The Kevin Sheehan Show - Deebo To DC

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Kevin opened with a recap of the pros & cons of the Deebo Samuel trade to Washington. The risk, the reward, the grade all included. JP Finlay jumped on to discuss the trade and what's next for the Commanders. Kevin finished with Terps, Ovechkin, and one more thought on the Samuel trade. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Debo Samuel in the backfield now. They're going to pitch it to Samuel. Right side.

Gets the block. Samuel puts it up field. Debo Samuel is in for the touchdown. We'll let him throw again. Wide open, Debo Samuel. Got a block from George Kettle. Debo Samuel, Francisco. A minus.

That's my grade on the D. Ebo-Samuel trade. I'm not bearing the lead. I'm getting right to it. I liked the deal. To me, it's very low risk. It's high reward. It's also another indication of the mindset of the organization. I think we got a hint of what it would be at the trade deadline when they dealt for Marshawn Latimore. But this is an organization that while this swing wasn't the biggest swing they can take, Miles Garrett, something like that would be. it is still an indication that they believe they can contend and win the Super Bowl in 2025. As a matter of fact, if they were to advance in 2025 to the Super Bowl on February 8, 26, the game will be played in Santa Clara.

That's a place that Debo Samuel is quite familiar with. That's where the 49ers play their home games. You knew that. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, Window Nation. 86690 Nation. If you need new windows, you can go to WindowNation.com as well. Mention my name. They'll take really good care of you.

I've got one guest on the show today. J.P. Finley is going to join me in the next segment. JP was out in Indy all of last week. We'll get his thoughts on the trade and a lot more. So let's get to it. The trade was reported during the day on Saturday. Remember, it cannot be finalized until the league opens for business next week. I think Adam Schaefter had it first.

A fifth round pick, the pick that Washington actually got back with Marchion Lattimore from New Orleans. That's the pick that's going to San Francisco for 49ers, wide receiver, running back, playmaker, weapon, whatever you want to call him, Debo Samuel. Washington will take on the entirety of Samuel's remaining one year on his contract. That's one of the reasons that it's only a fifth round pick for Samuel. He'll count $17.6 million on the skins cap in 2025. After that, as of now, he's not under contract after next season. So this deal, as we talked about on Friday's show, when we discussed the possibility of Debo to D.C., It includes the chance that Samuel plays one season in Washington, and that's it.

My guess is that the team won't extend him before the season begins. Extending him before the season begins would really just increase the risk on the deal, which is next to nothing right now. The risk on the deal? Let's start with, you know, the worst case outcome of this trade, because it's not a really awful worst case, you know, for a fifth round pick. But let's talk about the player and the worst case outcome on the player himself. The worst case is that Debo Samuel's best days are behind him.

You know, and Washington gets a diminished player who because of his physical style of play has seen too much wear and tear on his body. Last year for Debo was not a good season. for him, even though it's a season in which he would have actually finished second on our team in past reception yardage. But he caught 51 passes for 670 yards. If you take away his second season in the league when he was injured and only played in seven games, the 51 catches would be the lowest. The 670 yards would be the second lowest of his career. He rushed for 136, yards. That's the lowest of his career, again, other than year two when he only played

seven games due to injury. He didn't miss a ton of games just two last year, even though he did play, nicked up and dinged up, as he has many times during the course of his career, but he only missed two games. He played in 15 regular season games. Remember, some of the results of his season are also a result driven by the fact that the team wasn't very good around him. They were injured. That's the story of the 49ers in 2024. Too many injuries to overcome. There's been a weight issue with Debo Samuel. I had somebody on from the Bay Area on radio with me earlier today that talked about Samuel being as much as 20 pounds over weight last year. He had pneumonia at some point last year, other ailments as well, but the weight gain

was an issue last season. And one of the reasons people cited in San Francisco for the results being down last year. So if you get a diminished player, you know, who is not in shape, and the punishing style of play has just caught up with him, you know, calf injuries, hip injuries, shoulders, knees, wrists, ribs. It's been everything. He has been beaten up over the years. Interestingly, by the way, the number of games missed isn't the problem. He's only missed eight games in the last four regular seasons. But he's on the injury report a ton. He's just super tough and shows up when, you know, he might not be 100%. So if you get the diminished version of Debo, you'll lose a fifth round pick. The money, they've got plenty of cap space to absorb

$17.6 million. You know, with the John Allen, you know, eventual either release or trade or maybe, I mean, this would be a long shot, some sort of pay cut or restructure and he comes back. But basically, you take the $22 million that he was supposed to earn next year. That's not going to be a part of their salary cap next year. And Debo Samuel takes $17.6 million of that. Some people might say that, you know, the worst case includes more than just losing a fifth round pick. It's the lost opportunity of going after somebody else as your number two wide receiver. I don't view him as a number two wide receiver.

I view him as an added playmaker, as an added versatile weapon. We'll get to what the reward part of this deal is, because to me it's much higher than the risk. But there's no reason they shouldn't still be looking for a true number two wide receiver. Now, that might be resigning Diami Brown or resigning Noah Brown. that might be drafting a receiver on night one or night two of the draft. They're not done at receiver. They now only have three receivers under contract. Terry McClure, they're going to restructure his deal, I would assume.

Luke McCaffrey and Debo Samuel. But they're not done there, even if it's just about bringing back some of their own guys from last year. worst case, diminished player, not in shape, and again, some of you may say lost opportunity, I would disagree with you on that. I don't think this was their number two receiver move. I think this was another weapon for Cliff Kingsbury and Jaden Daniels and a weapon that will get to that if right is significant. So let's get to that, the reward part of this deal. The best case, which again, I think far outweighs the lows of the worst case. First, let me just kind of reiterate that understood here is that this is not a 6 and 11 team hoping to get to 9 and 8 and be a wildcard team next year.

You know, if this team wasn't a legit contender in 2025, then this isn't a deal that you make. It's not. But that's not the case here. I mean, it is tough to grapple with and get our arms around, but Washington is a team with a Super Bowl caliber quarterback on a rookie contract. That is, in the NFL, by definition, a window to go try to win it all. You know, a window to go for it. I've said it 30 times going back to mid-season when it became clear that he wasn't

just a good quarterback, but he was an exceptional quarterback. And we started to look at trade deadline options and additions. It was time, you know, when they were seven and two, even seven and three, seven and four, to recalibrate the recalibration. You know, you can go deep and maybe get to a Super Bowl in 2024 if you make a move or two at the trade deadline. Definitely in 2025. and maybe in 2026 while he's still getting rookie contract money.

This is a new space for us. You know what the 49ers did in 2022, Adam Peters, a part of that, when they traded for Christian McCaffrey with Brock Purdy on a rookie deal. It's nice to know that while Debo isn't a huge swing, not a Miles Garrett or a Max Crosby or something like that swing, it's a swing because you wouldn't do this, if you weren't trying to win big now.

So specifically, the upside reward of this trade specific to Adem Peter, to Debo Samuel, excuse me. First of all, Debo is 29 years old. And unless they sign him to a contract extension, which I don't predict, he's playing for a contract. You know, this is one of those contract years. He's got to play well. Adam Peters knows this player well.

He was part of the group that drafted him and he watched him flourish in San Francisco. And Adam we trust, right? I do. Well, if so, you have to trust that he believes that Debo's got something to prove and one last big contract to go out and get. He comes in healthy.

He comes in great shape. That's part of this upside. that you have to think Adam Peters believes will happen. A motivated in-shaped Debo Samuel with Cliff Kingsbury and Jaden Daniels, the possibilities are endless. This isn't a wide receiver. This is a playmaker. This is a weapon you are adding to your offense.

Screens, RPO's, lines up in the slot, lines up on the outside. He's involved in jet sweeps, fly sweeps. sweeps, touch passes behind the line of scrimmage to get the ball into his hands. He lines up in the backfield in 12 personnel, one back two tight ends, in 13 personnel, one back three tight ends. More interestingly, to me, though, is he lines up in the two back stuff that Cliff ran last year with B-Rob and with Brian Robinson, Jr., and with Austin Echler. Imagine it's him and Echler in the backfield together.

Who's getting the ball? who has to be covered. At his best, he's as competitive and physical as any receiver in the league the last several years. Again, if you want to call him a receiver. He's not good. He's elite after the catch. He blocks in the run game. As a pure receiver, when he is one, because he's not really one, but he's most effective against

zone coverage. What will Washington see a lot of with Jaden because you want to keep your eyes on the quarterback, not turn your head away from him? Zone coverage. He's better in motion than he is lined up versus, you know, a corner. He can, you know, certainly beat safeties and linebackers. But remember, Kyle Shanahan's system was different, you know, a lot more motion with guys like Debo. As a runner, the scheme was completely different. Lots of under center. All the zone run scheme stuff, all the bootleg stuff off of it. That's the Shanahan style of offense.

Here, you know, the run offense, a ton of shotgun with the quarterback involved in the run game, both by design and, you know, options, zone reads. I think Debo as a zone read running back standing next. to Jaden Daniels could be really interesting. He has great vision as a runner. He makes people miss at a really good rate. And he's certainly a guy that's difficult to tackle. Remember last year when we first started to hear from Adam Peters and Dan Quinn

about player traits, you know, the traits they wanted in the players that they, you know, built the roster on, the aligned vision, the secret. sauce, all that stuff. But they had this vision on the type of player they wanted, you know, they wanted that physical, you know, high motor, relentless energy, relentless competitor. And I said, Adam Peters, remember, comes from a franchise in San Francisco where that's what they look for. They look for the George Kittles and the Fred Warners. And yes, the Debo-Samuels of the world. Players who aren't afraid to get dirty. You can't play

wide receiver. You can't play offense for Kyle unless you block. The only guy that doesn't block is the guy with the ball in his hands and the quarterback in that system. And, you know, something I remember us talking about is look at the 49ers, man. Look at

Debo. Look at Kittle. They don't get tackled ever by one guy. Debo is the definition of you better pursue and gang tackle or he's not going to down. His style of play is a part of why this deal was done. He fits what they are looking for. You know, when they traded Jahan Dotson to Philadelphia, they had talked about, you know, they need to

see him in those preseason games, you know, play it out, run it out, even if the play isn't coming to you. And when they traded him, we talked about it, he's not a guy that fits their Charlie Hustle, you know, type. They want a guy that dives on the floor, loose balls over and over again. Jahan Dotson wasn't that guy. Debo is, has been. The other thing about him, the bigger the game, he's played really well. He raises his level.

Six seasons in the NFL, 12 playoff games, including two Super Bowls. One of the games he played in, playoff games he got hurt in, so it's really more like he started that game but came out early. It's really 11 playoff games over six seasons that he's played the duration. In those 11 games, 926 total yards of offense. And he came up even big on a couple of kickoff returns in some of those games along the way. I think Adam Peters is counting on a player that comes in Hungary with something to prove, and he's really counting on Cliff Kingsbury with Jaden Daniels, a quarterback,

to reinvigorate Debo Samuels, similar to the way that Austin Echler and Zach Ertz had bounce back seasons with Cliff Kingsbury and Jaden Daniels. You know, Echler, by the way, the exact same age as Debo. Debo will not have played at any point in San Francisco with a better quarterback than Jaden Daniels, but he's played on better offenses, talent-wise. You know, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Brandon Ayew, Joanne Jennings, the offensive line went healthy, excellent Trent Williams. But he hasn't played with a quarterback like Jaden.

To me, a fifth round pick for what you might get from Debo Samuel, given the current state of the franchise, which is we think we can win it all now, very much worth it. I mean, a fifth rounder, seriously? when it came up for the first time a few weeks ago, I thought it was going to take a lot more. So I was not necessarily for it, not for a second rounder or a second and a third or a second and a fourth. That would have been different.

This is a no-brainer for me. We talked about it on Friday when one of the suggested trades was two future fourth-rounders. It was actually a future fourth-rounder and a future fifth-rounder, which I said. said basically would be the equivalent of a fifth rounder today, you know, fourth rounders, future fourth rounders. And that's what it took. Why just a fifth rounder for Debo Samuel? Well, he's only got one year left on his deal and Washington's taking the 17.6 million cap hit. I'm surprised from San Francisco's standpoint that they're making this deal now. You know, we talked about this on Friday, If they make this deal without a post-June 1 designation, they've got to take a $31 million cap hit in 2025.

If they had traded him post-June 1, now they wouldn't have gotten the benefit of a pick in the upcoming draft, but they would have been able to spread out the $31 million over two years, more palatable. Or if they had just released them post-June 1. I thought that it was possible that they'd wait or make the trade. if they got a really compelling offer, I don't think a fifth rounder is a compelling offer. And I don't think it's worth taking a $31 million cap hit over. But maybe they had just kind of had it with Debo,

wanting to get traded, asking to be traded over and over again, and they just wanted to move on. But sign me up for this one, man. What were the chances you were going to get a player with the chance to produce at Debo's level in 2025? with your fifth round pick in the upcoming draft. Not very high.

A minus is the grade. In terms of what's next, plenty. They still have 40 plus roster spots to fill. You know, free agency basically a week away. I still think a player or two minimum, minimum will get re-signed among their free agents. I think several players could be resigned. I mean,

way for sure. I think as Zekees and Ertz, I think several of their free agents are coming back. They have to fill out a roster. In terms of, you know, the next big outside of their last year roster move, it's not going to be T. Higgins. Officially, it was reported, remember, a week and a half ago that he would be tagged. Officially the Bengals did tag him today. Rate and review the show, if you get a chance, especially on Apple and Spotify. Also, follow us on Apple and Spotify. Just hit the plus button or the follow button. That's a big deal for us.

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Schedule your fast free home estimate right now at 86690 Nation or visitwindonation.com. Jumping on with me right now is my friend J.P. Finley from Channel 4 Sports from 1067 the fan from his podcast. on Monumental Sports Network. JP can be followed on X on Twitter at J.P. Finley, NBCS. You were out in Indy all last week. I played some of your sound, the one-on-one sound that you had with Adam Peters, and I think Lance Newmark. You get home and they do this trade for Debo Samuel.

So let's start there. Your thoughts on the trade. Honestly, I fully expected that to happen. When I first got to Indy last Sunday, I guess. Like the first commander's person I saw said, the Debo to me.

Like, they, they were all over the Debo thing all week. And I think, I think, not to think delay, because obviously they got it done.

I think there was some discussion if they could work like a John Allen Debo thing. And that maybe slowed it down. But like, Debo for, I don't know if you know, Matt Mayoko, the covers the Niners.

He came on radio with us like Tuesday and was like, yeah, you can get Debo for us. fit. So I, I 100% thought that was coming. Dan Quinn on Wednesday. I think Stan D.

Stang asked him the question about, you know, what do you want in your skill position guy? Right. And DQ proceeded to say, like, violence and physicality. And I was like, dude, they're like he's describing Debo Samuel. Like, this thing's happening. So the Saturday night was kind of the

end of the formality of it occurring to me, I thought. Like, it seemed like it was absolutely going to happen. I wouldn't have minded if it was, you know, Monday morning instead of Saturday night, but they don't care what is better for radio and podcasts.

So what do you think of the trade? I like it a lot. I think for the skeptics, right? And there are Debo skeptics about injuries, weight, like whatever your skepticism is, even the contract, I think

the fact that you've got them for a fifth and there's no renegotiations. He didn't have to convert. There's not some extension coming, at least any time soon. And I think that makes it a flyer. It's a fifth round flyer for a dude that is only a year removed from almost a 1,100-yard season on a Super Bowl team. I think the design of Cliff's offense is so ideal for Devo with the amount of stuff that happens with the line of scrimmage. I think the fact that, you know, defense is facing Jaden Daniels,

probably, I mean, they tend to play a lot of zone because Jaden can beat you with his legs and they don't want corners with their back to Jaden. And Debo against Zone is significantly better than he is against man because he's not like a route runner. You know, he's not a polished receiver in that regard that gets open against good man corner coverage. But against zone, he finds those open spots and then is able to use his physicality and just like his tackle breaking ability. to get big chunk yardage. And, dude, last year was a down year for him. He had the pneumonia. People think he missed all this time.

He only missed two games. Now, it's not like he was productive every week, but he only missed two games. He only missed two games each of the last two years. I do think some of the injury talk outpaces the reality of it. But his production last year would have made him the second leading receiver on Washington. So even if you only get last year from him, it helps you for a fifth round fit. Yeah, the number of times he's on an injury report does not equate to the number of games he misses because he's a tough SOB and he shows up in place.

So I had somebody on from San Francisco today too. What did your guy say about the reasons they're moving on from him? Certainly pretty contract's part of it. I think, I honestly think the John Allen movement that's coming in Washington and the Debo movement from San Fran are pretty comparable. Like, it's not, sometimes a couple gets divorced or whatever, and there's not fighting. It's just time to move on. And that's the indications I've gotten from San Fran.

Last week, talking to people in Indy and what Mayoko said today, you know, it doesn't mean they're having been up to down. Debo is obviously like kind of a combustible personality, but I think you want that. And I think Washington can use that, especially on the offensive side of the ball, where they've got a lot of like really laid back kind of dudes. But Debo's obviously a way more in your face. I've heard the weight stuff, but I think last year it's hard to get a true answer on that. But my understanding is that Debo went to John Lynch and was like, listen, man,

I'd like to be traded. And Lynch is like, I don't know that we can do that. And they waited a couple days, and then they said, listen, if that's what you want, we'll let you do it. We appreciate everything you've done here. And that's just kind of how it went. Yeah, I mean, I think the difference between Debo and John is Debo really wants to leave. I'm not so sure John really wants to leave, certainly the area.

But he wasn't involved in that deal, even though there were a lot of reports that Washington offered him up. Real quickly, just diverting from the trade for a moment, do you think there's any chance? There's really no market for John, and he ends up back in Washington in 2025 on some sort of, you know, waived and then restructured deal? It's interesting. I don't... He's not coming back at $22 million. We understand that. But do you think there's any any chance that he ends up back here? I guess I wouldn't say definitively no,

but I think it's unlikely. Yep. And I do think the market exists, but I think fans are going to be disappointed. Like, NFL trades are wacky anyway. Yeah, I agree. I do think you're talking about, I think it's a pick swap.

I think it's like John. The thing I heard in Indy was an NFC, North team, John and a sixth, and you get a fifth back. Because the other team, like, why is that so low? The other team has to figure out the contract deal with John. John doesn't want to play without guaranteed money in the last year of the deal. So, like, there's, I mean, it appears Debo is going to do that. Maybe John will do that and bet on himself.

I'm not sure. I wouldn't rule it out, but I think it's more likely than not he's somewhere else. You just, I think, answered my next question, and that is, it sounds like you think what I think, which is more likely than not, Debo plays this upcoming season on his current contract without an extension. Yes. It's been, the indications I've gotten is that's the plan. Now, I do think if things go really well and you get into mid-October and it's going great, like maybe you try to get something done then, but I certainly don't think like when the new league year opens,

there's going to be a new deal or something. So what's next at wide receiver? I still think some part of OZ, Diami, Noah, I don't know who, but I don't think acquiring Debo means you don't bring any of those guys back. I think he definitely looked in the draft too. I think they could use a vertical threat. Something's got to happen.

They have now, assuming Debo passes the physical, they're only going to have three dudes under contract when the league year open. Right. You also do, another kind of important part of this that gets a little loss, especially in the pre-agency discussion. I imagine Peters and Quinn

expect a big leap in production from McCaffrey and Senate. You know, like if those dudes get more chances and then are able to do more, that could also really change your offense. Yeah, definitely. Do you think that any of their own free agents have sizable markets starting next week

if they don't and aren't signed by Washington and they hit the open market? Wagger played really well. and there's obviously the Pete Carroll thing in Vegas. That was like I asked Carol about Wagner and then Quinn got asked about Wagner going on the Raiders

a few different times by other reporters. So like that, that's a thing. I think Chin has a market. Maybe it's, that safety market's funny, right? Like we saw it with Cam Curle last year, but I think, I think Jen was really pretty darn good. I wonder like I'm trying to think, like, they won a free agency, like the headline that ESPN will break into the scroll with.

I don't think they have that kind of player. Does Diami have a market? I can't figure that one out. He played so well in the playoffs, man, and he has high-end speed. To have a market, like, will he be on a roster? Like, yeah, but I don't know. The other part of it and part of the trade for Debo, I just saw the bank. put the tag officially on Higgins.

The free agency, it used to kind of only be quarterbacks that you get to free agency outside of Bruce and Kirk. But like now a lot, really good players don't really get the free agency. So when you're counting on

building a team that way, it better be supplemental rather than like primaries. Yeah, I mean, you know, Washington, as Adam Peter, said last week, they've got the second fewest number of players under contracts. They're going

to be busy, but what are you expecting when next week comes around? I think it might be similar to last year. They have to play for volume, and they got a bunch of money, but they also have a lot of holes. And I think

when you only have, they only have the six draft picks, three in the top of 80 have some real value. I bet they move back. and try to get make three in the top 80 into like five on the top 100 is my guess you mean from 29 whether it's I mean it last year was the second round pick that netted them a four pick yeah um the disdine trade the sammerstall trade um maybe it's 20 i think the value at 29 is you go complete best player available and if you are to me i wouldn't want to move out of

29 because of the fifth year option because of the flexibility that gives you if you draft a that said they could certainly move out of any of it. I think they'll try to increase the picks. The problem with drafting late like that and not having a ton of picks is wherever they see holes, you almost have to address them in free agency because there's just simply no guarantee at the position you need of being able to draft the guy.

Because you pick 29, you could go into this. draft, like, all right, we got to add O-line, D-line, but if Luther Burden is there at 29 and then that Iowa running back is there in 61, like, you might just have to take other dudes because that's how you're bored falls. And I think

because of that, you'll see like a heavy volume play in pre-agency again. And maybe that's... I think Earth gets done. I think Earth gets done. I think Earth wants to be here. Tight with Cliff.

Tight with Jay. played really well last year. That one to me, I think I could see maybe even before the bell opened, but who knows, dude? They might just have to sign a bunch of guys again. Yeah, I think you said something that actually made me think of sort of describing the approach. Last year's draft is in some ways their free agency this year,

in that they're expecting development. from, you know, Newton and Senate and Coleman and McCaffrey and maybe a guy like Jordan McGee, who they loved before he got injured. And, you know, we're thinking about the players that they could sign to kind of fill some of these spots in free agency, whether it looks like last year's free agency class or there's another splash or two. There aren't many splashes really available, especially with some of the better players getting franchise tagged.

but maybe they're looking at it and saying, no, a lot of those young players we drafted, we liked, and they're going to ascend here, along with, by the way, the guys that they bring back. And I think you're right about Ertz. And I would expect, like, at least Zakias and maybe one of the Browns to be back at the very least. Yeah, I agree. One thing I'm really fascinated to see how they handle is the causing injury, because, I mean, he wrecked his knee on January 26th. Right.

Even if it's, even if it's an aggressive timeline, nine months, that knocks them out through week four. Yeah. I mean, that'd be the end of September. Right. And I wonder the guys kind of under contract right now would be Chris Paul, I think. Like, I don't think that's your, maybe Trent Scott. Trent Scott.

Yeah. I think he's a free agent, too. to double check. But I wonder if you don't try to bring in a veteran there on a one year. Like, obviously the name pops for us because of the history, but like sheriff's the pre-ageant. I mean, 33 now. Yeah.

Like, is that a one-year deal? And then you have a great, great locker room guy and all that? I don't know. I mean, the dude Zitler that missed the divisional round game for the Lions is a veteran type that if you look at what they did. last year with a lot of veterans on one-year deals. That isn't necessarily building for the future, but to your point about drafting, developing, and then supplementing,

I just wonder if there's not a veteran guard that they have to spend a little bit of money to get strictly because of that causing thing. I know a lot of the conversation centers around the tackle, but also this Miles Garrett thing, I think it's happening. I don't know that Washington has the draft capital to pull it off. You think what's happening? You think they will trade him?

I think Cleveland ends up trading him, yeah. But I don't know if you've heard this or noticed this or what, but it stands out to me greatly that Max Crosby has two years left on his deal without any guaranteed money. Usually guys have one year at the end of a deal without guaranteed. Crosby has two years left with no guarantees. And there's no way he's playing week one with that deal. And that doesn't mean he's not playing for Vegas and they get a deal done.

But, like, I just wonder if Garrett's not the only crazy piece that gets moved. And then I wonder, Khalil Mack in free agency. Doesn't Khalil Mack in free agency fit the exact Bobby Wagner mold from a year ago? Like, yo, this is a dude that's a first ballot Hall of Famer. He's one of the best players of his generation that is now a veteran, probably looking to win, win now, looking for a one year. Maybe it's two, but I'm guessing it's one. I don't know.

I think Edge is their biggest position of need, and if you are going to make a splash, I think there's splash players available. I'm not saying Max the same player he was, you know, seven years ago or whatever, but he could go. And, dude, when Fowler is another free agent case

that I can't wait to see what happens, because he popped with sacks. I mean, he finished with double-digit sacks, but like he was not a he's a negative run defender and they got abused on the edges in the run game and I wonder what they do there um you know a lot of interesting stuff with all that well there's no doubt that's their number one need their need is you know an edge defensive end run stopper and if he can rush the pass on top of that even better which is why I'd be all in on miles Garrett if I were Adam Peters obviously not to

the point where you're trading away everything, but I don't know how you feel. I've been very pro go after Miles Garrett if he's actually available. Sure. I just don't know. They can get it done from a money standpoint. I don't know they have what it takes to get it done from the draft capital standpoint. And I think it'll be really, but I don't think a Garrett trade happens before next week. I think if there is a Garrett trade, it happens in the draft. So I think we'll learn a lot about what Cleveland's going to do next week

if they sign Kirk or if Atlanta really keeps them or if they sign like Russ Wilson or something and then they draft Cam Ward or whatever. Like I don't, I wonder how irreparable everything is

in Cleveland between Garrett and the brands, but they could show him that they're still trying to be a winning organization and not going to like fully embrace the rebuild. He's right, however, Garrett's right to recognize Cleveland's never going to win

and it starts with ownership. Like you and I saw that movie for 30 years. I know that movie when I see it. Yeah. And Garrett's correct. I also, dude, he's going into a year with no guaranteed money. So what if Cleveland

figures out a way and they're making the highest paid defense player in the NFL and two years of his guaranteed, like his opinion on wanting out, might change. Yeah. You know, the interesting thing about the conversation about no guaranteed money left on a contract, I actually talked about this last week as it related to John Allen, is that when there's no guaranteed money left on a contract, that means they've already gotten all of the guaranteed money. And it's better to get it all up front or early on in a deal

than have it spread out over the life of a deal. I mean, teams do that so that they have more flexibility at the end of a deal because what's left on the deal is base salary. But the conversation really isn't applicable to great players like Max Crosby or Miles Garrett because they're going to collect the remaining money on their contract, even if it isn't guaranteed. I mean, nobody's cutting those players loose. They might trade them, but then the team that trades for them is going to pay it. But anyway, I digress. I know you got to run. Give me a hunch before we leave. Something that you just have a hunch might happen here over the next, you know, the next few weeks to few months. I think David Blow is the offensive coordinator of the Washington commanders in 2026.

No doubt. 100%. Cliffs a head coach and Blow's the O.C. Yeah, and Cliff takes. I don't know. I'm curious who Cliff takes. David Rye, the tight ends coach, I think goes with Cliff. I wonder what happens with Tevita.

I wonder what happens with Anthony Lynn. or what happens. Brian Johnson. There's a lot of moving parts there, but I think there's... DQ has built a really good staff, man. I think it's pretty damn remarkable. They held on to just about everybody this offseason. Thanks for doing this.

I know you've got to run. I hope you're well. I am good, man. You good? Yep, all's good, and we'll get together in the spring. Almost golf season, dude. Okay. J.P. Finley, everybody. All right, a few things to finish up with when we come back

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That's a free estimate, free inspection, and 30% off at L-E-A-Filter.com slash Kevin's show. See representative for warranty details. Trying to get by Baldwin on the kick to Rice. He made one old game, and he puts the Terps up by four. Good win for Maryland Saturday in State College against Penn State. Rodney Rice hitting that baseline jumper. after going one for his first 12. He knocked that one down that gave them the cushion they needed to hold on for a 68-64 win.

The Terps are up to number 13 in the latest Associated Press poll. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. MyBooky's got everything you need for March Madness. Plenty of bracket contests, all the games. Go to MyBooky.ag. use my promo code, Kevin D.C. You'll get a cash bonus when you sign up. I was just checking the NFC odds to see if they changed at all because of the Debo-Samuel trade. I didn't expect them to. The Eagles are the favorite to win the NFC championship plus 300. The Lions at plus 400.

The Niners are still third at plus 650 and Washington's at plus 900. After that, it's the Packer. at plus 900 and the Rams at plus 1300. MyBooky.ag, fair numbers across the board, fair pricing. MyBooky.orgie.ag use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. I'm going to end the show with another thought on the Debo Samuel trade, and I'll get to that here in a few moments. Real quickly on the Terps win. That was a defense in the, the second half victory for them. They were down six at halftime against a team that's been playing

better, a team that was playing on senior day, their final home game. They needed to win Penn State did to have a chance to make the Big Ten tournament. 18 teams in the league this year. The bottom three don't even qualify for the postseason conference tournament. Maryland looked a little sluggish at times in the first half. But really, it was their defense in the first half that wasn't good enough. It was much better in the second half. And I thought that Juju Reese, Julian Reese, had one of the best defensive days of the season of any big guy you will see. He messed up one pick and roll after another. He had six steals. He's a center. He had six steals in the game. He only had four points.

He was two for 10 from the floor and missed his only free throw. By the way, a bit of a trend. He's missed a couple of free throws in the last couple of games after being so good for about an eight, nine game stretch. He had 15 rebounds, six steals and three block shots. He altered another three shot attempts by Penn State. He got hands on a couple more balls, two or three that disrupted plays. I thought his defense was exceptional, especially in the second half.

and I thought Maryland's defense in particular was the key to the game. There were some horrible calls in this game. Reese got called for a flagrant in a play in which both players should have been hit with fouls. It should have been a double foul move on. They hit him with a flagrant. It gave Penn State a shot at free throws and the ball. They hit Derek Queen with a ridiculous technical foul for not, you know, mocking anybody or bad sportsmanship towards a player after a made dunk.

He just kind of flexed and screamed at the floor firing himself up. It was a terrible call. They had three or four reviews this officiating crew did that took probably in total 20 minutes. This game should have ended 15 to 20 minutes earlier. One of the worst officiated games I've seen all season long on a clear goaltending. at the end of the game against Maryland. It took them eight, nine minutes to figure that out. It was a one-sided, I thought, officiated game against Maryland for the most part.

I really felt that way. But Penn State got a couple of bad calls. And, you know, if that goaltending had not been, if the block shot by Julian Reese on the goaltend late in the game had been called a block shot as it was on the floor, that would have been a bad call. Colespie was great early. Miguel was outstanding. Rodney Rice, man, I think he's a pro.

I think he's a potential first round pick in 2026. He's been so good this year as a score, as a shooter. I mean, he's shooting 44.5% from the floor. He's shooting 37% from behind the arc. But he's had some games recently where he's just been light. out. I mean, against Michigan State, he was four for eight from behind the arc. Three for seven against Iowa a few weeks ago. He was shooting well over, or right around 50 percent in his last six, seven games from the field. Had a game at Indiana where he had the game winner, where he shot eight

of 13, five of seven from behind the arc. This was by far and away, his worst shooting performance of the season. And yet, with the game on the line, he stepped up. knock down a huge shot. It's a great win for Maryland. Despite the loss to Michigan State, they move up three spots in the Associated Press to 13th in the country. They're 14th in Ken Palm, they're 12th in the net rankings. They've got two games this week at home on the road against Michigan on Wednesday night at home on Saturday against a red-hot northwestern team.

If they win both and Michigan got blown out. at home yesterday by Illinois. I don't think Michigan's that great. I really don't. I think they're a good team. They've got two bigs that are very good. I think Maryland's better. I don't know if they go on the road and win against a Michigan team that just got blown out and nearly lost their previous home game to Rutgers. But I think they've got a shot to sweep Michigan and Northwestern this weekend. If they do, I can't see worse than a four seed because they'd actually, by winning their final two games. They'd have a legit shot to finish second in the league behind Michigan State. They'd probably finish no worse than third. They'd get that double by in the Big Ten conference

tournament. And then I think two more wins, 24 and seven regular season, 14 and 6 in the Big Ten, a potential second place finish in the Big Ten. I can't see them being worse than a four seed. I think they'd be a top 16 seed, maybe even a three would still be. be in play, although I think they may have blown that opportunity with the loss at home to Michigan State. But good win for Maryland. They needed that. And I thought it was a tricky spot. Talked about that. They were four and a half point favorites. Yeah, happiness hedge time. Had Penn State plus the four and a half hoping that I'd just lose and Maryland would win big. But if Maryland won by four, three, two, or one, it would be the ultimate. Maryland wins and Penn State.

covers. I mean, the whole world was on Maryland. It just seemed like an obvious smell test. Selection, and Penn State did indeed cover. Good win for the Terps. Still, I mean, they're starting five. Exceptional. And they got nothing off the bench. I don't know what to tell you guys about Deshaun Harris-Smith. There's no confidence at all offensively. He tries hard on defense. He rebounds. He can defend. The confidence, though, is a big issue. He against the zone. He, against the They put him in the middle of the zone, and I thought, throw it to him and see if he can, you know, get towards the rim with the dribble.

He might not knock down a jump shot from there. Derek Queen was amazing in the game, especially against that zone. But Deshaun Harris-Smith, really, it's like playing four-on-five offensively when he's in the game. You know, I think with a player like him, it may take just, you know, one or two shots that go down.

You know, and all of a sudden it could switch for him, Right now you can see he doesn't want any part of looking at the basket and shooting. And that's unfortunate. They've still got an issue with points off the bench. They didn't score any on Saturday. Alex Ovechkin got another goal against the lightning and a loss. They lost to Tampa Bay, their third straight loss. They've got Ottawa tonight.

and another chance for Alex to get close to Gretzky's mark. He's 10 away from tying the mark, one away from becoming the all-time goal-scoring leader. So one last thing that I wanted to mention on the Debo-Samuel trade. I didn't mention this in the open. And I'm not going to even mention why I'm mentioning it now. But I'll just say this. Debo's ability to line up as a running back. Austin Echler's ability under contract to line up as a running back.

Brian Robinson, Jr., I'm not saying that he's not going to be on the roster next year, but I do think that if they end up drafting a young running back, and this draft has a bunch of running backs, by the way, Damien Martinez, just make no to that name. He's been one of my favorite guys for the last couple of years. He was at Oregon State, and then play. played this past season at Miami. He apparently had a really impressive combine. I just love, to me, he's a night two, but maybe a day three pick. That's the kind of guy that I think would

really fit with a Jaden Daniels. He played with Cam Ward. I think Cam Ward's the best quarterback. Apparently, they came out of the indie combine sort of feeling the same way. I felt that way for a while. I would take him well before I'd take Shadur Sanders. I think there's actually a lot of similarities between Cam Ward and Jaden Daniels. I'm not putting them in that class, but stylistically the way they play. I like Cam Ward. I think if I'm the Giants,

I do whatever I can do to get Cam Ward before signing an Aaron Rogers. They've got to fill a quarterback spot. They don't have one. They've got Tommy DeVito. He's the only quarterback under contract. But I think Debo's ability to be not a wide receiver, but just an all-around playmaker.

out of the backfield, out of the slot outside. He could end up getting a bunch of carries next year in Washington's offense. I mean, he's got excellent vision, and I just wonder what that means for a Brian Robinson, Jr., who did not have a great season. But, you know, I've said this before about their running game. I don't know whether it was more backs or O-Line. I do know this. Jaden can't be your leading rusher in 10 games next year.

you don't want that to happen next year. And I'm not saying Debo Samuel, Samuels, you're starting running back. I'm not suggesting that. But Debo Samuel, Austin Echler, and a young night two or day three back that they really, really like. There are backs in this draft. I don't know what they think of Chris Rodriguez. Clearly they don't think of him what we thought of him, you know, watching him. But just something to keep in mind.

if Brian Robinson, Jr. wasn't on the roster day one next year, I don't think I'd be floored by that. I think they're going to bring in another back or two, and I think part of the Debo-Samuel trade is we're going to use him in our backfield, just like the 49ers did. And with Jaden as a run threat, with him back there as well, he could feast, not at 20 carries a game, but certainly at 7.5.5. eight carries a game, nine carries a game, somewhere in that range. Maybe more. All right, that's it for the day back tomorrow with Tommy.