The Fumblerooski Podcast - You Get A Tag! -Ep 426 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

On today’s episode, the Dolphins clear out cap space and release Bradley Chubb and Tyreek Hill. What could be the outlook for Hill and what could the Dolphins do about Tua’s massive contract? The Franchise Tag Window has opened, a look into the top Tag candidates and what could be the situation surrounding them. Could Trey Hendrickson ACTUALLY accept another tag from the Bengals? Would the Falcons handcuff themselves with tagging Kyle Pitts? Chris Costich, CJ Medeiros, and Justin Tucker talk all this and more!

On today's episode of the Full Maruski podcast, the Dolphins clear up some cap space releasing Bradley Chubb and Tyreek Hill. Along with that, we'll take a look at the top candidates for the franchise tag. This is a Full Marusky podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides.

Welcome back to the Full Maruski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting. We got C.J. Medeiros. We got Justin Tucker. We got myself Chris Costich. Thanks for joining us. Another Tuesday episode while the Olympics are going on. Do you guys catch any of the Olympics yet so far?

Got a week remaining. All right. Have knockout the winner Olympics? Haven't had the time. to. No, I haven't been watching either. How are we doing? How's the old US of A doing? Um, well, we're doing well, women's curling, no. The, sorry?

We're doing well the women's currant, though. Yeah, apparently they are currently, uh, on the verge of, uh, meddling for the first time ever or have the chance to, um, like total metal count, how are we looking? Total, uh, uh, the USA is currently third. Yeah, I'll take that. But, like, we haven't really gone into, like, neck deep into some of the other shit, because most of it right now is, like, Norway, like Norway and Italy are currently at the top, too, and they're just-

Okay, I like both of those countries. That's fine. And I will say about the Olympics. I said it before. I'll say it again for if anyone who didn't hear me say it last time. Flag football, when it comes to the Olympics, should be in the winter Olympics. There's nothing like a snow game. True.

I'd be interested. Yeah. I would be interested too. They'd probably still stick that in a dome or something. Gross. The league does it, so why not? Yeah. Hockey's been...

U.S. women's hockey's tearing assholes right now. That's for sure. Also, do you guys see a men's Canadian team yesterday? No. Put up a... Cheating. What? The curling cheating thing?

Yes. I did just hear about that. I don't know enough about curling to really even. And they had the decency. They tried to argue it too, but it's clearly obvious what they were doing. And it's like, all right. Yeah, like he's putting his hand like on a,

on the wrong spot of the rock, right? Like that's, that's the main thing. Yeah. But, no, I was the Canadian hockey team put up a 10 spot on France yesterday. foul.

Fuck the French. Damn. I mean, hey, they probably just, they probably just surrender that one too. Yeah. And the U.S. took back West Germany, beat him 5'1. I saw some great memes about the U.S. taking back West Germany. That was good.

Cool. That's our Olympic talk for the week. So we'll get into the Dolphins. Bradley Chubb and Tyrie Kill released. This wasn't the only moves that they made, but all in all, this was just them creating cap space at the end of the day. In terms of some of the other guys that got released as well, Westbrook Ekind also got released.

I'm just trying to look through. right now of who else. Oh, oh, you mean Nick Westbrook, Akina, that guy. Yes. I didn't want to correct you. I just, I was trying to think about who that was. No, that's okay. That was just my poor-ass attempt of pronouncing his name.

It happens. But the two big names, of course, were Bradley Chubb and Tyree Kill, and Tyra Kill is going to have a lot of money to be paid for probably not playing much this next season. Bradley Chubb was also set to make like 31-0, something like that. What else? What else? What else? I'm just trying to make sure I got everything here from today.

Yeah. For this year, though, Chubb's release clears out $7.3 million. of a five-year $110 million deal that he got back in 22. Also escapes $20.2 million in terms of next year or the year after. And they clear $22.9 million in cap space releasing Tyree Kill. So basically the question, so they were in the red going into basically this weekend. and with this they are now back in the green and they now have

2 million in captains which is not 21st in the NFL behind the Giants so they're in some yeah they're probably going to have to make some more moves they're most Miami Herald which is where I was getting some of those numbers from

they also talked about to a indie prospect of trading him. We were kind of talking before the show. If anything, they're going to have to eat a lot of that money as well. But Tua is currently due $54 million this next year. If they can't trade going verbatim from the Miami Herald, if the dolphins can't trade Tagovaloa, their choices are to carry him on the roster next season,

release them in March, which would reduce the team's cap space, by nearly 43 million or to designate him a June 1st release and split his dead cap money over two seasons, which is $99 million. It would reduce Miami's caps based by $11.1 million in 2006. Hmm. Thoughts from you, fellas. This situation, Miami is interesting. They're finally out of the red zone.

They're finally into, you know, positive. good one but they finally have some money on their books not much but i think this is a start i think it's also going to lead to the eventuality of what they're going to do with tua and how much money they can free up with that if they can get him traded uh anyone that's looking to contend it needs a pass rusher bradley tub is now available i now that he's available i kind of want him but i don't want him at the price that he was at i kind of want him for cheaper he's what 28 29 yeah he's he's 29 so he's still in his prime he's still i don't think due to injuries he's what he was but he still compared he's still very good he still got eight and a half sacks last year so he can still

get the job done so i'm i'm fine with him being on one side of my edge because quite frankly ravens need all the pass rushes we can get but oh no miami's and in a desperate situation. I'm not sure how they're going to move forward. I think it's just, I think they're aware they're not going to contend next year and maybe not the following year. I think this is just steps to get them in the right direction. And hopefully they can do something to that degree. I think the draft is going to be key in how far they're looking to go. And what they do on the draft is going to be instrumental for the next two to three years. I think these moves

unfortunate for fans of these players but I think Tyreekill wasn't going to play much anyway due to the severity of his injury last year and Bradley Chubb was just cap space move so nice job for the dolphins clearing up space but kind of hard to see

where they're going without the Tua's contract going anywhere Yeah DJ I'm sure everybody in the new revamped Dolphins front office is cursing the name Chris Greer as we speak. Because, oh my God, I remember, you know, we got canned midway through the season. It's, and honestly, like, the more you look back on it, the more it makes sense.

And we gave Tua that stupid deal, which, come on, even at the time, we knew it was not a good idea, right? I mean, I don't know anybody who said, ah, yes, Tua Tua Tua Tugaviloa, very, very much worth that. deal. And I know he was coming off a career year, but a one and done in the playoffs as well. And he was very obviously, you know, a Tyreek Hill merchant, right? Where it was clear that he wasn't developing the way he should. He just used his weapons as more of a crutch to kind of bail him out. And, you know, that's obviously just the wrong way to go about it. And like you said, Miami has agreed to eat a large chunk of his contract to move him, but the market's just not there. And I think he kept.

be serviceable. The real problem is he's horrifically injury prone because it seems like every year he gets another concussion. And honestly, and I said before, like on his last one, he should just retire, like hang it up. Dude, it's not going to be worth not having any kind of memory in like two years from now just because you wanted a few extra dollars. Like I'm concerned for I am. But as far as that goes, Chubb, like moving on from him sucked, especially because he's got to remember they traded Jalen Phillips

as well. So, yeah, that's going to suck, but they didn't really have a choice. And the thing with Tyree Kill getting cut is, uh, well, maybe I'm being needlessly alarmist, but low key, could his career be over?

Because think about it. He's not that great of a route runner. He's not a contested catch guy. He relies on pure speed. And we all know that wanes as you get older. And per Tom Pelliserro, it's unclear if Hill's even going to play next year. That was a big part of it. There's a very real shot he does not play at all because even though it was like a earlier season injury, his knee, it wasn't just an ACL tear. His knee exploded. You know, like he tore like, three or four parts of his knee.

And there might have been some structural damage as well. So at this point, what do you even do now here, Miami? I feel like you just kind of have to hunker down. And you can't even rebuild right now. You kind of have to clear out. It's like, you know, it's like building a new building where an old one was. You have to do the demolition. You have to clear out all the rubble.

You have to lay out new groundwork and then rebuild up. So they're not even in the rebuild. build right now, you're more of a tear down process. And you can only hope that new head coach Jeff Hathley and their new GM, who's from the Packers, whose name escapes me, are going to be granted enough time to actually, you know, rebuild. Yeah. I'm going to correct myself. So it is actually $56 million in cap that they're saving up for this coming season.

so that is that is true so you know i we're just chatting like about adam being like oh they just cleared up 56 mil i'm like what the fuck aren't he even get that i'm looking at 13 though what are you talking about i think it's across the next few seasons yeah no it's it's for this season all that in one season yep because uh well obviously cleared out hill bradley chubb clear out Nick Westbrook Kine and James Daniels, their guard. But I thought Bradley Chubbs' contract was going to be like $23 million in Dead Cat. Well, that's also true. Does that final number of 56 take dead cap into consideration?

That's what I'm trying to find right now. It doesn't say anything about taking dead cap into consideration. Because don't get me wrong, it did end up getting the dolphins into the green, but they're not exactly swimming in money either. Well, let's do the math. They were 17.4 million estimated 17.4 million over the cap about 24 hours ago at this time, which is 203 on Monday. But a day of all this news coming out, of course, 17.4 mil. So let's do the math, 56. so you're now

39 million over or under once again not taking into consideration dead cap which I don't think it did so we're going to have to figure that out this is okay this is why I said that the cap like doesn't actually exist it's just a fucking it's fairy dust

it's like the freaking stock market earlier before we started up the show it's because of shit like this because nobody actually understands the cap Nobody actually understands the cap. Nobody actually understands the stock market. They just fucking go in blind and see what happens. I think the Eagles and Saints understand the cap more than anyone.

No, no, no. The Saints understand the cap. You did not just say the Saints. Oh, you did. One of those slack-jod yokels that's mindlessly clapping at Mickey Loomis' Cap Janastics, despite the fact it's been fucking them for the better part of a decade. I'm not saying it turned out the way it was. just saying their ability to figure out how to pay originally it was supposed to pay

Drew Brees's contract and then they just kept doing it with no reprisals for what happens in the future. That's what happened. No, yeah, it did. But yeah, that's like after gymnastics, that's just willful ignorance. I mean, you can only kick the can down the road for so long. And they finally had to like take the last two seasons to actually try to get out of the red. And they think they still got another season or two of it, at least one. This year, they're already starting out in the red. It could be their last year, but still, like, they had to really suffer. And for what? To be below mid? Yeah, but then the Eagles did a better job of it.

They're just about 42 million under over the cap right now. They put the Eagles put the guarantee money up front and then put like dead numbers later. So if they want to resign, they'll just resign again, but they'll push it. They'll kick it down better. so it doesn't impact the cap as much as you think. And yet it still kind of did, but I understand. They won a Super Bowl guys. Yeah, but, okay, yeah, but they were still able to, like, pay Seekon,

because the cap situation was nowhere near as bad as the same. It's like, that's kind of a false equivalence. That's why I said they did it better, because the idea is the same. The execution was better. But enough, we're harping on the wrong thing here. Either way, it... It will never make sense to me.

All right. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we'll get into a bit of a franchise tag preview. See who's the biggest candidates upcoming and maybe time for a little CJ rant. Of course, the yearly CJ ran of the franchise tag. This is the Fulburyski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns.

Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver. versus a rookie truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumbler'ski podcast. Let's get into franchise tag. Opens tomorrow. That's what you were saying, CJ? It does, yes.

Or today when the episode comes out. Yeah, today. Tuesday is when it opens. I hope from here on out, we just start referring. to the days like the actual days instead of today, tomorrow, da-da-da-da. Yes, the 17th when the episode comes out, it will be

open. So, sorry, I thought it was about a cough for a second there. There's some good franchise tag candidates. I wanted to touch on this one first because it's the Ravens. Tyler Linderbaum.

I don't think, we can't afford it. No? You can't afford that? You can't afford to franchise take him and then try to pay him. We either pay him or we don't. An estimated 27.9 mil for an offensive lineman? He's worth it, but we can't pay it right now. We need to extend Lamar first before we can even see if we can pay it. And you have to deal with Marlon Humphrey as well.

We don't have to deal with anything. He'll either. Whatever. I'm acting at the franchise. I'm acting as if I'm the franchise here. I'm wanting to bring that number down. If not, we might have to trade them. Yeah.

Hopefully we can turn that into like a signing bonus or something. Now the problem with the tag, I'll get to the rant later unless you want me to do it now. Just let me know. Yeah, just do it now. Okay. All right, here we go. The franchise tag is a gross abomination on the game of football.

the NFL is a league itself. You know, I say it every year, so I'm just going to speed run this. If you support the franchise tag, I suggest you go into your kitchen, find a fork, and pay the nearest socket little visit, because maybe that should shock some sense into you. The problem with the tag is that it's way too powerful. Penn does you have to hit paper? It's just a verbal agreement, or it's a verbal thing. say, Chris, you're, you're a player and I'm the GM. I'm like, hey, dude, oh, yeah,

we're going to, we're going to tag you. Like, yeah, that's it. That's where the conversation starts and ends. Like, you're done. You're stuck. And the player can't reject it. It's foisted upon them. And you, and like I said, like, and if you disagree to it, or if you don't agree to it and you say, I don't want to do this, then, then guess what? You don't get paid. And you don't get anything. And the lead just kind of, and you're just kind of stuck there. And if it were one year, then maybe you could twist my arm into dealing with it. Oh, but no, you can apply it, I think a total of like three times or something like that. Or twice, but anything more than once is an abomination. Like, you could literally waste up to three years of a player's

career. And it's like, and the players hate it. Like, they are always trying to get rid of it and they can't. And I know usually when it comes to owner-player disputes, I find sometimes what the players want unreasonable. But now, their hatred of the franchise tag is just. It is just so, I mean, I know the world's not fair, but the tag itself is just so grossly unfair. And if you're a team, congratulations. If you have a disgruntled player, and I know the whole argument of, oh, well, you don't want to lose the guy for nothing. Well, tough shit. Because for a team, you're a tag and trade, unless you can find a real sucker, you're probably not going to get a first round pick. It has happened, but it is not likely to happen because you don't have any leverage.

And if you can't find a trade and that player's just going to sit out. Like, you know, like, and you know, you look at our intro where I say, it's a lose little scenario for both sides. I was talking about the franchise tag. It literally is. And the most popular argument for keeping it is, well, it helps the small market teams retain their stars. Seriously, that's their big argument of, oh, well, the big markets are just going to pick up all the small market stars. My response is, this is not baseball. That is not how the NFL salary cap is engineered. It has a hard cap.

Everyone has the same amount and you do not go over it by the time of kickoff of the next year. You cannot be over. Every team is the exact same amount to spend. There's really no advantage unless you're, or disadvantage unless your owner's cheat. That is such a stupid, nonsensical what aboutism argument. So yeah, get rid of the tag. We must do the tag. All right.

There you have it. CJ's yearly rant. All right. get into some other guys uh cal pits he's up to potentially be tagged and i don't want to get my two cents on linderbom i'm sorry oh yeah sorry i forgot about linderbom it is actually like an issue that i do it with the tag itself i can marry these two issues there is no difference for offensive linemen so so obviously you know the tag is like what was like the top the average the top five highest paid contracts for a certain position so it doesn't go

left tackle, left guard, center, et cetera. It doesn't even go tackle guard center. It's just O-line. So even though Linderbombs a center and a damn good one, you're going to be paying them left tackle money. So I just think that's kind of screwy in and of itself. That's all. Yeah.

All right, Cal Pitts. Ended up having his best year of the five seasons that he's had after a very bustworthy first four. Fifth season ended up with 88 receptions, 928 yards, and five touchdowns. When Drake London went down, he was very good. So, and that's the other problem, though, with Cal Pitts is like, he finally has this breakout season, but the other four were bad. You don't want to sign him to an extension because it could just be a one-off.

So I feel like this is really the only viable thing that makes sense for the Falcons to do is tag him and see what happens next year. Thoughts? You also have to look at the contract situation with Drake London and see if you have money left over because he's coming up as well. Yeah. And sooner or later, you have to extend him or you have to extend Kyle Pitts because there's not enough money for everyone. And then after Drake London, surprise, surprise, Bijam Robinson is coming up. So you have to be aware of those three players. I think Kyle Pitts is a very good player when put in the right system, when actually used properly.

But you have to decide right here right now, who do you want? Do you want Drake London or do you want Kyle Pitts? And then you have to stick with that. and that's going to be hard. If you franchise tag them, it might be good for right now, but it's going to be a problem when both of them are up in free agency,

and you can't franchise tag both. One of them will have to walk. So yeah, either you pay them now or you won't pay them at all. So I don't think the franchise tag will help. I think it'll just make a bad situation worse. Ceday.

I have to agree with talk I do think there's enough money for two players. So obviously it's been in the next three years, you've got Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bejohn Robinson. I think you can have two. You can't have all of them. And I'm going to be real, even though it looks like he's turning a corner, although contract year guys are notoriously kind of iffy.

Why isn't Kyle Pitts the odd man out? I mean, Drake London is a fucking beast, and Pitts is still fighting the whole bust label thing that's just been following him since he was drafted into the league because he was solid his rookie year. But then he's just kind of been ass. And you could argue what's the system. And I would say so too. But it's one of those things where we got to see more. And Bejohn Robinson is like a top five, that's being conservative running back in the league. I think Pitts, by virtue of just past performance, has to be the odd man out.

Because I think Drake London's a great wide receiver won. Bejohn is honestly probably top three running back in the league. At worst, top five. I would consider him top two and not two. Hey, I'm just trying to, you know, but. No, I, you know, I don't. It's an argument. It's one.

And, but Pitts is just kind of the odd man out here, you know. And I hate to say it because I think he can't be good. But if you're Atlanta, this is one of those times where you have to put your future needs over like your present wants. Yeah. Also, as long as Kirk Cousin's contract is still on the books, nah, you got to worry about that first. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Pitts is definitely the last priority in terms of extensions, especially with B. Jean and Drake London and could definitely see him being the odd man out come next year but in terms of tight ends estimated franchise tag value 16.3 mil

looking at the next one CJ you kind of brought this up I want to say yeah it was last week last episode I think Trey Hendrickson so I'm looking at ESPN right now

I'm just going to go verbatim from Ben Baby on the SPN. There are a few reasons why this isn't a viable option. For starters, Hendrickson would make $30.2 million on the franchise tag based off a salary for last season. As soon as the tag is placed on Hendrickson, he can accept it immediately and lock in that amount as fully guaranteed. And with him turning 32 next season and coming off an injury short in 2025, that could be more guaranteed money than he would receive on the Open. and market itself. Yeah. Well, the Bengals should.

And don't get me wrong, the Bengals actually have a lot of cap space, but they also have a lot of issues. So that tracks, right? Yeah. The thing is, so how much is it, Chris? It would be 30.2 million. Well, the Bengals have 52.7, according in cap space, according to Spot Track. So that's over half of it, just like that, gone. And something else that I think we really need to take it to consideration here is not just the injury, not just that.

And say he doesn't want to be there. At this point for him, it's not about the money. He doesn't want to be there. And they, and yeah, and I know in the NFL a handshake deal or a promise means nothing until Penn hits paper. But they literally said, all right, if we shuffle some more money towards you, can you just play one more year for us and then we'll let you go? that's literally what they said. And now they're saying, hey, yeah, we might tag you again. And keep in mind, bengals, this is like, this would, I believe, be like the third time they've tagged them or something to that effect, or at least second. Because I know it's not the first.

And every time you tag a player, it gets more expensive. So it literally does not have to be this way. You made it this way. And honestly, I feel like signing someone like Trey Hendrickson is a win now, move. And Bengals, you are in no position to win now. I mean, on offense, maybe, not on defense. Well, like, that's, I guess that's the thing is, like, do you use this move to get one of the better defensive players in the league? But granted, he's 32 coming off of an injury-filled season, and use the rest to beef up the defense. Like, you could just. Chris, that I say every year, one of the rules of the salary cap is you never have as much room as you think you do. Yeah.

Because like I said, so, so, you know, it's $30 million out of like $52.7. And I say this every year, you got to save anywhere, depending on where you're picking, the Bengals are going to be picking in the top 10. So you're probably going to have to save anywhere from $7 to $10 million for your rookies, you know, your incoming rookie class. That's huge. And also, if there are other players on your team that, need an extension, like I think Chase Brown might be coming up.

I'm not entirely certain. Then you're going to have to look into that as well. Yeah. So if you want to blow half your money on one player, then you can be my guest, but it's not that smart of an idea. Shit, I mean, like, we were just talking about Bradley Chubb. You could just sign 29-year-old Bradley Chubb to an $18 million deal, and you're saving $12 million just doing that.

Exactly. That would be a much smarter move. Yeah. And I guess that's the other thing is that there's not really a lot of defensive candidates that you're really like, wow, I need to go out and get this guy. Like I'm talking like edge rushers, I guess, since the two guys that we just brought up were Hendrickson Chubb to be an edge rushers. And the other ones, the other top ones in terms of AavV right now, Hassan Reddick and Joey Bosa. Both of them are over 30. Yeah.

So there's that. But some stuff to think about. Tuck, where are your thoughts? You're muted, bro. Sorry. This could be a very interesting all-season with the franchisee. I don't know who's going to get franchiseeag,

but I see some very interesting potential candidates for it. George Pickings can get it. that one in Dallas is interesting because I'm not sure if first of the cap space right now they can't do it because they're like negative something in the cap so unfortunately they can't even pull it off but no the cowboys with George Pickens oh well we're not on George Pickens yet we're still on oh you're still on sorry sorry Trey Hendrickson I'm sorry let me get back to it Trey Henderson. They should have gotten written.

They should have traded him last year when he asked to leave. They should have traded him when he actually had more value. Now that he's older with more injury history, effectively, they either have to franchise take him again this year to pay him more money, which is like, what, 30 million to keep him, or effectively let him walk for nothing. All they had to do was just pay him. earlier, which they should have done. Now they kept kicking the can, kicking the can with these franchise tags.

Now that they're in the position that they're in, they're about to lose one of their best pass rushes or have to pay him $30 million. Well, his market right now is, well, franchise tag, as we mentioned, would bring him to 30.2 mil, but if they let him go, then he lose five mil, essentially. It also, what you have to consider is I know you keep saying, oh, they should have paid him sooner, but he also, the tag, I would argue, was applied to him also out of spite. He wanted to leave, and they just said no. And when you have that situation, you can't trade him because you're just going to get lowballed because you have no leverage. But my argument to that was they should have paid him before they paid Teague.

Yeah, they should have, but it's also the Bengals. Like, they've shown, and I said before, I've never seen a team that fancies himself a contender, be this okay with losing. And I'm going to say it again, like, their GM, I forget his name, I think it's, is it Barry or is the one for Cleveland? I don't know. You know, two Orange Ohio teams. Andrew Barry's the Browns GM. Okay. Yeah, thank you.

But still, but point, point so. The de facto GM for the Bengals. Okay, thank you. My point is that they have shown exactly zero foresight when it comes to this. And honestly, for the love of like all parties involved, just don't use the tag here. It's literally, and I say this, I'm going to say the line funny, a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Like there's literally just no winners by using the tag here. Yeah.

All right. Now let's move on to George Pickens. Yeah. Chuck, you kind of briefed it already. You know, the Cowboys are approximately 31 million over the cap right now. The other thing, too, is that Pickens has said that he wants to return. Jerry Jones wants to have him back. Same thing with Brian Schoenheimer.

And, well, the last time that the Cowboys had a situation was like this was Des Brighton, which they tagged him and then they agreed to a long-term deal, is evidently what is going to end up coming from this whole thing once they tag them as a long-term deal is going to end up happening right afterwards. It's just a matter of what do they do about the rest of the team after that. Which they're going to have to make some cuts. They're going to have to essentially, they may have to do the same thing that they just did with, or that the dolphins just did.

Tuck, do you want to finish out your point? Yeah, I think that defense is going to get slaughtered. I know Kenny Clark is up. I personally want him in Baltimore because I think he's a good and very good detackle. Maybe not what he wants was, but he's still very reliable for a defense. I think they're going to try to keep Quinn and Williams. I think they're still, I think they have plenty of pieces,

but the question is how they're going to manipulate the cap to keep most of the pieces still intact. This is going to be a rough one to handle. Offensively, I like what they did offensively, especially when they had both George Pickens and C.D. Lamb on the field. But Javante Williams is also going to be a problem, too, trying to maintain him. Because he showed out last year as well. So, oh no, I think Pickens should be the priority, but they're going to lose plenty of pieces in the off season due to free agency or just not being able to pay certain guys.

So you mentioned Kenny Clark. He's not up after this season. He's up after the 27th season. But right now there's a part of the contract where they have a potential out for this season where they have zero money in debt cap. And it would just be 31.3 off the books just like that. mentioned Quentin Williams Quentin Williams on the team till 2020

potential out for next year which also the same exact thing no dead cap was there another player that you had mentioned Devante Williams Devonte Williams God I can't I can't find him on here

for some reason. Because he's a free agent and he's not on the bill. Yeah, that's right. So, yeah, there's your potential outs right there, which, I mean, if you get rid of Kenny Clark, I mean, that just frees it up just like that. Yeah. CJ?

Well, the Cowboys are over 30 million in the red. And even if you did get rid of Kenny Clark, then like I said, what are you going to do for your rookies when they're coming in. What are you going to do for your defense that needs saving badly? And it gets to a point where, honest to God, if you choose George Pickens over the entire defensive side of the ball,

then someone, maybe his son's going to have to strip Jerry Jones of his GMing ability, because he's so focused on the shiny, flashy, dangly object that he absolutely just loses sight of literally everything else. and honest to God, I've heard rumors that Pickens just might be a tag and trade where I don't hate that,

but you're not going to get a, I don't care if he's coming off a career year. It is very unlikely you get a first rounder for him. I'm hearing second is the asking price, which I think is reasonable, as far as like all sides getting something they want. So that's my thing. I could definitely see Pickens,

if he's tagged, that I, this is one of those rare scenarios or I would fully expect like a tag and trade. Yeah, I can see that too. Moving on to the next couple of guys that could get a tag. Over at the Colts, Alec Pierce. So Pierce having a career year this year.

The Colts I've used the tag once since 2013, and that was on Michael Pittman back in 24, and he signed a long-term deal two weeks later. So that could be another one where Colts tagging long-term sign at that point, which Adam would be furious about because he wants Alex Pierce on the Patriots. Don't you also want Alex Pierce on the paths, Chris? I'd like Alex Pierce on the paths. I'd like that. I'm not as big of a – I guess I'm not like as big of an arguer about it than Adam is.

Let's say that. I see. Yeah. That would be a good move for the Colts, though. I mean, just stick with your wide receiver one or wide receiver two, essentially, and they have the gap space for it. Yeah, but, oh, sorry, I was just going to say that's 28 mil guaranteed, and the Colts only ever go around and call it 35.

And also, I love Pierce as a player. I mean, I was really high on him coming out of Cincinnati, but. Low key, he's kind of a one-trick pony, you know? His whole thing is run a go-rout. That is where the Alec Pierce experience begins and ends. I am not interested in debating this point. I'm not interested in having an open discussion. He is a one-trick pony if you disagree, whatever.

Like, I just, I don't care. That's really what it is. I just, I don't know how I would. feel not even just as a Pat's fan about about any team paying him wide receiver one money i just that's just kind of iffy to me you know yeah i mean i'm not going to argue the one trick pony or anything like that but you know it's a big argument with at least on adam's side is uh you know you're he could develop into way more than what he is right now i guess tuck any thoughts they need to sign they need to do whatever

text they can to sign them because they don't have a first round pick so any first round wide receivers they could have are gone anyway I don't think they'll be around and they don't have any picks so quite frankly they need to do everything they can to keep the team that they have or try to free up cap space in the way they can to make sure to disrupt the pieces that they need in order to make another run at it yeah um next one on the list is um Probably Daniel Jones, if I had to guess. Yeah, Daniel Jones is another one that was listed. I mean, if we're staying in Indy,

is that really a wise idea? Because, yes, I know he was having a really good year. He was gone out, et cetera, et cetera. But an Achilles injury, I don't know. That's a really if you basket to put your eggs in is all I'm saying. I have recently. And when he had. And when he's when he had it too, like he's done for the entirety of next year.

Like, and what we've now seen from Rogers, from Kirk, the two most notable guys to have gone to kill his injuries. Granted, Daniel Jones is much younger than those two right now. But Daniel Jones has also been in the league. That's the other thing we have to remember is that Daniel Jones has also been in the league for a number of years now. He is considered a veteran. at this point. So seeing how Rogers and Kirk were the year after their Achilles tears, I mean,

may have to get like, who knows what we're going to get out of Daniel Jones right afterwards. And Steve could very well potentially revert back to old Daniel Jones. Okay, you're right. But Chris, do this mind exercise with me, right? He's a pending free agent. You could tag him.

And I highly doubt he plays. it all next year, right? And you most likely won't. Exactly. So I got my notes here. This is something that I had considered. All right. So you're going to be in this situation next year because this is basically just to keep him around. Yeah. And then you're going to have to reopen this next year where I just, I don't get it. Like, I mean, I'm not saying, oh, he needs to walk. He sucks, but paying that much money for a guy who's not even going to play next year. Because, you know, like, obviously the tags are one-year rental.

But, like, I just don't think that's a great idea. If you're able to get them, like, let's say three years, 20-mill, like eight guaranteed on the cheap, then sure, go for it. But the tag, a one-year rental of that proportion, a quarterback. That's just a really, really, really stupid idea. Yeah. And right now it's estimated 47.3 mil. No, no, bad. And I'm on spot track in the Colts of 34.9.

Yeah. Horrible idea. Yeah. They can't do it. No, it'd be smarter than you know how I feel about that. Yeah. Moving on. Kenneth Walker.

I don't think it gets tagged. Yeah, I think they just straightaway sign them. Yeah. They have to. And they have the money to as well. Yeah. They've used the franchise tag twice in 16th seasons under John Schneider. Once on a kicker, O'Lindo Maher, and the other time on Frank Clark linebacker, who they then treated.

So, yeah. Currently projected 14.5 million price tag for running backs as well. and Kenneth Walker is worth way more than that. Yeah, especially now. And we've seen this before with a lot of Super Bowl champions. Your free agents now are about to get like an extra five middle of year just because they have Super Bowl champ next to their names. However, I wouldn't rule out a tag and sign

because I truly believe the instant he hits the open market, teams are going to throw him the bag left and right. the saving grace is that they are top 10 in cap space. So you'd really only be contending with like teams that don't really have a running back like Washington or Tennessee. Yeah. Yep. Tuck, did you have anything you wanted to add? Nope.

I'm good on this. Probably the more, I would consider this one of the more interesting ones, Breeze Hall. Trade candidate at the deadline last season And he's currently entering his age 25 year And mentioned already 14 and a half million right now For the franchise tag on running backs And him and Garrett Wilson are the only two guys That are really their offense right now

He's currently looking for a long-term deal That ranges 11 to 13 million per year So that would be top five in terms of pay at his position. Transition tag at 11.7 mil is a possibility as well from Rich Chimini. I mean, it's good. Yeah, what choice do you have? Yeah, I feel like that. You kind of have to.

And you've got almost 79 million in cap space. So you can afford it. You know, running back tags aren't really that much. Well, been referenced to everything else. So I, the thing is, if Breece Hall wants out and you tag him, then you kind of, you've got a situation on your hands then. I feel like you kind of have to clear the air with him. You know, like really like read the room kind of like see what he does. Because if you think there's even a chance he holds out if he's tagged, then you're screwed because teams I highly doubt are going to pay a first round pick for a.

running back. Yeah. And with the Jets, too, even though they have a lot of cap space, you have to realize the suck tax is a very real thing. Yeah. And they're probably going to have to pay that to keep haul around. And I'll see,

I'm getting the hell out, but that's just me. Yeah. Well, that's the other thing, too. You know, like the Jets, this past deadline, they traded two guys that should have been franchise guys. And now they're keeping two guys.

that are also assumably franchise guys, but who knows, they could also be on the move at the deadline for next season. So nothing's really, like, if you're the Jets, like, you've already shown

nothing is set in stone, and Lord knows if it's going to be set in stone by week nine of next season. Yeah. I think that's all the big names, I really wanted to touch on for the franchise tag window, but any others that you guys wanted to hit on? Kaleo Mac.

Kleeo Mac. They usually don't use it on guys like that. It's possible. Chargers do with the money to make it happen. There's another one. Rashid Walker of the Green Bay Packers is one of the most underrated tackles in the league. And with about, with almost like 28 mil, they'd have to pour into them for a team that's barely in the rat.

I think they're like negative four. That could be something to watch out for because they still, they might have their Bakhtiari replacement, but he's going to cost him. And Jalen Phillips for Philly, who they just traded for. And as much as I think he could be good, does his injury history really warrant 26.7 million guaranteed?

Really? Philly's not exactly swimming in cap space either, so do it that way you will. You might have to think about that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Philly's only got 9 mil in cap space available right now. I don't know about that one, Jim.

Any other guys? No, I'm good. No, that's all that came to my head. Pause. Other news around the league that happened today and throughout the weekend. Monday, Browns hire Falcons Rutenberg as defensive coordinator. Flurry is going to be named as the new offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, and the Raiders are hiring Seahawks quarterback coach Janocko as their OC.

solid yeah that it i think that's that has rounded out all the NFL news from the weekend anything else do you guys want to touch on before we close it out no nothing i can immediately think of uh there is one thing i don't know if you saw with the uh the giants apparently joe Shane was demoted. Yes, yes, he got demoted or not like not entitled, but in terms of what he's doing, he's been demoted to scouting, which. Yeah, that's like always. Which, which honestly, if I'm getting paid GM money to just scout players, is that really a demotion?

No, no. Is that really a emotion? That's cool for him. He was moved to third on the totem pole because, you know, there were all those rumors that Harbaugh didn't want to have to answer to him, which that tracks. Makes sense. And there's a tiny, tiny bit of draft news. What would that be?

Obviously, Fernando Mendoza is QB1 and he is going to the Raiders. It's looking like Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson could be taken in the first round because a lot of teams view him as like a developmental piece. And apparently the Rams are kind of smitten with him. And you could really see them perhaps using Pick 29 to grab them. Oh, that's going to be tough, though, because maybe he doesn't make it past the Jets a second time who need a quarterback. I don't know. Just food for thought.

Yeah. Speaking of draft stuff, do you guys see the news about Trinidad Chambleus? Yeah, it gets a sixth year in college. Just go to the NFL. Seriously. Like, that's where I stand on. I think he should stay in the league. And even more, or he should go to the league, not stay in college, I mean.

And next year could be a very stacked QB class. I don't even know if he'd be QB 5 next year. He definitely be QB too. He's definitely capable of being the second best quarterback in this draft. This year, I personally add him at four. You had Simpson over him? Yeah, I have Simpson over him. him and him and Nussmeyer i think you could go either way although it depends on the day i still

have simpson over him so at best your qb3 this year next year next year there's a very real shot if you're trinidad chamberliss right yeah you are not even qb5 and uh real quick just do this little mind exercise with me here fellows uh next year 2027 quarterbacks so maybe you get Chambliss, right? Yeah. He's going to have to fight against Arch Manning, Julian Seyan, Dante Moore,

possibly Jada Mayava, and Lenora Sellers, and Sam Levin. That is a murderous role at court. Oh, and for what it's worth, John Matier as well, and maybe possibly even Nico Amaliava and DJ Lagway

if they can turn it around. Nico needs to turn it around before I even consider him. I feel like we shouldn't be even saying Nico's name in general. Well, we know what he's capable of is my point. Do we, though? I think we're seeing what he's capable.

I'm just saying, like, we need to see more, but the ceiling is there. Same thing with DJ Lagway as well, that's all. Like, the ceiling is there. And if they can get their head screwed on right, then honest to God, there's a real shot that Chamberliss is QB10. Also, I didn't even talk about a Brendan Sorsby. transferring to Texas tech as well, which is going to be a problem in and of itself.

Yeah, I think we're currently seeing the ceiling of Nico right now. Okay, but either way, I'm just saying, you know what I mean. Yes. And even still, you're going to have old man Trinidad Chambliss in his sixth year, and age alone makes you a depreciating asset in the draft. Yeah. I'm just doing a quick search on Trinidad Chambliss right now. like let's say he was projected third round pick for this year if you had gone to the draft

his current NIL package with Ole Miss is worth over five million the NFL would have his third round salary would have gotten him 1.3 to 3 million hey I respect getting the bag I do but I just hope you're really good at your money because next year it could be bad like Like I said, so next year. You know what? If you don't want to talk about Amaliava, that's cool. And maybe you could say Lagway is not going to figure it out. Like you could sell me more on Lagway than you can't.

Okay, either way. Either way, he's not going to be top five because I would still put Archmanning, Julian San, Dante Moore, Jada Maya, and Lenore sellers over him. And for what it's worth, Sam Levitt also. And I would put Chamberlis squarely in that tier of Sorsby and Mateer as well. and lagway. Yeah. Okay.

So we're looking at QB9 or QB10. Yeah. But as a floor, I'd say. As a floor, like the only way he goes second round next year is if all these guys underperform and he like wins the Heisman. I could. I would say that Chambley could be just second round period next year. like I think

we'll have to see like I don't know like a lot I think would have to go right sure especially you probably need Maya and saying to and probably Manning to stay another year in college which could happen but I doubt it well the other I guess the other thing

you're you haven't mentioned either is the age of Chambliss compared to dudes like Arch Manning like Arch Manning like 20-21 right now and Chambliss literally mentioned Chambliss's age, but yeah. My bad. I didn't hear that. I think I was too busy looking up the pay of

Chambliss if he had gone to. He's much older than them, too. So he's going to, so, I mean, I'm not saying that to be hateful. I'm just saying that as a fact, he's going to be behind the eight ball. Like, guys like Tom Brady dropped to the sixth round literally because of his age, never

mind the physical factors. Like, but, all right um it's funny you know we're we're now at the eight like i think about baseball a lot in this day and age because like 20 30 40 years ago guys would just forego college to go to to because obviously you're not getting paid in college or unless you go to some big ass program that is paying you under the table but um like the only way you can actually make money and make use of your time is to go straight to the league, which is what so many players did back in the day. And now players are trying to stay in college to make more money than they would have in the pros.

Which you see that, which you also see that a lot with women's college basketball as well, which is why like Paige Becker's and Caitlin Clark stayed for four or five years. Yeah. All right. That's all the scheduled content that we have for you today. Thank you for tuning into another episode of. the Fumble Ruski podcast, new episode coming out on Friday at 8 a.m. We have all our episodes available on every single streaming platform,

including our YouTube channel, and please subscribe to that. Also be sure to follow our Instagram, Fulmuriski underscore podcast to keep up with the pod and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we'll see you on Friday over now.