The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - The 12 most valuable types of contracts in the NFL

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

It's the episode of The Athletic Football Show that host Robert Mays calls "endearingly chaotic." What are the most valuable types of contracts in the NFL? Which type of player on which type of deal is most beneficial for a team to have? Robert and Nate Tice dive into that topic for the next hour. Things get appropriately silly on this one.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 to the athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Join me today. It's my good friend Nate Tyson. Nate, how you doing, buddy? Doing very, very well. Actually, got some sleep last night, so I am hitting the ground running.

Yeah, there will be no stopped sentences. Actually, I can't promise that. I'm sure there'll be mispronounce words. So there's enough players I know in this discussion today that, or at least things I know that I shouldn't mispronounce too many words. But overall, doing very, very, very. well. How are you doing today? I'm doing well. It's the middle of May. It's May 11th. The schedule comes out today. We're not doing schedule content. Every year, it's like the guy pointing in the mirror, the meme. It's like, no, you don't have to do this. We know what all the games are.

And as everyone else is doing it, I'm like, am I out of touch? No, it's everyone else that's out of touch. So we're not going to do any schedule content. The schedule's coming out. Wonderful. I'm happy for everybody. We are going to do some very deep May. discussion today. All right? So we're in the middle of May. This is a good time in the NFL calendar because I really do think it allows you to divorce yourself from anything that's happening.

There's not a lot of news. So we can have a lot of big picture conversations. And maybe a couple weeks ago, we were exchanging some messages on Slack. And we just kind of sit there and bullshit on all of our planning calls anyway. And the conversation came up about contract value and about the most valuable contracts in the NFL. And we talk about this all the time. through the lens of quarterbacks.

A quarterback on a rookie deal is so incredibly valuable. And when you have to pay the quarterback, what does it do to your team building process? And that's a pretty standard and consistent part of NFL discourse. But we don't really talk about other positions and where those fall in any sort of contract value hierarchy. So that's what we're going to try to do today. We are going to try to rank the most valuable types of contracts. in the NFL.

And what we mean by that is, same as a Rook quarterback on a rookie deal. Where does a defensive tackle on a rookie deal fall into that, an elite one? Where does a wide receiver on a market setting extension fall in? The same way we talk about it with quarterbacks. This is not easy to do. It's going to include some conversations

about some either oars or would you rather is between types of players. We're going to have to dig a little bit into some positional value stuff. But I did think it was, an instructive conversation and one that you specifically really wanted to have. Yeah, just discussion about it. And it was more just an open thought experiment because actually I wanted to do this to maybe

push and think of how I value these contracts and what is valuable. Like what is what is a we just like you said, we always go through the lens of quarterbacks. But how valuable is a all pro rookie contract offensive tackle and all pro rookie contract corner. Like what, what, how valuable is that when we really think about this as far as team building, as far as you look at the landscape, as far as how much that position's getting paid.

And kind of like our NFC quarterback show was a preview for our quarterback draft. This is kind of the non-quarterback draft kind of, I don't know, I would say this is a prelim. It's a precursor. Yeah. It's a precursor. You're teasing out some of the same ideas. Yeah. But we visit some of those.

But again, hopefully not stepping on it too much. Yeah. And I'm glad because we're talking kind of just the broad swath of what these contracts are. We're not just saying, oh, this guy over this guy. I mean, we are actually in some of the cases. But we're looking more of just how you group a position together, an elite detackle, an elite edge, an elite corner, or a, you know, elite edge on an extension as far as just a one specific guy. And just maybe just the thoughts about that. So I don't know.

I thought this was a cool. And really what got me into this was the kind of middle ground quarterback. value. Sure. Like how that's what made me start thinking that's like what do I value a league average quarterback on a extension over a rookie contract tackle? So that's going to be the first big kind of pivot point in this conversation. We'll talk about this.

So obviously we're not going to rank every type of quarterback and every type of player. Even if you did an elite player at every position, we'd be going deep into the 20s in terms of the types of quarterbacks and how you could divvy them up. So we limited it to 12 types of contracts is what we ended. up doing here. And for example, here's some of like the designations associated with those contracts. The way that I separated quarterbacks in this discussion, it's really the only position you need to do this with because I don't think we'll get past the top 12 talking about

non-elite players at other positions. But for quarterback specifically, I did top eight quarterbacks, quote unquote elite, but I thought putting a number on it would be helpful. And then quarterbacks nine through 16. That was kind of the other designation. For all of the other positions, the only designations that you need are market extension or rookie deal because we're going to be talking about all elite or kind of pro bowl players. And when we talk about players in those bucket, the way that we were kind of designating

that is a guy who is consistently in the conversation to be an all pro every single year. Let's throw out the defensive tackles from the 2022 season. All of these guys were in a conversation to be on the all pro team. Jeffrey Simmons, Quinn and Williams, Dexter Lawrence, Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, Duran Payne. I mean, you can keep naming them off, right? We usually get to like six, eight players as part of that conversation.

So that elite tier is somewhere in that range. But that's how we did it. When you look at it all pro voting, you see a guy with a couple votes. It's like anyone with a couple votes or got onto the team. That's kind of what I view this lens as from these positions. So just resetting again, 12 types of contracts with a kind of quality designation mostly for quarterbacks. And we did it one through eight, nine through 16. and then the split is between rookie deals and market setting extensions.

So just so we know what the landscape looks like. I don't think we have to spend a ton of time at the top here because this is self-evident. In my opinion, and I believe in yours, at number one, the most valuable contract, sort of contract you can have in the NFL, is a top eight, quote-unquote, elite quarterback on a rookie deal. Yes. Yes. like currently right now a Trevor Lawrence, a, you know, a Herbert, a those guys, a borough, those guys, it's far and away. The biggest advantage you can have, a true Pro Bowl caliber quarterback, and they're going

paid pennies on the dollar. There's nothing better. That's ideal. It's the best way you can build a team. Of course, everybody wants that. Hard to do because notice that we're only saying eight of these guys, you know, eight is elite. That's why it's really hard to find one of them.

but obviously the most valuable contract you can have in the NFL right now. Just as an example to kind of illustrate this, Joe Burrow is set to count 11 million against the cap this year. And that's in year four after being the number one overall pick. The last year is the number one overall pick. It's $11 million. Joe Burroughs cap hit plus Trey Hendrickson's cap hit plus Mike Hilton's cap hit this year is $1 million more than the Lions will play Jared Gough against the cap.

That's all you needed all right? And I think the Bengals are the best example of this over the last three or four years because it's so stark. It's like, okay, here's what we're paying the quarterback. We can build our defense solely through free agency. Think about all of the veteran money we can pay because of what we're paying our quarterback and to an extent some of his weapons that are on rookie deals. But obviously, Burrow being the most valuable part of that. So I don't think we have to spend a ton more time on number one because we've spent hours and hours and hours everyone has talking about the value of that. at number two, okay, this is where it can get sort of interesting, I think.

I had an elite quarterback on a market extension at number two. So even though you have to pay the guy, even though you have to pay Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson now is on one of these deals, Jaywin Hertz is on one of these deals, I still think those guys, even at $45 million per year, that is the second most valuable type of contract you can own in the NFL because of the outsized importance of those players. And I wholeheartedly agree. And this is where the whole thought experiment came from was these guys is what do you pay? It's gotten to the point where and this is where I think it's warped and the initial thought of it like, oh, elite guy and a rookie deal.

But it's gotten to the point where people are like, that's the only way you could build a team. And that's where I'd say frustrations, but more I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, there's plenty of ways you can build a team. That's just the ideal version. But I agree with you. This number two is an elite guy is an elite guy. It's their worth. every penny that you pay him. So Mahomes, Alan. I mean, we're going to probably have discussions about the bills on this show. Like, he does everything for that team.

Like, of course he's worth every penny that you pay him. What Rogers was on the Packers team's the last couple years when he was winning MVP's. Absolutely. Just what they do, the booster effect that they have on the whole team, they're worth it. They're touching a ball every play. They affect every single play. They make everybody else better if they're in this elite category.

So easily worth every dollar. And that's why I have them number two. Yeah. Okay. Number three, yes. Again, this is where I think that you can start to make some arguments even about other positions, because now we're outside of the elite elite quarterbacks. But at number three, for me, I still had the ninth to 16th best quarterback in the league. So tier two quarterbacks on rookie deals, I still think are the third most valuable type of

contract in the NFL over all other positions. How do you feel about this? And I am the consensus. We're going to have some differentiation as it goes along. For everyone that's like groaning right now and rolling your eyes, this is where it ends. This is where the agreement ends. We had an initial call this morning and then we went and I was like, oh, I have the same top three. And then after this, yeah, we're going to get a little wild.

But it's kind of hard because like Mac Jones would have been the perfect example if he didn't bottom out last year. But it's, but that's a guy. Mac Jones after his rookie year would be a good example. Tua, I guess wouldn't be a bad example. Tua from last year, I think is a very good example where you have. have a guy who's not in the top, who's not elite, but can play at an elite level for stretches in part because of everything that you can put around him. And that is the value of that type of contract. I honestly still think that to an extent we could probably talk about J-1-Hertz this way

for stretches of last year and him kind of getting the same sort of boost, even if we think of him as a slightly higher tier than a player like Tua. A very good example of this to me is like 2017, Jared Gough. Like that type of quarterback on that sort of deal and what it allows you to do with the rest of your team. I think that's very real. The Rams went to a Super Bowl. They were consistently winning 10, 11 games with a guy on that rookie deal because of everything else they could do in free agency and all the flexibility they had.

That's real. Early career Andy Dalton. Yeah. Like that league average quarterback, but with awesome weapons. Think about what that 2015 Bengals team looked like because of all the resources that loaded. They'd like five former first rounders at corner at DB. Like those are guys, some of the guys they signed off the store.

street, you know, or as free agents. So this is what you're hoping Kenny Pickett is going to be, by the way. If you're the Steelers, this is the type of, this is the archetype that you're trying to build around and you hope that he's a top half of the league guy. If that's where the Falcons discussion, because again, I'm going on a streak of mentioning the Falcons and their offense this year is if, if Desmer Ritter is 16th best quarterback this year and like QBR or anything you look at it, that is the biggest win for the Falcons this year to have a third rounder operating at that level because he's got truly

getting paid pennies on the dollar. And so that is, that's where exactly we're talking about the picket. Hopefully the optimistic picket and the optimistic, I don't know, I'll say, optimistic writ or optimistic for me, that they can reach that point because that is super valuable. So when I did this, I was, I pretty quickly penciled these in. But now as we keep going, and I think as we do number four for each of us, I want to interrogate this idea of whether this type is kind of definitively number three or four, or if we should challenge that a little bit. So let's start with who is four for you? Okay, four for me is an elite edge on a rookie deal.

Okay. So is this the same for us? No, it's actually not. Okay. Oh, no, it's not. That's right. That's right. It's not.

All right. So you had elite edge on a rookie deal. I had elite wide receiver on a rookie deal. Before we dig into the distinction between those and why I had a receiver at four and you had elite edge at four, are we sure that the quarterback, the top half of the league quarterback on a rookie deal is more valuable than the elite edge or receiver on a rookie deal? Like is Brian Burns like more like valuable than say Kenny Pickett was league average this year like something like that? This is difficult because there haven't been a lot of like there isn't a good quarterback right now. That's the basis of this example.

So it's a little bit more difficult. I wish it was last year with Mack Jones because that would have been perfect. Mac Jones is good or like I was going to throw out somebody else. But throwing him out is like just asking you to make a terrible decision. I was going to I was going to say would you rather back if we didn't do do time travel. And would you rather have Dak on his rookie contract or Nick Bosa on his rookie contract? Oh, that was. For you, I feel like it's not fair.

But and that's, and with Dak, though, and you know this is that I was a late appreciator of Dak. It was, and it was on once he got the extension, I started liking him more or, or sort of say once he was ending his rookie deal. That's tough because I would probably have gone Nick Bosa because he is so special. Okay. Brian Burns is another good example. Okay.

Let's keep talking about Tua. let's say we remove some of the injury concern for two. Who would go for more in a trade right now, to her or Brian Burns? Brian Burns. Okay. Are we talking to the rant? All right?

I'm just in general. Like who has more trade value right now? Brian Burns. And so. Yeah. Do we challenge this a little bit? I know. And I have receiver it for.

So would you go? Would you try? Right now, I think a team, the dolphins are a strange example because they have so many receivers. But I think Jemar Chase is probably worth more to trade right now than Tua is. Yeah. So when we get to that 9 through 16 level, can you find enough quarterbacks to give you a certain level of production in that tier where the elite players on rookie contracts at a couple other positions are actually more valuable? Are we blowing up the rankings before we even started doing that? I think we're blowing up before it starts. But that's why this is such a

on thought experiment because, okay, what if Justin Fields hits this year? Or it's like the 10th, 12th best quarterback, say 12th. I still think that guy's probably more valuable. It's like, talking about individual players, sometimes I think you can make arguments on both sides. But I think on a general level, if we're just talking about the archetype of contract, I still think that type of rookie contract is more valuable than even really good position players at those spots. There's certain kind of players I'm using it, like you said archetype, I'm stereotyping for each

pick. Like I have one guy pictured basically for each of these more or less. That that's kind of what I'm picturing either or. I said initially on our call that we should face smash, you know, their original Facebook for each of these where you just pick one or the other. That's the whole show for anyone listening right now. If you want to do that on Twitter, I'll do it. That's fun. Let's do polls. It's great. But yeah, no, it's, it's hard because some of these guys, too, that we talk about, rookie quarterbacks too is usually now it's year three. You're hoping to see something. So it's kind of hard some of these younger guys like we're saying picket or anybody else like that we're kind of still waiting on a couple of those guys to maybe shine or step up yeah and i still think that like

jlin hertz the jlin hertz s quarterback like a little worse than jlin hertz like right where two is i still think that probably has more team building value than even one single position player does because of all the other things it allows you to do it's about the replacement right it's about how much the replacement would cost in free agency or on a market deal and quarterback just aren't available right so with this one, it's like, would you rather have Jacoby Percet and the money you could spend elsewhere? It would you rather have Jalen Hertz and, you know,

the money that you could spend. And I think the answer is still Jaylen Hertz and the money that you could spend. All right. So our number fours, though, and our, so I have wide receivers on a rookie deal at four. You had edges on a rookie deal at four. I had edges on a rookie deal at five. Okay. I had

receivers. I had receivers on a rookie deal at Oh, eight. What? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, I got arguments, man. I got bullet points for this.

Okay. All right, fine. Yeah. Okay. So you have edges above. That's fine. I had, for me, they're one spot apart. And we've had this conversation in some form before, okay?

This, the two guys we're talking about, the ones you're imagining in your head, for this one is easy for me. Justin Jefferson and Nick Bosa, okay? Would I rather have Justin Jefferson or Nick Bosa on the course of their rookie deal? For me, the answer is Justin Jefferson. And it's because I think offense is more valuable than defense. I think that having that true number one guy is hugely important to building an elite offense. And my kind of driving this home, there is no wide receiver version of a San Reddick or Trey Hendrickson or Matt Judon available in free agency each year. There just isn't.

Those guys just do not get to free agency. So when you find one like a Justin Jefferson, having that type of guy on that rookie deal is hugely valuable because that type of player, there are just fewer avenues to that type of player. So that's why I had receivers at four. You have receivers at eight? Seven. Seven. I miscounted. Okay.

So Edge is ahead of them. Fine. I don't agree, but I understand the argument for it. What are the other two? Edge tackle, rookie deal, elite de tackle on a rookie deal, and then elite receiver. Because you're talking about scarcity. Just listen to what teams are telling you. I mean, for an edge, okay, first time I'm just talking about the value of edge is how I see it.

I think a singular good edge has more of a booster effect than a singular lineman, singular corner, or even a singular receiver has on theirs. I think a receiver can get schemed out of a game easier than an elite edge. I think it draws more attention, pass protection, chip helps, half slides, all that. But also, they can really bend the game to their will. like you see a third down or a fourth quarter. Just think of Von Miller and all the big plays he made back. I'm just talking about just a general edge. But saying rookie deal guys.

Also, they never hit the market. They're highly paid. So if they're so highly paid on the free market. And once you pay the extension, having them cost control is so much better. Also, the initial investment usually has to be greater to get a good edge. Usually it's all first round picks. There's only so many, I mean, Max Crosby is an exception. Usually you look at these guys that's first round or first round or first round

in first round, top 10, top 10. I think the initial investment, the scarcity of finding these guys on the open market, I'd just much rather have that and on a down-to-down basis how much they can affect the game and bend the game to their will. So I think it's just a value of the position on top of the scarcity of finding that position, how much attention it draws on the offense. It's all about changing math. Quarterbacks are the ultimate math changers, but all these other positions,

a top receiver changes the math because of cloud coverage and drawing that. an edge though every single play you can't run the offense a good offense to go we're not running the ball to that side if it's pass pro we have a shitty right tackle we got chip help every single play you know i think just because that changing the math and being aware of them every play is why i think that they have more effect on the game and thus more valuable i understand that i think the run game part of that matters i also i part of my thing is if you scheme a receiver out of the game what it allows you to do with the rest of your offense it's the same as if you're chipping all the time right i mean i mean like you're hamstring yourself. But like Justin Jefferson, like, it's not like the Vikings were gangbusters last year, like with Justin Jefferson, Taryn, you know, blowing the doors off. Oh, but I think that's even more true for a single edge on a bad defense. I think they affect the game more. I really do. It's just that you can't find these guys.

It's not just like, it's just you can't. I just said it. Hassan Redick was a free agent last year. He was like an all pro level player. Those guys at wide receiver don't exist. That was just because, but what was just draft position, first round, right? It's, we're talking about a rookie deal. Yeah, but you can still find them.

We're talking about rookie. We're talking about a rookie deal. But you can still find those guys in free agency. You can find elite edge players or quasi elite edge players in free agency. Chris, go break Hassan Reddick out of your mind. Trey Hendrickson. And think of all the other guys. Trey Hendrickson, Matt Chudor.

All pro. I think that Trey. We're talking about elite Matt Judd on your mind. Trey Hendrickson is a better. Better edge rusher than the types of receivers are available in free agency as receivers. There is no wide receiver that is as good at playing the position that has hit free agency in the last two to three years as Trey Hendrickson has as an edge rusher. That's such like a warp thinking, though. Like, I don't know.

I don't know about that. Just listen to the teams. How many edges and how many offensive tackles and how many corners get traded and how many receivers get traded? Isn't that like such an avenue to? to find these guys is like, I think that's, I think that is a fair point. I think that the, the trading them is a fair point. But I also think that the teams that did the trading, right, like the chief's trading Tyree Kill, I don't know how much we're learning from that because of what the chiefs need at receiver compared to all these other teams. We talked about

this earlier today. I almost think that Patrick Mahomes in the way that the chiefs can build their team warps our understanding of this. Well, what about the Raiders trade for Devante Adams? It wasn't like they The Packers are the other team in that, right? And the Packers wanted to keep Devante Adams. He wanted to get traded. So really the only like big time trade of those receivers that I think you can say, all right, I understand why they would do that.

That makes sense why they would do that was the Chiefs trading Tyree Kill. The Titans traded A.J. Brown to the Eagles. And very quickly, the general manager who made that move was fired for making that move. So I still- The Cardinals traded for DeAndre Hopkins. The Browns traded for OBJ. Yeah, the Cardinals traded for DeAndre Hopkins. And I'm not talking about the teams making the trades.

Talking about the teams trading them away. They're often mistakes in the moment. Cleo Mac got, yeah, but the Raiders traded Khalil Mack. But it's not well, yeah, you're going to look at John Gruen Raiders. Well, you're going to look at Bill O'Brien, Texans. Well, I just brought up to all the other ones. I'm looking at Devante Adams going to the Raiders. Like, you can't, you're just looking at the team selling them, not looking at the teams buying them.

Like, we're not looking at both ends of the transatlant. I'm talking about whether or not it's a prudent transaction, like whether or not trading that player was a mistake. And I think most of the time, if you're looking at these deals and the rider super getting traded, the team doing the trading has made mistakes except for Tyree Kill. That's a one year, one year kind of process right there. I don't know. I just don't, I just, I'm looking at these positions. I'm looking at every young edge player. You're looking at Nick Bosa, Brian Burns, all these guys.

And you're saying that they don't affect the game as much as Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase does. I do not believe so now. One singular player doesn't affect the – I totally disagree. I don't think they affect the game in the ways that are as important. What are the other elite rookie contract receivers? Right now? Just give me some examples of recent years. AJ Brown.

Well, AJ Brown was. AJ Brown. Okay. Second round pick, by the way. DeVante Adam's second round pick. Yeah, I think you can find them a little bit later, but I still think the value when they're on those rookie deals is higher. No.

I think edge. It's just the scarcity, man. There's so many of these guys you can find, though. That's what that's, it's not elite or not premium if there's just, you can find that value anywhere. Like, you know what I mean? Like, that's kind of where I get with this. It's the initial investment.

I still don't think there are that many of them. I really don't. I don't think there are that many, like, truly elite receivers. but there's very good, right? So, like, what, I think, I don't know, I think there's what, eight, 10, 10 elite receivers, and there's what, six elite edges? But I don't think that's the most important thing. I think the most important thing is, like, the effect they have on the game, and that is

where the disconnect exists between us. I think that receivers have a bigger effect on the game and the ways that matter the most than you do. What's the ways the matter the most? The touchdown scored? Your offense being elite. Your offense being really good. Hmm.

Yeah, that's, I just don't, I don't agree. Well, I'm arguing defense right here. So I'm just saying that elite edges are going to affect every, they're in fact more snaps than an elite receiver is, an elite edges. That's, that's fair. But I just think that having an elite offense is much more important than having an elite defense. So I'm going to do everything I can to accrues. to accrue contracts that make avenues to building that elite offense easier.

Yeah, find a quarterback. But that's what I'm saying. You can't always do that, right? You can't always do that. So I, to me, I just think that this is just something I've come around on in the last like two years, where it's like I just think that having that really, really, really good receiver is the second most important thing that you can have. And you don't believe that. But like, what are the examples of this elite offense you're talking about?

what Jamar Chase has like helped do to the Bengals and like what honestly with T. Higgins and Tauro Boyd and a number one picket quarterback. I think that I mean the Vikings are one of the biggest problems the Vikings had last year. If you look at like what they're passing EPA was in some of those numbers like when they throw the football, the amount of sacks Kirk Cousins was taking is what was torpedoing them last year. What Stefan Diggs did to the bills? Like all of these guys, what A.J. Brown did to the Eagles. Like those types of guys, I think are hugely, hugely valuable in pushing forward and, like, igniting really, really good offensive football.

Stefan Diggs going with top three quarterback, Josh Allen, J.Mard. But what were they before that? AJ Brown going with first round pick Devante Smith and a top five tight end, Dallas Goddard. So now you're all the example, Justin, the Vikings are perfect for this example. You got league average quarterback, league average offense a line. What is the Brown's defense with Miles Garrett? They were fucking awful the last couple of years. And T.J. Watt has Minka Fitzpatrick and Cam Hayward.

Like, we can do this for any position you want to. Yeah, I know. But your example is Justin Jefferson, right? Right? That's one you're using right now, right? I'm just talking about Jemar Chase and he had help with other. They need help. You just talked about, oh, so do edge players.

But you're saying that Justin Jefferson couldn't get the ball because of the offense aligned, right? Well, that's why. Justin Jefferson's production is just fine last year. I love Justin Jefferson. But I just was looking, yeah, yeah, the Vikings were great underlying numbers. They're fantastic, top offense. They were like middle. They were like middle of the past.

20th of the DVOA, 15th and passing. And even if you want to talk about how they affect the right. They were middle of the path. Elite offense, though. Elite offense. You need that elite receiver to get that elite offense. I said the path to an elite offense, I think includes an elite receiver. I did not say the Vikings were an elite offense.

And the path to the elite defense is usually having an elite pass rusher. So it's the same same discussion. But I don't, I don't think one sets. I don't think the, like, I don't think causation is, I don't think an elite pass rusher leads to an elite defense more than an elite rider receiver leads to an elite offense. I just don't. I think it's arbitrary. I think each example is going to have all the variables that make this hard. That's why the suggestion is interesting, but each one's going to have counter examples for it.

All right. So after, after Edge at four. We are friends, by the way. after edge of four. This is good. This is good. This is why I like this. Yes.

So you had edge at four, offensive tackle at five. Yes. And then I went elite detackle because that's just me with, it's more pass rusher. I have to have the past rushing ability. I'm not going to talk about some stupid nose plug. Yeah, I'm with you on that. I struggled with defensive tackle because. I think that a couple guys exist in like a different stratosphere that warps it a little bit.

And like obviously when you think about defensive tackle, like my mind goes to Aaron Donald and Chris Jones. And right? Like Chris Jones is just as valuable as any elite edge in the NFL is. So if we, and Aaron Donald obviously is right? Like Aaron Donald was the best defense player in football five years. Okay. So if you're if you're lumping those two guys really into the conversation, then elite defense tackle is probably on the same level as elite edge,

but I almost feel like they're disqualifying because they're so unique. And right? Yeah. And I'll say, but that's how I'm seeing. And this is one I would bend over receiver. Like these two, I look at the receiver and detackle,

like this is where I'm comparable with because of the, I also think you can, it's hard to describe this, but I think you can game out of detackle almost easier than an elite edge, even though they're closer to the ball. Does that make sense? Like, because you can't chip help.

and then also you can run away from them easier. Well, you can slide the center to him every single play if you want to. So it does affect it. I know that's where I have some trouble valuing these because I do think they are valuable, especially how defenses are being played now. There probably are more interior defensive players. There's more edge rushers that you have to chip consistently than there are defensive tackles that you have to slide the center to every single play.

Two, right? There's two. Two. So like, you know, like, don't get me wrong. Like Quinn Williams, Simmons, Dexter Lawrence, uh, Payne. John out, all these guys are great players. It's just that it's, you know, it's not the same. It's not the same as Aaron Donald and Chris Jones.

They kind of have that half tier difference between them. It's kind of like talking about Mahomes and all the other quarterbacks. Like here it's like, yeah, no, they're very good. Don't give you wrong. But it's a little different. It's a little different when you have to talk about these guys. So elite defense tackle, I think, is kind of naughty. I had it at like seven, you know, which is a little bit further down.

But we'll talk about what I have at six and like why it throws a wrench in it. I had elite offensive tackle on a rookie deal a little bit further down. But I want to talk about what I had at six. So you had edge at four, offensive tackle at five, five, and then detackle receiver, receiver seven. Okay. Those, I look at interchangeable.

So I, where does the next tier of quarterbacks on a market extension come for you? Right after that. So it's right after that for you. This is what I struggled with. So you, I, you had it after this kind of stack of premium position, let's call it, premium positions on rookie deals is the stack that you had from four to seven. And then I have elite corner just after that. That's like the one.

And that's a whole different discussion. So I had the 9 through 16 quarterback on market extensions. I had that above defensive tackle and offensive tackle on rookie deals. And I don't know how I feel about that. I've switched. That's the one I switched about seven times. I originally had them just after tackle. So that would have been four or five.

That would have been sixth. But now I have them ninth or whatever it is, eighth. So that was one I kind of bumped around. All right. So here, this is a, let's do this. Okay. So I have it. I have that at six.

I have nine through 16 quarterback on market extension. Now, I was, the question I was going to ask, maybe maybe think that I, I just have this wrong. It's tough. Okay. So like,

if you, right now, do you think Dak Prescott is more valuable at $40 million a year than Tristan Worf's. Yeah, DAC, yes. I know. What about Kirk Cousins?

No. And that's tough. And that's tough. Like, there's a line somewhere between that nine and 16. Like Derek Carr? Yeah, it might be like 9 to 12. And then like, I don't know.

Like 9 to 14. I don't know. That's hard. That's really tough. But Dak is kind of the cutoff, right? he's kind of you look at him probably in that 7, 8, 9 range as kind of how you rank quarterbacks and that's, that's tough. That's really tough.

Would you rather have Ryan Tanna Hill on his deal or Tristan Wharfs on his deal? Tristan Wharfs. Yeah. I think that's probably fair. So I think I probably should have offensive tackle higher than quarterback under market extension, second to quarterback on market extension. And just so people know, like, you know, because me, I've noticed this too, and this is, thanks mom for pointing this out.

She goes, you guys really assume everyone knows what contract numbers are for everything. It's like, okay, I got a reader right here right now is why that Triss and Worf's, why we're bringing that example. I think he's a two-time all pro already. He's making five point. His cap hit this year is $5 million. Yeah, it's pretty good. It's true. Trent Williams is at 25, right?

So like, well, Tunsel. Tonzel is now at 25. Yeah. So it's $20 million. Do you know Jake Matthews has the biggest cap hit for all tackles? Really? It's 28. Yeah, they did some funny stuff with his contract, right?

Yeah. I did I did the math because because franchise tags, this is for the later discussions, but franchise tags, it counts all offense alignment. So I just did the top 10 tackles in their average cap hit this year and it's $22.5 million. So to kind of give you a little ballpark number. See, this is fun. This is where it's fought. This is where the whole catalyst for this discussion. I was thinking about another hypothetical to throw out and then I decided against it.

But I didn't want to get back into the wide receiver edge weeds. So this is, I think that's. right. So I think I should move elite offense tackle on a rookie deal a little bit higher. Okay. So maybe maybe that belongs after Edge and then you know what? This was great for me though because I going into this I thought I would have said elite tackle on a rookie deal first and then was starting to break it down. I'm like no edge. Edge is definitely more like where I put the premium at. So let's dig into that conversation because one of the reasons that I had elite tackle. on a rookie deal a little bit lower is just that I do think you can get by with not elite

tackles and still create an elite offense, right? Like, we've seen that. We've seen, we talk about this tier of tackles all the time. It is the Dionne Dawkins tier of tackles. Jake Matthews is a perfect example. Jake Matthews is like that guy, right? So, and that guy, you just have to pay that guy a decent amount. So I think that that's the argument against it, right?

That's that guy still making 18. And if you can pay Tristan Worf's five, that's still a really, good chunk of money. But I'll stop you real quick. That's exactly what my argument will be or my argument for this discussion. So I'll just let you continue. That's a very good point. So I guess my argument is that so that guy at 18, the drop off between Tristan

Wirth's and Jake Matthews, right, and that gap in production. Christian Kirk's making 18. Okay. So the drop off between Christian Kirk and Justin Jefferson on his deal, I think that is much more important than the drop off in tackle play, in my opinion. So that's why I would go with the receiver instead of the tackle. Man, fucking Trump, Balkie. You're ruining all, all my discussions because of that.

Jacobi Myers, whatever. Jacobi Myers. Right. So it's, Jacob Myers, 12 million to Jefferson. Mid-tier two. Yeah. Like I, so that's why I, that's why I lean toward the receivers in that conversation.

And this is, I, no, I totally get that. I think it's for me, it's just the Jack, Jack, Jack, Jake Matthews example is one. And just looking at how much a, again, these guys never hit the market. So the scarcity of the position, the investment in the position. So it's hard to find them initially. When you have one, it's like, oh, my God, we're going to hold it. They're worth their weight in gold because they become so expensive.

And I get that with the receiver and the production and everything. Maybe the gap isn't as large, but I think the finding them is the hardest part. So if you got one on a rookie deal, it's like it's a double bonus. You found one and he's cheap. So I think that's maybe where I have that value lifted up. And even, again, this is getting to the run of the ball, kind of the thing too is that, you know, they affect more plays. They're on the field. You can't sell that in and out an offensive tackle. So I always kind of lean towards that. And I just did a

quick thing because I was just curious with the receivers and tackles. I looked at all pros from the last five years. So 2018 onwards at tackle, there was 13 different players in the last five years. I've been named all pro at tackle. Ten of those 13 first round picks, which is like that's, and we know one of them is a recurring guest on this show. Mitchell Schwartz is one of the non-first routers. So we've had this discussion before. Yeah. This is the Pentezul Jamar Chase discussion.

Yes, it is. This is the point I used to make is that you have to draft those guys high to get an elite player at the position. My argument is, do you need an elite player at the position for your offense to be very, very good? So even if it's harder to find an elite tackle, is it more important to have an elite receiver? And that is where I have landed. That's what it is.

Yeah. And this is where I've got Justin Jefferson's the example again with the Vikings is if you don't have that number two, the Vikings found one with T.J. Hawkinson. It's they only can affect so much. And I think that's the same argument I can make with tackle. Totally. You need four guys. And that's, but to get five, you need to start with one. And that's where.

But you can have five average, right? So if you, if I, if, and we, again, looking at this way. Yeah. You can have an average offensive line. You can have five suitable players on your offensive line, and you can have an elite receiving core. You can be the Bengals. Or you can have a great offensive line and an average receiving core.

You can be the 2021 Eagles, which would you rather be? But you know what my answer is going to be. But it'd probably be the Bengals just because of what they can do. But deep down, it's the Eagles, like from a team building philosophy. Look at what the lines are doing. I know I'm on Roussa Brown is, you know, I'm worried about what the Lions are doing. I know, well, just watching last year. Let's take out this whole spring from the Lions.

So let's just look at what they did in 2022. But they made Jamal Williams look like a star. And that's running the ball. I get that's, but still a part of the game. There's 60 plays usually in the game. 20 of those are going to be run plays. So you can't just cancel out 20 plays as much as people want to. So that's why I look at that because I think that just lifts the bar of your team.

And that's what's the line I've had before. the offense line lifts the floor and the past catchers raise the ceiling or the skill positions raise the ceiling. So I just, for me as a team philosophy, I'd much rather start with that elite tackle because if he, I don't want my tackle to be like the fifth best starter, fourth best starter. I want him to be one of the better guys. It's all about having your best five out there. So I think you need five.

So it's start with an elite offense tackle. That's just my line of thinking. And I think with the receivers or pass catchers, you need three. And three is less than five. So you know what I mean? There's more I have to fill up, more spots I have to fill up. That's just my line of thinking. Don't get me wrong, guys.

I think it's easier to build receivers. I grew up with Randy Moss. I always want to reiterate. I've seen Randy Moss get Gus Ferrat a perfect passer rating game in a single game. Like just because of Randy Moss being Rainy Moss. I get the effect of receivers. I just think as an overall team building. That's just how I look at it.

I think it's easier to build a great offense through a single receiver than it is to build one through a single tackle. because the offensive line is so weak link based. And you need four other at least capable starters there, which is also part of this argument. But I thought we don't need to keep harping on this. Okay. So here is another. Everyone knows me or Robert talk about this all the time. And so it's even our producer, we were talking to our pre-show, Bellar goes, this should be the show.

Just us was talking about this. And I also think we were talking about, okay, you need to be able to keep your quarterback upright to do this. One of the things I've looked at a lot recently because I've thinking about it with Justin fields. It all comes back to it. It always comes back to like, how can I graph these ideas onto my own personal hope? How does this affect the bears? Okay. So I was looking at the players, the receivers who guarded the most targets in less than like two and a half seconds last season. Yeah. And Jamar Chase is number one by far, right? And all the guys that you would expect are up there. And it's a lot of teams that got rid of the ball very quickly and were very good

offenses. Tyree Kill was up there near the top of that conversation. Stephon, Diggs is near that top of that conversation. Chase, we already mentioned. AJ Brown is really high up there. And I think that having these guys where if you can build the passing game through them as the number one option and you create trust with the quarterback and the quarterback can operate much quicker because of how much faith he has in that number one guy that you've gone out to acquire, it helps the offensive line so much because you're getting rid of the ball faster all the time. And that's what I'm hoping a DJ more like player does for the. Bears and Justin Fields because I do think that you've seen the effect that that sort of player can have on your pass protection as much as like the explosiveness of your passing game,

even as a receiver. So that's kind of my other argument is that I think that your past protection can get better if you have a guy. It's just you're throwing the ball to him so quickly as the number one guy in those progressions. It's just sometimes you can't. Sometimes you can't. Sometimes you got to hang out anyway. Like that happens obviously.

And a lot of those guys. And that's where I've never really seen. And this is why the Bengals are such an anomaly in a fun way is I've never really seen a offense succeed just through go balls. Like, you know, and I don't mean that negatively because they can. It's so crazy to see this work over and over. And that's changed some of the thinking that I've even had about how much do you need the offense line to do that. Yeah, it helps when it's T. Higgins is your number two who would be, would you rather have T. Higgins or DJ Moore on the Bears? Like, I'm just, I'm just curious, just a question.

DJ more probably. I mean, I just think he can do a little bit more. Yeah. Yeah, he's a little bit better up to catch and all that. But just comparable type players. And that's their number two. Yeah.

You know, so it's, and that's what's cool about how they perform on offense. They negate what would really cripple a lot of other offenses because those players are so good. So I'm just kind of added on to your point. It's like that escape valve and a true X and peppering a true X, look at the Chargers with him without Mike Williams. Just because he's a true X that Justin Herbert,

when you have a true X, X is an ISO receiver, so they have to win one-on-one. When you have a guy that can do that consistently, it doesn't matter what else happens because the ball's out two, two and a half seconds and doesn't matter what other three,

four pass catchers are doing. So just adding to your point of why that is valuable at times. You ready for me to pile on here? Okay. So I had elite offensive tackle on a rookie deal at like, like eight, you know,

like kind of tied with elite defensive tackle. I had elite wide receiver on a market extension above that. I know. Okay. And so here is here. And I'll explain it in this way. Very simply.

Oh, what you go? Right now. Okay. Or last off season. When those players were traded, do you think that Tristan Worf's goes for more in a trade than Devante Adams and Tyree killed it? Maybe not Tyrakeel, but definitely. Oh, it's, ah.

I don't know. Because you never see tackles traded. I don't think so. I don't think so. What did? the last elite tackle Oh, it was Tunsell, right? So Tunsel, well, Tunsel got traded

for multiple first round picks. But I don't, again, I think that's one of those like Bill O'Brien Texans teams, do we learn a lot from them? If it were to happen right now or if it would have happened last off season, if the buck's called him like, all right, he's available,

do you think he goes for more than Hill and Devante Adams do? I think it's about the same. Yeah, I think it's probably pretty cool. But I still think it just is a little bit of a bump. They're almost like on the same line to me is the rookie offensive tackle on a office tackle on a rookie deal and the second contract market extension receiver. Like very similar to me because I think in that trade value right now,

would you rather have Tyreek Hill or Tristan Worf's? Contracts included. Oh, Tristan Worf's right now because of a rookie deal. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. you're probably right if you said like I'm trying to think like slightly underpaid receiver yeah but no that's that's kind of how I lean towards that because just how cheap it is

and how what the damn good player he is I think that's probably fair but let's so elite elite defensive tackle on a rookie deal was also in that conversation to me yeah do you think Jeffrey Simmons last year goes for more in a trade that Devonti Adams says I think absolutely not I don't think so so that that's how I would tear them then I would be off rookie office tackle office tackle on a rookie deal, wide receiver on a market setting extension, defensive tackle on a rookie deal. That's how I would order those. And I would probably put them somewhere in that list is quarterback 9 through 16 out of market

extension. Okay. So, okay, we got the first little kind of quadrant, I guess. Do we talk about elite corner on a rookie deal real quick? I had that further down. Yeah. It's my first, it's my furthest down rookie deal, I guess, because I had all. rookie deals and then the QB 9 through 16 market extension in the middle of there and then I have

elite rookie or elite corner on a rookie deal. Do you have a elite corner on a rookie deal? And so I assume the next one that you have after all the rookie deals is elite edge on a market extension, right? Correct. So you had that below elite corner on a rookie deal. Yep. So I had that higher than elite corner on a rookie deal.

Okay. And I can understand that argument. So elite corner, elite edge I had trouble with. Elite edge on a market extension I had at 10. And then I had elite corner on a rookie deal at 11. And I did it this. way. Would you rather have Miles Garrett on his current contract or Sauce Gardner on his current

contract? And I think my answer is Miles Garrett at $25 million. I think so too. So that's why I ordered it that way. No, and I, this is elite corner because it was, again, this is going into this, I thought I would value a little higher. And then as I started to think it out, I'm like, I don't know. You know, it's the other thing about elite corner. So, or just corners in general, it's so volatile. That is why. It's so hard to trust to build that. I know Miles Garrett is going to get me top five pressure numbers every single year. Every single year barring an injury, I can close my eyes. And you could ask me, who led the NFL in pressures over the last five years in a given season? And in some order, it's Miles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Aaron Donald, a couple years earlier, Cleo Mac, the bosses.

Like I can just do it with my eyes closed. Corner is not like that. And that is why I would just favor, even if you're paying the sticker price for that guy, I still think it's worth it just because there's a certain level of comfort and predictability at that position that doesn't exist at corner. As teams have gone, I should say fully gone away, but deemphasized that maybe Seahawks single high stuff, you know, that was so widespread. That's where the whole weak link system kind of thing has really stuck out to me about Corner.

it's like yes if you can have an elite quarter that's great that's fantastic but you don't need it now i used to think that you needed that and now i'm like i mean it's helpful it is helpful when you have a guy that can truly flip the math but those guys are not that there aren't that many of them and they don't stay that way for that long what's jillan rams i know it's market extension what's jane ramsi in the first half of this year it was like oh my god he fell off a cliff then he came on as people started to call him out a little bit but it's it's so hard to just trust that's what you're going to get like it even they get injured. You know, it's a high, they're quick twitch guys usually. They get injured all the time. And if you, I'm not, I didn't even list contract extension corner on this list as, as valuable

contract because they fall up a cliff. As they get to 30, you're scared. Every year that you have a corner, you get more scared that they're going to fall off at any time. And I love sauce gardener. I love, uh, Patrick Sertan. I love J.C. Horn, but I much rather have, yeah, an edge rusher that I can count on every single place. So I, I am going to change that as we're talking. That'll have a lead edge above, maybe even elite detackle on a market extension above, above corner on a rookie deal. Oh, I think so, too. Well, again, it's the same conversation we had about the DTs. It's like, yeah, it's like, well, yeah, I'd rather have Chris Jones on a market extension.

But would I rather have Jeffrey Simmons on a market extension than sauce gardener? Probably not. I'm dropping corners down. Now that I'm like talking this all out, it's just the volatility of it. It's hard to find one. So you're putting elite edge ahead of elite edge or said, elite. Edel, Detackle and elite receiver, all in market extensions above elite corner. I'm just like you.

I think you had it, what? You got 10th? I had an 11th. But I didn't have elite defensive tackles on a market extension just because, again, I think it's so specific with like two guys. A couple guys. Yeah. But also like, I don't.

The quarters is just hard, man. So that's why it's hard to invest in. Right? So like, let's talk about it. If we're talking about, we're kind of ignoring the Aaron, Donald Chris Jones effect here. The contract that Dexter Lawrence just got. Would you rather have that player on that contract or would you rather have

Saus Gardner? I think I'd rather have Dexter Lawrence. Wow. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Dexter Lawrence is very specific. I love Dexter Lawrence.

He was like my favorite player of the league last year. But that's bold. That's bold. Man, he just does so much. And I love sauce too. And sauce might end up being one of my favorite players to watch period in the league. But it's just, I just, it's closer to the ball. I always think it's going to have more value.

And more snaps play is always going to have more value. Dexter Lawrence is an exception because he play. you play all three downs. You sure did. Yeah, he sure did. And that's why he's a specific case of why I like this, like or would value that more, just affecting the play more, affecting the run more. I think that's just where I hold the value bit more.

But that's tough. That actually is pretty tough. It's so funny that I would try to put these in fairly generic buckets and it's almost impossible to do now because of some players like warp it, right? So just like doing like a quick reset. Like your Christian Kirk example. I was like, oh, God. So just see that quick reset.

So after the quarterback contracts at the top of three, I had elite wide receiver on a rookie deal at four, elite edge on a rookie deal at five. You convince me. I put elite offensive tackle on a rookie deal at six. I have wide receiver on a market extension at seven. And then I have quarterback nine through 16 on a market extension after that, but it almost is like DAC level, like hyphen DAC level,

where it's like some of the guys after that don't count. And then right after that at nine, I have elite non-Aaron Joe, Aaron Donald, Chris Jones, defensive tackle on a rookie deal. So there are a couple players, I think, that are so notable in this conversation or so specific that they kind of warp the discussion. And that's a great takeaway, though, that special players are special. Yeah. And they're worth their own rules.

And that, that's a, there's a difference between elite and being the best player at your position or the top two at your position. And then there's a tier jump or a tier drop between that. That's also worth mentioning that the special players are worth paying no matter what. You know, the true queens on the chessboard. Like Jaylon Ramsey, to me, is that for the corner position, but there's not a lot of other vet corners that I'm like, yeah, like really want to bring up. But that's like the one, but he's special. So that, oh, no, that's a great point.

And honestly, I'm going back and forth now. Like, I might bump elite receiver over elite detackle on a market extension now that I'm thinking about it. Like, would I rather have Devante Adams or Dexter Lawrence? Devante Adams. Yes. Yeah. Yes. So I'm bumping that up.

We're making progress. We are. The last one I had at 12. And again, this same sort of conversation where it's like, oh man, it's only a couple guys that you'd even put in here for a couple different reasons. I had elite tight end on a rookie deal at 12. Because if you can find that unicorn. If you can get one, holy shit, that's incredible.

But how many guys won, how many truly elite tight ends in the passing game are there? four right in any given time like mark mark andrews i guess is the best example right now so he's the one i would put in there okay so i think mark andrews does clear that bar so it's kind of like the kiddle kelsey andrews tier of guys but the thing is if you look at those guys kiddle was an exception kiddle in year two had 88 catches for 1300 yard almost 1400 yards and five touchdowns so he was good immediately okay yeah but there aren't that many guys who affect the game that way and they don't affect the game that quickly. So Travis Kelsey didn't play his rookie year.

He had 850 receiving yards his second and third year. And then in year four, he breaks out. And he was old, right? Wasn't he like a 24 year old rookie? And he breaks out really in year four to being the guy we see now. But then rookie contract is over. So he's already on that veteran extension because the development curve at the position is so different than it does other spots.

There aren't that many elite receiving tight ends, period. And a lot of guys don't get there by the time their rookie contract is finished. So the idea of an elite tight end on a rookie contract, it's a very narrow band. But if you did hit it, it probably would go somewhere on this list. Yeah, it would be higher. But again, it's like once every decade. Once every five years, twice every decade that you like. And this is something we've talked about, a lot of this off scene is how hard the tight end is.

and the curve to play well at that position because you're being asked to do what offensive tackles do and getting asked what receivers do. Now, do both really well. Okay. There's only five guys that could do that in the world, three at any given time. So that's why it's really hard to find. But yes, if Kyle Pitts is this year what I think we both think Kyle Pitts can be, then it's like he's the one that we can really talk about.

He's a unicorn. He's an actual unicorn. He's a once in 15, 20 year guy. I know. So yeah. If you can find one, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely has a ton of value.

All right. So to wrap up, let's go through your list of 12 because this has been all fucking over the place. So what is your actual list of the 12 most valuable contracts by type in the NFL? Okay. So the three quarterback ones that we talked about, those are consensus three. Then four, elite edge on a rookie deal. Five, elite offense tackle on a rookie deal. Six, elite defense tackle on a rookie deal.

Seven, elite receiver on a rookie deal. Okay. So do you still feel comfortable about that after flipping? market extension receiver and market extension defensive tackle. Would you rather have Jamar Chase and over the course of his rookie deal or Jeffrey Simmons over the course of his rookie deal? Yeah, I'm going to switch. Yeah.

Okay, I'll give you that one. I'm glad that we're talking about defense attacks, though. I'll say that. That's a win for me that we're talking detackals. Okay. Yeah, I'll give you that one. Because that one I'm having a hog on. So I like that.

All right. Then so with that, dude, that was four, five, six. We defense tackle is seven now on a rookie deal. Then eight was the DAC tier market extension quarterback. you know, nine through 16-ish. Then I went Elite Edge on a market extension, elite receiver on a market extension, and then elite,

oh, God, I forgot offensive tackle here. Oh, no. They'll probably just follow that. I would just follow the rookies. Yeah, you knock out, based on how you're shitting all over corners, they don't matter anymore. You're definitely putting that offense to tackle on the market extension ahead of that.

I am. I know. Well, God, no, this is really hard. Because elite corner on a rookie deal might be my last one. like if we're going if we're ranking all these just 12 we're doing 12 12 yeah so what's that four five six seven eight nine 10 11 12 yeah oh my goodness oh my goodness this is hard I'm gonna go elite corner okay here we go all right I'll start over here so so now now that I'm thinking about it I also might oh elite quarter might be my last one on tight end might get

bumped off because would you rather have laramie tonsil or sauce gardener oh tonsil I think it's Gardner for me. Okay. On the on the on the current contracts, I think it's yeah. That's a lot of money. Because again, you can get by yeah with name your offensive tackle who's an average player. Yeah. Andrew Wiley. But you could probably be saying argument for corner honestly. That's the problem. Well, it's not easy guys. There's 22 starters in football. It's really hard. God, what a bullshit exercise this is. I can't believe we did this. We basically went out we basically did our production meeting going over the list and did it as a show. That's what we're doing right now. I think that's called podcast production. It's called preparation. This is great. So, okay.

Yeah, I think, yeah, I think I'll go weak corner at 12 and then a wheat defense tackle on a market extension would be the honorable mention. You know, first out kind of thing. Last one out. We kind of, if we're looking at Bracketology for this. All right. So mine is the three quarterbacks we talked about. Number four, elite wide receiver under rookie deal. Number five, elite edge on a rookie deal.

Number six, elite offensive tackle on a rookie deal. You swayed me. Number seven, elite wide receiver on a market extension. Number eight, DAC tier nine through 16 quarterback on market extension, but maybe not Kurt Cousins tier. Nine, elite non-Aren Donald, non-Christ Jones defensive tackle on a rookie deal. Ten, elite edge on a market extension. Yeah.

11, elite cornerback on a rookie deal. 12, hypothetical unicorn tight end on a rookie deal slash offensive tackle on a market extension. Love it. That's it. Love. That's my list. Nice and clean. No qualifiers just right there.

It's easy to understand. This is great, though. I love how it was perfect because we held on to our kind of our priors, but we, we showed that we're willing to listen. We're willing to listen and adapt our line of thinking as we talk. it out. I like that. I'm sure no one is going to have any thoughts on. None. Both the quality of how we laid out this show and the opinions that we reached by the end of it. We can tell which shows were my ideas because it just says no outline, no thoughts behind it. Hey, let's just do this. Okay. Let's figure it out. Let's pick up the pieces the morning out.

It had endearingly chaotic energy, which is how I would describe you. Oh, thank you. I like that. Indearily chaotic. I'll take that. I'm going to tell Lauren that. That's what you call me. She, sorry,

real quick, I was like this, even this morning, because our son kind of was doing a little goofy thing where he, you know, you can already see some, maybe some attention, uh,

attention issues of keeping a line of thinking. He needs constant stimulation. And she just looked at me and she's like, it's just like you. And it's just just like you. It just need constant stimulation constantly. And that's, that's what I'm doing this podcast is.

It's good stimulation. It holds. my fort for an hour. Anyone that watches on video, I just sway back and forth the whole time. I bounce my leg. I'm just terrible, man. I'm just absolutely terrible. Just a kid on sugar.

That was really fun. That was awesome. All right. That is all we have for today. On Monday, we will be back with our next mailbag Monday of the off season. We're doing mailbags every single Monday, just to give you guys a heads up. One more time about the off season schedule, just because it's only been like a week or so. Just a reminder, mailbags on Mondays, no show Tuesday.

Me and Nate will be back on Wednesdays, football GM on Thursdays, and then we will be back on Friday. So the only day during the off season, we will not have a show is Tuesday. And that will be the case when I'm on my honeymoon, when Nate's on paternity leave later in the summer, all that stuff. So we'll be four days a week, those days through training camp. So just be on the lookout for those shows as they hit your feed. For now, that is all we have.

I will say thank you in advance to everyone who sent along your mailbag questions because the deadline will pass by the time you are listening to this. Appreciate that. We'll be back with the mailbag on Monday. You guys enjoy your weekend in the meantime. I appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.