The Fumblerooski Podcast - Looking Ahead -Ep 247 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

Full offseason preview! Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros review the top 5 teams in cap space and top 5 draft picks as well as cover popular player trade candidates!

today marks the start of our official offseason coverage with the top five teams in cap space top five draft picks and trade candidates i'm adam wright you're listening to the fumble ruski podcast Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's a catch! It's a catch! Side-line! Touchdown! Unbelievable!

Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros and we have a full episode tonight and we are doing our official off-season preview. We do this every year where we break down every aspect of it, starting with free agency. We talk about all of the draft prospects. We talk about draft picks. We talk about trade candidates. So that is what we have for this episode in store for you guys.

So this off season, as for its official schedule, we have the franchise tag window that starts today and goes through March 5th. We have the legal tampering period that starts on March 11th. And then official free agency start is March 13th. And we have the combine that starts on February 26th and goes through, I believe, March 4th. I don't care. It doesn't matter. But the NFL draft, April 25th, and that goes through May.

So we have a, I got to say out of all of the off seasons for all of the four major sports between the NHL, the NBA, the MLB, the NFL has the most eventful off season. It's one where you can legitimately sit there and actually enjoy the content that's coming out. And all the news, all the players moving around. It's one of the more active free agencies out of all the sports in the US. So I'm excited for it. You know what? So am I. I do enjoy the off season. I do. From the draft to free agency, not really the franchise tag window, but that's an argument for another time. But I definitely think we're going to see a lot of big changes this year,

some big names on the move, you know, the ones they don't get tagged, that is. And, of course, well, we have a lot of teams at the bottom. They're going to be working their way up. So speaking of which, some of those bottom feeders, my understanding, have a lot of teams at the bottom they're gonna be working their way up so uh speaking of which some of those bottom feeders my understanding have a lot of money so uh what's that looking like adam well we'll start off with the top five teams in cap space and that leads off with number one which is washington with 83 mil new england with 73 tennessee with 72 million chicago with 70 mil and indianapolis with 66 million so keep in mind this is something that we will touch on again when we go over the top five draft picks uh three of the some three of, so the top three picks in the NFL draft are all in the top

five in payroll. So Washington's number two, overall new England's number three, overall in the draft and Chicago because of Carolina, of course they weren't that bad, but Carolina helped them out. They have the number one overall pick and so these teams have top five top five money in in cap space so going over washington uh obviously if you're number two overall you don't take offensive line and they that's where they need the most help besides quarterback so i think i would actually argue defense, personally. Their defense last season couldn't stop a nosebleed. And their secondary was continually just bombed.

It was awful. Yeah, but the quarterback, if they're taking a new quarterback, they need to protect him. I would not go number two overall, you've got to take a quarterback that's well we can well i mean i'm just gonna say i feel like we can kind of save that for like our actual draft pick talk later yeah sure but this is just cap space what you can do now and obviously i think you take a quarterback we obviously break it down like what it's going to be but i'd say this agency there are a few good tackles you go after them and

you stock up on defense because you are now down both of your premium edge rushers in chase young and montez sweat you drafted emmanuel forbes last year in the first round he doesn't look that great and adam you mentioned before this episode there are a lot of good corners in free agency so and i don't care how great the washington pass rush may or may not be even with guys like jonathan allen and deron pain what difference does it make if the quarterback can just run out of the pocket and just have everything break down or your corner is already getting toasted before the rushers even get there i mean i'm just saying they have to look at that defense and even though ron rivera is gone he was still a defensive minded guy and when you have a defensive minded coach and ron rivera and your

defense is still that bad and he's gone your defense might actually get worse yeah i agree with everything you said. I didn't say that we shouldn't look at the defense. I was just saying that I think your top priority absolutely should be the offensive line. You can, with the amount of money they have, $83 million, they could do both. But what I'm saying is you should first be focusing on the uh

those tackles that you have going there um there's a lot there's a couple of good uh offense some offensive line free agents it's not a deep free agency class which is why i think you should that among the fact that you are trying to draft a quarterback, you got to protect the, you got to protect them. And that market could dry up fast. Cause it's not deep. Yeah. They,

they have a long laundry list of things they need to do, but I just think that you need to priority. One is protecting the quarterback. Priority two is definitely shore up that defense because they definitely need it. Going to New England. This is a team with tons and tons of needs. There is a combination of different things that Patriots fans want to be done through the draft and through free agency.

My thoughts are work on that offensive line again. And so number one and two in cap space are going to be fighting for offensive line prospects, offensive line free agents, because they're both in the market for a quarterback and whichever guy you draft next, you need to make sure that he's protected so that you don't hurt him in his first year. You don't want to pull cincinnati bengals or indianapolis colts where you have your franchise quarterback and you're getting him hurt all the time in fact the colts did it twice they did it this past year and i was referring originally to andrew luck then you realized and then also peyton manning who they got killed eventually and he fleed over to denver so you see what i mean anthony richardson

just get hurt this year too yes and they are also top five in cap space so a couple so a lot of teams here in the uh in the running for offensive line in free agency and uh someone is going to get porked here. Yeah. Chicago is number four. And there's Tennessee as well. At three. Sorry, I went out of order because I mentioned the Colts who are five. But these are all teams that need a lot of offensive line help. I guess the Bears don't. Not as much, no.

And Adam, right now I'm looking at some of the top tackles on the market. It's not that good. No, it's not. I mean, the biggest name is obviously Tyron Smith of the Dallas Cowboys. He already said he wants to stay, apparently. How old is he? 33. I was getting there. So it than that how old is he 33 i was getting there so it's beyond the fact that he wants to stay he's 33 i don't know how much he has left

in the tape you have the jets dwayne brown who just happens to be 38 you have now here's an interesting one new england's trent brown new england has made it abundantly clear they're not going to resign him but this guy has some horrible attitude issues that man unless you've got like unless you're waving a dollar in front of him does not care you have jonah williams of the cincinnati bangles who i think could use a great change of scenery he'll be fine yosh it'll be okay yeah yeah i think yosh neiman of the i think it's how it's pronounced the green bay packers is a great free agency addition. Then you have other guys like Cornelius Lucas and George Fant

that are older. Older, but like okay. Yeah. Did George Fant even find a new team? Because I know he was a free agent last year. Yeah, he was in Houston. Has he been sitting on the couch this whole time? No, he was in Houston. Okay okay so he made his way to he right which makes sense because early on in the season in that during that season they had they had some injury issues on that

offensive line um but donovan smith is one i like a little bit i know he's heavily penalized but i think what i'm starting to what what the, what the Kansas city chiefs have taught me the past couple of years, a very highly, a very, an extremely penalized offensive line, one that does not play clean football, but you know what they do is that is they keep their quarterback upright. So if you're causing a lot of penalties, sometimes it'll be called, especially during the regular season, you're going to lose of penalties sometimes it'll be called especially during the regular season you're going to lose some yardage but what would you rather have would you rather lose 10 yards from a holding call or would you rather have the quarterback get killed and then get

injured and then you're you have even bigger problems and eventually once you get to the postseason they swallow the refs swallow their whistles. Like Jawan Taylor and Donovan Smith. Jawan Taylor and Donovan Smith were penalized all the time, and those holding penalties never stopped. Well, the penalties never... The penalties stopped. I'll stop there. The penalties stopped. I'll stop there. The penalties stopped.

The holding never did, which is why I'm thinking if you're looking to stay in contention and protect your quarterback, obviously we want a tackle who plays clean football, but I think I would rather one that gets penalized a lot than one that can't play the position. If that makes sense, because Tom Brady had the same issue in, in Tampa, remember Donovan Smith was in Tampa too. And Tristan works was okay. Like he's one of the better tackles in football, but that entire offensive line had, had penalty issues. They were not a disciplined football team but they kept brady upright and gave them a chance to win yeah yeah i think you're right but among but other than

offensive line i mean you look at a lot of these teams right you know these guys that desperately need help you know washington tennessee chicago indie i'm noticing that they also need receiver help maybe not chicago not but and definitely not washington but new england tennessee and to a lesser extent indie they all need it and yep and when you look at this wide receiver class and for agency holy crap it deep. It's just some. Yeah. I mean, maybe these guys are on all ones,

but they could slot in and be like a high end too. Ready? Yep. Mike Evans, Odell Beckham, Jr. Curtis Samuel, Tyler Boyd,

Cedric Wilson, Kendrick Bourne, DJ Chark, Hollywood Brown, Calvin Ridley. I don't know. Michael Pittman, T Higgins, ridley i don't know michael pittman t higgins perhaps a lot of these guys are going to be tagged but yeah and that's that's the the rub as they call

it isn't it a lot of these guys especially higgins maybe pittman i don't know they're going to get tagged and of course my tag rant will be coming at a later date don't you worry about that gang but i just but either either way you have guys like ridley and guys like brown and guys like uh you know boyd that are still going to be free agents. And who comes to get it? Perennial 1,000-yard receiver Mike Evans. Mike Evans is a little on the older side. He could go to a win-now team.

He could go to a win-now team, yeah. Which is going to be a question of which team will that be because none of these teams in the top five, I think, will be winning in the next couple of years. Maybe Chicago, maybe Chicago, if they draft the right guy and he's, he's ready to develop them. Yeah. Or if, or if they stick with Justin Fields, but I think if they stay with Justin Fields, they're not winning. Yeah. And, but yeah, Washington, I don't think needs receiver help. Cause you know, you already have, I mean, I know you're losing Curtis Samuel, but yeah, Washington, I don't think needs receiver help. Cause you know, you already have, I mean, I know you're losing Curtis Samuel, but you already have scary Terry

and Jahan Dotson, New England. They need literally all the help they can get. I've said many times that wide receiver has been a pressing need for years. They're going into off seasons with wide receivers, their biggest need, and they're leaving with it as their biggest need which i don't know how as a gm you let that happen but whatever the titans you have trailing burks a shell of beyond and a shell of deandre hopkins and that's literally it um yeah if you're new england you have a couple of ways that you could cover this need to because they're going because they're not going to... Caleb Williams and Drake May aren't going to last. You could draft Jaden Daniels,

who's been so far a popular mock draft candidate. But if you went... Let's say you went and took Marvin Harrison Jr. And then you went and got a veteran quarterback some some way somehow not an elite veteran but somebody who could just hold down the fort while they build the up the rest of the team they draft marvin harrison jr they sign free agents for the offensive line and then maybe a year or so from now a year or two from now they draft their guy because you don't if you draft a wide receiver now and you don't do it correctly i'm and when i say don't

do it correctly i mean if you don't sign some free agents on the on that offensive line to help to help with this team um if and and sign the right ones you could end up in the same position you were with mac jones because if you're signing these free agents on the on the offensive line you're probably not going to get the wide receiver so if you sign the wrong free agents or if you just neglect it entirely then you're literally in the same spot and god forbid jayden daniels gets hurt or drake may which would make it even worse because you're then then you're literally in the same spot and God forbid, Jaden Daniels gets hurt or Drake may, which would make it even worse because you're then now you're just wasting a number three overall pick on a player who probably won't pan out. Even if he was the guy,

that's going to be a problem. Um, so there's a couple of ways that new England could tackle this. What they could also do is draft a wide receiver. You draft Jaden Daniels. You neglect the wide receiving position another year, and then you go out and you get some free agents for the offensive line. I think I would rather Jaden Daniels be protected than have targets, at least for this offseason. Then you go and get that guy.

And maybe you work the trade market. T. Higgins is a guy who's available sign and trade. Yeah, maybe, but I don't know. I feel like that falls more under draft talk than anything, you know, but as far as agency goes, they do have the money to really work with a lot of stuff. We'll just have to see what they do, I guess. Yeah, and we will get to that next. The top five draft picks and what they should do with it. That's next, Fumble Rooski Podcast. Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football.

They're saying it's a catch. It's his thought. Takes. Startline. Touchdown. Unbelievable. Swings it way down the field to Watkins. Sammy Watkins for the touchdown. Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting, Adam Wright.

With CJ Medeiros, we're on to the NFL draft with the top five draft picks. So we lead off with number one, which is the bears who are, who acquired Carolina's first round pick turned into the number one overall pick Bryce young. Even if he is the guy clearly has not developed enough to lead this team to any wins. And the bears were benefactors of that getting the number one overall pick for the second year in a row uh washington is number two they were number one

in cap space they're number two on the draft boards new england is number three overall they were number two in cap space number three on the draft boards arizona at four and then the chargers at five so leading off in our thoughts on this draft chicago is whatever they do is going to shape the the entire draft because they they for the second year in a row, they have a bit of a dilemma on their hands. So they are still unsure that Justin Fields is the guy. He played poorly to start the season, but heated up towards the end of it.

So could they trade the number one overall pick and go to Justin Fields? Or could they trade Justin Fields and say, screw it, we're starting over? I lean starting over. He's had three years to actually prove something, that he is the right guy. And he still hasn't fully done it yet. Will he pan out? Maybe he could.

But at this point, you're going to have to pay him. So are you going to pay 45 mil for a guy who you don't even know is the guy yet? I think that's a little stupid. Don't you think? Yeah, I do. And, uh, I just want to say it sucks because at the time I was a huge Justin Fields fan when he was in the draft, but I think it's actually in Fields' best interest to have a clean slate somewhere else, perhaps with a team like Pittsburgh or Atlanta. Like, yeah. He did not develop enough of a passing ability.

They were saying it got better towards the end of the season, but it didn't. He didn't throw for more than 250 yards once and he only and he didn't throw for more than one more than one touchdown pass during that time he was exactly and i've said this in previous episodes like this happened last year with oh he heats up at the end of the year well once again i have news for you if you're just heating up at the end of the year, that doesn't help you if you're already darn near out of the playoffs and in a hole. So the thing is with Chicago, it's not what we want them to do.

It's what they will do. And frankly, I truly believe they're going to move on from Justin Fields. Why is that? New OC and a new quarterbacks coach. I'm just saying. That's all you need to know about it, really. That's literally it. And the Bears have put out, and you can go read this,

it would take a, and I quote, historic haul to get them to move on from the number one overall pick. Yeah, that doesn't sound like a team that's planning to trade the number one pick. Exactly. But they also don't want to show their hand. They don't want to say that they're going to keep it either because they don't want anyone to anticipate what they're going to do. That's typically just GMing.

You don't want to show your hand. But I agree with you. I think, I think they are going, I think what they should do is keep, is keep the number one pick and trade fields. I think that's what they're going to do. And that's, I think it's the right decision. You need to move on from Justin Fields. He's a good kid. He looks like he has talent. He can play in this league, just not to the extent that the Bears want him to. And it seems like they want him to do things that he clearly cannot do. They want him to pass more. Their offensive coordinator tried to get him to do that.

He couldn't do it. He just can't. That's fine. It's okay. Go to the Falcons then because that's a team that looks like you can be a fit there. Yeah, so Washington and New England are kind of in similar spots. Both teams that need a quarterback. Only difference is that Washington has the wide receivers.

So I would more argue that they're actually closer to the Bears than the Patriots. Because wide receiver isn't their biggest need. In fact, it's far from it, but Washington, it's a, it's a slam dunk. You're going,

you are quarterback, but I guess you need to take the quarterback. Yeah. But at this point in time, I guess the question is, do you take may or do you take Daniels? Now I'm almost done with my scouting on both of them, and I lean more towards Jaden Daniels.

I do. And I think that offense he's going to do well. I just don't know about Drake May. I really don't. And I'll give him lots of credit as when he played in North Carolina, he didn't have top flight receivers. He didn't have a nationally ranked offensive line. So he does show the ability to make something out of nothing. However, when it comes to going through his progressions and reading defenses, those leave a lot to be desired. And full

disclosure, that should scare a lot of people because all the issues are in that six inches between his ears. And it's not good. It's actually very concerning. So I would actually take Jaden Daniels personally. However, I don't know why. I just can't shake this feeling that Washington is going to draft May. And then that leads us to New England, where I wholeheartedly, I'm not saying May's a bad prospect, but a lot of his issues are cerebral. Even basic disguise coverages can fool him completely. He's very gullible. Whenever the defense baits him into something, he's very may he's very gullible he will he will whatever the defense baits him into something he will take the bait nine out of ten times but as far as new england

well i think that uh they're they're literally just going to take whoever is available between daniels and may as a pats fan i really hope it's j Jaden Daniels personally. But I don't know. I mean, depending – and I know everybody is saying, oh, they need to go O-line. Let me tell you something. You do not go O-line top three. It's kind of like taking a running back top ten. You don't do it. It's just bad.

Yeah, exactly. And everybody says, oh, I know it's not the sexy flashy position but it's a position of need but here's the thing you don't take on later exactly you don't take o-line top three because it's no there's no flash because there is no visible roi that's just smart GMing. And the only way you can even think or even dream about going O-line that early is if this is like a consensus, like can't miss generational talent. And I got news for you. I love Olof and Shanu. I love Joe Alt. Yeah, no.

But even then, just trade. But even then, trade back and get another asset for the next year so that you could have a chance at another player that is a position of need that high up. I just think there's no excuse for drafting a tackle this early. And a lot of the times they don't pan out. I don't think they will. And a lot of the times they do it free agency, but that's the thing. A lot of the times they don't pan out i don't think they will and a lot of the times they do a free agency but that's the thing a lot of the times they don't pan out yeah um another thing is um

yeah the only i think both i think the here's a reason why i've really been toying with the idea of taking taking uh marvin harrison jr at three i think he's more of a can't miss prospect than jayden daniels or drake may because yes i like drake i like jayden daniels more than drake may but jayden daniels makes me a little nervous too he kind of he his prospect comparisons have been more to more along the lines of dual threat quarterbacks like not Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen type I mean like Lamar Jackson and I like Lamar Jackson I love Lamar Jackson as much as the next the next NFL fan as much as the next Ravens fan I don't know if a player of that play style is capable of winning Super Bowls see here's the thing jane daniels he's not a run first quarterback and

that kid is a cannon of an arm he does what worries me is actually something that a lot of people don't talk about he's oversized man undersized undersized no undersized in in weight not in height he's like six four weight you bulk up. That's not that too big of a deal. It's just that this kid is armed to the teeth at LSU. He has potentially two receivers that could go in the first round in Malik Nabors and Brian Thomas Jr. If he goes to a team like New England where the cupboard is bare, then I don't know what's going to happen. You could give him the best O-line in the world. These receivers will not create separation.

You can blame the O-line as much as you want, but Devontae Parker is statistically the worst receiver in the league in creating separation. Juju's bottom 10 in that category as well kendrick born's coming off an acl tear then there's demario douglas who i've been born's a free agent too by the way um also so like yeah i so i i agree with you there here's what i'm i'm also very concerned about when he does scramble when he moves out of the pocket, he takes some irresponsible hits. That's something when I, when I saw some of his film, I that's the first thing that jumped

out at me. Like at least Lamar Jackson, he knew how to Lamar Jackson. Not only is he big, but he's elusive. He doesn't let himself get hit and he knows when to slide. Um, Cam Newton was at least big. He could plow through guys and he was able to last at least 12 years in the league. Um, Jaden Daniels is none of those things. I guess he's, I guess he's elusive,

but he doesn't, he allows himself to get hits in ways that Lamar Jackson does not. So that's something that worries me. That's only when he rolls out of the pocket, whenever he runs out and is like a design QB run or the play breaks down, he does slide and he does duck out of bounds. It's the whole East West thing. That is where my concerns come in. And either way, I will contend that is something that can be coached out of them. Okay. If he can, then that's great. It's just, I don't know. There's something about, there's something about it that just makes me nervous about it. Both of them makes me, make me nervous, especially since LSU, LSU is not known for

quarterbacks. Let's not forget that. I know they got Joe Burrow. What's up? You see now, look, I mean, I was gonna say, I we have joe burrow but and you do raise a point however it is also worth noting in my humble opinion that everybody said the same thing about ohio state and cj stroud you know he looks fine to me i like cj stroud in fact however oh yeah i don't know i i just i've never been too fond of arguments like that. Kind of like how you feel about when people say, oh, it's just the Cowboys, so of course they won't win. It's kind of like that same vein. I don't like the argument, but the other side always ends up being right. Yeah, fair. So maybe we're just flip-flopped here, but I'm just saying if we're not going to like one argument, we are not going to like the other. All I'm saying is, yes, there's an exception to every rule,

but that doesn't mean that generally if it happens over and over and over again, then there probably is a reason for it. The way they're coached, the way that offense is run, they are loaded to the gills with talent in both of those schools on the wide receiver side. They're always getting wide. I mean, and you said it yourself. He's loaded to the teeth with wide receivers. So there's just something off about that. There is more natural talent.

Like I said, he's got a booming arm. When it comes to throwing the ball impeccable decision making great locker room guy so i like him but moving on like real quick to we've talked endlessly about these prospects right and we're moving and we've talked about chicago and washington doing what they should do now arizona i actually think that's an easy pick. Marvin Harrison Jr. Get Kyler Murray back. Get him. Or Malik Neighbors, yeah.

It would be a bit of a reach. That is the guy. Marvin Harrison Jr. is the best prospect in this draft. You heard it here first. I know. I only say Marvin Harrison Jr. because uh I only see Malik neighbors because this would be in case New England takes Harris of Harrison Jr. which is a positive closure I would want Marvin Harrison Jr. New England I love Marvin Harrison Jr. but but I do think that

quarterbacks are gonna go one two three I know it's rare but i think it will happen it probably will yeah yeah it probably will but oh man oh man kyler murray slinging it deep to marvin harrison jr that's gonna be scary and i like that yeah flashes of the old larry larry fitzgerald days um you can even go back to uh deandre hopkins when he was traded there they are they've just been known for good uh for good wide receiver play and it just doesn't feel right that their number one receiver the past couple years has been marquise brown yep and and pick five now for me this is the real mystery the la chargers i'm hearing rumblings of o-line but you already have guys like cory lindsley and rashaun slater but i guess other tackle wouldn't work but you would have to move rashaun slater to right tackle which i don't think is right yeah oh i made a joke accidentally i'm

sorry please forgive me and then of course i've also heard rumors about Brock Bowers, the tight end. But after Kyle Pitts happened, you can probably take a guess about how I feel about tight ends going that early, at least in the top five. I'm not saying Brock Bowers can't be good, but I don't know so i've heard receiver or corner you know that that is what i'm hearing and corners they're the two kids from alabama terry on arnold and kool-aid mckinstry they're i think they're neck and neck at corner one like you can flip them either way in my humble opinion sure but i don't think as good as they are you can justify them going that high. So Chargers, I wouldn't rule them out. I think they're going to get Justin Herbert another weapon, be it.

Probably Malik Neighbors would be a great option because I know you're not supposed to double dip at the same position in first round back-to-back drafts. But oh God, Quentin Johnston looked terrible. The Eagles did it once too. Huh? The Eagles did it once, too. Huh? The Eagles did it once, too. Yeah. But I was going to say, though, Quentin Johnson does not look well,

and I don't think Mike Williams is going to stay that much longer. Yeah. And he's also been a trade candidate. I've seen him waved around in trade rumors, which is it would work out for them but like they are the their their wide receiver position is aging keenan allen's getting older mike mike williams is always getting hurt it wouldn't be the worst idea for them to go to malik neighbors and kind of get younger at the position. Maybe they give Quentin Johnson another chance. Maybe he could, I don't know. I'm not saying that he's going to pan out, but I'm just

saying it was his first year. So maybe, maybe you give him another shot, but if they stay at five, I think you and I can agree. It's going to be either offensive line or wide receiver, or they trade back and they take corner. What do you think of that? For the Chargers, maybe. What else do you think they would do? I'm hearing wide receiver or corner. I don't buy into the tackle hype for them.

But I would feel that if it goes Williams, May, Daniels, Harrison Jr., I'm thinking it's either Malik Neighbors or, God help us, Brock Bowers. Sure. All right. We're going to move on. We're going to get to our trade candidates for this offseason. Always the most fun part because players who you think wouldn't move end up being moved in a blockbuster deal. We're going to go over that next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast.

Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's caught. Takes. Side line. Touchdown. Unbelievable.

Swings it way down the field to Watkins. Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88. Seek Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. All right. Trade candidates. I'm going to come out with these in rapid-fire fashion, and we'll lead off with probably the most popular one, which is Justin Fields. I think you and I have both agreed here. We believe, and if you feel differently, that's fine, we believe that they should trade Justin Fields. They clearly, it's been three years and it hasn't worked out. That means that either he can't play or he's just not a fit in their organization, which is fine, but you still got to move on from him. two spots leading off, I think Atlanta would be a good spot.

I think they have a lot of talent in their pass-catching core. They just made a change in coaching, which should help with their offensive staff, which has struggled this past year. And they have a very good offensive line that can keep fields on his own two feet and this off this offense would be a lot more complementary to justin field's style which is running i think this would work out very well for him um also the steelers i know you mentioned cj yeah because i i don't really like kenny pickett i never did and you know at the time i was not a fan and i know we all want to force the oh my god university of pittsburgh man gets

drafted to pittsburgh steelers oh boy what fun yeah i'm sorry i don't see that i do not but oh my god can you imagine justin fields Fields with George Pickens and Pat Friermuth? Oh, that's going to be fun. It would be pretty good. Well, not if you're Tuck, of course, but, you know. Sure. But he's going to be – he's biased. He doesn't even care about whether it's a fit.

Yeah. I just think what I'm worried about is his throwing ability in, on, in this league. He still has not proven that he can do it. He, he, he hasn't proven that yet that he can throw it on a consistent basis.

And it feels like this is a team, the Steelers, where you need a pass first quarterback, a pocket passer to succeed. You have George Pickens, you have Patorge pickens you have pat fryer muth you have deontay johnson this is a team that you need to throw with especially since naji harris has not worked out that offensive line is not friendly to running backs let alone quarterbacks who try to run yeah i just i don't know i feel like if you gave fields to a guy like mike tomlin he could probably figure something out and i mean something you have another nine and eight season

he'll figure that out oh yeah of course of course I just, you have to try something. The offense has been stuck in a ditch for a long time. So you have to try something, right? Yeah. Hassan Reddick. He is, I believe he is requested to be traded. Has he been granted permission to seek a trade or has he just requested it? Who? Hassan Reddick. I remember reading somewhere that he has been granted permission to seek a trade. Okay. Hassan Reddick. I mean, I look at Washington.

If they decide not to spend in free agency and decide to go more towards the offensive line and free agency. Also Redick, I do believe wants a pay raise. So there's going to be that to consider. Also, I don't see Philly trading in division. There's that too. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, how about the dolphins, the Miami dolphins dolphins they've had a lot of injuries on that pass rush core so for them to go out and trade for hassan reddick make that team a lot more balanced wouldn't be the worst thing in the world because they're obviously all in right now. They want to win right now.

And they had a very, I mean, I wouldn't say disappointing season. I guess you could say disappointing because they were supposed to be much better and they kind of fell apart towards the end of the year. But you have Tyreek Hill, you have Jalen Waddle, you have Tua, you have Raheem Mostert, you have Devin Achan, all on that offense. Oh, my God. You have to go all in at that point. Go and get yourself some help on the other side of the ball.

It's not even to say that the Dolphins have a bad defense. They need a better one. Yeah, that's true. All right. Going towards, how about Justin Simmons? Simmons of the Broncos is one that I think is more likely than people realize because let me inform you about the Denver Broncos. This little experiment they're trying might be over before it really begins.

Russell Wilson, more likely than not, is gone and is a guy we might get to later. But Jerry Judy is probably also going to be traded. And Justin Simmons is at the milestone of 30 years of age or he's rapidly approaching. I think it's one of those situations where you have to do right by him, even though I think that's kind of a soft mindset. You have to kind of do right by him even though i think that's kind of a soft mindset you have to like kind of like do right by him and uh you know just well he is 30 and yeah okay so it's 30 yeah no the clock's ticking like i don't know how much longer simmons himself wants to be there because i remember a few years ago there was like a big scare about

how they kept tagging him and there was like a big oh will will he won't he stay i mean this point in time you have to bite the bullet especially if sean payton wants to mold this team into a way that he sees fit well just i'm once you hit 30 as an age for for a db it's more much more common for corners than safeties usually you start to fall off around that time so i mean not only is the clock ticking you're taking it year by year at this point not all positions are created equal this isn't this isn't like the quarterback position where you turn 30 your career is just getting started now when you're a db it's once you're 30 it's any year your career your career can just give out and you're not the same player so you might want and

that was this past year i believe he's about to turn 31 some maybe i don't know so that is something to consider. So he's, yeah, he'll, he's, yeah, by the start of the year, he'll still be 30. But I think he turns 31 midway through the season. Still. Right. Still, the clock is, it's not just ticking there it's almost up time's almost up for him yeah i think he should leave frankly all right we go to another we go to another wide receiver prospect on the same team as justin simmons jerry judy and uh with that whole dilemma that happened between him and j uh and

steve smith the analyst uh so that he called him a mid-tier wide receiver he didn't he said he wasn't very good jerry judy went and chirped at him and then he went on to put up what kind of numbers that were completely uh mid what were the numbers again i don't know off the top of my head but he had like two catches for something yards what game was that it was i completely forget um but it was it was really bad and it was a bad look for him because he was he called out steve smith for criticizing him in his game which has not which has not been up to snuff lately at least not since he's been in the league i mean he was supposed to be in this unbelievable wide receiver and i get it he's played with bad wide with bad quarterbacks but a lot of elite wide receivers have.

And most of them still play really well. Remember DeAndre Hopkins early in his career? Yeah. The amount of junk that he played with in Houston. And he was still perennially one of the best wide receivers in the game. Larry Fitzgerald had not so good. What a quarterback play. He still managed.

Yeah. I'm just saying like his draft stock, or at least his, his trade value has tanked this year and he kind of did it by himself. If he didn't call this upon him upon himself if he didn't bring this upon himself by making a fool of himself like he did he might still have some good draft he might have some good value still he kind of brought this upon himself and now it's at a point where people are saying well i mean steve smith just called you out and you proved him right. Yeah. And that's the thing. It's like a cardinal sin for a lot of athletes that I've noticed that when you get called out by the media, you never, ever clap back.

Because if you run your mouth and you fail, oh, my God, there's going to be a microscope placed on you and a lot of it i think is ego because steve smith or steve steve smith senior if i recall correctly he said something about how he's like unable to handle constructive criticism or something like that i think yes yeah he said and i quote mentally unable to handle constructive criticism and called him an average wide receiver for it. Well, well, well, well, well, you proved them right. And a lot of it's just ego. He didn't have to respond, but he blew up the whole thing and it didn't work. Yeah. Cortland Sutton's a better wide receiver than him. Oh, absolutely. And he went through an ACL tear. Like I wouldn't even call Cortland Sutton a wide receiver one i mean barrel if he is he's a low end but he's still a much better wide receiver and one i would gladly take on the new england patriots

oh yeah um but uh i would not i don't know if i'd want jerry judy i think he would be a he'd go for a third round pick at best at this point he would would not go for a first or second. No, absolutely not. All right. Our next one, Brandon Ayuk. This is a player. So something feels off about Brandon Ayuk. He's always put, he's put up better and better statistics as his career has gone on. He started off with just over, he started off with just under a thousand. Then he barely went over a thousand and then he got 1300 this year. So he's statistically gotten much better. But when you give it the eye test, he is, one could argue he's more of their third option. In fact, if you, In fact, in that offense, and it may say more about the 49ers offense than anything,

but still, I just don't want to devalue. I don't want to turn a blind eye to this. He doesn't seem like he plays as big a role in this offense as you may think. Do you remember during his second season in the beginning of the year, CJ? Yeah. That he wasn't playing many snaps.

Like Kyle Shanahan, it almost felt like Kyle Shanahan was putting him in the doghouse. Yeah, I don't know why. And I do to this day believe that he was, and I don't know. But mark my words, I don't know, but mark my words. Iuke, I don't know. I don't know if he's actually happy there because I mentioned this after the Superbowl, some people in Iuke's camp went out and said,

how do you only target them three times? We've had enough. Or it's like, this is why he's leaving. So I don't know. It's just like, maybe it's the 49ers. Maybe it's their fault. I just don't want to ignore it. That's leaving. So I don't know. It just like, maybe it's the 49ers. Maybe it's their fault. I just don't want to ignore it. That's all.

I don't want to say that it's his fault. I don't want to say he sucks because he certainly doesn't. I'm just saying the fact that he doesn't, he's not really the focal point of that offense. I know it's, I know it's an offense than anything. I know it's an elite offense. This is one of the best. You have all of these targets,

but why does Debo Samuel play a better role? Why does George Kittle play a bigger role? I understand these are all elite targets, but why aren't you the better of them all? I don't know. I feel like a lot of that actually rests on scheme and coaching but you know it could it could which makes me wonder how would he do in a more traditional offense how would he do on let's say uh gee i don't know let's say

how would he do on the chiefs he'd be pretty good on the chiefs don't even don't know that man's getting 1600 yards and like 13 touchdowns on the chiefs let's be pretty good on the chiefs don't even don't know that man's getting 1600 yards and like 13 touchdowns on the chiefs let's be honest he should he should i'm saying he should be a really good player and if he gets traded i think he'll do very well something just feels off there yeah all right and it could be it could be Niners. I'm not saying it's him. I'm just saying something feels weird. Here. I'm going to mention these two in the same breath because we are getting short on time.

Stefan digs and Devante Adams. Oh boy. A couple of reasons why I mentioned them in the same breath. Number one, I would say it's more of a pipe dream that either of these players get traded. It could still happen. Something could change.

But like Devante Adams, he has stated that he wants to be a Raider. He never, he's expresses, expresses displeasure and how these, and how Vegas has treated this team. But he still says this was his favorite team growing up. He wants to play with them.

This is something that he always wanted to do. Besides just wanting to play with his best friend, Derek Carr, who's now off the team. I just, I think because of that, he just, I think he should go ring chase. I think he should go find a new team and win a Super Bowl while he's still in his prime. Because he's 31, it's going to get to a point where at some point he's not going to be at a playing at an elite level like he is now he should find his way somewhere where

he could actually win a ring um but i don't know if he will. Stephon Diggs is in a different spot. Because the Bills haven't been bad. They've actually, in fact, been really good. But they can't seem to get over the hump. And it seems like the rapport between him and Josh Allen is fading fast. It doesn't look... Remember his first year in 2020 when he was a Bill? And him and Josh Allen were like best friends? Doesn't it feel like it's a little off from that now?

I'm not saying they aren't friends anymore. They obviously need some sort of bond, but it doesn't seem like it was when they first started there. Yeah, and let me tell you something. We as NFL fans are fed this narrative about, oh, the Bills, they're such a close-knit organization. It's like a big family. It's all kumbaya. Let me tell you something. They are correct. It is like that when they're winning. But we have seen time and time again that that whole happy image is nothing more than a facade.

And we're seeing the cracks in the armor heartbreak after heartbreak in the postseason we see players namely stefan diggs jumping at each other's throats you know he's pouting he's just you know every and it seems like for the past two seasons there's the big will he won't he game of all will he demand a trade oh he's posting cryptic things on social media at this point in time i'm just i see past it he can't fool me it's that same thing that he usually does for attention and buffalo they're they seem to be that whole always the bridesmaid never the bride kind of deal it's just and as long as they have alan you know being a turnover machine as long as they have the slimmer version of mike mccarthy in uh their coach there uh what's his

name sean mcdermott sean mcdermott i don't i just i'm sorry i don't i don't see it because they just got to grin and bear it and i mean and that's basically what's going to happen will things get better oh absolutely not but that's just how i see it and a quick note on adams i just don't think he's going anywhere i really don't other than maybe the jets but the raiders are going to demand a hall and i don't think there's really gonna be any team that's willing to meet those requirements. Sure. Yeah. I don't want to. It's become the boy who cried wolf for me, which is the same thing that I said about Aaron Rodgers before he left.

Like, yes, it's going to get to a point where he continues to hint at wanting to leave, and we're just going to say, yeah, yeah, whatever, pal, whatever you say, because he does it all the time, every single off season. But at one point, at some point he's going to say, you know what? I actually want out and we're not going to believe him, but it actually happens. And it's all fun and games until Aaron Rogers is a jet, right? It was the same deal there. Eventually, eventually this frustration is actually going to boil over. He's going to say, you know what?

I actually want out. And I don't think it's this year. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's this year, but it could be at some point in the near future. I mean, he's digs is getting older and it's become becoming more and more apparent that,

uh, the bills have a, Bills may not get over the hump. I'm so hesitant to say that they won't, because talent-wise, Josh Allen is right there with Patrick Mahomes. But I don't know, man. This is such a tricky situation for the bills they're always in contention but always fall short they're like a glow they're like a they're like a dallas cowboys except they don't get as much as much crap for it all right we're gonna move on to our final segment we asked you guys for your

boldest predictions for this offseason that's next this is the fumble ruski podcast here's edelman broken up in the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's a pass. To Gates. Sideline. Touchdown.

Unbelievable. Swings it way down the field to Watkins. Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the FumbleRooski Podcast. I'm Adam Wright. CJ had to go, but it is me here. And we are going over the Fumble Rooski fan box. So we post a question filter on our Instagram every Monday, and you can respond with hot takes, questions, and more.

And we will discuss it and give you a shout out on our podcast. Respond to next week's fan box question to be featured on our show. So the question of the week was, what is your boldest prediction for these NFL playoffs? Uh, excuse me, NFL for this, uh, NFL off season. And, uh, as we said, so the off season is interesting because it's a time where yes, there's no football being played, but there's no shortage of action. There's always something that's going on, whether it's a blockbuster trade,

a big splash free agent signing, a big draft trade. The draft always just the NFL draft happening is exciting. So a lot of great, great things going on. So we wanted to get your thoughts. What are you guys thinking for your boldest predictions? So starting off, Lucas Ferreira said the Chiefs get Justin Jefferson. And as, as insane as this would be, if it happened, I know this is bold predictions dream on. This is such a pipe dream. I know that Justin Jefferson is an elite talent

who probably, if he goes here, this would mean that he wants to go to a contender. I don't think the chiefs are going to get them. And if they do, there's no way Minnesota would do it. I just don't think they would. Um, I know if know if they would want their draft compensation, but I also think the Chiefs have a target on their backs. They don't want the Chiefs to keep winning, meaning Minnesota will look at this and think, do we want to give Patrick Mahomes another weapon, a young one by that,

to keep on continuing to win championships? I don't think so. I understand there's some pettiness to that, To keep on continuing to win championships? I don't think so. I understand there's some pettiness to that, but I genuinely think that teams are going to think twice before trading their star players to the Chiefs. All right. Eli Turner said Justin Fields stays with the Bears. And this would obviously imply that the Bears go and trade the first first round pick their number one overall draft choice

i personally and cj thinks this too i think this is a bad move and i wish we had more representation on our podcast of people who believe that they should keep fields because there's a good amount of people there. Now listen. This kid has talent. I'm not going to dispute that at all. I'm just. We're three years in now. We're three years in.

And he still has not proven. That he can do it. That is a red flag to me. My criteria has always been. For quarterbacks. You need to be able to prove that you are the guy within three years. If you haven't done it by then, then you won't at all. That's just my thoughts.

And so far, that really hasn't failed me. Usually, they prove whether they are the guy or not in that time span and if they haven't then if they have and if they if they haven't then you know that's another thing to look at um all right let's uh press eject sports said race to the top for the Bears pick, the winner, New England. So this is another person who believes that the Bears will keep fields. And again, I wish I had more representation because my viewpoints, I've been very clear.

I think they should trade fields but if they do i do if they do go quarterback if or if they if they stick with fields you're absolutely right excuse me they should trade uh they should trade the number one overall pick you don't stay there if you're not going to take a quarterback. And I think you can trade a couple spots down and take Marvin Harrison Jr. At that point, it's going to be hard for Fields to actually be a bust. But I do think it'll be a two-a situation. Where, yes, they're winning games. Your quarterback's putting up statistics,

but it's just not, you're just not a contending team. Like you can make him look a little better than he is, but at that point you're just masking what the player truly, what the player truly is. But if it's New england getting this pick if it's new england uh they they gotta go quarterback at that point um if you're at number one you don't take marvin harrison jr all right uh c d o trose c dot rose i'm not sure let me know about the pronunciation in the comment section but kelsey mahomes beef divides locker room so maybe people didn't understand this fan box question i wasn't asking for your predictions about next season. I was asking about this off season. So what do you think will happen in free agency, um, in the draft trades, stuff like that. But Kelsey Mahomes beef. I

didn't, I was unaware there was beef. If there is some. He's about to be 35. So if there is beef, it's not going to last that long because Kelsey won't be in the league too much longer. And if he is, he's not going to be the same player that he was. Father time always wins, especially for the tight end position. All right. um especially for the tight end position all right uh steve nunya says steelers trade for justin fields um cj and i were talking about this earlier on in the show i think this would be a good a good fit for him a team that is looking for a quarterback um they already drafted one recently so

this would probably mean that you are going to that you don't want to commit another draft pick to it so go and get justin fields um and the best part of this is it won't take a first-round pick to get him. It'll take, at worst, a second-round pick, which league consensus says that's what he's going to go for, around a second pick. And it could be third, fourth, either way. Better than a first. All right. Patrick Mahomes' own said,

Chiefs re-sign sneed and jones um these are two positions the corner and the the cornerback and the defensive line or edge rusher i mean he's chris jones is basically a pass rusher he's used that way um these are very expensive positions so with that in mind um it's going to be tough for them to re-sign them but mahomes wants to restructure his deal so it could happen um all right ian mulhern said justin jefferson gets traded and Chris Jones goes elsewhere. So Chris Jones, he wants a lot of money. So if he does leave, then I see that being a possibility. And there's a lot of teams that need help on their interior defensive line. So Chris Jones has already won a couple championships. Maybe he wants to be paid now and be okay with losing.

Washington is a team that sticks out for me. Justin Jefferson being traded. It's a pipe dream right now. And it looks like Jefferson wants to be a Viking. But if it falls through, I wouldn't rule them out trading him right now because this is where he's still under contract for a little over a year so it would make sense for them to go in and trade fields now while his value is sky high and we teased this during the during our last episode, CJ and I. If they wanted to trade him,

they'd still be fine. They have TJ Hawkinson, they have Jordan Addison as a wide receiver one, and they don't really have the quarterback. Yes, they have Kirk Cousins, but how long do they have him? And if they don't resign him, even if they do resign him, if they do resign him, or excuse me, if they don't resign him, then, I mean, you still need a quarterback. So I don't think Kirk Cous cousins was the guy anyways he was a very talented quarterback he didn't look like the guy who's going to win you a super bowl um all right grayson mortimer said aj brown gets traded this is a guy who has caused some issues in the locker room apparently for the eagles so if they wanted to go

and trade aj brown um they would probably get a first round pick out of it he's still one of the best wide receivers in the game and he's fairly young i believe he's what 26 27 he's not 30 yet so he has that going for him so So he's still a good young wide receiver where if he's traded to a contender, he could still win a ring. In fact, be a focal point of an offense that does it. Aaron Wise said, Aaron Rodgers gets traded to the commanders for four first round picks. I'm not even entertaining that idea,aron come on he's not the jets are not going to give up aaron rogers number one number two he's not going for four first round picks he's 39 in fact he's going to be 40 all right ryan burke said t higgins gets franchise tagged then traded amid not wanting to play under tag if the yeah if the bengals franchise tag uh

t hagens one of two things is going to happen either he's going to resign under a big deal or they trade him they're not going to let him hit free agency again they're not going to let him play under the tag i think he's going to i think that the bengals want to resign him badly enough so that the deal will get done. And if it doesn't, he's going to get traded. That's all our responses and all of our scheduled content. And with that, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us.

We have new episodes out on Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and Fridays at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, and so much more. Also, be sure to follow our Instagram at FumbleRooski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we'll see you next week over and out.