The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - NFL Mock Draft Scenarios: Picks 11 to 6

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

In Chapter Four of their first round mock draft, Robert Mays and Nate Tice examine the potential options awaiting the teams picking from 11 to 6, and how they square with needs those teams are carrying into the 2024 NFL Draft. 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. Welcome, the athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me today. It's my good friend Nate Tyson. How you doing, buddy? I'm doing very well. This is the first time ever that I thought I was going to need to wear makeup for our podcast

because my son gave me a Shiner. You can't really say it's not too prominent. It looks like just an exaggerated ring under my eyes. I generally have rings under my eyes. But, man, took a bottle straight to the eye as we were watching. Bluey, which, by the way, when you do have kids. Oh, Bluey's great. I've watched Bluey. You watch Bluey? Yeah.

Last year, Fourth of July, I was at a cabin with like seven small children and Bluey was just out on the entire afternoon. So I got a lot of Bluey exposure. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's a very good show. Now we're looking for the long dogs because now we've been watching these episodes about 40 times a day. So yeah, that's it. But I'm doing very well. Ready to jump into this. We're doing what we've done for the last couple Mondays here, the last couple Tuesday shows, going through all kind of the team needs and mock draft scenarios for every single pick in the first round. Today is 11 through 6.

A little bit of different how we're going to handle this one because we're going to skip 11. There's no need to have the same conversation we had about the Minnesota Vikings that we had when we discussed them with the 23rd pick. So if you want to go hear about the Vikings team needs, what they might do with the trade-up, all of those possible scenarios, you can go listen to the show we did two weeks ago because it would be the exact same discussion. They still have the same picks and nothing has really changed for this to actually work and for their plan to come together, they probably need to trade up and draft a quarterback.

And that's the discussion we had two weeks ago. And if you're a Vikings fan going, but what quarterback should we talk about? What do they think about the quarterbacks? We have a quarterback show with Dame Bruegler. So there you go. So if you're a Vikings fan, want to hear what we think about it, want to hear about the quarterbacks as well. We've got a couple episodes for you to listen to as well. I will admit that I've already talked about the Vikings way too much and what they might

do. So there's no need to spend more time on it, even if we do find it interesting. So let's skip down to the 10th overall pick. That belongs to the New York Jets. As you were kind of stacking up the needs for the Jets as we get closer to this draft, where did you start? It's got to be a line, right? That's why I keep coming back to it. It's got to be, but then it's the Jets. And then I understand the past catcher thing, but the argument's the same with past catchers are aligned. It's where they found some stopgaps, but they also are kind of win now. But do you bridge their hurt guys for the one year to the future if none of this regime's going to be there? It's, yeah, it's a kind of naughty little thing going on right now.

But it's the same argument, I guess. So I said, they should go out line, but I guess it depends who's making the call. Is it Joe Douglas? Is it Aaron Rogers as far as the timelines? Is it the bald bearded angel on one shoulder? I think they're on more similar timelines than it might seem, though. because if this doesn't go well, they're gone anyway. So I think the win now urgency is true for the quarterback.

It's true for the head coach. It's true for the general manager. And I do think that should be taken into account. I also wrote that down because they say, eh, if they sign a guy and maybe he's going to be a starter next year and he's more of an insurance policy right now, that's probably the smart way to do it. But that's not the mindset that they've taken into this for offseason.

So I think there's a lot of layers to get through. Zach Rosenblatt, who covers the Jets for us. they did a the athletic did a all team needs for all 32 teams that we released i think it was late last week and a lot of the teams did positions right zach just said insurance policies and i thought that was the correct way to handle it because they like you said they need very similar stuff along the offensive line and at the past catching spots so let's go through this and let's start with the offensive line let's talk about some of the additions they made this off season just set the table about where this group sits so they added tyron smith and free agency on a short term incentive

laden deal. John Simpson comes in on a multi-year contract as a kind of a mid-tier free agent, and then they traded for Morgan Moses. So in theory, there are three new starters for the Jets' offensive line heading into this season. Here's the problem with some of that. Tyron Smith played fantastic last year. He has not played more than 13 games in a season since 2015. He played 13 games last year. Before last year, here are the games played from Tyron Smith. Four, 11, two. So even the 13 games he played last year were an outwire. Morgan Moses has been healthy for most of his career. He missed four games last year with a lingering injury, and he's going to be 33 years old, and both of those guys are free agents after this season. So even if they have two new starters

at offensive tackle, do you really want to go into the year that way? way after the way that last season went? How did Aaron Rogers end up getting hurt and what tanked the second half of the year for the Jets offense outside of quarterback play? But other general ineptitude, yeah, seemed like the line play seemed to me. And these are kind of half measures. I understandable to half measures. I do want to say this about this.

Don't mind it. The situation they are in, this is one of the best paths they could have taken as this team were the situation that they're in right now. I think the big question with the offensive line is not whether you feel like Tyron Smith or Morgan Moses are going to get hurt. I think you should plan on them missing at least a few games. The bigger question to me is, do you feel comfortable with Carter Warren

as your swing tackle after last year? So he was a fourth round pick last season. He played about 400 snaps because everyone on the depth chart had to play on the offensive line for the Jets last year. So he played 400 snaps last year. He had five starts. I went back and I watched today,

and there's some stuff you can get excited about. He's really long. he actually anchors better than I thought he would for a guy who's a little bit on the skinnier side. He only weighs like 3-10 at 6-6. Doesn't, not a lot of leverage in the run game, but you can talk yourself into his upside as a pass blocker. But is that what you want to do? I do want to go into this being like one of those guys gets down. We're going into this with a second year fourth round pick that may have to play extensive snaps for us.

If you're comfortable with that and you think he can take a step this year, then that's fine. I don't know if I would personally be comfortable with that. Even if you think he's a worthwhile swing guy and he's maybe even a future starter beyond this season, they would still need another starting tackle in 2025 because both of these guys are older and hitting free agency. But here's the problem with all of that. That is a future problem and I just don't know if this front office and this coaching staff is worried about thinking that far down the line. Yeah, but all the things you laid out, you can't bet on these guys. starting the whole time. And what did you say? Everybody took turns getting hurt. And that's

kind of how offensive lines go. The outlier is everyone's staying healthy. That, and those usually have some good team success too, tied with it. But that's the outlier. Not everyone getting hurt. That's more common. And that's the outlier when you're having guys that are 28, 29, 30 years old that don't have injury histories. Crime. Rookie contract guys. Second contract guys, not Tyron Smith. And Tyron Smith is a good player still, like you said, but he's going to get hurt. This is just what it is. And when you're talking about having a swing guy, maybe a young day three-ish guy or an interesting middle-round guy that's like, oh, this would be, like the chiefs kind of have the same issue going on, but then how many other

chiefs that legit have two good starters? And then whatever you want to think about the right side right now, Tray Smith and Taylor are still fine or better starters at the very worst after last year. So that's a way better situation to maybe drop in a swing guy. Here you're saying, hey, Tyron Smith's hurt. Morgan Moses gets hurt. And if that's like, that's like, likely going to happen. So this guy's going to have to start. And that, again, now we're getting to trickle down. Elijah Vera Tucker has yet to have a healthy season, I believe. And also, I just want him to play one position and get to keep playing that position. The flashes are so good with him. And it's just, it's frustrating. But he, again, it's more common that he's been hurt than he's

been healthy. So if you're just betting, they're all going to get hurt at some time or another. So I love, I love what Zach said, the insurance policy. Like that, that's what it is. You are essentially all in in 2024. So let's make sure that one injury just, doesn't have a domino effect, where even with Rogers back healthy, aft and Achilles, you're still sunk because one guy's missing and the trickle-down effect that happens from that.

I agree with you. If it were me, the one thing I would not allow to happen to me this season if I were the Jets is I would not allow offensive line injuries to sink my season. That is the one thing I would not allow. That being said,

what if there's a timeline where one guy gets hurt? Morgan Moses plays 17 games, Tyrant Smith misses four or five games, Carter Warren comes in and does an admirable job, and the guy that you draft in the first round, 10th overall, never place.

And you have this all important, everything is on the line season, and you could have drafted Brock Bowers with the 10th overall pick, and he could have been a starter from day one. I don't care about that timeline, but if you're Joe Douglas, I think you kind of have to think about that timeline a little bit.

We're just watching on Hard Knocks last year. Everything's roses. Number 12's there, so I'm sure they expect everyone to be healthy when they get there. I get that argument, but to me, that's like, holy crap, that's so much that has to go right. That's Paul Arracus.

Paul Arachis, Paul Atreides, Paul Atreides kind of timeline there where it's like one thing has to go right of a billion variables right there for that to go right. That's what it is. That's why, and again, I'm always going to come back to line anyways. And I understand the argument, though, is what if one of these top three receivers drops to 10? Holy crap.

What in my discussion with you with the Bears? And we're talking about Dan, we're talking about the Adams and everything. It's like, I prefer these receivers over the top lineman. And then you get into a whole other discussion because that's... Because you can have the same conversation about the receivers. Because the guy they signed in free agency to be a stopgap starter for them is Mike Williams, who played three games last year. He missed four games in 2022. He'll be 30 in October.

The next guy down the depth chart with receiver is Alan Lazard, who is a healthy scratch multiple times last season. season. So even if what they're working with right now, you could make an argument that's all the same arguments for a receiver that you could for an offensive lineman. So I understand going both directions. I just feel like the offensive lineman to me prevents you from realizing the worst time line. The worst case scenario, you're just protecting against that by drafting an offensive lineman in this spot compared to a receiver. Even if you look at the position groups independently, the situations are very, very similar. They are. They are. Just like that. guys that filled their spots, their type of talent, everything.

It's kind of funny how they just are falling in the same two groups. And to me, it's protecting that the bottom falling out. Say the offensive line raises the floor. This is just to protect that bottom completely falling out. You're putting more on the defense and on number 12, on Rogers and everything. But that's why you brought them in is to lift everybody up. Garrett Wilson is fantastic. That's the other thing is Mike Williams is not coming in to be the number one.

Garrett Wilson's your number one. That is one thing that I think kind of gets kind of dropped away from all this. Remember with the preseason with those two with Garrett Wilson and Aaron Rogers? Holy crap. I was all in on this. So you have that to have that number one. All the other guys have to be auxiliary pieces.

But okay, at least he has one number one option. It's kind of like what the Packers were. You can make an argument, though, that you don't have enough of auxiliary pieces even now. I think that's the problem here. And that's why. Because there is no two. They're all fours. Not including Michael Williams.

If Williams gets hurt. If Williams gets hurt, they're all like three and a half to fours. and that's the problem. So protecting yourself against that situation, I also think is worth thinking about. And they don't have a second rounder. So they can't, I can't just go,

oh, go line first and get a receiver in the second round. Done. It's like, okay, all the easy third, but then you might need, still might need another defensive lineman

because you've lost some guys, you've reconfigured some stuff. Like, so that, I know, it's, I'm not envious of this spot. The Jets have been very hard.

Yeah, usually with a top 10 pick. You feel like, oh, we'll be good either way, but I think there's severe downsides to whatever decision they end up making. Yes, there are. You can argue, just like we've just done right here, you can lay out all these situations and none of them I've been like, yep, I'm doing that because I understand

every argument for every one of these solutions that they try to find. You mentioned this, and I think it's worth bringing up. Defensive line later in the draft is rebuilding some of that depth. Interior defensive line depth is worth bringing up. They aside if I'm Kinlaw to a one-year deal, he gets $6 million guaranteed. That draft pedigree, man, that'll follow you for a good long while. And we know him. He knows the system, quote unquote. That's always going to give you an extra million bump.

They lost 240 past rush snaps with Quentin Jefferson, which is why they needed to sign someone anyway. He gave him 30 pressures on 240 past rush snaps last year. He was an effective player. Guess where he is now? Do you know what Team Quinn Jefferson is on? Actually, I don't. He's on the Browns.

Oh, fun. The Browns have hockey lines at defensive line. It's absolutely ridiculous. He's 31, and he only played 240 snaps last year, but on a per snap basis, he was one of the most disruptive interior pass rushers in the league last season. But that's why you'll play with the rounds. You'll play 250 snaps. Done.

Same exact role. Oh, that's scary. I didn't even think about that. I saw that. I was like, oh, my God. I didn't even realize that happened. They got a lot of good players on that team. At first, I thought you were going to say Texans.

Because I was like, I was, I was. They just signed everybody. Everybody is on the Texans now. Everybody. Texans and Titans in different ways. The last spot I would mention is like safety and corner depth. There is not much beyond the starter. Chuck Clark missed all of last season.

He's back, but they lost Jordan Whitehead and free agency. So those are the four spots I'd probably throw out. Let's talk about the potential players who might be available with all of these different timelines. New names. I'm cracking open. I'm cracking open a new case of names for everybody. So don't worry. Guys who are not available, pick 18 are now available here.

If you could pick one of the tackles for that path, which one would it be for the Jets? Let's say... Let's say Joe Alt is gone. Just this hypothetical. Joe Alt is gone. He went to Tennessee. Who would you take if you were the Jets and you were picking a tackle? The last time the Jets took a Lyman High, other than Verituckers,

so this already just gave my own caveat to my own example. But they took Mackay Beckton, who was a big projectee, had all world potential. Jason Latham propaganda. That's what this entire show is going to be. Well, it was, but I'm actually going to go, we're talking about insurance policy, right? And if I'm a team going like, all right, yeah, we want something from maybe the hypothetical year two, year three. I'm just acting like this is year one of the Aaron Rogers timeline and Joe Douglas timeline. Let's give us the true insurance policy at the line, which is Troy Fittano.

That is a guy that could potentially play all five spots. Okay. Oh, I get that. I like that. And it's at 10, which I think is very fair for him. I think he's 10 on my big board. But others are near the same. I'm not the high, high guy on him.

I think DJ has him up there too. Yep. Everybody's kind of the early teens with him. I think we're all kind of getting a consensus with him, but he can play all five spots. And then, yeah, maybe he's just an okay tackle prospect, or if you're low on him, I think he's a good one. Still, he'll get us out of a pinch and could potentially be that good right tackle,

get us through the left tackle. If we need a swing guy, have a guard, Elijah Verrett Tucker doesn't get through another year. Boom, he's our right guard. The center goes out, tipman goes out, boom, he can maybe play center for us. So just, that's that true insurance policy with a ceiling for more. So he's kind of that nice bridge. I think of the lineman prospects. I actually like that.

That makes a lot of sense. And I think you swung me even further that direction by pointing out a guy who can play all of those spots. Let's talk about Brock Bowers, though. So let's say, hypothetically, all of the receivers are off the board.

Even if it's not the smart thing to do and even if I think it leaves you vulnerable, dropping Brock Bowers into this situation and just having him be your slot receiver and you play more 12 personnel, Conklin's solid, and you have Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams, that as a quartet with a semi-healthy offensive line

and Aaron Rogers and Breece Hall, it's kind of fun to think about. Even if it's irresponsible, it's kind of fun to think about. I even was going full-on Chiefs looks at 13. Garrett Wilson's the only receiver. Of course you were. Oh, yeah.

But you got Conklin, Jeremy Rucker. When Mike Williams gets hurt, this is what they might have to do. Yes, yes. So get ready. This is Halloween. And then you got Jeremy Rucker, who's a good blocker too.

It never healthy either. Weird. This whole jet steam, it seems like. But you just get two really good kind of two-way tight ends. You get Bowers to move around. He's your Z basically. Oh, yeah. Now we're,

baby we've got a stew going. So I actually like the Bowers thing with Rogers, not in Hackett and everything, is Jamichael Finley. Remember he was kind of that backfield tight end for them? He was a Y technically, but they used them almost like a fullback at times. And who sounds like,

who does that sound like? It kind of sounds like Bowers, doesn't it? I'm also just imagining like all these seam rips right past the linebacker's ear that we kept seeing all those years ago. Or the signal flat route. Every, all one of those, they used on 500 million times in his career. Yeah. No, there's, there is something there. Like, it's one of those at first I thought was fan fiction, but I've kind of, all of this is anyways.

But as I've kind of really have thought about that, it's like, okay, there's more of a fit for Bowers with the Jets than maybe I thought even before I started doing these exercises. I think Browers, the argument for Bowers for me, is. He fits within the pieces you already have. And I think it is a good contingency plan. Plus, if everything goes well, he still contributes. That's what I like about it. Because he, in 12 personnel, he's still out there with Williams. You're trying to take it over the top. You're saying, hey, if we do hit the good timeline, let's make sure it's great. He can play with Williams, but also if Williams does get hurt, he can give you a secondary pass catching option. So that's why I think it's more responsible and safer than it might seem at first glance drafting what

you can consider a luxury pick at 10. I think it actually is a sounder decision that it might seem because all the different timelines that can play out, he's a contributor in all of those timelines. So that's why I think that there's an argument for it, even if I do feel like the offensive line route is still the smartest way they can go. I'm with you on this because Bowers and Garrett Wilson

would actually have really good synergy together. So that's a whole two-man game I'd like to see. So yeah, I'm with you. I first thought this was a luxury fan fiction thing. I was like, yeah, whatever, what the fans have fun.

And again, I, in a real football sense, I have grown to this kind of idea with Bowers with the Jets. You mentioned they sent their second to the Packers for Rogers. They swapped forts with the Ravens so they moved down in the fourth round.

They have about a million dollars in capspace right now. I assume that something will happen. They can restructure Quinn of Williams get about 12 million instantly. I think he's still like 21 years old and will likely be on the roster for the next decade.

So moving some money around with him is probably a safe thing to do. Man, he was, I, we're talking why you don't have much of the Jets defense is as bad as this offense was last year, that defense still rocked. And even Quinn Williams didn't have the sack numbers and everything.

He was still freaking dominant. He's the best defense players in the league. He's incredible. He's so, so good. And they actually ended up winning kind of the contract stuff, seeing where the rest of the market's kind of going at that position. We didn't mention it's on Redick at all. No, we did not.

So if you're looking at the, they still have a ton of guys on the edge. Because they still have Redick. They still have John Frankram Myers. Will McDonald was a rotational piece for them last year. What's exciting to me about Redick is even if he's 30 this year, he was 13th in total snaps among edges last year and seventh in past rush snaps. That is not going to happen on this team. So even if on a per snap basis, he was less disruptive last season than he had

been over the past couple years. On this team, I think he's just going to be deployed in the way he should be. I mean, he's kind of going to be more of a Bryce Hoff replacement than he is a full-time player. Exactly. Because he's making 15 against the cap. You don't want him to play. 400 snaps or something like that. But I do think that his workload is going to be more in line with what it should be at this stage of his career. And there's a chance that even as he's getting older, you'll see a better version of him just because he's going to be on the field less.

No, that's a great point. And they have more rotational help there as far as different types, different guys that can play, different spots. Like he, like DPR Plus is what he's going to end up being, which I think is ideal at this time of his career. He's still going to get after the pastor. And he's going to get more help than he probably got last year. It's good. So it's going to feel like two years probably go.

Him and Sweat were both in the top seven, I think, in terms of past rush snaps among edge guys last year. And that's just not going to happen with this team. This team took a past rush for the 15th overall pick last year when they didn't need one. That's how this team goes about it. So he'll have plenty of help this year. You look on R-Lads and he'd be like fourth column. He is. I mean, that's wrong, right?

It's wrong. No, I know, but that's still funny. It's a misrepresentation of what the debt chart looks like. But the fact that a first round pick who got snaps last year is fourth on their depth chart. quote unquote is very funny. Let's get to the Chicago Bears who have the exact opposite situation right now. So if you were stacking up the needs for the bears, where would you start? Yeah.

I think first it's one more pass rusher, get those sacks, and then the other would be, it's kind of a luxury thing, but one more pass catcher or one more alignment. And that's how I look at this team. Well, it's not going to be quarterback. It's quarterback, but we know what's happening to go pick one. You think all of those are in a similar situation? No, not really. No, I was going to say, I think Edge is with a bullet the number one need on the roster.

Yes, yes, no, I think that's, they need one more guy that can get sacks. They need one more guy that can finish, not create pressures, but just finish. That's what they need. The other ones are more luxury, I would say, or maybe just kind of go like, we like it, but maybe if we just really want to feel really good about that room. I think you could make an argument for a receiver or offensive line, and we will do both of those here in a second. it. But with edge, there's a glaring need for me. I like DeMarcus Walker. I think DeMarcus Walker is a really solid player. I think DeMarcus Walker is best utilized as a third rusher who can move inside on passing

downs. With the current structure of the roster, that's not how he's going to be used or can be used. He's a starting edge rusher right now based on who else that they have. So for all, for it all to come together in a way that makes sense, I think you need another edge rusher somewhere along the way, whether that's with the ninth overall pick or later in the draft, I don't know. But there aren't that many guys left in free agency who can fill that spot. So that's why I think that this is just like a big blinking light for me that needs to be addressed in some way. Yeah, that is just again, it's getting to, I agree with you. I'm not like differing an opinion. It's just getting into the players that are going to be available here. And that's, that's why I'm like, yeah,

it's a need, but it's like, are you going to take maybe a guy, maybe a half tier above where you have them graded, not sure where the bears have these guys, to fulfill that need, or do you take an actual guy that you ever graded as a top 15, top 20 guy, a blue chip guy, as I usually call them, do you take those guys are for sure BPA and we just feel good about getting the BPA. That's the predicament I think. Actually, I think ideally the bears are in a fantastic spot to move back from there at 9 to just move back just slightly.

Just stay in the teens, just stay in that kind of early mid-teen range. Maybe someone just wants to jump up and snag one guy, snag a lineman. Maybe there is another guy there. Maybe someone is a Bowers fan, something like that, because I think that's ideally where you can get, that's where the edges are kind of slotted. I'd feel better about taking a Jared verse a lot to a chopper. Even chopperms would be a little rich for me, but I can make the understand it. A Dallas Turner, those types of guys would make a lot more sense to me at 14, 15, 16, somewhere around there, as opposed to nine. I know it sounds like splitting hairs, but this is the teardrop that you get into these players.

Yeah. Especially in the situation therein where they only have four picks. I think there's a strong argument for potentially moving back and adding more picks. So these are the two kind of situations that I would trot out, okay? All right, let's say you're sitting there at 9, and Roma Dunzee is on the board, and all of the past rushers are on the board, okay? So you can take Roma Dunzee and drop him in with Keenan Allen and DJ Moore. Keenan Allen played two-thirds of his snaps in the slot last year.

For the most part, in 11 personnel sets, he is a slot receiver. So if you drop the Dunzee in there, then you piece together, the other pass rusher with Jacob Martin, who they signed in free agency and has been decent on a person at basis over the last two years. DeMarcus Walker. You signed Callais Campbell.

You just try to piece that thing together. Or you trade back, add a piece in, let's say the third round. You draft a verse or a lot to drop him in and you piece together the wide receiver through free agency. Whether that's an Odell Beckham or a Michael Gallup or an MVS,

somebody like that. Those are kind of the two paths based on what you do with that ninth overall pick and those two spots specifically. I like the Roma Dunzee path more. I did too. I was hoping that would be your conclusion on all this. I was kind of, I was like, I was getting a little worried here because I was like, I think there's an obvious answer. If I have to piece it together, that's what I want to do. And that's why I think, again, even if it seems kind of fantasy football-ish, when you already have a couple past catchers and you need a trench player desperately to drop a dunesley in there, I just don't feel that way.

Keenan Allen's 32. Again, he plays most of his snaps in the slot. And you're an 11 personnel, if you do what Shane Waldre did last year, 63% of the time. So I think, again, it's a combination of fun, talent, and soundness. And if you can do all of those things at the same time, I am in favor of that decision. Yeah, and I think they're in a position to bridge their past catchers. Again, Keenan Allen, to me, to me, is just a rental that you're not building around. So I, and you're drafting hypothetically, I think we're all locked in here, Caleb Williams, number one.

If you're dropping him in, wouldn't it be hilarious if they didn't? Oh my God, I know. And if it's, and if it's, and if it's May, I would laugh so hard. But if it's, if they take, uh, uh, a Dune's day, okay, Keenan-Nallon goes on, DJ Moore, who has two years left in this deal, three years, two years. Yeah, he's locked up for a while. But again, that's what you're building to. You're building to Caleb Williams in 2024 and this offense of 20204.

You're building for this offense in 2020. which is, I think, the real pushier for the Bears in 2026. That's what you're building to. So that's why I keep coming back to that. It's a true BPA that makes sense to me, though. It's not just, like, I like how you said, it's not just fantasy football, Woo, Firework Factory. There's actual sound reasoning as far as team building to me, the type of player you can

hypothetically get, that all makes a lot more sense to me. And hypothetically, again, you might not be picking number nine next year or have another team's first number one overall pick, picking, say, late teens or mid-teens, do you think you're going to get a Roman Dunezai type, or do you think you're going to get a Dallas Turner type at that stage usually in a normal draft, typically, quote-unquote, normal trap. That's the hypotheticals you got to go down, which leads me to Dunezay or neighbors or in a weirdest world ever, Harrison Jr. But a pass catcher of that type, because I think those guys are elite types. And if you had asked me this, two or three years ago, I probably would have said,

the edge is just, there's more scarce. It's harder to find them. And I think it's kind of neck and neck these days. If you look at the guys that are available in free agency, I think that you can make an argument that it's almost as hard to find a receiver now, especially when you get like veteran receivers, like free agent receivers. In the draft, you can find guys in the second, third round that are probably more impactful than second or third round edge rushers.

I think that's the gap. But as few receivers are hitting free agency now as edge rushers. I think you can make an argument that just as few wide receivers of quality you're hitting for agency as edge rushers of quality you're hitting for agency. So as you consider each one, I think the scarcity at those positions pretty much equal these days. So there's really not a stronger argument on either side. I don't know. It's just you can find the receivers that end up getting paid later. But you can't usually the guys that get paid at other positions are going to be higher picks, if that makes sense.

The initial investment is different, I think, when you're finding these guys. Yes. I think the initial investment in the, draft is it's harder to find an edge rusher in the draft that it is one of these receivers. And that's why. But on the open market, I think it's getting pretty close. Oh, yeah. Well, that's where I get with these, I'm always going to be trenches over receiver.

But then this is where you have to go to the players. The players matter. You can't just go, me who, when we did the position arguments or most contracts, I went edge after quarterbacks over receivers, over office tackles. Here I am on this show going, draft the receiver over the edge because it matters because The player matters to these discussions. So that's why. If Undunze is not there, then I get trade back.

Okay, maybe I can make the argument for Dallas turning. I can get into those discussions. Or maybe if you want to do offensive line and all that. But if O'Donzee's there, he's to me, that type of player that's like, yeah, yeah, just take it. I feel the exact same way. So hopefully, if that's where the board unfolds, I will be totally fine with that direction. The other spot worth mentioning here is offensive line. And if you look at the way that they've built.

to this position group. I just think it makes it less likely of a selection in the top 10. Braxton Jones still has two years left on his deal, and if you think that he is a capable left tackle, they signed Jake Kern in free. And you do, and I agree. I think that

he clears a bar that you don't need to replace him. You can live with what he's giving you at left tackle. They call it a winning player. Solid starter. That's usually, that's the comparison, but a winning player, you can win with him. And you look at they did in free agency. They signed Jake Curran and Matt Pryor, just like swing guys. Like,

if they have to play, can we live with them for a little while? It's a little dangerous. The last time we saw both of those guys, it was not going well, but those are the types of players, those are. And on the interior, they added multiple bodies. And they went out and traded for Ryan Bates. They signed Coleman Shelton. So Tevin Jenkins is a free agent after this year, but Ryan Bates is still going to be on the roster. So hopefully he can play guard for you if somebody gets hurt. So I do think that there are enough bodies among that entire position group that they would be okay if they just ignored it over the first couple rounds here. I'd be almost more understanding if they took a lineman if they moved back and took an old lineman. If they wanted to do that as opposed to at nine, I feel like that's just too juicy of a spot to go like, oh, we're going to move a bunch of guys around just to get this number nine pick in.

Even though I think there's guys that you can take at nine, I think it's cleaner that a receiver. I don't know if I'm just convoluted in my argument, but if they were to go online, I would prefer if they went back into the mid-teens or even the late teens if they wanted to do something like that. I would not be surprised if they took an alignment in the third or fourth round, but that's like a center of the future type pick

more than it is a offensive tackle that needs to play right now because I do not think that is their most glaring need. We've already talked about most of the players available there. We alluded to the draft pick situation. So they have one and nine, they have their third, and they have a fourth round pick

from Philly trading up last year for J-1 Carter, I believe. So even though they don't have anything outside of the fourth round, they still do have four picks in the first four rounds. So they're weird. It's just a strange distribution of draft picks, but they have some picks just not a lot. It's a madden draft. That's how they did it.

I like it. Let's get to the Atlanta Falcons here at eight. Some more conversation at the top here. I think if we're stacking up the Falcons needs as we head into this draft, You have to start on the edge to me. I have to. Yeah, I have to. First off, there's such a wildcar team to me as far as what they like as far as movement

and everything, but it's past pressure. Even if it's, again, the discussion that if it's rich for nine, yes, I do think it's rich for eight, but this is like a big, huge spotlight glaring need as opposed to and other spots also have some needs as well. I think there are more glaring than say with the bears. But they've needed sex since John Abraham left the building 12 years ago. So it's, they need someone that can get done. after the passer, even if there's guys are rich here, but that's what they have to come away with

this offseason. John Abraham's last year there was, I think, 2012. They have been dead last in sacks league-wide since John Abraham left. And if you look at it, it's even like 10 years ago. I think in 2013, they might have been 31st. And in 2014, they were 32nd. There were a couple years were like 16th, 13th. They had the Vic Beasel year. The one Vic Beasle year where he had 15 and a half sacks. Other than that, they've been in the bottom five more often than they've even been in the top half of the league. This has been a glaring need for years. And look at what the roster looked like last year. The two guys on the edge who got more than like 400 snaps for them last year were Callais Campbell and Bud Dupree, both of whom are free agents. So it's hard to talk

yourself into any other position. They might just based on how the draft goes and you can get one a little bit later. But in terms of needs, this is number one for me and I don't even think it's a conversation. That's it. It was like, yeah, maybe you can make an argument for corner. And it's like, you can make an argument for another pass catcher, another weapon. But it's like, those are, those are kind of just like, oh, yeah, they're wants as opposed to needs. And again, this is the whole discussion. Do you just take BPA and everything? I think there are another team that should be primed to trade back. If some with the quarterback, some of the receivers, all these other positions go. I think they're in a great position for that, especially

with Sporging on Kirk, cousins, other guys that they're going to have to pay. So let's get more cheap contracts that we can control. So I think they're in a great position to do that. That's almost how I go. Trade, huge gap. Okay, now pass pressure. That's kind of how I would have their plan for this draft. I think that's a great way to think about it.

Because if you're a team that wants one of the receivers and you're worried about the bears picking the third guy, this is the spot you would need to go up to. The guy for the guy. I think the financial considerations are absolutely worth mentioning. If you look at where they're at next year, it's not just Kirk. Kirk, you know, Kirk's making $40 million against the cap next year. But the combination of Kirk, Jake Matthews, Grady Jarrett, Chris Lindstrom, and Jesse Bates. So that's five guys, okay?

Five guys in 2025 for the Falcons will account for about half of the salary cap. We look at this team and we, I think, ascribe young, cheap talent to them because they're big names. Exactly. They're big name guys that we know were drafted in the top 10. are you saying no one watched the Falcons last year? Are you saying Robert Mays that no one watched the 2020-I'm not letting you do this? Okay, sorry.

If you look at the construction of the roster, there are more expensive players on this team than I think a lot of people would initially think because they were on a rookie quarterback timeline. That's what they were trying to do, and they were spending as such, the Jesse Bates contract, the Chris Lindstrom, I can't say Chris Lindstrom,

the Chris Lindstrom extension, but now this team got pretty expensive, pretty fast when you drop Kirk Cousins into the mix. So trying to add more cheap talent here over the next couple years, I think now has a renewed priority after the Cousins thing even more than it would have been previously. And even though, like you said, they were trying to drop in the young rookie quarterback contract and everything,

okay, they dropped in Kirk. So they usually drafted the guys that you usually spend these top 10 picks on, which they did, Drake London, well, Bejohn, you know, depending on the, all that whole value stuff, but the Kyle Pitts of the world. But they drafted what they should be the elite talent already. Usually these are the guys that are like, can they squeeze this guy in? Can they get him at 14 to put him over the top?

They've already, it's just this backwards team building that they have done. They're just in a, they're in a tighter, they have more holes. I think people realize they have a tighter band of things, solutions that they can get to all these problems that they have, all these holes that they have. So that's why I think trading back gives you more variables, more things that they can work with, at least for this year and maybe that. year. Because they just don't have that much financial flexibility heading into next year. Let's say you move on from one of those guys. It's a Grady Jarrett, David Annamata is really

expensive next year. Well, then you need interior defensive lineman. If you're going to make compromises, you have to make up for it in some way. So if you're going to move on from Anyamara or Grady Jarrett, then you need a cheap interior defensive linemen somewhere. So trading back and adding picks and giving yourself more swings, I think becomes really important because at a certain point, you can't pay everybody. And right now, they've paid a lot more guys than you. You you might think they have. And then they have the pits question coming up. And that's the thing.

Like you said at the defense line, those snaps just don't go away. You have to replace them. Again, if you ever watch Moneyball or read Moneyball, they're trying to replace the runs. They're trying to replace what they created. In football, you're trying to replace the snaps. So, again, it's, again, there's more holes than you would think,

and there's more kind of spots that you think that they need than maybe going and maybe some of their stigma they have right now. Two positions you mentioned that I think are worth bringing up, receiver. Even after adding Darno Mooney, again, primarily a slot player last year, 440 of his 760 snaps were inside last year. So you think they need another receiver because Rondo Moore isn't a receiver. Totally fair argument. And then at corner opposite of AJ Terrell, Clark Phillips played mostly outside last year as kind of a mid-round pick.

I don't know if that was by necessity. They think that if you look at the group, D. Alford was playing good football for them in the slot last year. So I'm assuming they thought these are our best guys. we're just going to put Phillips out there because these are still our best guys. So maybe they think that. But Dealford, I think, is a free agent after this year. So I think adding a corner in some capacity wouldn't be surprising.

And they probably need another safety. Richie Grant is in the final year of his deal. And he needs to be replaced too. Played like 400 snaps for them last year. He might be the starter this season opposite Jesse Bates, but still feels like bodies in the secondary should be a priority for this team. And Clark Phillips is, he's a funny player. He's a better football player than his kind of side. and everything his testing and everything.

I don't know if he's better outside or slot or where he is. I like him, but again, there's times he's out overmatch. He's a player that you're not scared to upgrade from. So that's what I'm saying. Is that just because they have him, and I think there's some interesting parts about him, doesn't mean I would not turn down some guy that I'm like, oh, I think this guy could be a good starter.

Potential guys available, we've already mentioned most of the past rushers, but the corner same sort of range. And if you look at your big board and even the consensus big board, a lot of these guys are sitting there in the mid-teens if they wanted to move down a little bit. So I wouldn't be surprised that they tried to do that and they could still pick off one of these guys at a position of need. Yep. That's it. All those guys.

Any of these previous shows, I'm not going to bring up a new corner. Maybe Quinn on Mitchell, but I very brought his name up since like pick 28, I think. So, yeah, the corners starting, it seems, pick 12-ish onwards is kind of their range starts. But again, it's a grab bag. You don't know who loves these corners or not. There's such a all over the place results. Addressing the draft capital, even if before they trade down, they already have an extra third from the Jags and the Calvin Ridley trade, which is nice. They have four picks in the top of 108.

But adding more of those, never a bad thing, again, especially for a team that does need some more cheap players, even if they have a Drake London and a Calipitz already. Let's get to the seventh overall pick here, the Tennessee Titans, another team where it's really no conversation, I think, about what the most glaring need on the roster. is. Oh, man. Is that the offensive line? It sure is, my friend. It sure is. The easiest teams to mock draft for me, which means they won't be drafting an offensive line at pick seven.

Offensive line, and pick seven when it comes. I think the only reason they won't be drafting an offensive line at pick seven is if they aren't picking at pick seven. That's the only reason. Again, another team. This is the tradeback range. If anyone's getting the hint here, this is another team would not be scared or would not

say it's a wide receiver trade up range. That's how I've been conceiving of it. If you're the Cardinals moving back to 11 and you want to move back up, if you're one of these teams that wants to take a shot from the teens to come get one of these guys, I think seven and eight with the Titans and the Falcons, that's what I would have circled. Julio was what, six? Or the Chargers at five. That's a little bit more aggressive.

Yeah. Julio was six. Yeah. We're getting into there. We're getting into that. I mean, this is the table setting you have to do, though. These are the situations that we... That's why this draft is so fun, though, because this range right here,

so many different things could happen. I was waiting for defensive players all year with day and just a rise to the board. And it's just more offensive guys just kept coming up. And I was like, that's, this is going to be really fun once April rolls around. I should say April, February rolls around. And then you get, uh, and then we get to the draft and it's great. But with the Titans, it was pass catcher offensive line at first. Then the Calvin Ridley thing happened.

And then it kind of naturally draws your attention to the offense line if they want to help this out. So for weeks, it's been Joe Alt from Notre Dame, left tackle. that has been the guy that I've mocked. Everybody has mocked that. I feel like everyone I saw made a lot of sense. All seems to be going up a little bit, which makes this into a little more interesting conversation about who could potentially be in tackle two

or if they are the guys, the team taking tackle one. But to me, it's line. It's just starting with the offense aligned. And I don't think they are, they're not precluded from taking whatever spots, BPA O line at that. Yeah, you need a left tackle. If you, let's say you want to have

Preet Frere, Nicholas Preeterreer would still be a starter. You move him back to the right side. You pick a left tackle. They still need a right guard. Brunskill was on essentially a backup contract. He's a free agent after this year. The Unkillable Daniel Brunskill. Good for Daniel Brunskill, man.

That guy, what a career that guy has carved out for himself. Hit me, him, and Youngwee, Koo. The pride of the AAF. We're still kicking around right now. If you look at tackle, though, I think the one argument you could make is, all right, let's say you like four of these guys and you're comfortable moving back to 11 and you can pick up something.

As our producer Marissa just reminded us, her husband also, a product of the AAF currently on the Brown's roster. That's right. There's a few of us in there. We're around. So if you go back from 7 to 11 and you can still get a J.C. Latham

who recently just took a visit there, I think that's really the only other considerations. Somewhere along the way with your first round pick, I think you have to drop an offensive lineman into this, especially you've already shown that you have some faith in what Will Levis can do for you. You've spent, you spent on past catchers, so you have to give him a chance this year. And I think drafting an offensive lineman is really the only argument,

the only way you can do that. That's it. And I think getting back into the teens, there's some of that game theory to it where you're wet and others make the picks for you, and it kind of makes your decision easier, which there's something to that sometimes. and just getting more stuff. If you're going to splurge like this,

it's just getting more resources for you to play with. So that to me makes all the sense in the world. I think it is the loaded offensive line class. They cannot come away with one. And the head coach's dad is the offensive line coach. So I think he's going to have his ear. I don't know, just a theory. Did he have a voice in the building?

Outsiders perspective here, maybe a former head coach of college and the NFL, who's been an offensive line guru for decades, might have a say on some of the team building here for the Titans. Yeah, so that's why I think. Also, I did say if we just want to have one more bullet point here, I said, sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, Brock Bowers team.

That was just for fun in case we wanted to take this conversation somewhere else. You already have Brock Bowers at home. That's my argument. It's just like, what they have with Okinawao is just like, I could not justify the Brock Bowers thing. They got the 65% Brock Bowers thing. I can't justify it. It's got to be offensive line.

I just, I can't make an argument for anything else. I don't know. Further down the draft, the other needs that I would mention, linebacker is still a need. The Kenneth Murray deal remains the weirdest deal of free agency to me. Still, still the weirdest contract handed out in free agency. Jack Gibbons played through 630 snaps for them last year. He's currently slated to be there next to the other inside starting linebacker.

So I think linebacker is worth mentioning. Interior defensive line next to Jeffrey Simmons, they signed Sebastian Joseph Day, but that's a one-year $4 million deal. It's how you're a tarchist signed with the dolphins. They need a space eater for the long term. That's not just a one-year deal somewhere here. Safety.

Elijah Molden is in the final year of his deal next to Amani Hooker. So I think that's worth mentioning. And then pass rush depth. Just defensive depth and some quality pieces at some of these less marquee positions, I think is worth considering with this team. It's like the offense needs another impact starter. a defense needs another starter or two

or depth or two. Like ideally that's what you come away with every draft, but I've said just the focus as far as where they use their resources. Cap and drafts capital situation, they traded their three to the Cardinals last year in the Will Levis deal, so they do not have a third round pick. They still have an unbelievable

amount of cap space. How much they have still? 30 million. They still have $30 million after all of the money that they expect. I always ask you, what do you think of these moves? I don't know, just spend it if you I got it, I guess. Like, it's kind of go somewhere.

The only thing that's weird to me is a lot of the guys they spent on, they're going to be like 30 next year. Calvin Ridley's going to be 30. Chedobuizier is a little bit older. Even Lageriaznius is going to age 28 season and age 29 season next year. I mean, you look at their cap. They got a lot of expensive guys who are going to be like 29 to 32 on next year's team. So if Will Levis hits and he's good and you get that alignment and it all comes together,

maybe you can be a playoff team this year but I think the runway for them with the way they've spent their resources is a little bit shorter than you want it to be. They're betting on a leap. They're betting on a quarterback leap. They really are. Cool.

If they're right, but you know, it's just that that's what they're betting on. Yeah, DeAndre Hopkins is 31. So it's like, yeah, this is the offensive pieces around them. Derek Henry's gone. You know, so it is a, yeah, it's a weird roster.

It really is. Titans and Vikings. Just always, I just always feel like I come away with that. just, this is what they are right now. The Titans clearly wanted to be competitive this year, and they spent a lot of money to potentially get there, so we'll see how it goes.

Let's get to the New York Giants here with the sixth overall pick. If I asked you the biggest need on the Giants roster, what would you say? Well, line, offense aligned would be need. Yeah, and then explosive pass catcher. I would say impact starter on the offense. Quarterback. I don't know where it's going.

So that was why I was asking you the question. Okay. I was wondering if you would go past catcher or quarterback, the first thing out of your mouth was it. Oh, it's quarterback. But it's past catcher, line, quarterback. It's all of it. It's impact starter on the offense. They threw a lot at the offensive one.

Not expensive guys, but a lot of bodies at the problem this offseason. They signed John Runyon in free agency. They signed Aaron Stinney in free agency. They signed Jermaine Illuminaur in free agency. My takeaway from that series of moves is we'll find five either way. that is what that tells me. No matter what happens to us this year, we will find five guys

that we can trot out and have the 23rd best offensive line in the league even in a worst case scenario. I think that's what they're trying to do here. Yeah, they're just saying, it doesn't matter. Just please, just keep us above water.

Heads above water. That's what it is. At the coaches' breakfast at the owner's meetings, some of the B-Ru-Readers are asking questions to Brian Dable and they're asking, you know, Jermina Luminores,

be like the right guard. Is he going to be the right tackle? Because they drafted Evan Neal in the top 10. And Daibel gave a not really satisfactory response. It got to shied away. I think it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if he's the right guard or right tackle. Like, we just need him to play somewhere when the dust settles.

So I think that even if the offensive line is still a need in terms of high-end pieces, they did enough where they can survive heading into this season if they don't address it early in the draft. Receiver and quarterback, potentially different discussions. Yes. receiver, this is what happens when you built the whole plane out slot receivers. They are, they need juice.

They need someone that can win on the outside. They need a player. They need a dude at past catcher. They've been out of threes and fours and fives for years. They need a dude, especially a dude that can play on the outside and be that number one. That's what they need.

They absolutely do. And if you look at the way the draft could shake out and every single mock draft that's happened for the last six months, putting a receiver here is very easy. Whatever one is available. If Marvin Harrison Jr. is still there for whatever reason, great. If he's not, Malik-Great neighbors, great. But they've had J.J. McCarthy and Drake May in for top 30 visits. They're sitting at six. If they like one of the guys at three and the Patriots don't end up picking a quarterback, they're the ones in the

position to make an easy trade up and draft one of those guys. Because if you're New England, if you did that, even if the hall wouldn't be as big as well, Minnesota could give you. I think it's a similar discussion to last year where other teams wanted to trade up with the Texans in that Will Anderson's spot. They didn't want to go all the way back to the teens or the 20s. They wanted to just pop back a little bit. So if you're in New England and you want to come out of this, if you don't draft the quarterback

with one of the top tier pass catchers, going from three to six is a lot more attractive than going from three to 11. So the Giants, if they want one of these guys, if it's Drake May who's there, if they actually do like JJ McCarthy, they are in a position to be. the team that takes that fourth quarterback. Yeah. Or third. Yeah, I even have my notice.

I said, move up for a QB. Don't think they will. But dot, dot, dot, dot. It's they are, like you said, they're in strike range. It's everything you say. Patriots maybe don't want. Patriots, which we'll probably talk about next week, they are down the road, is that they need several things.

And they need several things that are going to be at the top of this draft. So again, as long as they stay in strike range, Charles McDonald and I, in our last mock, we had them, we had the Patriots moved back with the Vikings and then move, then move back up to the charger spot at five to take J.J. McCarthy. But similar type of kind of thinking as far as just what the move back, move back up and everything like that, being creative with the trades. For the giants who feel like they're in quarterback no man's land that want to get off of that, I'm sure they're going to look at those avenues. So I think it's a they're very,

they're more valid than I think people are going, oh, giants, they won't take one, right? And I think it's more valid than people are with a visit. There are more arguments to do it than there are arguments against doing it. Especially their timeline, their team, everything that they got. Yeah, I would make, it would make more sense for them to be aggressive than I think to not be aggressive. Really, I really do. I think it's about whether you like the quarterbacks and whether the guy you really want is available there because you could talk yourself into riding with Daniel Jones for the next couple years. But you're in strike.

Strike Grange is a great way to put it. They are closer to getting one of these guys in a quarterback heavy draft than they might be next year if they're. a 6 and 11 team or whatever it ends up being. So I think there's a very sound argument that you can make for trying to make your move right now for that guy. Dan Jones, by the way, $48 million cap it this year. It's fifth highest cap in the league. Who's above him? Who are above them? Oh, it's a fascinating list. So the guys above him are Deshawn Watson. Yep. Dach. Yeah. Matthew, it's 55 million for DAC. It's Matthew Stafford, Kyler, and then Daniel Jones.

Oh, Kyle is that high this year? Wow. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. Kyle is partially that high this year because the Cardinals don't have to worry about restructuring him because all they have right now is cap space. They have nobody to pay. So why would you push the money further down the line? The Rams are in a spot where Matthew Stafford is older, so you don't want to keep kicking the can down that road to potentially hamstring yourself. The Browns is whatever you want to do with that with Watson. And the Cowboys misplayed their hand with Dak again in not getting in front of this and trying to restructure it.

This is the second time in the last four years that Doc Prescott will have. have a top two cap it in the NFL. And I think by the end of this, he'll probably have the highest cap it in the NFL again because I assume the Browns will restructure Watson in some way. So the twice in four years, DAC will have the highest caput in the league. Not those cowboys. They just like to do this. I don't know.

You know you can pay it off early, Jerry. Like, you think Jerry? I was going back over it yesterday just because I was just, this is what I do. I was sitting in bed and looking back at the timeline of quarterback contracts that were handed out in 2020 and 2021. one. And instead of paying DAC before his final season of his rookie deal and getting ahead of the Russell Wilson contract, they waited and then had to tag him. And then between when he was tagged and when he was extended, Deshaun Watson signed his first extension, Josh Allen signed his extension.

So instead of paying DAC probably like $33 million a year in 2019, they ended paying him $40 million a year. And also on top of that, no tag, no trade clause, all of these different things that they had to acquiesce to. It's good stuff. A lot of good things happening over there. It's just, it's always just spelled out, too. It's not even like, it's not even like a hardware like,

oh, wow, they got creative of this one. It's like, it's just the simplest moves. It's just, it's right there. It's right there for you. It's good stuff.

The other needs, I would say, for the Giants, safety. Jaywin Mills is on a minimum deal after they lost Xavier McKinney and Free Agency. Corner.

Now, Nick McLeod played for them last year, but he's in the final year of his deal after playing 300 snaps. last season, defensive line depth. O'Solari is a free agent after this year,

Nunez Roches is 31. The story of this team is they need a lot of players. Yeah. They just need a lot of players. Yeah. And it's the great combo of they need stars and depth,

which is... That's where you want to be. That's where you want to be. That's where you want to be. And that's actually, it's frustrating, though, because the Giants do have, like, players I can legitimately love

Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence. freaking Dehante Banks. They Brian Burns now. I mean, they have some pieces. I know. And it's just like, but they feel so much further, you know, then like teams, well, quarterback obviously is the answer here.

But they just, I don't know, they don't feel as like where all these other teams that are in this kind of middle ground of the NFL where I'm like, oh, they could do this, this and this. I understand that why they can make this leap here. They feel like they're two leaps away, which is, I don't know. It's not as, which a year ago, they felt like a leap away. And it's like they just regressed a little bit. far as just their pieces. What's frustrating is if you draft the quarterback, if you get on the, because I think one of the timelines here is if they get on the rookie quarterback contract,

they'll have plenty of financial flexibility next year. Right. I mean, they'll, let's say they move on from Daniel Jones. Let's say Darren Waller doesn't play this year. They're sitting at $64 million in 2025 cap space. And if you drop a quarterback into there with the third overall pick, it's $8 million. So you still have a ton of financial flexibility. But if they draft a quarterback, they still need a pass catcher. And what will they have to trade to move up for the quarterback? To pick potentially in the second round, the one they got for Leonard Williams, that they would potentially use to draft a pass catcher. So any way you play this out, they're probably going to be left with more needs than you want.

A lot of robbing Peter, a lot of paying Paul for the Giants. And there's a lot of Peters and Paul is probably listing this in New York and Long Island. Because my cousin. The draft capital situation, just to wrap it up, again, they traded their two for Brian Burns, but they have an extra two from Seattle in the winner Williams trade. I did like that move for them, by the way. I did like that. I think we kind of talk about it.

I think, yeah, I'm kind of like, I'm not sure which ones we covered or not. Some of these odds moves that happened after. So I just want to make sure I kind of get my one sentence on it. It's like, I did like that. It's hard to find a guy like that. Even at Burns, we think is that good, very good tier. Hard to find a guy like this. Yes, you pay and everything.

They need the players like Brian Burns. Like similar conversation in the Montes Sweat thing we had last year. I think it's a very, very similar discussion. It is. The Bears' overall roster, I think, is in better shape than the Giants are. And we know the Bears' path forward with the quarterback. We know what they were going to be getting on the rookie quarterback timeline. So affording a player like Monta Sweat is not even a conversation for Chicago.

But I think similar mindset when it comes to the scarcity of guys of those positions and sometimes you need to give up a pick and pay one. So we'll see what happens. But I would not be at all surprised if on draft night we're sitting there. And like we mentioned with Dane, and the Patriots are on the board, and you just see that Giants logo pop up, and that's where we go.

Because we're acting on our show with you guys. We know nothing before. So it's like our reaction is literally what we're seeing. So it's always the best. I love it with Dane too, because Dane will just flip like mid-sentence. Like he'll just see that and just stop. But he's like, who's moved up?

What is that? What is that? It's that 102. And Dane knows where every pick is. Remember that way? We're doing the math test with him. Like, what round was that one in? Yeah.

Yeah. He's something. It's going to be fun. Alluding to that, we will be live during the NFL draft on YouTube during nights one and two live from Detroit. So please come out with me, Dane, Nate, special guests. We've got a lot of fun bells and whistles coming your way. So please be on the lookout for that as we get closer to the draft. For now, that is all we've got.

We will be back with Dane on Thursday. Until then, I appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.