NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 240. How Early Wave of Free Agency Changed The 2024 NFL Draft

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers give you their takes on how the early moves in free agency have changed team needs and how they think the 2024 NFL Draft will go

This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all got back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better. With NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place, every game, every Sunday. And you can even watch up to four different games at once with MultiView, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also, YouTube TV is great. 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're in the middle of free agency.

So we had to give you our updated draft thoughts. How free agency has already shaped what we believe is happening in the 2024 NFL draft. We got plenty of quarterback movement, a lot of stuff to talk about in the top 10, the top 15, and then beyond the first round as well. I'm Trevor Sycamore. With me as always is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast. I'm Trevor Siklman. That is Connor Rogers.

Joining you guys in the thick of it, right in the middle. I mean, we've got an absolute war going on in the NFL right now for it seems like every single free agency talent there is. So we wanted to give you guys our early reactions for it. We're going to have a couple of episodes for you this week. Give you our draft reactions for it. We're going to have a couple of episodes for you this week, give you our draft reactions to free agency. And as the title of this episode is, is correctly labeled how free agency affects the 2024 NFL draft.

Connor, we're only a couple of days into this bad boy, the legally, the legal tampering period, if you will, but we already got some moves that we can't wait until the next mock draft to talk about it, man. You text me and you're like, can we do an episode today? And I was like, all right, we were going to wait a little bit, but I was like, all right, you're right. I'm itching to do it as well. We got to make it happen. So how are you doing,

my friend? Wild week already. It really is. I'm good. The thing why this week is so hard to plan is you don't know what's going to happen and how fast it will happen. We knew these guys were going to find homes. It's not like the baseball off season where it goes on for months. The NFL, what's fun about it is before contracts can actually be signed, there's a 40 something hour period where all these verbal agreements are made and it makes teams operate with a lot of urgency. But you and I have a draft channel. We talk about the draft all year round.

We do. And as much as we love the NFL and we could cover the NFL like 8 million other people do, we care about the ramifications on the draft because it makes our mock drafts more clear and concise. It makes our conversations more clear and concise. So we're looking at things like where is Kirk Cousins going to go? Who's going to sign bridge quarterbacks? How is this wide receiver market and offensive line market going to take shape? And the reason I texted you one day after free agency was,

we got a couple answers to things that are top of mind if you're a fan of the draft or if you're a fan of a team that's picking really early, to be quite honest with you. Yeah, the big question around all the mock drafts that we've done up to this point, even as we've gotten to solidify our analysis we have the all-star circuit we've got um the combine as well like we're pretty solid in our analysis of these players it's just where do we think they're going to go at this point and free agency is when you really start to learn a lot of that and the question marks that we've had the biggest ones the loudest ones the ones that are in bold are what happens at quarterback every single mock draft that we have done has been like well there's not enough quarterbacks and free agency so what are they going to do in the draft who's

going to be more desperate now we got some answers to those questions so i think we should just dive into it right there you know we'll talk about some of our favorite signings obviously we won't touch on every team but i want to let you guys know this is episode one of two episodes that we are doing this week. So we'll probably hit more of the quarterback centric, major top of the draft changes. And then we'll get into some of the other little signings and the things that they've changed probably in the second episode. But let's start with Kirk Cousins. We got to start with Kirk Cousins because he signs with the Atlanta Falcons. It's a-year 180 million dollar deal and even though it's I think effectively just a two-year deal Connor to me this takes the Falcons completely out of

quarterback not just in number eight but it feels like in this draft at all whatsoever so what kind of a domino was this for you did you feel like Atlanta was going to be the ultimate landing spot for him? What were the odds of that? And then what do you think this ripple effect does? And I think we'll take the conversation from there. A couple of things. One, it felt like it was trending this way when Cousins didn't get anything done pre-free agency because everybody kind of had a feeling Arthur Blank at the top has had enough of what he's had to watch

under center for that franchise that quietly has a good roster. We talk about this all the time with Atlanta. The defense has been supplemented by veteran additions recently. They are one of the rare teams that you look at the starting five on the offensive line on paper and go, yep, they have weapons that have, I don't even almost want to say underperformed. They've been underutilized. That's a better word. Right. I think Pitts has not been the player we hoped for,

but also underutilized. Bijan and Drake London, I think, are very good talents that are ready to explode in this offense. They were a team that just made a ton of sense to pay whatever the asking price was kirk cousins the ultimate bag collector gets his guarantee it's just unbelievable what the man has done it truly is it truly is i mean he might have enough money by the end of this thing to buy

the next expansion nfl franchise is mccarthy his agent i think mccarthy's his agent he is because he always tweets out when the deal is done dude Dude, I mean. Yeah. Phenomenal job with even just, he could, McCarthy just makes a career out of Kirk Cousins, honestly. So, unbelievable. He's got, the agency has a boat. Like, we always want a boat for the podcast. That agency has a boat that is named The Cousins. The Cousins. Yeah, and there's probably The Cousins 2 and 3 on top of that.

So, I mean, this is huge for Atlanta. They're going to be good. Yeah. And I think that the biggest thing for us is at eight, you could talk about Atlanta being a team to move up like we have. Now the conversation goes, is eight an entry point in this draft? Does Atlanta answer the phone and go? And Atlanta could go a lot of different ways.

We've looked at pass rusher for them for a while they signed Darnell Mooney to pretty good money I remember I was like they need a vertical threat so bad I gave them Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round you did and now they go get Darnell Mooney so they have that vertical threat in the offense they're a team that at eight why wouldn't you answer the phone and still get your edge rusher when you move back get one of the top edges when you move back. Because let's say somebody has to fall to eight, I think, out of it's not going to be Caleb Williams. It's probably not going to be Jaden Daniels. Then you talk about Drake May and JJ McCarthy. That might be a spot where a team comes in and wants a quarterback.

That might be a spot where a team comes in and wants to jump. That might be a spot where a team comes in and wants to jump the jets for a tackle. There's a lot going on there. So I think Atlanta, man, the way they enhance their flexibility, the Kirk cousins in a nutshell, great move,

but the trickle effect of it is just as great for this franchise. Yeah. Well, they did what they were supposed to do, right? I mean, you go get the quarterback, you know I mean, you go get the quarterback, you go get Darnell Mooney,

who I think they kind of overpaid for Mooney, but clearly they're just trying to get their needs filled so that they can have, like you mentioned, the ultimate flexibility in number eight. And when I look at the draft order now, I do, I agree with you. I think that four is a point of entry. Five is a point of entry. Eight is a point of entry when it comes to jumping up into the top 10. Now that could be a

quarterback or it could be for another position too, right? When you talk about eight, you're not just talking about the flexibility to move back out of number eight. If there's a quarterback that falls, what if Joel happens to fall? What if Marvin Harrison Jr. happens to fall what if marvin harrison jr happens to fall a malik neighbors or romo dunze something like that so there are plenty of options that the falcons could now have that entice teams outside of the top 10 that might want to jump up and i think that now like you mentioned they really are in a place where they're kind of the gateway, if you will. You know, they're the colossus of roads in front of the city when it comes to one of these really good prospects in the NFL draft there at number eight.

Because I don't know how flexible a team other than the Chargers at number five are going to be. But even then, if you're looking at teams that might want to trade up, I mean, we talked about this in the most recent mock draft, maybe the jets just want to move up two spots, right? Jets probably don't want to give up what you've got to give up to go to

number four or five. Yeah, no, but they could realistically do it at eight. Right. Right. You get one of these other teams, you know,

like how all in his new Orleans want to be, does, does Indianapolis get one of these other teams, you know, like how all in does New Orleans want to be? Does, does Indianapolis want to go get CB one, make sure they go get CB one, right? I mean, does Jacksonville want to try to make a big splash? Like these teams that are outside of the top 10. Now, all of a sudden you don't have to necessarily look at four and five as the price points. Cause I feel, I feel like it's tough to believe that the giants at six and the Titans at seven would want to move. Those are teams that think they're at the point where they got to get a really good football player. And I think there's going to be one on the board, so I don't think that they move. But yeah, I mean, Atlanta is a really interesting spot there with Kirk Cousins

in hand, how the draft seems to, I don't want to say be centered around them, but it's a major pinch point. Like I said, I agree with you. I think it's an entryway into the top 10 that we maybe didn't see before Kirk got there. And then the ultimate one, of course, is now New England at three is just more of a wild card than ever. They get Jacoby Brissett, which I think was the right move.

Somebody, a professional that was the right move. Somebody that, a professional that can hold the fort. It doesn't take them out of drafting a quarterback at three, of course. They traded Mack. We have, I don't think we, we haven't talked about this on this channel. To Jacksonville for a sixth. I mean,

they might have to invent ninth round picks to get Zach Wilson out of the, off the check. I mean, what, what are we gonna do they've traded back they've the New York Joe I'm gonna see the Schefter tweet I can see it now the New York Jets have traded Zach Wilson for a UDFA draft selection like UDFA money like in baseball there's international signing money yeah you're just giving them cash. Yeah, just cash.

Cash considerations. It's a voucher that says must be used. It's like a free bet that you get from like FanDuel or DraftKings or something. It's like bonus bet that must be used on a UDFA. Man, Zach Wilson traded for a $15 bonus bet. Only valid for same game parlays. Bro, how bad does that 2021 NFL draft look to that quarterback? It tricked my ass.

I can't believe how bad it is. Max just went for a fifth. Max just went for a sixth. Lance got traded for a fifth. Fourth. Fourth, fifth, whatever it was. Field's price drops by the day it's we didn't even go there yet is anybody gonna somebody will take justin fields i think as a backup but i was like maybe they'll get a two and then my tone change remember we did the combine

show and i'm like there is no market for fields this might be a three no i don't even know if day two compensation is in play here anymore dude remember like a month ago and i don't i'm not i'm bashing on it for this but kuiper literally said eight overall for justin fields and we thought that that was crazy we thought that that was too much even at the time but still man i i i've said this on twitter twice now it's kind of a running bit that I have every time a quarterback signs during free agency. I have no idea where Justin Fields is playing. No idea. And everybody keeps responding and they're like, the bench.

Well, obviously now at this point, he's not going anywhere to start. At the very best, Justin Fields is going somewhere where he's going to have a quarterback competition. But even then, at this point, what does that look like? I just, that was another move i didn't mean to kind of like hijack the new england point but man i have no idea where this dude goes to this point maybe minnesota because i mean minnesota signed sam darnold though i don't think so i that's not i don't really love the fit in that offense after getting Darnold and still maybe drafting a guy. Maybe the Seahawks throw a day three pick their way? Because Drew Locke just went to the Giants.

Doesn't it just make the most sense that he should just go be Jalen Hurts' backup? At this point? Yes. When you just really try to apply a logical place. Who are the Eagles? Tanner McKee is the only other quarterback on the roster. Ah, damn. RIP Mike Renner. He's not dead.

He's not. He didn't die. Yeah, thankfully. Thankfully. But no, it's... Because people also threw out, like, oh, what about the Raiders? Raiders signed Gardner Minshew. You know?

Commanders. What are you doing with the Command with the commanders oh they signed Marcus Mariota and we're I think we should get into all those guys in a second but yeah dude I I would people sound off in the comments stake your claim right now go off so you can screenshot it and when it happens you can come back to this channel and say you were right you tell me you tell us where does justin fields play football next year let us know so let's get back to the patriots though i didn't want to derail that because patriots you're right signing jacoby verset does it does it signal in any way who they might prefer you know because there's a couple of quarterbacks here backup quarterbacks that sign that you go like oh styles are they trying to well because mariota went to washington and even though it didn't do anything for me i'm like it still could be drake may it

still could be jayden daniels that is that is the funny thing right they sign mariota and people go oh it's it's jayden daniels like all right have you not watched drake bay at all 100 that's why i didn't understand about that instant take. That was the ramen noodles take. It was like, whoa, everybody settled down here. We watched Mario. Ain't Mariota in Oregon anymore. Right, right.

Those days are long, long gone. In fact, Mariota's style is probably closer to Bay's. I thought so, too. I thought so, too. I thought so, too. It's disrespectful to Jaden Daniels. Yeah, actually. Yeah. It's like, oh, you guys think I'm an average ass runner.

Here's the thing with New England. It's probably as simple as this. If they like both May and Daniels, they'll just take whoever Washington doesn't. But I think it's far from guaranteed that they end up liking both of those guys, which creates the variable of they could take Marvin Harrison Jr. They could take Joe Alt. They could trade the pick because they have a guy that can play the position. Jacoby Brissett can play the position so there's no fear of you you can

never go into a draft with a blatant hole at a premium spot because everybody will know what you're doing and New England couldn't go into the draft at three with no with no one on that roster to play the position and Jacoby's I thought the deal was very good for New England too. Yeah. And I think for all of these QB needy teams, we've said this throughout the last couple of months, they're going to bring in somebody, right? It was hard to do mock drafts before this point because every team looks so desperate. Now you could argue that if, as long as it's not as desperate for everybody, that the level that the playing field is still level um and that the quarterback um desire for a franchise guy still remains the same just the floor is a little bit higher the ceiling isn't any higher but the floor

is a little bit higher i mean you look at the patriots i mean you're bringing back mike and which i think was great for them um chucklecore forms in a one-year deal i re-signed jaylen rager didn't see that one coming but then it's just like it's smaller deals like sion takitaki antonio gibson kendrick was nice to bring him back they've been very in on ridley but it just hasn't gotten over the finish line which maybe hints that it's not going to. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe that ends up happening for them, but the Patriots still,

I think we're always just going to be one of the weaker rosters in the NFL next year, no matter what. Totally, totally, totally. But I'm with you. I think that with having Bursette, it does at least free you up a little bit to say, we can take Marvin Harrison Jr. I don't think they're going to do it. I agree, but the threat is on the table. But it's still there for them. What do you think about Darnold going to the Vikings? I'm so glad that you transitioned to that.

I think something we've learned, there's going to be a handful of rookie quarterbacks, higher-end rookie quarterbacks, that are going to get the opportunity to sit after this free agency. I think the Vikings could still take a quarterback, but Darnold is going to start. And I think when you look at New England, if they took a rookie quarterback,

Brissette's going to start. It doesn't feel that way with Chicago and Washington, barring holding onto fields, which I just, I there's, I cannot see. I know the conversation has started to turn there. I just don't see that happening.

What them keeping fields? Yeah. Not a chance. Not a chance. 0% chance. Thank you zero percent chance thank you no no no no no that can't happen they will take a fifth rounder they will take a fifth round pick before they go into next year with justin fields and creating a powder keg so back to minnesota i mean this is the perfect landing spot for Darnold schematically. I don't think Darnold is ever going to have the Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith arc. And great for him if he does.

Where next year he signs that $100 million deal. There's always a world. I am laughing, but that is literally what Mayfield just did. Right. Mayfield just did. Right. Mayfield was one stop away from being out of the NFL. I mean, the Rams game, the game he played for the Rams, his first start for the Rams felt like a circus, like an event. Like you're watching somebody like,

oh, watch Baker Mayfield tonight on primetime trying to save his career. Way better than that. Everyone was like, oh, I'm in on this on primetime trying to save his career. What better name? And everyone's like, oh, I'm in on this. And then he had like big moments. It was just a calamity. And now the guy is a highly respectable starting quarterback for a franchise for the foreseeable future. Good for him. $100 million.

Good for him. And it was clear he always wanted to be back with the Bucs, which is the right move after what he's experienced. I don't expect Darnold to have that arc with Minnesota, but when Minnesota lost on Cousins, I do think this is a respectable pivot because

you see what a favorable offense can do for Darnold and if it doesn't work, they're probably going to draft a quarterback in the first two rounds this year. Right? I mean,

who are the Vikings? Yes. Oh, I, I, I still think that now we're going to go through this exercise in a second, but I,

I still think their foot's on the gas. I think so too. And I've said this on the podcast before I have heard Minnesota doing work on the quarterback class before the Senior Bowl. And not just work on every team does work on the quarterbacks, even teams that have like Justin Herbert and Josh Allen. But I mean, extensive work as in we need every detail top to bottom because there's a chance that we're going to get a chance to draft one of these guys. So yes. Yeah. I mean,

I think that they've certainly talked with Kirk about extensions long before this. And there's a reason why an extension doesn't get done. The Kirk probably tells them like, look, I've signed fully guaranteed deals basically like to this point with you guys there, I'm not going to stop now.

And they probably like the conversation that we had a couple of episodes ago, wanted to bring cousins back for a two year deal. And cousin said, okay, well now I'm coming off an Achilles injury. I don't know how much longer I have in this game. If somebody is going to give me longer, more guaranteed money, I'm going to take it. And Minnesota is not really in a playoff push type of a window anyways yeah so i think they knew that to your point um this is kind of like evidence to what you're saying to your point i think minnesota has known that they've been out on kirk for months months and i think that they've been doing their due diligence on quarterbacks so yeah I still I like the Darnold option especially all right let me just ask you right now we'll just

transition right into it after all the moves that we've seen so far who's the most desperate team or most likely team to move up somewhere within the top five las vegas denver minnesota which one do you think i'll tell you who should be but won't be it's denver i don't think denver will panic and feel they need to pay up the brinks truck to move up but i think they have not signed anybody they haven't signed anybody so we got jared stidham and gu Gucci DiNucci are the two quarterbacks that are on this squad. That is peak. Let's ride. Peak.

Let's ride. I saw somebody say, what's Russell Wilson's next catchphrase? Somebody said, let's weld. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can't remember who said that. It might have been Andrew Pirloff. Somebody said, let's weld. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can't remember who said that. It might have been Andrew Pirloff.

He should just kind of ride that bit into the ground, though, I think. Man, it's... You know what's a sneaky one? But they... They won't be this way. But when you look at the timeline of the guys that are there employment-wise, the Giants I mean they're going into the year with Drew Locke and Daniel Jones it's it just feels like the Giants can walk into the 2025 draft and have nothing on the roster under center in a draft that I would call quarterback

a question mark right now. And we'll get there for summer scouting, but... For the Giants? Right, like it's what I'm saying. Oh, yeah. Like the Giants need to be on the one-year early plan than one-year late. Well...

But they're not... I don't think they're... I'm not sold that they're going to do that, though. I'm not going to sit here and act like I know everything about next year's class because I know nothing about next year's class at this point. Yeah, I've watched three to four guys that went back to school. But I've heard that next year's quarterback class stinks. And this one is awesome.

Good. So it's not going to – I would be shocked if it didn't close. Now, we know some of the names, right? We think Shador Sanders is going to be in the class next year. Yeah. So it's not like, it's not going to, I would be shocked if it now we know, we know some of the names, right? We think Shadur Sanders is going to be in the class next year. Yeah. When yours, Riley Leonard,

Carson Beck, Carson Beck. Right. Right. I think. Cam rising. Cam rising. Yes.

These are. Grayson McCall. Okay. These are, yeah, these are names. Cam Ward. These are legal names. Yep. No okay these are yeah these are names these are these are legal names yep these are

these are legal citizens of the united states of america that you're listing off here um but all these guys all those guys are draft eligible this year and they don't come out now it's not to say that they won't be great the next year right you talk about the jump that joe burrow made or jayden daniels made or whatever like it's possible there's no doubt about it but I think the league is pretty skeptical overall like I think Carson Beck was probably gonna get drafted the highest out of everybody I just named I agree and you know where was Beck gonna get drafted no I don't think top 50 right right I don't think above the top four certainly I think he'd be in the conversation with whatever you think about Michael Penix and Bo Nix.

I think he's lumped in with those guys. So anywhere from late first to somewhere through the early parts of day two. So if that's your QB1 going into next year... Actually, is Arch available? Is he eligible yet? Or is it the year after? He enrolled early, right?

I think he's a year away. I think it's a year away. But anyways, all of this to say, he's a year away. Those teams that I listed off, Minnesota, Denver, Las Vegas, I think they still feel the pressure, not just for this year, but for next year as well.

You've got to go out and hit one, which makes Denver, to your point, extremely dangerous. I think the Giants, to your point, could get more involved than we believe because they could say, oh, we got Drew Locke and we got Daniel Jones. We'll see what happens this year. If not, we'll draft a quarterback next year.

Well, if your future scouting for these quarterbacks stinks, you're probably not going to want that. So maybe you'll get aggressive now. I mean, and how about the deal Gardner Minshew got from the Raiders? Right, right. I still think, to answer my own question, I still think it's Minnesota. That's fair.

I think Minnesota is going to be the most desperate team to move up into the top. Oh, if, yes, I think they will be the most proactive. Okay. I answered it who I think should be. Oh, no. But I agree with you 1 million think should be. Oh, no. But I agree with you one million percent. Okay, okay, okay. Because I would have said the Falcons are number two.

But not anymore. Yes, and not anymore. And we've talked about on this podcast quite often that Sean Payton will be like, I don't care. I'll take whoever the hell I want at 12. Giants traded for Brian Burns, which... Giants had a fun first day. Which, by the way, what a horrendous ending for the Carolina Panthers.

Yes. Now, I won't sit here and act like they didn't get close to probably the best that they were going to get at this point in time. But a year or two ago, looking at what Brian Burns could have been worth in a trade if you were going to trade him, and now looking at what you had to move on from him for, I mean, you look at that defense, man. Brian Burns is gone. Frankie Louvu is gone. Jeremy Chin is gone. You got Yirgosottos is gone. Who wasn't good anyways. Somehow got nine million a year.

Incredible. He's a hell of a drug. Incredible. You have Derek Brown. You have JC Horn. That's it. That's it. Yeah.

I mean, you got Shaq Thompson, Shaq Thompson, but Shaq Thompson. That's the point of the self-season we're at. Who is Shaq Thompson?inson. That's the point of the self-season we're at. Who is Shaq Tomlinson? Is that a real person? It's Calvin Tomlinson and Shaq Tomlinson merged into one super front seven player. You can't run at him and you can't run away from him. Oh, man, this show's so stupid.

Shaq Tomlinson, baby. I need to get. Shaq Tomlinson, baby. I need to get a Shaq Tomlinson Giants jersey. Or the split. The split. That'd be really great. Oh, good stuff. Even though we've been sleeping and living very healthy lifestyles lately. So the Giants, I say that to say they have Seattle's second-round pick.

So they traded their own, but they still have Seattle's for the Leonard Williams trade. So they have a little bit of flexibility if it comes to like ammo to like move up, if they want to maybe jump up to number four for a quarterback, maybe jump up with new England if they wanted to. So I think that's within the realm of possibility, but let me ask you this not to cut you off. Yeah, go ahead. Is the savvy Giants play now still take Malik neighbors at six

but then as you just highlighted use 47 and future draft assets to go back into the end of round one and get one of the tier three quarterbacks because they could sit all year with Daniel Jones and Drew Locke there. It obviously depends what you think of them, right? Yeah. I don't hate that at all. I really don't. It depends what you've got to give up, certainly. That's the ultimate caveat to every single draft question.

But I don't hate the move because Neighb neighbors is a major difference maker for you. And you could still use a quarterback that you could actually invest in moving forward. So again, if you don't like next year's quarterback class, then I certainly don't hate that strategy at all. What about the Panthers? What do you think about the Panthers now? Because we talked about the Burns part, but now they've got pick 33 to start the second round pick 39 so just seven picks after that and then they've got pick 65 to start the third round as well so all of a sudden no first round pick but you've got a handful of selections now are they gave a crap ton of money to Robert Hunt and to Damian Lewis to start along their offensive line. Are you still thinking, I mean, what's the strategy here

in the second round for the Panthers? Receiver is still on the board for sure, but all of a sudden, because of the defensive talent that you lost, are you thinking like receiver and edge rusher? That's where my mind goes, at least for them. That's exactly where my mind went as well. I wouldn't entirely be out on going wide receiver, wide receiver, because Thielen's getting up there.

We'll see with Mingo. Mingo's a weird player. You're not giving up on Mingo. No, no, no, no, no, no. You're not writing off Mingo. But the point is, two years from from now mingo is the only guy i mean terrence marshall hasn't really been what they hope for feelings getting old so they're thin enough that you can go wide receiver wide receiver because the class is so great and then you're looking at it and going okay we like our offensive

line now we are doing everything we can to set Bryce up for success. And now he has two wide receivers from a great class. My in mind, though, initially, the chalk pick to me is what you said. They need a pass rusher. And in that range, you can go get the Braswell, Adiza, Isaac, Marshawn, Neyland. That kind of tier. Jonah Ellis in that probably my favorite in that tier. Yeah.

While you're also still going to get a big time playmaker. But I'm intrigued, though, by the idea of taking a big wide receiver and then taking one of ladder Pierce all all and being like this is our offense like we're gonna we're going to battle now i actually don't hate the double dipping a wide receiver strategy because especially if you pair mingo with those guys you get a pierce all or a lad you get a troy franklin or an ad mitchell like whoever's there right then you have mango hopefully you could be an x for you um or shoot i mean like you draft xavier laguette somebody like that like right i think that's pretty because at least you get to trot out a legitimate young for sure but

like a legitimate offense for bryce with two new offensive guards your tackles you straight up have to play better anyways. Yep, but I think that'll help them a lot. Moten's been a good player in this league at times. Icky had a good rookie season, and then it went to hell last year, which it feels like it went to hell for everyone last year. I know they gave out unspeakable money to the two guards,

but I'd rather give your young investment a shot, and that's what they've done. Yeah, speaking of, I do want to talk about the guards overall because this isn't focusing on one singular team, but I'm genuinely, well, here's the thing. I don't hate what the Rams did, honestly. I love it. You can move Steve Avila into center.

He played well last year. You've got Jonah Jackson now. You've got Kevin Dodson. You've got some ass kickers. All of a sudden, the offensive line for Los Angeles is really good, and I think they're going to have a really good season again. I really do. You've got Kyra Williams.

You've got Matthew Stafford. You've got the receivers. I think that McVay offense is going to be cooking again next year. I actually really like it, even though it was kind of weird to see them sign two highly priced guards. But just overall, the guard class, I mentioned that Robert Hunt getting five years, $100 million to go to Carolina. Damien Lewis, four years, $53 million to go to Carolina.

Ezra Cleveland gets his money. John Runyon gets his. I mentioned the two dudes who went to the Rams. Jets got John Simpson. I am, I was pretty shocked the amount of money and the haste in which Haste is a good word. the interior offensive lineman signed in free agency,

given how deep and talented I think this interior offensive line class is. Like I get it for the running back class, given how deep and talented I think this interior offensive line class is. I get it for the running back class. You had a lot of money going to those guys early. Swift was the first domino to fall. Then Josh Jacobs. Then Saquon Barkley.

Tony Pollard. Aaron Jones even immediately gets cut and then goes to another team. All these dudes. King Henry's now off the board. All these dudes came off of free agency very, very quickly. And I get that because this running back class doesn't look great, or at least the NFL isn't super high on a lot of these guys. Same thing is for linebacker.

Like linebackers getting way more money than I thought they were going to, but it makes sense because if teams think that this linebacker class isn't good, then they're going to spend a little bit of extra money in free agency to make sure they go get a guy who could start i didn't think we'd get this with the interior offensive line class that's how free agency money was given out to those guys does not reflect what i think about this interior offensive line class i just thought i was i was very surprised by that when all that happened no it's a great point i mean this is a really good as you've highlighted there's so many guys that are flex guys they're tackles that could play guard or should play guard yeah there's good guards in their own right i mean we talk about

them on the show all the time whether it's christian haynes zach zinner dominic pooney cooper bb the centers and jackson powers johnson and Zach Frazier that have also played guard it I agree with you it almost felt a little bit and I get part of this of waving the white flag and being like we just we just need what we know we we cannot take on any variance at this position right we just need what we know it's all in there in pro tape. We're going to pay a premium for it, but we're not going into the offseason going, oh, we drafted this guy, we really like him,

but you just never know how a rookie is going to pan out. So I think that kind of translated to that. And as you said, it's kind of been a little bit of the opposite because of the wide receiver draft for wide receivers and for agency. Yeah, I want to get to some of the specific signings as we keep this conversation going, but a word from our sponsors really quick. If you guys have a family out there, you need to get them term life insurance to protect them. All right. Very simple. It's one of the smartest financial decisions that you can make at this time of year. It's perfect to get that done. So you can focus on whatever the rest of the year has in store for

you and your family. Fabric by Gerber Life was designed by parents for parents to help you get high quality, surprisingly affordable term life insurance policies in less than 10 minutes. Fabric has flexible policies that'll fit your family's budget with quality policies like million dollar coverage for less than a dollar a day. You can get your personalized quote in just minutes and apply whenever it is convenient for you, all online and to your schedule. You go from start to cover in less than 10 minutes with no health exam required. Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to protect their family and apply today in just minutes at meetfabric.com slash stock exchange. Meet Fabric, M-E-E-T, fabric.com slash stock exchange. Policies are issued by Western Southern Life Insurance Company, not available in certain

states. Prices subject to underwriting and health questions. By the way, for everybody out there, with all the team needs changing and things like that, you can get 30% off of a PFF subscription using the promo code 30MDS to get the fully unlocked Mock Draft Simulator experience. You can get the seven rounds. You get the trade function, everything. So just saying, if you're looking to run a couple of Mock Drafts now that the team needs have been updated and you don't have a PFF subscription. You can get 30% off using 30MDS promo code. So, does Jermaine Illuminor signing with the New York Giants? I know we've talked a lot about the Giants, but it kind of matters here for the first round. Does Illuminor signing with the Giants totally take tackle off the table for them?

Because I kind of think it does. I think it does because if you like what you see from him enough, and I think he's severely underrated when you look at the trajectory he's been on. That was one of my favorite deals of free agency. Two years, 14 mil, so they got him for a good price. For a potential starting. I think that's good money if he's a swing tackle.

But if you like what you see from him, then you start him and move Neil inside. Exactly. So that to me is the Joe, all it's not going at six. He's not going at six. I am wide receiver quarterback all day for the giants. Yeah, I agree. I agree with you there. I think that that's a, I think that that would make sense for the Colts, moving a little bit further down, Colts are at 15. And guys, if we don't talk about your team in this episode, there's a chance we're going to talk about it in the next episode. And if we don't even get to that,

you know a post-free agency mock draft is coming. All right, so we'll get to you. We'll promise. We'll get into every team's conversation. Our families are still starving. Yes. We have the Colts. They franchise tag Michael Pippen Jr.

And then they actually gave him a three-year $70 million deal after that. So he's there long-term. I saw that they just signed Kenny Moore as well. It seems as though their needs are still the same. Do you have any leaning between like outside corner or like vertical wide receiver type of a player? Or maybe you think, Hey,

I like Brock Bowers the most in this situation. Okay. If Brock made it there, that's still a great fit. Obviously a wide receiver that can win down the field would be nice. Corner. Sure. That's in play. I grover stewart left right i want to be sure of this uh he was no he either re-signed him they re-signed him that's huge yeah you got a three-year 39 million dollar deal i knew he was a free agent

did i miss this yeah that was uh a very early deal oh i think they kept him yeah they kept him right at the start of free agency, which is huge. Because I would have said for the Colts, if you lost Grover Stewart, they would have really needed to find a de-tackle presence, I think, on day two of this draft, at pick 46.

That's where you start to get a Chris Jenkins and Tavondre Sweat. They did good business taking care of their own guys, because those guys are huge contributors to their team. And yeah, it kind of leaves now them with more flexibility. Nothing, I just feel like

nothing's really changed of the positions we've talked about with them there. For the Bears, let's talk about nine overall because we think they're going to go quarterback at number one. We still think that it's Caleb Williams there. They signed Kevin Byard.

They signed DeAndre Swift. They signed Gerald Everett. They signed Tavares Moore as well. They re-signed Jalen Johnson, so we don't have to. There's no more question marks about that. Actually, I was looking at it earlier this morning. Their secondary is pretty much like you've made, you've essentially like all your cards are on the table with your secondary, right?

These are the guys that Ryan Pohl specifically brought in. It's Jalen Johnson. It's Jaquan Brisker. It's Kevin Byard. It's Tyreek Stevenson. It's Kyler Gordon. Like this is your unit. You got TJ Edwards and got Tremaine Edmonds at linebacker.

That's your unit. You got the interior defensive line that you kind of brought in here, plus the trade for Montez Sweat. To me, their defense is completely set. And so I feel like it has to be wide receiver for them. Right, it's the Roma-Dunze slot. But it's tough because does he make it? It's not a guarantee anymore.

We just talked about, okay, look at this. New England, Arizona, the Chargers, the Giants, the Titans, all of those teams, three through seven, all of them could pick Marvin Harrison Jr., jr malik neighbors romo dunze if chicago wants one of these three guys they might have to pony up they might have to trade up to number five that's kind of i was gonna say five would be the entry yeah that's a takeaway for me you agree then yes i agree now yeah five would be a hell of an entry point because then you're jumping the Giants.

Yes. And you're not, depending how they feel, because plenty of people like Rome better than Malik neighbors, and there's different rankings on these wide receivers, understandably, but the deck becomes a little bit more open of who's there, where, man, DJ Moore and Malik neighbors, that's an explosive with deandre swift and caleb williams throwing the ball gerald ever you got i don't want to get over my skis

tyler scott like that's a nice that's a nice unit man the bears have a chance to to be a force in in two years the bears absolutely have a chance to really turn their tide this year with a really good draft. And I think Poles knows that. And I think that's how they navigated free agency. I mentioned basically all the starters on their defensive line. These are the guys they brought in.

Now, that's not to say they're all going to be superstars, but your cards are on the table with your defensive line or your defense overall. It's kind of the same with your offensive line, right? You've brought in Darnell Wright. You've got Tevin Jenkins. You got Braxton Jones playing well, right? Not that again, not that they're not always looking to improve if they can, but you've got that unit figured out. You went and you got the running back. You've got Roshon Johnson as well, backing them up. You got two decent tight end options. You got Tyler Scott. You got DJ Moore. And if you go get yourself Romo Dunzey and you go get Caleb Williams at the top, like all of a sudden Ryan Poles is kind of saying,

here you go. Like I did what you wanted me to do. I got you a football team that in theory should really compete. And if they, if, if they disappoint again next season, if that's their lineup, I'm legitimately saying they could be a playoff team next year. They could be a playoff team next year. And the trajectory could just be totally up for the Chicago Bears. But I think they are still missing that key offensive weapon, along with DJ Moore. And I just don't think they get it at nine anymore.

Not with how free agency just played out I agree I think it's going to be really hard now it's there's just such a wide receiver thirst in this top 10 and I get it the talent is amazing why wouldn't you so and Tennessee was we haven't talked about Tennessee they were active yesterday they were they were active at the top of the week they were active but they got a bunch of mid players. I mean, it was definitely some interesting moves, to say the least. But they got Cushenberry. I think that was a good answer.

I think that was a good answer for that offensive line. I liked that move, for sure. Pollard doesn't do anything for me. No, I didn't understand. I like Tajay Spears and just adding another low-cost or draft guy. Right. I wasn't crazy about the Pollard signing. Kenneth Murray.

Has not been good. He's just not great. I just spot what it is. I mean, he didn't get a ton of money in free agency, but he doesn't move the needle for me either. Depending on how Will Levis plays next year, Tennessee could have a top five pick. They very well could.

I mean, any team could. I know that's a bold call from me, but I just look at this roster and I just don't think it's very good. And it's year one of a new staff, so are they panicking if they have a bad year? No. Yeah, you're right. I like the Cushenberry deal,

but I align with you that i didn't like the rest and i i don't know if it changes much for them at seven it feels like tackler wide receiver we got about six or seven minutes left before we got to get out of here uh dealer's choice is there a team or a player that i didn't bring up or that the conversation just didn't quite get to the u.s to take on one way or another. Well, I know we briefly mentioned it. I love what the Rams are doing. The Rams really became gap heavy in their run scheme last year rather than Sean McVay typically being a zone guy.

And now they just they have the personnel on the inside. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, they have the personnel on the inside with jonah jackson steve avila and kevin dotson i couldn't be more in on kyron williams next year in every aspect of fantasy real life there's just there's a lot going right for the rams in that regard i'm trying to think of some under the radar signings as well i got i got one yeah go while you're looking on the list houston man they're keeping their foot on the gas pedal like they are after they lost garnard they stayed very active they have an underrated free agency class right now all right food they brought

in foley futakasi they brought in jeff akuda on a one-year deal. Danico Autry. Aziz Alshair, who I love getting reunited with D'Amico Ryans. Like some really nice stuff there. They traded for Joe Mixon. So they got another running back there that they can lean on. Losing John Grenard. You know, you bring in Autry. And so like that's good. But I wonder if.

Autry was a steal, by the way. No, I thought that was a great signing by them. I really do. I wonder if this signals them going edge rusher with 23, but at the same time, I'm looking at their free agency list. Nothing on offense. Nothing. So now that I'm saying these words out loud,

I think we're locking in on offense for the Houston Texans, given the money that they spent on defense here in free agency. So that's my take there. When you get to 23 in your mock drafts for, sorry, wait, yeah, 23 to 23. Their pick is 27, but that's Arizona's. When you get to 23 for Houston in your mock drafts, I lean offense for them especially if there's a good receiver left right and then you add that to Nico Collins and Tank Dale right yes they'd be cooking for sure how about Green Bay spending a lot of money Green Bay man they got good football players how magical was that 45 minutes where Aaron Jones and Josh Jacobs were still were on this team at the same time?

Oh my God. They were the greatest duo in modern NFL history in the backfield. And then it was gone. Xavier Kinney getting a big time deal, a big time player on the backend that they really needed. When we've talked about safety for them a lot, they still could use another safety, but that, that was a big gap that they really needed when we've talked about safety for them a lot they still could use another safety but that that was a big uh gap that they plugged i i thought the packers did really

well in the early parts of free agency because you know we we were jokingly when we went through the mock draft format um i believe it was last monday we were kind of panicking every time we came up to the packers because we just like all, all right, what do we do here? They've got a bunch of different needs. Right, a bunch of different stuff. And, you know, they signed a running back. So, okay, like, there you go. It's not a desperate need. Signed a safety.

Okay, there you go. It's not a desperate need. I had them take a Tyler Newben in the first round. Maybe they don't feel like they have to do that. Still need some linebacker help. I agree with you. Still need safety as well. But fill in a lot of their needs.

That's for sure. I think they're giving themselves a lot of flexibility which this is a team that has man a ton of different picks where's green bay has a first a second a second a third a third so they have five picks in the top 100 um now i think these two moves with jake has been mckinney give them a lot to play with right and they're they recognize that as great as the season the lions had was and the bears are really building something. And I think Kevin O'Connell is a really good coach. It's a good year to put your foot on the gas for the division.

And if you come up short against the lions, you could very well make a wild card. I was going to say NFC is weak. Yeah. That's a better way to paint it is the conference is, has openings and green base. They'd really proactive understanding that. So I,

as much as people might be like, Oh, you paid top dollar to a running back in the safety. They're really good players in their position groups. Josh Jacobs creates yards. Unlike a lot of, in a way, there's a lot of running backs.

Can't downhill McKinney on the backend has coverage skills that not a ton of guys do. So I wanted to give Green Bay a little shout because they were a big spender, but I didn't think it was reckless spending. I thought it was calculated in some ways. I know you're not allowed to compliment paying a running back, but that's my written apology. We might get into some of the running back contracts on the next episode. But hey, those were bad.

Some were bad. Some were bad. Some were better, but some weren't great. We can get into that a little bit later. Those are our thoughts on wave one of free agency and how it changed the 2024 NFL draft. We would love to hear your takes as well. Sound off.

Let us know. What was your favorite signing from your favorite team? Your least favorite signing from your favorite team? How you think what they did in free agency changes their draft strategy. It could be something that we talked about, or it could be something completely different. We know all 32 fan bases. We got fans represented for all 32 teams here.

Listen to this podcast. So let's hear it. Well, I would love to hear from you guys because as we're covering this, there's only so much that we can pay attention to, but we know that you guys are really in the weeds about it. That's why we love reading the comments, interacting with you guys. That's the best way to do it. YouTube.com backslash at NFL Stock Exchange.

That's where the community is absolutely going crazy as of late. We love you guys so much. We appreciate all the comments and all the great conversations that we've been able to get involved in. If you were listening to audio only, you can still hit us up on Instagram and Twitter at Tampa Bay Trey, at Connor J. Rogers. We will have one more episode for you.

It will probably be the same-ish format. We might do a little bit of a different structure, but it's all going to be focused on free agency this week, folks, and how this changes the NFL draft. Like I teased before, we'll get into a mock draft. We'll have a mock draft format a little bit later, but this week we're just giving you our instant reactions. Connor,

anything else before we get out of here? I'm looking forward to the next one. Sometimes the wave two and three moves are, are what helped teams get to a super bowl and could give us a little bit more clues around this draft before the, the big post free agency mock draft hits. I'm excited. I'm excited.

It's Marvel. It's Marvel is obviously very excited as well. We could not go the whole show without him getting involved because, because he's absolutely selfish like that. But you know what? He's the star of the household. So it kind of, it kind of is what it is.

I'm Trevor Sagan, but that is Connor Rogers. Thank you guys so much for watching and listening to the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. We will see you guys a little bit later this week.