The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Falcons trade Matt Ryan to the Colts, Jags move past Urban Meyer, Bengals add La'el Collins & more NFL news

Episode Date: March 21, 2022

The Colts acquired veteran QB Matt Ryan from the Falcons on Monday. Why does this make the most sense for them right now? Nate Tice and Robert Mays break down the trade they saw coming weeks ago, and what it means for the Colts in the short-term and where the Falcons go from here + reaction to the Urban Meyer story from The Athletic that broke Twitter today, the Bengals adding La'el Collins to strengthen their o-line, what happens now with Jimmy G and more NFL news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show. Welcome to the athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Today's Monday, March 21st. Joining me today. It's my good friend Nate Tyson. Nate, how you doing, buddy?

I'm very happy. We pushed us back maybe, what, an hour, and then we have enough time to not only have a trade that we get to talk about, and then also the ramifications of that trade because other moves happen, as opposed to what usually happens for you, what, 35 minutes into each show, usually something happens. Or 35 minutes after we're done recording. We had a plan for today. We had a plan for today.

It was going to kind of be the post-free agency rush start of our off-season coverage. And then, of course, the Matt Ryan trade happens this morning. So just take a lighter and torch that plan. And let's start over here. And let's dig into the Matt Ryan conversation. We're going to talk a little bit about some of the other news, odds and ends that came down over the weekend since we last recorded. The place where we work dropped a bombshell story today on Urban Meyer that I want to talk about. because we actually were going to talk about the Jags a little bit last week, and the news kept pouring in.

So I want to get into that conversation and talk a little bit about what the post-urban Meyer world might look like for Jacksonville. But let's start with the Matt Ryan trade to the Colts. Credit to you last week, or two weeks ago now, I have no idea. It would have been two weeks ago when the Carson Wentz trade happened about a week and a half ago. I listened to it this morning. You said, is Matt Ryan tradable when you were thinking about the Colts options? and it made total sense from a lot of different levels. They needed a stop gap option.

He was arguably the best immediate fit on the board in terms of what you could get out of him in 2022. What year is it? It's 22. What you could get out of him in 20? It's been a week, man. What you could get out of him in 2022. What you'd have to give up to get him.

It's $24 million. When you put the base salary and the roster bonus together, the roster bonus that they push back that ultimately was due. today. So on a lot of different levels, like, that's a fit there. Even if it's a short term fit that is a fit there. And that's ultimately what ends up happening. Yeah.

Now we'll see if they do Toronto Armstead, which would be my other dream move for them. But I think you're, I think that's, that is a fantasy. That's my real pie in the sky. Yeah. The other one was what, like an Oreo in the sky that Toronto Arpstead there is a pie in the sky. Yeah, it just makes total sense. I mean, it's maybe it's a lack of imagination seeing what, what they've been going

through. They did the river stuff. And I was like, you know, they obviously they want a vet. They'd have no first round pick. It's a wide open division. What the hell could they do with it? So I'm kind of like it made a ton of sense. I'm kind of happy that it came out to this bit or came out this way.

And I'm excited to see it. I'm really excited to see number two back there for the quarter, playing quarterback there. A different number two than maybe before. Number two is available. Two is available. It became available very soon, very recently.

I like the fit just even on the offensive stuff like with with Matt Ryan there, being able to operate from under center more, more of a traditional attack. That's going to unlock so much, even with Jonathan Taylor, who was the best running back in football last year. Now he gets unlocked even more. And I just like that. I really do. And I know that's running the ball, but just as far of a stylistic fit, it makes sense because Matt likes being under center as well. So I just, there's a lot to this trade that I like.

I can get into some Jonathan Taylor stats. I've juiced up for this, but I want to hear what you want to say about it too. So let's talk about just the overall musical chairs aspect of this. So when you think about where the Colts were coming into this offseason, they were hell-bent on getting rid of Carson-Wenz. They did that. They got two third-round picks, and Carson-Wence will cost them nothing on the cap this year. They got $28 million of Carson-Wentz off the books. That was a mess of their own making. They don't deserve a ton of credit for recouping value from Carson-Wence. They gave up their first-round pick this year and a pick. When you look at the trading compensation, they gave up in the Wentz deal, and they got back. Ultimately, they traded like the 18th or 19th pick in the 2022 draft for Carson-Wins. Wentz. That's a lot. It's a lot to give up. But when you, that's done. We were living in that world. How do you try to fix it? I think this outcome is pretty darn good when you consider the alternatives. Okay. They swap Wentz for two third round picks. So in the end of this, the Colts ultimately traded Carson Wentz for Matt Ryan, $5 million in 2022 cap space and a conditional third round pick in

2023. You do that deal 100 times out of 100, don't you? Absolutely. It makes sense. It's such an upgrade. I mean, it's, yes, I actually like, upgrade on a football level. What about the other stuff? Yeah, just the headaches. Having Matt Ryan in the building where you are as a franchise, it's the same arguments for going to get Philip Rivers a couple years ago. And that's the, I made a joke about this on Twitter today. That it feels inevitable that they're going to do this. They're going to be pretty good. Matt Ryan's going to be pretty good. We like Frank Reich as an offensive coach. They have a couple pieces. It's a good infrastructure. The organization's been really. solid on offense over the last three or four years. They're going to win tennis games, maybe win the division, give somebody a little bit of a scare in the wild card round, maybe lose. Like, oh, man, you know, the Colts, they got a good thing going over there, the Colts. And then after the season, Matt Ryan's like, you know what, I'm 37.

It's been a good run. I've made $300 million playing football. I appreciate you guys. I'm out of here. And then we're going to have the same conversation again. I hope not. It's not even a stretch that that could happen. But what are you going to do if you're the Colts?

Yeah. Are you going to take a step back? Do you're going to go take a swing for a younger quarterback? This seemed like of all the alternatives, one that made sense, even if that possibility and having to do this again might be on the horizon in a year. I totally understand wanting to go this direction. It's not having to pay a lot to do it. It's such a weird thing.

It's almost like Matt Ryan blended what they did the last two years of Wentz and Philip Rivers. They got the vet, but they're going to compete into the vision. I don't know. It's like a weird blending of idea. They kind of like honed in. They're like, okay, I guarantee you once it's all said, done, they're like, okay, I'm tired of all these vets. I'm going to draft.

I'm telling you, it reminds me of the late 90s Viking so much going, Warren Moon to Brad Johnson to freaking Randall Cunningham to Jeff George. And finally, these are all one year guys. And they finally were just like, okay, draft outside Culpepper. Like we just, we got to get her guy of the future. And it feels like that's what's going to end game for all this with the Colts, whether it's next year or two years from now or whether they grow a guy with Matt going into into the second year.

Who knows. But it's, this is the. This is the new door that they're going down, the new path that they're going down. And Matt Ryan still, I think, and above average to good quarterback. He carried that. He had some good moments last year. He carried that situation. Yes.

Remember the build game? He had some good moments in a rough situation last year. That offensive line was nightmare. Trocious. He had very few receiving options on the outside, outside of Cowell Pitts. Remember that game he had against the bucks? Yeah. We were freaking out about how well he played.

If you put him in a better situation, I totally understand being able to talk yourself into a better version of Matt Ryan. Yes. So the ideal outcome here, if you're the Colts, in my opinion. Okay. What is left on his deal, which by all accounts, they are not touching, is essentially two years and 50 million bucks. More than palatable for a short-term starter, essentially what Brady got. Okay.

From the bucks, which is hilarious, by the way. This is what Brady got for the bucks as Matt Ra- or Matt Stafford gets his $40 million a year extension. The buck's getting Brady for that is insane. Okay. So if that's the deal, if it's a two-year, $50 million deal, he'll be $37 in May. Ideally, you get him for two years. You get him for this year and next year at that price. That does not preclude you at all from making a play for your quarterback next year.

Correct. When you have that extra second round pick potentially from Washington, you've got some ammunition. Can we go get a guy and say, all right, we don't have to play him right away. We have Matt Ryan in 2023. This now becomes our long-term plan. I think if that's how it ultimately fell for Indianapolis, that would be the best case scenario. I agree. It's basically doing with Matt Ryan what we won the Falcons.

to do with a quarterback last year. I mean, basically, that's kind of the same situation. I do want to talk about that. Yeah. I think it's easy to say, well, man, they should have taken that quarterback last year. But I think there's a lot to take into account as we have that conversation. Before we do that, I want to talk about just where the Colts sit now. Okay.

Okay. So obviously in the division with Matt Ryan, they might be the best team in the division, even with Matt Ryan. I mean, the Titans are still a good team that we've made some moves. We can get to those a little bit later in the show, whether it's Robert Woods or going to get Austin Hooper. I think the Titans are still a solid team. But with Matt Ryan, this Colts team is pretty intriguing. They still have needs, though. They still need a left tackle. And we'll see how that ultimately gets filled. It just, it feels almost inevitable that they just

bring Eric Fisher back on like an $8 million year deal. What they're doing is they're waiting out the value. Like, that's what they're doing. They're going to sit there. Chris Ballard has the resting heart rate of like a 95-year-old tortoise, both good and bad. It's, it's, It serves him at times, and I think that it often bites him at times. And in these moments, it has served him. If they can go get a starting left tackle on the cheap, whether it's Dwayne Brown or bring back Fisher, even though he wasn't very good last year,

they're going to try to find value there. Even the Matt Ryan thing is value. They gave up less for Carson Wentz, or for Matt Ryan, than Washington paid for Carson Wentz. And that's a product of this team just sitting there being like, I'm not going to overpay for anybody. The Carson Wentz trade from last year,

that's the outwired. this team does business. This stretch of moves is back to what we expect from them. Again, both good and bad. There are benefits to it, but there are also drawbacks to it. Absolutely. And that's what's so, so funny about him is that I love how you compared him to a 97-year-old tour. That's what it is. It was like last year they felt a little, they had a little coffee. And they're like, oh, they jolted awake and decided just, you know, they did a move. And it was, I think Frank got a little over-excited. I think so, too. He's like, we're a step away. Let's get our guy. Yeah, the hair the hair one out there i i love the stylistic fit i think you nailed on the head they

still need the tackle and of course they're going to have other o-line movement that they'll need i think receiver wise they need a speed guy need a number one like they just they're they still need to add something there will fuller for seven million that's telling you that's what they're that's they're just sitting here waiting and it makes they're the guy at the end of the fantasy draft that has like all his money left over it hasn't gotten any players and can just pick off guys for whatever he wants that's what they can be right now if they want to four roster spots left and there's $44 and everybody else is paying a dollar. Yeah, that's exactly.

It feels like, other teams are trying to get Will 4 for a buck and they're like, I'll give them four. Yeah. I mean, it's when the auction just ends right away. Like, just do it. Yeah, that's exactly what it feels like. MVS would be too rich for my blood. They also.

Oh, yeah. That's not going to out of that. But also the second and third rounds, there's great potential there. There's tons of tons. There's ton. I can't reiterate nuts. There's tons of receiver talent in this draft. Like, when we'll talk about the Jags and a sec about that.

I also just want to talk about the stylistic fit. I already hinted it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'd love to hear what you think about that. Yeah, and Jonathan Taylor, even this happened at Wisconsin, was he's better from under center. He's a traditional old school back. Wisconsin even went to the pistol more so he can stay like almost eye formation more. You know, that's what the pistol does.

So let's run backs be downhill when on the run game as opposed to side to side, which is something I yell at the chiefs for doing all the time with the running backs. But that's a story for another time. But with Jonathan Taylor last year, under center rushes, 5.7 yards per under center rush. That's second in the NFL behind Rashad Penny. He also had like 200 more carries than Rashad Penny from under center. 23 total EPA. That was easily number one. 46% success rate.

And this is all from true media. Shotgun rushes, five yards per rush. So almost a 0.7 yards different. I know that's a basic stat. Only 2.48 total EPA from shotgun rushes and 43% success rate. He's just a better running back from those under center looks. Matt Ryan is extremely comfortable being under center. Also, this is kind of like the flip side of it.

Now Frank Reich is going to have to do all those RPO's that he wanted to do with Carson Wentz because that's what Carson Wentz likes to do. There's a game. I want to say it was against the bucks as well, which we talked about before. There's the famous clip like Quentin Nelson said like, hey, enough with the RPO's just gave the ball of 28. Get him going. That was because they called the RPO's and sometimes they handed it off. But sometimes Carson Wentz because that's what the read was giving them was throwing the little stick routes. And all of a sudden the Bucks dropped into it.

They covered it like twice in a row. Now if you're becoming just a traditional run, traditional play action, traditional dropback, just a traditional offense sprinkling to RPO's once in a while. But now you don't have to major in them. It just unlocks your best asset, which is Jonathan Taylor. It just, I think the blending of styles makes a lot of sense as well. So I, that's something I'm really looking forward to. And I think also is that with Ryan Kelly at center, Quentin Nelson, like, you know,

we've got those top two, those top two guys. Of course, they're going to have to figure out the tackle situation. but having those guys is Matt Ryan's gotten used to playing behind some shitty offensive lines. 100%. And you got Braden Smith at right tackle. It's the making of a solid line. They need a stopgap starter at left tackle. But it most outcomes, the offensive line is a plus for this team. It's one of the better lines he's ever worked behind. And he has a center that he, this is probably the center he's going to trust the most since he's played behind Alex Mac. Like it's like now that's going to actually help all them as far as mentally. Protection wise, they're going to be great because they have two guys that can really handle it. So I think that's going to have a. boon even just maybe it's like oh it's not whatever they do at left tackle but i think as a whole the whole unit will be a step better when they do the drop back stuff just because of mentally they'll be so much sharper we i have a contract obligation to mention that zach pascal sign with the eagles so he's a he's out of the equation here which is sad r ip to our zach pascal colts love it's

it was really really someone on twitter asked said i'm an eagles fan is this guy a good run blocker because i know we're going to have to need him and i was like boy is he i cracked my knuckles sent him like three clips and i was like i don't even know who this guy is but i was like i know I have plenty of Zach Pascal blocking clips to show you. I am so interested in what the conversation between Frank Reich and Matt Ryan is going to look like here. Because this is a conversation he's had to have every single spring for the last four or five years, right? In that process of having to retailer your offense to your quarterback every single year is really hard. It's exhausting.

When I'm talking about why I like Frank Reich as a coach and why I think he's a pretty good one, the fact that they've been a borderline top ten offense every year with all these guys outside of the Jacoby percent year, it's really hard to do that. And at least with Carson Wentz, he has a ton of familiarity. Press Taylor, who was there with them last year, and now is in Jacksonville, had a ton of familiarity with Carson Wentz. There's background. There's history.

Now they're starting over again. And I have faith that they can make it work, but that's going to be a process. I mean, that's going to be a dialogue that probably starts today. You know, it is going to be nonstop and it's going to need to be because if they're going to get this thing up to speed, hopefully by early in the season, I mean, you've watched them over the last few years. It's taken time every year. Think about the first four or five weeks of the river's experience.

It wasn't great, and they ultimately were a top ten sort of unit. They were dead in the water last year and looked pretty darn good in the middle stretch of the season after everyone got comfortable. So are we in for another slow start? What does that ultimately look like? I mean, these are the questions worth asking. But when you're a team like the Colts that is halfway toward being a contender, this is the only direction you can push it.

Yeah. You can't bring it all the way back to the start. This is the right middle ground. Ultimately, the Wendst trade is a failure. But to move on this quickly and for it to only cost you one year and one first round pick and to get Matt Ryan for less than you have an asset in hand and you're paying $5 million less than what you're going to give Carson Wines. That to me is a win, even if this was a mess of their own making. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I can't add to that at all. That's exactly how it is. Yes, did they create their own shit pile? Yes, they did. But guess what? They came out of it. They got out of it. They didn't double down on the mistake.

100%. The hardest thing they had to do was Frank Wright apologized to the owner. Like I think really, that was that was probably tough. But hey, they came out of it. They have, it's a new path that actually makes sense for where they're at. Like as opposed to the Wend stuff was like, okay, we failed. But it's like, at least this all makes sense. So I don't know.

It's definitely a win. All right. Let's talk about this from the Falcons perspective. Okay. This feels to me like kind of a way to just do Matt Ryan a solid on his way out the door. Yeah. I mean, everything that happened with the Sean Watson, them being in it, I mean, this is now just an open dialogue. It's all right.

What do you want? Where do you want to go? And this is a great place, I think, all things considered for Matt Ryan to land. They don't get a lot for him, but they weren't negotiating from a position of strength. No. I mean, this is getting anything for him at this stage with that contract, I think is totally fine. And if you look at it, I mean, they're in a really rough spot right now, but they were always going to be in a rough spot. In my opinion, there was no good path out of this for Atlanta.

And we can get to the quarterback situation last year and what they ultimately decided. But I just think that this was always going to be a really, really painful process. And this is just a way to jumpstart that painful process. They finally ripped the bandaid off. That's what it was. They had to do it at some point. And they finally did it. And yeah, $40 million in dead cap, which is like how many A24 movies like that you could make for them like 10?

I think you can make 10 lighthouses. I mean, it's a record. It's an NFL record. $40 million in dead cap. They save $7 million against, or $8 million against the cap. That $8 million is their cap space right now. They had no cap space and they have no players. It was always going to be a multi-year thing.

Yep. Right? You have $60 million and combined dead money this year for Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. $60 million. God. They were looking at a multi-year rebuild. Yep. No matter what they ended up doing with the Matt Ryan contract last year.

They ultimately had to restructure it just to have enough space to operate as an NFL franchise. And it was going to be a two-year thing. And this is the year where they're taking on all of the shit. There was $60 million in dead money. We have nobody on the roster. And here's why I, let's look back at last year. People, people are going to sit there and say, well, why wouldn't they do this last year? Why wouldn't they trade Matt Ryan and pick a quarterback at four? Because it was always going to be a multi-year thing. There was always going to be a multi-year process to just climb out from under this financial boulder. So let's say, for example, let's you draft Justin Fields last year with the fourth overall pick. You get to this stage at this

exact moment and you trade Matt Ryan this year. So now you're in the same financial position you were in. They have no money. Yeah. They have zero cap space. Their number one receiver right now is Olamida is Akees and Kyle Pitts. Their offensive line is still bad. They have no resources to upgrade any of those positions. So now you'd be sitting here in year two in 2022 of Justin Fields' time without any sort of recourse to add pieces to the team to put around him. So now, by the time you get to year three of Justin Fields' contract, that's when you're going to have some flexibility to start putting this thing together. So what does that really do for you?

I can understand not wanting to draft a quarterback and start the process last year, even if you were in a position to do it. Because guess what? Now, you have no players. You have a terrible football team. They signed Marcus Mario to do a two-year deal. It's perfect bridge quarterback in this situation. Exactly what you bring in to oversee the shit.

show that this is going to be. So now next year, you're probably going to have a top five pick in a draft that has multiple high-level quarterback prospects. You're slated to have $135 million in cap space next year. That can be more if they move on from Dion Jones. They only have like 20 players under contract for next season. So what you're looking at next year is Jake Matthews, Kyle Pitts, A.J. Terrell, the kicker that you just re-signed.

And whatever quarterback you pick in the top five next year, that is the start of this rebuild. And whatever you end up doing with Calvin Ridley. So it's easy to say, well, man, they'd really missed out not picking a quarterback last year. But that was under the assumption that they were going to have Matt Ryan for the rest of this time, that they were going to be competitive. Tearing it down now, next year is when you can really jumpstart this rebuild because you're going to have a very, very high pick and an awful roster this year. Awful roster. The only other one I throw on there is Chris Lindstrom's not bad.

Yes, Chris Listom is a good one. But I'm talking about guys they've committed to or drafted like in the last two years of this regime. But that's it. And that's like we're not even talking about blue chippers. We're just talking about tangible players on the team. That's it. And that yeah, it's a nuke situation. I mean, really it is.

I mean, I don't think they would. But because of the Marriota stuff, Marriota makes so much sense. Like I actually would have liked him for the Colts if they struck out on everybody. Like that, it's funny how these musical chairs have worked out. But it's like he makes sense. I'm kind of curious about him going with Arthur Smith. Like, okay, before he, they benched him, which is also kind of a funny thing, how these,

all these things work and how everything kind of rectifies as he give it time. But it's about what you're trying to accomplish. If you're trying to be a playoff team and win some games like Tennessee was, I think benching it makes sense. If you're trying to be very bad and just wanting a functional human get in here at that spot this year, totally fine with me. By all accounts, a great guy. Yeah.

Right. Like everyone loves him. He's going to set the tone. presence where like the young guys are not going to be an asshole, a quarterback, somebody that's going to set a good example. It's little things like that. These are tiny incremental steps here for the Falcons over the next year. That's what it is, man.

They better be Atlanta United fans to live in that stadium a little bit. But, you know, a quarterback situation right now, like really, Wilson, Ritter, only two. I would take a chance on. Willis is getting like top three hype now. So I think he's going to be long gone by the time they select this year, talking about next year, you got Stroud, C.J. Stroud from Ohio State and Bryce Young from Alabama. I like Stroud, but then you got to Will Levis from Kentucky is the other one. But that's like, that's the thing.

It's like now it's fun for Falcons fans because I'm just throwing out some names that they might want to take a look at. But there's no reason to reach this year. No. There's no reason to say like we need to find one this year. Like it just like how the Steelers did it went about it. They went with me or with freaking a Trubisky, but it's like same thing. So now it's like they don't need to take a guy.

Now it's like. The Steelers are going to be too good though. Yeah. Like the Steelers are going to be too good. If you like a guy this year in your Pittsburgh, I don't think you can bank on the fact that you're going to be picking in the top five next year like you came with Atlanta. Because the Steelers came into this offseason with a lot of cap space, right? They could add some pieces.

They've created a competitive football team. Atlanta, by no fault of Terry Fontno or Arthur Smiths, is not in a position to be competitive. They never were really going to be. So you don't have to pick a guy because you're going to be in a really good position in a very good quarterback draft next year potentially. So this is it. It was a two-year blow-up process. They've hit the stick of down.

Like they've pushed down on the plunger. The explosion has happened. And now what is it going to look like when you try to pick up the pieces over the next year? And being really, really bad this year, as long as your owner is okay with that and you understand the expectations going in, I think is a totally acceptable plan. And it's not the same situation, but it's funny how Matt Ryan leaves the Falcons, not any fall of his own. He was just being a good quarterback there, how he came into that, that Falcons franchise, which

was an absolute shit show when he got there. If this was after the Vic dog fighting scandal, post Bobby Petrino, they had a new GM, new head coach, all this stuff. And he made them so respectful. Him Thomas Dimitrov and Mike Smith, that little trio in Atlanta, like really just, it jumped started the whole franchise back and took it going like, it could have been bad for years and years and years. Very quickly, they went right back into being like a kind of a potential good, good team, like a team of respect for a while. And Matt Ryan led that charge because he's the type of guy that does that. And so it's kind of, he's such a likable. He's such a good guy.

He really is. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, sucks for Falcons fans because he meant a lot to that city, a lot to that team. He was the steady presence, all these changes that were happening. His literal first pass was an 80 yard touchdown for the Falcons. If you remember that, it was awesome, 80 yard touchdown. Boom, first pass is a falcons. To Michael Jenkins?

I think that's right. That sounds about right. Yeah. That's a great call. I can remember the play. It was like a poster out. It might have been like, Mills or. or something, but hits the bomb, post route, touchdown.

First throw was a Falcon, but Matt Ryan did a lot for that team and a lot for that franchise. Look at me go. Was it Michael Jenkins? 62 yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins with 1333 left in the first quarter in his first game. First game. Michael Turner had a 66 yard touchdown run on that game as well. That was a great signing.

When he went to the Falcons. Yeah. Great signing. That was in an era where you could really give big money to a free agent running back and have it be okay for you. And everyone loved it. Everyone was like, oh yeah, exactly the year. But it's what I just can't.

understand what Matt did for the Falcons. So it kind of sucks for Falcons fans to let him go. But, you know, that Band-Aid had to be ripped off at some point. And today was the day. I think there are a lot of similarities to this situation and the situation with Matthew Stafford and the Lions last year. Right. And obviously, this doesn't fetch the same price because Matthew Stafford is younger and has more in the tank and the physical gifts and everything else. But it's a lot of similarities when you think about when it's time to move on, when it's time to hit the reset button. The Lions did theirs last year. They're paying Jared Gough $30 million instead of giving Marcus Mario to nothing,

which we could talk about the wisdom in that if we want to. But it's also both of those guys spend a decade plus being, do you know how hard it is to be a pretty good NFL quarterback for 10 straight years where your presence consistently makes your offense functional and relevant year in and year out? Those are the guys that we just don't appreciate enough. Yeah. It's we obviously you love the Hall of Famers and the guys that are going to be all time great players and these quarterbacks played in the same era as those guys. They will always be compared. Matt Ryan played in the same division as Drew Breeze for over a decade. And that's always how it's going to be. They're going to be compared to those guys and the Brady's and the Mannings and the Rogers is. But to be that sort of presence for an organization for that long is so, so hard. And it should be celebrated. And those are the guys that are easy to forget to Matt Ryan's and the Stafford's.

And Stafford had his moment, right? He's gotten to a place where we're going to really appreciate him in a slightly different way. And Ryan's career is different. You know, his version of that almost feels like that 2016 season. Yeah. Where he had that moment where he's the MVP of the league.

And we got to see him in really good circumstances when he's surrounded by the right players, what he could be. But those are just guys that I feel like go underappreciated and we don't really comprehend how difficult it is to maintain that level of consistency year and in year out. It's hard to do any job consistently for a decade. And he's being a, oh, yeah, just a borderline pro bowler quarterback thrown for 4,000 yards.

Like it's nothing every single year. It doesn't matter what the old line is. Doesn't matter what the old line is. Doesn't matter what the old line is. Made a couple of good ones. That was the thing for the Falcons was they didn't bottom out that much only for a couple years before Dan Quinn came in. It was like they were always in that realm of wild.

card compete for the division every single year. So that's really hard to do. And it always starts with the quarterback. And that's what Matt Ryan did. And yeah, like you said, it is very hard to be that consistent for that long and have the highs that he did as well, like winning an MVP. Yeah, they went four and 12 in 2013 and six and 10 in 2014. Yep.

Near the, at the end of the Mike Smith era. But I mean, before that, I mean, his for Matt Ryan's first like seven years there. It's like 11 and 5, 9 and 7, 13 and 3. 10 and 6, 13 and 3. 08 through 2012. Those are fun teams. Yeah. Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White.

Like those were, those are teams that I enjoyed watching. Yeah. And it's just, yeah, young Julio right there. I mean, again, Matt Ryan is just somebody that has had a lot of really, really good moments. And we'll see what happens. We'll see what the kind of second, I guess last act, not second act. The last act of his career looks like in what I think are pretty good circumstances.

You have Michael Pittman. We'll see what else they do with those past catching spots. The offensive line is better than what he's played with. And he's got a pretty good play caller. So I think both him and the Colts are in a pretty decent spot when you consider where they might have been a week ago. All right. So the fallout now that's still on the horizon with quarterbacks, there is a little bit of it. Where the hell does Baker Mayfield go now?

Seahawks were Panthers, apparently. Like, who else is there? I mean, like, Saints just signed James. I mean, it feels like with Baker, you could get him for nothing. Because the Browns are motivated to get out of that. deal. They need to trade him to save that money. I mean, if I were a team, if I were Seattle and I liked Baker even a little bit, late round pick swap. I'll give you, we'll trade sixth rounders if you,

when we'll take them off your hands. Yeah. I mean, that's the type of the, I mean, that feels like the type of offer that they might be have to make to do that. The fact that when's when, for what he went and like, Baker's getting talked about going like, like, like, they're saying like, oh, you're going to, their rounds are going to have like package a pick with him to get rid of them. It's like, holy shit. Like that's, there aren't that many seats left. Yeah. I mean, especially after the Saints signed James Winston, two years, 28 million.

That makes sense. That's like a low, low, low level starter level money for James, which I think that marriage and that partnership, when you consider all the alternatives, what was always the most likely one if they missed out on Watson. So now you really just have the Panthers and the Seahawks are the only two teams left that could use veteran quarterbacks. Am I missing anybody? I was trying to think those are only two I came up with, too.

And it really looks like the Panthers are preferring Kenny Pickett in the draft because they had like their whole personnel there. They had like him showing his hand size the Bob McAdoo and showing how he held the ball. And it was like, oh, God, could you guys show that you like a guy that much more? And it seems like there's whispers that Seahawks might like Willis. So I don't know. And that would, and that's a situation where it's say they do get Willis. I think whether they pick nine because of the Broncos pick, okay, say they do that. I don't think Willis would be there.

but say they are. And then you'd want Baker as a stop gap, like, to weed him because Baker has such a big personality. He'll say, F you. No, I'm the starter now. So that's, that's a whole headache that they probably don't want to deal with.

It's, it's strange. It's strange. Like, it really is not. It's just like trying to figure out of spots. We're out of spots. It's amazing how fast that happened.

Eight weeks ago, four weeks ago, we're talking about how many guys might eight quarterbacks, a dozen teams. And it's like, now we can barely even scratch two together. The Browns are motivated to trade Baker. because that's the way they saved the money. Yeah. The Niners, we could get to a place where they just have to release him.

I mean, they're not on the hook for anything else. I mean, to think about the company line and what they were trying to sell pretty recently is that they had two second round picks as an offer for Garoppola. I'm not sure who's doing that right now. In hand was the quote, which I don't really see that market at this point in time. It's amazing how fast it all changes. But, I mean, it's something to keep an eye on here over the next, next however long.

All right. So earlier today on the athletic, Jason Jenks and Mike Sandow put out a story about just the awful, awful anecdotes from the Urban Meyer tenure in Jacksonville. Did you have a favorite moment from the Urban Meyer story that was that ran today? It's something that we already knew. I would say going around apologizing to each position room always cracks me up after he didn't go home after the Bengals game.

Like that one, that one cracks me up because going around to each position room and then like an hour later, like the video came. out and they all realized he was lying to their face. Like that was a chef's kiss kind of one because that's just unheard over the NFL NFL offices. I just love that he was just shitting on the scouts when they were in the room or talking about how I was going to fire coaches in front of the players. I mean, it's just I know. I don't I don't understand how you could ever believe you could get away with that in a

world where the players are making more than you. Not even that the players get paid. Those guys are like, they're really coming. compensated. It's just such a wild belief that you can roll in there and act like that and have it be okay. Do we really believe that he didn't know who Aaron Donald was? I don't think so. That one, that one, maybe. Like him not knowing who DiBel Samuel was, was won. I actually could see that one. But Aaron Donald, come on, man. You have to be living under a stone for half a decade to not know that one. It's the NFL though is like so it's full. I mean, football in general is filled with. alpha males. It's what it is. That's how sports it is. But it's just in all of them have different ways, how they show, how they try to prove that. But once you get to the NFL, all these players care about. It's what tool are you going to give me that's going to help me? That's all that matters. How are you going to help me be good at my job and how are you going to help us win? That's all they

care about. Mike McDaniel said that to me once. He was talking about just the feeling on the nineers staff because Kyle didn't play in the NFL. Yeah. And he felt a real obligation. obligation every single day to prove to players, this is how I can make your job easier. Yes. And that mindset permeated the staff there. And that's how they approach their jobs. And I think that there's a reason that they've gotten a lot out of those players and that they've really developed stars in house there. And you've seen them be successful year and year out.

And it's why I'm interested to see how the dolphins do during the Mike McDaniel era because of that exact mindset and that exact approach. and it's not a coincidence that those teams that go at it like that ultimately end up succeeding where you have staffs that feel like we want player feedback. You talk about how it is with the Rams and what the environment feels like there and just how the dialogue that's constant between those two sides where you're soliciting input and there's a modicum of respect between those two. That shit is real. You need that in order to maintain a level of success in the NFL.

And this is just so far on the other side of it. It's unbelievable. Yeah. And it's not urban, but just talking about like other places, when you get assistance that come from successful places, it's so funny to me how like these coaches and these staff members will, they take the wrong lessons for maybe some of these tougher coaches. And they're like, oh, that's how I have to be. But it's like, yeah, you might see that out, the outside aggressiveness that maybe, oh, this coach is a yeller. But usually a lot of the good coaches that I know that are yellers, including my dad. is that they will put your arm around you right after and go like, hey, this is why I got on

you because of this, this and this. You treat them like a freaking pro, like, because you guys are all professional football players and professional coaches. This is a job. It's not, it's some of the guys come from college and they think they could just yell at a guy with no repercussions. These guys will tell you straight to your face, go fuck yourself. They will say it to you.

And it's a lot of these college coaches I've been around. And I know I'm a younger guy, but even as a kid, You get around these guys that come from college and the rah, raw, which energy guys are fine. Everyone has a different way of coaching. Energy guys are fine. And I know we're talking about Urban. Urban's more of an aggressive coach about, you know, competition. But I was there in camp and I was there for one day.

Yeah. And I saw some of the drills. I was like, there's no way. Yeah. There's just no way. You can't last. I mean, just watching a guy's during a defensive line drill, just screaming in the guys' faces for like seven straight minutes. Like, there's no way.

It doesn't work. You just can't do this. It doesn't work. Even coaches, there are coaches that are hard. that are like hard-ass coaches. Like Andy Reid is notorious for the way their training camp goes. There's not a lot of screaming players faces going on at Chiefs practices. You're working.

It's a, it's a job. It's a job. It's a job. Like the best coach has ever been around. They laid out for you. You've been on Peloton sometimes, right? Once or twice you've been on a Peloton.

Aren't the best instructors the one to go, all right, here we go. 30 seconds, hard, hard, hard. But you know what you're getting into. And then they go, okay, well, he's back for 30. It's any, that's what the best coaching is. Yes, you can get hard. on guys, but it's a give and take. It's not college where you can just grind these guys into the dirt high school, where you just go, where else are you going to go? Like, what else you got? Like,

oh, you don't want to play when you have a rolled ankle, sprained ankle? Yeah, guess what? We'll play your backup. Like, we don't care. What are you going to do? Transfer? Here, NFL, those guys go, I got a hurt ankle. Guess what? I'm in a contract here. I am practicing. Guess what as a coach? What you have to do? Adapt and work with those guys. Every guy has to be coached fairly, but every guy has to be coached different. And I think that's what Urban, it seems like a guy that's he has one way of coaching. I mean, that's what all these stories, or even leading as a, as a, with the other coaches, he has one method and he doesn't understand the NFL, you have to have 20 different methods because every personality, that's what being a coach is.

You're a C, we want to say a CEO type. Being a CEO is handling these personalities. But I've had tough bosses, but there's a fine line between tough and demanding and being an asshole. Like that's, that's really what it is. So this leads us to a conversation I wanted to have last week, right? We've fired off plenty of jokes about the Jags free agent. plan. I want to talk about what they're really trying to accomplish with the way that they've built this thing. I'm going to put you in a tough spot here.

I want you to explain the thought process here potentially of what they're trying to do, how they're trying to put this thing together, and why in some world, the moves that they've made potentially makes sense in totality. They need players. And that's like the number one thing I'll just start with. We know they need, I'll just start with the pass catchers. We talk about the Bengals a whole bunch because they made a nice run and saying, hey, they got to go from below average offensive line to average. And that'll be a fine. That's an improvement.

They did more than that. We'll talk about it. But same kind of thing with the Jags, especially with their pass catchers, receivers and tight ends. They needed guys. They truly needed bodies, anybody that's an improvement from what they had last year. I mean, they're La Quant Treadwill. I mean, I think they actually re-signed La Quantreville. It's like a million dollars.

Yeah, I know. But it's still, but like a guy like that. They need the guys that actually like have upside and tangbleness to them. So that is how they're looking at it like this. They're just like, we just need starters as opposed to just stars trying to sign that. The problem, like a guy like Christian Kirk. This is kind of like the epitome of all of it. I think he's, I like Christian Kirk.

I think, but he's a slot only guy. He made more sense to a team that I thought was maybe a cherry on top. Already a good offense. Add him. Push us over to top, make us a top three offense. I think for him, he's going to be useful, but it's a guy that he's 26. He has a skill that's useful. you can work from the slot. He operates short or deep, but it's an overpay for a luxury player.

And that's where I think a lot of these things with the Jaguars did, it's a lot of luxury players. And that's where I maybe have some of my qualms. Big money for an offball linebacker. Big money for a nose plugger, even though I like Fottikasi. Big money for a Christian Kirk, who's a slot only type of guy, a F-only tight end, Evan Ingram. I know they only give him $8 million guaranteed, but there's opportunity costs for all that. But I think the argument is, and if you're as the Jaguars team, they just needed players, especially on offense, that can start for them and make Trevor at least look the area around them look competent.

And I think that's the argument for these moves that did. I can go one by one a while that was smart or dumb. But in totality, that's why I think it really is, is that they're like, we need to go from the shit receiver to at least average or above average or good if they think that. They have, I want to say three top 70 picks because they got a third rounder from Carolina for CJ Hendon. Anderson last year. Who boy. Sorry. I'm sitting here looking at Tankathon right now.

The Panthers have the sixth pick because they were a bad football team last year. They're giving the 38th pick to the Jets in the Sam Darnold deal. And they're giving the 70th pick to Jacksonville in the C.J. Henderson trade. It's just, it's truly remarkable. And they're giving a fourth round pick to the Jets. The 11th pick is also going back to the Jets. Did you see Darnold requested a trade too?

because he has all that, he has all the clout to be able to do that. Anyway, all right. So you have three top 70 picks. Yeah. And we know there are receivers in every single draft. And I think that's my only thing,

is that $8 million for Zay Jones, and when you look at the cap space and all that, it probably doesn't really matter. But do we really want to have committed any sort of money to Zay Jones and take away reps from whoever you're going to ultimately end up drafting? And that's the problem. is that when you cycle between all of these different regimes, this regime has no ties to Leviska-Schnault.

So he's on a cheap rookie deal. You drafted him fairly high. Now he's expendable. So now you're going to trade what, Leviska-Schnault for a fifth round pick when you gave Zay Jones $8 million a year. And you just get on this hamster wheel that's terrible for you. And that's the problem is that at a certain point, they need to get off the hamster wheel. The problem is they kept a GM that was tied to whatever version of the roster he helped build last year.

And now you're having a arranged marriage between a new coach and a GM that you held onto for reasons that are still unclear. So it's just there is no alignment between the regimes because you didn't even try to make that a thing. So it's just it's difficult to understand exactly what they're trying to do. But I'm just trying to like be more open-minded about it where you're stepping back. You're like, what is the plan here? And I can understand they paid a ton for Christian Kirk. But if you think, all right, we need real receivers. We need a professional pass catcher to put around our young guy.

Obviously, we handed out a record-setting deal for Brandon Shurf to reset the market at that position. Well, you need to protect the quarterback that you drafted first overall. There's a really good chance that by the time you're going to have to hand out new contracts or extend anybody that you drafted, these deals are going to be off the books anyway. But then you just look at how it ultimately plays into a lot. with other moves that they've made. Where does Travis E.T.N. fit into all of this.

They used a first round pick on Travis E.T.N. last year. Your haul for the Jalen Ramsey trade was Calevin Chase on the, in the 2020 draft, and Travis E.T.N. in last year's draft. And you just look at it, and you look at how all the pieces fit together, and that's how you enter into a world where you ultimately give these types of deals to Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, and it's just hard to understand how it's all supposed to be a cohesive way of building a team.

Yeah. And I'm trying to, I started this segment trying to be positive about it. But like this is where my negativity with it too is like you're, you're hinting at too is the opportunity costs. You're nowhere near contending. Like you have to have some self-awareness with your team as the Jaguar if you're running the Jaguars. Okay.

Maybe get to that feisty wild card spot. Like that's the goal as being feisty. These teams that are rebooting their their franchise. I know they already got the number one pick, but really restarting the roster. I think it's always a great. opportunity to sign middle class guys or upper middle class guys that maybe we take a chance on sign for those cheap one, two year deals and maybe we get something out of them. That's what I think you're in a perfect opportunity to do. Not sign for a Zay Jones. Yes, again, you're not breaking the

bank for him, but we know what Zay Jones is. Like we know everybody, I think in the NFL knows what Zay Jones is. He's a number three, number four type outside only kind of guy. I just, the Jaguars did like the opposite. It's not a great, it wasn't a great for agent class for receivers. It's a loaded receiver class for the draft class. And they have the picks to take advantage of it. And so now you got Zay Jones playing for you because now you talk yourselves and going, we don't have to take a receiver on day two. Now we now we don't have we already have our guys.

So we'll just take a day three guy. Now you get now you're costing Trevor Lawrence with chemistry and reps with a young receiver. Trent Balky also fucking sucks at drafting receivers. So maybe this was some self-awareness that he was like, I can't handle it. So I'm just going to sign guys. So maybe that. But take a middle tier guy.

Take a chance on Byron Pringle. trying to keep DJ Chark, even though Balky, for whatever reason, hates him. I don't get it. Instead, they walked down two years as A. Jones. The one that kind of gets me, it's not, it's a one-year deal, so it's not crazy. It's whatever. But this is kind of like their line of thinking is what gets me is they sign Evan Ingraham. Every Ingram is fine.

He's a vertical guy. He can't block to save his life. I've been waiting for him to make a block since he's entered the NFL. He's an F-only tight end who operates basically from the slot or the wing. Who's the number one free agent that you just signed? Christian Kirk, who works from the slot on vertical to intermediate routes, which is what Evan Ingram's best at. So now if you go 12, you split out Evan Ingram, now you got Christian Kirk on the outside. Okay, I guess you can do some number trip stuff that can make him work, but I don't know, you're just, again, you're just

punching yourself in the nuts with all this. And I think Engram, when you take a retread like that because he's a luxury player, again, that's a type of move that a good team with a good offense takes a chance on. Not a rebuilding team trying to find pieces that they can maybe find under, you know, under the radar. But get an O.J. Howard if you're going to go down the retread market. That's the exact comparison I was going to make. The bill signed O.J. Howard for three million dollars. The Jack signed Evan Enger for eight million. I understand there's an injury concern, all that stuff. But it just if you're going to take a dice roll, yeah, they take a dice roll for half the money. And get a guy that can block. Like it's like that, like Howard has more down to down usefulness than

Ingram does. So it's already, because now you need a wide tight end to go with Ingram. Like, you're just, you're creating new holes by where you're trying to fill one-ohull. It's a sinking ship. Like it's just, and on top of that, why don't you go for a guy like Tyler Conklin who signed for not that much? They haven't come out the numbers, but it's not going to be that much with the Jets. Is he sexy? No, but he's useful. He can play 40 snaps for you, 45 snaps. He can play all three downs. So that's the type of line, like the line of thinking. It's more like, no, we're going to just get the speed guy. I don't know. It's redundant. and I just think there's better options if you're going to shop down that aisle.

And I just think that's what the Jags did and why I got kind of a little frustrated with them. The way it all ties it together is this is why bad teams stay bad. Yeah, right? You move out from the Urban Meyer disaster. It's like, oh, God, thank God, that's over. But then you look at what's happened over the last week. And it's like there's still no vision for how all this stuff is supposed to fit together. And you had bulky come out last week and say, well, I hope we never have to do this again.

You doing this increases the likelihood that you will eventually have to be. have to do this again. Yep. It just, this stuff begets more bad decision making and that's the problem here. We tried to justify all the moves that they made and we just horribly failed over the last 10 minutes. I lasted two. I lasted two minutes.

Christian Kirk's going to be useful. I think that's what we got on it. I'm not asking you to say something you don't believe. So we're totally fine. All right. A few little news items here to kind of tie this all up some things that have happened since the last time we recorded. Lyle Collins to the Bengals, what amounts to, I think, a two-year, $20 million deal based

on their reporting. Great. The Bengals have done a really good job. That was good. I mean, it's all we wanted. All we wanted. It reminds me there's a scene from, in Parks and Rec, where they're having the Galentine's Day.

And Leslie invites, like, random people to the thing. She's just like, honestly, we just needed bodies. That's exactly how I feel about the Bengals off season when it comes to their offensive line. And Playa Collins is better than a body. To get him for $10 million a year when you consider his background. Best case scenario for them at. It's really, really good.

And you look at it now, I mean, they're in a position where they can do anything. Yeah. They can do anything in the draft. Like, let's say they don't want Jackson Carmen to be one of their other starting guards. They take another dice roll on an interior offensive lineman. They can do so many different things. They went on gotten Hayden Hurst on a cheap deal to replace whatever they were going to get from C.J. Uzama totally understand that as a move.

I mean, they've done a very good job over the last season and a half, two seasons and free agency in the way that they've kind of helped build this team and supplement what the value that they're getting from the Joe Burrow contract. I loved that Lowe Collins went over to Burroughs house and like hung out. It's like, part of seal and the deal. It's just, it is amazing when you hear Von Miller talk about wanting to go to Buffalo because of Josh Owl. When you hear stories like that, when you have that guy, it changes everything. It changes everything about who you are as a franchise. We talk about why bad teams stay bad. That's how good teams can stay good.

Yeah. Is that you have this momentum and this gravity that's created by having that guy in the building. And that's the feel that the Bengals have right now. Yeah. And God, that offense is going to be so much scary because they're improving the line from terrible to, I mean, even if you're a pessimist above average. Like, yeah.

It's, I mean, top 12-ish line. Like, I mean, that's huge improvement from bottom four to this. I like it a lot. I really do. The coaches have no excuses now for what they want to run on offense. So we've ever seen Joe getting after it. You know, I think Lail Collins, too, he's no matter what, he's a good tier starter. And that's such a huge improvement for them.

And he's had injury stuff, whatever. It's, I mean, but whatever, he's good. And it's going to be nice for them. Also, defensively, bring back Eli Eap, Apple, they tag Jesse Bates. They prioritize signing BJ Hill. They've had a good offseason. And I think exactly what you said about the end of the first round now. Now it's not like squinting and maybe drafting a tackle that shouldn't be drafted in the end of the first.

It's like now it's like, oh, we can get this position. We can get whatever they tap as probably front seven or maybe corner. You know, now they can tap a different type of guy. And I really like it. So good job with the Bengals. Just not, I just didn't think they had it in them. So, you know what I mean? Like just as a franchise.

And it's like, no, they do have it in them. It's another offseason signing some good guys. I mean, instead of giving Brandon Shurf $16.5 million a year, you sign three offensive linemen for a little bit more than a team is going to pay Brandon Shurf. And I think that's a really good lesson to learn from some of the successes and failures they've had over the last couple years. I mean, to get Lyle Collins a day before you cut Trey Wains and you think about the process

of those types of free agents, I think is a pretty telling outcome. It reminds me in some ways, if you look at it, the way that the Chargers rebuilt their offensive line last off season, and I think it's just so. such an indicator that when you have that rookie quarterback contract, how quickly you can do some of this stuff where you can, like the Chargers and the Bengals, they're going to be linked forever, right? Because Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow are in the same draft. We're always going to talk about that.

It's almost like their off-season's were flipped. Last year, the Chargers tried to rebuild their entire offensive line and did a pretty darn darn good job of doing it in the first off-season under Brandon Staley. This off-season, the Chargers rebuilt their defense with that excess money. They went out and got Colomack. They got J.C. Jackson doing everything we want them to do. Interior defensive linemen on those mid-tier contracts. And now you look at the Chargers roster.

It's like, all right, I can talk myself into this. Gerald Everett, we'll see what happens with their right tackle situation as the market starts to unfold. The Bengals are the opposite. They remade their defense last offseason. And then this offseason, they remade their offensive line with the excess value that they get from having a quarterback on a rookie contract. So when you have that flexibility and you keep your cap clean, you can do a lot in individual off seasons. You can rebuild the team essentially in two years.

It takes two years to rebuild your team. And I think both of them are pretty darn good examples of how fast that can happen. And it always comes back to what's the most important thing. Get that quarterback. Hey, oh, we're set there. Okay, now we can figure out what actual weaknesses are. Like that's actually because now it's like, well, he might not be good because the quarterback doesn't get rid of the ball.

It's like, no, you got two studs at that position or cheap deals. So it's like, okay, now exactly like you said, now you just have all those options to be able to do all that. And now we talk about windows and windows and windows. They got a great window. Like they know what their window is because they know what those deals are going to be for the next two years. It's, it's very nice. You can see the repercussions of hitting on the quarterback more than anything. Going back to the, our conversation we're having earlier about the Falcons, I think that's a point in their favor when you're talking about why they didn't draft a quarterback last year.

Because now you'd be going into year three of Justin Fields after the season and you'd have to start this process. that the Bengals have just been going through over the last two years. I think it's having that stretch where you have some resources to build around that guy. We've seen the advantages of that. And I think both the Bengals and the Chargers have taken a huge advantage of it. Last thing I wanted to hit here, podcast favorite Robert Woods. Yeah. Traded to the Titans for a sixth round pick.

This is a financial move. I mean, at a certain point, you can't pay that many receivers. And he was the odd man out there. I think it makes a ton of sense for Tennessee. I mean, when you consider his skill set, what they needed, what they had to pay to go get him. And they signed Austin Hooper as well. I mean, I think the Titans have done a decent job of figuring out and navigating whatever this era is for them. You know, they're in a tough spot with the contracts they've handed out.

But I do think that they've done a really good job of kind of quietly improving and working on their team over the last couple off seasons. Yeah, Robert Woods makes more stylistic sense than Julio Jones ever did. Like, for what they are, which is so funny to think of. but it synergy matters. It really does, especially for, you know, what you run on offense. He reunites with Todd Downing, Rob Moore. They were with him in Buffalo, with Robert Woods and Buffalo. And just, yeah, the personality makes sense.

Robert Woods is one of the toughest receivers in the league. I mean, what are the Titans want to be? They want to be bullies. And so Robert Woods makes sense for them. I love it. I really like that move. And I like the Hooper move. They needed help at Tide End.

And Cooper does everything well, you know, like he, that's what he does. Like he's not great at anything. It just does everything kind of well. It was a glaring need for them. Oh, my God. A glaring need for them. The roster's so weird, though, like going over the tight Titans roster is kind of, it's weird. It's good in some senses.

It's weird in some senses. Why weren't the Chargers calling about Hooper? I actually would have liked that fit for them. That one, that one's kind of. What do you think about Gerald Everett there going to the Chargers? I'm not a big fan of Gerald Everett. I think another F-only type and not trustworthy. Like, he can create the explosive play, but down-to-down sense, I don't like him as much because I don't

think the chargers need that type of guy. I think they mean more of a steady presence at the at the Y position or the F position. So one more thing to hit on in connection with the Robert Wood's trade. Matthew Stafford gets a new extension. Essentially three years, like $43 million per year is how it ultimately shakes out. Cap hits of 13.5 this year and 20 million next year. And then it jumps to 49.5 in 2024. So that window is. Ram's trying to pry that thing open as much as possible. With this extension, Matthew Stafford will. will cross the $300 million mark in career earnings. God.

It will pass Matt Ryan for third among active players after Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers. Good for you, Matthew Stafford. Right. And now he's an 18. He's neck and neck with Rogers. Rogers is like 305 after this year. Rogers is going to keep doing some work here over the next couple years. And now Stafford's got the L.A. bump.

He's in AT&T commercials. You know, like good for him. Like that's, hey, it was. It's been a good year. It's been a good year for Matthew Stafford. Good career, actually, in a monetary sense for Matthew Stafford. And I hope that Matt Ryan can have a little bit of a late career bump for himself as well now that he's getting into some new digs. All right, that's all we got.

As always, guys, thank you very much for listening. Just a heads up, now that we're out of the free agent craziness over the last week or so, our offseason cadence is going to look a little bit different. We're going to try to do shows on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. with our draft show with Dane Brueger and Lance Zerline still running on Wednesdays. If you guys have not listened to that, I highly recommend you go check it out. We're going to be going on that schedule up through the draft is our plan right now. We're always subject to change, but that is how we're going to try to attack this. So do not be looking for new podcasts on Monday morning.

We're going to put this out on Monday evening because it's news heavy. But the plan right now is to not have new shows for you on Monday. So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, up through the draft. If you guys have not listened to our Deshawn Watson podcast from Friday with Lindsay Jones, Lindsay did a fantastic job while I was otherwise tied up talking to Mike Sando and to react to the deal. And then the conversation she had with the New York Times' own Jenny Varentis and Aaron Reese from The Athletic, who covers the Texans for us, really hits on every

single aspect of the Deshaun Watson situation, the allegations, the trade. We tried to give you a well-rounded look at everything that was. happening there as the news came down. So if you guys have not checked that out, I would highly recommend you go listen to that right now. We will be back later this week. Tomorrow, Dane and Lance will be bringing their draft coverage to you. As always, guys, really appreciate the time. We'll talk to you soon.

This was the Athletic Football Show.