NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 24. Updated Team Needs Around The NFL After Free Agency Opening

Episode Date: March 17, 2022

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers go around the NFL and update the team needs following major splashes during the tampering period and the free agency opening. With each shift in need, they discuss who could be new draft options for certain teams in the first round, and how that could affect the rest of the draft.

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I got it this year. 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 NFL Stock Exchange podcast. In this episode, we are recapping everything that happened during the legally tampering period and in the early parts of free agency. Plenty of movement that

has happened in the NFL over these last couple of days. And a lot of draft needs have now changed for a ton of different teams. It not only affects those teams, but also it's a domino effect. You know how it goes. It's an avalanche that affects everything behind it as well. So there's so many different team needs and changes and players going here and there that we got to talk about all with a draft centric focus. I am Trevor Sycamore with me as always is Connor Rogers. Let's get after it. Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange podcast and a happy new league year to everyone out there as the NFL new league year has officially begun. That means free agency is officially underway. The tampering period is behind us, although the signings and the moves of that

have definitely impacted what we have seen early on in free agency. But Connor and I are back to talk about all of the moves that, honestly, happened since our last podcast. And there's a ton. It's an exciting league. We know there have been a lot of moves that we definitely get to, that we have to talk about. Not just the fits of these new players going to these new teams, but also and mainly what that does for the NFL draft, how team needs have changed, whether they've lost a player, signed a player. happened over the last 48 hours connor how we feeling man how is uh how's the sleep schedule how have you have your eyes dried out from refreshing your phone so much at this point

oh man this is this is uh death by screen time this week right this is by far the worst with screen time you just can't look at it you just can't look at it this week it's so easy no i will not i will not open up that notification apple go, go away. Absolutely not. I think, listen, it's been a pretty wild free agency because I feel like and maybe this is me just having recency bias, Trevor. But we've had so many big trades kind of start before this and trickle in and then trickle into this. And as we sit here, we do expect Deshaun Watson to be officially traded uh now what we're going to start with today is the Baker Mayfield situation which is kind of a trickle effect of the Watson situation there is I mean we went through Rodgers who returned to Green Bay but Russ who got moved yeah all of these crazy Carson Wentz getting traded all these crazy quarterback situations and now we have two

uh that are not small by any stretch of the means. Major implications, whether it's on the draft, on the team they go to, on the team they leave. And that's not what we're going to spend the entire show on today. We're going to look at the Ravens and the Raiders have done some really, really nice things since the last time we talked to everybody. This Wave 2 of free agency does not mean tier two of players. You could still get tier one players in wave two.

It's just a matter of who had a slower market. And we're going to talk about plenty more teams. So, man, I'm excited today because now we're starting to get a fully painted picture of what this free agency looks like. Yeah. Just to give you guys full transparency, we are recording this podcast at 7.50 p.m. Eastern time. And so if any moves break after we are done recording this podcast,

obviously you guys know why. Hey, if news breaks during this podcast, like you guys saw the Tom Brady news, you will hear and see our live reactions to that. So over the next hour, if Deshaun Watson gets traded, if Baker Mayfield gets traded, if a bunch of great dominoes fall, then we're going to be here

and we're going to make sure that we pivot from the rundown a little bit and make sure that we react to that. Before we dig into some of the main storylines that we're getting into with all of free agency, got to remind you guys that this is the best time to get a PFF subscription if you don't have one yet. We are covering free agency wall to wall over at PFF. We're giving you the list of everybody a full tracker broken down into positions teams who each teams have signed we're giving you grades

for all the signings just what pff does and if you don't have a subscription now you can get one for 25 off if you use the promo code nflse you don't only get that stuff for free agency but you also get the draft guide the fantasy football guide the in-season betting tools all that stuff so if you don't have a subscription get one now it's the perfect time to do it and get 25% off with that promo code NFLSE we got to start talking about quarterbacks Connor because we haven't talked about that over the last couple of shows and I think there are two that are clearly dominating all the headlines and all of our refreshing of the timeline and all of our refreshing of the timeline and that is Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson so who do you want to start with

talking about today because I think both of them are huge and could change the landscape depending on what happens with them over the next a couple of days maybe week at the most I think interestingly enough we start this conversation around Baker Mayfield. And I say that because I think there's less guessing in this situation and more looking back at what the heck has gone on in Cleveland, what's gone on with Baker, where when you look at the Watson situation, which we will get to in a moment, there's four obvious landing spots right now that can happen, Cleveland being one of them.

But no matter where that situation goes uh and closes at the baker mayfield situation in cleveland is essentially it seems like his days are over in cleveland and that feels like a thing that uh has been brewing between both sides it sounds like from all reports i think diana r Rossini said that it was not communicated to Baker that they were going to explore acquiring Deshaun Watson or pitch Deshaun Watson on waiving his no trade clause to go to Cleveland. And I think that, I mean, Trevor, you and I have covered the draft since obviously Baker Mayfield was the number one overall pick in that whole process. He is definitely an emotional guy, and that probably plays to his advantage at his best moments. And obviously, there's times where it boils over into, you know, obviously difficult moments as well. I think what I could say about Baker right now is he played hurt this year and judging him on what he did this year, in my opinion, is not fair.

I do understand why there are people that are probably out on Baker Mayfield ever being a star. I think a healthy Baker Mayfield in the right situation is a fine quarterback, a fine starting quarterback. And that is a tough thing to find in this league. And it seems like with Cleveland, they are not in a position where they want to commit to him long term they are you know kind of just riding the wave with him they're like can we upgrade and if we can then we don't really care and that has obviously led to a Baker Mayfield

that doesn't know what his future holds but if you read through the lines it's pretty obvious that he wants to be somewhere that's committing to him long term. And that is not going to be in Cleveland from all sides. Yeah, I think he's played his last down as a Cleveland Brown. I really do. This kind of information doesn't get out. And Baker Mayfield doesn't post that exactly on social media if he's ever playing for Cleveland again.

Like I know he said in the message, like whatever happens from here. But clearly these these sides are moving on clearly cleveland has had trade talks not just with deshaun watson with with what we have heard but also for other quarterbacks i'm sure that they've talked to san francisco about jimmy garoppolo i'm sure that they believe that that kind of a trade is possible for them maybe it's not priority number one but possible and they know that they can pull that trigger if they want to so you know we don't get to this point seeing this kinds of news if there's even a chance that baker plays for the browns next year it just it would be awkward it would be terrible it would be silly if that were to be the case so i think he's done i don't know where he plays next a lot of people think indianapolis you know something that was super

damning that i read that i read today chris mortensen he's an insider for espn obviously you guys if you're listening to this podcast you probably know him well he said the quote that the browns want an adult at qb that was the quote that he used and i don't think he came up with that out of thin air he talks to a lot of people he texts a lot of people i think someone specifically used that phrase when talking about Baker Mayfield, which is rough. I mean, that's a rough look just saying, oh, we want an adult at QB. Because here's the thing. You are right, Connor.

We covered Baker Mayfield in college. Covered Baker Mayfield in the NFL. He's always been this guy very emotional very fiery just someone who is really outgoing speaks his mind wears his heart on his sleeve if you will that's always been Baker Mayfield and the thing is Connor when you win with that person it's awesome oh man you love it you you i there there are some tweets there are some tweets from browns fans who like old tweets that got retweeted where people were saying like i would die for baker mayfield like i'd invite baker mayfield to my family like reunion like all

like the when you win with that guy it is the best feeling in the world. But when you lose with that guy, oh baby, can it turn on you really, really quickly? It's just, it's very volatile. The type of quarterback that Baker Mayfield is, is very volatile between winning and losing. We know that winning and losing already evokes a lot of emotion in NFL front offices and coaching staffs and fan bases especially. But with a quarterback that is like Baker baker it just multiplies at times 10 and so that's where i think where we are with cleveland and i

agree with you i don't think baker's the worst quarterback in the world i think that he played hurt last year and he tried to gut it out for the team now there's probably some stuff behind the scenes that maybe we don't know but i really do think that he is a decent quarterback who can be a starter in the nfl win you some fun games i really do think that he is a decent quarterback who can be a starter in the NFL, win you some fun games. I really do think that that is still on the cards for him. But clearly, they didn't win enough for him to be the way he is and survive. And I think that's just always going to be the Baker Mayfield story, whether it's in Cleveland or whatever his next team is going to be,

because I don't think he's changing I think that's always going to be who he is until he's done in the NFL I think the problem Trevor is in the you know in high school you can be that way right in college you can be that way I think in the NFL you are at some point going to lose. And at some point, there's going to be friction. And at some point, there is going to be tough times and disagreements with your coaching staff, maybe your wide receivers, maybe your offensive line. And I just think that as much as I've been a big Baker believer

since he was a prospect, I still am to this day. I do think there is a, there's two sides to this, right? I think Cleveland has botched this. Let me make that extremely clear. I don't personally understand this Deshaun Watson pursuit they're on. I think that clearly, the lack of communication to Baker is wrong. And it doesn't matter who it is, whoever their starter was, that's not how you do things. Okay? It's not how Atlanta did things

with Matt Ryan, and I know Matt Ryan is in a totally different stratosphere career-wise than Baker Mayfield, but you still don't do it that way. And I think on the flip side to Baker, not looking at this moment in a nutshell, because I think Baker is right here. I do think there are way too many times that Baker logs on and starts clapping back.

Listen, I'm not like Mr. Shut Up and Dribble. I'm the furthest thing from telling people to do that. But being the franchise quarterback requires a certain level of even keeled that more often than not, you can't be the guy on Instagram and Twitter trying to fight the world, while clearly there's been him trying to fight the world, I think, at times on the field. So I think this is a complicated situation that both sides are right, but Cleveland absolutely did wrong by him here.

And now, from a team-building perspective, let me get away from the human perspective and the fact that I think this was the wrong decision. What the hell is their leverage in trading Baker Mayfield? Baker Mayfield basically just announced he wants out. You went for Deshaun Watson. If you miss on that, you're telling me the options are Jimmy G or this quarterback class?

That's what you're sitting here and telling me? While you're probably not getting the return for a guy that was a former number one overall pick who it's tricky right Baker hasn't performed like a Burrow Mahomes Herbert Josh Allen but Baker when you do look at the numbers has Baker's not a bust in my eyes he's not a hit either we're still trying to figure it all out and I thought going and getting Amari Cooper maybe drafting a wide receiver at 13 was to answer that question and I am all for taking risk and upgrading a quarterback because that's what dictates a lot of your success in this league but it's got to be calculated and to me this was as

miscalculated as possible and that's why this is wrong from a team building perspective, from a human perspective. And it can, I know this is tough. Browns fans, I've been doing your rebuilds and stick to football. I have rooted for you. I think this turnaround has been amazing. This is a very, very difficult moment. And I don't believe in some big-time outcome here

that's overwhelmingly positive. Here's a question. You ready for this? Yeah. Do you think Washington knew Baker Mayfield was available when they traded for Wentz? No. So you don't think that they've been they've been shopping

baker behind the scenes for long you know he would have found out and it would and it would have went public because that's what that's what that's what i thought about today as the baker mainfield stuff was like swirling around and everything i'm like did washington choose wentz over baker because that's kind of crazy too like especially for the lack of leverage that it seems like the Browns have like that is that part's pretty crazy to me I've got to think that Cleveland has something in the bag with San Francisco I've got to think that because right now who makes the most sense as a quarterback for Indianapolis? Probably Jimmy Garoppolo.

Like maybe they think there's an outside chance they're going to get Matt Ryan. And obviously we can rope the Deshaun Watson situation into this now, I guess. But like, I also think to myself, why hasn't Indy essentially gotten Jimmy Garoppolo yet? If we all kind of are penciling that in, if that makes sense,

maybe they're not trading Jimmy to Indianapolis yet because they because the Browns front office has essentially told them do not trade Garoppolo yet if we can find a deal for Baker Mayfield we will outbid whoever is bidding with you we will outbid whoever it is so maybe that's why Jimmy hasn't been moved yet. This is all speculation. This is just me kind of like maybe putting together the puzzle pieces. If they are, maybe it's just clues, hands, whatever,

maybe I'm way off, but on the flip side, I don't, I don't know if Jimmy can pass a physical right now. Oh yeah. You might be right. Might be right. Maybe it is.

Maybe it is that kind of timing. That's another speculative, you know, take. That's true. That's right. I don't know. So, like, all right, we talked about Matt Ryan potentially going to

Indianapolis, which is nuts. And the reason we are is because the Deshaun Watson situation, which is insane in and of itself that we're even here talking about Deshaun Watson getting traded while there's over 20 civil suits against him still for what he is going through. And probably a lengthy suspension. Right. The NFL hasn't even fully gone over his case yet, and they're not going to until the civil suits get settled

or run their course or whatever it is. Like, it's insane to me that we are talking about Deshaun Watson this way. But we are. this is NFL news. And as of right now, he is deciding between the teams that are interested. I think the teams that he is said that he'd be interested in is Carolina, New Orleans, Cleveland,

and then Atlanta. Two of those teams made sense. I think Carolina obviously would love to get Deshaun Watson. I don't think he wants to go to Carolina. Everything that I've heard that's not fluff and hype has been that he does not want to go to Carolina. The New Orleans Saints kind of make sense because they've been a good team

and they have a decent roster, but brand new head coach, Sean Payton ain't there anymore, and the cap situation still kind of sucks. So I'm not sure he loves that situation. Atlanta should not be in this conversation at all whatsoever with Matt Ryan's contract. If they trade Matt Ryan, they have $40 million in dead cap because he didn't technically, the restructure on his contract didn't go through quite yet. And I think this is probably why.

And that didn't go through yet. And so he, it's still still it's 40 million dead cabins it's unheard of whether he's getting traded from atlanta to houston or maybe like to indianapolis and like a three-team deal or something like that's 40 million dollars how the only way that this is even on the table if you ask me is because deshaun who is from atlanta he's from georgia he's from gainesville georgia wants to play for the Falcons and personally reached out to the Falcons, which have clearly shown interest back in him.

And then the other team is obviously Cleveland. And so who knows? I think Cleveland, the report is that Cleveland, I guess, is telling him that this is the best place for him to go next, how they can help him take the next step in his career. I don't know, man. It all feels really gross. gross i mean they got to be rolling out the red carpet right you already fractured your relationship with your quarterback sure so those are the places i honestly think it's only going to come down to atlanta and cleveland i think that new orleans

is kind of like a sleeper at this point but i think they're third in the driver's seat if you will or in third place i don don't think Carolina is an option. I don't think Sean wants to go to Carolina. So dude, I guess Matt Ryan may be on the board now as a quarterback that could be moving, but that whole situation is also pretty crazy to me how that's possible. There's a lot to unpack here.

And I think what you have to also look at, wherever Watson goes and wherever he doesn't has major draft implications in this spot. Because realistically, when you look at this, Houston is, who's picking at three, is going to be holding another pick in the top 20. The Saints are at 18. The Browns are at 13 Atlanta's at eight Carolina's at six now why this is obviously complicated outside of the legal issues which once again this is not a an easy situation to discuss but I think we're at the point where we Trevor and I understand on the show that we we have to discuss it um the fact is he has to waive his no trade to go somewhere. And on the flip side, the Texans need to make sure the offer

from the place that he's waiving the no trade is adequate to their standards. So there might be a little bit of butting heads here where he's like, okay, I'll for atlanta and the texans are like uh how about no we're not taking on you know we don't want the players they have right when you look at it like i know there's been a lot going on from carolina where people think a player the caliber of brian burns can be in the deal right and if you're Houston I mean you can get a building block on defense and Brian Burns the sixth overall pick and more that to me is more enticing than you know the 18th pick a player a lesser player than Burns that so I think there's a lot of negotiations

that need to be handled away from whatever, just the team is offering and whatever team to Sean likes. So, and then once again, wherever he goes is where Houston has a chance to now double up in this draft where he, he doesn't go to Carolina,

right? Who's playing quarterback for the Panthers next year. Are you just, no, I mean, it's Darnold. And then it's who's, and then,

and then we're talking about who's going to be the head coach of the panthers after we have six so i don't think they could do i think you have to take malik willis or kenny pickett at six i'm not saying i would do that it depends right because whose job is at risk here that rules it's not scott fitterers right it's not fitterer's job i don't think fitterer's job is at risk as the gm i think it's only matt rule so who has final say think fitter his job is at risk as the gm i think it's only matt rule so who has final say on the draft board doesn't rule have roster control he does but i think that tepper has ultimate say in everything the owner in carolina and he's he's he's decently involved it's not like he's heavily involved like jerry jones is but like he's involved

tepper will step in and so if Tepper looks at this situation, which is why I'm very shocked that rule came back at all whatsoever. If Tepper looks at this situation and from what I was told, Carolina's kind of split right now, like fitter wants to basically not draft the quarterback and rule is basically like, I have to draft the quarterback. So if, if Tepper steps in, I think he's going to sign with Fitter. I don't think he's going to sign with Rule.

I don't know, man. Rule convinced him to give him the bag. I don't know. These are the sources. These are just the sources talking. These are the complications of the situation. Right. Okay, so even so, say Carolina does the smart thing,

which is essentially leaving Matt Rule hung out to dry and and taking a building block at six and kicking the quarterback can down the road and telling Matt Rule, Sam Darnold was your guy. It didn't work out. See you later. After 2022, a new coach comes in there with Fitterer and they have their number six overall pick. That was a non quarterback that works out. And then they go in the 2023 quarterback class of re-agency. That's obviously ideal for Carolina, but I am also looking at the panic side of things and say they take a quarterback.

Atlanta at eight. I actually think this one doesn't move that much because Matt Ryan would still be there, and they'll just keep building the team, and they're not going to panic. If they didn't panic on quarterback last year, they're not going to do it this year. They'll look at 2023.

They are picking a wide receiver at eight. Like they have Calvin Ridley, Russell Gage, right? Calvin Ridley is gone. And between when we recorded this podcast last and now Russell Gage signed with the Buccaneers. They quite literally have no one.

Quarterall patterson is a free agent i believe like they it's kyle pitts they literally only have kyle pitts that's kyle pitts and chad hansen right that's it eight eight is eight is eight is either them trading back or them drafting a wide receiver trading back and drafting a wide receiver or drafting a wide receiver at eight that's what the falcons are doing. Yeah. So that one's a little easier to figure out. The Browns at 13 now. I mean, they're not going to trade Baker for pocket change on the scale of what he's worth

and then draft a quarterback from this class. Dude, like you just mentioned, they're screwed. Oh, the leverage is gone. They're just screwed. Well, I mean, that's not true. It's a quarterback, right? I mean, we... But in comparison to what he should bring back.

I mean, he's getting at least a day two pick, right? Sure, but like, are you happy with a third round pick for Baker Mayfield? And Trevor might have to have conditions, so it might not be in this year's draft. Because you're... How do you trade Baker Mayfield without conditions? Like, what if he does go have a great season wherever he goes? It's going to be a wins deal.

It's going to be a wins deal. I think it has to be. It's definitely going to be a wins deal. Where does he go other than Indianapolis, though? I don't see anything. Carolina? The only thing. Carolina?

I don't see this happening at all, but I'm just trying to spitball for the sake of conversation and the show. Do they make a godfather offer to the Raiders? That's like a billion first-rounders for Carr and Baker. A billion first-rounders and Baker for Carr. You're saying essentially doing the Goff-Stafford deal, but with Baker and Carr. Yes, there you go. Yep, exactly.

Without Goff's money. I don't think you'd, yeah, I don't think you'd have to, well, but the problem is, even though he doesn't have Goff's money, the problem is you have to pay him. Poop or get off the pot. Right. It's the Sam Darnold problem last year.

Remember, they traded for him, and then they picked up the fifth-year option? Right. And now a year later, they're like, oh my God, why did we do this? Right, right. You're playing roulette. You're playing roulette.

I do love roulette. Yeah, well, I don't know if I like it at quarterback. When you're, okay, all right, side conversation for 30 seconds. Are you a casino guy at all? Like, do you go to casinos? Kind of and kind of not. Like, in a sense that i won't sit and play poker for hours like but you go but you go oh yes i have frequented casinos a lot because of the dgens that i hang out with okay what's the favorite game

what's what's the game what's your go-to game i would prefer roulette if i was if i am going to throw around money but i am also the guy that like last time i was in vegas was roulette if i was if i am going to throw around money but i am also the guy that like last time i was in vegas was for work and i was there for way too long i'll just sit in this i could sit in the sports book which is not as entertaining anymore because we have legal gambling in new jersey but back then it was i could sit in the sports book and watch like six baseball games during the day and make the most ridiculous home run bets and i'm content doing that while everyone else is playing slots cards roulette i love me some roulette i i will play blackjack as well but the last time i played blackjack it was a couple months ago at the east

west shrine in vegas and mike renner i hear this mike renner bullied me into sitting down at a table with him to play blackjack and he lost his money a lot quicker than i did and then you know how it goes the rest of your party's like yo we're hungry we want to leave and you still got money on the table and so you go okay fine i'll go i'll go all in and if i double up cool i'm cashing out if not i'm done and i got screwed in like one of the worst hands i've ever had ever so um yeah i'm fully on i'm fully i'm fully can't do that you you did the team player thing but you can't do that that's you got screwed and you're a team player you're a team player i blame i blame renner as i do for most things okay let's let's

talk about some of these signings that we've had over the last 48 hours some of these free agent classes if you will that some of these teams are building. And I want to start with the Baltimore Ravens, dude, because when you look at their three top guys that they have signed during the tampering period and here in free agency, you got Marcus Williams, you got offensive tackle Morgan Moses,

and you got pass rushers Zedaria Smith coming home, if you will, the team that drafted them. Dude, this is a great execution of a free agency plan for the numbers they got these guys on and the impact players they got because they pick it number 14 in the first round and they are completely free right now they're their options of 14 are vast and wide to pick whatever the best player they believe is on the board and i think this is one of the best uh free agent classes that we've seen so far think this is one of the best uh free agent classes that we've seen so far dude this is this is the way to do it right here when you're not going to

go out and you know you don't you're gonna have to pay lamar right so i think they're factoring into that that into their spending have to so they're being responsible but they also weren't scared right they weren't playing with scared money. They went out and got, to me, Marcus Williams was one of the rare difference makers on this market because his skillset, to me, was unique in a sense that his single high ability and the ability to make a play on the football or take away the football is not easy to find,

and that is the kind of guy you're going to pay if you're going to pay a safety, and they went out and did that, right? they went out and found a way to get that done for a 25 year old who i think can get even better in baltimore which is a trend with a lot of baltimore free agents morgan moses if you need somebody to tell you about morgan moses listen he was just obviously a new york jet for this year on a low cost deal trying to remake his market after being a late cut in june morgan Morgan Moses is three years, 15 million. Number one is insane. This guy is at a minimum in average starting tackle.

You prefer him on the right side. He can get by in a pinch on the left side for three years, 15 million. That is a significant underpay for Morgan Moses. He is an iron man. He never misses a game. He's willing to play hurt. He's a locker room leader. He's great for the younger offensive lineman. He's got some nasty in his game. Like I said, he's not this elite offensive lineman, but he is absolutely a average to above average starter that's being paid like a swing tackle, right? That's a great deal. It's an amazing deal and he also fits their drive blocking need that they love in that run game that he fits that better than when

this wide zone scheme he was playing with the jets and then zadarius going back there for four years 35 you said it at the top trevor before you and i even hit the record button that seems like a really really good deal for both sides foredarius to go back to a place. He's familiar. They're not paying him an unbelievable amount of cash. Yes. You always worry about back injuries long-term, but the upside of that deal,

which him in a way rushing is so exciting. So the Ravens really found a way to maximize talent and maximize the budget they had for this free agency. So what are we thinking of 14 i i automatically go to defense tackle right i think they're still old on the interior they've got some edge they've got obviously zedaria smith now they've got out of aoe they have tyus bowser so now i mean like davante wyatt jordan davis essentially like pick your georgia defender right there for the ravens that's where my mind goes immediately of what could be the main target for him at 14.

Jordan Davis is one that makes a lot of sense because they have no problem drafting the largest, most athletic humans they can find. That's like a Baltimore trend like no other. You've seen it trickle for the guys that leave Baltimore to go work somewhere else. They do the same thing. So Jordan Davis wouldn't surprise me. I also wonder if this is a team that looks at the injuries they had at corner last year and they say, okay, we, we do need another corner in here and we're willing to take the risk.

Like if sauce fell here and he won't sauce would be gone in a minute for them. Uh, do they take the risk on Stingley? I think this is where Stingley's conversation starts, which might surprise some people. I think this is where this isley's conversation starts, which might surprise some people. I think this is where this is the first place he can go. But yeah, Trevor, I think Jordan Davis, that's kind of a hotspot for him right there. Unless something we really don't talk, this is kind of odd that we don't talk about this.

And I will take the blame just as much as anybody. Isn't it kind of odd how we don't, we talk about getting like a billion weapons for mahomes herbert burrow josh allen but we don't do that with lamar i that's just an odd thing where you know and i know they drafted bateman in the first round last year i get i'm not being oblivious to that but that's one guy so you got mark andrews rashad bateman hollywood brown's been a little bit up and down this team needs another wide receiver and it's gone very quiet that's true now now i'm thinking about jameson williams and purple and black

jameson drake london garrett wilson if he makes it there probably not probably not going to make it there like chris Olave, maybe even. They all fit. Don't hate it. They all fit. I do not hate it at all. That's not the only AFC team we're talking about because holy cow did the AFC get a lot more talented

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We're staying in the AFC. And I'm switching the rundown a little bit. I know I have another team up here that we were going to talk about next. But with the Ravens being a team that I think did a lot of really great things at free agency, looks like they could be poised again for a division title. I know Bengals fans, you guys are right there as well. Dude, Buffalo, man. Buffalo is just, I mean.

Wagon. They're going all freaking in, man. Signed Roger Southfold along the offensive line. Got themselves Tim Settle and Daquan Jones. And then they continue to beef up the defensive line with von freaking miller now though von miller's contract wasn't the six year 120 million dollar deal that his agent leaked out there that all of us kind of were forced to read at the beginning it's more like a three-year 50 million dollar deal this is incredible every time it's just you know what you know what i'm thankful for i'm thankful that we're all seeing

through that right like we're at a point in time where when a deal gets announced and somebody tweets out the numbers the timeline is now self-aware enough to be like okay that's agent speak like what's the real deal yes collectively like what is what's the what's the guaranteed money tell us how long the contract actually is don't give us this wow look my client signed for Like what's the real deal? Yes, collectively. Like what is, what's the guaranteed money? Tell us how long the contract actually is. Don't give us this, wow, look, my client signed for 120 million. You know, so I just, I think that we as a timeline society have evolved in that way. And I'm proud of you guys for that.

I really am. But the Bills, man, extremely talented. The Bills were my AFC champion pick last last year i think that if the overtime rules were different i think but they're not could have been the possibility they're not yet they're not yet i have faith in humanity see the titans proposal yes it's i almost said the f word yes it's stupid no it's not it's stupid it's stupid no no no no no no no no no no no no no we are not doing gimmicky as hell i love it not doing this it's fun crap you can do whatever the f you want in the regular season okay i don't give a crap what you do in the regular season i know

those games matter but in the playoffs football settles football games none of this mini game bullcrap if you score a touchdown on the first possession and you go for two why does that make how does that make it any more or less no it creates a moment i don't care It's like overtime hockey. Three on three. Listen, listen. Okay. Greatest thing in sports.

Greatest thing in sports. Three on three is fun for the regular season. You're right. That's fair. And in the playoffs, you know what they do? More hockey, baby. Until somebody on the ice passes out and dies. So if it was during the regular season, you're okay with it?

I'm not going to pick up my sword and fight that battle in the regular season. He's not going Jon Snow. I'm not Jon Snow, Battle of the Bastards, taking on a whole army. If you want to do that in the regular season, that is fine. I am firmly of the belief that absolutely every team, each team, I should say, deserves to get a possession. They made the playoffs. They scored the same amount of points as the other team did during the regulation period. They deserve to get the ball once.

And if Kansas City goes and they march down and they score, and Buffalo gets the ball and they deserve to get the ball once and if kansas city goes and they march down and they score and buffalo gets the ball and then they march down and score and then kansas city marches down and they score fine don't care i don't care after that because at least you let the other team touch the ball and at that point yes defense matters you need to play enough defense to at least stop a team from scoring twice in a row. And if you can't do that in an overtime period, I'm okay with that. That is more fair to me than having a heads or tails coin toss determine one mega offense going down the field,

an offensive league going down the field. I have just gone so far off the rails, and I'm sorry. I apologize to everybody for this. All of this to say, no, I'm loving this. this gives me a chance to get in a take that i would never be able to fit in on any other show if i was a head head coach or a gm of the nfl yes i would allot a spot on my coaching staff just called the two-point specialist i would have a coach on the staff that his job is literally to just help work with the OC to draw up the designs for the two point plays for the entire season and study every analytical trend of what's most successful for that team in the two point conversion window. I mean, I think this is a good idea.

Whether or not that would be in the overtime rules. I think that's a good idea. It's becoming a bigger part of football. Honestly. and the overtime rules, I think that's a good idea. It's becoming a bigger part of football, honestly. Well, I mean, you know, when, look, two-point conversions are just intensified red zone tries, right? And red zone, we call them the quote-unquote money area of the field. The goal line package.

Right, cashing in on that. So, dude, I actually really like that take. It's a good take. Yeah. I mean, the owners have more money than God. Spend the $300,000 a year on the two-point specialist. Okay, so Buffalo is stacked. Yeah, let's get back on track.

Buffalo is stacked. They got Roger Stafford. They got Von Miller. This is one of the most talented teams in the NFL, no doubt about it. I think they're Super Bowl favorites now. If not, then they're number two. They're right there.

I think they're AFC favorites, comfortably, in they're number two they're right there i think they're afc favorites comfortably in my eyes okay okay and then so they're they are drafting late first round i'm thinking corner has to be the move here now right because they had levi wallace levi wallace ends up going to the steelers they got to get a corner too man yeah you're right and i you know when i i when i look at mock drafts and everything i don't know who's going to be there i think their two main targets should be kairi elam and andrew booth i think the other guys that might be ahead of him i think you're going to be off the board but what do you think about those two names what do you think my hype about my hypothesis there i'm curious to see how they would view elam in their scheme that is so zone

heavy that's so off heavy like right with it yeah I genuinely don't know I think my my concern with Elam is he has the bot like a safety body type to be a good tackler and he's just not a good tackler I really don't understand so I think that for the bills would might be a deal breaker but if you think that you can fix that issue then that's a conversation Boothoth is scheme-proof in my eyes. I actually think he'd be better in zone, so I think that's a really good fit. Obviously, you would pray McDuffie falls to them. Oh, that's it.

Yeah, they would love that. It's not going to happen. Kyler Gordon is a good fit, but I think that's a little early for him. They're kind of in no man's land, to be honest with you, Trevor. I think that's a little early for him. They're kind of in no man's land, to be honest with you, Trevor. I think that's the tough part for them. When you look at this corner class, is that they're probably going to miss on the big three at the top, and then you're reaching a little.

So they are in a unique position, and I do think it's a position they have to get better at. And then you could also look at them and go, they're not perfect on the offensive line right now. They have had some turnover there. They did a good job keeping Mitch Morrison house. Roger Saffold has quietly been trending the wrong way in play for a while, especially in pass pro.

So I'm a little concerned about that, where I wouldn't entirely rule out if a good one fell to them, like a Zion Johnson. Is that something that you consider because he has tackle flexibility and can play guard but i think you're on it i think that position wise corner makes the most sense of the bills now that they got their big fish up front to rush the passer bills have a second round pick right there's no reason they wouldn't have a second but yeah they got a first and second they're sitting very very very pretty right now all right so how do we feel about maybe trading back early second round getting kyler gordon and then somehow also coming away with darian canard how do we feel yeah i love

it i think that makes a ton of sense we just solved the bills there we go uh another afc team that i wanted to highlight the las vegas raiders they made a huge splash not just by signing Chandler Jones getting him away from the Arizona Cardinals but also then trading Yannick Ngakwe for Rakia Sin over to the Indianapolis Colts so they a little bit of an addressing their corner needs which they have and then making an upgraded pass rusher I guess you know Yannick Ngakwe had a great year last year, but he's not Chandler Jones. So I think you make an upgraded pass rusher and you get yourself a corner that hopefully they like. I think that this is a really solid opening of free agency for the Vegas Raiders.

But I think this also means that it's got to be offensive line for them in the early 20s in the first round, right? That's got to be where they're looking. Yeah, it's a hole for them right now, unless they can be one of those teams to get in on the Lyle Collins sweepstakes when that opens up right I think that's gonna that's gonna help one of those I I think I saw Brandon Thorne might have tweeted this that every team in that division needs a right tackle I could have swore I saw that somewhere on the timeline today and the Broncos definitely do obviously the Chargers um you know when you look at the Raiders they're going to need offensive line help as well I still think the Raiders really need speed at wide receiver and I know that's stating the obvious

but I think they need a field stretcher when you look at what Josh McDaniels is going to do when he gets in there is you know they're going to want to open up they're going to want to develop a run game and throw off play action from that run game. And if you don't have somebody that can come in and stretch the field, those safeties are going to start cheating down on you. So I wonder how they'll value, you know, Alave, Jahan Dotson, interior defensive line is in play for them. Although I'm not sure Devontae Wyatt is there. I think that would be a lot of fun having Devontae Wyatt in the middle with Chandler Jones, Max Crosby. And let's not forget, they have a new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham there, who might have obviously saw Chandler Jones as a significant upgrade and better fit than Yannick Ngakwe.

And Rakia Sin, who did not really have a good start to his career in Indy, I think flashed a little bit last year at times. We'll see what he can do uh you know coming in there because this is a team that's needed corner help really badly and they think they got at least a serviceable starter that is trending the right way yeah i look at you know canyon green i think this is definitely a landing spot for canyon good call yes a potential right guard right tackle kind of a player who might be able to fill a variety of different spots for you so um i think that's kind of manifesting i agree with a lot of the the points that you made about certain targets and where they could be looking but um yeah that's

just kind of a roundup for the raiders who change things around a little bit and i think that's an update of their team needs staying in the afc before we pop over to the nfc titan sea titans you know they were the team that released roger saffold who we talked about now being on the buffalo pills they also released janoris jenkins who just is not the same player that he once was and also released julio jones now julio jones released and battled through a lot of injuries did not get a lot of production out of his time in tennessee you know they traded a second and a sixth round pick for him to get him from atlanta and he just he wasn't as available as they wanted him to be and i think

mike variable made that very clear without necessarily saying those words that he didn't like the fact that julio jones just couldn't practice you know julio could rest himself up enough to gut it out on game day but he just you can't practice, you don't get the timing down. Even for experienced guys, man, it's important. Julio Jones, not only did he not play in enough games, he didn't practice enough. I think that him hitting the market is an interesting piece. I don't know if it's going to warrant the name Julio Jones

like we all grew up and thought that it would. But I think for the Titans in the first round, I think that this is still a spot where they could certainly go offensive line. But them, like the Falcons, have no one outside of A.J. Brown. I mean, that is it for receivers. And this is a team that was the number one seed in the AFC last year. This is a team that believes they're in a winning window that needs to compete. And I know Julio Jones didn't give him a ton, but man, they need something. They need somebody to give

him something. So I'm looking at wide receiver here at 26 for the Titans too. I think so too, but I don't think that's a good spot. It might, maybe it's Christian Watson, right? I think we start talking about Christian Watson there. We know know size speed um i just ability to they would love that yeah yo yeah i've heard uh i've heard uh you know prospect last year when it was all facetime interviews got on with vrabel an offensive prospect and they said nobody like grilled that nobody grilled them harder on run blocking than Mike Rabel. Like a total animal. Like just ripped into this kid, essentially. I mean, whatever.

And it was like, he was pissed. He was just like, yeah, out of all the FaceTime interviews I had, that was the one where it was just total, I'm getting chewed out about run blocking. So keep that in mind for Tennessee coach yet you're not even your coach yet you're just getting ripped a new one on run blocking from Mike Rabel on FaceTime you're on your cell phone like I don't need to pick this up but you do um so yeah that's something that's a little nugget but yeah man I think that you're right I think you know

I've kind of preached something recently because obviously, you know, the side work I do, a lot of Jets fans have asked me, you know, like, let's trade out a 10. And I'm like, yeah, I get it. But I think if you're one of those teams in the top 20 and you need a receiver really badly, you got to be a run probably from eight with Atlanta to 22 with the Raiders. Six receivers can go off the board. Eight to 22. I mean, just look at the landing spots.

You've got the Falcons there. You have the Jets, the Commanders, even Adam. I know the Vikings aren't going to do this, but Adam Thielen's getting up there. The Browns. We just talked about the Ravens.

The Eagles. The Chargers. The Saints. The Patriots. The Raiders. All of them. It's insane. So maybe what we're not talking about enough in this draft is,

because there's no quarterback love going on, which one of the Titans, Bucks, Packers, Chiefs are going to come up to get a player that they really like? Because they look at the end of round one and they go, we don't need to carry a big rookie class into camp this year. We'll package our two with our one, and we'll go up and we'll get in the mix so we don't miss the party no i don't hate it man i mean i think that's that's what teams do especially in the afc that is just loaded right now i mean like the talent in the afc is just crazy i i tweeted on uh earlier

today just kind of joking saying like oh russ is out of the nfc von amari randy gregory uh marcus williams khalil mac like all of these zadaria smith all these good players were once in the nfc and now they are not they are over somewhere in the afc and so it's just the gap of talent at the top between the two conferences is growing, it seems, by the day when this free agency is going by. So there's no doubt if you're in the AFC, you can't just sit back. You've really got to attack what you believe is going to make you a contender, especially for a team like the Titans that puts them in a winning window.

I don't know, a couple of parting shots before we get out of here i mean uh i know if bucks fans are listening they signed russell gage and uh they somehow okay for sure we're not going anywhere we're not going anywhere okay this is the the sock exchange exchange uh like toasting on a yacht because i got shaq mason out of the afc east for pennies and trevor got shaq mason on the bucks so there was like double champagne toast right here when this trade happened dude what the hell is this i dude so here's the thing shaq mason is replacing okay like one of either ali marpet or um Alex Kappa but Ali Marpet retired so you couldn't retain Ali Marpet so he's essentially replacing the money that you would have given to Alex Kappa Shaq Mason they're paying Shaq Mason less money than they would have paid

Alex Kappa in free agency he's making less money than Alex Kappa is it's absurd it doesn't make any sense man this dude's been one of the best guards in football over the last four to five years. Oh, he's a killer. He's incredible, and he's exactly what the Bucs want. He's a power offensive lineman. That's what they play. That's their whole style. Their power blocking

scheme. So you put him next to Ryan Jensen, and holy cow, you were moving earth. Y'all, I swear to God, y'all better pray that Zion Johnson does not make it to 27, because if so the Bucks offensive line at one point looked like it was going to be Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs and a bunch of unknowns in, in, in the middle blocking for Kyle Trask. And now it's Donovan Smith, Jack Mason, Brian Jensen, Zion Johnson, and Tristan Wirth blocking for Tom Brady.

Like, I've never seen a turnaround like that before. Oh, my God. So, an unbelievable job by Jason Light and director of recruiting in Tampa Bay, Tom Brady. So, I mean, they've done an incredible job there. I don't think the Jets didn't make a ton of moves over the last 48 hours. Did they, I feel like we hit a lot of the Jets moves early on. We hit a lot of the Jets moves early on as we were doing the show,

they signed Tyler Conklin. So they went from the worst tight end room I've might've ever seen in the NFL history to CJ Uzama and Tyler Conklin, which is, you know, you're trying to get to average okay uh so it's getting better one thing i did want to get into the show because it happened while we're recording or is happening and i want to make sure i credit this rightly ben gosling um who covers the vikings for the star tribune said the vikings as they try to sort out their cap situation, sources continue to say they've been trying to trade Daniil Hunter. That's massive right now.

Hunter has a $25.83 million cap figure. The Vikings need to clear space to make their new deals official. Extending Cousins to trade your best defensive player is... Why did they extend Cousins? I don't know. Because it's not cap relief. The whole deal is guaranteed.

It's quarterback purgatory is what it is. They're not moving money, right? I didn't see any of that. No, if that happened, we'll apologize now, but I haven't seen that. There's not void years on it. You're not allocating money. It's not all in a bonus. My take on the hunter situation the problem with it is for minnesota is

yes he's played seven games in the last two years so i know you can't have this conversation without starting with that but he's 27 and he's not turning 28 till halfway through the season when he's healthy he is one of the best defensive players in football at one of the most important positions in football and i i honestly think trevor and maybe by the time people are listening this show i was already wrong i don't think you're getting the return for him that really is warranted of the player he is i don't think you get a first round pick for daniel hunter right now personally which he's good enough to be oh my god you know look at what people are paying to get Chandler Jones, to get Von Miller.

Aiden Hutchinson's going to go number one overall. Edge Pass Rush is the defensive quarterback. How do you stop quarterback? You go after the quarterback. If Daniel Hunter can check out medically, man, that's going to be the next bomb on the old Twitter timeline. Man, what a strange time. before we get out of here a couple of guys who have not signed yet who of course the second this podcast gets over i'm probably gonna sign uh

taron armstead is still out there tyron matthew is still out there alan robinson odell beckham jr bobby wagner jadavian clowny stefan gilmore i saw some uh saw some talk of stefan gilmore maybe in san francisco i don't i never know what's going on with alan chavarrius ward oh yeah they did they did so i don't know if they have the money now i just saw people talking about it so i'm sure they're interested but i don't know if they'll be able to make the money work der Teron Armstead is interesting. How many times has a franchise left tackle make it to the market still in his prime

and sit on the market? I haven't heard a peep about him. Not a peep. We haven't heard one interested. Honestly, I thought he'd be a Miami Dolphin in the first hour of free agency. That's what I thought. What be, honestly, I thought he'd be a Miami Dolphin in the first hour of free agency. That's what I thought. What? Yeah, I mean...

Unless he wants to go back to New Orleans and they're trying to figure out the money. All right, so yesterday, Mike Triplett, who covers the Saints, said, left tackle Teron Armstead remains unsigned. It's possible his chance of staying could be linked to the pursuit of Deshaun Watson. So maybe he's waiting.

And like if Deshaun goes to New Orleans, he's going to resign in New Orleans. Because it's not like it's it's it's not like whoever is interested in Teron Armstead. Won't be interested in Teron Armstead in like two days, you know? Yes, because there's no other Teron Armstead in like two days, you know? Yes, because there's no other Teron Armstead. Right. Like even teams that are signing tackles, I feel like if Armstead's in your mix, you're probably going to wait and see if you can sign him.

So maybe that's why. Answer me this, and you don't have to because there is no answer. The Saints can take on Deshaun Watson's money and then give a mega deal to their left tackle? The Saints? The salary cap's not fake. It's starting to annoy me how people keep saying this. It's manipulated.

It's to keep the wolf of wall street theme going like you know what fugazi is fugazi yeah it's exactly it that's exactly it doesn't exist doesn't exist it's not in the elemental chart it's not effing real that's how that's how the saints operate that's how the new orleans saints operate so look man your guess is good as my god well fun free agency dude that was that was a ton of fun i mean like i i enjoyed this podcast i cannot wait for the second we hit and record all of these dudes to either get traded or get signed in our entire conversation we're gonna get like negative views on this show so if you watch if you watched or listen to this podcast

even after some of those dominoes fell, you're a real one. We, we, we really do appreciate you. You are, you are truly a diehard of the podcast and we really appreciate that. No,

but it's dude, it's been fun. I mean, we're not going to title it. Like where does the Sean Watson land? Or now I'm not. Now that you said that. No,

no. So you might, you might actually still be here by accident you're pissed that you got hoodwinked right into listening to this whole show and it's 24 hours behind uh so if that happened to you i'm sorry and i hope you return for mock draft monday no so okay what's gonna happen is i'm gonna title the show where will deshaun watson and baker mayfield land and then if they get moved i'm gonna tell our producer stone to just change the title of the show to just like i don't know free agency talk

or yeah yeah deshaun watson baker mayfield daniel hunter uh new homes oh it's done baby that's how the business is done. Pod veterans over here. We've been in this game too long. Connor touched on it there. We are going to be back with you guys on a Monday morning, putting a lot of this talk into action. So we have talked about a lot of the big time changing needs for a ton of these teams on Monday's episode, Tuesday's episode, and today's episode as well.

We're going to now take all of that and much more what we're going to find out over the next couple of days in the weekend and roll it all into a ball, put it in a nice gift wrap present and hand it to you guys and title it a mock draft Monday, a post free agency mock draft Monday. There's going to be some big time shakeups and it always is. This is the time of year where the mock draft that we're going to put out on Monday is going to look different. I almost say drastically different, but I don't want to be too over the top, but it's almost drastically different.

I think so. Than any mock that you are going to see. Don't miss it. Thanks for listening to the NFL Stock Exchange. We will see you on Monday. Bye.