Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Clay's Corner: Justin Jefferson's contract looks better now

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Matthew Coller and intern Clay discuss the latest NFL news, including comparing Justin Jefferson's contract to Ja'Marr Chase's contract.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I should I should bring in clay here in a minute. Clay has been waiting very patiently with all of his questions, but you guys have had so many great questions here. But Clay has been gathering headlines from the day and different things happening around the NFL. So let me bring him into the mix and I'll continue to answer questions. Intern Clay at Penn. We'll see if we get some sirens tonight in the background or we'll start the counter on how long it will be. But, uh, how, how are we doing clay? What's going on, man?

I'm good. I'm kind of a little flustered at your T Higgins Jordan Addison comparison, cause I'm very high on T Higgins, but I'll just let that slide. Well, the question is not is T Higgins better because I think T Higgins is better. It's how many dollars better. And the point is, let's say T Higgins is a 28 million dollar wide receiver. What does that make Jordan Addison? Probably like a 20 million dollar wide receiver of which they're paying five for the next two years or five ish as a first round pick for the next two years. So you really don't want to be moving players that give you that much that much surplus cap space. That was the comparison.

That's the most recent wide receiver contract. But his catch against the Vikings where he went up and caught it and then fell into the end zone was one of The coolest things I have ever seen in person Bring back Jerry ball. That's a really good one. I'm just catching up to the chat where you guys are Being bring back Corbin lasina. I've met Corbin lasina. He's a former bill Vasante shanko, okay, Willie beavers some great names here Matt Castle Sean Salisbury Okay, Willie Beavers some great names here Matt Castle Sean Salisbury John David booty, you know, Toretta

Demetrius Underwood too soon. Darrell Talley It's a lot of great names for you guys. Todd Bowman is a good one John David booty is definitely the right answer for this Anyway, I'm wasting your time clay. So you've put together Some moves that have happened and some headlines and some questions. So where would you like to begin with Clay's corner for this evening? Yeah, I think the biggest news is with Jamar Chase and T Higgins. They finally have been locked up into long-term contracts. So how do these deals compared to the Justin Jefferson one that he signed last year?

I think it's pretty clear that any contract that was signed last year now looks good. I've seen this from 20 different reporters and I've said it to like, wow, that contract they did with that guy last year now looks good, which is how it usually works. But this year was unusual in how much the cap went up. And I think that Jamar Chase probably had a sense for this because I also saw, well, if they had only done it last year,

and like the player has to agree, Jamar Chase was going to bet on himself the same way Jefferson was. The Vikings were criticized for not getting Jefferson's deal done a year early. But I think Jefferson never really wanted to sign. Yes, it is Ivy League pen for clay. Yeah, that's that's correct. University of Pennsylvania. But I think that those guys never wanted to sign, knowing that the cap would go up, knowing that they could use

their leverage and that they ultimately did. But when it comes to Darasaw and Jefferson, yes, those contract, those are the two best players on the whole team. And they got both of them locked up long-term last year And I'm sure if you're Jefferson you're a little agitated because not only did Jamar Chase get more money He kind of got a lot more money than Justin Jefferson did but that's not really The goal if you're the Vikings to make sure he's got the biggest number it's to have him locked up long-. And I remember talking about this and saying,

hey, it's going to be fine. The at the point that they sign him, it'll seem like a lot. But then a year from now it won't. And here we are. And now two, three years, there will be more receivers that come along and it'll look great at that point. So I think that the Vikings have a really good contract for one of the best players on their

team. Yeah, it's a toss up really when it comes to who's better between Jefferson and Chase. So when is that close and you could come out of that paying one of them 5 million less like Vikings fans are happy about that. So I do think that Bengals got good value on T Higgins though. I know it's 28 mil for a number two receiver receiver but we're talking about a guy who had 900 yards and 10 touchdowns in just 12 games and he's the number two receiver so You put him in a different offense and I think he takes off and is probably a top three or four guy in the whole league So by keeping him in the room is really big for them But we talking about lay looking back on contracts made last year, I think the Texans are smiling right now. Looking at that Nico Collins deal, locking him up for $24 million.

Me personally, I think Nico Collins is comfortably the third best receiver in the league. So I think they're smiling over that one. I think that they won't be able to throw him the ball because they traded for Ed Ingram and got rid of Laramie Tunsel and CJ Stroud is going to be too injured to throw the football to Nico Collins. But maybe there's some last second guys that they can bring in. Yeah, good, good point, though. I mean, Higgins and getting what he got is probably a little bit less than he would have gotten if he had ended up on the free agent market for next year.

But he has been banged up a little. And if I'm him, I just want Joe burrow to keep throwing me the football. And that will be good for life. But if you're the Vikings, what you would have preferred is that T Higgins was traded to a team that they don't play next year because the Vikings play at Jamar chase and T Higgins, who would be your pick in an all player draft between Jamar chase and Justin Jefferson? Um, I think I've taken Jamar chase.

I think it's pretty close, but it's just, he has that extra gear, which says he moves differently. And I think Justin Jefferson as like a receiver is probably better, but when you count in the athleticism and just that the extra tick, I think Jamar Chase has it, but it's super close. Like I have no complaints over Justin Jefferson at all. I think that Chase is kind of like Tyree kill in that route running and details and even contested catches

are not his absolute strength, but he's so freaking fast that he just get the ball in his hands and he's gonna make a big play. Whereas Jefferson, I think is more of a pure wide receiver, his route running, his details, his ball tracking. I mean, they're all the best. I mean, either way, it's a coin flip and the numbers would say it's a coin flip. Something that happened last year though, and CD Lamb is also in this

conversation as well when Cooper Rush isn't throwing in the ball when, you know, he's on point with Dak Prescott, Prescott. But something that happened last year is Jefferson and Chase were. A way above everybody else. It was like those two were the only two that were completely dominating the NFL for wide receivers. It was not a huge year for wide receivers. There weren't a ton of guys that got 1500 plus yards.

And yet these two were way above the rest. So I think that there's something to be said for where they stand in the league ahead of everybody else. So New Blacks, New Black, new blacks, new blacks, new blacks says, JJ is better than Moss. He could do everything. Yeah, I don't know if you watched Moss, if you're going to say that, I would not. Moss is the only you have ever seen that just stand straight up in his stance.

And then he's 99 miles an hour on his first step. So I don't know. Randy Moss is like Randy Moss, like one of the three best players to ever play wide receiver. I mean, we got a factor for era where there, I mean, I know I just said those two are a head and shoulders above everyone else. Randy Moss was 50 miles above everybody else at that time. I mean, Randy Moss changed frant the franchise forever, changed the league

forever, changed the way the Packers drafted. I mean, this guy was just, is like one of the, put him on Mount Rushmore's of all time, great non-quarterback players. I mean, this is a different level to Randy Moss than it is for Justin Jefferson. But maybe if you've only seen like some Moss highlights or something, because if you think that he was just

one dimensional, then you really didn't watch Randy Moss because he could do anything. So anyway, and the one year that Tom Brady plays with him, he what? Like has the most touchdowns ever. They go undefeated. I mean, anywho. What else we got? Yeah. So next up, Derek Stanley resigned with the Texans and he's now the highest paid corner with the corner market rising. Should the Vikings prioritize drafting a corner early on in this year's draft?

So I think that this argument can be made for a couple of different positions. It certainly can be made a defensive tackle with the prices. It can be made a guard with the prices and it can be made a corner with how much these guys are getting made or getting paid. But I would say to some extent the answer is yes. I mean, if you're drafting guys and developing them and they're getting 30 million, I mean, that's a lot of surplus cap space. If you draft someone who's successful, I also think that there's a lot of corners and they're everywhere and you can always go get them.

You can always go get a Shaq Griffin or something. But what you can't get is excellence anywhere and Stingley the point about him isn't as much the price tag. It's the fact that you just these guys don't make it to the market. Patrick Santana doesn't make it to the market. Everybody here wants sauce Gardner. I wish you the best of luck. He's going to resign with the Jets unless he's got some personal problem.

He's going to sign with the Jets and Stingley is going to stay with his team. You can't go into free agency and build cornerback rooms. You can get Byron Murphy's. You can get Stefan Gilmour's at 50 years old, but you can't get a defense changing type of corners without drafting them. And I would look to the draft this year at corner if they're not going with a starting left guard and if they don't have, you know, some, if they have a huge gap, okay,

sure. But that's why I like, uh, Trey Amos, the guy from Ole Miss. I think he's on the bigger side. Looks to me like a Brian Flores type player. Looks like a high IQ player. And I definitely like Jihadi Baron. Well, I think would be a great, great fit for Brian Flores, but he looks like he's going to go a little bit higher than that. So I think that's what the main point is, that if you want somebody good at that position, you better draft them because they're not hitting free agents.

Yeah, these contracts are just getting so ridiculous. Like the steamy one makes sense. He's a top corner. But when I saw JC Horn get paid, whatever he got paid, I'm still confused on how he convinced them to give him all that money. Well, you can't be letting anybody who's good

out of the doors if you're Carolina, right? You're on the rebuild. You got to overpay somebody to stay with you. Yeah, that is true. But um, I think The Vikings I think since they filled so many holes this free agency, especially on both sides of the interior I think it does allow them to to open up and think more about corner With that first round pick and play him next to Byron Murphy who whose contract looks good now that the dust is all settled I think it would be a good move for them.

There's a few guys that are interesting. Uh, false profit mentions, uh, is a dairy importer for Iowa state. And who's the other one? Will Johnson, if he drops, like there are some guys who sort of have my attention. Uh, Hairston who ran the what? Like you ran like a four to nine or four, three, something, just something crazy. Um, but I also agree with a VA Viking 33 says, uh, the draft this year is a best player available because they have a really good team.

I agree with that. And corner might be the only position where I see other than left guard and maybe they'll fill that out that I see where I could go, you know, you could draft a starter and that's nothing against Mackay Blackman, who was good two years ago, but he's coming off an ACL injury. And you have Murphy as a starter and you have Roger Isaiah Rogers, who they sign. I can't just say Rogers, Isaiah Rogers, who they signed in free agency. And then what it would be nice for them as far as their depth

chart goes, to be able to bring in a top draft pick corner who you could plan to start and then have contingency plans if you can. Yeah, I think it's always nice to be in a position where you could draft the best player available and not force a pick and try and reach. So I think the Vikings is going to be really hard for them to mess up the draft. Like whether you stay and pick best player or you trade back. And I think there's a lot of good hard for them to mess up the draft. Like whether you stay and pick best player or you trade back. And I feel like there's a lot of good options for them this year in the draft.

But my, uh, for my next headline, I want to talk about Cooper cup. He signed with the Seahawks and they have Seattle has completely rebranded that offense. So it is Sam Darnall going to creep back into the playoffs next year. What's going to happen? Um, I think that division is tough. See the way that you would play it out right now, and we're so close to the season that we have all the answers, right? Only, uh, April, May, June, July, August.

So only six months away, but if you were trying to project it post free agency, just how the NFC is going to look, if things go the way we think they're going to go. I mean, you could pretty reasonably put two NFC North teams in the playoffs and two NFC East teams in the playoffs, probably one from the South and probably one from the West. Is that one from the West going to be Seattle? Well, if Matthew Stafford is still really good and has no problems and is healthy, the Rams are going to make the playoffs because I don't think Arizona is there yet and San Francisco is just taking it all down, taking their medicine with their salary cap and so forth. But if you're talking about Seattle's chances,

it really hinges on Stafford. If he falls off, even if they got to Vonte Adams, even if they have a great team, they were one game away from potentially missing the playoffs last year. If he gets hurt or whatever, then I think Seattle is good enough to make it. But everything about Seattle screams to me, nine and eight, ten and seven, just one of those teams in the league. And this is why you draft your JJ McCarthy, because you want to be more than a team in the league and you want to be able to spend and get players here and make a trade if you have to and that kind of thing.

I think he's going to be fine and I think that team's going to be fine. I don't think they're going to be any different than when Gino was there, which is they're competitive and if you got to go to Seattle and play them, which they did the Vikings go to Seattle. Of course they do right next year. I think they do. I think they go to Seattle and yeah yeah, it's not gonna be easy. You're not gonna just go to Seattle and beat Gino Smith out there last year. It took a lot, but they're not really a seriously contending team, even with Cooper Cup.

I think he probably wanted to go back to where he played college. And I think he may be from that area too. That might have played into it and money played into it. But it's really, it's still until the Cardinals prove it, it's a two team race and it's between Seattle and the Rams and maybe they can make it. I feel like the Seahawks made a bunch of moves, but still stayed kind of the exact same. Um, like they won 10 games last year, but at no point in the league did I think they were going to go win a playoff game last year. Like, yeah, they were just the definition of mid to me. So even after all these moves and reshaping how that offense is going to look, nothing changes if that old line doesn't improve.

They have one of the worst units in the league and all they've done so far to improve it is sign Josh Jones. And he's what? I don't even, I don't even know who that is. I looked him up on PFF. He's 132 out of 141 tack was graded. It's not a good look. So until they fixed that line, I don't, I don't really see anything changes except eight to 10 wins.

Right. And Sam Darnold will be used to that for sure. He'll be used to having to scramble around and make some plays and so forth. But yeah, it's just, and I'm not really sold on their coach. I mean, their coach got him to 10 wins, but he was the first time head coach out there and some of their stuff seemed relatively basic. They hired Clint Kubiak who Vikings fans are familiar with for not being a good play caller and then who knows if he was going to be last year in New Orleans before, you know, Derek Carr got heard and then it wasn't, you know, there was no chance there with Spencer

Rattler and so forth. But just, yeah, just totally mid team that needs to draft offensive line and maybe they'll build around Sam for a couple of years and see what happens there based on his contract. It seems like if he struggles, they might move on. So I don't know. Yep. But the him signing there seemed like him deciding he would prefer the money and to be closer to home than actually pick a contender, which is fine. I mean, he's had his Super Bowl.

And at that point, you could just decide whatever you want to do. But he didn't go to the Chiefs. He didn't go to another team that's going to be top five. He went to more of just another team in the league at this point. Yeah. So another quarterback we're talking about is Kirk Cousins because he's still on the Falcons roster and I don't remember anything like this, but you're much older than I am. So have you seen a situation like this before where a team whiffs on a highly paid quarterback and then they keep him as a backup. I'm sure that I have. I have to think about that. Maybe the chat can help with that. Well,

yeah, I'm thinking about Jimmy Garoppolo and how Garoppolo was supposed to be the backup for Trey Lance, but then he ended up not being because Trey Lance was bad, but he was the backup to start that season. So I think that's probably the most recent answer that I can give you is that he was the backup to start that season with Trey Lance. And then Lance played in the mud bowl with Chicago and then he got hurt. And then it was Jimmy Garoppolo again and they still ended up in the NFC championship with Jimmy Garoppolo.

So that was weird. Yeah, there's, I mean, throughout history, there has been a handful of times where some veteran quarterback who had been there a long time got benched. I mean, it was, I know it was due to injury, but even Dak Prescott taking the job away from Tony Romo and he was the backup, during what would have been the 2016 season. But aside from that, I mean, for somebody to get that type of contract, and then a year later have the potential, I still think Kirk's going to find his way out of there to another team, but still have the potential to be sitting on

the bench making 45 mil a year with a hundred mil guaranteed and having played 14 games and sit and watch Michael Penex is a wild outcome and This was exactly on draft night why I thought This is a great move for them because to draft Michael Penex It's funny But it's a great move because you just don't know how long Kirk Cousins was going to hold up with his leg issue. And last year he may have gotten a little stronger in the Achilles as the season went

along, but not in the arm. And then he comes out says, well, I had an elbow injury. It's like, I'm pretty sure that just you can't really throw with any velocity anymore. Yeah, people are reacting to you calling me old. It it's definitely the case now. There's some, there is some point where. Half of the draft is guys sons who you watched play. Like we're talking about a Sunday.

Samuel Jr. Is on his second contract. And once you've reached that point,'s like okay well I watched Asante Samuel he was like a young player in my mind compared to the guys that I grew up watching so yeah it's perfectly acceptable. Manning getting benched for Osweiler and then getting his job back yeah that might have been kind of a fake injury thing or he may have been banged up there's yeah Trent Trent Green staying on the bench after Kurt Warner, I guess, could be. I don't know if there's anything quite like this, though, because Kirk was not hurt at all and they

just did it for purely performance. Yeah, I think it's a unique situation that would only work with Kirk Cousins. Like normally when you have two quarterbacks that really believe they can start and lead a team, it's not good for the locker room, but Kirk is just like, he's the nicest dude in the world. He's Kirk. He's not, yeah, he's on the bench, but I don't think he's gonna try and ruffle any feathers

while he's there. His agent is gonna do his thing on the backend, but Kirk's gonna be Kirk. So I don't think it's really ruffling any feathers. And I think that's why they're letting it linger on and just see if they can find a trade partner. Once these teams get desperate. I think Kirk, knowing that he's got his money will be okay with it if that's the

case. But I think the thing about this situation, the way it's played out for Kirk is that he wanted to have a team that loved him and invested in him. And that was really what he told us before he left his last press conference was that. And the thing I've quoted a million times from him is he said it's not about the money. It's what the money represents. He wanted a team to fully buy into him and for him to be their guy for the next four years. And here we go. And that just didn't happen. Like from day one, they draft somebody else.

They didn't tell him until the last minute. And then now they're not even going to give him a chance to compete against Penix and training camp. It's just going to be this is Penix team going forward, which to me says they're trying to get a trade for him. And I think that will ultimately happen. But I mean, I don't know. It could just be super awkward.

Yeah, you're getting you're getting roasted for calling me old. Folks, I promise you that I don't make the rules. I'm just an observer. I promise you, I promise you that I've gotten past the point where I would be a little it's our back and forth. Just let us live. I would not be offended by that. Maybe more experienced and knowledgeable about the history of the National Football League, Clay. You're trying to catch up with that. So I don't know. We'll see how it plays out with Kirk.

I think he's going to be a Cleveland Brown or something eventually. It's going to work his way there. What else you got? Well, I had a backup quarterback question, but I think we're we're past that. I think you guys touched on that. So, okay. Who do you want? Who do you think the Vikings should want as a backup quarterback? It's I think you guys should want Joe Flacco probably just as safe calm won't say too much over reliable.

That's what you want for a young quarterback to have behind them. But if not, it's like, what are your other options besides James? Like you don't want to have an undrafted free agent young guy in there. Like you're going to find somebody. And I agree with what you said earlier. Like at this point, it doesn't really matter who it is. Just get a guy back there and don't cause any problems. Brennan really thinking ahead here wants to know.

I love questions like this in March. Who's returning punts and Brennan, I am not making fun of you. Like, I'm serious. If you are, if you're that football, then you get like extra purple inside or bonus points or exactly. You get the round of applause like Brennan sitting here in March being like, he's loyal. He's lost. He's going to return. And again, nothing but respect for that question.

I don't know the answer to that question. They don't have anybody right now and they might get Rondale more. He was visiting another team. I just think Brandon Powell is done as a Viking just fell off last year. Wasn't the same. So they will have to go and find one. They might have a punt returner competition. It's something that you can find a little bit later. Steve mentions Devin Duvernay,

like you can find those guys later or have a competition, but as of right now, they do not have a punt returner. So that is on the list. Yeah, Flacco is fine. As long as he is going to be nice to J.J. McCarthy and he could I don't know if he can win two games out of four, though. He looked really cooked last year. Not how he looked against the Browns, but even then or when he was with the Browns

and got him to the playoffs, but even then, I'm not sure he was actually great. I think that they had a really, really good team. So I don't know. Yeah. Aaron Rodgers will be the backup. Hey, hey, by week six, you never know. By week six, maybe with his ego. Yeah, right.

Yeah. Come be the backup. It'll be all fine. Son of a Beaver. Son of a Beaver says this is again, like so football. He drew blood. So is the backup. Worst move of the off season is bringing back Ryan Wright. Yeah. But I mean, they can have competition.

They can have competition for Ryan Wright. They say what was it like a one point seven million dollar deal? They'll bring in somebody to compete with Ryan Wright. He was not he was not great, but I also don't think he was terrible. Last year, it was fine. I don't know. What else you got? All right. For my last one, I know free agency isn't all the way completely finished, but as it's wrapping up, I want to get your initial post free agency power rankings.

Who are your top five at this point of the year? So we're talking top five, all teams, our ranking, traditional power ranking style. Yep. And not just the winners of free agency. Well, OK, so clearly the number one team has to be the Philadelphia Eagles. They did not lose a lot. They've lost a little, you know, Milton Williams. They brought in some guys and somehow they keep getting all these comp picks. You guys should go cheer for the Eagles.

You love your comp pics. I'm just kidding about that. Eagles fans, if they saw you would throw batteries at your face. But the Eagles have to be number one. Number two is a tough question, because I don't think the Buffalo Bills have gained a crazy amount of talent. They got another they get another wide receiver. They got two guys who got six games suspensions.

Imagine signing two guys. Were they together? Did they get, did they do PEDs on the visit on the free agent? Like, how did that happen? That's a weird. They knew about one of them. They're like, why not?

Right. Yeah. Why not? I think, I still think Buffalo was a stronger team than Kansas City last year. It just didn't work out that way. Baltimore would also be in the conversation for me there. I still think Buffalo was a stronger team than Kansas City last year. It just didn't work out that way. Baltimore would also be in the conversation for me there. So it'd probably be Baltimore hasn't lost anything, but hasn't gained anything

either, but there's still, they were a great team last year. So I might go Eagles then Ravens bills. Now do we go chiefs there? It's hard to knock off the chiefs. They, they had a bad team and finished 15 and two and one of them was on purpose. So really 15 and one. But the chiefs, I don't know that they're going to get a lot better from where they were last year with their issues with the cap,

and they've let some players go. I want to say commanders with Laramie Tunsel belong in this discussion and then the Lions. So it's the thing is about you can't you can't take the Chiefs out of the top five. They were just in the Super Bowl and they were in the Super Bowl before that and they were in the Super Bowl before that. You just can't take them out of your top five. So I'm struggling my way through it because I want to include the Lions who have not gotten worse, but have definitely get better by getting Aiden Hutchinson back and they've kept a lot and they got DJ Reed. So I've got, I gotta have the Eagles there. I gotta have the Lions and the Ravens, Bills and Chiefs,

I think, and someone's got to be left out. Maybe it's the commanders have to be left out for now. Yeah, we have a very similar list. I had to put the Eagles at one, two. I still believe they have the best roster and they have eight picks in this year's draft. So I think they're only going to get better. And Jaylen Hertz proved to everybody that he's an elite quarterback now.

So as long as he continues to perform, this team will be in good shape. And then number two, I had the Ravens just because of that Lamar and Derek Henry combo. It's just it's just you can't rate them any lower with that. It's like they're two most deadliest runners on the planet and they're in the same backfield. So I think if they go up high, I feel like every offseason is like if they go get a number one receiver, it's like we'll see what happens at pick twenty seven. But I think either way, they're going to be contenders. And then again, Bill's number three

added Joey Bosa. We'll see if that really does anything, but I feel like they always lose by just a few plays. So I think them and Baltimore really need to take advantage of this potential Kansas City fall off. But at four, I have the Chiefs cuz cuz Patrick Mahomes is still playing football. As long as he's there, they're gonna be top five for me. He could win a Super Bowl regardless of the circumstances. And I'm not sure if or what or when Rashi Rice's suspension will be. But if he's back for playoff time and they can get rolling, I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play.

I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play.

I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. I think that's the best way to get him to play. We I feel like there's certain teams where we just know they're gonna be yes. Yeah, as long as my homes is healthy So here's a question Did you say number five who your number five was five was my my interesting one? I have the Rams Okay, you know with a lot of injuries and barely made the playoffs because of it But they they got hot and they started rolling and they were close

They put up the best fight against the Eagles so and now they have Dev have Devante Adams. I know they, I know they lost Cooper Cup, but Adams is different. So I think, I think they'll be up there. I mean, it's hard to hate on that when they were a drive away from beating the Philadelphia Eagles and they were the only team that played with the Eagles. They're really a handoff away. Just don't fumble a handoff in the snow. And you're right there. They have the sickest D line, which we know travels pretty well. They have the best coaching and certainly Sean McVay put on some sort of demonstration

against the Minnesota Vikings about how to be a playoff coach. So I don't mind that pick. I think the commanders and Rams are probably close and right there with them is the Vikings are probably close and right there with them is the Vikings. That this maybe your area of 6, 7, 8, 5, 6, 7, there's a very clear top in the AFC and then everybody's fighting to get into that conversation. Like the Bengals, I think the Bengals will be a playoff team. I don't know if I could put them in the top five

without making major changes to their defense or offensive line. Kind of looks like a team that's going to have the same problems as last year. And in the NFC, Dallas hasn't done a thing. You can't really put them back. The Packers, you know, are going to be a good team, but can they be a great team? They kind of have the same roster as last year, and they're

just hoping that Jordan love is a little more healthy. But if they haven't really changed much, it's hard to set the bar any higher. So I think that there's a jockeying after a very clear top four or maybe five, but then there's a lot of teams that you could make the case for. I like it.

We should have you power rank more stuff going forward. So you'll be back on Thursday night for sure. I know tomorrow I will definitely have a podcast episode. I don't know about live. Oh no, actually I tomorrow night I'm hosting on WCCO radio tomorrow night. So if you are an AM radio listener or stream live, I will be hosting on CCO tomorrow night. So check that out. But here on the channel, my conversation, I'm going conversation interview Sam Monson from check the mic formerly of PFF tomorrow So anyway, thank you clay for your time as always sir. I will see you on Thursday. Appreciate you We had we had no background noise today. No audio issues. No sirens. No cops

We did we we did well look at us start to finish. We did well. Look at us. Start to finish. We knew you could do it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I know exactly. Well, thank you for your time. And thank you all for listening. Make sure you go check out.

I wrote a column today about young quarterbacks thriving in the NFL and why that to me says that you don't need to go get Aaron Rodgers. Purpleinsider.football is the newsletter. It's a great way football is the newsletter. It's a great way to support the show. Only a couple of bucks a month, few bucks a year, and keeps the show going, keeps me traveling to the owner's meetings,

to the combine, to road games, all those things. And you get an email almost every single day where it's my writing. So tomorrow I'm simulating the draft and I'll have a full analysis of that So purple insider dot football make sure you check that out and we will definitely catch you very soon Anything happens in the league with the Vikings and you know who or whatever there will be a live show for that So thanks everybody as always and we will see soon football