The Ringer NFL Show - Ep. 86: 'GM Street' With Mike Lombardi

Episode Date: March 16, 2017

The Ringer's Mike Lombardi and Tate Frazier team up to discuss the pursuit of Malcolm Butler by the New Orleans Saints (01:00), draft day for Deshaun Watson (08:00), available free agents (13:30), Adrian Peterson's future (15:30), and the quarterback situation for the New York Jets (24:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode is brought to you by Ringer University. With March Madness here, Mark Titus and myself, that's me, Tate Frazier, are podcasting all throughout the tournament. You can listen and subscribe to our podcast by searching Ringer University on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or wherever you get podcasts. Okay, let's roll. Welcome to G.M. Street. I'm Tate Frazier, and I'm lucky enough to be joined today by the great football mind of Mr. Michael Lombardi, a man that's worked with Bill Walsh, Al Davis, and of course Bill Belichet. Lombardi, how you doing? I'm great, Tate. How are you? Doing well.

We are here to tell you all things about the front office in the NFL, talk about players, talk about the draft, talk about really anything around the league, just the main storylines. And I'm going to toss it to Mike, and he's going to give you everything that you need to know in the world about the NFL. Well, you can talk too, Tate.

Yeah, sometimes I'll talk. Sometimes I'll jump in there and say a few things. I like football. But jumping off, we'll get right into it today. There's been a lot of news, a lot of bus surrounding Malcolm Butler. There's been a lot of mixed signals between the Patriots and Malcolm Butler. Do they want to pay him? Does he want to stay in New England?

Will he take a pay cut to stay in New England? Does he want to be a Patriot for life? Michael Lombardi, when you see this case, what do you make of Malcolm Butler right now? Well, I think Malcolm Butler wants to get paid. Like all young players, he wants to get paid. And I think he's a restricted free agent, which means he controls his payday for at least right now. Next year he'll become a free agent. But if he's able to sign an offer sheet, which the rumors are, the New Orleans Saints are entertaining him, taking him to dinner.

But they may, in fact, make him an offer to an offer sheet, which then they would have to, to compensate the Patriots. Now, the Patriots put a first-round tender on it, which means the Saints would have to give them their first-round pick, not the one they acquired from the Patriots, their own first-round pick. Which doesn't make any sense because that pick, the Saints could end up draft in a corner

and have a cheaper player at the 11. On the rookie scale, not the pick. Without that. So we know that for Malcolm Butler to get traded, it's going to have to be something less than that pick. Now, the Saints can't trade that pick down. of people say, well, why don't they just take their pick and trade it down? You can't do that. You can't work it way, work your way down. You have to trade your original pick if you have it.

So therefore, for me, the Saints are trying to improve their defense by Cashin and Brandon Cooks to get more picks. And then they're going to use those picks to helpfully fix their defense, which typically hasn't worked. And for me, when I look at the Saints, the Saints are always what I call a team that only operates under A or B. They miss what it's called false duality. And that means you only look at two situations. When the really good teams look at three or four or five situations. And for the Saints, if they were to call the Seattle Seahawks up and say, look, we would be interested in obtaining Richard Sherman. Would you be willing to do it?

I truly believe, based on what I hear around the National Football League, that the Saints, that the Seahawks would, in fact, for the right deal trade, Richard Sherman. He has two years left at around $11 million a year. He's two years older than Malcolm Butler. That's all he is, two years older than Malcolm Butler. he would come in and fits their defense in a style that they want to play. They want to emulate the Seattle defense in New Orleans. So could that be a trade that they make? To me, that's an option.

I'm not saying they're going to do that, but that would be an option. Why pay Malcolm Butler 13, 14 million a year, sign them to a long-term deal and then have to turn around a draft pick when you're basically buying a 27-year-old player? You'd be better off drafting a young corner and hopefully developing them. And Sean Payton comes out and talks the Associated Press, and he says, we're taking Malcolm Butler out to dinner. He pretty much puts the story out there that they won't Malcolm Butler. Why do you think the Saints are so set on targeting Malcolm Butler?

Obviously, they've had some draft picks probably that didn't pan out like they'd hope, like Stefan Anthony from Clemson is a guy that comes to mind. What do you think Malcolm Butler specifically could do for that Saints defense and why do you think they need him to come in and maybe change things for him? When you look at the Saints defense, they want to be Seattle. They want to play cover three in the Seattle way. Now Malcolm Butler is a smaller corner in the Seattle. It would be a small corner in Seattle's a small corner in Seattle.

So that's what makes it interesting. The thing about New Orleans is they change defenses constantly, so you really never know what they want to be. I don't get the – I don't understand why they would want to pay as much as they're going to have to pay to get Malcolm Butler financially and then reward them with the draft. I think they're better off looking at the draft. Could they get a guy in the draft? Perhaps Humphrey from Alabama. Maybe they could get Tredarius White from LSU. I mean, there's other players in the draft.

There's other avenues. The one thing you have to do in the Seattle scheme, and I think this is why I bring up the Richard Sherman trade possibility. is because in Seattle's scheme and in Atlanta scheme, the corner is really not the most important player in the scheme. It's the front seven. So if you're the New Orleans Saints, why would you put all that money into the back end when the front end really makes the scheme most effective? And I think Seattle really thought twice about paying Richard Sherman.

They felt they had to when they won the Super Bowl. Now their cap's kind of a mess and they need to fix it. So I think the reason they need to fix is because they put all that money in the corner position. in a defense where we feel like you can draft players to fit that scheme. Seattle did it. They've done it over and over again. They rewarded Sherman. I think New Orleans would be better off drafting.

And we saw once Earl Thomas went down with the injury, it just seemed like that Seattle defense was not the same. Richard Sherman made me a lot as far as just being emotional and maybe getting the team all route up, but he's not the leader in the back end of that defense for the Seahawks. And I think when you look at the Seahawks, you see the defensive front's not the same front. I mean, Michael Bennett's still a good player,

but they're not the same defensive front that they were when they won two Super Bowls. Having lost the Super Bowl to the Patriots, they've struggled to play the level of defense that they need to play. They've paid a lot of players. I think they would have to get their cap back in shape. Their cap room, they don't have very much cap room now. They signed Eddie Lacey on a really pay-for-play deal, which is probably the right thing to do. But again, the scheme in Seattle allows you to find corners, especially size-speed corners, which are there abundant of them in this draft that can play deep third of the defense,

they'll tackle, and they can play within the scheme. I think it would be a mistake for New Orleans if they want to emulate that defense, which is what they want to do, to sign Butler and pay them a big day. What does it mean for Malcolm Butler next year? I think Malcolm Butler signs his tender, goes to New England and puts the on us on New England. Play great. I'll make a huge deal next year. I'll be 28 next March.

Then I'll make a huge deal out in the open market. New England's not going to franchise them. And one thing about Butler, if he does go back to Patriots, Does he come back with maybe his tail between his legs a little bit? And then he has to find Gilmore, who would probably be the number one corner? I guess they'd be battling out to see the number one corner. Would it be, would it change things to dynamics or is it just a matter of business and he comes back in place? I think, look, it's a business.

You know, he went out there. He's a restricted free agent. And I think when you do that, you can come back and say, look, you've tried to get an offer, just like Hightower. Hightow went out. He was a free agent. He tried to get an offer sheet. He ended up coming back, signing for under $10 million a year with the Patriots. Good deal for him.

But he knows what his market value is. Same thing with Malcolm Butler. You'll find out what your market value is when you're a free agent, even if you're a restricted free agent. So, look, there's a business side of football and there's a playing side of football. Once you sign your contract, you have to bury the business side because ultimately that's going to determine whether you're going to get the next contract. Yeah. And if you look at the Patriots, a lot of people thought that this team may get blown up, they were going to lose Hight Tower. They're going to lose Butler.

But at the end of the day, both those guys come back. They add Gilmore. They add cooks. And now it looks like they've just added more weapons and not lose them any. I mean, look, when you look at the Patriots defensively, they're a much better defense now than they were at the end of the year last year. I mean, they add high towers back. They get Gilmore.

They still have Roe as the third corner. They don't have Logan Ryan. They'll find another Logan Ryan type player. Their defense is pretty much they get branch back. They add Conan Ely to the defensive front. And so, you know, they add some pieces. Great pass rusher from the Panthers. Yeah, and they add some pieces to their defense.

And they're able to Lawrence Guy, guy, they're able to bring him in and add him. So I think the Patriots are in pretty good shape without a draft. Now, they don't have a lot of draft picks, but their defense is pretty well set. Speaking of the draft, one guy that's going to be showing up at the draft, quarterback from Clemson, Deshawn Watson. A lot of people have gone back and forth. There was a lot of speculation that he would not be a first rounder early on. Then there was a lot of hype that he was going to get pushed up after the national championship bump.

Deshaun Watson says he's going to go to the draft, which means he most likely expects to get drafted in the first round. Where do you see Deshaun Watson falling? And is it a good decision for Deshawn to go to the draft? and be there for all the festivities. I think he should go to the draft. I think Deshawn Watson's the best quarterback in the draft. I think Deshawn Watson has to be evaluated in a different set of circumstances

than what's been evaluated in the past. He's a guy who's got great leadership. You want to build your team around this player. He's got unique ability to motivate and help the team, which is what you want. He can be the poster child for your team. He's a lot like your guy, Tate. He's a lot like Cam Newton in the sense. He's never going to be a 65% accurate passer.

He's never going to be precision in terms of, of running a West Coast rhythm throws. But what he does is make a lot of plays. And those plays help you win games. And I think the teams that are smart stop trying to evaluate Deshaun Watson through their lens and evaluate him through his own lens. Look at what he can do and then utilize his skill set

into a system that can certainly help. There's not enough quarterbacks. If you just go out and say, I need to find a quarterback, there's no quarterbacks out there that fit perfectly what you want to do. You have to make a quarterback into something you want to make them into. Now, I'm not saying you're going to take some guy from Elon College and make him into something. But this is a guy who's won at every single lever, has beaten Alabama in a championship game, has played at the highest level of competition that's not going to get intimidated when he goes into Foxborough or goes into some other stadium to play and feel like, oh, this is too big for him. I think he's a guy that the longer you look at him and looking at it through a lens of which you have to be able to evaluate the player at what offense, I think he's a guy.

he can be successful. Yeah, and you've mentioned this before, but Nick Saban said that he was one of the best players. He's ever faced head to head. And obviously, you talk about adversity, the guy goes in the national championship game. They lose. He spends the entire offseason telling his team that we're going to be back next year and get it right. A lot of guys, when that happens, they kind of go on the other side of that. And they're just like, oh, we got to the mountaintop.

It didn't quite work out. You know, I'm worried about myself now. So he went the opposite way. He's a very team-first guy, which is good. Yeah, and he's proven it. I mean, look, past performance predicts future achievement when it comes to scouting. And so his past performance, in a system of offense, that you're going to have to be adapted to.

And what happens in scouting is, and this is something that I think happens to all of us whenever. Now you've got the college basketball games this weekend. So you're going to be evaluating college players. And there's four kind of people that evaluate, right? Yeah. And they all begin with the letter P. All right. So they're all scouts.

So there's the poor scout who can't recognize any talent. Yeah. Then there's the picker scout who picks on just one thing the player can't do, which is a lot of people are doing with the Sean Watson. They're picking on the one thing he can't do, which is great accuracy. And then there's the production scout, which just grades the production. And finally, there's the projection scout, the scout that can see the talent in the player and project them forward. To me, that's Deshaun Watson.

See the talent, project them forward. And what we're talking about is guys are getting caught up in the picking of the player. They're picking on one thing he can't do. Well, he's not a great receipt. He's not great. And then we read about it. Today we woke up and we read about the Clemson workout, and DeShon Watson got a B-minus for his workout. Now, look, I've been to Jake Locker's workout up at Washington.

he got an A-plus, he completed every single pass. He's not playing in the NFL anymore. No, he's not. Marcus Marriota is. Yeah, he took his job. Those workouts are just, they're scripted, and then we're going to sit there after a guy's played Alabama. He's played all these great teams in college football,

and we're going to critique a workout? I think it's ridiculous. Is there any concern on your end that Deshaun Watson has the Brady Quinn moment where he's sitting until Pick 46, and he's in the green room by himself? No, I think people that I'm talking to around the league think he's really good. I think the people that know quarterback,

Look, the problem with the National Football League is very few people can evaluate the quarterback and even fewer can coach them. And the ones that know what they're doing and how to coach the player that could see the system that this player could really be talented in. I mean, look, when Cam Duden came out, it was no lock he was going to be the first pickover on the draft. But what I got to give credit to Mike Shuler and the Panther staff is they've come up with a little bit of an offense. Now, I think they need to take it in another direction and stop him from running the ball. But they've come up with things that help him win football games. Like hypothetically, say Deshawn Watson with this to New Orleans Saints. I know they need defensive players.

But Sean Payton would find a way to utilize this guy's skill set. I think Deshawn, would you rather have Jared golf or Deshawn Watson? I think I'd take Deshawn Watson. Okay, there you go. And everybody's talking about Carson Wentz being the next great quarterback in the NFL, and he has accuracy issues. It's about finding the system that fits perfectly for the player. It isn't about just grading the player and thinking he's going to fit your system.

That's where you make the most mistakes. And guys tend to galvanize around Deshawn. always been that way. I think a lot of the knocks on him. He's been in the national spotlight for so long that we've seen the bad. So therefore we pick on the bad. We nitpick. And that's what happens a lot when you're in the national spotlight. Well, it happens all the time. Bill Walsh used to say this all the time to us when we were, you know, the guy who's a four-year starter is going to have bad games. The guy who's the one-year starter isn't. The Mr. Ribiskees of the world. Right. So don't take the one-year starter and look ahead. Take the one-year starter and look back.

Like, why wasn't he playing? Like, why is the one-year starter just playing all of a sudden? The four-year starters come out and beat level of confidence. Nobody can beat. Deshawn Watson was playing with a torn ACL in games. This guy was playing at a high level. I think the teams that are smart will figure out what they are with Deshawn Watson and then design the offense that fits and I think they'll really get a great player.

Speaking of great players that are in the NFL that aren't on teams right now, well, some would say maybe not so great. There's quite a few free agents that are big names that are still out there in the world. I'm going to ask you these questions, and I'm just going to say this. Why is insert name not signed yet? The first one I have on the list, Dorel Revis. Why is Dorel Revis not signed Michael Lombardi? Well, Dorel Revis has not really taken care of his body over the course of time.

I think when you look at corners, the way they play, Terence Newman just reigned with the Minnesota Vikings, and he's taking care of himself. Revis has never been. When he played in New England, he was getting two massages a week. You get two massages a week, Tate. I mean, you can't get, like, you're not going to massage your way into shape. You've got to work at it. Now there's a report that his weight was 240, like. last year. I don't know if that's accurate or not. He played slow. He looks slow. It may have been

accurate. Players that gain weight during their career fall off the earth. Typically, players lose weight during their career to regain their speed and be able to take some of the burden off him. I don't think Revis is going to have a chance that he's due to make $6 million. No one's going to take the $6 million burden off the Jets. That's for sure. I think Revis is begging for a job. I think he's going to have a hard time. He's got to prove to people he can still run. And based on tape, he can't. And he was clear to the charges. So now the Jets have to pay the that $6 million. There's no way to get out of that.

There's no way to get around it. And so no team, there's no team that you've seen in the league that's like, hey, let's give this guy one more shot. I just need maybe not your one, not your two, maybe your third corner to come in and lock in on, you know, in certain situations, maybe in certain packages. When you start to see players start advertising that they'll sign in Pittsburgh and they'll come home where they'll want to play safety, then you know he has no market. He has no market.

I mean, look, if you're the Saints, I'm saying the Saints should have called Seattle to see if they should trade for Richard Sherman, I'm saying if the Saints really needed at a corner, why sign Butler sign Revis? But the problem is Revis' tape is so bad. And then you're going to have to do a contract with them. I think it's going to be a difficult. Another big name that's out there that has not been signed. Adrian Peterson, a lot of people, there's been rumors about maybe the Seahawks would want him to come in.

The Vikings signed Latavius Murray, so they're pretty much done with Adrian Peterson. That market's already over. Do you see Adrian Peterson fitting in anywhere? Will someone give him a contract that he wants or is he another one of those guys that he's going to be talking about going home? There is no team in Oklahoma, but maybe he tries to find. and maybe the Houston Texans or something like that? Well, I think it's all about money. I think it's all about money.

I mean, the Raiders have talked about maybe they need a back because they lost Murray, but I think it's all about money. And unless he's willing to accept a huge pay cut, a huge pay cut, that he's going to be out there. And then what's really got to be concerning if you're Adrian Peterson, is you know there's going to be running backs drafted early in the draft. And once a team takes a run-in-back, they don't go back for another running-back. Usually when you draft a back, that means you're out of it.

So to me, if Peterson doesn't get a contract before the draft, it's really going to be tough. If I'm Peterson, I better lower my demands now before I get left without a chair. My big question is, will Latavius Murray wear number 28 with the Vikings? If you're the Vikings and you're Rick Spiel and the general manager, don't give 28 out. Yeah, yeah.

Just hold it. To me, I think the GM should control the equipment guy. You can't let the equipment guy have to control the numbers. You've got to control the numbers because some guys look bad in numbers. Yeah. Like some guys look really bad in certain numbers. You've got to change their number. Like, I never thought Mike Tolbert looked good at 35.

I thought he should have changed his number. He was more of a 44 back. He would have looked better in a different number. I think numbers are important in how they look, but don't give out in Peterson's number. Yeah, don't do that. Another guy that's out there, one of my favorite quarterbacks in the NFL

just for his own comedy, on accident, Jay Cutler, still a gunslinger, still looking for a job. Mike Lennon took his job in Chicago. There's been a lot of Jets rumors. Do you see Jay Cudler fitting in anywhere? He's tough in the locker room, obviously. We've known that over the years.

Yeah, I just think Jay Culler's optics. are so bad. I'm a Jay Cutler fan in the sense that his talent is so good. But the problem is when you watch him and you just get tired of the puss face that he makes on the sideline after the game, during the game. Now, I'll give him credit. Last year, late in the year when he came back, he was taking, he didn't do that. And, you know, he does work hard. He does do the things you want them to do. It's just the optics are so bad. Look, if Houston doesn't get a quarterback, wouldn't they be better with Jay Cutler than they wouldn't be with where they are? I mean, think about it. Yes. I mean, we kill Jay Cutler because of the optics.

but he's a better player than a lot of guys that have jobs. And who knows if he's in a good situation, maybe he spends things around and is a happier guy? To me, you just have to have the conversation. Jay, could you still look like, show him the clips of when he was playing this year and he looked like he was involved in a game and then show him the clips when he's not involved?

These are the optics that he's selling to his teammates and they don't look good. Now, he turns the ball over too much, but a lot of guys turn the ball over. There's ways to correct that. The guy's got too much talent and not be able to – he can rejuvenate his career if the optics get better. Another guy on the market that could be heading to the Texans that you just mentioned at the quarterback position is Tony Romo.

I feel like we've talked about Tony quite a bit between the two of us. But does Tony really have a fit? What's his value? Do teams really think that he can take them to the Super Bowl and make one last magical run? My sense of it is, is Jerry not releasing him, not letting him go. There's no trademarker for Tony Romo. Everybody knows that. I think it's more about, does Tony Romo want to play football?

I think Tony Romo does he want to go to CBS and do college football to do games and then do golf? Does he want to go to Fox? It'll be the number two guy. Take the John Lynch job for Fox. Take the John Lynch job for Fox. Or go to CBS and create his own job. Do golf and do Sunday football or do whatever they want to do. We're almost going to be a television broadcaster at some point in his career.

Whether it's next year or the year after, I don't know. But to me, there's a reason he hasn't made the decision. And maybe Jerry doesn't want to release him because if he does, in fact, retire, maybe he wants to put him on his reserve retired list and have his rights, which would be a smart play up, your Jerry Jones. Why release him? and then have him retire anyway. Why not control his contract?

So I think there's more to the retirement than there is what team is he decided to play for. And do you think that situation is in good hands at the Cowboys with Tony and the front office and everything? Obviously, they were always close throughout his entire tenure there. I was told the other day that Tony's been over to the Jones's house. I don't think there's a lot of bad blood between. Now, I don't know what the relationship is with Jason Garrett. If that's Lovey-Dovey, I don't know if the relationship with Jason Witton and all the other players are good. But I have a feeling that the Jones relationship with Tony Romo,

is going to withstand its test of time. I think he's too important to their franchise, and I think he's truly one of their friends. Another guy I had on the list that was on the market now is apparently not on the market. He just agreed to terms with the Atlanta Falcons. That's a defensive tackle, Don Terry Poe. Yeah. Poe was all about the money.

Yep. And look, he's reunited with Scott Pioli, who drafted him. So he feels comfortable, I'm sure, in that system. Now, will he play in the Seattle system as effectively as he can? I think what's happened through most of these defensive tackles and why the markets become so low is any time I can formation you off the field. It isn't about I'm a run tackle or I'm a pass rush tackle.

It's all about the formations. So if I can formation you off the field, which means if I go to a three-receiver set and one running back and you're not going to involve with that defense and I keep you off the field, how can I pay you $8, $9, $10 million a year? I can't. So where Poe has to change his game is, A, play harder,

and B, he's got to be able to not be able to be formation. off the field, which is what happened in Kansas City. And I think in Atlanta, that gives him a chance to not be. Because I think I'm with Dan Quinn, who's a defensive line coach at heart, I think he probably will get more out of Poe than most people could, certainly more than what he got out of Kansas City. Last year in Kansas City, he was disgruntled with his contract. He felt like he didn't get the right deal.

He didn't play to the same effort. I wouldn't sign Poe unless there was a lot of hoops he had to jump through to show me he could be a good player. Maybe Atlanta got that in that contract. Yeah, and he'd bet on himself. He signed a one-year, $8 million deal. did the same Benny Logan deal, which is what Jonathan Hankins is going to have to do with the Giants. I mean, what happens is once one-deffensive tackle signs, then they sign this market.

These one-year deals are hilarious. It just shows you, Tate, how much cap room is out there. For some team to give a one-year deal and turn around and pay it, usually you used to get a discounted deal on a one-year deal, but one-year at $8 million is a fairly good deal. I mean, Ayeshaun Jeffrey, at one year, at $14 million, I think that's the number. I mean, and the Eagles are now saying that it's really not a one-year deal. they'll have leverage. I mean, that's hogwash. They have no leverage in a deal. They're going to franchise them again and pay them 120% over the number or transition them. No. So really, it's a one-year

deal and then you're going to have to make a deal. At some point, you've got to sign a guy to a long-term contract if you want to build a team. Before we get to our last segment, let's take a quick break. All this month, we're asking you to tell a friend about a podcast they'll love. Hey, maybe it's GM Street. Right now, think of a friend, your mom, anyone you care about. What podcast would they really love? Got it. Now do it. Tell them about it in real life or own social media, and if they don't know about podcasts, show them how. Tell us what you recommend it with the hashtag Tripod, T-R-Y-Pod. Thanks for spreading the word.

We're going to do a new segment. What teams are really doing? First up, the Redskins, what are they doing, Mike Lombardi? Well, look, they're doing what they always do. Bruce Allen is the president of the team, even when Scott McLuhan was there. He had the title general manager. There was really no title. Scott McLuhan did not have the authority to make any decision he wanted to make.

Bruce Allen controls the money. Remember this as fans. Whoever controls the money controls the team. Okay? So you can have all the titles you want. The reality of it is the Redskins, to me, look like they're dysfunctional. The Scott McLuhan thing, notwithstanding, is the whole Kirk Cousins contract handling. I mean, it's just, to me, looks like a mess.

And it looks like it's not going to get any better. They lose all their receivers. Yeah, I'm sure they got a receiver. They have other young receivers that they like. To me, I think the Redskins are arrows pointed down. And if you're a Philadelphia fan or you're a giant fan or you're a California fan or you're a cowboy fan. I think this is good news. It seemed like the only guy that they really took care of

and handled pretty much seamlessly was Vernon Davis when they brought Vernon Davis, which was insane. Which is insane. And the whole Kirk Cousin things lies at Bruce Allen's feet. I mean, look, he's the guy that does the contracts there. So, you know, he really didn't feel like this guy was going to make the money in the open market. And why would, you know,

I keep reading Tate, they're going to trade Kirk Cousins. Who's going to play quarterback for? They're going to sign Jay Coutler? Yeah. I mean, you know, one thing when you don't handle your quarterback situation well, whatever you want about Kirk Cousins, the guy performed for two years. You said you weren't going to pay them $15 million. You were right a year.

You weren't paying them $15 million a year. You ended up paying them $22 million a year. So to me, I think the Redskins are one of those where – and probably Cousin Sal will pick them to win the Super Bowl next year, which will be the dismiss of them anyway. Next up, what are they doing, the New York Jets? At quarterback. I think that's the question that everybody has to ask is,

what are they going to do at quarterback, whether it's Jay Cutler. Jeremy Bates, who coached Jay Cutler at Denver, who coached him in Chicago is now the quarterback coach and the New York Jets. Will they bring them there? I think it's all about the right price and the right fit at that point. I think if I were the Jets, I would draft a Sean Watson. And I would start this whole thing over. Don't bring Gino Smith back.

Don't do that. And they have a history. They've drafted Tage Boyd from Clemson. They've obviously scouted Clemson before. They've drafted some Clemson guys there. Yeah, I would draft a quarterback in the first. And I would build my team because I would tell my owner, look, it's going to take more than one year to fix this team.

It's going to take more than one year to get this turnaround. And what gives you more leverage? in terms of longevity than draft any young quarterback. That's what I would do if I were the Jets. That's good. There's hope for the New York Jets. Who do? I think there is.

I think they have to, to me, the hardest thing the Jets have to do is be honest with themselves. And that means we're not going to win a Super Bowl next year. We have to rebuild this team in a careful way and stop trying to pick and piece things together. Build it on a long term. Don't look at it on a short term. And I talk about this all the time. That's where Belichick gains most of his advantage in the NFL is he makes decisions based on sustainability, whereas most teams make decision based on situations.

I'm telling the Jets, make it on a sustainability. Final team for this segment. The Houston Texans, what are they doing? Well, I think they made this move with Osweiler, and I was told this reliably that they made this move with Osweiler, regardless of what happens with Tony Romo. They're prepared to go with Tom Savage. I could see Deshaun Watson going to Houston.

I think they would be a perfect team for them. DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson get back together. We have the Clemson connection. I think the good thing about what happened in Houston, if you're a Texan fan, is they had to come to Jesus meeting and said, you know what, the heist ain't good enough. We have to liquidate the heist. We have to go to the diner, and we have to pull them off. And no matter what happens, no matter where we go with this, we're better off.

And I think that was a smart move. That, to me, is refreshing. Any final thoughts you have, Mr. Lombardi, before we head out here and get back on GM Street? I'm excited to do this, Tate. I want to talk about the draft. We got a lot of things going. I think free agency. It was the quickest free agent period I've ever seen in my life.

It was less than a day. Yes. It went so fast. Once the Brandon Cook's trade was happened, it seemed like it all died down. Now guys are signing one-year contract. So we've got the draft coming out, and it'll be interesting to see how all these pieces start to come together and looking at the depth charts. And players, to me, if any players listening to this, if you don't do a deal before the draft,

whatever the market is before the draft, it's going to be less after the draft. So you need to sign a contract. Yep. You're getting a cheaper replacement in the... Just like what they're going to do to us here, Tate. You get cheaper replacements. Yep, they're fine enough. Hopefully we'll be back next week of that.

Thanks, Mike Lombardi. Thanks, Tate.