Austin Corbett gets healthy. Bradley Bozeman at center, yada yada. So receiver and free agency, I think they'll be in the mix for all those names. They're just not good enough. Right. And that's always where we go with pick 33.

It's just nowhere else. Pick 33, first pick. And they could absolutely do both. There's no question about it. There's nobody on that roster Pick 33, first pick. And they could absolutely do both. Yeah, there's no question about it. There's nobody on that roster right now, like you said, that screams, I'm guaranteed to get targets next year from the receiving room. And so that makes a lot of sense. And obviously you get to, you know, they got a lot of, I mean, they got to,

how much retention do you think is happening on the defensive side? Right. Brian Burns is a free agent retention do you think is happening on the defense side right brian burns the free agent um frankie lou is a free agent yeah um you got jeremy chin you get cj henderson you cam gruder hill uh my sweetheart what a guy yeah i mean like you got so many of these players who are understood free agents with so much turnover that we had from the coaching staff, do you expect a lot of turnover on defense as well? Or, I don't know, are they going to spend a lot of money to try to bring a lot of these guys back? It's a good question.

They kept DeVero, who obviously didn't see a spot for Chin, so I think Jeremy Chin's probably on the way out. Yeah, he feels like it. Yeah, I think they'll find a way to get it done. I could see a tag and trade, I suppose, but I think they'll find a way. And Lou Vu, interesting too. I can see them moving but i mean shaq thompson i think is kind of on the way out now didn't get hurt and he was already kind of like yeah i believe so yeah i mean i guess like sam franklin's a solid player and it was like a safety linebacker hybrid but

he's like a decent off-ball player i don't know i don't get why luvu would be a priority for them but i feel like he would have been an obvious early extension candidate. Maybe they just weren't doing business because people were getting fired and they were trying to figure everything out. But anyway, yeah, I think we'll see some decent turnover. I just feel like they will address that more so in the draft. I think if they're going to spend, it's just like we're doing everything we can to make Bryce Young's life easier starting on March 13th. Yeah.

No, that makes sense. That part of it makes sense. Everybody out there watching and listening, if you want to get in on some of the PFF stats that we have, the Unlocked Mock Draft Simulator, getting everything when it comes to the free agency tool that Brad is developing, a lot of the information he's talking about to you here,

you can find on the free agency tool over at pff.com. You can get yourself a PFF subscription with the promo code 30MDS, and it'll get you 30% off any annual subscription over at pff.com. So if you don't have one, now's a really good time to get it. The off season, you're learning a lot. You can keep track of a lot. Obviously, the mock draft simulator, if you're listening to this podcast, is a great tool for you to have. So get 30% off if you don't have one, 30MDS over at pff.com. All right, last division. Let's start off with the San't have one. 30MDS over at PFF.com. Alright, last division. Let's start off with the San Francisco 49ers. What is this team going to do

in free agency, if anything at all? They made some big splashes, right? You go out and you trade for Chase Young, but still, man, this team's got one, two, three, four. Four picks in the top 100. Five picks in the top 125, five picks in the top 125

because they got Dallas' pick as well. So this, and then a crap ton, you know, because I'm using the metric system here, a crap ton of day three picks. What's San Francisco doing? Where are they right now? Yeah, it's tough because you got to pay Brandon Iyuk and I know there's already been some cryptic posts

on Twitter or Instagram or whatever social media site about whether he'll be there or not. But, I mean, I think he's going to get more than Debo Samuel on his own team. So you're talking a top five paid wide receiver in the NFL on top of, I think Debo is like seventh or eighth right now or whatever in that range. So that'll be tough. Then you got Chase Young, like you said, like, I don't think they'll buy into the sunk cost.

I think if they lose him, they'll get a, you know, a fourth round comp comp pick they traded a third round comp pick to get them so in their mind it's like all right whatever we move down around in a compensatory round um we try to chase a ring he actually was good in super bowl uh you know against donovan smith uh but anyway so i don't think they spend much in free agency the only spot i would see is also under under the radar story that was funny so john feliciano had to step in this year and be the starting right guard Spencer Burford of them had our lowest pass blocking grade in the entire NFL um a recent I want to say fourth round pick at right guard Feliciano gets hurt uh and Burford stepped in and did not play particularly well but it's obviously tough to step in the middle of a Super Bowl um against the Chiefs interior with Chris Jones anyway I said it's funny because

they were like Feliciano totally threw him under the bus on Twitter. And then Burford was like, bro, I woke up to like a tweet of you like saying I like blew the game. It was just like, I didn't see it. Wait, what happened? Oh, Feliciano, someone tweeted like, who's assigned, like who screwed up this play here? Feliciano was like, well, if the guard or if the lineman who was supposed to take this guy took the player he was supposed to take, then Brock would have had time. And seven hours later, you just see the response like, damn, bro, woke up to this.

Yeah, underrated, hilarious. Anyway, so all of that to say, that beautiful anecdote. Damn, that's rough. Yeah, it's rough. Yeah, it was like, be well, brother. Yeah, have a good one. It was classic. It was classic. They didn't pivot into classic. It was like, hey, nothing yeah i have a good one it's classic it was classic like they didn't pivoted to class just like hey nothing but greatness ahead for you my guy like all right

you guys don't like each other move on uh so it was awesome it was awesome it was classic it was classic like look you your girl just broke up with you and you fired off some sub tweets at two in the morning because you just lost the big game like we get it like we we're all human uh so yeah feliciano was in his field you say so feliciano was saying that about burford right yeah but it was a clip of i think people were throwing colton mckibbitz under the bus um but mckibbitz clearly was doing a slide protection going to the outside waiting for someone to come and and so a guy beat kind of the with the b gap on the on that side he didn't say burford's name but he was like he basically was like it's not mckibbit's fault that's the right guard's fault and burford was just like damn damn my guy that is rough it was rough it was tough okay so yeah so uh interior

offensive line i'm this is not to pat myself on the back i'm not saying it in that way i'm not sure i pat cal shanahan on the back i pointed out how their offensive line on the interior was a problem like every week for like 15 weeks in a row and it just never mattered because kyle shanahan's a wizard it it was maybe low-key the biggest issue they had in that super bowl was sure bag saying nickel pressure and stuff and like trent will hold up on an island mckibb's actually played okay and the interior was just getting destroyed and like they were running into each other on like poles and stuff. Anyway, I think that could be a spot for them as interior offensive line. I've mentioned the names already, but a lot of good zone blocking, good movers available.

What about the Cardinals? Rebuilding team, first-year general manager, Imani Ostenfort, first-year head coach, and Jonathan Gannon. The team played, look, I know the win total wasn't there, but a lot more competitively than we thought that they were going to. And I think that's a sign of some of the young guys that they brought in from last year's draft. Ostenfort clearly prioritizing that with how he was able to move up and down the draft, get an extra first-round pick for this year. Is this a team that you could still see spending a lot of money in free agency or

are they still in the phase where it's like ah you know what we're just the big youth movement here on this team what do you think I think they're gonna load up I I think to a degree they're gonna try to do both but it's like I think last year it was a youth movement for sure and they played all those guys but also hey Kyler Murray's hurt year so let's just kind of punt it and see what happens but now it's like hey all right we have a healthy carla murray we have you know marvin harrison jr or malik neighbors probably um you know stepping into this offense i think defensive line is where they're gonna make a splash like i think they'll be look at gannon he came from philadelphia before they was in minnesota and those minnesota teams were like linval joseph everson griffin like also daniel

hunter like those were loaded defensive defensive lines when he was there. And obviously, Petson came from Miles Garrett. So they're a team to me where if a Christian Wilkins reaches the market, I think they go crazy there. Those type of players, I think they'll be very, very in on. And then, yeah, let the young guys play around them. But interior defensive line like that, I think they can make a big splash. Like Justin Matibuke as well, if he hits the market, something like that? If he hits the market like I think they could make a big splash. Like Justin Matty Buke as well.

Like if he hits the market, something like that. If he hits the market, I think they'll be in on it for sure. Okay. Yeah, that's good. Yeah.

I mean, we talked about interior defensive line for the Cardinals all the time here on this show. It's, you know, they're, they're not going to draft one at four 27 years on Newton kind of comes into play there,

but if they can supplement that in free agency, that frees you up. You probably get a sweet spot and hit a good corner as well. If you're going wide receiver, if we think that they're going to go Malik Nabors from a doomsday, Marvin Harrison Jr. at number four, then I think you can get corner at either 27 or 35, somebody who could really help out this team. Not having to address interior defensive line as early, because there's some good interior defensive linemen in this class, but if you don't get Newton or Byron Murphy, it's not like a guarantee these guys are going to be three down impact players for you. So hitting that in free agency and spending your money there,

I do think makes a lot of sense for Arizona. I like that. What about the Los Angeles Rams? Speaking of youth movement, I mean, this is a team that, again, we thought was going to have to turn the page big time uh eat their vegetables if you will just take their lumps the bill was come and do you're gonna suck this year and that's what we thought that that was going to be the case for the Rams and Sean McVay oh look one of the best coaches in the NFL continues to be one of the best coaches in the NFL they made a lot of good work of that rookie class that they got last year a lot of great experience from guys like Steve Avila and Byron Young, Kobe Turner. Just a lot of guys that

were able to play well. Kyron Williams, the second year guy, but he played well. And oh yeah, by the way, Puka Nakua broke the rookie receiving record. So where does this team go from now? Because it felt like they were kind of taking their foot off the gas a little bit. We were making the joke like, oh, they finally have a first round pick. Maybe they know, like maybe they'll actually just, you know, take the youth movement. And then it's like, all right, well, team's still good. So are we just hammering the gas? Are we spending more in free agency? What are we doing here?

Yeah, so it's interesting. I mean, Mike Shula, I said the same joke on the Sam and Steve show, but whatever Shula is now the defensive coordinator, he's a Shula. He's there. He's been there for a while. So, like, I think they will be looking for A dynamic DB I could see them saying, look, we now love Our young defensive line around Aaron Donald

They obviously could still get better I'm always too mean to Michael Hoyt It's not his fault he played 350 coverage snaps But they could Add more on D-line But I think if they're going to make a splash in free agency I could also see, I'm not trying to get a Jalen Rams, it doesn't exist,

but like get a LeGarrius Sneed, get a guy that you can move all over the field and do different things with. And maybe they're not playing that type of defense, but they still want to run kind of that Brandon Staley, you know, cover six and quarters and heavy zone defense. So maybe he's not a fit, but like just a big name, I think DB would make sense for them potentially. And then, yeah, I mean, otherwise they're going to have a big name. I think DB would make sense for them potentially. And then, yeah, otherwise they're going to have a million picks.

Their first round pick since Jared Goff, which is exciting. Which is crazy. I know. I know. Jared Goff's getting old. How old is Jared Goff now? Probably like 31. Right?

26 years. Jared Goff is 29. Okay. I was a little bullish there. He's 29. Good for Jared Go there. Good for Jerry Goff. For what? Turning 39? Not being 30 yet. Sorry, yeah.

29-year-old, shout out. Good for you, buddy. Yeah, the Rams have picked 19 in the first round. Then they have a second round pick, two third round picks, three fifth round picks, three fifth-round picks, three sixth-round picks. Sorry, four sixth-round picks. Oh, yeah. And nothing in seventh-round. That's less Snead, baby.

There's no worse misnomer than the F them picks thing because no one likes picks more than Les Snead. The guy makes 18 picks a draft class. They're just all – Just really late. Yeah, they're usually just like after 150. But like, hey, you find Pukunukuwa's and you go from there. It works out.

Yeah. I can see, you know, it's funny to say with McVay and all that, but a lot of investment in free agency on defense and then draft more receiving talent. You know, look, you got good play from Tutu Atwell and some of the smaller kind of auxiliary pieces on offense. But you are going to lose Cooper Cup. Unfortunately, Tyler Higbee, of course had that acl injury late in the year like i think i think i

think you draft for offense i signed for defense from them wait you're gonna lose cooper cup eventually oh are they like he's like he's not gonna play for eternity like he has like the infinity stones wow wait how old is cooper cup i don't know like 30. you said that like he's like retiring soon i mean i've never even that thought has never even crossed my mind how old is he he's 31 brother he's going to be 31 next year that's old damn is he yeah no yeah he was an older rookie out of eastern washington his game's timeless he's not going to retire he does his game will age pretty well. Yeah, that's fair. He'll have that like Golden Tate swag until he's like 35.

He's going to do the Jerry Rice thing where he's like playing. Because when did you – what was the last – how old was Jerry the last year he played? I think he was absurd. He was absurd. He was – no, 35, not 39. Like 35, 36, I want to say. I feel like he was older than that. No, I think actually the first guess may have been more right.

He was putting up numbers still too. Brother, you are way undershooting him. Okay, 39, the first guess? The last year that he played was 2004. He was 42 years old. Holy smokes. That's – He had a 1,200-yard season in 2002 as a 40-year-old.

You know what happened at the end of that season? Yeah, you're right. Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the world title. Just wanted to remind everybody. That's nuts. 39 and 40 years old. He had an 1,100-yard season and a 1,200-yard season. In 2003, the year after, he had 869 yards.

Not to disrespect another Bucs legend, that is – and Tom Brady is Tom Brady. That's way more impressive than what Tom Brady did. Am I crazy for saying that? Yes, because Tom Brady could still be playing today. He could, and it would be impressive. If his family life didn't go to hell behind him, I think he would actually still be playing today.

The next wide receiver that's 35 years old that has 800 receiving yards, when's the next time that happens? Cooper Cup. We're having a conversation. All right, Cooper Cup. Here I am. It's going to be Cooper Cup. No, sorry.

It's going to be Mike Evans because he's still going to be in the league. Everybody knows that if Mike Evans is in the league, it's 1,000 yards every time. No, but I genuinely believe that it could be Cooper Cup for the 035. Dude, remember we saw – Who's the oldest receiver right now who's like doing it? Like, dude, think about this. Think about this.

Julio Jones is wearing like obscure numbers that like the equipment department has to like make up on the fly. He's probably like 33. Julio Jones is – he's 34. Yeah, exactly. And Julio has not had a 1,000-yard season since 2019. Exactly. When he was 30, to give him credit. I stand by it.

Cut this, Richson. What Jerry Rice did was way more impressive than Tom Brady. Yeah, cut it out of the show, Richson. How old is Keenan Allen? Probably 32. He's got to be like 32 right yeah could keenan still do it could keenan still cook three years from now no i don't know yeah he could but again like jerry was oh no he's only 30 he's only 31 he's only 31 he's such a young young pup

but like jerry was still like long striding down the sideline in Seattle, just like cooking. That's wild. Damn, we're on a tangent here, but I got to – yeah, he's – Cooper Cupp is 30. He's about to go in his 31 years. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, and he's missed a lot of time with injury, man. Jerry Rice, when he was 42, played for Oakland and Seattle.

Yeah. Bro, he played 14 games. Yeah. It's insane. No, Bro, he played 14 games. Yeah. It's insane. No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's incorrect.

He played 17 games. He started 14 games. He played the extra game. He played 14 games. Yeah. He started 14 games when he was 42 years old. That's bananas. What an animal.

Their receivers right now, they're at 32, and people are like, this guy's cooked beyond belief. You basically put Cooper Cup in a morgue five minutes ago. No, no, no. You're ushering that guy into a coffin. Look, look. Cooper Cup, he's funky, hardworking, tenacious, workhorse, jackhammer. He's not going to play until he's 42. I'll tell you that right now.

You're trying to put the guy into a nursing home, dude. Oh, you know. I was at a separate Buccaneers 2002 tangent. Just think about Brad Johnson, the legend. I mean, how can you not? We saw Warren Scott at Radio Row. Dude, scary fella. He's got some interesting fits.

Yeah, and the haircut. He had the mohawk going. And most intimidating. Yeah, he's been rocking that a couple of the haircut he had like the mohawk going and most yeah he's been rocking that a couple years now that's fair enough but he won the mike variable the inaugural mike variable intimidating guy of the week uh was was was warren's out yeah no that's fair that's fair speaking of uh seattle seahawks legend jerry rice seahawks are the last team that we have here on this list uh what are the Seahawks doing? I'm just a little bit of change with Pete Carroll, no longer the head coach there in Seattle. A lot of changes in the coaching staff because of it.

You know, they have Geno Smith. Some people are like, nah, you got to get rid of him. You got to sign a young quarterback. I don't know, man. Geno's playing a really good ball. Where do you think that Seattle is right now? Do you think they're about to invest heavy in free agency or do you think they're more on the side of light and free agency?

Let's lean more towards the draft. They're in a bizarre spot. Let me read to you right now, Trevor. Let's see. One, two, three, four. I know we're all wrapping up here, but five, six. No, it's fine. Go ahead. The seven biggest cap hits, the seven cap hits above $10 million on the Seattle Seahawks are as follows. Eugene Smith, goodith good positive like him jamal adams probably not going to be there tyler lockett guess how old he is he's yeah probably 31 32 dk metcalf all right so hold on so preview gino jamal adams gone tyler lockett old good dk metcalf quandary digs probably 32, Draymond Jones, and Will Disley.

So you have like probably, I don't know, 60% of your salary cap tied into those seven players. And three of them are like borderline non-starters anymore. I always loved Quandre Diggs. He was not good last year. Anyway, so I don't think't know he's out of there jamal's got to get out of there no jamal's gone jamal's the most gone uh so yeah i mean like it's come on so i don't think they're gonna spend a ton i think they're gonna have to kind of just like let this youth movement they had all these extra draft capital the rust trade could not have

come at a better time like imagine they didn't trade them and they gave them an extension and we're like that team would be cheeks um so anyway yeah i think they're gonna be pretty quiet the dream out was a big splash last year didn't go particularly well i think you're just saying hey mike mcdonald let's get career years out of everyone just like you did in baltimore um and then maybe you know like interior offensive line because i mentioned evan brown at center um unlike jonah jackson a guy that i'm too high on the inverse is damian lewis the left guard at lsu who i loved his tape i thought he was a it was mean physical uh good good run blocker pretty good pass protector so anyway i'll be way off in

both of those two guys for those those curious yeah all right there we go that's it those are all the nfc teams that we have A little bit of a free agency primer for you with a draft scope that we're looking through that. If you guys have any takes on anything that I said or Brad said with free agent strategy or any of the draft strategy, let us know. Best way to get in on the show,

of course, the YouTube comments, youtube.com backslash at NFL Stock Exchange. If you are audio only, you can hit us up on X as well as Instagram. I'm at Tampa Bay trade. Brad, what's your, what's your Instagram handle?

Is the same as your Twitter handle? I don't have an Instagram. No, I don't have an Instagram. You're not on Instagram at all. Twitter guy. And then you can find me on the talk. I don't know.

My name is on there, but I'm on there. Yeah. What's the name on there? What's the name of the talk? I have no idea, but I'm firing off takes. No, it's just Twitter. PFF brad like i have an instagram uh social media

you know it's enough it's enough that's fair that's that's you know what i i do respect you so at pff brad uh or at sorry at pff underscore brad on twitter whatever he is on tiktok just just just search if you just search br, he'll obviously be the most famous Brad that comes up, so you'll be able to see it. He'll be on the top of the list. Brad and I are going to be back with you either tomorrow or the next day to talk about the AFC team. We're going to go through the same exercise. We're going

to give you guys the full scope of what you can expect to see in free agency that will supplement the draft. I'm Trevor Sycamore. That is Brad Spielberger. Thank you guys so much for watching and listening to the NFL stock exchange podcast. See you guys tomorrow. you