PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Prediction time for Philadelphia Eagles free agency: Who’s the most likely addition?

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

It’s our last (scheduled) show before the legal tampering period begins on Monday. As free agency and trade season approaches, it’s time to go on the record with our prediction for the most likely signing by the Eagles. Is it a safety like Xavier McKinney or Justin Simmons? A linebacker like Jordyn Brooks or Josey Jewell? Does a defensive end need to be signed to replace Haason Reddick? What about Saquon Barkley at running back or Noah Brown at wide receiver?Zach Berman and Bo Wulf close out Quacketology with an eye on what they think Howie Roseman has up his sleeve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

the picture of Halapulavati Vaitai. You know it can only mean one thing? Hello everybody and welcome to the PHOY Eagles show on a beautiful Friday at noon, Bo-Wolf, Zach Berman, ready to race through and conclude

free agent quacketology. We will crown a champion as the free agent signing who we think is most likely to be inked by the Eagles next week. Zach, how you doing? Doing great. Excited for the show. Can't wait for next week. I love this time of year. You got it. It's the time of year when I've had to set the tweet notifications for Adam Schaefter, Ian Rappaport, and Mike Garifolo, and the Eagles on my phone.

Shout out to Mike G. That's, that's, I'm very loyal to him among those three. But this is, well, all of them I respect. But, yeah, this is a big week. And by the Eagles, you don't. The Eagles are year-round. I'm kidding. Go ahead. Yeah, you get notifications. But by this time next week, by Friday next week, the composition of the Eagles roster will look different. And so this has been a fun week of shows narrowing it down. We got a, we identify the one most likely today. But this is such a hard exercise because it's contingent upon X, Y, and Z, right? You have all these rumors.

You never know if you're being misled. If it's a whisper-down-the-lane campaign where this person talk to this person and talk to this person, and by time it gets to you, it's just like they're all repeating information that's not maybe direct, right? So I'm eager to see what happens, eager to report it and write about and discuss it. Well, that is what makes this week so great. And we have talked about this in the past. But like the next week of the NFL calendar is more than any other week during the year when the Eagles are going to tell us the truth. Yes, exactly.

Like what they think. Even during the draft, like there are a little bit too many variables. You may not get the player you want. You may not get exactly the value you were hoping for. In free agency, we are going to. find out what they think about the construction of the roster, like the decisions about long-term, like on offense and defense, how they want to split the investment there, like what they think of specific players, where they prioritize their resources, like, we are going to

learn what they think and like how much do they push their chips to the table? Do they think this is a Chase's Super Bowl year? Is it like we need to spend $10 million on a linebacker? or are we're going to do something crazy at running back. Like they're going to tell us the truth because they have like they have the ability to sign almost anybody. Yep. And if there are things that they prioritize, they can pay more than everybody else in the league. Everybody is available to everybody.

Like there's no like lying about their intentions. This is when they will tell us what they think. That's a terrific point. And you've made that in the past. And every time you say it, I say you're absolutely right because this is this is the week where it's, It's like don't listen to what they say. Watch what they do. Because they could tell you they have confidence in Nicopi D.

But if they signed two linebackers, they don't have confidence in the Kobe D. Right. And like last year, they had confidence in the Kobe team. They didn't touch the linebacker position. That was them showing it. If they spend big money on an edge rusher, right? It tells you, you know, if they signed Bryce Huff, right? It tells you maybe what they think about Nolan Smith's development curve a bit.

I mean, that might be a stretch. But, yeah, that one is a little bit different because you need three. They're both Huff and Smith are probably rotational players anyway, but yes. Yeah, this is a better one. I don't think they do this, but if they sign a right guard, it tells you they don't think Tyler Steen's ready to play. Right. Right.

And so they can say all they want about confidence in this, confidence. If they don't prioritize safety, that tells us that they expect Blankenship and Sidney Brown to be the pair for a while. Well set. Wide receiver will tell us a little bit. Like just generally how they split the focus on offense and defense. Howie Roseman basically intimated that they want to get younger on defense at the combine. We'll see if that turns out to be true.

Like if they signed Justin Simmons and, you know, Levanti David, who they're not going to sign, but like older guys as Patrick, then that means he wasn't telling the truth about that. So we are going to go through this exercise to predict what we think is the most likely thing to happen. but what is great about this is that soon we will actually find out there's no like having to talk to people in the building and report about what we think they think like this is them putting their money where their priorities are and the last thing to add to add there because like you you mentioned justin simmons there was the 2016 free agency when eagles jump out right away and they sign well obviously they signed brooks him in mccloud but for the purpose of this discussion they signed nigel bradham and leotis mccelvin and Ron Brooks. And it's like, okay, Jim Schwartz has a lot of sway here, right? Jim Schwartz is bringing in his guys. And so if the Eagle signed Justin Simmons and Andrew Van Ginkle, it's like, this is Vic Fangio running the show in terms of the defense.

Before we get going, Zach, the shot is all a flutter. They want to know if you have ever seen Dragon Ball Z. Never in my life. I've heard of it. But I couldn't, if you put four dragons on the screen right now, I couldn't tell you which one. is dragon ball zia dragon it's the i mean it's the name of a show it's an anime show yeah i've never i've only seen a few episodes i've never seen anime in my life but i never watch i i i hear people who are into anime i don't know what hentai don't know what that is the only anime i think i

think i i saw and um shout out to both these guys because i'm um friends with both of them but there was something created when uh les bowen and jeff boone and jeff mclean had like that's not that's not It's not anime. That is like, that's the, like the Korean, uh, uh, just animation. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. So then I take that back. So yeah, so I, I have no idea what this topic of conversation is, but I imagine the chat wouldn't be surprised by that. I'm very transparent. I mean, like, I get the chat asking, but like, you knew the answer to that. Yeah. Of course, Zach has not seen that. Yeah, I'm transparent about what I know and what I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's get going because we got a lot to get to here. So we move to the secondary region, the second round, Legerius Sneed or Xavier McKinney, probably the two best players on the market at their respective positions. Sneed has been franchised tagged by the chiefs, so it would require a trade to acquire him. Xavier McKinney, young, can do it all, probably going to cost a significant amount of money. Yeah, between these two, I would go with Xavier McKinney.

First off, there's an obstacle in the way of... Taiwanese, by the way. Okay. Threat level of midnight corrects me on the animation thing. There's an obstacle in the way of Sneed because you have to give up a second round pick for him or you have to give a valuable draft pick for him. So I would say that, you know, McKinney,

obviously safety position of need 24 years old. We don't know what that contract's going to come in at. It could be expensive. It could be price, prohibitive for the Eagles, but I see, I think that's a, if they are going to make a splash and they make a splash at safety, then McKinney fits a lot of things that the Eagles would like in terms of age profile, play profile.

And I don't know McKinney, but from what I hear, personality profile, it would be pretty good too. Yeah, I am so fascinated about the safety decision that they're going to make, and I am like twisting myself into a pretzel about what I think they're going to do because there are so many guys available.

are like 15 guys who could come in and be a day one starter for the Eagles at safety. That's true. And if that's the case, you know, just gaming it out like game theory wise, does it make sense to pay for Xavier McKinney when you can get, you know, Gino Stone for half the price, or you can get Justin Simmons or Eddie Jackson for half the price on a short-term deal? And if you don't commit the money to Xavier McKinney, does that mean you can spend more at linebacker where there is also a good amount of options, but fewer or on offense, where maybe you get a little bit more banging for your buck.

And with Sneed, like, it is going to be really hard to find an answer for them at Corner, and Sneed is like the one guy who could be that. Now there are some, you know, Marshawn Latimore they're talking about could get traded this offseason. There are a couple other trade candidates, but I think if the Eagles are going to do something at Corner, It's going to be something major like Sneed or Latimore. Whereas, like, I think, I'm sure that they like Xavier McKinney. I don't know if I think that they're going to go at the very top of the market at a position where there are so many options.

That's a valid point. And there are so many options, like you said, young, old, in between. So are you leaning towards senior? Do you need the list of? Yes, that's what, yeah. Okay. Well, the Wi-Fi in here is not great. I'll see if I can.

So are you of the opinion that? I think you sent it to Chris. Well, it's just like it goes by who's been bolded. Sneed. Sorry. No problem. Do you think Sneed's a realistic option here? I kind of do.

Okay. Because I think if you do Sneed, he's 27, right? You trade for him and that is like a big bulk of your cap space to spend. And then you're not drafting a cornerbacker. You don't have to draft a corner. You've got, you can, and Ringo is your young corner. And there's still going to be enough money to find guys at safety and linebacker. I'm on the fence here.

I think I would kind of lead Sneed, lean Sneed, except that, as you said, like, the obstacles to it happening are a little bit greater. Now, the Eagles historically have been big players in the free agent market at corner. They signed Nambi to a top of the market, you know, the highest paid corner. They signed Byron Maxwell. That was not with Howie, but that was like a telegraphed move. They signed Asante Samuel. They wanted Byron Jones. They didn't get Byron Jones, but they trade for Slay.

And they pay them. So the history shows, you know, the Eagles historically don't pay top of the market at safety. We know they don't pay top of the market at linebacker. If they're going to pay top of the market at a position, it's going to be edge rusher. We know that. Or corner. Yeah. If Sneed was completely free, I would say Sneed here.

You could also play inside, and so there's a path to being able to get, like, if you really love Ringo and you get good health luck, like you can have Sneed and Ringo and Sleigh on the field at the same time. And yeah, my point here was you have to give up that second round pick. They have two second round picks, so you're still not operating at a deficit. Like, you'd still have a first, a second, and a third. think this would require trading Reddick. Interesting. I think if you're getting draft capital back for Reddick, you can flip something for Sneed and then probably like there are also lots of options on the edge.

And so you can backfill Redick that way. I see that as a realistic path. And yeah, like there aren't there aren't great corners on the market for the top corners are usually signed. And by the way, in that exercise that we were to. discussing in terms of, or not the exercise, the historical precedent. The Eagles were going hard, hard after Joe and Ramsey. The Jags took the Rams off for that year.

But the Eagles have shown they're willing to pay huge for a corner. So the thing that would concern me is it's not like Legerstein has been a number one corner for three, four years running, right? This is a relatively recent thing. He might not have been the best corner on his team last year. Right. And cornerback performance is a little bit. bit unsticky here to here.

Like, and we talked about, he led the league in penalties for corners last year. Like, it is not a guarantee that he's going to come in and translate and be a lockdown corner right away, which is probably why I guess I would lean McKinney. Like, I think the Eagles would be probably more interested in training for Marshawn Latimore. That feels like more of a how we move. You're right. But for the sake of this exercise, I wouldn't push back and say you, you bold me into a corner if we want to see it i'm not the more we talk it i'm more now leaning okay uh i mean there's just

less of an obstacle for me for me for me yeah but i mean there is a chance the whole safety market's depressed the same way we talk about the running backs there's a chance that because there's so many options because all these high price safeties have been cut the league looks at that and and says are we going to pay when i say we the league overall going to pay right 16 18 million and so then maybe maybe that is how you think you get value yeah is it if you're going to get McKinney for 13 a year. I would do that. Right?

I would sign McKinney for 13. Yeah. Now, I think he probably goes for more than that. Yeah. But I'll defer to you on this one. Let's go McKinney. Okay. Let's go McKinney.

Because I think there is too much of a question about whether Sneed is going to remain elite. You take him away from the Spagnolo defense. Let's go. Let's go McKinney. Okay. And there's, if we're talking about like Howie has not done this played at the top of the market for safety, you can talk yourself into Fangio being like, this is the position that I want to prioritize.

I need a guy here. Sure. So let's go with Xavier McKinney moving on. Next up, we've got Eddie Jackson, the safety from the Bears, who Vic Fangio has spent a lot of time with, boy, we spent like 15 minutes on the first matchup. We've got 32 to go through or something like that.

Eddie Jackson versus Jordan Fuller from the Rams, Eddie Jackson, a patchwork guy, Jordan Fuller, a young plan B, plan C, type for the Eagles who you wrote about, which you can read on all P.H.O. Why, today, your 15-step plan for if you were, Howie Roseman. Yeah, this might be colored by my own personal preferences here, but I would say Jordan Ford just makes a lot of sense for the Eagles. And then I like the age profile, the player profile and the price profile. Do you think that Eddie Jack, like, now we're going to get to Justin Simmons in a bit, but do you think Justin Simmons being available

takes Eddie Jackson off the board as like the veteran Fangio guy? Probably so. Now, because I think Simmons is still going to cost money. Simmons is going to cost money. And I don't think that Eddie Jackson is going to cost too much. You also wonder if the Kevin Byard experience, if we'll call it that, says, man, you know, this is a position where you can hit an age curve. If they don't want to be in the market for the 30-year-olds, if they would rather be in those mid-20s. But I would think Simmons is more likely than Jackson. Like Eddie Jackson was released.

Yes. He's available. And he's been available. He's, that's what I mean. He has been available. And so if the Eagles really wanted Eddie Jackson, they could have already done it. It would have been like Malik Jackson. Yep.

Right. So let's go Jordan Fuller. I think that's a good one. He does sort of fit their like under the radar type you can buy on some upside. Sort of fits that. Okay. Next up, Gino Stone from the Baltimore Ravens led the AFC in interceptions last year, but has never been a full-time starter.

He goes up against Alohae Gilman, the undersized safety from the Chargers, who has also never been a full-time starter until this year, some injury history for him. Both of these guys are interesting because they would represent not like this guy is displacing any of the two safeties we have already. They could all work together as a trio. Yeah, I don't like to pay for career years,

which you're looking at for either one of them, but I would say Gino Stone, I'm sorry, Gino Stone, leaving no stone on turn. See, I'd like to make an I-K-N-Polly reference, but that's on the Tic-Tac-To Immaculate Grid video that has not dropped yet that we filmed before the show today. Yeah.

That's what we call the tease. Love your radio voice. Do you agree with Gino Stone here? I think so. Now, Gilman, you've got the cohabitation Matrix, you know, Kellyn Moore, same building as Aloha Gilman last year. I think that Gilman would make sense

as a second week of free agency or, you know, end of the first week of free agency. You sign them for $3 million. and you feel good about that. But I feel like if they're going to prioritize a guy, you could sort of talk yourself into Geno Stone. Problem is it's a different style of defense that he played in Baltimore than what Fangio would want.

And so maybe that means that Gilman is more likely because Staley is like a Fangio pretender. Yes, but Stone might be, you know, scheme versatile in that regard. I just think that if you're looking for more of a plug-and-play play. I think Stone if you're looking to make a difference at safety Stone would fit that more than than Gilman. I don't know like is Gilman

that much different than than the Thoreau Edmunds signing last off season. Sure, but they signed Terrell Edmonds last offseason. I'm saying they're at a different stage here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fair. Okay, we'll go Geno Stone. I have no problem with that. All right, next up, closing out the corner safety tier. We've got Christian Fulton, the last corner available, or alive in quacketology, who had a bad season with the Titans last year,

but still young, had a good season two years ago, or the reunion with C.J. Gardner Johnson. I think this exercise shows you how many more safeties there are in the marketing corners. And that probably speaks to the first matchup we had here in the point you made. But I would go CJGJ among these two. The ability to help in the slide

And at safety, the Eagles know him. They wanted him last year. As you made the point to me last week, and you were correct, that the price is probably less than you were willing to pay last year. Howie can sell that pretty well. So I'm going to go Gardner Johnson. If he can let bygones, be bygones. Yeah, I mean, Fulton does strike me as the kind of guy that they would be interested in.

It's kind of guy I'd be interested in. And it's to your don't pay it for a career year point. Like if he was on the market, as year he'd probably make twice as much as he's going to make this year. And he's a nice sweet spot of helping you get younger on defense, but also not preventing you from drafting a corner

if the value presents itself in the first couple rounds. And I am not really in favor of the Gardner-Johnson reunion, but we know that they were interested in him. What do you make of the idea that like the tenuous nature of the locker room at the moment makes it less likely to sign a guy like C.J. Garner Johnson, whereas last year they felt like they could handle anything. Well, they've lived it with him now, so it's not a projection.

So I think that if he comes back into this locker room, A, there's familiarity. Not a different coaching staff, but you still have Seriani in place. I think the veterans in that room last year really had to kind of put him in a spot a bit, right? But you have Slay there still. you have some other guys that he's that he's played with that he knows a pension for freelancing is that a thing that fangio would want i'm looking forward to talking to vick and finding out i would imagine no how many how many teams in the league zack who have hired new coordinators have

had those coordinators meet the media i don't have the exact number but most of them okay yeah position coaches as well okay yeah not the eagles they they they You have a little thread on your shirt here. Look at this. What a friend. Thank you. You know why. You're welcome.

I don't know why that. Yeah, Joy was a little touched by that. Just like you were just a little touched. Staying away from that joke. Well, I gave you a little touch on the shoulder. Yeah, I'm familiar with what you were saying. So. So, I don't think they're going to bring back C.J. Garner Johnson.

All right, so let's go Fulton then. I could be wrong. I don't see that happening. Yeah. Yeah, let's go Fultland and they try to make up for the Gritty Williams move from last year. Okay, all right.

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Okay. I gave like just a simple clarification for the audience that when you talked about Yukon, you were talking about the women's hockey team and not the basketball team. and you were like so insulted by this. Meanwhile, I'm simply reading an advertisement and tells me not to mention a certain company that I canceled the ads.

And you take that and you accuse it of being some type of like questionable material. Specifically, what do you mean? Catch me up, but I don't want any drops. And I just let that roll off my shoulders. And I thought like the dichotomy of those two situations showed like such a stark difference when I was listening back to the show. Yeah, but you're still holding on to it, whereas I'm just moving on.

We're just rolling ahead. No, I didn't think back to it until I watched the show. The flip side to that is I have been hearing that I let you off the hook on the good food city, Bermanism. People wanted to hear a lot more about that, and I thought, you know, we got enough of that. My simple is no. So I wouldn't call a city that's not a good food city, a good food city, a good food. food city. But the only thing I can go based off of is my meals and are my meals. And one would

hope that I have enough meals in said city to make that type of conclusion. I wouldn't go to a city, have one meal and tell you it's a good food city. But if I've been to a city four times and I've had, let's say, eight dinners there and I've had eight lunches or probably four lunches, so 12 meals, okay? And I did a lot of research on where to eat in that city. I can say with not definitive conclusion, but enough that I feel confident saying on the air, that's a good food city. Meanwhile, if I only ate in the airport or the hotel, rather, I can't.

That was my favorite thing. It's like, well, if all I had was a meal in the hotel, I can't say it's a good food city. I can't tell you it's a good food. I wouldn't say it's a bad food city, but. Oh, look, Nervis Nolan has already mentioned. in this. Anyone else think not enough time was spent

yesterday on Zach's wild criteria for good versus bad food city? Well, yeah, so it's not bad food city. I wouldn't volunteer. He was tossing and turning all night about it. I wouldn't volunteer a city as a good food city. So, for instance, when I was in Kansas

City this year, I had pneumonia. I didn't know. I realized at the time. I had pneumonia. I didn't leave my hotel. And then the only And then when I was in Kansas City before that, I really, I had barbecue, but it was fine, like a place Andy Reid recommended. It was actually, it was a good spot. But then I didn't get to see Kansas City enough.

I wouldn't come on air and say Kansas City is a good food city. I wouldn't say it's a bad food city. I just don't have enough evidence to tell you one way or the other or on Kansas City. New Orleans, I've eaten in New Orleans quite a bit. Nashville, I've eaten in Nashville quite a bit. I can go on. cities that I have more of a sample size, I can tell you, is a good city? Logically, do you understand the idea that you can find good restaurants in every city?

Logically, I do understand that. My point is this. So if you're looking for differentiation, if you're doing all of this research to find the best restaurants everywhere you go that fit your specific palette, you're going to find good restaurants wherever you go in your mind, right? Respectfully, well, respectfully. What makes a good food city relative to any of the other places you've gone? Well, first off, I like to look for food that it's, that's specific to that city. So I'm not going to go to, I spend a lot of time in Omaha.

I don't go to Omaha and look for the best seafood, okay? I've had a lot of steak in Omaha. That's fine. I told you the story. I researched where Warren Buffett eats. and I went to that place three nights in a row and he was not there any of those nights. Julia did not hear, had not heard that story before.

Yeah, I was covering the College World Series. He was hoping. I was there for 11 nights. For 10 nights or 11 nights, I looked up, Warren Buffett's favorite restaurant. I went my first three nights there before the games kicked in. Warren Buffett wasn't there any of those nights, but I was hoping to see Warren Buffett and tell him how much I admire his. What would you have done if you looked over and there was Warren Buffett going to

town on a seafood platter on a seafood platter oh in omaha i mean i i would say well well warren i mean you are the oracle you've made some great picks before what made you choose the uh crab cakes here at piccolo pete's and uh yeah i would probably ask him that okay i feel like we got a we got a long off season ahead that yes okay we have an all season to discuss this all right let's talk linebackers because we still have again have a lot to do here Tyrell Dodson, the sort of third linebacker level guy from the bills, but you could maybe buy yourself on some upside, or Kenneth Murray, the former first-round pick,

cohabitation matrix with Kellan Moore and Doug Nussmeyer, and you probably loved him coming out. You got an undrafted rookie against first-round pick. First-round pick is younger. That really has nothing to do with it. What am I going to do? No, I'm joking here. Kenneth Murray.

I think, yeah. Now, the bills aren't, like, the reason why Dodson's available, like, is the bills aren't keeping anyone right now, it seems. Right. But except weirdly going after Mitch Trubisky. Yeah, that is weird. But I would think Kenneth Murray, if you think there's a chance that he can have a post-chargers renaissance. Dodson is a little bit undersized to Murray's a bigger linebacker if you're looking for some differentiation between, like, the body types with Nicoby Dean.

You can sort of sell yourself on that. I think Murray is probably the right choice here. Okay. We move on to Jordan Brooks, another former first round pick from the Seattle Seahawks or Josie Jewel, who has some nice overlap with Fangio and had a pretty good year last year.

He's a little bit older. He's 29, whereas Brooks is a second contract player. Yeah, I think the Eagles would probably be looking not for that placeholder type, but for someone who can be a starter for a few years, I'm higher on Jordan Brooks than others, it seems, not just because he's a first-round pick, but I think he's a guy who's flashed all these different skills,

but hasn't necessarily all put it together in one. They didn't pick up his fifth-year option, but he recovered from injury last year and played decently. I actually like your idea from last Friday show of potentially trading for a linebacker as opposed to signing one and still getting a starting caliber player, But I'm going to go with Jordan Brooks in this one. So here's my other big picture thought that I wanted to talk about today.

Drew Tranquil, who we're going to talk about in a second because he has been replaced in the bracket since he signed with the Chiefs yesterday. He signed a pretty hefty deal with the Chiefs, right? It's like six and a half million a year, 13 guaranteed on a three-year deal. That's probably a two-year deal. Like Drew Tranquil is fine. But if that's the going rate for linebackers, like what Jordan Brooks is going to make like 12 million, something like that?

Are the Eagles going to pay that much? Well, I've heard Brooks projections, like, I've heard a range. I've heard, in pro football, focus, had this look at the Bobby O'Kareke. O'Kareke deal last year, thank you, four years, $40 million. But then I've, I talked to someone who it was like. True Trankel's making $6.5. Yeah, but yeah, so I talked to someone who's like, no, Brooks is going to be more in like the $8 million range. And so you hear this frame of this wide array.

If he gets, if he's in that 12 million range, I don't think the Eagles play in those waters, but I think in like the 7 to 10 million range makes more sense for Brooks. Yeah, I think my general philosophy here is like, there are really only so few differentiated difference making linebackers in the league. There's like five of them.

And so I don't want to pay, like Jordan Brooks is better than Josie Jewel. and Devin White probably. But is he that much better than those guys? I think what the Eagles need at linebacker is competence. And I don't know that I think you're probably not going to get good bang for your buck if you're paying a lot of money for Jordan Brooks. Like if you sign Josie Jewel and Tyrell Dodson, that like makes more sense to me than just spending it all in Jordan Brooks.

But I don't know what I don't know what their plan is. You talk about the Eagles being an overcorrection team. Like if this market is inflated and the safety market is deflated, I'd rather be playing in the high end of the safety waters. Sure. But you talk about the Eagles being an overcorrection team or, you know, kind of having, having the rabbit ears. Do you think with the way the chiefs played, the way the chiefs linebackers played, the way the Niners linebackers played, seeing that, it's like, man, we, we.

We need to stop getting this kind of rotating cast of, you know, past their prime players or guys who no one else is interested in and start getting a legit group here. I don't know. And again, this is probably a Fangio question. If you want to not pound the table, but make the case for Brooks, I'm okay with that. Yeah.

Yeah. Now, I just set myself up that they signed Josie Joel and I found the table for Brooks. I don't hear the end of it. But I'm going to pound. I'm going to, I don't want to pound the table. table because my laptop's here. I'm going to pound the table here for Jordan Brooks. Okay. All right. We move on now and this is where Drew Trankel has been displaced in the bracket. He has been replaced by Justin Simmons. So we have a safety entering the conversation here.

And we get Devin White, the former first round pick of the Tampa Bay Bucks, freelance, benched at times, but has some upside and some playmaking ability. He goes up against Justin Simmons, who was released yesterday. Yeah, I mean, I like the idea of Simmons. It really depends if you, as I wrote earlier this week, that the Eagles are going to target, you know, in their prime core players that try to get younger here not to kind of go with that one-year deal thing. But if you say Justin Simmons, there's just too much talent, too much familiarity with Fangio, he gives you a high-quality baseline.

You know, it's not just Fangio, by the way. It's Christian Parker who he had his best. some of his best seasons with. I'm willing to say Justin Simmons, and it's interesting hearing like people in Denver talk about how valuable he was in that locker room

with Eagles losing you know, Jason Kelsey and potentially Fletcher Cox. Maybe you do want that, I don't want to say adult in the room, that's like an insult to other people, but someone who can also be a culture setter for you in fan-jouin. I think that's reasonable. Yeah. I think I would go Simmons here. I think they

might have some interest in Devin White. I don't think that's off the board at all. But I do think that Simmons is someone they will search for. All right. Last one here, Jerome Baker, the linebacker from the Dolphins. Another Fangio connection was released for cap and injury reasons. But Drew Rosenhaus's agent says that he is fully healthy, ready for week one, against Zach's boy, Jeremy Chin. And Zach, like, said he gets a double dip because he could be a safety or a linebacker for the Eagles.

Yeah, so look, there's a file that we have, P.H. Y has of like, I don't want to say old takes exposed, that wouldn't be, but like old takes that could be exposed in a positive way. You know, I said on a show in November, the Eagles are going to sign Jeremy Chin. I didn't know what their defensive scheme was going to be. Chin did not play well in Evereaux scheme last year, which is based off of the Fangio scheme. I think if you, if I just said which ones how are we going to sign, I would say Chin. But when you factor in the Fangio connection, then need a linebacker. I guess I would lean toward Baker.

I don't want to bypass chin and then not draft chin. You've already got chin staked out. This is the game theory-wise. Chin doesn't need to win fracotology for you to puff your chest out if they signed Jeremy Chin. All right. So then it's a no-prightener for me to go Baker then, right? I actually think that Baker, if you were like, we are probably not going to

accurately predict which linebacker they're going to sign. But water gun to my toe, I would probably pick Jerome Baker because he has the connection. He is younger. He has the starting experience. We know that, like, you know, Fangio trusted him. He is like, if I were to pick one guy, he seems the most likely to me. I'm good with that.

Okay. So Chin moves on and takes that Jeremy Chin. We move on now to the offensive and defensive linemen. Fun matchup of older mercenaries here. Jedevion Clowny against. Zadarius Smith. So Clowny had a really good year with Baltimore last year, but I also wonder if Mike McDonnell,

I'm sorry, Mike McDonald, I'm always confusing Mike McDaniels. It's tough. If Mike McDonald will try to bring him to Seattle. But I think Zadarius Smith makes sense if the Eagles are looking for that placeholder type before Nolan Smith is ready to be a full-time guy for you. Yeah, I don't feel super strongly about it.

Clowny's probably better against the run. Zadariah Smith probably more upset as a pass rusher. I don't, if you want to go Smith, I'm fine with that. I don't feel as that. I'll defer to you on this one. Well, you're the one who discovered Jedevian Clowny, of course. Oh, I mean, I knew he was going to be a player. That was my astute draft observation.

Okay, all right, that's fine. We'll go Zadaria Smith. All right. Next up, Jonathan Grenard, who we have discussed, one of the better young pass rushers on the market from the Houston Texans. He goes up against Josh Uche, who was your plan C in your Howie Rosman back-filling edge rusher if I were him for the offseason. Well, I do think if Eagles trade Redick, this is the position where they would pay for it,

and we'll get to price off. That's the player I would watch more than than Bernard. But I think they'd play at the top of the market at edge rusher if they lose Redick. or if they trade Reddick, not lose him, trade him. So I'm willing to be talked into Granard. I like Josh Oce as a guy who has some pass rushing juice, but he hasn't shown that he's like you're building your defense around. Or, you know, he's a top of the line player.

I think Bernard's going to be paid like a top of the line player. So I'll defer to you. I think I would go Oce here. Okay, good. I'm on board that. because I think... How do the victors? Like, I like Renard,

but I think if they're trading Reddick, I don't know that they're... I don't know that they're paying like $14 million for Jonathan Grenard. That feels like a little bit of a stretch for me. Whereas I think Uche makes a little bit more sense as a rotation player. Okay, I'm good with that. Okay.

Next up, and this is a tough one. I think that this is a classic, you know, second round matchup where both teams have like a national championship. Yep. possibilities. You know, maybe one team was injured over the course of the year. They're a little bit underseated. Bryce Huff against Andrew Van Ginkle.

I think either guy here, I would, I would venture to say that whoever wins this is probably coming out of this bracket. Bryce Huff, you also wrote about today, strikes me as, like I've talked about, fitting the Reddick profile, where it's not quite to the, it's, you know, he only has one year of doing it as opposed to Redick having had two years of doing it. but I think the league may talk itself into not believing what they've seen with Bryce Huff, and he's still young and is a player who can fit into a rotation, whereas Van Ginkle is a plug-and-play, like, discount version of Hassan Reddick,

who has done it for Fangio. Now he's a little bit older. Yeah. I think this is a really interesting matchup. Yeah, I'm pounding the table here for Bryce Huff, for the reason that you mentioned. If you're spending money, spend money on upside, spend money on a guy who's like shown,

you know, he's coming off a double digit sack season. He hasn't done it in a full-time role yet. There's just a lot of juice that he can bring to the table. With Van Ginkle, I just feel like you're going with someone who has that background with Fangio. I get that. But it doesn't have prolific sack production is, older. I know there are advanced

numbers you can look at in terms of him getting to the quarterback. And Josh Tolentina, who I respect, says AVG. But I don't know. And maybe this is saying what I would do. But Bryce Huff seems more like the Howie move than Van Ginkle. And Howie is the one who's signing the checks here. Or not signing the checks, but offering the money.

Yeah. Huff is only in play if they trade Reddust. Whereas I actually think like Van Ginkle could be in play. if they don't trade Reddick. Now, that's, then you've got like five edge rushers, but I think that, I think they might be able to sign him just for the market. If you're pounding the table, I'm not going to, I'm not going to stand anyway.

Are you pushing back on this? I wouldn't pound the table for Van Ginkle, but I think that, I think that he very well could be an eagle. Okay. I mean, I think Huff's going to get paid too. So it depends what that number is here. I mean, it's like asking the audience here.

I see Josh and Khalif both say, AVG. I don't know. What do you think? Julia, do you have a strong opinion on this one? This is your show, Zach. This is your show. All right, well, then I'm going with Bryce Huff.

Okay. Bryce Huff, it is. Last matchup of this quadrant is Dorrance Armstrong, the Cowboys' third banana, who was a good player, against Nick Harris, the last offensive lineman alive. And he is a center-only player,

if you're looking for a tried-and-true backup center. Yeah, I don't love how the selection committee came up with this matchup as the previous one. It's a classic tournament, though. I think Van Ginko could have gone farther, yeah. So I will go with Doran's Armstrong here as opposed to signing a classic triage and true center. Okay, I think that's probably right. All right, before we get to the last quadrant in the second round, time to tell you about our friends at Focco, because Foco has been with us from the beginning.

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For all non-presale items, use the promo code, PHLY 10 for 10% off. PHLY has so many great events coming up, including today. It's the NHL trade deadline. I've seen all these big deals being made. I'm kind of envious of our Flyers crew, our PHLY Flyers crew. They do a great job. But I love talking about big trades. And we already saw that with Sean Walker.

There's a watch party today, trade deadline show March 8th, which is today, two to four, the chicken or the egg. And we also make sure you're a diehard member. We've had great stuff throughout the week. Started on Monday with Bose Top 100. As I said, that's a resource to keep going back to. I get to see the people subscribing to. die hearts. It's been awesome seeing the numbers this week. And what you need to know is you're not just getting our exclusive written content. Like that's a great thing that we have. But you also get a

free shirt. You get access to the Discord. I check the Discord all the time. There's fun conversations in there. And you you get discounts on merch. You get discounts on events. So definitely become a diehard here at PHLY. Which chord? Discord. Discord. A lot of Bowulf fans in the Discord. A lot of Bowulf fans anywhere. Well, a lot of Bow-Wol fans anywhere you go. All right, let's move on to the offensive skill position players, the quadrant here. Jacoby Brissette, the Nick Siriani favorite, goes up against Yaboy Darnell Mooney, the speedy, smaller receiver of the Chicago Bears. Yeah, I guess Jacoby, I'm not high on them signing either one of these guys, but I can see them going.

If they're going with a veteran quarterback, I can see them going with Jacoby. I don't think they overpay a wide receiver. And I think if they do, you know, Noah Brown would be the player I would look at more than Darnel Mooney. But I think Mooney is going to get more than Brown. Yeah, I agree. Oh, okay. And that's what I'm saying. I don't think the Eagles are going to pay much for that third receiver spot.

I think that draft is money. Any free agent wide receiver is going to get more money than they probably deserve based on the market just because there is like the supply and demand of it. There are not a lot of guys available. So yeah, I'm fine with Brissette. Okay. All right. Next up? He, by the way, has been like a staple in quackatology in the past.

Yes, I think he has. Yeah, he's made it far than the past. Although not last year, I don't think. Last year he was too good. I think it was two years ago, maybe the coming off the first. Yeah, but he represents himself. You wonder as he talks to teams. He's like advanced pretty far in quackatology.

Yeah, there you go. That's where he could use the representation for them to be watching. All right. A running back matchup here, Zach, A.J. Dillon, who would be a committee player, your powerback, or we talked about it yesterday, the possibility of going big for Sequin Barkley. I mean, I think there's a better chance to Saquan than AJ Dillon

because AJ Dillon, AJ Jones not like a differentiated player per se. Whereas Saquan Berkeley, you're getting someone who's one of, like, if you're paying, you're paying for someone who's one of the best players in the league. Whereas I don't want to say AJ Dillon's replacement level, but you're probably not prioritizing

AJ Dillon per se. Yeah, the Rashad Penny signing from last year is messing me up a little bit that it was like the very first guy they signed him in Boston Scott, which was very bizarre. But yes, I agree that like, I doubt that the Eagles are targeting A.J. Dillon. Yes. It would be more like okay, it's the second week of free agency who's

available. This guy makes sense. Whereas, yes, if they were targeting somebody, Barclay makes more sense. Yeah, and Kaleef, I'm on board with AJ Dillon and drafting Jalen, right? You said draft a shifty running back. That's I thought that said something else at first. Hey,

different, yeah, yeah, don't, don't listen to that in the car. Poopie, okay. So, so be it. Okay. J.K. Dobbins now, who, again, was a possibility for the Eagles in the Jalen Hertz. Draft in 2020, has had an injury-plagued career, but has some upside. He goes up against Curtis Samuel. By the way, now that we get to Curtis Samuel, did you see the picture of Jalen Hertz

without the goatee? I did. What did you make of the? idea that I think Charlie O'Connor tweeted that he looks a little bit like Sheal. I didn't, I didn't think that. It is. I kind of see it. I mean, good for Sheal because like, good for Jalen.

I mean, I would say good for Sheal. Good for Jalen. Yeah, yeah, good for Jalen. Well, I'm saying that Sheel's, what, 40 years old? J Allen's 25. I mean, I'm calling, you're calling Sheal washed. No, I'm saying I think Shield. would probably be more complimented being compared to the 25-year-old than

J-Lan. I know J-Lan's an old soul, but by the way, you look like this 40-year-old, you know, an outstanding sports writer and podcaster, but I don't think... I would say father first? Yes. I don't think J-Lherts. Husband last? I don't think J-O-N-Hertz would be complimented if you're like,

by the way, you remind me of Shio Copadia. Maybe it's the hat. They both had the flattish brim hat. Yeah. Yeah. I'm more of a... My hat's more bent, you know? than this, but

I believe very much in being clean-shaven. So I like this look. Yeah. All over? Bo? I mean, you said it with such conviction. I believe very much. How many people on this show have ever seen me with a beard?

Never. I've never grown out. I mean, maybe like... Yeah, but that's the question is, does that philosophy, that life philosophy extend beyond your... I don't need to entertain this conversation. You can take it wherever you want, I don't know. Could be your back.

Yeah, I, I shave my face. Okay. I mean, you know, we've had manscaped as a sponsor in the past. I would love to have them as a sponsor again. J.K. Dobbins or Curtis Samuel? Who you got? J.K. Dobbins, very how he like a move. That does strike me as a very how we like a move.

I think Curtis Samuel makes a little bit of sense for them, too. Different type of player to add some. different flavor to the offense, but I would go Dobbins here too. All right, last second round matchup. Noah Brown, we've talked about, or KJ Osborne, the Viking slot receiver. Noah Brown.

I think the numbers on him last year were impressive, the experience with Kellynne Moore. He kind of gives you a physical, you know, by the way, Nick Siriani loves receivers who can block. Noah Brown does that. So I would say Noah Brown. Yeah, I think KJ. Osborne,

Not that he can't play outside, but that he is like sort of typecast as just a slot guy. I don't think they would want just a slot guy. I think they, because it, it behooves them to be able to move Devante Smith. And sometimes AJ Brown inside, I think Noah Brown makes more sense. All right. We're ready for the sweet 16 now. Xavier McKinney or Jordan Fuller. Oh, I mean, price wise, I would say Jordan 4, but Xavier McKinney is the better player.

It depends if you think they're going to shop at the top of the market. you're going to try to find. Well, that's literally the entire exercise. Yeah. I'm thinking... I know, I know. I'm not... I mean, you just want me to pause for 30 seconds while I think about it, you know?

That's a good podcast. And what do you think? I don't know. Like I said, this is, I am really, like, what am I most interested to see what they do? I am really, really interested to see what they do at safety. I... I guess I think I would say Fuller. Okay.

But like I think that they would value McKinney the highest. Yes, I don't think that they are going to prioritize adding a stud safety. Interesting. Given the needs they have elsewhere. But I also don't think that it makes sense value-wise to priority. Like if they're going to sign a premier player, I don't think linebacker makes sense, nor does it fit their philosophical investment. I think Corner is the one,

but that's going to have to be a trade. I don't know. I don't know. I think Fuller is almost too good. Interesting. I actually don't think fours like your years, five to eight million dollar safety. Right, but he's, he's a level.

level of like he comes in and he is a starter and like probably displacing Sidney Brown. Whereas like Aloha Gilman who we talked about or even Gino Stone like that may not necessarily be the case. I don't know. I don't feel strongly here. I my first instinct was Fuller and now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I'm talking myself into McKinney again. Well then let's go McKinney because I can always claim four after the fact. So let's let's let's let's let's let's get and by the way McKinney was Nolan Smith now McKinney was part of your five moves last week well that was if that was what I would do yeah what I think they're going to do yeah so this makes both look better okay all right Gino Stone or Christian Fulton

let's go Christian Fulton okay yeah getting a I mean adding a young corner 25 years old he's like the only corner who is going to be available in free agency who I would expect them to pay real money for yeah And, yeah, I would be on board with Christian Fulton signing. Okay. All right. Linebackers now. Kenneth Murray or Jordan Brooks.

I mean, come on, two first round picks, the same draft. You're getting hot and sweaty over here. Oh, man. We get a fan in here and do it? Yeah. Man, Howell, you're talking my language here. Uh, Jordan Brooks, I think. Interesting.

I would say, I would say Kenneth Murray. So let's go Kenneth Murray. I just don't think they're going to pay that. Yeah. I think Brooks is going to be too expensive. Yeah, I mean, Murray didn't distinguish himself in this style of defense, but. That's true. But Murray, you know, when he was coming out of Oklahoma, you heard off the charts and intangibles.

I remember a story, he saved someone on the side of the road. Do you recall this? I do not. Yeah. Yeah, Julia, can you Google real quick? Kenneth Murray, side of the road? I'm sorry? I'd love to see what else pops up here. Kenneth Murray's side of the road.

Did something come up here? Maybe that. Wait, what was that first Reddit? Tragically funny how Kenneth Murray definitely knows Mesh is coming but doesn't find the sit route. No, that's not, yeah, just side of the road. Okay, I could be wrong here. There was something. He saved a light.

or something like that. But maybe not. You thinking of Drew Rosenhouse? No. Superman. Let's go Kenneth Murray for the sake of this conversation. Does the chat know what I'm talking about, by the way?

Is there something? What's in my head about what Kenneth Murray did? Yes. Oh, well, here you go. Thank you. Life took a major turn in July of 2019. Murray was driving home from church only to discover a deaf woman collapsed on the sidewalk. The CPR trading Murray learned as a counselor at the church community center would end up saving a life.

Just happened to be at the right place at the right time, he said. Yes, he saved a woman's life. I am not. Story of, I am not officially questioning that story. But I am saying if you were to make up a story with three. with three touch points to make yourself or any fictional character look good

coming from church deaf woman saving their life on the side of the road that is it's almost too good to be true And then here's a big NFL.com profile how three special needs kids change Kent Murray's life forever and how the star linebacker from Oklahoma

plans to keep a 10 year old promise to them like you're talking about off the charts and tangibles here. Unfortunately, did not. play out very well for him as an NFL player so far. Okay. Nervous Nolan says, side of the road, great food city.

Well, you can find a lot of great restaurants inside of the roads. That's true. All right, so we're going, Kenneth Murray? Yes. Okay. Justin Simmons or Jerome Baker. Ooh, two fancio connections here. The Fangio bracket.

Let's go Justin Simmons. I think I like whoever wins this matchup to go to the finals. Interesting. Although I have a baker guy. I kind of go Baker here. All right, let's go Baker. And this is a pure, younger, gaming it out. I think there are many more solutions at safety than there are at Linebacker for them.

And I think that Baker is one of a smaller subset of answers at Linebacker, whereas safety could be anybody. Yeah. A youngish guy came on the, you know, there's no compic formula here with them. So, yeah, I like Baker. Okay. So Darius Smith or Josh Uchay? Josh Uchay. Younger.

I agree. I don't even think we need to spend much time there. Bryce Huff or Dorrance Armstrong. Bryce Huff. Making a splash. Yeah, I think I agree. As someone who I know Close would text me when they did that, this is a howie-wowy, they would say. Jeffrey?

No, not Jeffrey Lurie, no. Okay. Jeffrey Epstein? Well, you intimated it. It was a different Jeffrey. Just the first one he came to mind. The first Jeffrey that comes to mind for you is Jeffrey Epstein. No, the second.

He's the second one. The second Jeffrey that comes to mind for his Jeffrey Asse. Yeah, he's pretty like very much in the zeitgeist. Who's this second Jeffrey that comes to mind for you? Jeffrey Dean Morgan? There's 10 Jeffries that I would think about, or 30 before Jeffrey. Go ahead. Jeffrey Epstein's not in my mind.

Give me five. Jeffrey McLean. No, that doesn't count. That's a Jeff. He's in my phone as a Jeff. He's in my phone as Jeffrey. He's in your phone as Jeffrey McLean? I believe so

This is the weirdest thing that has ever come out about you I think Aside from you being shaved Like Charlieville in the way of I had to tell Jeffrey McLean Wow Yeah I actually That's weird

I think it was one of those things We're like in I cloud You know the I cloud Automatic Yes Okay alright that's a little bit less weird Shout out to Jeff awesome reporter Do you see what you just did

What I call him Jeff I don't call him Jeff Shout out to Jeff Not shout out to Jeffrey Yeah, but he's Where your other Jeffries? We're tight on time as it is

We don't need to go Let's say if I Let's say it's No, no, no, you said right off the top of my head I could name 30 Jeffries Before Jeffrey Epstein I wouldn't think of Jeffrey Epstein

Um Jeffrey Alshan Jeffrey Okay Jeffrey Dahmer All right Jared Jeffries Okay so far you've named

No other Jeffries Alshant Jeffrey You've named a Jeff and two people with the last name Jeffrey. Yeah, see, Julia Googled Jeffrey and the first one who popped up with Jeffrey. That's what I'm saying. That's, it's, that's, he's the one who's in the, I got to tell you. Jeffrey Epstein never comes to my mind. I couldn't even tell you.

I know that he, there was a popular documentary. I didn't watch it. I don't. That's all you know. I mean, I'm familiar with the story, but I, I, I, I, I, I, I know. He gets in, I only have... Oh, I know, there was a podcast, that's all that is. I only have a certain amount of...

You don't have to feign, like, you don't know the story. It's not like front of mind for me. I would really need to piece a few things together. I remember when it came out, but I couldn't tell you much about it. Okay. I don't think about it as much as you do. I'm sorry. He is absolutely one of the most...

famous Jeffries at the moment. It's not a story that really interests me. Okay, but that's not the point. Yeah, so I don't read about it much or think about it much. That's all I'm saying. Jeffrey Mosher. Again, not a Jeff. I mean, not a Jeffrey.

A Jeff. You have not yet named a single other Jeffrey. Alshan. Doesn't count. Why does that not count? A first name Jeffrey. You can't, when I think, when you say Jeffrey, what comes to mind? Jeffrey Lurie, Lurie.

Alshon Jeffrey, Jeffrey McLean. Yes. Jared Jeffries. I mean, Jeffrey Bezos. Jeff? Yeah. Jeffrey Wright, and that's a good one. I don't even know who Jeffrey Wright is.

Really enjoyed it. Who's Jeffrey Wright? He's an actor. In what movies? Yeah. American fiction. Never seen it. That's him.

She's showing you a picture of him right there. Oh, okay. Vately familiar. Yeah. I couldn't tell you that was Jeffrey. right before you pulled that up. Okay. You would have been Jeffrey wrong.

Yes. Jacoby Brissette or Sequin Barkley? Sequin. J.K. Dobbins or Noah Brown? Ooh. Tough one here. I mean, I would say J.K. is more of the Howie type. But if they're going to sign a receiver, I think Noah Brown fits the profile.

I think it's Dobbins because I don't know that they are going. I think they should sign a receiver. I don't know that they are going to sign a receiver. They can follow. I think it's like 0.7 in my 15 point plan of waiting until the draft and getting a good one in the second or third round. All right. We're at the Elite 8.

My favorite round. Really? Why? Got great games. Okay. And Final 4, you only have two games. Elite 8, it's spread over two days. You have four games, you know, two per day.

I always, and you have like some of my most memorable games I've watched are Elite 8 games. Okay. Xavier McKinney or Christian Fulton? Xavier McKinney. But I'm willing to be talked out of that one. Yeah, I'm playing the same thing in my mind of, like, McKinney is one of many answers at safety, whereas Fulton is if they're going to sign a corner of the guy who I think they're going to sign. But it would be also a little bit silly for us to not have a single safety in the final four.

Yeah. I don't know. I think you're underrating how much they like Kili Ringo, but. Well, that's, but Fulton is also not blocking Kili Ringo. That's true. He's 25 years old, maybe. Yeah. I mean, it's a good corner draft.

Like, are you paying Christian Fulton or are you drafting Camari Lasseter in the second round? But you don't know. You're making the decisions at different times. You don't know who's going to be available. That's why, by the way, free agency should be after the NFL draft and not before. I disagree. Okay.

I don't know. You want to go McKinney? Yes. Okay. Let's go McKinney. And then I think Jerome Baker, like, blows out Kenneth Murray. Yeah, I would agree that. It's one of the more lopsided games of the tournament.

Yeah. Josh Uche or Bryce Huff. Oh, two guys I had my write-up today. Bryce Huff was my plan B. Josh Uch is my plan C. Let's go with my plan B. I think Bryce Huff just made it. I think Bryce Huff's going to make more money,

but I also think that if the Eagles don't have Hassan Redick on their team next year, they're making a splash at edge rusher. Howley will never go into a season. I think he learned his lesson. by the way, two years ago, they didn't have enough at edge rusher. I think they would make sure they're covered at edge rusher. This is not a particularly good edge rusher draft. You can't wait until the draft at edge rusher.

I can really see them going after Bryce Huff if they don't keep Hassan Redick. Let me ask you this. If they do keep Asan Reddick, do you think they could still go after Josh Uche? No, I don't think that's the move they would do. Because then you have, I mean, unless you're trading sweat, unless you're trading sweat. I don't think that's the case A matter of fact, maybe then you're looking less at like the

designated pass rusher type and maybe more as the edge rusher who can play in space a bit more. Okay. You're pushing back on this? No, I just, I think there's going to be more competition for Huff if they like Uche. But Eagles have money.

I mean, they're top 10 in caps based in the league. Yeah, and if the idea is this is necessitated by a redic trade, then I think Huff does sort of fit that. Yeah. All right. Last one, and the Elite 8, a good matchup here, Sequin Barclay and J.K. Dobbins. Ooh, are you going with the discount and you're going at the top of the market?

Look, I mean, how he's type, how he's type is going for the discount. Now, maybe you learned a bit from the Rashad Penny experience last year. Dobbins is still really young. Coming off a major injury. But I think J.K. Dobbins probably fits more. although and there is smoke on Barclay they've really liked Barclay in the past

they've liked Dobbins in the past I'm going to let you pick this one because I can make a strong argument for either one of them I think I would go Dobbins okay I'm surprised I thought you'd go Sequin I think I think there is real interest in Sequin but

if you're doing that it means that you are making a conscious decision to not do other stuff sure and that's like your that is if you're going after Sequin, that's like your day one priority. Like that's what you're trying to make happen, whereas there are many other paths to searching out other positions, and you can still make a realistic offer for Dobbins on day one,

but at a certain price point. Yeah, and I should also say how he hasn't given a multi-year contract to a like a second contract player, a second contract running back. since LaShaulay or Darren Sproles was an extension. Now, McCoy's was an extension too. But like Sproles wasn't huge. So let's say Darren Sprouls,

but really in terms of a featured back since LaShawn McCoy. Everything's kind of been this J.K. Dobbins one year type and then you keep kind of getting on that wheel. All right. J.K. Dobbins does it. And so we have reached the final four. Xavier McKinney, Jerome Baker, Bryce Huff, and J.K. Dobbins,

one of those four. will be crowned in just a few minutes, the 2024 quacketology champion joining the likes of Jordan Whitehead. And who else? I don't remember the other people who have won, honestly. We play so many of these games. I don't even remember who went last year.

Last year, we, well, we said Byron Jones one year. We hit that. Well, they didn't sign him, but we were right in terms of the direction they were going. last year last year was a I think we were talking corner last year maybe

because we didn't know they'd keep Bradbury so we'd have to look that up I don't know the answer yeah I will look this up real quick who do you think is the winner here Xavier McKinney or Jerome Baker

these are good ones this is a good final four I could see any of these my lean here is Baker I think I just I don't I don't know that I believe the Eagles are going to be at the very top of a safety market when there are going to be so many options available

yeah I'm okay with Baker I think Baker makes a lot of sense What are you trying to look up who won Quakotology last year? Yeah I know Patrick Peterson was involved in it I see I know Marioota was involved in it Oh it might have been Mariotta

Because someone wrote When someone wrote huge quackatology implications When I reported that That they are signing Marioata as the number two QB Hold on, here we go I found the video Okay This is a terrific

Terrific podcasting Do you agree with Baker over McKinney? Yeah, I'm going Baker over McKinney You talk through a hub for Dobbins Yeah, so I'm going with Bryce Huff here for the Huff or Dobbins. Now, I know this is contingent upon Reddick not coming back, but I do think that if the Eagles don't keep Reddick, then they're shopping at the top of the market at EdgeRusher.

You can make an argument that Huff is the top available EdgeRusher. Now, that requires them paying, but Howie's going to pay at EdgeRusher if Reddick goes. It would really surprise me. It would, if they trade Hassan Redick, and they're just like, you know what, we're good with Nolan Smith, and let's just pair him with a situational guy. When you look at the cap space distribution in the NFL right now, the Eagles have, according to Over the Cap, which does a great job.

You should bookmark that page. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. They're tenth in the NFL in Cap Space. Now, there are teams that are going to be interested in edge rushers. like the Giants. The Giants have less cap space than the Eagles do. Not by a lot. But I could really see Bryce Huff making a lot of sense for the Eagles.

So J.K. Dobbins is the Howie type. Now, are they going to sign someone coming off, what, a torn Achilles? I believe it is. There is a lot of variability there. J.K. Dobbins is 25 years old. It would be presumably a one-year deal to allow him to reset his value. Now he is also, he's from Houston.

There's a J-1-Hertz connection maybe, but I'm going with Bryce Huff here. What do you think? I'm trying to, it was Byron Murphy in the finals against somebody, but I can't figure out who it was. I disagree with you for this game, only because we don't know that

Hassan Reddick is going to get traded. So we'll go Dobbins. And we know that they're going to sign a running back. Yeah, and Dobbins fits the Howley type. So let's go Dobbins. I can't. I can't. now I'm dragging us on too long.

We both like Byron Murphy. What's that? Caliph says it was Byron Murphy, who was the Catholician. Khalif, thank you so much, man. We appreciate the little thing. All right. Well, J.K. Dobbins

or Jerome Baker? That's what it comes down to. Urban Myers loving this one right here. What do you think he's doing? Just walking around kicking people in his house? These are two of his former players. And this exercise, by the way, shows how to feel up coeds?

This exercise shows how loaded. How loaded. the Ohio State rosters were when he was there. I mean, Jordan Fours. I'm sure he did everything on the up and up to make that happen. I couldn't tell you.

So Jerome Baker, let's just give the quick Jerome Baker profile. You're looking at a 27-year-old, okay, turned 27 in December, actually Christmas Day, birthday for Jerome Baker. He has been in the league since 2018 when he was a third round pick by the Dolphins. He signed a three-year, $39 million contract.

in 2021. So he's been paid. And he was part of Fangio's defense last year. They were expecting him to be a key player. He got injured. But there are Fangio quotes last year saying, like, this guy's been good, but he can really take the next step here. So maybe you're saying, like, this is a younger version of Zach Cunningham.

You're getting a guy off, not in terms of playing style, but someone who's been paid already. The league has shown that they valued him, that he has good film, and he's coming off an injury-prone season, or an injury-played season, I should say. That's the Jerome Baker part of this. J.K. Dobbins, you're not going to find many running backs who've been, like, more productive on a per-carry basis than J.K. Dobbins. But he got to play next to Lamar. Which makes that a lot easier.

I mean, he averages 5.8 yards per carry in his career, six yards per carry as a rookie, 5.7 yards per carry in 2022. now 2.8 yards per carry in 20, 23. He played one game. He only had eight carries. So it's a very, he missed all of 2021. He missed almost all of 2023. So there is a little Rashad Penny to him,

but the Eagles really liked him coming out. My vote is Jerome Baker. Chat, what do you think? If nothing I've shown that I pander to the audience, I will give you guys 20 seconds to chime in. my pick will be your pick 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 15, 14, 13, 13,

12, all right, Gavin says Jerome. Thank you, Gavin. Tracer Bowlet, do you have a pick? Khalif, do you have a pick? Paul, do you have a pick? Dave, do you have a pick? The Andel, do you have a pick? I mean, I think it's pretty

thematically appropriate that we conclude quacketologies. Ah, with Jerome. Send it in. Jerome. Send it in Jerome. I like that.

And so you know what? Jerome Baker. Come on down. Jerome. Come on down. Jerome Baker from Cleveland, Ohio. The Eagles just lost a player from Cleveland, Ohio, and Jason Kelsey. And Jerome Baker fills that Cleveland, Ohio void on here.

By the way, he originally, he was a big-time recruit, originally committed to the University of Florida. then decommitted goes to Ohio State. So Howie Roseman, when he's signing him, says, you broke my heart when you didn't go to Florida, get my chance to have you on my team. Don't you think that Howie Florida stuff is a little overplayed at this point? Like, he hasn't really brought in Florida guys.

No, no, it's not bringing in. He always brings it up. You know, don't you remember when he, well, yeah, I know. He called up, which player was it last year? Was it Nolan Smith or Jalen Carter or he called it one of the Georgia guys? It's killing me. It's killing me to take, yeah.

I know, but like that's the thing. It's like, he went to Florida, but it hasn't really like mattered lately. Well, you know what that speaks to. How tough that program's had it in recent years. Although what he should do, he should get on the phone with the Falcons

and get Kyle Pitts and bring him back here. There you go. Yeah, that's what I would do. But how he's not asking me for my opinion. All right. Well, that'll do it. As we have crowned our champion, Jerome Baker is the quacketology,

winner. Now, he's available to be signed any day. It would be great if the Eagles could do that this weekend and really make us look great. But that'll do it for this full week of free agency preview. Anything else on your mind, Zach, that you want to just get on the record, because the next time we talk, barring an emergency podcast this weekend, will be Monday at noon. As the tampering period opens, we're going to be live for 36 hours in a row. No, we're not. No, we're not. Probably We're like four hours, but we're going to be live throughout the whole thing. It can be sort of a watch-along as we all refresh our Twitter feeds and talk about what's going on. But anything else to get on the record?

Do you think we'll have Hassan Reddick news before Monday? No, I don't think we're going to have Asan Rec News before Monday. The Hassan Reddick market might be dictated, by the way, by what top edge rushers do. Like if a team like Arizona wants to get Jonathan Grenard and they can't get him, then maybe, Maybe they're in the market for Reddick. If a team like Detroit wants to get, I don't know, Bryce Huff. I don't know if they've been connected to Huff. But then that would be, they don't get them.

Maybe then they're in the market. So that's one thing there. Pay attention to that. There are signings that could happen this weekend. Typically, though, for free agents, if you're signing this weekend, you're staying with your own team. That's something we've seen in the past. We saw it yesterday with Drew Tranquil. other guys if you're on the market now and you haven't signed yet you're kind of waiting to see what the market looks like you know some other shoes to fall a few things i would just say real quick is there are positions like safety and linebacker and running back where there's a lot of options on the market and those positions the market might come down a bit or it could be a situation where if you guys get paid quickly and the other guys don't want to be lingering around then there are other positions such as wide receiver

cornerback, edge rusher, where there are limited. So if you want to get a difference maker, you've got to act very quickly. Like if you're looking at safety, if you don't sign one of the top guys, there's a chance five days in, you can sign a safety. If you're looking at an edge rusher,

those guys are going to be off the border within the first 30 minutes of the show, the very top, but the edge rusher is deep, though. I think you'll be able to add an edge rusher in the middle of free agency. Fair enough. But I think I would pay attention to what happens with trades and then like any you know i always say during draft the quarterbacks dictate this

right so the big thing like a kirk cousins move is probably the big issue that's going to happen in free agency and the money that gets allocated to him could affect where cap space is is distributed elsewhere i'm not expecting like i don't know if a justin field's trades happens if a justin field's deal happens right away but um you should always pay attention to quarterbacks the quarterback movement. And there are teams sometimes that have cap space trying to look for a quarterback, and then they have cap space to allocate if they don't get one. Last thing for you,

we know that the Kenneth Murray, Jordan Brooks conversation got you hot and bothered. I wonder what would happen to you if Russell Wilson signed with the New York Giants. I mean, a classy player of the classy organization. I mean, well, you know, I'll tell you, the man of the year. We're going to start seeing those buttons coming on. The man of the year patch that he wears on that jersey. Giants have had a few of those over the years, right? So, uh, pathetic.

It's a joke. It is, it is a joke. But no, man, but like Russ flying, you know, commercial out of the Newark airport, if you're the Steelers, you couldn't even, this guy's going to be your quarterback. You couldn't even get him on a plane. Now, I'm not, I don't know how that works in terms of getting, like, Mr. Billionaire over here above flying commercial. No, I don't know how that works.

You don't typically see, you don't typically see your $250 million quarterback, whatever he is, just like, you know, going through security at EWR. Okay. Wow. Look at you calling it EWR. Nice. It's a real, you're a real travel head. I can tell you the code for every of these.

Yeah, give me an airport. Albuquerque. Never gone in the Aberkirky. Give me another one. It's probably ABQ. It's probably ABQ. Give me another one. Midway.

Midway. Ooh. Okay. You stump me. I haven't really, I haven't really, I've only gone to Midway once. That was when I was flying back after the playoff game to make sure that I was home in case my wife went in the labor. Which she did, right? Not as she went in four days.

or three days later. Okay. All right. Well, good showing off. That'll do it for this episode of the PHL. It begins with an M, I think. Why? Eagles podcast. I think it might just be M-I-D, but...

MDW. Like Memorial Day weekend. Which is nothing compared to President's Day. No, Memorial Day weekend's more significant than me. My anniversary is Memorial Day weekend, so... Oh, okay. All right. Well, we have gone on.

quite long enough. Way too long. For this episode. So thank you very much. Although I should ask you about the airport at Epstein's Island, which somebody says in the chat. I don't even know the reference.

You can't be so head in the sand on this. You've got to know what's going on. You seem to know a lot about Jeffrey Epstein. I don't even know that much. I just know what everybody knows. You bring him up. This is the third time on the show you seem to bring him up. You bring him up a lot.

He's in the zeitgeist. It's not my, he's like, guys. He's in yours. No, he's in like the cultural zeitgeist. He's a very talked about person. He's a very like... I'm not running in those circles that talks about him.

That's all I'm saying. It's not like people are talking about him with reverence. If I Googled or if here, I could do a text search. Text search. All my texts since the life of my I cloud or whatever. And if I look at Epstein, uh... You got a lot.

I have Bo and Marissa here. Great. Now we find we have the excuse. to talk Epstein on the pod. That's a text from Bo. Okay. Okay. Yeah.

So that's, we have in, here you go. In August 2019, question for Sheel on the Don't Get Bo Fired Beat. Who's saying who? This is Bo. Can I read this? Should I leave the Jeffrey Epstein joke

in the podcast we just recorded? So it seems that you make Jeffrey Epstein jokes quite a bit. I have no, the only Epstein that I'm talking, I mean, there's Epstein's in the media who I, there's a great writer, Jory Epstein. Sure. So she's the Epstein that comes up in my phone. But there's nothing about, here, I got.

But that doesn't mean that you need to pretend like you don't know who he is. I, he's not part of my, my thinking. Yeah, I don't. I don't know what you're familiar with so many influential people. Like these high-rolling people, you don't even... What does it have to do with Jeffrey Epstein? Well, a lot of them have probably been on the flight logs. I defer to you on that one.

Okay. It doesn't make you like a more noble person to not know... Theo Epstein, the best general manager in sports history. Yes. I've talked about Theo quite a bit. Big admirer of Theo. Don't know anything about Jeffrey. He's no Bob Myers.

Oh, well, those two are great, but I would take Theo over Bob Myers for sure. Okay. Yeah. He's won it twice. Won what? The Nobel Peace Prize? The World Series. Yeah.

All right. That'll do it for this episode of the Ph.LY Eagles podcast. Thanks to everybody for watching and listening. We may talk to you this weekend, but if not, get buckled up for a nice long one on Monday. And that's all we got. Congratulations to Jerome Baker and his entire. family on joining the ranks of the quacketology champions for Julia and Zach. I'm Bo. We thank you for listening. Talk to you later. And as always, we love you.