The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Free Agency Day Four Recap: Calvin Ridley to the Titans, best approaches in FA, and more

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

Four days into free agency and we're still going strong. The Titans stay aggressive by signing Calvin Ridley. The Lions keep shoring up last year's weaknesses. The Jaguars continue to disappoint us. And hey, we got a couple of trades today. Robert Mays and Nate Tice dig into all this, and highlight some approaches to free agency that they've liked, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysFollow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show. The athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Join me today. It's my good friend Nate Tyson. How you doing, buddy? Doing well. Hold up the fours.

Day four. Did you guys do that in high school? No, absolutely not. We weren't good enough to do that. Or cool enough. We did that. We did the fours in high school. It was a big thing.

Big fours up. Big fours up. Four is starting four horsemen. I was very animated about it. If you could imagine what my general just aura would have been with. I was a senior in high school. I've seen the picture of the line. I know your role.

Like, you don't have, I know this. I've seen every archetype of football player in my life. I know what Robert Mays was in high school. In a good life. I was awful. I, I, thinking back on what it must have been like to spend time with 18 year old me now as I think back on it as an adult,

I truly can't even comprehend it. Honestly, what it was like to spend time with 28 year old me, it was just completely insufferable. But when you go back a little bit further, I'm pretty embarrassed about it, 20 years after the fact. I'll say that now. One was a quiet version.

For me, it was a quiet version of the same, just annoying person. No, it was, yeah, for me, it was just, I, ever since I saw that picture, and I've heard you talk about it. And you, and you long snapped. It's like, just like, I know you. I know Robert Mays. I went to camp with somebody Robert Mays. I played ball with Robert Mays. His name was Cody overcashier.

Yeah, shout out Cody. That's what I've realized is I've gotten older is that there's truly nothing special about me in any capacity, which, you know, it's a fine place to, when you land there in your 30s, it's a good place to be. At least for me, it was like just my hopes, like going to training camp every day with Dante Colpepper and like Gus Farrat and seeing them throw and going, yeah, I ain't got that. And it's a good thing to learn early. I'm like 14, like in 15, just having realistic expectations. So I don't know if that was good or bad, but ended up here on day four free agency in 2024. So I think that was very good. Not a bad place to be. We still got plenty to

talk about. We had some big-time moves happen overnight that we're going to dig into. We've also had some stuff trickle out here over the last like 10 to 15 minutes. That is going to be worth talking about some very fun moves. Let's talk about the headline grabbing move from yesterday, though. All week, it seemed like the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes was going to boil down to the New England Patriots and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Makes sense. The Jags moves previously with Gabe Davis and everything else they'd done. Having Calvin Ridley back in the fold made it all make sense. The Patriots have no receivers and a ton of money, too much money, arguably. So they also made sense.

But then at the 11th hour, as Free Agency technically gets going yesterday afternoon, the Tennessee Titans swoop in and sign Calvin Ridley to a four-year, $92 million deal with $50 million guaranteed. And there is a cascading effect from this. There's a lot to dig into on the Titan side. There's a lot to dig into on the Jag side. And I think we have to now acknowledge what's going to happen. happen with New England. So before we get to Jacksonville and how badly they have bungled this, let's talk about the way that the Titans have approached free agency. Them making a splash like

this combined with all the other pretty aggressive moves that they've made over the last couple of days, bringing Ridley into the fold and kind of looking at it as a whole, what do you make of the way that the Titans have approached all this? They're just like, are good players available? Let's go. We have means to get them. We have too much money to spend. Go, get it. Whatever. I know that player. I've heard of Tony Pollard. Sure. Let's sign them up. We get them on board. But that's what it seems like on the outside. And I think it's for them, they said, well, we obviously, we need receivers and obviously we need offensive line. We're not getting a good level offensive line that we can splurge on like this, but we can get a good luck. Yes, it's an overpay. Everyone's going to be overpaid at this level.

If you're set in the market like this. Look at the remaining free agents. Look at the mating free agents at receiver. This is always going to happen if he wanted it to happen. He was going to be the the last guy left. Yes. He, and he's, because he's a needle mover. He's, he has a skill set that usually don't see. Even if you're low on him, at the very worst, he's a high, high, high, high end two. And or very low end one, we just saw what Michael Pittman went for. So if you even say in the same tier, this is a great, great comparison. If Michael Pittman's going to get paid 21 million and Calvin is a little bit older, but I think a contract within that range makes sense, even if you can see that it's a little bit rich. That's it. It's just because of the skill set. You don't, these guys,

that it's hard. You have to usually use a high pick, a first or second rounder, or you have to pay for it. So that's why I ended up there. So for me, it just seems like the Titans are like, yeah, we can get a good player. Why not Adam? Hey, we'll see what we got with Will Levis. That'll let us know. I just kind of feel like it's sea of their pants, but I don't mean that in a bad way. Just more just like, yeah, sure, but yeah, bring him on board. Sure, sure. He upgrades our roster. And we have the means to add them right now. Who else are we paying? You know, I think that's where they're at, as far as my biggest question about this. And we have not mentioned his name on this show until you just did is where are they going with Will Levis? How do they see Will Levis? Are they trying to

surround him with enough pieces to get some answers on what he is? This is a new coaching staff, even though it's the same front office carrying over. Is he their guy of the future? He's just somebody I haven't thought a lot about and we haven't talked much about as it relates to this offseason and how the Titans might approach it. But going out and getting a Calvin Ridley, making sure you got a center. They signed Lloyd Cushenberry that big deal. This feels to me like, let's get the requisite pieces in place so we can have an accurate interpretation of what this guy is by the end of year two in a way that we couldn't really last year when he was a rookie because the coaching staff wasn't there and the supporting cast wasn't there. Let's try to rectify both of those

even if it requires us to get a little bit ahead of ourselves and the amount of money that we're spending. I think that's it's for sure getting answers because it's like, all right, well, last year he's throwing two guys with hyphens in their last names. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but just You know, guy, like, spin the wheel and that's who they're throwing. Like, Traylon Burks in a role that doesn't fit for him. You know, that's who he's targeting. Josh Wiley, you know, a tight end, you know, rookie tight end day three guy. And this is what he has to work with.

So I think that's what it is. Just to get an answer, do we have to pivot from here? Do we keep running it back with him? Do we get some answers? Go with no answers? Because Will Levis kind of played that way, too. There was a lot of highs and a lot of lows. But the highs were like, hey, but that's what he was as a prospect.

So in a weird way, we got no answers, even. if he played all those games because it was kind of more of the same and also not in a great setting, just like he was in Kentucky. So yeah, I think that's kind of just how they're going about it. And opens up possibilities to add a blue chip offensive lineman, which is always just a lot of fun. They can turn that into a real strength, which is, that's great to whatever building blocks you want to go from there. So I want to go to the draft here in a second. I want to ask you, how do you see Trelon Burks fitting into this equation? Because now you have DeAndre Hopkins, who's just a prototypical X receiver, which allows you to kind of put Calvin Ridley in the Z role that he should be in

and should have been in Jacksonville. Yeah. But where does that leave Traylon Burks? Do you think that he's a potential fit in the slot? How do you think he works off of Ridley? Like, how is this all going to get pieced together in your mind? I actually, this is going to be Burks's best chance to hit. I think what he's shown so far is kind of like he's such a project.

He was, you know, had to be pointed in the right direction at Arkansas. And he was in such a weird role where it was like he was in motion every play. he was doing jet sweeps and vertical routes on like every single snap. So it was going to be a transition no matter what. They try to make him a little bit of an outside receiver, which I would too. I drafted you in the first round. Let's see what else we can work with. He's got size.

I mean, it makes sense as to why you shot him out that way. He can roll. He can actually get vertical. But I think he's best in the slot as a move guy. I actually kind of like him in Ridley in a, it's the weirdest way. You have the big guy as the slot guy and the smaller guy's the outside guy, but actually works really well. Like I actually kind of like it.

but I think Berks is he's still going to be a frustrating player, but this is given the best chance of sustainability. So I actually like it because he can stay in the slot and work with Ridley a little bit when they got kind of like a two-man game. And we pivot to the draft focus now. It seems like this gives them the opportunity to go offensive line if they want to with the seventh overall pick. There are always going to be options in that range.

We were wondering, based on Brian Callahan's history of really chasing weapons, were they going to go tackle with the seventh overall pick or they were going to go with one of the weapons. Now, if you feel like the weapons are set enough where maybe if you, you should definitely still take bites at the apple. Do you want to draft one in the second round, the third round? DeAndre Hopkins is getting a little bit older. You don't know what you have in Traylon Burks. I don't think they're finished, but I think this decreases the urgency to have to come away with one in the top 10, which if you're a team maybe at the back half of the top 10 that also needs a receiver, this is music to your ears. And music to my ears personally. Oh my God. It's a so,

it's always just a reminder. of how many Bears fans I follow on Twitter outside of just you. We're also becoming more vocal because there's real excitement for the first time in like the last three years. You remember, it's such a large market. And then when things like this happens, like, oh, yeah, that's actually been a reminder to of Washington fans this year now that they have the number two pick. And I did a couple of their show. I've done a couple Washington shows, you know, talking about like, oh, May and Daniels and all this stuff.

It's like, oh, yeah, you guys have a huge fan base. because it's like anything I drop, I hear about a lot about all these quarterbacks. So it's like just a reminder of all that. But no, like what you're saying, the trickle down of this is the receiver thing becomes a want. Or I'm sorry, yeah, want, not a need. And I think the offensive line is like, wow, now we can kind of pick her poison here, which is what you want to be in a team building prospect. You don't want to be, we need to get this.

We have to, we have to move up for this. You want to be in work. We want choices. Talk about ability to pivot and team building. That matters too. So I actually, I like this for the Titans. even if it's an overpay, I'm kind of just like, yeah, why not? Why wouldn't you try to do this if you can help your team in other ways?

I'd be curious how the rest of the line shakes out because Dillard is really a left tackle only. We've learned that over the last few years. So even if you still have him on the roster, it's him and Dylan Raidens that you still need a right tackle, even if you draft one of the left tackles in the top 10. So how they end up shaking out the rest of this, they signed Sidney Charles on a cheap deal. I assume he's going to be, he's going to compete for one of the guards spots. It was a complete rebuild along the offensive line except for Peter Skoronsky. So it's always going to be an uphill battle, and they still have work to do.

But at least this gives them the chance to take a big swing at that early in this year's draft. Never Normal Titans. That's just how they're going to be in. Speaking of never normal, let's get to what this means for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Oh, my God. So I tweeted this out yesterday as soon as this happened. Just the roster you're now looking at with the 2024 Jags in the last. year of Trevor Lawrence's rookie deal.

So what you've done is you've signed Gabe Davis, you've lost Calvin Ridley. So now you still need another receiver as part of this. You really don't have any options in free agency because the two guys that are now available on their top of the list are Mike Williams and Hollywood Brown. I said this yesterday. The Jags already have a Mike Williams and Hollywood Brown at home. The way that you're going to use Gabe Davis is how you'd want to use Mike Williams. The way that you're going to use Christian Kirk is how you'd want to use Hollywood Brown.

So there's a redundancy there where even those options aren't attractive if you could get them at the right price. So now you're sitting in a situation where if you don't get a receiver in the first two rounds, the idea of maximizing the offense, which is how you've pivoted every single one of your resources this offseason, goes out the window. In the long run, this might be fine. They were never going to give Calvin Ridley $23 million a year and picking a receiver in the first round and getting on that timeline. That's where I was going to take this conversation. but yes, yes. In 2026, that's probably fine. But for this year, when again, your last year when he's cheap, it is just such a letdown when you consider what it could have been with Ridley and now what they're probably going to be looking at. And now it's the same thing we talked about. The fragility of having to

come away with the guy in the first round is not the position that you want to be in. And suddenly that's where they are. If you want to, if they want to be where I think they wanted to be in 2024, they need to not only nail a receiver draft pick in the top two rounds, but that guy has not just like nail row. We're like, oh, he has 800 yards. Wow, nice season. Wow, this guy can really be something a day. Like, nail it. Like, 1100 yards. This guy might be a pro bowler if it goes right. Like, that's, like, as far as like what they want to be, like, that's what they have to replace. They're replacing. They have to, if you look at it just through this lands in one year, they have to replace the Calvin Ridley roll, which is an ex-receiver who eats 10 to 12 targets in a

game. That's a lot to ask of any rookie. And this is a loaded rookie class. It's just really hard. But having said that, that's just 2024. Why that's frustrating, it's a missed window because what you're saying, the Trevor Lawrence contract. If, okay, pay him all the stuff down the road that we're going to have to talk about probably a whole bunch of times, but they might stumble in to a good answer down the road. That guy might turn to 800 yards to 1100 yards to 1200 yards and turn into a true number one guy.

Like, they might stumble into the right answer. The thing is, is Trump Balki making the pick? He doesn't like believe in drafting receivers high. Like this is just this philosophy. He buys made products. That is his team building philosophy when you look at his receiver picks over the years. And a receiver specifically, that's the exact opposite way that you're supposed to go right now when you consider the surplus amount of guys who are coming into the draft. That's exactly it.

And it just, it's just a very, very. And it's all just in John Shipley pointed out too. It's because they waited until. John covers the Jags. He covers the Jags. He does a great job. And Shipp just had a great point where he said, this is all preventable. if you just look at the Josh Allen part of this.

Just if they didn't wait until not only the 11th hour, the 11th hour and 50th minute to go, hey, let's talk to Josh Allen and his people. No, oh, shoot, it didn't come together in 12 hours. Wow, we got to tag them. If they just managed that and actually like, you know, rewarded this guy that had underlying pressure numbers that showed he was building onto a breakout season like he had this year. 24 year old effective edge rusher. He had under, all of his underlying pressure numbers showed that he was not only just like a very good pass.

pressure, he was on the cusp of having a, you know, a 15-sac season. Weird. He had a 17-sac season or whatever he had this year. But all that stuff, the QB hits, all that stuff. He was a good player already before this year. But again, this is the Quincy Williams stuff. Their self-scouting sucks. Like, they just don't, like, can't, you should reward that, get on it early. I already just knocked the other day, the Eagles and going, well, do you want to pay Lane to Dickerson early? Hey, at least they paid him early and got ahead of the market and got ahead of all this. Because now you pay him, then you freeze up the franchise tag, which you then can use on. Calvin Ridley and then you can just figure out what it is and you're not forced into this mess that

they're into this situation right now. But it's just it's just a mess. It's just such a mess with them. Always. And we're going to do disappointing teams. Disappointing teams. Yeah, the Jaguars were one of them for like how they won about this first week of free agency. Spoilers. Looking at the numbers from 2022, Josh Allen had 67 pressures that was 10th among all edge rushers tied with Brian Burns, who just got the second biggest ed rushing contract in the entire NFL after Nick Bosa. but instead of giving him any sort of extension, the Jags refused to do that, don't have the tag,

and now lose Calvin Ridley. You give up a third and a fifth to do that for however many games of Calvin Ridley. And so many people in the last 24 hours was I've been complaining about this have said, well, they were good in 2022. You know, they've been a playoff team.

Want more for yourselves. That's it. We were intrigued by them in 2022 because it was an odd offense that they were getting the most out of. The whole entire point of this. I would miss fit twice. Yeah.

Is to build on that. That was the promise of the Calvin Ridley thing. It was to take this, this oddity, this curiosity of a skill position group that they had gotten the most out of as Trevor was ascending and be like, all right, we're going to stamp our flag. We're going to be a competitive team. We're going to be a contender now with whatever you think of him, above average, firmly above average quarterback play for peanuts. This is your chance. And in a lot of ways, they have. squandered that chance. I think Trevor is good enough that they're going to be relevant with him

for a long time. And again, if they get a receiver and a cost-controlled contract, it's probably going to be okay in the long run. But to have a rookie quarterback deal with a guy playing at the level he's capable of, and for this to be the roster that you're ultimately going to trot into that season, it's a disappointment. There's no other way around it, even if they've had some nice moments over the last couple years. And just the resources they had, all the cap space. I know Cap Space is usually just, it's kind of a mirage about what that means for your roster and what you have to do with it. But they're just how they've wielded that. That's not. But as other teams have had these rookie quarterback contracts, they've wielded them in positive ways. Great ways.

And that's what I mean. And it's just in the moments, in those original signings, two years ago, we were frustrated. And just the use of draft picks and the use of how they've used that draft capital that they've had. It's just like just one after another missing point, missing point. And even just back to the Josh Allen thing, I was writing about Will Anderson, the awards stuff at the end of the year, defensive rookie the year. And I was looking back, okay,

Dad all went back to 2019. I was looking at, I think it was like top pressure rates for rookie, rookie pass rushers. And it was like Micah Parsons, you know, was on top of everything. Okay,

there's some Nick Bosa. There was Will Anderson. Like top three, top four and everything was Josh Allen. Just under their nose has been this guy and they have yet to reward him. He got into a tag situation. Sorry, it's just like one after another.

Like they have only so many stars on this team. And they act like that. they still have to prove it. It's like, so what does this mean? You're just going to reward guys that are outside your building? Like, was that mean for draft picks? I don't know. Just top down just stinks.

And just from the outside, it just stinks. And I hate it all. It's been really frustrating. And I think it will continue to be really frustrating unless they completely nail this draft in a way that they have haven't, in the way they have not with the last couple drafts. Yeah. Last team for which this is relevant, the New England Patriots lose out on Calvin Ridley. They still need a pass catcher somewhere along the way.

We talked last week after the Jacobi percent signing. is this going to be a situation you want to put a rookie quarterback into? And I still think that question is worth asking. But while Mike Williams or Marquis Brown may not necessarily fit where the Jags are right now, I do think a professional receiver with the pulse is an additive element for the Patriots as they're currently stands. So there are still options out there for them in a way there might not be for Jacksonville. They're a good landing spot for actually that could buy low Mike Williams. I agree.

I actually don't mind that at all because that could be a... Just supercharged Devante Parker. from what you got over the last couple years. That's exactly it. It's pun intended. No, I think that it's really the, and also for a young quarterback, it's just he's, which you love. Just toss it up.

Throw it out of them. Whatever. I don't know the read one-on-one. Take it. Sometimes that is so nice to have. So, yeah, I actually like that. Yeah. And I think now, you know, if they do take a quarterback in the top 10, obviously they

can't get a receiver there. But this is still a situation where at 36, there's hopefully going to be past catchers available in this draft. So they still need a lot of work. do in that room. But even if you draft the quarterback first, there's still going to be potential options a little bit for the draft. Absolutely. Let's get a little silver lining for the Jaguars here.

Correntia, excuse me, quarantine and Rappaport. It sounds like Eric Armstead is closing in on a deal with the Jags. He will land with Trent Balke, who drafted him in the first round in 2015. So nice little reunion there nine years later. I like this a lot for as much as we've been shitting on the Jags over the last two weeks. The two spots that I've wanted more, it's more than two. two spots. The spot on defense, I've wanted more from the Jaguars over the last couple years, is a third pass rushing option. It has never emerged. So now, in defined passing situations,

with Ryan Nielsen now as your defensive coordinator, if you can trot out Trayvon Walker, Josh Allen, and Eric Armstead as your three technique, you can get after some people. No, that's correct. And if you think stylistically, think back to what the Saints have been along their defensive line over the last few years and then look at the way that Atlanta was built with with Clayus Campbell in the interior and then playing outside a little bit last year. They love these monster defensive ends. That's what Nielsen has preferred. His entire time as a defensive line coach and defensive coordinator, Armstead fits exactly into that.

And I think that he works very well with the pieces they already have. Yeah, it's, I know this is so funny. It's like, actually, I like this. Just doing everything I did. You guys are capable of making decent moves. I just don't like the overall vision. Yeah. No, but I do.

Just everything you just laid out. his inside kind of versatility with what I think Walker's, like great best path will be on brushing downs is as an inside pass rusher. I actually love that with Armstead and Allen and all the games that they could potentially run. Yeah. Like the LTs and ETs. I like that. And again, Darno Savage is a little bit of an overpaid, but I did like that as a by low,

by lowish candidate because of what I think he could do. But also, I'm curious. That is not a by low. That is buy at a reasonable price. It was buying at a reasonable price. but I actually want to see him in this defense. Did you see what he said today? Because, pardon?

Do you see what Darnel Savage said today? No. So he was talking about his role in the screen bay. And he said, I've been playing a lot of safety over the last couple years, but I think I can play all over the place. So there is a chance that just to get your hopes up even further that we see more Darnel Savage in the slot with Jacksonville. And you're going to buy into that so hard.

I'm already looking forward to it. I already love Nielsen. Like a big fan, like loved what he did last year. So it's like that. That's good to hear because I think that's his best role. Savage in the slot is kind of like a really athletic guy there. So maybe, just maybe. God, they get me back in. Then they cite Devin Duverne because they, you know, Jamal Agnew wasn't enough. I love that they needed someone in the Jamal Agnew role. That was the reason they needed to go after Demandumne. That was priority. Not Josh Allen, not Calvin Ridley. Got to fill up that role of Jamal Agnew. We'll see what happens with their secondary. We haven't talked about the Ronald Darby signing at all. I mean, he was a rotational piece for the Raven. I understand it as just like a low-cost dice roll.

He's had some decent moments in the NFL. So can you just piece together the secondary with usable guys as you've had to donate more resources to the offense and potentially we'll have to use your first round pick on offense? And you won't be able to kind of restock the cupboard on the back end. But I understand how they've gone about it, even if the Darno Savage thing seems like a sticker price pay. Yeah. And Yelson covers up those guys pretty well. It's like, again, he does a good job on the back end. Mala defense align guys kind of just don't have that.

tie in, like when they become decorinators, he showed a pretty cool understanding of it all. Well, what I, what I, something to point out there is that he, Jerry Gray was there last year with him. Okay. In Atlanta. Yeah. So Jerry Gray had been the defensive backs coach and passing coordinator for the Packers for years.

He was the DB's coach in Minnesota forever. So he came to be the passing game coordinator. And I think like the assistant head coach for the Falcons last year. So I think that helps potentially have a guy with tons of experience taking care of the back. And I don't know what the Jags defensive coaching staff looks like. Okay. So just something to keep in mind.

No, it is. No, I'm definitely keeping an eye on the Jaxes here. But the defense is almost more interesting to me than the offense. Also, yeah, the Jags on the offensive side, a guy that had familiarity. Oh, Chris Rishart is there. Oh, okay. Chris Schart is there. That makes totally sense.

Definitely has some knowledge on the back end. Yes. Definitely, yes. But Nick Holes went from the Jax to the, he's the O.C now with the Titans. So he knew Calvin Ridley as well. I was actually just thinking of that familiarity as well. So yeah, there's some little connection as well. Some insuffual AFC Southish.

Let's get to another defensive lion signing, mid-tier defensive lion signing that I think is very easy to get excited about. The Lions get DJ Reader. Love this. And I absolutely love this. We were wondering what the moves up front would be for Detroit. And this is my bad. When we were talking about the Lions last week, I had forgotten that they signed Marcus Davenport. to a very, very small deal, which, you know, he can't stay healthy.

There's a reason he's available for $6 million, but it's still a dice role we're taking on a really talented guy. He's an impact player. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. When he's on the field, he can make some noise. So now you add a low cost, other contingency at edge, plus a guy like DJ Reader to drop next to Aleem McNeil. I love this. And apparently, according to Ian Rapport, two years up to $27 million, only $9 million guaranteed, which this is a third contract.

run stuffing defensive tackle. So I understand that the price is probably not that high, but I would take a guy with DJ Reader's impact at this price every single day of the week. Love this. No, this is even better than what I thought. And this is the type of guy they can drop in because of other makeup of their defensive line. So I think this is a great fit. You know, he's missed some time, but it's, he's a needle mover.

And that's the thing is like, yes, they're probably only going to have maybe 10 games, 12 games at Reader and Davenport will both be available. but it's like those could be at the end of this season. That could be the playoffs. And if you get hot, that can turn into a true strain. So I like this a lot as far. I think this is a great signing. The fit makes sense.

The pay, you know, sticker price makes sense. And the impact can make sense a lot too. I like this. I like where the Lions have landed. And I think it aligns with the team they've been in the front office they've been since they got started. There's a little bit more urgency. There's a little bit more.

Let's push this. But they're not overdoing it. The Carlton Davis thing is a. semi-aggressive move. This signing is a semi-aggressive move. So you're still operating within yourself while understanding we've really got a chance. If we get, we hit on three, four of these moves this off-season, we've really got a chance. And I just have such an appreciation for how well Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, both of whom got, who got contract extensions today, deservedly, their ability to understand their own roster. Yes. And really just understand this little landscape of it,

where they need to make moves. They've done such a good job. of knowing who they are as a team over the last couple years. And I think this offseason is another example of that already. That's why I like this a lot is because Reader and McNeil have a great complimentary skill sets. McNeil is going to try and shoot gaps and try and get a feel and try to be a wrecker. Reader is a plugger. He's going to do a little bit of that, but he's eating stuff up. And that's what you want.

One of the best in the league at doing that. I mean, his ability to heat space is fantastic. You want those two guys, especially if you're going to play in a four down front like this, you need those two to kind of like compliment each. other. You need the classic one technique and the classic three technique. And Reader is the one. He is the zero, the one, the head up guy, the one, the shaded guy, whatever you want to say. So I, that's, again, is an understanding of, like, a roster makeup. Not just going, I'm going to get the 86 overall guy. No, no, actually understand maybe that 83 overall fits better and has a booster effect on everybody else. Just using Madden and RPG terms. If you look at what they've done, going to get Carlton Davis,

they resigned Emmanuel Mosley does short-term deal. Again, another guy struggled to stay healthy, but they've got him for essentially free. So if he manages to stay healthy, that's great. And then they got Amik Robertson as another just body in the secondary. So throwing bodies at the cornerback problem. You still have Melophonua who came on really strong at the end of last year, Kobe Joseph. And then you look at what they've done up front.

The defense pretty much has a starting 11 if you want there to be. If you want to try to get some talent in the draft and you're banking on in-house development, that's really all you're looking at there. And then on offense, the only real hole that currently, exist because of guys they've lost is what's happening at left guard. But that's something you could potentially do in the second, third round if you needed to do it. So the Lions are, in my opinion, already having a pretty decent offseason and are well positioned once again, which as somebody who is now rooting for a potentially relevant NFC Norrk team is

annoying to me. Oh my God. They're all four. But it's, this is how you use for agency. You're supplementing your roster. You're complimenting the pieces, the homegrown stars that you hopefully have. So it's. And selectively being aggressive.

I think that there it's okay to spend some money in this area of the calendar if you're doing it in the right way. And I think this is a good example. But none of these cripple you like Carlton Davis would be the only one that's like, yeah, he's not going to play full season. He has yet to do it in his career. You know that. But it's what it's, that's the risk you have to take to get that type of level player. They're trying to content. But that's the only concern here because we've said that about every single guy. Every single one at this off season. That's why these guys are available in the first place also. There's a great tie in with health and free agency. Like, if you want a correlating factor of why guys are available, like, oh, why is Tariq Armstead? You know, why is Armstead, you know, Toronto Armstead available? What the starting left tackle? Oh, I can figure out why. But no, I just, to me, this makes sense because they're trying to raise their ceiling. They already, they nailed the draft. They got the stars on offense.

Okay, we'll see what we have with James and Williams, but they have juice on offense. So, okay, now we just have to get the complimentary pieces. That's what these guys are. But we, if one of these guys does miss time, five, six, seven gain. it's not going to cripple our whole season. That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to just supplement and compliment everything else. And they've thought about it as units, right?

You're thinking about it as building units. And I think they've done a good job of that over the last couple of years where it's like, let's not think of a defensive line as four guys. Let's think of a defensive line as seven guys. Let's think of a secondary as seven guys. And as long as we have the requisite answers over the course of the year, that's what we need. You can argue that they haven't quite pulled that off yet with the ways that they've

assembled those units. Yes. But I understand the thought process and what they're trying to do. Agreed. Yes. I see the thoughtfulness behind it, I think, is a good way to put it. The Bengals lose DJ Reader, and they replaced DJ Reader by signing Sheldon Rankins. Two years, 26 million.

No guarantee numbers on that. And I don't know if that's an up to number. So just worth paying attention to it actually might be less than that, which based on the Bengals history, not a knock. I think they're very smart in the way that they pay free agents and they only go to certain levels. I wouldn't be surprised if end up being a little less than that. And the other little bit of news that I found interesting,

Jordan Schultz reporting today that Tyre Tart is visiting the Bengals. That's interesting. pairing Tyre Tart and Sheldon Rankins, again, you think about complementary skill sets. Tire Tart is your space eater. Sheldon Rankins is that penetrator. You're essentially recreating the interior of the Texans line that they wanted to replace. But I still think that overall that's a decent DJ Reader replacement plan. That's a good one.

And it's a good by low. I mean, relative tart. Tart's market should be bigger, but there's reasons. It's not. But, yeah, but I like this a lot. I like the Rankin signing originally, but then just, yeah, dropping in Tart. And hopefully that probably getting fairly cheap, I assume. Yeah, you have to.

Yeah, I really like that for what they need right now. Yeah, that sure's up a lot on what they need on defense. Speaking of by Lowe's, they also get Von Bell for the minimum because he had a $6 million guaranteed salary, I believe, with Carolina. and I like this. This is a lot of teams have done this over the years. This is a Patriot staple for a long time. Let the guy go sign for big money when it doesn't work out on the shitty team. He comes back to us for nothing.

And we get to just get the band back together. So the Bengals last year, and I appreciate them approaching it this way, safety was a problem. They gave up more explosive plays or at a higher rate than any defense in the NFL. And Duke Tobin and Lou Anuromo and everyone on that side said, we're not doing that again. So you go get Gino Stone. you go get Von Bell, you still have Dax Hill, and we got DJ Turner and, oh my goodness,

you got to try to do that all from memory and then couldn't do it. Who's the other, Camtiller Britt, goodness gracious. Camp Tyler Britt is the other outside corner spot, and you still have Mike Hilton. So this secondary, again, you talk about having options and contingencies, that's exactly what they have here now. So getting Von Bell for nothing and just dropping him back into this defense along with Gino Stone, I understand what the Bengals are tried to do. and I think they positioned themselves very well on that side of the ball.

You can't get Jesse Bates back, but you can at least get most of the communication back on the back. Yes. And that's what crippled them last year. So this is, yes, I understand why they went with that. Just like you said, never again. Just no, we're not dealing with that ever again because that's what I, when you watch that defense and watching them specifically against shoot. Oh my God, the Texans. Texans didn't just, it was just over routes and post routes.

And it was just all defensive back communication because Louana remote puts a lot. on his safeties. So I think this is, again, this is just a lift the floor, make sure again that the bottom can't fall out on them. And this gives you a chance of who's our best three guys? You know, if we want to play Dax Hill in a role, where he's maybe a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage and dime packages, it's just you need three safeties at this point.

And most of the best defenses in the NFL have three workable safeties. And now when you're healthy, that's exactly what you have. And to get Von Bell for essentially nothing, that is a pretty big win here for the Bengals. The Bengals get all those guys. they lose Jonah Williams, who goes to Arizona on a three-year, $30 million deal with $20 million guaranteed. I think this is totally fine for Arizona. Jonah Williams has had his issues, but if you look at the price range that this lands in,

this is essentially right in line with the deals that Andre Dillard got last year, Andrew Wiley, the Trey Pipkins extension. It's a little bit more guaranteed money than that. But I think if you're just looking for a plug-and-play tackle that gives you flexibility to add whatever you want in the draft. This solves that for the Cardinals after they decided to move on from DJ Humphreys. This, I feel like 12 million is like the, once you get above 12 million a year, that's kind of like the good starting tier.

You know, this is what, 10 mil a year? Yeah, that's what he is. He's a starting tackle, but he's above that kind of, I would say he's lower tier. I think he's a starting tackle, like fine. And again, they're a team that can withstand this. But it doesn't mean they're done. They can draft another guy that they can develop down the road. like that's the thing.

Now again, you're not making it where it's like, well, we have to shore that up somewhere in the draft. And that's what they had to do. I think they wanted to make sure that they could do whatever they wanted in the top 10 or in the first couple rounds, where you're not looking at that glaring hole at one of your tackle spots and saying, that's what we have to do. And that's exactly what this allows. Apparently Paris Johnson is going to move over to left tackle. They're going to slot Jonah Williams in on the right. And what this means, I think pretty much guaranteed.

Marvin Harrison Jr., you are in Arizona, Cardinal. Yeah, or just some pass catcher. Some movement or a pass catcher? That's, I'm a willing better on that. But the Paris Johnson on the left side, though, totally fine. Like, Parrish Johnson should have been in a rookie of the year contention if he wasn't in the same season as C.J. Stroud and Pooka Nakua.

So, yeah, that whole like, ooh, offense alignment could be a rookie of the year kind of, yeah, argument was going to happen this season. I think he had some moments in the middle of the season where he hit a little bit of a rookie wall. There was some ups and downs, but the flashes were very encouraging. The Will Anderson game against Houston was kind of a bounce back game for him. And that's when he kind of really stepped back up. But no, I think he is, long story short, what I'm saying is, I think he could be a very good left tackle.

So I'm comfortable with this move. He has length athletic system. He's great in the run game. And he's a good pass protector. And he plays with a real fun attitude. Like you could tell he's a tone setter for the room. So it's, yeah, big Paris Johnson fan over here. I think that's why they were as willing as they were to go back up and get him.

Because if you remember, the Cardinals moved down out of the top 10. last year's draft and then move back up to go get Paris Johnson. And when you're in this situation, it's similar to Houston, right? I think one of the reasons that Houston was so willing to do what they did for Will Anderson is when you're still, let's call Houston stage two. And let's say the Cardinals are still in stage one. When you're in those early stages, you want to take swings on high football character guys. That's what you're building your foundation with.

Will Anderson is the definition of that. And everything about Paris Johnson in the draft process, I think, told the Cardinals, we're willing to do this. It's a premium player and it's a premium person as we try to figure out what we are as an organization. And I think Marvin Harrison Jr. potentially gives you the same sort of approach where this guy's going to be a pro from day one. So you've got two top 10 picks at premium positions on offense theoretically that I think helps set the foundation of where you want to go as a team. Yeah, especially, you know, they seem to be committed to Kyler, which I think I'm really interested to see him with a full year in that offense and everything. They feel like they, I know we're about to get to one, Cardinals just did a whole bunch of singles and doubles kind of moves.

But it's funny, again, they put their pro scouting staff to work. But I want to see, like, again, how these guys fill out and how they're going to use them all because that's interesting to be. Because everything the Cardinals do right now are kind of like interesting to me because I just, who's in charge? What do you think of the other moves that they've made? Because I'm very familiar with the Justin Jones and Ballal-Nichols experience. So that's a life that I've lived. And they gave both of those guys pretty decent contracts. Justin Jones, three years 31 with 25 million guaranteed.

Ballal Nichols, three for 21 with $12 million guaranteed. That's a lot of money for guys who aren't really needle movers on the defensive line. They're rotational guys, but I want to know why they were specific, why them? You know, they could splurge on other spots, but like why them? But obviously they identified those guys because even with how they sign guys, it's from everywhere. It's not like, oh, this guy was a former patriot. it, oh, this guy was a former titan, this guy was a former eagle. Some former eagles, don't get me wrong, because of Gannon. But it's just that it's interesting to me of who they identify.

Okay, Sean Murphy Bunting. Why is Sean Murphy Bunting? Like, why are you identifying him as the corner that you want to go after as opposed to this guy or this guy or that guy? So I don't know. I'm not saying good or bad. I'm just saying the Cardinals are one of those teams that they do something. I'm like, huh, why did you do that? So my take on the interior defensive linemen, I wanted to pull this up while you were talking. I want to tell you the names of the three interior defensive linemen who led the Cardinals and snaps last year. Oh, my God.

It's hilarious. Dante Stills, who I, I truly did not know who that was before just seeing that name. Jonathan led better. I know who that was by other times where I've looked at the Cardinals' depth chart and done this. That's why I know who that is. And then the third guy, Kevin Strong. Yeah.

Yeah. So those are the three. interior defensive lineman on the Cardinals. We'll throw Roy Lopez in there just for fun. Those are the four guys on the interior of the defensive line for Arizona last year that got at least 395 snaps. So workable defensive line play at any cost, I think might be your answer when you're trying to figure out why those guys. And it's yeah, right, just bodies. I mean, but you saw Dennis Gardick's breakout season. Just unbelievably hilarious player. But they do interesting stuff.

It was not a good defense. I want to assure everybody, it was like 31st and 30 seconds and pretty much every single back trick. Everything. And so, but they just tried stuff. And again, it was pretty fun.

But it was like, but honestly, the only player that looked like a plus player was Buda Baker. Cazier White looked pretty damn good when he was healthy. But it was a, but man, it's just, uh,

they need bodies. They need needle movers and they need bodies. That's a great, great rebuild project that they took over. sticking with the Cardinals, I think my favorite move of the last 24 hours just because I love player for player trades. They're my favorite thing that can ever happen. The Cardinals send Ron Dale Moore to the Falcons for Desmond Ritter. Yeah, sure.

So the Cardinals get a backup quarterback for the next two years at cost. And if you look at the backup quarterback market, these guys are getting paid. Joe Flacco got a decent chunk of change. I mean, a lot of these guys are really getting sizable contracts because I think that teams looked at what happened. in last year and said, we need a workable backup quarterback. Like, if you don't have one, you're in trouble. You think about what James got paid. So getting ridder for what they did, I can understand that.

They send Rondell Moore to Atlanta, and now you think about the skill position talent in Atlanta, you got Rondale Moore, Darnow Mooney, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Bejohn, with Kirk Cousins and that offensive line. It's very easy to talk yourself into what the Falcons offense can look like because the pieces all fit. They all make sense with one another. and I actually think that's pretty exciting. I think they still need one more outside receiver.

I think Mooney is a slot only guy. Oh, really? Yeah. Interesting. And Ron, yeah, you can't win out on at a title press. Well, I don't think they're going to use him that way. So I think that might be a problem. Yeah, well, and then Roddell Moore's a running back.

I mean, if anyone watched the Cardinals last year, they didn't, they were, he was a running back. Like he was. So the Rodell Moore part of this does not excite you. He's Cordell-Patterson in that offense. I think that's fair. Yeah, no, no, it's not a receiver. It's a running back who does some receiver things. I like Rondell Moore.

I do. I think he's super explosive. He was good in that role. And that's another thing why I like what Drew Pettigman was doing in Arizona. I just thought this was kind of like, oh, that's interesting. You know, like not more like, oh, shit. Having said that, I do think the Falcons offense is going to be super interesting, of course, with the Kirk Cousin stuff, the whole line the receivers that they have or a pass catcher, I should say.

I still want to see one more guy. I think they need one more outside receiver. And I think they have the means to get one. But yeah, I still think they're a piece away. I completely understand that. You certainly watch more Arizona Cardinals offense than anyone else in America last year. So I'm going to default to you on the Rondale Moore. Did it wind the clock on it.

Yeah. On the Rondale Moore touchdown. Rondon more scouting report. So you think at $13 million a year that Mooney is a slot only guy for them. Well, I don't know for them, but I'm saying what his ideal role is going to be. I would say if I were a pro scout, I'd be like, well, this guy can only work from the slot. When he goes from the outside, he can't be pressed consistently and he's short on his routes. Shaney hand offenses are really, really sticklers on beating press and getting to your route layer marks.

But I do think Mooney has like a role like he's good at certain things. I just think it has to be specific. I picture him best used as Christian Kirk is used. Again, slot vertical kind of slot guy. Hollywood Brown is another guy like that. So there's there's not that perfect fit that I see with it. Also, he's not a great blocker either, you know, so that's another kind of limitation there. So wasn't that one hasn't moved me as much as other people, I don't think.

I, yeah. Again, I'm defaulting to you on that as somebody who watched a lot of the Arizona Cardinals last year. My conclusion here is I feel like Rondo Moore is going to run 10 miles a game just on jet motion. Yeah, right. Yes. He's Powell, brand pal, whatever. He's just going to be running the entire game, just every single. play, he's going to be running. That seems to be the Rondo more role within this offense, just on a broad

level. I think that's a good, that's a very good point. Yeah, he's, uh, not to quiz Rogers. Or Chiquis's brother, I forgot. Pretty big move here for the dolphins. Kendall Fuller goes to Miami, two years, $16.5 million. If you look at what the dolphins have done this offseason, I understand their approach to this. They've had to get some discounts and they've had to look in a certain aisle, but they've filled a lot of holes. So they needed another, they needed a number two corner after losing Xavier and Howard. So getting Kendall four for $8.5 million a year, I think is pretty solid. He's getting a little bit older.

Again, another third contract guy. I can understand where the price tag wasn't that high. But if you're looking at him as your other outside corner, you go get Jordan Poy, you go get Jordan Brooks, Aaron Brewer, same kind of deal. They've had to fill a lot of holes, but I think they've done a decent job of at least getting workable players in most of those spots. even if they've had to skimp a little bit. Yeah.

The reconfiguring of the dolphins has been interesting because they have to. You know, it's always interesting with desperate teams or desperate people have to do some things and they feel desperate going like, well, we have to reconfigure this. I like this. It's best of what they could do. I mean, how else are they going to shore up these positions? They can't go into season with nobody. You know, so it's like, yeah.

He was arguably like the top corner left on the market. Yeah, he's a starter level corner. Like they couldn't get that with the resources that they have right now. So I, and again, that was like. Aaron Brewer contract. It was like, hey, that, that works for them. Like, yeah, they are a specific team and they have specific ways that they have to fill all this. I actually think they're doing a decent job with what they have. I think so, too. I really do. Like, the Jordan Brooks thing is like, I still think that's one of the, I wouldn't say steel. I hate saying steel for a free agency. These

guys are always going to be overpaid. But it's just like, I don't know, that's a great kind of buy medium. I think that the John News Smith thing makes sense for what they do on offense. You know, it's just, yeah, for where they're at, Jordan Poyer, one year. deal. We need it. We need a starting level. It was always going to be tough because they were always going to have to operate on the margins where they were financially. And I think when you consider those limitations, I understand and appreciate what they've tried to use the term thread in the needle. They are right now for where they're at doing the best they can to thread that needle. I commend what the dolphins

are trying to do to like kind of keep this team afloat. One that just happened before we started recording, I guess after we started recording, Sam Howell to the Seattle Seahawks. Sam Howell goes to Seattle. The Seahawks get Sam Howell a fourth and a sixth. Washington gets a third and a fifth. I'm not doing that math. It seems like the Seahawks didn't give up a lot to get Sam Howe, if I'm doing some back of the napkin draft chart math when you take all those picks into account.

Yeah, not too much. Yeah. Just so, yeah, swap up. Nobody won the 2022 quarterback debate, the quarterback draft debate. Nobody won. I just want to make sure everyone knows that. Nobody won. Because there's no freaking purdy guy.

Nobody was a purdy guy. Yeah. Nobody won. This is true. I'm calling my Ritter takes a win. Sam Hal and Desmond Ritter sent to the NFC West on the same day. It's just a concession from those two teams. And Russell Wilson got brought in, you know, into Pittsburgh.

And so, yeah, it's Matt Corral, I think, is in the UFL now. Nobody won. Nobody won. So we all knew that, right? We all knew going in that it was going to be a disaster. And guess what? It ended up being a disaster. How many times could I say, none of these guys have a first round grade. None of these guys have a first round grade. None of these guys have a first round grade. You love Desmond Ritter. Okay. So, yeah, sure. All right. I'm a Ritter guy now.

I want to zoom out a little bit now that we've kind of gotten toward the, not the end, but as most of these signings near the top of the market have happened. Let's zoom out and just talk about some big picture stuff we liked or didn't like as we've. Yeah. day four of free agency here. So if you're zooming out a little bit, which team approaches have you liked here over the first four days? I don't want to steal your thunder because you are so good. You always share your notes and I never share mine. So I, because the first one, I agree with your first one. So I'll add on to that.

So I'll go with the Patriots, actually, of all teams. I almost do them on there as well. Okay. I actually like how they have kind of shored up and stabilized just everything. No matter what they do with the quarterback situation, they go with Jacoby-Berset or if they go with a young quarterback, I like where they're set up. It feels like the McDermott bean bills a little bit, even if most of these guys are retaining their own guys.

But just a lot of B minuses around here. If they retain everyone, everybody's workable. There's nobody that's truly committed to. The defense has a fun. Like, the defense is going to be a good unit. If they're elite, not sure, but good. Remember, they're getting Christian Gonzalez back. So I don't know.

Like, no matter how they kind of goes from here, now they can drop in a player with pedigree and I drop in real needle movers, real building blocks that this new regime can kind of go from there. So how does they've kind of been dealt their hand? I kind of like that they stood pat with a lot of it. And a lot of puns here. But they stood pat and actually kind of, I like that. I really do. So let's talk about this because I think you contrast this with something, not to keep being a

dead horse, but contrast this to maybe what the 2021 Jaguars did when they were flush with all that money. And you go out and spend at, not the top of the market, but you pay sticker prices. for Rayshon Jenkins, Darius Williams, Roy Robertson Harris, all those guys. Use products, but paying new prices. That's what they did. And the Patriots have not done that. Despite having the most capspace in the NFL right there with Washington, they've been

pretty measured in the deals that they've handed out. The only big money contract that they signed was Mike Unwenu. And you could argue that he deserved that contract and probably should have been given it last off season. So the fact that that is the big move that they made financially. And for the most part, other than that, they've been. been operating on the margins and just trying to spend correctly. I'm totally fine with the way that they've approached this.

Not overpaying on a receiver, I think, is not the worst thing in the world if you're New England at the spot. And now as you get into the second wave, there's a chance that they can get a couple workable pieces from that pool, whether it's Mike Williams or somebody else. Yeah. And even like the NWenu thing, like his guard tackle versatility is great if you're trying to rebuild an offensive line because now we're not stripped. Oh, we need a right tackle.

But we need a left tag. We need a guard. Like we need the need. You don't want to need anything. You want to want the thing to fill the gap and everything. But now you can slot him in. Okay, well, we really like this guard in the second round. All right.

Well, and when it can be a tackle now. All right, boom, boom, boom. We can work from there. Now we can build our best five. So like just even that committing to a guy that doesn't really miss time has positional flexibility. That's the guys you want to build around. And I think that they have done a nice job of just like committing to those types of players,

even if they are mostly their own. And if you think about where. Elliot Wolf comes from, I mean, not seeing them make a lot of splashing moves in free agency makes a lot of sense when you think about the history of the Green Bay Packers. Yes, Packers all the way. It's such a funny merger of ideals. It really is. If I football kind of history, like kind of behind the scenes history, it's a very funny thing what's going on to New England. This kind of like kind of thinking two totally different trees kind of merging in New England right now. It's very fast. It was why I was so intrigued by them coming into the year just because we didn't know what their values were going to be. We didn't know how they were going to approach all this stuff. So every little data point we get on what this version of the Patriots is, I'm interested in that. And I think that we've learned a decent amount, even over these first few days, about how they want to approach free agencies specifically.

We're two months in, but it's been a good two months. As quote unquote boring as it has been, I actually have liked the boringness. It's difficult four days in to really make sweeping declarations about what you did or didn't like. There are going to be teams that come in in the second wave and make some good signings. The Lions hadn't done much before they signed DJ Reader. And I don't want to be one of those guys where you see the team that spent a lot of money and was aggressive and be like, yeah, that was good. But for me specifically, I think where those two things converge, aggressiveness and I like

the path that they're on is what the Houston Texans have done over the first few days. Because I like a team that understands where they are and what they need to do. The Texans, justifiably, I think, see themselves as Super Bowl contenders. Right now, I think they are looking at the league in the landscape and saying, we can do this. We've got the guy already. We're at a position where if things go right for us, we can compete against anybody in the AFC. That is what the DeNeil Hunter signing says to me, that over the next two years, we've got a shot at this thing. And with the way that I see C.J. Stroud and what they are offensively, I don't think that is wrong.

I think that's actually the right way to think about what you can be over the next two seasons. So you look at what they did with Hunter, Shire, De Niko Autry. I mean, all these guys, the way they've rebuilt their defensive front, and then what they're potentially going to have on offense with all those guys coming back, I think this was the right way to approach it, even if it was a little bit aggressive pretty quickly when you consider how not long this team has been relevant. What the when the kind of season ended and really kind of just like looking out with the Texans roster and really the of course the ascent of Stroud just being oh shoot you're already the ceiling that I thought you could be

right away which is really exciting even if he doesn't improve it's like well you still like a top eight quarterback so we're good here and then we're good and then okay Nico Collins the assent of Nico Collins and to what I think we both say it top 10 receiver I mean truly Top 10, top 10, top 12, top 12 in a receiver. A bona fide ex receiver, what everybody wants. That you can isolate. They have a top tier left tackle.

They have a pass rusher or a means to a pass rush. They have a corner in Derek Stingley, who I think at the end of last year was truly playing really good football. So they have all the blue chip things that you want, the what we call the most premium positions. They have most of them that are very young too. Now it's the time to go. That's when you have all that in place, push.

You have the things everyone else chases. Go. Like, we have a window right now, especially on these cheap deals for a lot of these guys. So leaving at that and going into these moves, all right, Danielle Hunter is a great compliment to Will Anderson. Couldn't for two edges could, I mean, just a great complimentary skill set. Like, as far as a more bendy knuckleball pitcher with a true fastball pitcher right at you. Okay, now we got these two guys that can work off each other. It's beautiful.

The synchronicity of it with Will Anderson bringing the physicality on the left side and Daniel Hunter being that speed guy and the other side is perfect. It's a classic, yes, classic speed guy, weak defensive end and a classic strong side defensive end. Like again, sometimes teams just go, oh, this is the 92 overall guy, sign them without thinking anything about the makeup of the teams. We've seen a lot of this actually in the NBA going on and people on a team building going like, oh, okay, actually we got, if we get these two guys with these complimentary skill sets,

we get a boost out of it as opposed to just going for the guy that's better overall. So I think that's why I like it. De Nico Atri, everybody loves De Nico Atri. His inside, outside versatility, he's going into another four-down defense. Perfect for him. Another fit that makes sense. It's not just that guy. Aziz al-Shia.

Love with the linebacker. Like, love having a linebacker. That's their biggest weakness. And now that you're getting a guy that isn't the sexiest player, but he shores up what you're so weak at against the run, stuff happening over the middle. The trade for Joe Mixin was just like, that's just a nice little single, single, little bit of a needle mover, I actually think, because now you're getting talent and you didn't have to do much to get it. And you can add to that position in the draft.

I don't know, they just set themselves up for, again, I think how you put it, being aggressive, but also just like being within, staying within yourself. And I think they just have had, they've really nailed it too. So like, they were my one-A answer to. I saw that you had them too because I was like, yeah, let's go, baby. Because I think the Texas so far just nailed this four days, one month, two months, whatever you want to say. I've always thought that in this process, Hunter was just the sort of edge that you really can't come across and free agency. And if you're a team that has a window that's maybe a year or two long for a 30-year-old

pass rusher, that was the right. And I think the Texas window is longer than that. But if you look at the financial situation that they're in, they know that they're going to have cheap guys at those positions. Nico Collins, even if he gets an extension this offseason, he's going to be cheap in 2025. CJ Stroud is going to be cheap until 2027. So you've got a chance right now to really spend on a guy who can disrupt games.

in ways that free agent edge rushers just typically don't. He's a 12-sac guy. He's a 12-sac guy. And if you look at what he's potentially going to be able to do on a per-snap basis over the next couple years, because he has to play a little bit less as he's getting older, I think it makes a ton of sense. So it is very easy for me to get excited about what they have done here over the past few days. I'm already, I already know that I'm going to have to like pump the brakes

because it's very, very easy to get ahead of yourself when you think about how good he was last year. Well, yeah. And just the fit, what D'Amico Ryan gets out of those guys, how he uses the defensive line. That's what I think is great, too, because you said, like, he can use it a 75% snap role. He doesn't have to be a 90% snap kind of guy. And again, you're turning into the, they have two first rounders. I'm sorry, they have the first rounder. And at the back of the draft, sorry, I'm mixed up the teams. But using that first. They still have a first rounder even if they traded their last year. The Texans, Browns and Cardinals for me are like they have the shell game of draft picks. Yeah. It's hard to forget. No, they had their first round at the end. And why I'm saying that it's in the 20s is that where they're set up is perfect for what they could potentially need.

If they want to add another freaking defense alignment that's right in that kind of range. If they want to add a second corner. If they want, Cooper DeGine is there. Another guy I'm just going to keep bringing it up because he can slot into so many different spots. Yeah, they're set up. They also have an extra third round pick. Excuse me. They have a third round.

despite trading theirs to Arizona. They got an extra third rounder from Philly. So they still have a full complement of draft picks, which I think is worth pointing out when you consider the holes that they still get excited about them. It very much is. Even the Danico Atri thing, okay? De Niko Atri is 34 years old.

He's not going to be attracted to a lot of other teams in different positions. De Nico Autry staying in Tennessee would not make sense. DeNico Atri on this team, one, based on what you can do over the next two seasons. Two, you put an eco-autry on the edge on early downs, let Daniel Hunter sit his ass on the bench on first and 10, save his body, and then come in on second and nine, and let him go to work. It just makes total sense when you think about it in totality with that position group and how they've started to put it together. You have to look at this as minutes, like in basketball, you overlap these guys and get it to work. Some guys are going to take more. Some guys are going to take less.

But that's how these guys use snaps. And that's how these guys, particularly the Texans, how they use these guys on snaps. So, yeah, again, the pitch count makes a lot of sense. Other team I wanted to mention was the Bengals, but we've already really talked about them. I just appreciate that the way that they've handled this. I think they've made a lot of shrewd moves over the last few weeks. Who was your next one? I are you knocked off the Patriots, the Rams, just because of the beef.

We've already talked more and more about them, but just the beef. Kevin Dotson bringing him back, Jonah Jackson. I think it's some talent. Let's have a measured conversation about this. I understand the final product is very fun and excited. You don't have any issue with the price tag of spending a collective $35 million on guards? No, because who else they have to they have up there? You know, just they got, because of Adric, they have a tender on him.

So just to make up. Oh, they're Jackson. Yeah. Yes, Alaric. Oh, we'll just say, Audric. And then also just like a Vila is on a rookie contract. So again, if you're looking at the five offensive linemen, that actually does. It's easier pill to swallow for me.

That's fair. For me, it's more about the not spending resources on defense and the holes that still exist on defense when you're shopping at the top, top of the market on guards. Was there a chance you could have filled that for half the price and pumped a little bit more of that money back onto the defense? I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here because I'm also excited about it. But I wonder if there was maybe a smarter way to go about the resources. I think they're trying to, they're shopping into Bargabin.

aisle on defense. I think that's how they're going about it. You know, so I suppose that these guys, there's more as the middle tier aisle. I think that's what they're going to go about it. I honestly don't hate that as a plan. Like, let's, coming into this season and saying, we're going to have the best offense in the league, we're going to have a top three offense. That's the goal. And if we get to mediocre on defense, that's enough for us.

I don't hate that as an approach. And just go, like, wheel out Aaron Donald, like Hannibal Lecter in the playoffs. You just like, here go. It wouldn't be the first time, man. I know. Here we go. All right, go. We go.

Yeah. But, and again, you, danger, danger, Will Robinson. But it's the, they can go, you know, if the young guys, you know, the young guys just ascend a little bit, the Byron Youngs. You know, the Kobe Turner's just ascend a little bit. That's, you know, also can bet on that, some projection from there, even if they did play their asses off as a rogis. So I think this is telling, though. They, I, what Jordan Roderick said yesterday is that they weren't intending to tender Michael Hoyt. that was not the original plan.

They ended up doing it, I think, because there wasn't a path to edge rushers. Oh, shit. So that's my only concern is that even after bringing in Darius Williams, there's still a lot of questions on the back end. And at some point, you need another edge rusher. So now you put yourself in a position where if you can't get a guy in the second wave of free agency, and I'm deeply aware of which edge rushers are still available. We'll get to that in a minute. You're putting yourself in a spot where you really need to.

to come away with one early in the draft for this entire plan to make sense. That's my only concern. No, I get it. It's just that I love when teams add to a strength and just fully. You really do. Leaning into it, man. And like, it's just, it's my favorite. It really is.

Especially how they are going to wield it. It's not just, it's not going for not. Yeah, it's easy to see the plan based on who they were last year. And I think that's why it's easy to get excited about it. It's one of these that I want to say now because I'll forget about it for the next five months. And then once preseason starts, I'll go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm excited about this. Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, ramps, oh, cool, cool. Playoffs.

Yeah, that's so I just want to put a pin in it for now. My next one here, I like what the Minnesota Vikings have done. I just think that the guys that they've signed for the prices that they've signed, it all makes sense to me. Like going and getting a little bit younger with Grenard, I think he's a really good player. I think that he's the exact type of guy you want to add in a free agency, 26 years old, ascending, I think all the underlying metrics, would tell you what sort of season he had last year.

We talked about the Van Ginkle thing for two weeks. I mean, they paid for him, right? I mean, it's real money to $10 million a year, $14 million guaranteed. But stylistically, I like how that fits. And then going to get Aaron Jones. I was talking to Alec Lewis this morning, who covers the Vikings for us. He does a fantastic job.

If you're a Vikings fan and you aren't in tune with the work that Alex is doing, Alex is doing highly recommend going to check that out. But what the Vikings had to do over the last few years, where you're trying to balance this being competitive with resetting everything at the same time, it's just not easy to pull off. And I actually think they've done an okay job because what they did for the first two years, especially year one, is you earn equity in the building, right? There's buy-in.

There's a level of excitement. And I don't want to put too much stock in this, but you look at the NFLPA report card and the way that guys feel about playing for the Vikings. There's like a real level of excitement, I think, within that building among the players. And so you've built that while maintaining the flexibility that you want to in the post-Kirk cousins era. You still need a quarterback plan moving forward. You always knew that was going to be the case. But I actually like how they've navigated the waters here over the last couple off seasons in a way that I think a lot of other teams might have screwed up because they wanted to go too far one way or the other.

Yeah. I think that's really the last year. That's kind of how we've even talked about the Vikings. They're trying to straddle it. It's hard. Competitive rebuild. It is. It is.

A million times. It is hard to try to do both at the same time to just go like, all right, win in game. Okay, are we winning? Are we winning? Do we push? Do we push? No, rain back. All right.

We're okay. All right. Right. Right. But still without ruining the culture, like you said, that's, that's, there's a lot of human capital. Like that you, there's only so much like morale that you can use. Like so much that, okay, some goodwill that you can burn with all these things if you

want to manage all this. So it's hard. I can't believe the disrespect to, you know, long-term plan of Sam Darnold as you're starting quarterback. I love that. Did you see what Quasi said today? So Quasi Duff Menta came out today when he was being asked about it. He says, we don't need a quarterback in the draft.

Now we can do it either way because we have Sam Donald. I don't know how much I buy that. It's a good answer. I like that answer. He's trying to pump down the price of that eighth overall pick that he wants to get from Atlanta. I watched week 18, Sam Darnold against the Rams. God, you are a sick man.

Just had to, just had to make sure. I wasn't out of line. Walk me through this. It was like 8 p.m. last night and you'd put Jack to bed and it's just like, you know what? This is it. I'm going to spend my time tonight just cueing up week 18 Sam Darnold. No, so we saw Dune 2 yesterday. Okay.

Phenomenal. Phenomenal. 10 out of 10. Oh, man. Sam Darnold. So so so so media. So I do not disturb them up has just been also a godsend that like discovering that. And I come out of the movie theater, see the Calvin Ridley News.

And I was like, oh, shit. shoot like oh man all right cool so i grasped my head around that get home and it was like all right i want to watch some film i'm tired of watching some crappy guards from round four guards i'm tired to watch college football i'm watching san d'arno so it was time to cue up the sam darnell tape hey most of the starters were out there for the 49ers so we got to see some realism there it was there was some real sam darnell moments good and bad there's some real creation with him he can throw a left he can make some plays he can really i mean he threw some guys open on some kind of tightly contested ones.

And then you just have some like, what are you doing? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Yes moments with him. But it was the most kind of controlled I've ever seen him. Like in, but that's, it's a low bar. But it's, it really was. So it was encouraging to see a lot of the strengths. And you could see that him try, he mitigated like when he was about to take a sack

because he bailed out of the pocket. And he was in the red zone. He throws the ball like 10 yards out of bounds. And you can tell, I'm sure on the sidelines like greasy and Kyle Shannon. And we're just like, yes. Yes, we got through to him. He didn't try to make something bad, like a bad play worse. So there was a lot to like.

There's a reason he went for $10 million. I want to say that to people. There was a market for Sam Darnold. It's not just me. I'm not just the only loser. The Broncos were also involved. I'm not the only guy that sees this. If you were going to semi punt on the position, I think that Sam Donald was at least a mildly

intriguing option. And I think multiple teams landed on that this offseason. All that being said, he's a dice roll. It's a craps table roll. That's what it is. Right now. It is 4.10 p.m. Central time on March 14th. We are not going to talk about Sam Donald again on the show until the draft.

Until the draft. Pinky swear. If they don't draft anyone and they're rolling with Sam Darnold, we can cue up the Sam Darnold conversations again. I can swear to every listener, everyone right now. I'm done talking about them. Okay. I'm done.

Six weeks moratorium on the Sam Darno conversation until the draft. I'm done. I got my takes off. I think he's against, if he does play, think he will surprise some people with some of talent, but he'll still have some boneheaded decision. and I can't quit them. But yes, yes, Pinky's for it. That's it for me.

Last team for you. Whose plan you've liked over the last couple days? We kind of touched on them. It was the lines. I mean, that was before the DJ Reader News. And then I got to add that bullet point. But all these fine signings, they make sense. The Glasgow signing even makes sense.

That's a nice solid starter. He knows the offense. He knows what they're doing. Like that. The Davis swing, the Davenport swing. I like what they're doing. I also kind of like a little dot, dot, dot on the chargers, just because it's hilarious.

They finally answered the roster holes that have been there for like three years. They got a three, like a running, or short yardish running back and Gus Edwards. I mean, he's going to be more than that. Thank God for my dynasty teams. And then two real tight ends. It will disley and Hayden Hearst. Like guys actually can like do a little blocking and like do a little something. Like yeah, they actually, they said no more.

Harbaugh watched that. And then he was just like, yeah, I see what you guys saw too. That wasn't going well. So we were going to talk about this a little bit later, but we might as well talk about it now. news came out right before we started recording that Joey Bosa had restructured his deal. So I was always wondering what was going to happen with the chargers. Which direction were they going to go? Were they going to move on from?

So they had four high price guys, right? Joey Bosa, Cleo Mack, Mike Williams, Keenan-out. What were the fates of those four guys going to be? My thought for most of this is that it was going to be one edge rusher gone and Mike Williams gone. The fact that they didn't do that and they're bringing back both edge rushers and I assume Keenan Allen will be on an extension this year. It shouldn't be that surprising when you consider the Jim Harbaugh part of this. They were never going to tear this down.

Even if that might have been the right move to nuke this a little bit and eat your medicine in a single year, they decided not to do that. And I understand it with him now being in charge. And if you listen to what Joe Horitz said at the Combine, their new general manager, I think he was on board with that approach as well. My big question here, how much are you leveraging your financial? situation in 25, 26 by doing this. When you're moving this money around, are you going to be able to do it in a way that

doesn't hamstring you in order to stay competitive in 2025? Or would it have been better just to bite the bullet with a couple of these guys and say, we're going to hit the hard reset. Because there's always a price to be paid. Restructure in this doesn't mean you get to wipe the money away. At least I don't think it will. You're probably just pushing it a little bit further down. Is that how credit cards work?

Again, you talk about me in my mid-20s. It's exactly how I thought credit cards worked. But if you look at the way that they've handled this, is it going to get to a point where if you can push out the money a little bit and you're willing to borrow from Herbert's contract over the next few years, can you dismount from this in the right way? And I think that now becomes the challenge. But they've sent a message this week saying we are not starting over. Like, we're going to try to be at least competitive in the short term. It shouldn't be shocking. Like, I'm not, no, it shouldn't.

And this is another thing. I mean, you see this in a lot of sports when the coach is the final decision maker or de facto final decision maker. A lot of them don't think about two years from now. A lot of them don't think about two months from now. A lot of them really like to see, like, oh, you're telling me I have to play another rookie or another this guy or another, that guy instead of this star, this Bosa, this, this Mac. Mac was still productive last year.

He was very productive last year. It was much more productive last year than he was two years ago. And it's so it's not like it's like he's fully dropped off. I kind of wanted to see the mercenary career of Khalil Mack. I was really excited to see that kind of high end one year, one year deal, one year deal, one year deal with him. So we haven't gotten that fully. But this shouldn't be shocking. What they do with the draft pick is so fascinating to me because of whether they just, hey, we're taking a guy or move back or do that.

Seeing this type of move to me, it feels like they just stand pat, take a guy. That was one of my thoughts as well is that everyone thought they were just going to trade down. But if this is the timeline and this is the level of aggressiveness, I've said word urgency 10,000 times on the show over the last 72 hours. I'm trying not to. The level of motivation they feel to be good in the short term, does this mean that that trade down that everyone's expecting is not going to happen? The only reason that makes me sad is that all I care about right now is which receivers are available in the top 10. So, that Dune's A look so good. I'm telling you, man.

We're not, I'm just going to keep doing this every show. Last team I wanted to mention, I'm interested in what Washington has done. I just think that they had all that ocean of cap space. I understand how they've used it. Doran's Armstrong on that reasonable deal, signing two starters along the offensive line. I'm curious what they do at left tackle. If they're going to draft a quarterback in the top two and he's going to start right away, I'd be a little bit antsy about what that position specifically looks like.

But otherwise, even Bobby, Wagner on that one year deal. It's like, all right, you're year one of a new regime, whatever. Like, I understand what they've tried to do. Jeremy Chin, just as a by low within that Dan Campbell, Dan Campbell, within that Dan Quinn defense. So like him in that defense. Because he'll be in the curse role. And I, I like it in that defense. Yes. Let's get to the other side of this. I was going to say, do you know with Washington, do you know the opening scene of Blade when it's just, uh, no. Have you ever seen Blade? I don't know if I think I've ever seen Blade in its totality.

Before it's time. Very much of its time and very much before it's time, but the same thing. Because it was a superhero movie late 90s. I'm a big Wesley Snipes guy. I've seen Demolition Man. You're a big Wesley Snipes guy. Actually, that was not the words I expected.

Are you major league guys? I've just seen a lot of those 80s and 90s action movies more than I probably should have. So you got to see Blade then. Or anyways, well, at the beginning of Blade for anyone's seen it, it's a literal bloodbath,

a little vampire party. But that's what it feels like to me that Washington is, accumulated. Just a lot of warm bodies in one room. That's what their team building is. Are they good? Are they fat? They're slow. Their fast doesn't matter. Just warm bodies. Get them all in one room. That's the Washington Commander's building. Team building strategy for me

for 2024. I'm looking back at Wesley Snipes's IMDB. It really is just a lot of demolishment. And a white man can't jump, obviously. Oh, great movie. I support Wesley Snipes as early. So you have demolish, because there's some other ones. New Jack City.

New Jack City. Yeah. Yeah, major league. Oh, Major League, obviously. Obviously, Willie Mays. Yep. Yeah, filmed in Milwaukee, I believe. The, oh, man, no, I'm broken on one.

I'm thinking of an action moving. I'm blinking on it and it's going to drive me. We'll revisit this one when we have more time. Let's get to some time. It's an hour and 15 minutes into a day four free agency. Exactly. Let's swing back here to maybe a team or two that even if you didn't dislike it where because we don't, it's incomplete now because we don't know what the second wave is

going to look like. But have there been a couple approaches over the last couple of days that just made you scratch your head a little bit? I mean, I can't keep bragging on them, but the Jags. Just, just what are you doing, guys? That is number one to me. I wouldn't say like scratching my head, but it was more just like, oh, really? That's what you're doing? Is the Raiders signing Gardner Minchu? It was kind of just more like, oh, dang, I kind of maybe it was a Fields Landing spot or something like that. Like, I kind of thought they could maybe got it with a cool path to the, like, I shouldn't say cool. It's not cool if you're a Raiders fan. an interesting path.

I think this offseason. I shouldn't be shocked, but the kind of Cowboys kind of doing that, nothing. It's just kind of funny to me. I shouldn't be totally shocked because that is kind of more of their MO. And really more of a TBD,

because I want to see how they stick the landing because I'm not saying good or bad is the Eagles. I just want to see how they stick this landing with how this kind of remake of their kind of roster is kind of gotten. I want to see the rest of the moves, how he never stops, how he never sleeps. I want to see even the draft.

So I'm putting the Eagles as a TBD, not good or bad. The way that I'll frame this is I've just, I've got questions. The way that Seattle has approached this, that the big contract for Leonard Williams, them letting cutting both of the safeties and now we don't really know, they side Ray Sean Jenkins, but what, I guess it's just Julian Love. So what the back end is going to look like? And then what are they going to be? Yeah, way more measured than I thought they would be.

Yeah, yeah. What are they going to, the linebacker thing is a big question. they signed George Fant to a pretty sizable swing contract deal, a swing tackle contract. I think that the swing tackle thing is something I want to dig into a little bit more next week. Because how much was it? How much was his contract? Two years for 14 million. No, three years 21.

Seven. I'm sorry, I'm reading the wrong one. Oh, dang it. Oh, I thought it was seven million a year. So I thought it was like per. It's two years 14 million. Oh, two years 14 million. Okay.

So I, but I think that that that's seven million dollar swing tackle market. Again, this to me feels like teams that have. dealt with tackle injuries specifically, giant Seahawks being like, uh-uh, I'm not living that life anymore. If one of these guys goes down, I want somebody that I can count on to at least give us functional play. I think that's happened with tackles in a couple specific situations, and that's happened with backup quarterbacks in a couple specific situations, which I totally understand. Which injuries are the most devastating to your team? Offensive line. Tackles and quarterbacks. Yeah. Yeah. So it's short up. Let's make sure our bottom never falls

out. That's really what it is. The other one I'd point out here. Weird. The other one I would point out is the Niners. It's not necessarily that I dislike it. I just wasn't sure how they were going to go about the defensive line moves. Yeah. And for them to be measured the way they have on the edge.

So to go get Leonard Floyd and then, oh my goodness, whose name I cannot remember. Gross Matos. Yes. You're gross matos. So that being their plan opposite Nick Bosa. not necessarily what I expected. I expected them to be a little bit more aggressive in going to get that other piece rather than just trying to get some rotational guys the way that they have.

Yeah, I, again, that's not one that's good or bad to me. It's in that TBD kind of like, okay, like, all right, that's how you're going about it. Like that. I've got questions. That's how I framed this. Things that make you go, hmm. Yeah, that's, that's where I'm at with that. I'm with you on that one, the 40-9ers.

I'm not like mad, disappointed or anything like that. Just more just kind of like, oh, okay. All right. All right. That's how you're going to do. That's how you're going to, that's how you're going about it. All right. Last one here, because you were excited about it on Twitter, and it's worth mentioning.

Coleman Shelton signs a one-year deal with the Bears. I like this as well. Formerly of the Rams, who's their starting center for multiple years. Now you've created a competition with Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton at center. So you have depth on your interior spots. I like that. So it makes a lot of sense. The center and that center competition is something I had circled for the Bears this

offseason. And the way that they've approached it, I think, is completely fine with me. Even if Shelton is not a, like, outstanding, a needle mover, he is a competent center. And the thing is, too, is he handles a lot pre-snap. So if that the Rams put a lot on him and to get it right with Stafford and everything, and I always thought they had a great operation when Shelton took over there. No, I really like this. I thought this is just a smart move.

Again, we just talked about shoring up your offensive line and make sure the bottom doesn't fall out, especially center. Like, that's the thing. You need two workable centers on your roster, at least. My dad's philosophy was always having three. So everybody had to cross-trained. So that's always, this has been a huge thing, a huge thing about the Bears the last few years, so frustrating to watch Mustifer there for way too long, playing center because they had nobody else to play. Lucas Patrick was out of his death. Just because they had to play.

You want a guy that's like actually knows the operation, the mechanics of it. So I really, I actually like the signing a lot because I think he's a nice kind of starting level center in this league and does a lot of smart things. And they signed Matt, and we're getting really deep in the weeds on Bears offensive line construction now. It's fine. They signed Matt Pryor as well, who is not a starting tackle in the lead, but he's been a swing tackle for a long time. So they have a swing tackle. They have interior lined up with Bates now. I like the way they've constructed that group.

The last thing for Chicago with me, if I was taking up needs before the offseason started, wide receiver two, safety center edge. They've done the safety thing with Kevin Byard. They've done the offensive line construction in pretty much every single spot. Receiver still possible in the draft. I'm curious where they get that secondary edge piece from. Because there are not a lot of guys left. DJ Wanam, formerly of the Vikings, was on their radar. He just signed with the Panthers.

So how they get workable edge play just to give themselves some flexibility with that ninth overall pick. That's the next thing that I'm curious about. Davian Clowny, come on down. That's one of the names I had thought about who and he, I think, had visited the Panthers. So, Juanum potentially signing there. maybe that precludes them from signing clowny but i think they needed they had enough needs at edge where they could probably get both of those guys so we'll see what happens but again i'm more intrigued by the minutia of the bears off season than i have been in a very long time so i hate to bore you guys

with it because that that's when you get to the building the minutiae that means you have the other other pieces and that's the fun you'd hope so that's you would hope so hey even though the missing out on daniel hunter is going to hurt my heart but we can talk about that a little bit later that is that is all we got for the beard and the hat for the beard and the hat for the beard and the Yeah, yes. I, my, first time I've had the beard in a while. I was on vacation and I didn't shave her long enough that I worked through the awkward stage. My wife gives me to keep it. So we're going to see how long it sticks. It's like I did. I didn't shave my mustache for two months and nobody noticed. So at least people notice. I got some wispiest, the wispiest facial hair. It's funny because for most people, it would make you look older. But for me, she was like, it makes me look younger because it reminds her of how I looked when I was when we met. bet because I used to have one all the time because it was to hide the fact that I the jowls. I had the, I had the beer face. So I haven't had one in a while.

But that's neither here nor there. All right, guys, that's all we got. Sincerely appreciate you all listening. That is our last show for this week. Football GM will be available to you guys tomorrow on Saturday. Excuse Saturday. If you guys listen to them Thursday, they'll be available on Saturday in their normal time. And then we'll be coming to you with our next show on this feed.

on Monday, hopefully with Diana. We'll see what we can do with that. But that is the next time we will be coming your way. For now, that is all we've got. Sincerely appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. This was The Athletic Football Show.