The Ringer NFL Show - Will the Vikings Move Up in the Draft to Get Their QB? Are the Bears Heading Into Their Best Era of Football? Plus, DeVonta Smith Gets the Bag. | Extra Point Taken

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

It’s no secret that the Vikings need a QB now that Kirk Cousins is in Atlanta, but what will it cost to move up from 11 in the draft and snag one of the top QBs? Speaking of QBs, what will the Broncos do with Russ's position now that he’s in Pittsburgh? Could Sean Payton just wait until next year's free agency class? Are the Bears headed into their best era of football with presumptive no. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams? Plus, talk of DeVonta Smith signing a large extension with the Eagles. Sheil and Ben discuss all those topics and more! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Sheil Kapadia and Ben Solak Producer: Cliff Augustin Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Social: Eduardo Ocampo and Kiera Givens Video: Ronak Nair Musical Elements: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are a lot of quarterbacks in the NFL draft this year. My name is Ben Solac and I host the Ringer NFL Draft Show with Danny Kelly, Danny Hyfitts, and Craig Horleback. We cover trades, free agency, and the draft, which is, yeah, obviously. We'll tell you about everything, which includes which quarterbacks are good, which quarterbacks are bad and which quarterbacks are just Kirk Cousins. That is the Ringer NFL Draft Show. Search the Ringer NFL Draft show on Spotify. Welcome to Rector Point Take and Chil Kapadia here. Join by Ben Solac. It is the Monday show.

You know what? do Solac. We are now 10 days away from the NFL draft. The countdown continues. You know what we do on Mondays. We trade three takes each. And then Solac is going to finish today with the extra point. Two quick housekeeping notes, Solac before we get started. One, we want to do a mailbag episode on Friday. So tweet at us, email us. Is your email address still in your TwitterX bio? Yeah. Be Solac at Spotify.com, baby. Say hi. Okay. Can email either of us. You can tweeted us, you can message us on Instagram, whatever social media you find us on,

send us a message and we'll get some of those questions on the Friday show. And then, of course, remember to subscribe to Ringer NFL on YouTube. This entire episode you can watch on that channel. Solac is wearing a green ringer shirt, which I

also own, which I should have worn today, given people even more reason to check out the full YouTube show. Maybe we'll do that for a future episode. Maybe we'll get the subscriptions. All right. You're fit with this. Like the...

I got the team content. That's the team content shirt? Let's go. And my daughter got me, so I am team content. So I'm rocking that t-shirt on this beautiful day. All right, Soak. What do you got for us? Lead us off.

What is your first take today? All right. My first take is that the closer we get to the draft without a trade happening is scary news for the Minnesota Viking. All right? Now, let me make something very... clear. I still believe the Vikings are in the best position to make the trade up to get into the top three, get into the top four, and select that quarterback. I absolutely do. Let's, let's say

for the purposes of this conversation, they're trading up to four because quarterbacks go one, two, and three. That's like the simplest way to think about it. I've no doubt that they're in the strongest position to do that. I think stronger than the Denver Broncos, right, so they're picking at 12, one pick behind the Vikings, stronger than the Las Vegas Raiders who are picking at 13, two picks behind the Minnesota Vikings. of course they're in a stronger position field. They have two first round picks this year, 11 and 23, which they went and got from the Texans a few weeks ago, presumably to improve their package, two not a future first, but this year first, right? Two current year first round picks to go trade

up, to go to fourth overall. So they have that over the Broncos who only have this year's first, the Raiders who only have this year's first, the Broncos are missing second round picks, the Sean Payton deal. The Vikings very clearly have the best capital. airgo if they were making an offer that was clearly better than the other offers all right and it was and it was a strong enough offer that the cardinals were like 100% going to take it at four there's a good shot that would have happened by now right now you say ben you know you can't be trading up before draft night like you know you a lot of stuff could go down and you don't you know there's no need to you don't trade up it's not always true right we like you know the sam don't don't trade the trade last trade these trades happened before the NFL draft began. Teams moving up, not for one overall, not for two overall, but three overall and later, believing they knew the first couple of picks to be calcified and saying, we, we feel confident getting into this position and making the quarterback selection. But you say Ben, we say Ben, Ben, we don't know who's going to two. We don't know.

Jane Daniels, he might not be that second overall pick. My Beach Drake, may, my Beach isn't heard. They can't move up yet. You're telling me if a certain quarterback goes at two, the Vikings aren't taking, still aren't going to take a quarterback at four. I think when they made the move at 23, they kind of passed the point in our return. They know they want to move up for a quarterback. So for me, like, I think, I get like, this is my read on the situation. And then the most likely Alchemist, so the Vikings straight up and the Vikings go get their guy. But my read on the situation is that the Vikings have been on the phone trying to establish the price for deals to move up for their quarterback. And I think if they had a grandfather offer that the Cardinals

are absolutely going to say yes to, that deal would have been done by now. So I think, I think one of a few things, maybe a couple of a few things can be true. One, the Vikings are just not putting all their cards on the table, not sending the grandfather offer, because they're pretty confident that they'll be able to beat the Broncos offer, beat the Raiders offer. They know if on draft day the Broncos come with a great offer, the Cardinals will call them back, we'll check in, and then they can beat it by a pick. Oh, they feel like they don't have to put their grandfather offer yet.

I think that might be true. I think it might be true that the commanders really are so much of a wild card that everybody's paralyzed. The Patriots are paralyzed at three, which is the Cardinals are a little bit paralyzed at four, which means that all the trade-up offers, like maybe the commanders, and how tight they're playing this to the best. Everybody thinks it's Jaden Daniels. Adam Schafters told everybody who will listen.

Everybody thinks it's Jayden Daniels, but nobody's moving, right? The markets aren't moving, teams aren't moving, so I don't think anybody really knows for sure. Maybe the commanders do indeed have everybody paralyzed. Or maybe it's the case that the Vikings have their nice big offer on the table,

and the Broncos are willing to mortgage the whole future to compete, or the Raiders are willing to mortgage the whole future. Like, we have all stuck ourselves to this reality that the Vikings will be the team that gets it done. And just every day we get closer to the draft of that trade doesn't happen, I feel a little gleamisher. I just a little bit shaken. It's a little bit more worried that the Vikings might not have such a chokehold on that trade up

as right now we think they do. Well, I think you laid out the good explanations of why that could be the case. I mean, you know me to it. You knew what I was going to say, so then you got out of it. I have it broken down by shield counterpoints, man. I was ready to defend this one. Yeah, I think you laid it out well because the commanders are a wild card. So that's number one.

We don't know exactly who they're going to pick. The Patriots are a wildcard. We don't know who they're going to pick. Could it be a situation that the Vikings say, all right, if Drake May is available at four, then we will give up X. However, if it goes Caleb Williams, Drake May, Jade, and Daniels in some order, and is J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings plan might change. They might say, all right, you know, we like J.J.

McCarthy. Maybe we don't love him the way we love a Drake May where we would just be willing to do something. Like they could have different valuations on the two players. They could like them both a lot and want to acquire one of them. But they might say, you know what? J.J. McCarthy might slip a little. Maybe we don't need to make that offer to Ford. Maybe now we get into like, well, what kind of risk are you willing to take on and are you willing to take on the risk that another team could trade up there and go ahead and get that quarterback and beat your offer? And now all of the a sudden it's week one and you've got Sammy Darnold out there starting your

season for you. Are you willing to live with that or not? So I think those are some of the things that are absolutely in play. I would think that, like, how do you think they stack those quarterback? Knowing what you know about Kevin O'Connell, about Questio Dofo Menza,

and that Vikings organization, the offense that they run, and also these quarterback prospects, I sort of feel like Drake May is probably the guy that they would they say, man, if he gets to four, like now we're ready to go big on this guy because of the upside.

J.J. McCarthy, we like, you know, we'll give a certain offer at four, but maybe we'll see if he slips a couple spots and give a lesser offer. That's what my gut tells me, just as we're talking this out. How do you kind of see that? I'm very confident they have Jaden third

of the non-Kalibb. I agree with that. He was off the board. When they talked about quarterbacks at the Combine, They talked about youth, and they talked about throwing on the move. And Jane is just an old guy who doesn't throw on the move. Throwing over the middle?

Yeah. Yeah. Over the middle, exactly. Just not a fit for their office, not a fit for their style. I also from the outside would think that they would like Dre a little bit more than JJ. Just because so much of what has made that offense good has been the intermediate to deep shots, and that's where Drake is definitely better than JJ.

Drake is better than JJ. Oh, Drake. I think combining Drake and men. and I'm like, okay, I mean, you're much more ingrained in kind of the NFL draft stuff than I am. So I'm like, wait, shit, am I supposed to be calling him Dre? Now too, no, okay, Drake, gotcha. Yeah, so I like, I personally would think they would like Drake over JJ. Now, I talked about the intermediate and the deep throws. You can go on the other hand and say, you know, Minnesota in each of the last few Kirk cousins here has lend the league and like drop back right from under center. And so much of JJ's offense in Michigan was, was, was, Well, not so much, but more so than Drake at UNC was drop back from under center and play action pass and what have you. And so either one of them has their bread buttered a little bit for this offense. I think Drake's aggression is probably a little bit more what they're looking for. But at the same time, like, I just like Drake May so much that there probably isn't going to be an offense in the league where you're like, oh, who do you think they'd prefer?

I wouldn't land on Drake. I just think Drake is dramatically a better player than McCarthy. So it's a little bit unfair. If, you know, the fairy Viking's godmother came down to me tomorrow and said, they love JJ and they like him way more than May. That wouldn't shock me at all. It's just my personal leaning kind of goes to the Drake May thing. Yeah, you're right, because if there were a team that you would say just kind of the things they're looking for and what they want to do offensively, who does it fit better? Like, J.J. McCarthy, you could actually make a good case for him over Drake May in that respect. Now, again, I always say NFL coaches. calm down. You can teach these guys some things. You know, it's not just, oh, they did this in college. They're going to come in and they can do that for me.

Sometimes you're able to say, oh, you did that, but we can get you to do this, and we'll all meld it together and we'll play to your strengths. Kind of what the money's for for coaching. But yeah, you could certainly make that case. So you are right that in the past teams have made the big swings before the draft, and we've gone into the draft with teams like the Eagles, with Carson Wentz, teams like the 49ers with Trey Lance going up there and taking those guys. So maybe it'll come in the days ahead.

Maybe we'll be doing an emergency pod. As soon as we sign off for this one and we'll be talking about how the Vikings moved up there. But I think the reasons you laid out are good reasons for why they might just sort of be waiting here. Yeah, I do want to say there was a, I thought, a really nice article by Kevin C for on ESPN, specifically about Questia dophamenza, the GM of the Vikings and their. situation of quarterback. Tidal Vikings won't force a trade to draft the quarterback. Two things that were said in the article that really stands out. Quessi was talking about, you know, trademark in how you set your prices. And reading from the article, it says, Adolfo Menza has noted

the potential for irrational decisions from other teams, stressed the importance of, quote, walkaway prices and insisted that, quote, your only leverage in the negotiation is your willingness to do something else, right? I think a very big, a very, very very big part of, uh, uh, uh, , uh, discourse right now about like, the trade up is like, hey, like, if somebody goes to do something crazy, like, we're not going to do something crazy just to beat them. And the fact that, like, that's a narrative that he is talking about right now indicates to me, as a chance, somebody out there trying to do something crazy. And he's, he's, he's, he's cognizant of that and he

needs to protect himself from that. Uh, the other thing that, that is, uh, worth of knowing this is just when Ciefer is going through the quarterback teams. He talked about the Broncos at 12 and the Raiders 13, who ordered the tradeup candidates. But there's one more. But there's one more. more trade-up candidate, two, three, or two-four that we have to talk about, and that's the Giants at six, which we, the more the Giants' potential of taking a quarterback becomes real, the more now the Vikings don't have the earliest pick of the trade-up team. Go, we'll just move back to 11. You can tell the Patriots, hey, move back from three to six, you might still be able to get Marv.

Cardinals move back from four to six. You just don't want to ever to get Marm, get Malik. Like, the Giants being introduced as a candidate at six really throws a wrench in the Vikings' plans. So two other things to watch it as we go through the last week before the draft. All right, I'm pulling an old switcherousseau. You got you, if you're a draft process, you got to be able to adjust if you're a GM, working the phones like your boy,

Monty Austin Ford with the video that you love so much. You got to be able to adjust. I'm going to adjust. This was initially going to be my third take, but you mentioned this team multiple times, and so let's get to them now. My first take, the most confounding team going into this draft, is the Denver Broncos.

I have no idea what this team is going to do. I'm not even totally sure what I think they should do. So you look at their offseason, they take their medicine, they move on from Russell Wilson, they trade Jerry Judy. So where does that leave them? That leaves them with the 12th overall pick and eight picks overall, but that's a little deceiving. So like six of those picks are on day three.

They only have two picks in the first three rounds of the draft. Then you go over, you check out their depth chart. All right, what do they need? What are they looking for here? If the season started today, it would be Jarrett Stidham, throwing to Cortland Sutton, Josh Reynolds, and Marvin Mim. I don't really know how Sean Payton might feel about that. So you look at that.

There was an off-season report from the athletics, Diana Rossini, last month, or I guess it was more than a month now, saying that they at least kicked the tires on Kurt Cousins. All right. Wait, they were looking at a veteran quarterback at that age thinking maybe we can win a little bit now, but now you look at the roster, can you really win now? So what is their plan? Do they come out of this draft with a quarterback? Are they, as you indicated, potentially a mystery team that says we have 12, we're close enough where we can take a big swing on one of these guys, get up there to number four.

We can't be shy just because the Russell Wilson thing didn't work out with the big swing. there. We still need to add a quarterback. We can't go into the season like this. Or do they do something else? Do they look at it and say, you know what? This is just a take our medicine type of year. Let's just be smart. Let's draft some young talented players, the best weekend. Let's build up the roster. We'll try to be competitive knowing that we might not be a great team this year. And then next offseason, maybe Dak Prescott's available. Maybe there are other options available where we can get that veteran quarterback in here. And then the last thing, Solek, that makes this week, weird is like the head coach GM dynamic in Denver.

Like, we know Sean Payton has the juice. You sign him to that contract. He's got the juice at the same time. Like George Payton, what is his role there? Are these two on the same page with how they want to build this thing? Is one guy saying, no, no, no, I need to save my job. Is the other guy saying, no, no, we don't want to do it that way? So there are a lot of complicating factors.

I can't figure it out. Here's where I landed. Tell me if you agree or disagree. I actually don't think they're going to be the team to take a big swing on a rookie quarterback. I think about Sean Payton, and I think he probably doesn't want like a two or three year process here where he's grooming somebody, a rookie who doesn't have that knowledge base. I think he would prefer more of a sure thing, even if it means waiting a year. So I think they're just either going to sit tight, trade back, draft some players. It might be

sort of boring. We're going to try to add some young talent, and then next offseason, they're going to address quarterback. Where are you with the Broncos? Do you agree with me or do you disagree with well let me ask this okay so they wait a year and they dress quarterback next off season and they get the more sure thing not the rookie with no knowledge base but more sure thing who they're getting DAC who they get maybe

they got DAC money they're still gonna have Russell Wilson dead calf hit listen that's next year they're taking their medicine here you can always find we know you can always find a way you can give the big signing bonus you got that Walmart money yeah it's some void years at the end of it

yeah they have DAC money sure I think that, right, like, the idea of finding certainty in the veteran quarterback market is like a lovely idea for like a bridge QB1 and into a QB2. It is very rare for a starting caliber quarterback to end up on a different team than the one he started with, right? It usually takes like, you know, he's got to be super old or he's got to be coming off of injury, right? Like the best free Asian quarterback before Kurt Cousins this past year was Kurt Cousins coming out of Washington. Right? Like, that's like, you typically, you don't get like good guys who are just on the market for no reason. You can say, oh, well, you know, DAC will be a little bit old, but DAC will be what next year?

34? Oh, 31. Excuse me, 31. I was thinking Kirk Cousins. Dak, that's, that would be 31 next year. And so, like, he's still going to be very much in his prime. Like, it is, it's a very rare thing to have a starting caliber quarterback, playoff caliber, super bowl caliber quarterback, be available in free agency. So if you're saying, John Payne's not going to go for a rookie because he would prefer to find

that then i'll tell you champagne's gonna have to take a rookie at some point because you don't you don't just find that that's not just under under a rock for you so i think like even if you want to say oh you know this year they're going to pass they're going to be in the same spot next year right they're going be picking outside the top 10 but inside the top 16 and and darrett sitem's not going to be the solution and okay maybe they put a deck offer on the table if he actually does hit free agency but then they get out priced by somebody and now now you have to take a guy and next year's class isn't as good.

Not selling the farm for the quarterback trade-up, I hear you. If they leave this draft without a quarterback taking in the first two or three rounds, I think that's gross roster. Yeah, I should say it's not an either-or situation because I'm with you. I don't think they're going to take the big swing in round one. But yes, if you draft a quarterback at some point and then next year you add a veteran, maybe it's not DAC, but now you feel like you've thrown a couple darts and you figure they're just in this weird spot.

I don't know what their move is. I mean, I'm not telling you that, like, what I said I think they're going to do is necessarily the right move because you're right. I mean, again, that Prescott's market next year as a free agent is going to be absurd when you look at the teams that could potentially be involved. And you say, okay, like, Denver's going to put an offer on the table. It's going to make them the high-speed quarterback. Right? So how can you say no? I think it'll probably more than one.

I think it'll have at least multiple offers on the table that would put in 55, 56, 57. So now you get to pick. Are you picking Denver? over anyone else? Like, I'm, at a lot of instances, I'm taking, like, okay, go be with Sean Payton, but you, you walked through the wide receiver room, right? I think the state that the defense is going to be terrible. You're joining a division with Patrick Mahomes, with Justin Herbert,

in a conference that has Lamar Jackson, that has Josh Allen, has Joe Burrow. I don't know if I want to be spending my time in Denver, trying to get through all that slog, right? I, my general rule, like, you know, one of my shield-capadio rules, my maxims of understanding the NFL, is when the head coach has charge of the front office, expect short-term moves, right? Expect short-sightedness, right?

It's the head coach's job to win now. And is the GM's job to win three years from, right? The head coach is concerned, like, in order to keep his job, the other coach needs to do a good job with the roster he has. Remember, for the GM to keep his job, he has to show that he's building a good roster for the future. So once the head coach gets his hands on the general manager's resources,

once he gets his grubby little pause on the picks and he gets control of the draft room, as I understand and imagine Sean Payton has now, I always expect future capital to be used for short-term gains. That's my expectation. So that's what leads me to believe the Broncos are a stronger trade-up candidate, a stronger sell the farm for J-Jem McCarthy candidate than I think you do. And Sean Payton knows what the trap door is.

He knows the out. He knows the escape hatch. He did it in New Orleans. He's retire, right? Yeah. Yeah. Sean Payton is fine, all right? He's proven he's one of the best coaches.

He absolutely is. like this will not be that big of a black market. All he didn't fix Russell Wilson. Like that's not going to be a huge black mark on his record. Like he, John Bain's legacy is good. He's got his ring. Like what are,

he has, he has a ring. Yeah, he has his ring. Yeah, he is good. Yeah, yeah. Like, if Sean Bain drafts, James McCarthy with three firsts, future first,

and then McCarthy's terrible in a year and a half, just retired. Go get your feet up in Turkey's of CECO's. Gigi. Well, as a DTC proponent, I would suggest, get yourself fire. Don't retire.

Let's, you know, make sure that Walmart money is still depositing. in the account, Sean Payton, I think he's smart enough to do that as well. It's funny your coach GM point because in this instance, the GM might be on board with like, yeah, no, yeah, let's go do it. I don't want to sit around a year. Like his job security is not going to be better next off season than it is now if they don't do anything and finish seven and ten.

And it's like, oh yeah, you know, we'll keep you around and hang out and make some decisions. So they could be aligned there. I don't know. Just something in my head says, does. No, I could be wrong. Maybe he'll fall in love with one of these prospects and they'll take. a big swing. That's why they are a confounding team because I don't know what to think. I don't know what they're going to do. I don't know what they should do. They don't really have a great path

here going forward to solve that big order back problem. All right, take a break. Come back. We will get to Solac second take. All right. We are back on. Extra Point. Taken. Solac. What do you got? Joe, my second take is brought you by State Farm. How exciting is that? All right? It's It's time for win-win situations, which is a new segment presented by State Farm. There are a lot of moments in life that call for a celebration. Creating your State Farm personal price plan can be one of them. And so we're talking win-win situations. I think a nice win-win situation today came when the Eagles extended Devante Smith,

three or $75 million. Really, this is a win-win-win-win, all win. Because it's good for Devante, good for the Eagles, and most importantly, it's good for me. Because as an Eagles fan, I have been very excited about the Devante-Smith contract extension. I've been looking forward to Devante Smith wearing Eagles jersey for many, many, many years, and now he's locked in. So there's three or 75 million extension.

They also picked up his fifth year option while they did this. So it's not that Smith's an Eagle for the next three years, really is an Eagle through 2028, right? He's an Eagle through the next four and then in a five season. Accordingly that $25 million, like that's just the details on the extension. If you include the fifth year option, it's really more like $22.75 million, which is still a top 10 wide receiver contract, right? Calvin Ridley right now is making 23 per year.

Terry McClorner's making 23.2 per year. T. Higgins at the tag is coming in 21.8 and DJ Moore coming in at 20,000. So it's about market rate you'd expect for a starting wide receiver one, right? For like a wide receiver one caliber, great wide receiver, like lead guy of a team. And the Eagles are paying that to their second wide receiver. It is a nice payday for Devonte Smith. If you just look at like total guarantees, he's got 51 million guaranteed on his extension. AJ Brown had 57 million guaranteed, all right, total on his on his, on his D.

deal. Like, they paid him like he is absolutely right up there with AJ Brown as like that level of talent, that level of guy. And he's clearly second fiddle to Brown in terms of the team's pecking order. So that is a really nice payday for Devante Smith. Well, go ahead. To interrupt you real quick, I would say yes and no. I mean, that AJ Brown deal was two years ago when the cap was very different. So if you're looking at it in terms of percentage of cap, and if you're really looking at it in terms of like Devante Smith, if he wanted to maximize his earnings, which is not, again, we have to remind ourselves, sometimes just getting 51 million guaranteed is pretty good and you're in the neighborhood the way you said it. So I actually think from Eagle's perspective,

it's sort of like, this is definitely cheaper than it would potentially be down the road, in my opinion, for Devante Smith. Because even, I mean, he is a two. You're right. I think if you're his agent, you could easily make the case. Yeah, but if he's on the open market, he's getting paid like a one and it's going to be more. Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, there's no doubt about that. Like, all wide receiver contracts is like, you know, two years ago we lived in a different world than we lived. Right? You know, like some of like the Christian Kirk deals and and the Calvin Ridley deals, like these deals are going to have some big ramification.

You can absolutely make an argument like, oh, Devonty would be a one or another team. There's no doubt at all that Devante would have made more money if he hit free agency and went to another team. With that said, to have an offseason in which like, like Michael Pittman, who is clearly and emphatically the wide receiver one with the Colts, get $23 million. Calvin Ridley, who was like very clearly the wide receiver one for the Jaguars last year to make $23 million. And then to come around, DJ Moore, wide receiver one making 20, a 20, Mike Evans for the box, big a 20.5, to be Devante Smith, to have clearly at all times

been the wide receiver two on your team. And to come in at that figure is, in my opinion, a win. That is absolutely, because you're getting that right now. You're being handed that for always have been a wide receiver two over the course of your career, right? And also, again, you're getting it now as opposed to getting it a couple years down the road after your fifth year option, right? This is still like, and I brought up the AJ Brown deal because I think a lot of other teams don't run business like the Eagles would have come in and said, okay, well, you know, here's the, AJ's making 25 per year, and he's making 57 totaling guarantees.

So since like he's our one, you've got to be making remarkably less than. You have to be making substantially less than. And Eagles didn't do that. They said, we're going to knock like five percent off of this, and then we're going to give you that deal. And that to me is like, That's a big statement from the Eagles to do that now and to have those numbers look like the AJ Brown number. So I hear you, absolutely. Like you could have got more blood from the stone, but in terms of like getting an extension,

the offseason you became eligible to do it, to stay with the team that has you and get paid wide receiver one money despite the fact of your wide receiver two, to me that's a win for Devon. Yeah, no, I think that's right. It's a win for you like you mentioned because the other thing, so like if you're an Eagles fan,

it's like you don't want that locker room sort of, well, this guy's being, paid much more than this guy deal. They're getting paid the exact same amount. That's good for the locker room. That's good for Devante Smith. That's good for the Eagles. And the other big story here, I think, is that other fan bases, owners, GMs, teams, like,

the excuses that they make for why they don't keep players, their fan bases can say, wait, look at the Eagles. What they're paying, Jalen Hertz, and AJ Brown, and Devonte. Smith in a longer list. I know you tweeted about it today, like just a bunch of guys at or near the top of the market. And what does this go back to? To me, it goes to two things. One is the Eagle's secret thing. And I don't like to come on here and give owners a lot of praise. But when your owner is willing to shell out cash that allows you to extend these contracts, give big signing bonuses, and allows you to prorate them over the course of many years with void years. It allows you

cap flexibility. And it allows you to make more moves. moves. That's one. Jeffrey Lurie has consistently been at the top or near the top in terms of cash spending in the NFL. It's something we don't talk about enough. We talk too much about cap and not enough about how much is the owner willing to spend in terms of cash right now at this instance to keep a core player because that can really be a big edge that you have and that's a big edge that they have. And then the other thing, Solek, and it's in comparison to what we've talked about in the past with the Cowboys. Look how the Eagles approach this with their stars. They're saying we're going to be early, we're going to take care of them, we're going to be aggressive.

It's not always going to work out. There will be times where you do that. And then down the road, you say, all right, that was probably a contract we shouldn't have given them. But you know what? It's like the players you have in your building who have performed, you know them better than any other thing you could spend resources on. Better than draft picks, better than free agents, better than guys you trade for. You know all their friends, weaknesses, locker room fit, culture, injury history. history, how they perform in big spots, team mate, all that thing.

And so the Eagles philosophy is, let's be ahead of the curve and pay these guys. I mean, with Devante Smith, if they wait even until training camp and Justin Jefferson gets signed, maybe T. Higgins gets signed. And now all of a sudden, the numbers you gave on Devante Smith, his age is telling, well, yeah, it's a little bit, well, yeah, this guy. And it looks a lot different. They got ahead of the curve. What are the cowboys doing?

We know that they have not been at the top in terms of cash spending, and we know that they have not taken care of these guys early. Dak Prescott, D.D. Lamb, now maybe Micah Parsons. It's the opposite approach, and the Cowboys end up spending more, being in worse cap space, and not having players that are home, I mean, the Cowboys have drafted better than the Eagles, but they're going to be in a worse spot than the Eagles because of that different approach. And so I think I said other day, if you're a Cowboys fan,

you look at your organization to go, how can they do that with their guys? And we're complaining that we can't take care of our guys. And the reason is because of ownership and the way you're managing your roster is not the same as the other team in your division. And the particularly frustrating thing is that I think for a lot of other teams, why isn't my general manager doing this? Why isn't he signing these extensions early? And part of the answer is your general manager doesn't know if he's holding the job in

two, holding the job in three years. It's like, oh, let me go sign this Devante Smith, extension before we hit market. Dude, by the time that kicks in, you might be fired. You might be gone. You just sign that deal for somebody else. You don't get to reap any of the benefits of signing this deal early. In Philadelphia, Harry Roseman's been there for so long.

He's been running the team and he had his one year in the corner. But other than that, it's been great. Like, the trust that Lori has enables Roseman to sign these deals very early, keep the Eagles healthy because Roseman is incentivized to do so knowing he's going to be around. In Dallas, the GM's the owner. You have the ultimate. You have so much stability. Right.

You know you are positive you're holding on to the job. Why would you not be getting a five-year view in the room, a 10-year view in the room? You can actually do this. Now, you brought up like the CD-LAM name and the Justin Jefferson name. It's crazy. Like most of the top of the 2020 wide receiver class hasn't had been extended yet. And the Eagles got a deal done with the top of the 2021 class in Devande Smith. They did this.

The first year was eligible. But in my opinion, the most important name isn't Justin Jefferson, nor is it CD-LAM that you want to be. it's Brandon Ayup, right? And that's where I think some of this, this 49ers drama really starts to get involved, because Brandon I think, uh, arguably wide receiver one, but wide receiver two, how do we think about this player? Where is he relative to Debo Samuel? Like the 49ers, uh, if they wanted to, and the 49ers, you know, cap situation is triggered than the Eagles, but they could have come in and said, okay, Debo Samuel's making, you know, $23.8 million a year. Debo Samuel's got 58 in total guarantees. Let's try to give Brandon Ayuk something that reflects that he is at that

caliber. Let's give it to him early, but they didn't do that. And now you have this season where Iyuk was really, really, really, really good last year, really, really, really good. Debo's been missing more time. And it creates a greater imbalance. Now it's harder to get that contract in front of Brandon Ayuk. And now Ayuk's talking about, does he want to get trade? Does he agents to clarify? He's not asking for trades.

And Iuke's tweeting stuff, spending Instagram pictures about, I don't want to be here. Like, things get noxious, right? Things, think that are, it feels great and then it's not. And so Ayuk's situation is really the one that, I think, is the one that you want to preempt it for the Eagles. You want to pay Devante before anything he'd get messy between him and AJ because, hey, like, you know, AJ Brown was not the friendliest dude in the entire world. I know there's a lot that went into that, but like, you can, friction can show up out of nowhere.

And so let's get him paid before any of that happens. And let's make sure that we beat the Brandon I, you situation. If he goes to, to Pittsburgh, he gets traded on draft night, and Pittsburgh gives him a top free contract. Now Devonte Smith, Asian can come and say, that guy was a wide receiver two. Every single snap that he plays, wide receiver two to Debo Samuel. And he plays a similar role in a similar style of Devonty Smith,

and we need that money. And so to me, like, right, the win here for the Eagles, right? It's a win for Devontey Smith. The win for the Eagles is preempting not just Justin Jefferson, not just Cedayette Lamb, but also preempting like Brandon and I, Yuk and Jalen Waddle and some of these guys coming up who are really, really great receivers, but have been wide receiver twos for their teams.

And I think could have changed the market for elite wide receiver twos a little bit. They got ahead of that market. I think that's a really, really big win. Yeah, Hayuk is a good comp because... Yeah, that's that... Oh, no, yeah. I was just to say IUC is a big, a good comp because Annie also has more leverage than Devante

Smith because he is entering the final year of his contract where, like you said, the Eagles still had the fifth year option. They still had a franchise tag. They go ahead and do it early. Now, I you can look at that and say, all right, that's the floor of my deal is Devante Smith. Now, how much higher than that are we potentially going? So yeah, he is absolutely a good comp and probably the next guy to watch here. Yeah. So that is my win, win, win. Go Eagles, go birds, go to Vante Smith and go me for rooting for that team and that person respectively. With the State Farm

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and eligibility. Variable by state. I had a little Nat Dahnet warming during that segment that I was trying. I was having a swat away. I was having difficulty. And so if for no other reason then to see that, you got to subscribe to the ringer NFL YouTube page. I looked like a complete idiot because when you're hitting the gnat and the gnat is between like the brim of the hat and your nose,

like you got to be careful there. I don't want to knock. I don't want to flip my own lid. I don't want to smack myself in the nose. And so I was unsuccessful there. So that was a little bit embarrassing. But hey, that's what the video is for. All right. My next take, Benjamin Solac. our team of extra point taken from last year. And our, I don't know, is he our guy now? I don't know. Brian Gutekun, Stolak, has a chance to really build an NFC powerhouse? Am I going too far?

You would tell me if I'm going too far. I might have got a little carried away with this. Here's the point I wanted to make, okay? I'm not sure how many non-packers fans realize this, but the Green Bay Packers are positioned so beautifully going into this draft, given what they have on the roster and the resources they have available. They have 11 picks in this draft.

That's tied for the most of any team. They have five picks in the first three rounds. Tullak, there are three teams with five or more picks in the first three rounds. The commanders dunk last year, quarterback question, coach question, maybe. Cardinals, not good last year. And the Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers, a team that was in the division round of the playoffs, a team, that extra point taken set, this team, even though they have plus odds, they're making the playoffs. So, you know, I love the quarterback. You know, I think Matt LaFleur is underrated. I make that point over and over again. And then you look at the roster, like O line. All right, yeah, could use a little bit of work there at right guard. Wide receiver, I'm usually the guy saying, no, no, you got to get one of the guys, but I look at that roster and I say, let's let the young guys play. Let's let the young guys grow. Jaden Reed,

Romeo Dobbs, Datavian Wix. Let's see what? what they got here. You see what you get from Christian Watson. You see what you get from the tight ends you drafted last year. There's a lot to work with. Like, I don't think that's going to be their major problem. Now, maybe week four of next season rolls around and I say, no, no, no, they need to get a guy that's possible. But I'm fine with the approach to stay patient with the young guys there. So you look at all this, you look at the way they've been able to find offensive linemen laid in the draft over and over and over again. Just offensive line has not been a problem for them. And it's not like they've had to, you know, sink all these crazy resources into it, so they're good there.

Defense is where you obviously need to continue to add. The cupboard is not bare, but maybe the coordinator change makes a huge difference. But the point is, Solac. They can really be, every GM talks about best player available, best, like, some GMs are actually positioned to do that in this draft. And I think Brian Gutakunz is one of those guys. He can take the best player available. He can build depth. He can take a bunch of darts. throws, they've got volume, he can maneuver up, he can maneuver down, he can trade for picks for next season. This is a great opportunity for the general manager of the Green Bay Packers to really continue to build this roster into a team that has a Super Bowl window for like the next three to five

years and just hit on some of these picks and get those young core players and really feel good about where you are in the NFC. And the reason I brought up Good to Cuts, I mean, this was a guy Aaron Rogers was calling him the Jerry Krause of the NFL a few years ago. Remember that? And now I'm trying to think. If you're like, if I gave you your pick, you are, let's say, a GM or an owner, pick of any situation in the NFC. Let's just say NFC. We know AFC has a bunch of powerhouses. NFC, who is best positioned right now when you look at everything? Roster, coach, quarterback, to resources to like, really build a thing where they can compete for Super Bowls or be a really good team and have sustained success for the next three to five years. I think you, as you think about it, I think you can make a case for the 49ers just because that's the team that I can't, I can't get past. I can get past

the Eagles. Okay. Because I think the Eagles are built great and everything like that. I, the, like, Daniel Hertz, excellent quarterback. I'm not sure that like he's like that like perennial top 10 guy who's always like taking you that way. And then there's a lot of like a head coach instability that goes on there. It's a chance I take that job and next year I'm hiring all new guys. Dallas, great players, but obviously we've talked about the contract situations there. San Francisco, dude, like, I get to be the GM for Tyler. You didn't mention Detroit? Detroit, golf.

I like everything else. I have to figure out a quarterback. I have to figure out the future a quarterback. I don't want to have to do that. I want it to be done. At San Francisco, I don't need to figure out anything. You say, oh, Ben, Brock Party is he the future? Doesn't matter.

Kyle's there. I think if Kyle a sack of potatoes is a quarterback would win in 12. games. Don't worry about it. San Francisco is the one that's hard for me to say no to, just because I know I'm employing Kyle Shanahan. And that gives me such a competitive edge. That's hard to say no to over Green Bay. Yeah. Okay. It's true. But as we just talked out, you can make the case for the Packers, certainly in the top three, two, whatever. So they are very, very well positioned. And this is, like, this isn't a big draft for Brian Gutakuntz because if he blows it, he's going to get fired.

No. But it's a big draft for him because if he nails it, or even if he just is like a little bit above average, this team is going to be very, very well positioned in the NFC for this next stretch and that's sustained success. That's what every franchise is chasing. Yes, you're chasing a Super Bowl, but you're also chasing the possibility of being in the mix for a Super Bowl year in and year out.

So there you go. Brian Goodekun's chance to build. Is Powerhouse too strong? Powerhouse probably feels too strong. But, you know, I'm wearing the team content shirt. Sometimes you got to just throw it up there and see what happens. The Packers have a chance to build that which the Packers have just always had, right? There's going to have just, the chance to just be like continued excellence with one quarterback forever and ever I'm in.

Yeah, no, that's certainly well said. All right, let's take a break. We come back and we get to our final two points. All right, welcome back to extra point taking. Solek, what do you got for your third take? All right. I don't think we're talking enough about the fact. that the Bears might just like

save the franchise of the wrong words to the Bears. The Bears might be entering the best era of Bears football here in a second. Like wait, wait, the Bears, shield. The Bears have never had a 4,000 yard passer. Right? We don't like, we don't, we don't talk about this enough. They have never had it in a single season.

Wait, is that true? Yes. Fields hasn't done. 4,000, that's it? Yes. They have never had a pass with her for, one of the 4,000 yards at a single season.

They're the only NFL franchise. They're the only NFL franchise to never have a quarterback to throw 30 passing touchdowns in a single season. Obviously, like, the Bears have had incredible eras of football at Erlacker and Briggs.

Like, you know, 86 ball to paint and sweetness. Like, I don't want, you don't want, like, best era of Bears football, probably untrue. Best era of Bears quarterbacking, okay?

Like, actual, like, this is a guy, like elite dude. There's not no Rex Grossman we got coming down the hill now with Caleb Williams. There's no, Jay Cutler we got coming into the room. Caleb, dude. I just finished charting Caleb last night.

I got my hands on the last two, all 22 games I needed and whatever. Shield. Good, good player. Like, I, the, Caleb has a really good shot to be the best quarterback in Bears' franchises. Okay?

Like, that, like, that, like, that, it's always an unreasonable thing to say about rookies, but in the case of the Bears, it might actually be true. Caleb could win his rookie season, become the first Bears quarterback to throw more than 30 passing touchdowns in a season. That's not unreasonable. That's not at all.

If he starts 17 games, he's got to average less than two a game. Like, he absolutely should be able to pull that off. You know, fantastic, fantastic prospect. The Bears also have, obviously, we know, another top 10 pick, right? They have this nine overall selection, which, man, as this board has fallen, is it four quarterbacks go top, top, top six, four quarterbacks go top eight. That pick really couldn't. Like, we know, oh, what if it's Roma Dunezay?

dude it might really just end up being romadunesay like oh what if you know talus huwaga oh it could be toulouse turner like they're gonna four quarterbacks go in the top eight picks obviously one of them being caleb williams and bears they really have the potential to grab like a a blue chip player you know what do the titans do at seven when the falcons do at eight there's a couple dominoes that can fall and maybe trade back get you know pick 30 to three

and then you make more selections whatever like two picks in the top ten one of which is going to be caleb williams who man we just do not talk enough about like how bad quarterbacking has been in Chicago and how good, he's been an afterthought for months now, he's been locked in, Caleb's going one overall. Caleb's almost unbelievable, man.

This is like, this really, really, really has potential to be a special, special prospect. He moves and throws very similarly to, I'm not saying the name, I'm just saying the name. This chances guy's great, okay? And then you have to pick there at 10, going into a roster, Joe, going into a depth chart that,

man, down the stretch last season, like half last year Chicago Bears playing some good football games all right defensively quality contributors across the board Montes sweat trade was good Jalen Johnson took a step forward

the TJ Edwards signing was good the Tremaine Edmunds signing probably too expensive but was still good the Tyrex Stevenson draft pick they have dudes on defense offensive line best it's been in years

right the darnel right picket right tackle really started to settle in Kevin Jenkins healthy at left guard that started to play well for them Nate Davis probably not great Braxton Jones could you improve on him yes but still

the DJ Moore acquisition and the Keenan Allen acquisition. Like, the Bears are pretty good, and Caleb's pretty good. And when you put a pretty good quarterback on a pretty good roster, man, expectations leap up. You don't want to put the car before the horse. Lions are great. The Packers are great. We just talked about them. Vikings are going to put a rookie quarterback on that roster.

That's a great offensive roster. They've got defensive pieces, too. NFC North might just be like a light-out division when we talk about them in the offseason. But for Chicago specifically, man, I don't. think we have made enough of a recognition of realization that this has the potential to be a watershed draft championship, which they have been cycling quarterbacks for 15 years, for 20 years, and they are going to draft a guy at one overall, who I think it is extremely reasonable to expect to make all pros, is extremely reasonable to expect me to be a 10-year starter in the league.

That is the caliber of guy we've got here in Caleb. This is the dude, man. This is the, this is the, this is the two not 10 picks. One of them Caleb Williams, this is the draft dude. He's going to be, he's going to be the best quarterback in Bears history. Why are you doing this to them? Haven't they've been through enough? If it doesn't work, it's so funny. I mean, I was just watching you, putting my, you know, myself in the shoes of a Bears fan, listening to this, just yelling, shut up.

Like, shut up. We've heard it before. I know he's a different. Like, like, if you're a Bears fan, the internal excitement is very similar to what you just laid out there. Absolutely. No doubt about it. I like Caleb Williams. You like Caleb Williams.

We both like the bear. You were ahead of me on liking the Bears at the middle of last season, and I caught on late. And I'm like, no, this Bears team is pretty feisty. They've got some players here. They make the Keenan Allen trade. It is a nice ecosystem for a rookie quarterback to come into. You know, offensive line will see.

But you got a couple wide receivers there. But So, Lack, they've been through so much. I mean, 13 years here without a playoff win. 13 years without a playoff win. Like, that's hard to do in the modern NFL. So if you're a Bears fan, probably to anyone who's not a Bears fan, you're like, I'm not talking about it. No, thank you.

Sorry. And then internally, when you're amongst your people, then you can share the excitement that Soak just shared. Do you think, then, we know you like Kila Blooms, like, is this going to be an immediate? Like, are you seeing a C.J. Stroud type? All right, that's not fair. CJ Stratt are like one of the best rookie seasons we've ever seen.

Yes. So I'm not going to say that. But do you think Caleb Williams can be good enough as a rookie? I'm not asking you to make your playoff picks now. But do you see them now when you deliver that wonderful soliloquy? Was that a soliloquy? Soliloquy, monologue. Okay.

Okay. Monologue. Yes. Do you see them as a team that's going to compete for the playoffs or even go further and say, no, this team's making the playoffs in year one? I think they will compete. Like my projection for the team last year was that they would be, they would come in around 500.

I had them at like 8 and 9 and 8, and that they would surge late. And I thought they would do that kind of with field. Obviously, they went 7 and 10. They missed some time with fields, and the surge late was a lot more about the defense. And, you know, they move on from fields, whatever. This year, I expect, you know,

bump that up a couple games. Do you expect them to kind of pick up where they left off last year? Development is not linear, but they still have a lot of good players. And they're going to, obviously, they're going to have a change of quarterback. Don't smirk at me when I want to do a call back. I like that.

You had to remind you, yeah, you had to remind yourself of your point. Yes. I spend 60 minutes on this show doing one thing. It's trying to defend myself from you, all right? I'm just mentally, I'm putting... I'm a nice person. I will not stand for this.

Just guards, just wars, all right? Every so often I indulge myself and I let myself have a take, I actually believe when I know that it's going to like, right, it come with a heavy criticism, i.e. Caleb Williams is going to be the best quarterback in Bears history. I can't wait to hear who... I can't wait to hear who your hipster team's going to be. I mean, that's what I'm looking forward to for August

in which team... I think the north is top and so it's going to be hard. I think they're going to be above 500. I think they're going to be in the hunt on the bubble. They're going to be on the graphic, right? It's good going to be on the graphic all the way through the season. How good of a rookie season can Caleb have is tricky? Because I think that Caleb's going to have like a high interception rookie season.

I think he's going to like lose them a game or two by being a knucklehead. Like I don't think he is pro ready in that like, you know, oh, go win January playoff games, you know, high polish game sense. I do think that. Caleb's going to walk in the field and belong immediately, man. I mean, like, again, like, I think we have all far too easily just kind of smoothed over the Caleb Williams experience. People ask, like, oh, is he as good of a prospect as Trevor?

Good of a prospect as luck. And that's always, like, very challenging to talk about because we know what those players became. Nobody remembers what guys actually were as prospects. Like, was he as good of a prospect as Trevor? No, he wasn't. Could he be better through the first three years than Trevor has been? Absolutely.

100% unequivable. Caleb is a good player. My favorite Caleb Williams plays from film were not the, you know, escape, spin out of pressure to the, I loved when he kind of felt the edge pressure and climbed up there like Andrew Luck style and just ripped one downfield. Those were my favorite Caleb Williams plays where I'm like, oh, baby, that looks nice. One, so a little peek ahead at that and some of the numbers.

These will be coming out midweek for the ring on the ring. NFL draft guide, NFL draft for the ringer.com, NFL draft show that my shoes to grab. Kayla Williams, in terms of quarterbacks I've charted, which lasts like five, six years, has some of the most throws from messy platforms, adjusted platforms that I've ever charted, and some of the best actors from adjusted platforms have ever charted. When this guy lands on his back foot and the pocket's not perfect, there are not many prospects I've seen who are better. He is highly mature. He's also nuts. And the throws that he decides to attempt are irresponsible and

unacceptable and ridiculous. There's like a third and there's like a third and third of four against Ordegan, they're down like three scores and then in the second half. And he gets, he got trashed at his feet. He's got a receiver. open five yards and he throws them like 45 yards down the field. You're like, dude, you cannot do this. But the fact that he can find it, the throw, that's what it is. It's the throws that he finds from the platforms that he finds. Ludic.

Unbelievable. Just stupid, stupid, stupid stuff. I look forward to checking out what you just mentioned, the QB charting project from So, like, yeah, I thought what you mentioned, he can make the 1% throws. And then I also just loved that he hits the layups over and over and over again, the easy throws, he makes them with great accuracy. So there you go Bears fans. You're already excited enough. I mean, the thing is Bears' pants have been talking about this since when. I mean, like you said, it has been a long stretch here where they've just been so excited about potentially getting this guy

and rightfully so that now that the day is almost here, they're probably not going to know what to do with themselves and then just that anticipation for him getting on the field. But yeah, they have four picks only in this draft. So like, but like you mentioned, they have one. and they have nine. They can add two guys to a roster that they've been investing in. That's pretty good. And I do think they're a potential playoff team in 2020. All right.

My last take is a very stupid one. Good. For our bet shows during the, you know, season, I have like, what do I call it? She'll stupidest bet of the season. And we had that there in the spreadsheet. So my take is I'm ready to poke holes in the Kansas City Chiefs once again. It's only been what? Every March.

Two months. It's been two months. Before that, I famously had egg on my face last season when I said they're not winning the Super Bowl with this offense. That was on, I think after the Christmas Day loss to the Raiders, then they go on the run. They win the Super Bowl. They make me look stupid. I apologize after the game that, all right, I was way wrong about that. I can own it.

Now, after the Super Bowl, so like, I thought, all right, they're not going to do that again. You know, they're not going to give Patrick Mooms that week of a supporting cast ever again. I'm sure they're happy they won the Super Bowl, but they know they need to add to that group. They know they need to give him more help. And I want to be fair here. They still have time. This roster could look very different in week one than it does now.

But right now, I have some concerns. Okay, this Rashi Rice story is bad. Rice had 1,200 yards last year if you include the playoffs, was by far their best wide receiver. And this is from Pro Football Talk and the Dallas Morning News. if you're not familiar with the story, Rice was allegedly racing a former SMU teammate in Dallas going 119 miles per hour,

causing a six vehicle crash, at least seven people injured. He fled the scene, and so he is facing one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury, and six counts of collision involving injury. So obviously, the state of the chiefs is not the most important thing. We hope everyone in the...

involved there. I mean, that is a scary situation, that is irresponsible behavior, and they put people's lives at risk. So that's number one. There are multiple people dealing with injuries. We don't know how long-lasting, but dealing with injuries right now. Now you shift back to the non-serious aspect of it, which is football, and what this chief team is going to look like, like there's a lot to sort through here. We have to see how the legal process plays out. We have to see, will the league discipline, Rashi Rice, will the team dole out any discipline? for Rashi Rice. So there's a lot of uncertainty now for the Kansas City cheese when you felt like this was a player who they were going to continue to build with, who Patrick Mahomes was going to continue to grow with. Now there's some uncertainty there. And so Travis Kelsey will be 35 in October. The guy they added was Marquis Brown, who I like a little more than you do. But now Patrick Mahomes, if Rice is missing any time, it's Markis Brown, Justin Watson, and Sky Moore. It's like Groundhog's Day from last season. It may be worse than it was. last season. And by the way, they also have a question at left tackle. So I know if you're a

chiefs fan, you're like, shut up, who cares? We just won the Super Bowl. We've won three Super Bowls. Why is this your dumb take? You're going to look stupid again next year. Entirely possible. They absolutely can win the Super Bowl with this group. I'm just sort of surprised. I thought that by 10, 10 days before the draft, that the Kansas City Chiefs roster, that the supporting cast around Patrick Mahomes was going to look better than it does right now. Again, could look different. Week one comes around next year and they've got different players. Maybe they do stuff in the draft. Maybe they make a trade, whatever.

But right now, I'm a little underwhelmed with what they've done as they try to defend their title. Okay. Tell me how stupid I am. Who's the quarterback there again? I know. I said that. I already said that. That's fine.

I understand. Okay. But did you not, so did you not expect them to do more? Did you think they were just going to say, we did it last year? Let's just stick, you know, we can do that every year type deal. I thought they were going to do more. I don't mind the fact that they did not as much because I do think that they are in a very good position the chiefs are to like to do free agency recruit.

That's what I was looking for. Recruit and attract players in like the second wave of free agency and a third wave of free agency. A lot of those like veteran free agents who, oh, they don't immediately sign with the team because they're in the late stage of the career and they want to attach themselves to. a contender. They're in a great position to attract those. They're willing to make in-season trades before the deadline. We see them do that. Not at the ton of success, but we've seen them do that over the past. They're good in the margin. I think that if you took Brett Beach out of Kansas City and plopped him on a different team, like, you know, no Patrick

Mahomes, I think obviously he'd have to be more aggressive and, you know, change your philosophy and adjust to the quarterback and the defense coordinator and the officer or whatever. But one of the things that I think the chiefs just have always done really well is be really good with. with like third tier and fourth tier veteran free agent contracts. And with like praise for fifth round picks, right? Oh, go get Charles A menahoe. Think about like everything they got out of Jerich McKinnon for how long they got Jeremy. Oh, sixth round pick on Trey Smith.

Like they've always just been so good like in the later rounds with the smaller contracts filling the gaps. That's where Beach and his staff has always been strong. So I think that they're always going to stay with their bread butter there. I don't think they're ever going to be like a super aggressive team, even if he took Beech away from Mahomes. Throwing the fact that he's got Mahomes. And there's just not too much incentive to be like, The earliest guy on the contract for the insert player here, right?

This, fill this knee. Like, it's just, just go get Drew Tranquil. Just, that's been how they've done it. And then go get Mike Edwards. And they've just, they've been successful with that. So I understand why they continue to go that way. I do think their pendulum has swung too far, absolutely. But it doesn't surprise me that it has.

And it's tough to fault them too much. Now, we'll see how this, this draft goes. Because let's see the draft doesn't fall the way they wanted to. And all of a sudden, they're walking in the next season with Juanio Morris and, uh, the right tackle whose name I certainly is on Taylor thank you John Taylor um they walk up with Juanie Morris or Juan Taylor then it's like oh eke you know like we maybe we flew too close to the sun here but they still have the draft going and like I my expectations they're going to take a tackle maybe not even round one but somewhere in the first couple rounds and they're going to think that

they can they can they can squeeze a starter out of that players that's what they've done for the last few season let me be clear where you all yell at me yes it can update as long as he's the quarterback you can stick anyone out there and they will have a chance to win the Super Bowl. I get that. I just feel surprised, a little underwhelmed so far, but Solek made a good point. Maybe they're still adding people, but I think that makes them pretty interesting going into this draft as well, because I do think whether it's tackle or wide receiver, they're going to need these guys to contribute right away.

Maybe they're just fine the next Rashi Rice. I mean, that's entirely possible that they find a guy in this draft in the first three rounds who is a good player who steps in in that infrastructure, Sandy Reid and Patrick Holmes, and is good right away. They've got seven picks, three in the first three round. All right, so that extra point taken, what do you got? All right. Chia, from my extra point taken today, I have three bets that if I were betting the NFL draft on Fandle Sportsbook, America's number one sports, book, official sportsbook of extra point taken, the ringer NFL. If I, if I, if I, if I, how do you talk so fast? I mean, that's like incredible. I was about to say my mother, my mother taught

me. However, on a recent episode, you made the comment about how sometimes I seem like I'm complimenting you, but there's actually a criticism snuck in there. And I responded with, yeah, I learned that from my mom. And then I got a text from my mother asking me, what did you mean by my mom taught me that? I was like, what are you talking about? She was like, you said it on the show. And I was like, which show, mom? Like, I do a lot of pods. You got to help me out. On the shield one. I was like, a mom of shield. I really didn't remember. Then she went back and she sent me minute and second where I said it. And then I listened back and I was like,

you're right. Sorry, Mom. And she made the point. She was like, that was your grandmother who did that. And I was like, you're right. I should have said, your mom is the one who taught me that. Obviously, it skipped a generation. But yeah, so no more my mom taught me that on the podcast. And the next text will be incoming in the next 24. No more. I love a mama.

Of course. I would never say anything. The great motion. All right. So I have three bets that if I were betting that if I were betting the NFL draft on Fandle right now. These are, these are ones that I would like, these ones that I would take. I'm going to walk you through them and then I'm going to ask for your opinion. I have one that's like a heavy favorite, one that's about 50-50 and one that's a fun long shot, all right?

All right. I haven't looked at any of these, so I'm glad to hear them. I don't know what any of these numbers are. What are you going? Heavy favorite. The position of the first drafted player by the New Orleans Saints to be an offensive lineman is minus 220. All right. So this is, Okay, wherever the Saints pick, 14, 1, 800, wherever their first pick is, to be an offensive lineman, an interior or offensive line, or tackle, excuse me, mock draft roundup posted this morning on s.aid.com for the Saints by John Hendricks, has 18 mock drafts sampled. 16 of the 18 have the Saints taking an offensive lineman with their picks.

You have one Brock Bowers, one Brian Thomas, everything else is just Troy Fawtonu and an Olufashanu and Amarius Mims and to least, Fulaga, the Saints are in dire straits on their offensive line. Ryan Ramcheck has a knee problem at right tackle. Trevor Penning has not been when they wanted to be at left tackle. They've lost starters on the interior. They're in a place of total of appeal there at that spot. I think the front office knows that that's the most dire position of need. They have guys at a lot of other spots as well, even though like, okay, some aging dudes, some contract dudes. I think edge rusher is still like very much a potential for them. But overall, I do like

Saints Office of Line minus 220. That's your heavy favorite. Your 50-51. over under draft slot for Cooper de Jeanne, corner out of Iowa, under 22 and a half at minus 108 critically, that 22 and a half gives you the Eagles at 22, who I think are a great Cooper DeGine candidate. He's the size, he's the athleticism. They tend to like it, corner. They have a very desperate need at corner.

So you're getting that 22, you're getting that Eagles pick. But even in front of the Eagles, you have the Steelers at 20 who are a corner candidate team, the Rams at 19 are a corner candidate team, the Jags at 17. DeGine is visiting the Seahawks today. They're a coordinate candidate team at 16. The Colts at 15. It is a big healthy cornerback meat chunk right there in the middle of the draft. Expectations are right now that the top, like the expectation for the top picks is that you're going to see Terry and Arnold and Quinion Mitchell. The two top corners go somewhere in the top 15.

So Cooper DeGine under 22 and a half is the third best corner on the board, I think is a good selection. And then the last and the longest deal. First wide receiver off the board. I always get their names wrong and it always ruins my attention. First wide receiver off the board, Malik Naber at plus 400. Now this was plus 500 a while ago. It's moved to plus 400 now. You've just seen reporting for months at this point that there are some teams, no one's saying who, but there are some teams that have Marvin.

Malik Navors ranked above Marvin Harrison to be the top wide receiver in this class. We don't know if that's a page of at three. We don't know if that's the carnals at four. Both those teams are tradeout candidates. You might get to the charges at five or they take a wide receiver do we know who they like this this is not as cut and dry Marvin is the clear top one guy as the market to indicate it is and so I already have the Malik neighbors to be the the first overall receiver off the board from earlier but it's still at plus 400 I would be willing to take it so

my three bets from my extra point are Marvin Harrison to be the league neighbors be the first wide receiver off the board at plus 400 Malik neighbors first rider's here plus 400 to go before pick 22 and a half minus 108 and the Saints take an office alignment with their first pick at minus 220. You a buyer on any of those, you? I don't like the Saints one, only because I don't like the odds. Minus 220? I mean, isn't it? It's not like a loaded roster. Like, I know it's a need, but it's entirely possible that a Brian Thomas Jr. or somebody else, in my opinion, not could be the pick there. So I don't like that at those odds minus 220. Neighbors is like, might be my favorite

prospect in the draft. I love a neighbors. I love a neighbors. But it goes. back to the conversation we always have about GMs. Who is the GM who's going to have the whatever term you want to use to pick Malik neighbors over Marvin Harrison Jr. I mean, I love neighbors. And if you told me like, no one will ever know, make you, I might get, I might be like,

all right, yeah, let's go neighbors. But if my name's on it, and I'm the guy who put, I know this is a dumb way to think, but I just feel like that that's going to be a hard not for nothing, but like seven linebackers. are going to go before Jeremiah Trotter Jr. In this year's class, just an FYI. So,

plus 400? Yeah, I could talk myself into that. I'm trying to think. All right, so if it's the Cardinals, if it's the Cardinals at 4 and they stay put, I don't think they would take neighbors over there. What they? I just feel like they would take the short thing.

I don't think anybody should, but apparently some people will. I think Chargers at 5. What do the charges need a wide receiver? What have been missing for 10 years? Speed, baby. shoot push him you think Jim Harbaugh's taking an Ohio State grad think he's taking he's taking the Buckeye of our neighbors and the explosive

I don't know oh that would be some good juice if Jim Harbaught passed on Marvin Harrison Jr. Also great juice if he takes Marvin Harrison though right you know says what's up to him you know they say hi in the hallway they daff it up charges posted on social everyone's furious Ohio State fans hate it Michigan fans hate it And then the Dijin one is also very difficult for me. I think that's probably the one I would take. I think of the Eagles stay put at 22. I think Dijin is on like the short list of most likely candidates that they would pick at that spot.

Now, they could move up. They could move back. So what minus 101. Yeah, I think there will be teams that just say football player, go get the football player. We'll play in a corner. If it doesn't work out, we can play mid-slot, we can play mid-slaught, we can play mid-safety. we know he's good, he's physical, he's tough, he can tackle, he's athletic, he's versatile. So he has like a lot of the traits that I think a team would, in that range would say,

look at the other people on the board and say, all right, we don't need to hit maybe a grand slam with this pick. Let us get a good quality football player who can help us now and has some upside for the future. So I think Dijin is my favorite of the three under 22 and a half. Now you've got to get the 22 and a half. If you're saying under 22, then I'm probably a no on that. But I think under 22 and a half, that's the one I think I like. Yeah. I did just recently take the Dijian one.

I've had the Malik one for a bit, and I've had the Saints for a bit. It was a different price then. But the Dijun one I took this week because I do think that he's very clearly established himself as 4 or 3. He's going to go before Kool-A. He's going to go before Wiggins. And just there's so many teams between 15 and 22 to need a court. You have to imagine at some point to the top guy in the board.

definitely go before Wiggins you said that very confidently you think definitely you feel that confident yeah so right now which this is not a good proxy because it's the first cornerback drafted market

not like you know the inherent order in which they'll go but right now first cornerback drafted Quinnia Mitchell's minus 175 Turner and Arnold's plus 165 they're pretty much like okay it's gonna be one of those two dudes Dejean is third at plus 1,000

then Nate Wiggins is plus 22 there's a big delta between Nate Wiggins numbers and DeGine's numbers again that is a very imperfect proxy, but it does serve a little bit to kind of show you what the rankings are in the league. I know Circa released their over unders for corners. And we have DeGine at over under 20 and a half at Circa.

This was that open. The lines have changed since then. And Nate Wiggins was at 26 and a half. Julian McIntyre was at 28 and a half. And so for most books, at this point, DeGine is the clear favorite over Wiggins to be a third corner off the board. There you go. Another good extra point taken. All right.

you'll get dual threat on this feed during the week. And then Solac and I will be back on Friday. Again, reminder, get us some questions. We will do a mailbag episode on Friday. Then I think on Monday, we're going to do some bold predictions for our final pre-draft. I was close to doing bold predictions for my extra point taking. Give you a little, she'll three things might happen.

Tapeotone's the most likely. Okay. Now you can save them for Monday. That'll be the schedule. And then the next time we're on, the draft will have already happened. So coming up very soon here. All right. Thank you to Solak.

Thank you to Ace producer. Cliff Augustine, thanks to Eduardo Ocampo on social and ironic Nair on video. And additional production supervision by Connor and Arjuna. Ram Gapal. We'll talk to everyone on Friday. Must be 21 plus, 18 plus in D.C. And present in select states, Fandul is offering online sports waging in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas

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