The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Free Agency Day 3: 49ers & Panthers start spending, the Jaguars get involved, the Cardinals' & Raiders' head-scratching strategies & more with Sheil Kapadia

Episode Date: March 18, 2021

Catch up on another day of NFL free agency action as Robert Mays and Sheil Kapadia review some of the biggest news as Haason Reddick heads to Carolina, the 49ers break the bank to keep Trent Williams, the Jaguars start spending, and more. Plus, what do the 49ers, Raiders, and Washington Football Team's strategies so far tell us about where the teams are headed?1 - 8:05 - Hasson Reddick / CAR8:05 - 11:45 - Trent Williams11:45 - 18:02 - State of the 49ers18:02 - 24:09 - Rivera / Washington24:09 - 34:39 - Jags3439.22 - 36:32 - Kyle Long36:32 - 44:17 - Cardinals44:17 - 51:56 - Raiders 51:56 - 58:34 - Names still out there58:34 - Sheil’s favorite moves so farWatch this episode on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCe3mB_1uIwSubscribe to The Athletic for $1 a month at theathletic.com/footballshow 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 and joining me today, a man who gave the bears an F for signing Andy Dalton and his free agency grades. Shia Kappa DiShah, how you doing, buddy? Well, as I said, my grades are correlated to whether I've eaten recently or not, and I haven't eaten recently for this podcast, so I'm ready to come out, spit some fire, and just crush some teams here with you.

It's become just a never-ending kind of, stream of information and reactions to that information. I tweeted this earlier today. I have, at one point, I had 50 tabs open of different depth charts and contract pages and over-the-cap things that I am almost like in a fugue state as I wake up in the morning unsure of what's real and what's not as I open Twitter and starts scrolling it. So this morning I woke up to the Trent Williams contract. I was like, this seems real.

This seems like it's actually happening and it's not a dream. but there's a lot of stuff that's blurring together at this point. Yeah, absolutely. I do the same thing. Check my phone first thing in the morning. All right, what did I miss during the overnight? And last night it was a huge one with Trent Williams signing that huge deal. So I'm sure we'll get to that and all the rest of the deals that were signed today.

So we just had some news come down right before we started recording. Hassan Reddick, formerly of the Cardinals, signed a one year base or guaranteed $6 million deal with the Panthers up to $8 million. I was really interested in what would happen with him. He was in such a unique spot just because it was the one year of sack production. Position changed to a certain degree. He was utilized more as an edge rusher last year than ever before in Arizona. How were teams going to judge that? What was his market going to look like?

And I feel like taking a one-year deal is a good idea for him to try to rebuild his value and really pump it up at that position. And I think it's good value for the Panthers. Also, MetRule adding every single. temple product that exists in the NFL. He has cornered the market on the temple owls, which I'm sure as a Philadelphia and you appreciate it. Yeah, I love this move for the Panthers. I too was unsure what kind of market there would be for Reddick, 27 years old, had 12 and a half sacks last year. Five of them came in that Giants game, but I thought there would at least be one team that would say, you know, this guy has

been used in so many different roles with so many different defensive coordinators in Arizona, but we know he can get after the passer. He's young. He's got. athletic traits. This is somebody to kind of throw some money at it. That obviously didn't happen. He didn't have the market that maybe some people thought he might have. And so from the Panthers perspective, it's great. Now you have Hassan Reddick and Brian Burns. I mean, a pair of nice young edge rushers. And I do wonder from the Cardinals perspective, if they knew going into free agency that you could get Hassan Redick on a one year six million dollar deal, do you say, let's just go ahead and do that rather than sign JJ Watt for two years at $15.5 million per year. So I do think

teams are going to start to get rewarded for a little bit of patience now here in this next wave of free agency. I agree. And we'll get to some of that. And we'll get to the Cardinals plan because I feel like they've been one of the most interesting teams of the week. The Rodney Hudson trade came down a little bit earlier today. But I want to talk about the Panthers briefly. We didn't really mention the Panthers offensive line moves on any of the previous shows we did this week. They signed Pat Elfline. They apparently also signed the other guy whose name I cannot remember now, which is a little bit frustrating to me. But, oh, Cam Irving. So they signed Elfline and Irving to modest contracts, but two guys that they added. Now they go out and they sign Hassan Redick

on a pretty modest deal. So they're building slowly. Where do you think the Panthers are right now? Obviously, there are a team that's been in discussions about adding a quarterback, potentially to Sean Watson, potentially in the top 10 or moving up to three to get somebody. It feels like they're in this awkward holding pattern in a team building sense where I just don't know exactly what this team is going for or what they're trying to accomplish in this exact moment. I mean, I just keep, you know, there's that story of David Teper, like when he hired Matt Rooley was like, you know, I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm just picturing Teper getting in a room with whether it's Easterby or Casario and saying like, listen, you guys are not leaving

until Deshaun Watson's in his mind. I mean, that's what it feels like this offseason he's leading up to because you're right. I mean, they're signing some journeymen, offensive linemen. All right, that's great. You need some bodies there. That doesn't really move the needle. You know, Reddick is a nice player, like I just said. But this is a one-year deal. It's not like they signed somebody who's going to be a core piece for them for three or four years to come. So to me, everything just comes down to what they're going to do at a quarterback. And like, they couldn't be more obvious. If you read, you know, our Panthers beat writer Joe Persson or if you read anything else coming out of Carolina, like they couldn't be any more obvious that they want. to upgrade at quarterback, and there's one specific quarterback that they are going to hold out on for the entire offseason. Now, if that doesn't happen, I don't know what they do. I guess they kind of just run it back with Teddy Bridgewater. And next year, I wouldn't say it's a wasted year, but you develop some of your younger players and build through the draft. But to me, you know, that just seems to be what they're doing is they're just like, all right, we'll make a move here and a move there, but we are waiting on Watson. And I think at the offense, that makes sense. If they

to swing a trade for Watson, you drop him into that group that they have right now. I think they have serious questions along the offensive lines still after losing Russell O'Coon. They bring Taylor Moten back, but it was Greg Little going to play left tackle. Is that a spot they think Cam Irving can play? I think they still need an answer at some of those offensive line spots, but the offense overall, I think will be fine. They outperformed expectations last year with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback. So if you drop Deshaun Watson onto a team with Robbie Anderson, DJ Moore, Christian McCaffrey, and Joe Brady, I think that's going to be okay. The problem is, if you swing a trade for Deshawn Watson, you're short on resources now.

That's going to require you giving up a lot. And there are still, even with adding Hass Redick, major questions about this defense. This is a team that finished in the bottom third of the league last year. You'd hope you have some incremental gains from guys like Jeremy Chin, your gross matos, guys you brought in last year's draft class that was solely dedicated to defense. But they still have holes over there. So I just wonder if they're thinking, if we go swing this master's. trade for Watson. We have the potential for a top five offense. We piece together the defense later, even if some of that draft capital is lost. I'm fascinated by how the next month of Carolina

Panthers football is going to go here. Yeah, I mean, with Reddick, they've got some nice young pieces, you know, like you mentioned Chin, now you've got Reddick, you've got Derek Brown, who I thought played pretty well last year, Brian Burns. The front four is interesting. It intrigues me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, you know, they've got some, some guys who can, kind of play. They used their entire draft on young players last year, so you would figure some of those guys would improve a little bit. But at some point, if you do have a player like Watson, now it's not going to be a crazy deal. That's the thing for teams that trade for Watson. Now, you're going to have to give up all kinds of draft capital like you mentioned. But financially,

he's going to be on, what, $10 million against the cap next year and is going to be around $29 million per year, which is one of the reasons why it's so appealing if you're a team that wants to trade for him is because you're not paying him. in like a DAC Prescott contract over the next three, four, five years. So they will have a lot. I'm sure they would be happy to have. It wouldn't be like what when Ryan Grigsin was, you know, talking about how hard it was to build a roster.

I don't think that would be the case in Carolina. I think they would happily find ways to build a roster around Deshaun Watson. So let's revisit the news that I woke up to this morning and the way I was originally going to start the show before we had the Hassan Redick news come down. You got to be on your toes during free agency. here. A lot of stuff happening. A lot of stuff flying around. Trent Williams signs a record breaking deal with the 49ers. I think this was always possible. Him putting in that provision when he came to San Francisco last year that he couldn't be tagged. One is very smart.

Two is a fascinating little bit of evidence for what your market can be if you're this kind of player and you can't be tagged. It's almost like an experiment for what a premium guy is now worth if you remove that element. So he gets $23.01 million a year, $100 grand more a year than David Bactiari, which that's always fun when teams do that. So I understand the deal. $55 million guaranteed.

Albert Breer reported today that it's about $20 million per year over the first three years of the contract. It's a big, aggressive contract, but he played at an extremely high level last year. He was arguably the best left tackle in the entire league. And if you're going to spend up for guys, I think understanding someone that you've had in your building, you know what he's like, you know how he fits the system, there aren't the risks that come with signing somebody from outside and bringing

them in as a free agent. This makes sense to me even if the price tag is extremely high. If you were the Niners, would you have paid up and given this deal to Trent Williams? Yeah, when I do the grades on the athletic, there are some deals where I'm like, I'm doing this 10 out of 10 times. And you know, I'll give those grades like an A. There are other deals where I'm like, there's no chance I would ever do this. I would try to stop everyone in the building from doing this. those grades get the F. And then most of them fall somewhere in between, right, where you can be like, okay, I could talk myself into this deal. I could also talk myself out of this deal.

And I would say that's kind of where I came in with Williams. But to answer your question, I would say yes. You know, if I were the 49ers, I would have done this deal. I mean, it's the price of doing business. Now, you can go back and say, when they made the trade, they should, you know, maybe said as part of the deals of the terms of this trade, we want to lock Trent Williams up right now and sign him to an extension. I don't know if he would have been willing to. to do that or not. It sounds like he didn't want to do that. Right.

It sounds like he was interested in possibly repumping up his value, rebuilding it after taking that year off. Yeah. And it worked. Honestly, though, when you're as good as Trent Williams is, you can make those sorts of gamblers. Right. When you are arguably the most gifted left tackle of the entire generation,

you can make those bets and typically win, and that's exactly what happened. Yeah. So good for him. And you're right. I mean, to get that stipulation in there that you can't be tagged, and now you get to see what the market. is. This is the only way to say exactly what you're worth. It's so weird, but I mean, you have to

hit the market, see what other teams are willing to pay. Tell the 49ers, we've got deals at this level. We want to come back, but you've got to get here. And that's what they did. So there is risk involved. It's a deal I would have done because it's a premium position. Like you said, he was arguably the best left tackle in the NFL last year. Their Super Bowl window, I think, I'm sure we'll talk about this, but I think their Super Bowl window is now, you know, the next two to three years. They're trying to contend in the NFC. There, there is a is risk. You know, he'll be, what, 33 years old at the start of next season. The prime of life as a 33 year old. He's going to be great. He's just getting started.

That's right. So, you know, he's had some injury issues in the past. I think he hasn't started all 16 games since 2013, but nothing that's been completely devastating. So you're in the decline phase of your career, even if it didn't show up on film last year, like you would expect to see that in the next two to three years from Trent Williams. But I think even if he's, you know, 80%, 75% of what he was last year, you're still getting an above average left tackle. You might not be getting the best left tackle in football throughout the course of the contract, but that's kind of how free agency works.

So it's a deal I would have done and I have no issues with it. So Alex Mack signs a one year, five and a half million dollar deal to be their center. No brainer to me. They had a need there after Westin Richburg moved on. Kyle Shanahan loves Alex Mack, veteran, smart guy. gives you a stable option in the middle of your offense for a relatively low price. When you consider some of the other deals, I mean, I think Ted Karras signed a one-year, $4 million deal to go back to New England.

So to get a guy with Alex Max pedigree, that's a perfect scheme fit. I think that's actually a pretty good price. But I want to pull back a little bit like you were talking about with the window. Where are we at with the Niners? We are now a year removed, let's say, what, 14 months removed from them losing the Super Bowl. and a lot has happened. You know, think about the injury and the waves of injuries they've had to deal with over the last year and just how that's really held them back.

And now it's kind of one of those things where you want to tell yourself, if they're healthy, they're still a contender. But do you believe that? Do you believe that this roster, as currently constructed with no other big moves, is set to compete against the best teams in the NFC? I do. I wouldn't put that. on like the short list of favorites,

but I would probably put them in whatever that second tier is, you know, without having gone through all the teams here. But to me, it is very surprising that they have not addressed the backup quarterback situation to this point. Because like you mentioned, Jimmy Garoppolo's injuries as torpedoed their seasons.

I mean, they've won six games or fewer in three of Kyle Shanahan's four seasons there, which is crazy. And you can look at the injuries and they're absolutely valid. It's not, you know, they're not losing because of Kyle Shanahan. they've been kind of devastated here. But now you look at it and going into this year when the quarterback has missed

23 of a possible 48 games over the past three seasons. Like this year, if Garapolo gets injured and there's no backup plan, well, that's on the organization because you needed to have something ready here. And so I think if Garoppolo is healthy, like I'm not the biggest, you know, Garapolo fan, but I was just looking at some numbers. And you could easily make the case that since he's gotten there, he's been probably around like the 10th or 12th best quarterback in the NFL, statistically.

And so I do think if he's healthy with Brandon Iuk and Debo Samuel, and this could be the best offensive line they've had, you know, since Shanahan has gotten there, George Kittle, that this could certainly be a top five, top seven offense. And I think the offense is going to probably have to be the best they've had since Shanahan got there if they're going to contend for a Super Bowl. Because the defense is going to take a step back. I think we would agree on that, whether you talk about Robert Sala, the players, they're going to they're going to lose in free agency or whatever the case. So the offense is going to have to be really good. think it has a chance to be really, really good if Garoppel can be healthy or if they can get a backup where it's not such a drop off like in previous years. I think that's a great point because in my mind, I'm thinking, oh, the defense just isn't going

to be what it was. Even if, you know, you had Sala, the personnel is such that because they've had to pay some of these guys, you just lose stuff on the periphery, right? Guys like Kwan Williams may move on in free agency. Jaquiskit Tard is a free agent. You know, D. Ford has, who knows how healthy he is. They had to keep kicking the can down the road with his contract because they can't move on from him because of injury guarantees and him passing a physical. So there are questions there.

But I do think that the offense has a chance to be the best it's been. They bring back use check. They bring back Trent Williams. They sign Alex Mack. You have Iyuk and Samuel who, even when Emmanuel Sanders was there, I love him as a player. I yuk is just such a more dynamic presence than a guy like Emmanuel Sanders was. You have that stable of running backs that we always talk about, Kittle. I do think the offense has a chance to be really good.

But as I'm looking at this, I just think this is the Watson team. I don't know if he'd go there. I don't know if they'd be interested in him. But it's for this reason. When you talk about the Panthers, there's so many holes still. So many holes. And if you trade for Deshaun Watson, does he elevate you? Obviously, of course he does.

But you still have areas you're not going to be able to address because you made that move for Watson. If you're the Niners, how many holes do you really have? especially at premium positions. So they bring back Emmanuel Mosley. You can argue they could add another corner here or there. They could probably use another safety. But for the most part, this is a ready-made team. If you trade for Deshaun Watson, you can cut Garapolo.

There's no penalty to it whatsoever. So I just think they are the team that would be just ready to go, even if they traded all those picks for Watson. Miami may be in that conversation, but I still think Miami needs a pass catcher. They have met more questions along their offensive line than the Niners do, all of that stuff. So if I'm picking the perfect football destination for Watson, this is the one that I would choose. Yeah, I think I did like a predictions article right after the Super Bowl.

And I just, I was like Watson and Shanahan, like they're the team where really I would be a bad GM because I would be like there's basically, there's almost no price I wouldn't pay because I would just say, you know what, if I have Watson and Shanahan for the next five years, I'm competing for Super Bowls. You know what? We can figure the rest of it out. But like you said, they don't have, they have a very good roster. Even if you include one of your blue chip players, right?

Let's say Nick, let's say Nick Bosa. It's Nick Bosa and four first round picks. Like I think, you know, Niners fans would be like, oh, you know, I've seen some fan bases be like, oh, that's too much. I would do that. I would do absolutely do that. I mean, think about everything else you have with the pieces on offense, with Trent Williams now with that offensive line.

your defense no longer has to be a top five, top seven unit. If that defense is 16th or 17th or 18th or 20th in the NFL, guess what? You're probably still playing in the NFC championship game, and there's a great chance you're competing for a Super Bowl. So I'm with you. I think it would be, and if you're Watson, like, you know, you might be on a Hall of Fame trajectory in a lot of different places,

but man, you would really be set up well in San Francisco. I mean, you think about it. I'm willing to roll with Samson Ekubom and Eric Armstrong. instead if I'm getting Watson. Nick Bose is a really nice player, but I think I'd probably make that trade-off if I were San Francisco. Again, they are just the team from a football perspective

that I think makes the most sense. Let's stick with teams of playoff aspirations in the NFC. William Jackson III goes to Washington. On a three-year, 40-and-a-half million-dollar contract, 26 of that guaranteed. It's a really nice contract for a guy that the Bengals did not seem to want to keep. I want to say it's somewhere around the 12th highest A.A.V among cornerbacks in the league now.

That's a really nice deal. And it's the first real big splash that Washington has made in free agency after franchising Brandon Shurf. We expected them to be pretty active based on how close they were last year and the amount of money they had to throw around as you're kind of taking a step back and looking at the strategy they've had so far and really over the first two years of Ron Rivera having personnel control with that team. What do you make of the overall approach? How would you read into what they're trying to accomplish? They are a team that's kind of in that middle ground, right? They're not blowing it up and doing a

full rebuild and saying let's wait and get one of these top quarterbacks. They're also not a team that I think is ready to compete for anything significant unless they figure out their quarterback situation. But I feel like what they're doing to me is let's build up the roster, let's get good players, and let's wait for the next opportunity for a quarterback and pounce on it. We know they were in on Stafford this year. There are going to be those types of opportunities, probably next off season. You know, there's a chance. There's an opportunity before then.

Maybe you draft someone in like the, you know, it could be anywhere. If you scout someone and you really like them, I don't think that Ryan Fitzpatrick signing prevents you from drafting a quarterback. So I think they've got to take a few different swings and connect. I think in the meantime, they can be a fun team with Fitzpatrick. You add William Jackson there. You know, he's an upgrade over Ronald Darby, who was there last season. You've got that defensive line that's really good. I know defense varies year to year, but there are pieces in place for the defense to certainly

be really good once again next season. The Jackson signing did surprise me a little bit because I thought like a man coverage, a man heavy team would sign him. You look at his numbers and just, you know, what he was as a prospect and what kind of played really well. I thought if I'm a team that plays a lot of man coverage looking for a really talented young corner, that's who I would sign. But Washington, you know, they obviously had that quarter scheme. They play a lot of zone. So that surprised me a little bit that he was the guy they targeted. But obviously, you know, no team plays all man or all zones. So I'm sure they

saw his skill set what he did in Cincinnati and thought he could fit. That's an interesting point. I thought the same thing. I went back and I watched him today and goddamn, is he fast? I mean, He is very physically gifted, and he's really good in man coverage, and I thought that too. It's like, man, this is a team that played a heavy amount of zone, a heavy amount of quarters. But I'm wondering if that scheme was informed by the lack of elite talent they had on the back end last season, if they bring in guys like William Jackson and they signed Kendall Fuller last year, that was their other big pre-agency move in their first off season with Rivera there, as they build up the secondary, would they be willing to be a little bit more aggressive in the types of defense as they play?

Could they be a little bit more varied? And I think that you're right. Defense is a lot more volatile than offenses, but I think that the way they're looking at this is actually attacking that idea by moving on from a guy like Ronald Darby and having an upgrade talent-wise to a guy like William Jackson, by maybe playing a slightly different style of defense

if you can upgrade the defensive backs. And I also think that this is the time to spend on the back end because even though you've put a lot of resources into the front, you don't have to pay any of those guys yet. Jonathan Allen's going to be up soon, but we're years away from guys like Chase Young getting paid, Montez Sweat getting paid. It's almost like a version of taking advantage of a rookie quarterback contract. They're spreading out their resources to take advantage of how relatively cheap that front is going to be over the next few years. I think that not paying on linebacker makes sense.

That's the spot if you're going to skimp, do it. They're not spending any money there. And then I think the real question now becomes, what does it look like? on offense because the only spots now that they really have to address where it's like, all right, we desperately need an answer here. Is your other outside receiver,

or just receiving talent in general, and left tackle? And that is a spot where theoretically, if they don't want to go spend in free agency on a guy like Ghaladay, which I don't think they will. I don't think they'll spend up for somebody like that. Could you find a tackle and a receiver in the draft?

I just like that they're building patiently. I think they're doing this in a way that I understand, and appreciate. And I just think that the overall vision and just self-awareness about where they're at right now, I think speaks very well to just the approach they're taking as a franchise. Yeah, it's not what we're used to with them, you know, with the Washington teams we grew up with, but you're right. I mean, William Jackson's 28 years old. So like you're not paying a 31-year-old corner on a big contract, you know, and it's a reasonable contract if you think he's a, he's a

quality, number one corner, even a high level. Number two, now I will say, say with Goladay, given that they have Fitzpatrick, that got me a little bit excited about Goladay. Just jump balls. Fitzpatrick just chucking the ball down the field to him a little bit. But I do think they will do something at wide receiver. But they're younger guys. Maybe they sign someone like a Richard Higgins or something. You know, that's not going to break the bank. The guy's 26 years old. Maybe he develops into a nice number to a receiver. And so you're being, you're certainly being patient there. Yeah. I really do appreciate the way they're doing this.

And I just think that the spots they need are spots that apparently are flush in the draft. If you're not, you don't spend on left tackle and free agency. Trent Williams was an anomaly. For the most part, those guys aren't available. So being patient at that spot, I think is smart. Being patient at that receiver spot and saying, we have a price point. We're not going to stretch ourselves. We'll find a compliment some McLaurin.

I just, they're doing this at the right pace. And I think that they're setting themselves up well to have another promising season, even if they don't necessarily win the division again. All right. Speaking of teams and their big picture plans here, we'd have not delved into the Jags signings very much. I wanted to put those on the back burner because I just didn't feel qualified to have an actual discussion about Shaq Griffin and Rishon Jenkins as of yesterday. I spent the morning watching them. I'm very interested in what the Jags defense is going to look like and what they want it to look like. because the Shaq Giffin contract is three years, $40 million with $29 million guaranteed.

That's a lot of money for Shaq Griffin. Was he there when you were covering the Seahawks? Were you there the year before? I was there when he got drafted. So, yeah, I covered the draft where they picked him and watched him probably that spring and maybe a little bit of the summer. What did you think of the deal when you first heard the numbers for him right now? I thought it was fine.

I thought it was the going rate. You know, it's similar to the William Jackson. contract. Now, Griffin has not been as consistent a player as Jackson has been, but I could see finding him really appealing because his physical traits are off the charts. I mean, you look at size, speed, athleticism, all those things. I know when I was in Seattle. So long. Yeah. I mean, he's, he's prototypical in like all those areas. And I remember when I was in Seattle and they were drafting him, one of the stories was he came on one of those official 30 visits. And the coaching staff was just like, we're in love with this guy. And he's got a great personality. He's a great teammate. So, you know, free agency, that's something you have to

consider. You're bringing somebody in who you don't know a lot about. How's he going to fit? Culture, all those different types of things. And so I do think he's 26 years old. And so he's somebody whose career, who you now could see the best, you know, part of his career right now. His best football could be ahead of him. Now, he's been inconsistent. He's gotten beaten. He's had bad games. I'm sure Seahawks fans would tell you. But he also does provide that upside. So when you talk about what kind of defense they're going to play. I mean, now they've got Shaq Griffin and C.J. Henderson. And so, you know, are you going to be like a press man team and just have, you know, play single high and let those guys really go to work there on the outside? I don't know. But those are two very talented

young corners. So I think it was a fine deal. I think it's the type of deal the Jaguar should be making. You know, young guys, if you have to pay up a little bit, that's okay. You have cap space, but you're filling a premium position. Yeah, I think he's really talented. I mean, the games I watch today, the speed really jumps out and the length really jumps out. His arms are extremely long. Yes. And when he gets to use those physical traits, he can look really impressive. There was a play he made in the Minnesota game where he got, he had to react and kind of recover late against Adam Thie went on a deep ball down the right sideline in a beautiful pass breakup. But then there's so many snaps in that Seattle system where he's bailing out in cover three. And he's just,

he doesn't break on the ball that quickly. His awareness is lacking in. certain moments. And that's why I'm intrigued by how the Jaggs are going to use him because as a man corner, if you're betting on the traits and just saying, we're going to let you be physical, use that size, use that recovery speed. That is interesting to me. But at Ohio State, they ran a lot of spot drop cover three and they have for years. And I wonder what their system is going to look like because I believe their secondary

coach is from the Ohio State staff. But Joe Cohen, their defensive coordinator was in Baltimore. where it's all press man. Yeah, yeah, right. So what that defense ends up looking like and how Griffin ends up being deployed in that defense, I think will go a long way and them getting value on that deal.

Because I want to see him play up closer to the line of scrimmage, use that physicality in ways that he didn't get to all of the time in Seattle. I mean, you watch, there are a lot of completions in front of him as he's bailing out in cover three. And that's not always his fault, but it's just one of those things where it's like, I want to see that guy actually used

in ways to use that physical ability that he has. And so the same kind of thinking applies to Rayshon Jenkins. So they sign him to a three-year, $35 million deal with $16 million guaranteed. If you go watch Ray Sean Jenkins on the Chargers last year, it's just Cam Chancellor. I mean, it's not to that level, but that's the role he plays. He is a true, strong safety in a cover three system, the truest, most traditional cover three defense that still existed in the league last year with Gus Bradley with the chargers. So do they want to use some version of a spot drop cover three system that these guys are

really familiar with? And if they do, is it worth paying up for these guys? So just the vision and how it aligns with the types of players they're chasing and the prices they're paying. I don't have any definitive answers on it yet, but it's definitely something I'm going to be keeping an eye on. Yeah, I thought the Jenkins signing was very aggressive for, you know, when you look at kind of the safety market and he's getting what, nearly $9 million. a year. I don't think he's been a great player for the Chargers. Now, again, maybe you think his best football is ahead of him.

But that one kind of, I thought that one was a little bit more of a head scratch. I could see it more with Griffin and see the talent in a premium position, like I said, and you could kind of talk yourself into paying for the upside there. The Jenkins one, I thought, was a little bit aggressive. It's almost the exact same deal that Adrian Amos got a couple years ago from the Packers. It's almost the exact same contract. I think Amos was $9 million a year. Jenkins was $8.75 million a year,

and they had very similar guarantees. So who would you rather have on that deal? I like Amos. Yeah, I'm an Amos truther. I like Adrian Amos a lot. So I think that that's, if you're looking at value and what guys are going for

and comparing deals, it's an overpay. But they were always going to have to overpay. I mean, they are not a team that is set up to be an attractive destination. So how they're piecing together this defense,

I think is really interesting. So if you move to the front, I understand how the pieces fit together. So they signed Tyson Aluallo. They traded for Malcolm Brown, and they bring in Roy Robertson Harris. So you have Aluallo and Brown are just true run stuffing defensive tackles. Like that's what they do. Aluallo had the best year of his career probably last year in Pittsburgh, surrounded by all that talent.

Malcolm Brown, solid run defender gives you almost nothing as a pass rusher. And then Roy Robertson Harris is a 6 foot 7, 3-tech. technique, three, four, defensive end kind of presence in there. So I get how those pieces fit together. I just don't know how good any of those players are. That's my thing. So it's like, all right, I get what they're doing. I just don't know how good this defense is after this flurry of moves that we've seen over

the last few days. I was going to say, if you take a step back and like, you know, before free agency, we knew the Jaguars were positioned to, you know, they had the most cap space. They were positioned to be most aggressive. If you would have told me this was like the hall, you know, I, I know we don't want to win like the off season and all that, but I would have been like, wait a minute, what? That's what they ended up with in the first few days of free agency.

I mean, Roy Robertson Harris had $8 million a year? It's a lot of money for Roy Robertson Harris. Yeah, you, yeah, you've watched him more than me. But I was like, you know, I kind of liked Roy. I was like, ooh, he'll be a nice rotational piece for like a contending team on kind of a lower level contract and to be that aggressive, especially with his pass rush market. I mean, there are guys who are going to be available for weeks from now where we're saying, why is this guy still available?

He's going to have to settle for a one-year, $6 million contract. So, I mean, I was not expecting during the two-day negotiating window for Roy Robertson Harris to lock up the three-year $24 million deal. So that also was a bit of a head scratcher to me. I will say this, though, they haven't done anything that's like bad shit insane. There are none of these deals that are like, this is nuts. Like blowing out the competition in the market on certain guys, they have been, These are hefty deals, some of them.

But they're not deals that are just like, we are taking these huge swings. We're leveraging our financial future, any of that. I mean, by the time the Griffin deal and the Jenkins deal end up becoming really expensive, they don't have any guys to extend it anyway. So it's almost like they're playing with funny money here for the next couple of years. I just, if the free agency is about plugging holes, again, I just don't know how good this defense is with some of these day one starters based on the prices that they've spent. One of the deals I did like, though, I always thought that Marvin Jones was going to be available for a reasonable price and was going to help whoever he landed with. I've always thought he was a really nice player. Two years, 12 and a half million for Marvin Jones. So you put him on that offense with DJ Chark and Leviska-Chanal, the offensive line that's ready. It's the one spot on their roster that's set. And you have James Robinson already. You drop Trevor Lawrence in there. I'll watch that. That is something that I will be. I'll be. I'll be. I'll be. I'll be. I.

I'm very interested in how that looks. And the Jones thing, obviously there's a connection with Darrell Bevel, who he was with in Detroit for the last couple years. There's familiarity there. That could be a pretty fun, downfield explosive passing offense if Trevor Lawrence is good from day one. Yeah. I mean, Jones's numbers are like,

if you just look at his numbers over the past five years, they're bananas. When he's on the field, he's great. Yeah, yeah, he's productive. And some of that is volume and targets and all that. But yeah, I thought that was a good deal. I was surprised that a contending team did not target Marvin Jones for that deal. You know, somebody like the, if the Packers wanted to add to their receiving core and get someone who was kind of reliable and wasn't going to cost much.

So I was a little surprised at the Jaguar. He's redundant to me there, though. I think that that's a redundancy skill set wise. Big, long. I don't know how much different would, I mean, he's a better ball winner than a guy like MVS is. But I want somebody there that can move. Will Fuller, Curtis, Samuel, somebody in that range. The team I thought he made sense for was Washington.

If you want a big physical guy opposite McCorrin and you don't want to pay top of the market money, can you get him for, I don't know, it's six and a half million a year. Is that a third of what Kenny Gallaudet is going to get? That to me is intriguing value. But obviously the Jags were the ones that scooped him up. I think he'll be good there.

And he's one of those guys. He doesn't preclude you from spending a first round pick on a receiver. If you like a guy at the 25 overall, whatever their second first round pick is, or if you find a guy in the second round, he's not going to block that guy next year from you moving on. So those are the types of deals, I think, typically work out in free agency. This is the fun part of doing this stuff live. We have breaking news.

Kyle Long, one year, up to $5 million with the chiefs. Chiefs are doing everything they can to rebuild this offensive line. I have a special place in my heart for Kyle Long. I loved watching him in Chicago when he was healthy. He was an incredible player watching him work through some of the injuries that he had to deal with in Chicago. Guy is an absolute warrior. And if he can be anything close to the guy he was before those injuries really took a toll on his career, then the chiefs are getting great value.

And now they have two new starters at guard, if that's where he ends up playing after bringing a tuning in. They wanted to address the offensive line and that's exactly what they're doing here. Yeah, Gron kind of rewrote. my thoughts on when a guy takes a year off and comes back, you know, before I would usually be like, you know, he's not going to be the same. But my gosh, Grant came back and it was incredible last year. So maybe it is, you know, maybe Kyle Long can come back. I think you're right. They don't need him to be an all-pro type guard next year. They need him to be a solid starter. If you're getting that for up to $5 million a year, then that is a very nice option. So, yeah, they were

very aggressive with Joe Tunney. That one certainly surprised me at 18 mil a year. now they fill the other spot there. Well, now they, but they, but they've also got, uh, you know, Duverne Tardifis coming back, right? So I wonder, uh, you know, how do all those pieces fit? Is Long more of a rotational guy for them? Can any of those guys move to a different position? I know Joe Tunis played every position. That's true.

I don't know what. I don't know, I don't know what they're going to do with all those pieces. I mean, Long has played tackle in the past. It's not as if he has no experience there. I think that he was probably a better guard toward the end of his career. I also think the amount of jerking around the bears did to him when it comes to position changes and everything else did not serve him well. But he has played guard in the past. So let's get to a team that has made some moves.

They are, they're all in here. The Cardinals are, they're going for it to say the least. So earlier today, news comes out. They sign AJ Green into a one year up to $8 million deal. Also, they traded a third round pick for Roddy Hudson. I don't know how well Cliff Kingsbury is going to be able to use these guys. I don't know what the ceiling is for them schematically. I have a lot of questions just overall about that staff and the approach and whether it's the right group to get this team over the hump.

But they're absolutely being aggressive and I understand it. Like when you think about the needs they had, the positions they need to fill, I mean, these are two guys. We'll talk about green in a second. But the Hudson deal, I think, is really smart. Everyone in the league that even has a slight question center should have been after him. And now the Cardinals go and get him. That's a definite upgrade. So their offense, I mean, they're plugging holes left and right here.

I just don't know what the final product is eventually going to look like with the Cliff Kingsbury thing here. Yeah, I think last time I was on was right after the JJ Watts signing. And I think we are both like, well, that's fine. But what are they doing on offense? Because that might be all that really matters. And so now they've done a little bit on offense. Yeah, the Hudson, you know, the Hudson situation was really weird. You know, Vic DeFora of the Athletic, the Great Raiders writer was basically writing that Hudson wanted out.

We thought Hudson was being released at this time yesterday. And then I don't know if someone called the Raiders and were like, you know, you might be able to trade this guy. Now they get a third round pick. Normally when this happens, like the team ends up getting like a conditional seventh, you know, or like a six-th row. Yeah, a sixth round pick swap. It's like, really? You couldn't trade anything from a. You could get anyone to trade for this guy.

I mean, his base salary is like $9 million, and he was playing at all pro level recently. So this makes much more sense than just straight up releasing him. So now you have Roddy Hudson at center. They have DJ Humphreys at left tackle, Justin Pugh. They re-signed Kelvin Beech him today to presumably be their right tackle. So their offensive line, I think, for the most part, is a solid group. I mean, especially after Hudson getting in there. We talked about him yesterday with Nate, force multiplier.

He makes the guys around him better. And I think for a young quarterback like Kyla Murray still is, and you consider the offense he came from in college and how much protections are going to be helped by Hudson being there, I think it makes a ton of sense. The AJ Green thing, how much do you think AJ Green still has in the tank? I went and watched him a little bit today.

And I'll say this, he was better than I thought he was going to be. I watched the last four games of the Bengal season, and he was moving better than I anticipated when I turned down the tape. Yeah, I think you watched the right part of the season because earlier I remember thinking like this guy is cooked. I mean, some of the numbers are really alarming on AJ Green last year.

I mean, if you look at it, yards per route run, he ranked 92nd out of 103 qualifying wide receivers. He caught 45% of his targets. That ranked last out of 103 qualifying wide receivers. I know they had quarterback injuries later, they had Joe Burrow for a time there. And if you look at the other wide receivers on the roster, T. Higgins was making plays. Tyler Boyd was making plays.

If you're the, I just feel like the Cardinals get reckless sometimes, you know? Oh, absolutely they do. Yeah, let's go, let's go get that. Like, why are you rushing out and paying AJ Green $6 million right now? Like, just chill. Be patient. Wait a couple weeks. You know what?

If everyone else is gone and you want him then, if you get signed, it's okay. There are other options. Like, wide receiver, there's been no move. There are so many veterans out there. There are guys who are going to be available for at the same price or less than what AJ Green got, guys who might be able to offer you more upside, maybe younger guys. I mean, there are 26, 27-year-old guys who are available, who might be able to get for a lower price.

And so I'm all for when you have the quarterback on the rookie contract, being aggressive, you know, go signs of free agents. But this one is like, it's like a classic Cardinals move to me. And I thought that that was not a good signing. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. And week six next year, we'll be talking about how AJ Green has had his career resurrected there in Arizona. But, you know, with the information we have now, I did not think that was a smart time. You look at his age?

I mean, he played, what, nine games the previous two years before last year? Like, there's just so many red flags with this move. I agree. I think that you'd have to really talk yourself into this. And I was impressed. He looked better than I thought he was going to look. But I thought he was going to look unplayable based on. his production last year and some of the stuff we saw.

My yards per route runs that was a little different than yours. I must have had some different qualifiers on there. I had 101st out of 112 receivers. Three spots behind Cardinals, Luminary, Andy Isabella, and one spot ahead of Lynn Bowden. So that's the crop of receivers that AJ Green was a part of last year in terms of production. But I'm wondering if it took him a little while to get his sea legs last season after missing almost the entire previous year. He was moving decently at the end of the year,

even if the separation wasn't great. The quarterback play when he may have settled in late in the season was appreciably worse than it was with Joe Burrow. I'm just trying to play devil's advocate here and talk. Steve Kine. We have Steve Kime on the show. That's exactly right. So I don't know.

And then you think about how it all fits, right? So now you have Hopkins, green. I assume this means more Christian Kirk in the slot, even though they use more full wide receiver sets than any other team in the NFL. again, all of these moves, all these big names, I don't know how much better the Cardinals are going to be by signing AJ Great. I still think the number one question there is what that offense ends up looking like.

And can they evolve? Can they move beyond some of the issues that we saw them have last year? And we're not going to know that until September. So I think that even if you can get excited about some of the names, I would temper your expectations for what this team is going to look like in the end. Yeah, I like the Hudson move, to be clear. I think we both like that move. But, man, it does feel like there could be a time in August or during the season

where we're saying $21.5 million to J.J. Watt and A.J. Green, was that the best use of their resources to, like you said, make sure they were taking a step forward from last year? Now, like you mentioned, if the light bulb goes off and they figure out some things schematically, and maybe this will all work out. but if that doesn't happen, I don't, like, I'm not ready to put them in any kind of like Super Bowl conversation right now with the moves they've made so far. And I totally agree. And I think that's the interesting point here. They're making moves like a team that's two or three moves away from winning the Super Bowl. They're making the sort of moves that the bills should be making at this point.

Like the bills were in on what? They wanted to go get drunk. They signed Emmanuel Sanders to a one year, five and a half million dollar deal, a move I love, by the way. that one. Yeah, absolutely. That's where the bills are. That they are right there. They're just trying to figure out the little tweaks they need to make that a Super Bowl caliber roster.

Bring in Emmanuel Sanders as your John Brown replacement for essentially the same price. Beautiful. Like, think about the ways that Emmanuel Sanders, Stefan Diggs, Cole Beasley, and Gabe Davis fit together in Arizona or in Buffalo for the price. That makes perfect sense to me. but the Cardinals still have a ton of other question marks and holes in a way a team like the Bills does not. So let's move on to Roddy Hudson's old team here, the Raiders, because they made a couple more moves today. And we have some clarity after Nate and I were a little bit confused yesterday. Obviously, the Hudson move is its own issue.

But the offensive line is kind of common to focus in a way we couldn't understand a day ago. It seems like Ritchie Incognito is going to be back with the Raiders. they signed Denzel good to an extension. So now reports of them moving on from four of their five offensive starters or starters along the offensive line a little bit misleading here because they're going to have a couple of those guys back. It does seem like that unit will be functional now in a way that we couldn't have predicted 24 hours ago

after the news and everything else that had been reported. Yeah, although like you guys said, you know, you guys called Hudson the Force Multipler and every smart offensive line person I know, you know, agrees with that assessment. And so, you know, I do think that's going to be a blow. You trade Trent Brown. Richie Incognino.

He's, what, 38 years old or something? You know, so like, there's no clear. I would keep Rodney Hudson, but it seems like they're going to have more starters than we thought. I don't understand what the plan is, but it's a little less crazy to me now, knowing that they're bringing those two guards back and that guy that they liked the free agent, whose name I keep forgetting that was their backup center, that they're going to elevate. They still have a question at right tackle. But overall, I think the Hudson move is strange,

but the moves that they've made, the Ngakwe signing, you know, you can go back and forth on. But I think a move like bringing in John Brown for one year and $5 million, when Nelson Aguilar just made 11, those are smart free agent moves. Great move. Having the Nelson Aguilar spot on your offense filled by John Brown for half the price, that's what smart teams do.

So I think if you take all the moves in the, the aggregate, even though the Hudson was a little bit puzzling, they're doing okay. I still think that offense can be very good next year with the guys they still have in place. The Agalore John Brown, like the Raiders did a Patriots thing and the Patriots did a Raiders thing with the Aguilar John Brown thing. I was like, wait, what is going on here? Because, I mean, Agilor, that was a great signing by them last year, you know, one million dollars.

He plays great. Well, you don't have to pay. I mean, you could, you know, you certainly could have made the case that you pay him. he was great in your system, but why not try to find the next Aguilar? And it's $5 million a year. But John Brown, when healthy, is a better player than Nelson Angolor. You know, I'm sorry, he just is. And so I know he's 31 years old, so they're going to be concerns there.

But I have no issues with that. That was a smart signing. I think you nailed it yesterday when it's like, like someone needed to sit John Gruden down after the season. John, the offense is not the issue. Like, you don't need to tear up the offense. Relax. Take a breath.

Here's a drink. Chill out. The offense is. You've done it. good job with the offense the last two years. Like it's been incredibly efficient league-wide. Let's fix the defense. And I just, you know, I'm so skeptical.

Gus Bradley seems like a nice guy. I don't know him personally, but there are no examples. Really, I mean, I think I'm sure players like to play for him. There's no example where Gus Bradley. You are too nice of a guy. That is just a Gus Bradley seems like a nice guy is great. You know, you need a defensive coordinator who can do more with less if you are the Raiders. And there is no evidence that Gus Bradley has been able to do more with less.

His Chargers teams were more talented than the Raiders team he's going to coach. And those defenses were underachieving year after year. I know they had injuries. Yeah. And so, I mean, I don't know what you would have to talk yourself into into thinking, all right, Gus Bradley is going to come over. We're going to play a lot of, you know, the highest percentage of cover three in the entire NFL. We're going to run it back.

And all of a sudden, we're going to be good. No, come on. That's not going to be a solution. You would either have to just totally upgrade your talent, which you have not done, you know, regardless of the Ingaqway signing, or you're going to be in the same position and the offense is going to be a little bit worse. So it hurts me because I think, you know, going into last year, I kind of like the Raiders. I was like, you know what? Their offense is better than anyone's giving them credit for. If they've added some free agents defensively, maybe they can figure it out.

They didn't figure it out last year. And now I feel like they're in a worse position a year later. So you're saying that a defensive system that is only succeeding, when it has a truly elite pass rush is not the approach a Raiders team with no pass rushers should have taken. Is that what you're trying to tell me? Two Hall of Famers in the secondary or two,

three, maybe three Hall of Famers. Yeah, that's kind of what you need. If they can get that, then maybe I will be buying Raiders playoff stock for this year. I tend to agree with you. And I think that when you look at the Raiders and what they've been over the last couple years, you almost have to have two different conversations.

There's the John Gruden as coach conference. that I think has gone pretty well. If you look at what they are offensively, it's interesting, it's modern, it's explosive, even without a top flight receiver on the outside over the last couple. Look at what they got from Nelson Aguor. They made him $11 million a year after he was available for nothing. They have Darren Waller and a rotating cast of receivers, even though they spent the 10th overall pick on one last year, that's a whole different conversation.

the schematics of it out offensively have been really good. They have been a borderline top 10 offense with marginal talent, but they've made the most of that talent offensively. On defense, they've done the opposite. They have gotten the least amount of every single guy that they've brought in. And if you take a step back to the Gruden as personnel control guy, there to me is no distilled plan. There is no set of steps for how they want to get.

from point A to point B outside of here's three more dice rolls in free agency after the last three didn't work. It just seems totally disjointed in the ways they're trying to add talent to this team. And that's the most disappointing part about that and why it's frustrating is that I think we want to like them. Because the offense is so fun to watch when it's rolling,

you want them to get some momentum and figure this out in order to maximize that offense and getting the most out of it. And that just hasn't happened because it doesn't seem like they have a crystallized plan for how they want to build this roster from a talent perspective. Yeah, there were so many, you know, when I take notes like every week, there were so many times last year where I was just like the Raiders offense is just moving the ball up and down the field. Like they are shredding this defense. And it's a great point with the plan or lack of a plan. You know, that column I was talking about from Vic to Four on the Athletic. I recommend people reading it.

You know, he said that he suggested that they thought, They wanted to go to a plan C, and plan B was investing in the offensive line, and now they feel like they want to spread that money throughout the rest of the roster. And I was like, no, no, having a good offensive line is good. It can fix a lot of issues. That should not be what you're moving on from. And so I don't think they have much of a plan. And it's a shame.

So John Brown signs a one-year deal with the Raiders. It seems like those are the types of deals that receivers are getting now in that tier of receiver. We talked about Emmanuel Sanders, AJ Green getting that deal, but the big receiving deals have been slow to materialize here. While we were recording, it was reported. I can't remember who it was by, and I apologize

for that, that the Bengals had offered Kenny Gallaudet, a deal that he was on their radar. The Giants have also been in on Kenny Gallaudet, so that's the big name. And obviously, guys like Wolfler is still on the board. Curtis Samuel is still there. Are you surprised by how slow moving

the demand for those spots have been in the fact that most of the bigger guys at that position outside of Corey Davis are still waiting to hear their number called here. I am, yeah, because I think you had teams with money and wide receiver as a need. And, you know, I think Kenny Galladay is a really good player, a really fun player, really unique player, you know, somebody who can stretch the field like that and average 16 yards per reception and play on the outside. Like, you know, those guys can, uh, can be hard to find. He was really productive before he got injured last year. And so, that one surprises me, certainly a little bit.

The rest of them, you know, certainly have some questions. I know you've talked about Juju Smith-Schuster and some of the questions with him. Will Fuller? I mean, it's so telling that he didn't even mention his name. Yeah. Will Fuller? Like, if you're a GM, I mean, I don't see how you can justify signing him to a long-term contract. He's somebody to me who after he was injured for four years and then, you know, got hit

with a PED suspension in year five. If you want to sign him to a one-year deal, that's fine. I don't know how you could do more than that. Curtis Samuel, I'm surprised because we've both talked to offensive coaches who just, you know, they start salivating with a guy like Curtis Samuel. Oh my gosh, wait till you see, I'm going to get Curtis Samuel in here. He's going to be running in the red zone, jet sweeps in the slot. This guy's going to have, you know, 1,600 yards from scrimmage.

And like some coaches, you're like, oh, okay, they could probably do that. And other coaches, you're like, that's not going to happen. This is going to be a disaster. But I thought some coach would have talked themselves into doing that and that he would have found that money. So that one certainly surprises me and then that next year, you know, or even in that tier,

T.Y. Hilton, Sammy Watkins, Richard Higgins, those types of guys. So we'll see. You know, one theory I was wondering about, do coaches think after the last couple of years, maybe they think it's a lot easier to get rookies to come in, play, contribute right away.

We'll use a draft pick there. We don't have to spend big money. And so, you know, maybe that's a storyline to watch. I think it is. And I absolutely think that those things inform one another. We talked about that with Nate yesterday. and we've just seen more pro-ready receivers come out of the league at every layer of the draft.

It's not just first-round guys. Think about how many third-round picks over the last three or four years we've seen come in and produce right away. Why would you sign Kenny Gallaudet to a $15 million a year contract when the next Kenny Gallaudet could be waiting for you in the third round? And I know that it's much more difficult than that, but that's not a crazy way to frame it. Terry McCorn was a third round pick. Chris Godwin was a third round pick. There are guys waiting to produce at that spot. And it's in ways that have never happened before.

So I think that absolutely could be part of it. I'm getting distracted here by some of the news. Albert Breer reported that the Panthers have signed Morgan Fox, who I'm the only person who's going to be excited about that. Me and Nate love Morgan Fox. I thought he was really good for the Rams last year. So that just happened. And there was one other move that I, so apparently,

So, Dianni Rassini is the one that reported the Gowaday offer. And I think Breer also said it was a one-year kind of prove-it deal for Gowaday. So that could be the types of contracts that these guys are being offered. Gaudet, Samuel, everything else. And now that we may be moving into that tier where it could be smarter for those guys to maybe sign a one-year deal, now it's when I think the pool of teams becomes really interesting. Because if it's one year, 10 million for Curtis. Samuel, if I'm the Packers, I'm mashing the call button.

Those are the types of deals I think could be really interesting for teams like Green Bay, Kansas City. If we can free up a little bit of money and just say this is our one year, put us over the top kind of thing, a little thing to drop into the offense. If that's the range that some of these receiver deals start falling into, then I think that we could get some teams involved that wouldn't have been, if we're talking four years, 60 million for some of these guys. And the last two like points we just talked about are linked because, you know, there's probability and then there's like possibility, right? So if you are a team that is not going to compete next year, maybe the next two years, if you don't think you're really realistically competing

for a Super Bowl, then I think you take the first approach and say, why would we pay a receiver, you know, 12, 14, whatever, $16 million a year? Let's just take some swings in the draft. We have time. We'll find some guys and we'll get them for cheaper. However, if you're a team like the Packers and the Chiefs, you like, you know, you can't go into the draft saying, hey, we are going to draft a starting wide receiver in the second round. It doesn't work that way. You know, we've all seen the odds and the percentages. So you're absolutely right. It's those contending teams.

If you were a team that expects to be in the mix, it's like we talked about with the bills and Emmanuel Sanders, right? They didn't need to spend a one year, $5 million contract on Emmanuel Sanders, but they're like, we don't want to, you know, let's, we have money to spend. Let's shore up that offense. we need to have a great offense. And so there are teams like that. I mean, the Chiefs don't have a real number two wide receiver right now. Certainly the Packers are a team that could add another pass catcher. And I think you're right.

Some of those guys will say, and it's smart for the players too, right? I mean, if you're like T.Y. Hilton or something and you're debating your next move, like, you know, go somewhere in a one-year deal. Maybe not T.Y. Hilton might not be the greatest example, but Will Fuller, you know, like go play with Patrick Wilfler on the Chiefs. Yeah, right? It's not crazy. Really, if you're, listen, if you're Will Fuller's agent, aren't you like, dude, we'll go there for $2 million.

I promise you next year, like, you know, be careful what you put in your body. Let's stretch a lot. But you will be. But next year, after one year with Patrick Mahomes, I promise you there's going to be a market for your services. So yes, some of those guys, if you're under 30, I think that would make a lot of sense. I will say, Will Fuller, there's a chance that he's looking for a longer term deal. solely because of the injury concerns that have been kind of lingering with him. So there's a chance he doesn't want that proof of deal, but I think you're right.

I'm taking $5 million from the chiefs. I'm catching 12 touchdown passes and we'll see what happens next year when the cap explodes. The one other deal I wanted to mention before we get out of here, we had a long conversation about the Niners. His name did not come up. They signed DJ Jones to a one-year deal. I love DJ Jones. And those are the types of guys, that connective tissue of the Niners defense, I think,

that's allowed them to be really successful over the last. last couple years, even as they've endured some injuries. He's a guy a lot of people are going to talk about. But those are the types of players that have really allowed them to sustain and still be really good. I love bringing a guy like that back. So let's pull out and talk about a little bit of bigger picture here. You have graded every single one of these deals so far. So I'm sure this is on the top of your head. I'm putting you on the spot here. What have your favorite kind of two or three moves been up to this point? Oh my gosh. All right. My favorite moves here. I'm trying to just scroll here. I love what the bucks have done. I mean, you know, like, all right,

Shaq Barrett, it doesn't take like a, you know, a brain surgeon to think about that, but they were able to bring him back, bring Gronk back, bring David, like, they just kept the entire band together. And I love how aggressively they approached free agency. You know, Jayon Brown today with the Titans. I thought that was a nice one-year deal for them for $5 million. They obviously need players on that side of the ball. I thought the Jacoby-Berset signing was a good one for the dolphins, regardless of whether they're sticking with Tua or going with somebody like Deshaun Watson. Here's one.

You know, we mentioned the John Brown one, but the one I really liked was Justin Coleman with the dolphins. Did you see this deal to be two? That is a perfect move. I think it's my favorite one. I mean, this is the type of move in, like, if you're going into free agency, target the young guy who had a terrible year last year or whatever, but has like, it's the back of the baseball card thing, right?

You don't want the guy who had the great year last year, but overall hasn't been great. You want the guy who had the bad year last year, but overall has been pretty good. I thought Justin Coleman set the market for slot corners when he signed with the Lions. No other slot corner was getting $9 million a year. And it's not like he's 32 years old. He's 28 years old. Now you have Coleman, Byron Jones, and Xavier and Howard. You know, they used a first round pick.

Last year, like they're loaded at cornerback. So that was one of my favorite signings of the past few days. You said that the Aguilar move was the in the John Brown thing. The radio is doing a Patriots thing. Signing Justin Coleman, I know that he's far removed from the Patriots tree to some extent. I mean, he went to Seattle and then to Detroit. But essentially it's New England by way of Seattle that he arrived in Detroit. It's an extension of that tree.

Let a guy on the Belichick tree sign a guy for his high price market value, have him fizzle out there. and then you get the same guy at the bargain basement price when he's essentially the same player. The Patriot, I mean, this is the Kyle Van Nuoy contract for corners is exactly what just happened with Justin Coleman landing in Miami. I totally agree. I think it's a great move. And I also, we didn't mention this when we're talking about Washington. It's a slightly different thing, but I think it's still in the same zip code. Them letting Ronald Darby walk when they had Ronald Darby for nothing and then replacing Ronald Darby with a player in the

the same price zone. I think Darby was $10 million a year. Jackson's 13, but you go get a better player. That to me is a way to stave off defensive regression. We went out and got a guy that was serviceable. He was fine. Let somebody else pay the less talented guy $10 million a year. I'm going to go get the former first round pick for $13 million a year.

This is how I keep improving my defense. I just, the tradeoffs and opportunity costs and how you're looking at deals and players as they relate to alternatives, I think is a really important part of how we think and talk about free agency. And I think the Justin Coleman contract is a perfect example of that. Exactly.

Yeah, no, sorry, last thing. Yeah, with guys like Darby and Aguilar, like look for the next one. Don't, you know, you don't want to be the team, like the, I don't know what the Broncos are doing. Like, you don't want to be the team who after the one year, Darby stayed healthy and played well.

You're like, all right, let's give him $10 million a year. No, those are the types of things you want to avoid and we see it year after year. So anyway. How shocking is it for you to watch all of these former Eagles defensive backs cashing in in free agency after what the Eagles defenses looked like over the last couple years? I couldn't believe the Jalen Mills deal, Ronald Darby. Yeah, it is wild out of there.

There is like a high variance with some of these moves being made and my reaction to them in real time here in this bunker, in this grading bunker that I'm sitting in. Well, I hope you're doing okay. I hope you're getting enough water. I hope you're eating enough as you sit there in that cave over the last three days. I thank you very much for coming on. I'm going to look past the Dalton grade and I'm going to, you have, you've made up for it.

You have made up enough ground by coming on and doing the show and doing as good a job as you've done. Get some sleep, my friend. You have worked, you are working entirely too hard. Please go check out all the work that Sheel and everyone else is doing at the athletic right now. We have a really awesome one dollar a month promotion happening for NFL coverage. I'm telling you, you will not regret it. The work that is being done by Shil and. The other national writers, all of the roundtables that are happening.

And just the high-level analysis of literally every single move. There is nowhere else you can get as detailed, as in-depth looks at everything that's happening in NFL free agency that you can with the athletic. If you're not subscribed, I don't know what you're doing. Also, please go rate and review the podcast on your podcast platform of choice. It would mean a lot to me. It would be doing me a personal favor. So thank you very much. We'll be back tomorrow with Lindsay Jones.

I have no idea what day it is. I have no idea how many straight days we've been doing this. I think it's Friday or tomorrow is Thursday into Friday. It doesn't matter. We'll be back tomorrow with Lindsay. Until then, thank you guys so much for listening. We'll talk to you later. This was the Athletic Football Show.