Speaker 1: The Around the NFL Podcast would happily trade the Boss
Speaker 1: for Lindsay roose Welcome to another edition of the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. I'm Greg Rosenthal, joined by a couple
Speaker 1: of heroes, Mark Sessler and Chris Westling. Hey, Greg, so
Speaker 1: Dan Hands is normally hosting the show, and uh, we'll
Speaker 1: host every single show, um forever once they trade me
Speaker 1: for Lindsay Rhodes. Apparently he's not. He's feeling a little
Speaker 1: under the weather. Uh. You know, he was here at
Speaker 1: work today. He tried to battle through it. We sent
Speaker 1: him home. It's you know, free agencies coming down and
Speaker 1: we can we can run this ship. He came in,
Speaker 1: he pumped out a post. You know, his hair looks
Speaker 1: good as always. But one thing that West that you
Speaker 1: and I have noticed today is that the Boss he's
Speaker 1: got some nice hair. What do you where you? I
Speaker 1: don't know. It was all scraggly, you know, but apparently
Speaker 1: at some point this week you squeaked in and you
Speaker 1: got a hair cut in the makeup room, which is
Speaker 1: an unheard of action for low level talent of oriolk. Well,
Speaker 1: I believe what happened here is that Greg is leaving
Speaker 1: us behind. This is a power move where he said
Speaker 1: he's important enough to go into the makeup room and
Speaker 1: just demand a haircut. They give you free haircuts if
Speaker 1: you're like if you're Lindsay Rhodes, or if you're someone
Speaker 1: high up on the food chain. But we did not
Speaker 1: know that we were able to have that service. Probably
Speaker 1: we aren't. You are. I'm gonna grow my hair out
Speaker 1: just so I can avail. That was the thing. My
Speaker 1: hair looked terrible, and uh, the stylists there. You know,
Speaker 1: he just thought he needed that. He thought I needed
Speaker 1: some help, so he offered. So I'm not gonna say
Speaker 1: no to a free haircut. Oh he he set this
Speaker 1: in motion. Yeah, pretty much. I mean he offered. You know,
Speaker 1: I wasn't gonna, you know, talk about it. But Michael
Speaker 1: Fabriano came over to our to our cubes today. He
Speaker 1: brought it up that I was in the in the
Speaker 1: hair chair. I don't think that's a bad move. I
Speaker 1: just saved an hour of my life. I got two kids, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's more time I can go home or do work
Speaker 1: or whatever. Titia Diva move, complete Diva move. But I
Speaker 1: think you could with a haircut. I know it was
Speaker 1: a great haircut. By the way, it was awesome. I
Speaker 1: actually did feel awesome leaving that being like, I can't
Speaker 1: believe I just got a haircut at work. This is outstanding.
Speaker 1: How you saved some dough and it saves time. Do
Speaker 1: it work. You can play hoops, which we actually have
Speaker 1: a hoop out here. You can want to shoot some
Speaker 1: hoops sometimes. I think getting a haircut might might be
Speaker 1: top of the list. Next time we need a fitness center,
Speaker 1: little massage center. Speak for yourself. So it has been
Speaker 1: a big week for me of course with the haircut.
Speaker 1: Also got a big show coming up today. We got
Speaker 1: a lot of news, not quite as much news as
Speaker 1: the last for power packed free agency shows, and that's good.
Speaker 1: So we can talk. We're generally what teams got better
Speaker 1: in free agency and what team's got playing this. I
Speaker 1: know Dan, if he was here, shout out to Dan,
Speaker 1: he would be screaming some throwing of easy music for you. Well,
Speaker 1: I like how you're throwing a shout out to Dan
Speaker 1: one right before the show. You've just realized that he
Speaker 1: was not joining, and t D said he could kick
Speaker 1: back and relax, that there would be less pressure on
Speaker 1: on TD today and spread his wings he said, Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, that's not right. We're not you know, Dan's
Speaker 1: Dan is a good guy, but sometimes, you know, I
Speaker 1: just need to kick back. You know. He gets these
Speaker 1: messaging me so much sometimes, but we're not celebrating that
Speaker 1: at all. West looks angry right now. I'm not angry
Speaker 1: at all. Okay, I don't not more of a pensive look. Okay,
Speaker 1: I thought you were. You were standing up for our
Speaker 1: fearless host, who we do hope feels better. I think
Speaker 1: he's been he's been swallowing up so much of this
Speaker 1: jets hype garbage for the last week that he, you know,
Speaker 1: doesn't feel good. You know what I'm saying, it's toxified
Speaker 1: the body. You're saying, I am all right, uh t d.
Speaker 1: Let's do a little news. That's my name, don't wear
Speaker 1: it out John Travolta, Yes it is. Greg totally messed
Speaker 1: that up, you know, because I sent an email to Dan.
Speaker 1: I'm like, make sure you say Greg. Come on, man,
Speaker 1: you want to do it again. Now you're upset it's
Speaker 1: not here. What did you say? You just said, make
Speaker 1: sure you say your name and the news I said
Speaker 1: at the very last part of it. Again, let's do
Speaker 1: some news TV. That's my name. Don't wear it out.
Speaker 1: A good producer would know. The first time around was great,
Speaker 1: it was fine. Everyone got it. Now you just wasted
Speaker 1: the whole minute already. All right, Let's start with the
Speaker 1: most surprising news of the last few days, and that
Speaker 1: was Monday night when we learned Chris Borland retiring from
Speaker 1: the NFL linebacker who led the league in tackles for
Speaker 1: the weeks that he was starting. You know, he wasn't
Speaker 1: in the starting lineup early his rookie season. He missed
Speaker 1: the last couple of games with an ankle injury, but
Speaker 1: in between when he was starting, he was the league
Speaker 1: leader and tackles by a wide margin. And he's decided
Speaker 1: to retire h ventially over future health uh concerns. You know,
Speaker 1: he's done a lot of research into brain injuries and
Speaker 1: he just decided for him, it was the right choice
Speaker 1: to step away for them the game at twenty four.
Speaker 1: It's been a lot of conversation about this last couple
Speaker 1: of days. Mark Sessler, what was your first reaction, man,
Speaker 1: I was surprised. I was home. It was like what
Speaker 1: evening on the West Coast. Not a whole lot happening
Speaker 1: on Twitter than that thing dropped. And I mean I
Speaker 1: think we all of us with with Borland last year.
Speaker 1: It was around that Rams game weeks six or weeks
Speaker 1: seven when he had started to seemore snaps where when
Speaker 1: we checked him out on game rewind, Wow, he just
Speaker 1: was a different kind of player and a forceful one.
Speaker 1: And also everyone all that ever said him he loves football.
Speaker 1: Football was his life. So to make this decision from him,
Speaker 1: especially not some fringe guy, but someone who really looked
Speaker 1: like he had an extremely bright future, it's yeah, it's
Speaker 1: a discussion piece based on that alone. Well, he's a
Speaker 1: player with his physical limitations. He knew that his playing
Speaker 1: style was going to be more conducive to health concerns.
Speaker 1: He had to play at a higher level. He had
Speaker 1: to be more more physical than most people. That was
Speaker 1: what to find him was how physical he was. And
Speaker 1: that really struck me because if you read the article
Speaker 1: on ESPN, which was really well done, that he started
Speaker 1: having concerns in training camp when he thought he might
Speaker 1: have fought through a concussion or some sort of head injury.
Speaker 1: Wasn't sure because he wanted to make the team. He
Speaker 1: didn't want to report it, and yet he was having
Speaker 1: these concerns. He wrote a letter to his parents that
Speaker 1: he doesn't think he's gonna be long for the NFL.
Speaker 1: That was before the season, and yet he went out there.
Speaker 1: When he was on the field, you would have never
Speaker 1: guessed that it wasn't like a guy that that played
Speaker 1: with any caution that he played with total abandoned for
Speaker 1: the year he was out there. Yeah, And I think
Speaker 1: one of the dichotomies of football is that since it
Speaker 1: started as oversized cool miners and psycho passed in the
Speaker 1: nineteen twenties and thirties, it's been it's been the fringes
Speaker 1: of society and and for most of the time the
Speaker 1: football has happened, it hasn't been little kids eating twinkies
Speaker 1: and riding their mom's minivan who grew up to be
Speaker 1: outside of quarterbacks, really who grew up to be football players.
Speaker 1: It's been players who need it, who need that opportunity
Speaker 1: for the money. And I think Borland is an example
Speaker 1: of somebody who has options. It also reminds me a
Speaker 1: little bit of the nineteen sixties and seventies. There were
Speaker 1: a lot of players that we're backing out of the
Speaker 1: NFL at younger ages, not because of concussion, but more
Speaker 1: because they didn't agree with the social ramifications. George Sour
Speaker 1: of the Jets, Dave Megsie right there there was a
Speaker 1: number who you know, kind of coming out of the
Speaker 1: sixties that were really anti establishment, kind of against what
Speaker 1: the NFL stood for. And this is this is different,
Speaker 1: This is more of a health concern. But it it
Speaker 1: it struck me, It reminded me a little bit of
Speaker 1: that that go ahead, No, I just I also from
Speaker 1: another angle, the I kind of cannot stand Twitter and
Speaker 1: what happened with this issue on Twitter over the next
Speaker 1: twelve twenty four hours is a classic reason because people
Speaker 1: wanting to overly praise him and overly judge him where
Speaker 1: it's like, look, he made his decision, that's sort of
Speaker 1: the start and the end of it, and wanting to
Speaker 1: link it to the other young retirements that have happened,
Speaker 1: when really those situations were each completely different, right, And
Speaker 1: what else is there to say other than more power
Speaker 1: to them? What what else can you say? Then? That
Speaker 1: I damage that was pointing is that is what else
Speaker 1: can you say other than you respect that decision? More
Speaker 1: power to him? And there's room for nuance in this story.
Speaker 1: But Twitter isn't the place to get that. Twitter is
Speaker 1: the place to get affirmation for your own opinions. And
Speaker 1: I think to me, the interesting part of these discussions
Speaker 1: is there is there is another side of it that
Speaker 1: Pete gent If you've read North Dallas forty, one of
Speaker 1: the greatest football books, he talks about in the beginning,
Speaker 1: the the cality of the game and that how alive
Speaker 1: he felt, that he felt more in one Sunday than
Speaker 1: he felt later on in entire years. So how do
Speaker 1: you put a price on that? And what is worth it?
Speaker 1: I think it's a question. It's it's the most interesting
Speaker 1: question about this whole dilemma. Well, it's a question every
Speaker 1: NFL player has to make. And the reality is there's
Speaker 1: probably a lot of Crisp Borland's out there, but they
Speaker 1: take themselves out of the mix well before they get
Speaker 1: to the NFL. Yeah, total, Because I mean, it is
Speaker 1: a tough decision to decide to play football is no joke.
Speaker 1: That's why we're writing about it. I mean that's why. Well,
Speaker 1: I guess there's a lot of there, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of reasons why. No. What I mean is that we're
Speaker 1: not playing it that the it takes a certain type
Speaker 1: of person, and and you brought it up the background too.
Speaker 1: I think another great book about football is is Bringing
Speaker 1: down the House. They have the name right, um about
Speaker 1: the through nineties Eagles bringing the heat, Bringing the Heat.
Speaker 1: I mean it is Mark Bowden, I us I just
Speaker 1: stand we're here. He would know we are nerd ing
Speaker 1: out big by the way, and I just uh mentioned
Speaker 1: a Queen Latifa movie and I think instead of instead
Speaker 1: of the book, I meant, but they talked about what
Speaker 1: they called the sluice and it was like the amount
Speaker 1: of people that start out playing football in seventh grade
Speaker 1: and how that just keeps getting whittled down, whittled down,
Speaker 1: and just what a lottery and what a miracle it
Speaker 1: is to somehow make it to the NFL from all
Speaker 1: those people battling. And it's amazing to see a guy
Speaker 1: who at this point hasn't been injured in the NFL
Speaker 1: to make that decision about his health. I think, like,
Speaker 1: and it's this is one thing people didn't talk about,
Speaker 1: and Chris just mentioned it. I mean, he has other
Speaker 1: options and when it's not just the physical sensation of
Speaker 1: Sundays like you mentioned in that book. But it's the
Speaker 1: adulation that comes along with being on the field and
Speaker 1: hoisted up to walk away from all that and money
Speaker 1: and everything else. That's why it's completely an outlier type
Speaker 1: move on his part. At this point, he's got other options. Yeah,
Speaker 1: at this point he says he wants to get into
Speaker 1: sports management, which is interesting. I mean I take that
Speaker 1: to mean being an agent or something like that, maybe
Speaker 1: going back to school. Quickly, let's hit on the forty
Speaker 1: Niners aspect of this. That they lose another inside linebacker
Speaker 1: just after they lose Patrick Willis. It's been kind of
Speaker 1: a disastrous offseason for them. We'll get to that later.
Speaker 1: Are you worried about the middle of their defense? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: I mean Patrick Willis was six time All Pro. Navarro
Speaker 1: Bowman hasn't played since he shredded his knee. He's a
Speaker 1: giant question mark. Chris Borland was in the Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year race despite playing only half the season. Those
Speaker 1: are three, I mean three of you could say, top
Speaker 1: ten inside linebackers in the NFL. Yeah, and they were diverse,
Speaker 1: and then you you know, they wanted to trade away
Speaker 1: because they were so deep at one point, or maybe
Speaker 1: they didn't like this guy, Michael Wilhoyt, but he's not
Speaker 1: going to get traded at this point. He's got to
Speaker 1: stay right there and probably starts opposite of Bowman next
Speaker 1: season unless they go and get someone the one thing
Speaker 1: player from what at least they think he's not a
Speaker 1: bad player. They know he's like, he's a decent But
Speaker 1: you're going from right the best of the best to
Speaker 1: a decent starter. They have done. I mean, Balkie found
Speaker 1: Borland in the third round in the Niners. The year
Speaker 1: before he was the GM found Bowman in the third round.
Speaker 1: So they know what they want and they've done a
Speaker 1: good job landing these guys without having to burn the
Speaker 1: highest possible pick. But now this team has a lot
Speaker 1: of needs suddenly, and you're drafting for need over the
Speaker 1: best player available potentially right and they've lost a lot
Speaker 1: of people at the middle of their defense. Ray McDonald
Speaker 1: is gone now, Justin Smith is probably gonna go, although
Speaker 1: we don't know that for sure right now, and then
Speaker 1: the two inside linebackers. So it's been a rough off
Speaker 1: season for the forty Niners. Could it be a rough
Speaker 1: off season for Philip Rivers fans in San Diego? This
Speaker 1: dropped yesterday and to me it was the most interesting
Speaker 1: and surprising news of the week. Philip Rivers said that
Speaker 1: the Chargers couldn't do anything between now and the season
Speaker 1: to make him sign a new contract, that he plans
Speaker 1: to play the season out and see what happens. That
Speaker 1: it kind of blew my mind, Like, really paying you
Speaker 1: twenty two million dollars two million dollars a year, that
Speaker 1: wouldn't that wouldn't do it for you. Could Philip Rivers
Speaker 1: be an ex Charger by the end of May draft
Speaker 1: As part of that article in the U T San
Speaker 1: Diego by Kevin A. Cy a really good article. Uh,
Speaker 1: there are rumors flying, he said, rampant speculation brewing that
Speaker 1: the Chargers are into Marcus Mariota. And to me, if
Speaker 1: you want to get into some Dot connecting, who number
Speaker 1: two pick overall is the Titans. They have a chance
Speaker 1: of getting Mariota. They also have kem wizzen Hunt, who
Speaker 1: was the play color during Philip rivers two thousand thirteen
Speaker 1: comeback Player of the Year. And Nashville isn't far from
Speaker 1: where Philip Rivers grew up. He apparently the gist at
Speaker 1: that article was Philip Rivers really likes the South and
Speaker 1: isn't crazy about l A. Boy. Problem is you're then
Speaker 1: the quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Well, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of dot connecting. It's not just by us, you know.
Speaker 1: I talked to someone in the NFL media news group
Speaker 1: this morning and this conversation had been out there and
Speaker 1: the move to Los Angeles for the Chargers, the potential
Speaker 1: move to Los Angeles is kind of hovering over things
Speaker 1: and rivers and a C even made it clear that
Speaker 1: you know, they might not be a big fan if
Speaker 1: if they moved to Los Angeles, might not be right.
Speaker 1: That he wants to see where the franchise is in
Speaker 1: a year in terms of the roster and like literally
Speaker 1: where will they be? That that could be a factor.
Speaker 1: Shocking that a man with a giant collection of Bolo
Speaker 1: ties might not see himself fitting in in l A.
Speaker 1: L A accepts all types, but I think he's he
Speaker 1: wants to go somewhere. San Diego, by the way, is
Speaker 1: not you know, Bumpkinville out in the hill. There are
Speaker 1: a passel of country music songs from the outlaw country
Speaker 1: days until recently of men bemoaning l A. What about
Speaker 1: Bigfoot West you guys have been there. That's like a
Speaker 1: country far. That is not a country part. That's a
Speaker 1: hipster haven. It's the closest thing I could like peel
Speaker 1: off the fake wood and see what it was. A
Speaker 1: country bar. So Ken wizzen huts there. And you know
Speaker 1: the talk in Tennessee, the talk you know around this
Speaker 1: Rivers thing is that Ken wizzen Hunt would move heaven
Speaker 1: and earth to go get Philip Rivers. And it makes
Speaker 1: all the sense, right, makes all the sense in the world.
Speaker 1: Ken wizzen Hunt knows another two and fourteen and his
Speaker 1: head coaching career in the NFL could be over for good.
Speaker 1: He knows Rivers is legit, and he's got that number
Speaker 1: to pick. Mark. You have had a Sessler about Drew
Speaker 1: Brees getting traded this offseason. Could it be that your
Speaker 1: Sessler radar is you know, just a little off maybe
Speaker 1: and instead of an ex Chargers quarterback, it's the current
Speaker 1: charge that's possible. I mean maybe, I you know, the
Speaker 1: roots of the organization he was once with is where
Speaker 1: this is actually fine tuned. Maybe it's Rivers. I mean
Speaker 1: the Titans, if they were not interested in Mariota at
Speaker 1: the combine, the other thing they were saying with all
Speaker 1: their pretty built words about wanting a quarterback is that
Speaker 1: we will sell this pick. And if you're Ken wizzen
Speaker 1: Hunt and you're on your last legs, potentially you have
Speaker 1: to come to grips with the fact that, yes, you've
Speaker 1: done a nice job with top ten veteran quarterbacks, the
Speaker 1: Kurt Warners, the big Bends, the Philip Rivers of the world,
Speaker 1: but you have done nothing with young quarterbacks. Do you
Speaker 1: want to hear what is left in Tennessee on Marcus Mariota.
Speaker 1: You've done great with Hall of Fame quarterbacks, you know
Speaker 1: you're not so good with basically every everyone else. Kurt
Speaker 1: and Jerkers, I love this. By the way, you're putting
Speaker 1: Mariota into the mix now as a potential trade on
Speaker 1: draft day, Philip Rivers as a potential trade that Chargers.
Speaker 1: You know, it could make like Dan hands Us believe
Speaker 1: that the Titans are a real NFL team and shut
Speaker 1: him up. I mean, it'd be this is great. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying to be a little intrigue. It sounds and
Speaker 1: after what happened last week, why would anything like this
Speaker 1: Shaka right, I guess that's what I mean. Is It
Speaker 1: felt like the NFL offseason was quiet down and I
Speaker 1: really like this And on some level, I don't know
Speaker 1: why the Chargers would really do it, well if they
Speaker 1: really love Mariota, Like the article says, I don't think
Speaker 1: you can talk about this story without also mentioning the
Speaker 1: Chargers have if they want Philip Rivers there, he's going
Speaker 1: to stay there because of course they have the franchise
Speaker 1: tag to hit with him next year, right, And I
Speaker 1: didn't even clarify he's under contract this year, that's the
Speaker 1: last year of his contract. And then you mentioned the
Speaker 1: franchise tag, which they would happily give him a one year,
Speaker 1: twenty million dollar contract. I don't think they would mind
Speaker 1: doing it. Wouldn't be the last guy that was forced
Speaker 1: to move to l A for his job. We've got
Speaker 1: two in this room. I'm happily here, but you guys, man,
Speaker 1: we had to drag you here into Los Angeles. It's
Speaker 1: an accurate state. I've totally enjoyed it, though I'm embracing it.
Speaker 1: I like living in l A. But you're right, I
Speaker 1: was more or less. I am here, I am slowly
Speaker 1: seeing the light. I am enjoying all TD. Did you
Speaker 1: choose to live in Los Angeles, actually move into l A.
Speaker 1: I moved from the job. Okay, like a week after
Speaker 1: I moved. Yeah, that's basically what I did. But I
Speaker 1: tried to do the job from New York for you here,
Speaker 1: and then they weren't that big. I tried to stay
Speaker 1: in Georgia and Greg told me to that was that
Speaker 1: was that was never going to be an option. Another
Speaker 1: uh guy being forced to move somewhere. I guess he
Speaker 1: he made the choice. Charles Clay, He's moving from Miami
Speaker 1: to Buffalo or Charles Clay. Yeah, chucky. He signed an
Speaker 1: offer sheet with the Bills. They made it heavily frontloaded
Speaker 1: twenty four and a half million over the first two years,
Speaker 1: so it is unlikely the Dolphins will match it. Most
Speaker 1: likely he will be Buffalo Bill by the end of
Speaker 1: the week. They have Sunday until Sunday to match it,
Speaker 1: and because of the rules of the transition tag, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins get nothing in return for him. Well, the Bill
Speaker 1: structured this so it would hurt the Dolphins in two
Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen when Sue has a monster cap figure,
Speaker 1: which was smart of the Bills because the Dolphins don't
Speaker 1: think that Clay is worth that kind of money. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think if you're Miami and you just signed Jordan
Speaker 1: Cameron too, you you have to look at bringing Clay
Speaker 1: on again. It's maybe more of a luxury than a necessity. Man.
Speaker 1: The money is kind of crazy for what he is.
Speaker 1: But Buffalo, man, they must have fallen in love with him.
Speaker 1: I Clay has got some excellent pr operatives in his
Speaker 1: camp because he got into that NFL Top one Players
Speaker 1: of last season and some people thought that was you know,
Speaker 1: he's a good thing. He's a nice player, but is
Speaker 1: he you know some of the people that were left
Speaker 1: out of that in favor of him. Well, he got
Speaker 1: He got the same guarantee as Jimmy Graham did after
Speaker 1: holding out. I mean he got right, he got twenty
Speaker 1: million dollars guarantee. That's what Jimmy Graham got. He got
Speaker 1: about the same as Julius Thomas, who who made it
Speaker 1: to free agency. It's the Buffalo tax you're talking. And
Speaker 1: I know that the total deal is only worth a
Speaker 1: little less than eight million dollars a year, but for
Speaker 1: the next two years he's making twelve and a half
Speaker 1: a year. That's quarterback money. That is way more than
Speaker 1: Gronk or Jimmy Graham. That's like almost Calvin Johnson money
Speaker 1: for the next two years, and you hope that he
Speaker 1: stays healthy for the whole five years. But if he
Speaker 1: stinks or if he gets hurt, uh, next year, you
Speaker 1: have just paid Charles Clay quarterback money for two years
Speaker 1: when he might be your fourth leading receiver on a
Speaker 1: team with no quarterback. Because it's not a scratch for
Speaker 1: a guy who plays a position that doesn't exist in
Speaker 1: the NFL anymore. Sammy Watkins is probably gonna catch more
Speaker 1: than him. Percy Harvin I would take over him, and
Speaker 1: Lashawn mccoil probably have more catches than him. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: But if you're a Bills fan, as much as they're
Speaker 1: spending a lot of money going for it, I kind
Speaker 1: of like that. How you know, part of you has
Speaker 1: to like that they have a big league owner that's
Speaker 1: going to spend a lot and maybe they'll make some
Speaker 1: big mistakes, but you would rather that than than the alternative.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Bills are getting aggressive. Well, if the
Speaker 1: Bills hadn't traded away their first round pick, maybe they
Speaker 1: could have made a run at Philip Rivers. You can
Speaker 1: put that team into the a f c's contention if
Speaker 1: you had him to the mix. N I like that. UH.
Speaker 1: One team that UH will not be in contention for
Speaker 1: anything other than perhaps the number one overall pick next
Speaker 1: year is the Oakland Raiders. They signed Trent Richardson to
Speaker 1: a two year contract worth a surprising amount of money.
Speaker 1: I think even the agent of Trent Richardson, I'll just say,
Speaker 1: was surprised about how much money he could extract for
Speaker 1: Trent Richardson. Your thoughts, Chris Wesley. They finally found somebody
Speaker 1: willing to take their money. Oh, nobody else was gonna
Speaker 1: give Tray What about Nate Allen? As some of these
Speaker 1: Raiders deals are crazy that that have come out. When
Speaker 1: the money comes out, they they have been overpaying. They've
Speaker 1: been paying. There's been a Buffalo tax this offseason and
Speaker 1: in Oakland tax to get their players there. They've been
Speaker 1: paying a lot. Mark is making a face. Well, it's
Speaker 1: like you shouldn't have to tax someone to live in
Speaker 1: northern California. But when you've got the Raiders situation, that's
Speaker 1: a nice little cut out. It's a difference. It's like
Speaker 1: Curtis Lofton also got a lot of money. It's like
Speaker 1: no one else has given Curtis Lofton that kind of money.
Speaker 1: This is sort of the Raiders have had this coming
Speaker 1: to them because I remember growing up in the nineties
Speaker 1: when there was a Cincinnati tax. Nobody wanted to go
Speaker 1: play for the Bengals, so guys like Warren Sap would
Speaker 1: use the Bengal's interest to go drive up the price.
Speaker 1: Didn't sign with the Raiders. Shoes on the other foot,
Speaker 1: mal Raiders, Well, the Raiders. I don't know about the
Speaker 1: guaranteed money. He might not even make the team. I
Speaker 1: mean Latavius Murray and Roy Hallou are much better players,
Speaker 1: so I don't expect Trent Richardson, you think to be
Speaker 1: a big impact. Well, he's getting paid better. He's getting
Speaker 1: paid around for over six career carries for Trent richards
Speaker 1: and he has four four four runs over twenty yards
Speaker 1: in six hundreds some carries. Latavias Murray had eighty two
Speaker 1: carries last year and had four runs over twenty yards. Wow,
Speaker 1: they mean Davias Murray had more yards and one carry
Speaker 1: I think last year than Trent Richardson has ever had
Speaker 1: in his career. There was so much heat about them
Speaker 1: going out and redoing their entire backfield, and Murray probably
Speaker 1: is the best guy they've had last year. This year
Speaker 1: already they didn't have to do all that work. But
Speaker 1: one thing about this self scouting in Oakland. You go
Speaker 1: out and get mg D last year, you throw money
Speaker 1: at him, he's throw money at Darren McFadden. And now
Speaker 1: you've added Hulu is fine, He's that's that's not a
Speaker 1: bad edition. But Trent Richardson, it's like, who is scouting
Speaker 1: running backs inside this organization? And from what year are
Speaker 1: they were watching videotape? I do like it's the same
Speaker 1: person who was watching all of Matt Shops videotape last
Speaker 1: year and decided this would be a good trade target.
Speaker 1: I do like, though, that there is something about the
Speaker 1: Raiders that is stuck since Al Davis is passing, that
Speaker 1: they're still kind of making moves that Al Davis would make.
Speaker 1: Isn't Trent Richardson and now Davis move? Isn't Malcolm Smith
Speaker 1: and Al Davis move signing the big names that kind
Speaker 1: of failed else where the Super Bowl m VPS. Al
Speaker 1: Davis was all about speed, and Trent Richardson's the slowest
Speaker 1: running back I've ever seen. That's a fair point. I think.
Speaker 1: I feel like Richardson has just not been healthy and
Speaker 1: he may never be healthy again to the point of
Speaker 1: where where he was drafted. I mean, he's he's also
Speaker 1: too heavy. And what about Oakland and their offensive line
Speaker 1: and what we've seen from them is going to be
Speaker 1: Everyone's called the Cults the best fit ever for him. Well,
Speaker 1: I think so right. He said that he wasn't treated right,
Speaker 1: and someone pointed out that it was a bad marriage.
Speaker 1: And someone pointed out, like the essentially, the Cults are
Speaker 1: a great catch there. They are great looking, they they're smart,
Speaker 1: there's everything you would want in a in a marriage.
Speaker 1: Would be the Colts for a running back. Erson was
Speaker 1: out philandering, he was a bad husband. Was was the idea.
Speaker 1: I forget whoever's tweet, this was Mark's. Mark's right. The
Speaker 1: weight issues. Maybe hasn't been healthy, but you have to
Speaker 1: wonder about his mental whatever. He's delusional. He he comes
Speaker 1: up to Jack del Rio and says, oh, he said today, Well,
Speaker 1: you know what, Jack del Rio really gave me an
Speaker 1: epiphany by asking what if I'm out of football? That
Speaker 1: thought never entered his mind until Jack del Rio. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think so. He's been the laughing stock of
Speaker 1: the NFL, right, but he still probably sees himself as
Speaker 1: a as a star. That's a total lack of self
Speaker 1: awareness as well. And he's twenty four. So that's what
Speaker 1: happens with that age. I mean, you know, maybe with
Speaker 1: millions and millions of dollars. Yeah, when you've been told
Speaker 1: old up until two years, Russell has issue. Well, Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson's a complete He's completely unusual. Yeah, and that's twenty
Speaker 1: four yards ahead of others. You know, I know West,
Speaker 1: you were out there searching, searching for the media life
Speaker 1: at I was. I had just left the post office
Speaker 1: for the law firm. I was living in a commune
Speaker 1: in Bolt, not a commune, but it was a farmhouse
Speaker 1: with about twelve people. And so you know where was
Speaker 1: my head at. My parents probably thought I was like
Speaker 1: in between jobs. I had left l A after working
Speaker 1: in TV for a while, and I was I was
Speaker 1: teaching tennis for six months. You sound like far the
Speaker 1: most productive of the group. Well that it wasn't what
Speaker 1: didn't pay very well, I'll tell you that. Um you
Speaker 1: know who is getting paid? Well, how about that Greg Hardy?
Speaker 1: Who would have thought he would have gotten so much money,
Speaker 1: He's gonna be a Dallas cowboy. What could go wrong?
Speaker 1: Greg Hardy Dallas? I mean this is I like it?
Speaker 1: Why do you like it? Because I think the contracts smart.
Speaker 1: If he comes in and he plays, and he's on
Speaker 1: the field a bunch and he produces, he gets paid
Speaker 1: a ton. And if he doesn't, you know, if there's
Speaker 1: any more off the field issues, he doesn't get paid
Speaker 1: much at all. So the details here were he could
Speaker 1: make up to million in and with all if he
Speaker 1: hits all his incentives, but nine to ten million dollars
Speaker 1: were in per game roster bonuses. So this saves the
Speaker 1: Cowboys from paying Greg Hardy when he inevitably we think,
Speaker 1: gets suspended. So he'll only end up making you know,
Speaker 1: at most ten games, you would think of this salary.
Speaker 1: Although we're talking about things we don't really know. We
Speaker 1: don't know if he's gonna get suspended six games, we
Speaker 1: don't know if he's gonna get suspended twelve games. And
Speaker 1: so that Cowboys built it in. I was really surprised
Speaker 1: that he even got this much money. I think they
Speaker 1: were bidding against themselves. I don't think anyone was gonna
Speaker 1: pay Greg hardy this kind of money. Uh, coming off
Speaker 1: the year he had with that all said, I it's
Speaker 1: a it's a gamble. I think that's probably worth taking.
Speaker 1: He's a great pass rusher and and they'll have him motivated.
Speaker 1: I thought of everyone who made it to the open more.
Speaker 1: Get this does not include guys got the franchise tag.
Speaker 1: From a pure football standpoint, only Sue and Darrelle Revas
Speaker 1: would be ranked ahead of Heart. Yeah. I mean, you'd
Speaker 1: be right up there. If you take that stuff away,
Speaker 1: he'd be right. What's funny you say that? Now, I'm
Speaker 1: the one that had him sixth overall in our original rankings,
Speaker 1: and you had him like seventeen. And I couch that
Speaker 1: by saying this isn't based on talent. A learned that
Speaker 1: when you're when you're purchasing free agents, you have to
Speaker 1: factor in suspensions and public image. Is there anything, though,
Speaker 1: about the fact that if he does get suspended six games,
Speaker 1: that you're putting on a on the field. Suddenly a
Speaker 1: guy that hasn't played in twenty two straight games. All right,
Speaker 1: that's a big That's why it's a bigger risk. You're right,
Speaker 1: But it's also not an old guy. He's not an
Speaker 1: injured player. But you're right, you would think it's going
Speaker 1: to take him a while to get back up to speed.
Speaker 1: But we talked about that. They didn't have a pass
Speaker 1: rush at all last year, and now they add Greg
Speaker 1: Hardy and he's not a pass rusher. But they also
Speaker 1: hope to add Shawn Lee to their front seven. So
Speaker 1: in theory, you're getting two of the best defensive players
Speaker 1: in the league from two thousand thirteen, still pretty young.
Speaker 1: How about putting Shawn Lee on a game by game contract.
Speaker 1: This has got West thinking by my great player point, Well,
Speaker 1: they also lost their entire linebacker corps right last year,
Speaker 1: Bruce Carter, Justin Durant who Blanda McLean. Orlando McLean is
Speaker 1: a free agent. I think they'll probably bring him back.
Speaker 1: This also is a reminder, by the way, everyone said, oh,
Speaker 1: they can't pay anyone. You couldn't get Adrian Peterson. I
Speaker 1: mean they're paying Greg Hardy lot. You can always find
Speaker 1: a way. UH. The Ravens found a way to get
Speaker 1: rid of another player who got in trouble with the law.
Speaker 1: I believe this is the third UH player today. It
Speaker 1: was arrested in the offseason that they have released that
Speaker 1: player is Bernard Pierce UH, their backup running back UH
Speaker 1: during their Super Bowl run too Ray Rice, and now
Speaker 1: of course both players are off the team. He had
Speaker 1: a d uy after going out on St. Patrick's Day,
Speaker 1: and he is quickly off the roster. Poor guy knew
Speaker 1: what was coming too. Why is that? According to the
Speaker 1: arrest report, yeah, what did he say? Well, tell the
Speaker 1: listener told the officers when they arrested him, you know,
Speaker 1: the last guy on this team to get arrested. They
Speaker 1: released him the next day and he's like, I know,
Speaker 1: you guys don't care. Are just letting you know. That's
Speaker 1: how it's been in my face, and that like clockwork.
Speaker 1: I remember at that being at that's Super Bowl with you,
Speaker 1: Greg and Pierce in that game. I thought I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, even if Rice slows down, they suddenly have
Speaker 1: the next guy right in here. He's an interesting running back.
Speaker 1: And then two years later they're completely refurbished in the backfield.
Speaker 1: Not to be cynical, but if I if he played
Speaker 1: better last season, I don't know if he's definitely cut
Speaker 1: in this situation. He was a disappointing player last season,
Speaker 1: really the last two seasons ever since Dan ranked him
Speaker 1: very high on his off season running back rankings. A
Speaker 1: couple that is unfair coming off that super Bowl. That
Speaker 1: is unfair. I've got to stick up for Dan. That
Speaker 1: is not you know, that's an age year old post.
Speaker 1: He's not here and you're trying to bury him. Well,
Speaker 1: everyone that listens to you know, we've got a couple
Speaker 1: of listeners. By the way, thank you to our listeners.
Speaker 1: We should all thank all the people for making our
Speaker 1: show last Friday, recapping a lot of the free agency madness,
Speaker 1: the number one downloaded podcasting around the NFL history big time.
Speaker 1: Come on, t d oh, that's it. You should give
Speaker 1: it my celebration. Remember what about mine? You got and
Speaker 1: you've fired up on. But anyways, thank you guys, the viewer.
Speaker 1: The listenership keeps going up. Thank you, and uh keep
Speaker 1: you know, keep downloading. Tell your friends and give us
Speaker 1: reviews and stars. It all helps on the iTunes. We
Speaker 1: we appreciate everyone's comments on subscriptions to a friend to
Speaker 1: tell a friend. Yeah, we appreciate everyone spreading the word.
Speaker 1: It's been working. It's been great. There were twenty seven thousand,
Speaker 1: seven hundred downloads from Chili, the city, I mean the country, wait, really, Yeah,
Speaker 1: how do you know that? I dug into the Hits
Speaker 1: and I don't know what's going on down in South America,
Speaker 1: but something caught fire and then there were a lot
Speaker 1: of people listening. It is crazy. You can break it
Speaker 1: down by country and it's wild the different countries. There's
Speaker 1: always like four people and like Togo, is that a place? Yes,
Speaker 1: it is, Yeah, It's there's always like, right, we love you,
Speaker 1: four guys. They're just hanging out. They talk, they meet up,
Speaker 1: they talk out of the coffee shop. They're all. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of countries I never heard of that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: to go to Togo. Let's let's move on to a
Speaker 1: couple of final quick news items that will get through
Speaker 1: quickly before we go to our free agency wrap ups. Uh, Mark,
Speaker 1: you're gotta be going to Phoenix in a few days.
Speaker 1: Con Roars also going with you. One of the topics
Speaker 1: in Phoenix will be all the rule proposals. You wrote
Speaker 1: up an article today on some of the rule proposals.
Speaker 1: I found it most interesting that the Cults proposed a
Speaker 1: nine point possession, so you could score a touchdown and
Speaker 1: then if you go for two and you get it,
Speaker 1: you could kick What would have basically be a fifty
Speaker 1: yard field goal to get one more point, and that
Speaker 1: would be the nine point possession. I love it will
Speaker 1: never pass. But I like how creative they were that
Speaker 1: they just like made up something. It sounds like like
Speaker 1: someone was drinking a lot. Well, that sounds like a
Speaker 1: good team. The notes it's gonna be down by thirty
Speaker 1: something points to the Patriots in the playoffs, and he
Speaker 1: used to get back in Thanks for making that joke,
Speaker 1: so I didn't have to. That's great. That one will
Speaker 1: never pass. That was insane. What you just said is
Speaker 1: one of the most insanely idiotic things I've ever heard. Uh.
Speaker 1: The more substantive ones were about instant replay and challenges
Speaker 1: and everyone wants to get rid of or wants to
Speaker 1: add to what you can challenge to pay treats. Would
Speaker 1: like to challenge everything. Literally, they said that you could
Speaker 1: challenge everything. Not the Lions made it more specific. They'd
Speaker 1: like to just challenge any penalty. Shouldn't the Patriots should
Speaker 1: just admit what they're doing. They should. We want to
Speaker 1: make a football game twelve hours long, right, and that's
Speaker 1: why that's part of the reason why I'll never pass.
Speaker 1: They could expand it to things like personal foul pill
Speaker 1: and penalties, um, things like that. Were there any other
Speaker 1: big takeaways you had? I think the takeaway was that
Speaker 1: there weren't a lot of sexy potential rule changes. But
Speaker 1: they also said, which annoys me to no end, that
Speaker 1: the whole discussion, there's no there's gonna be no new
Speaker 1: rule about what it catches. They're gonna sit around and
Speaker 1: have a conversation about the language in the rule book
Speaker 1: about what it catches to what west just make it
Speaker 1: three times smurkier. Yeah, they don't want to. They don't
Speaker 1: want to go to the root cause of the problem,
Speaker 1: which is that it's the most confusing role in all
Speaker 1: of sports. They just want to clarify the language. Shadowy League.
Speaker 1: It's entirely confusing. It's a lame role, and nobody knows
Speaker 1: what a catch is, including your referees, including your coaches,
Speaker 1: including your players, including you. But if you're at the
Speaker 1: built More in Phoenix, and you've got some time to kill,
Speaker 1: why not sit around and just talk about it and
Speaker 1: do nothing about it. Patriots also proposing to move the
Speaker 1: extra point back again. I like that they're not giving
Speaker 1: up on this and putting cameras on all sidelines and
Speaker 1: in the end zone and everything, which I think should
Speaker 1: pass one of these years. But you're a huge lobbyist
Speaker 1: for that. Well, it's insane. The most um wealthy and
Speaker 1: influential sports league in the country by far, and we
Speaker 1: can't have cameras set up at the goal line at
Speaker 1: every stadium. I mean that, it seems like a very
Speaker 1: small thing to ask for. Oh. One other one, they
Speaker 1: want to have coaches no longer use the red challenge
Speaker 1: flag and if they would call a time out, it's
Speaker 1: called time out instead and they get the time out back.
Speaker 1: I like that getting more red flag from Chris Westling.
Speaker 1: That helps, uh, Lovey Smith, Marvin leew Is, Andy Reid
Speaker 1: helps a few of these coaches. I don't know it
Speaker 1: makes It puts a little more pressure on taking those
Speaker 1: time outs. Ultimately, why is it hard for them to
Speaker 1: fish around in their pocket for the red flag? But yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm probably wrong about this. Gregg's right. They could lose
Speaker 1: the time out automatically instead of through the machinations of
Speaker 1: the rule. Right, it'll punish them more. So maybe it'll
Speaker 1: stop them from doing it, and maybe we would miss
Speaker 1: out on Bill Belichick fishing into his sock for that
Speaker 1: the flag like he does. It's one of my favorite moments.
Speaker 1: All right, let's uh crank through these last few ones.
Speaker 1: Bradley Fletcher is going to the Patriots. Chris, you wanted
Speaker 1: to talk about this, Well, he had he lost his
Speaker 1: confidence and in Philly last year to the point where
Speaker 1: he was getting burned on a regular basis and was
Speaker 1: basically a laughing stock. And no doubt in my mind,
Speaker 1: the Patriots will turn him into a Pro Bowl cornerback,
Speaker 1: I hope, so that would be awesome. Stevie Johnson is
Speaker 1: going to the San Diego Chargers. Well, we kind of
Speaker 1: thought he was gonna join Bradley Fletcher and go to
Speaker 1: the Patriots. But he's chosen to maybe be quarterbacked by
Speaker 1: a team without Philip Rivers. It's got to be attractive.
Speaker 1: I guess you must wish they released that article beforehand.
Speaker 1: Maybe they were holding off. I would have liked to
Speaker 1: see Stevie Johnson in New England bigger role. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's they don't they need wide receivers, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Malcolm Floyd, Keenan Allen, Stevie Johnson, you know they they're
Speaker 1: running backs are weird green Gates. It's a lot of
Speaker 1: like okay receivers after Keenan Allen, but not great receivers.
Speaker 1: And let's let's finish on a big note. Michael Crabtree
Speaker 1: still looking for work? Are you surprised? Chris Wesselen not
Speaker 1: surprised at all. Visiting Miami though, who Mike Tannenbaum apparently
Speaker 1: is a big fan of him. Is that a concession
Speaker 1: that they won't be matching the Charles clayoff. I think
Speaker 1: Jordan's signing Jordan Cameron was that concession, and I if
Speaker 1: I was the Dolphins, I now like that Jordan Cameron
Speaker 1: move better because they're giving Jordan Cameron less money than
Speaker 1: they would have had to give Charles Clay. I'd take that.
Speaker 1: I would take my chances. I would rather have a
Speaker 1: healthy Jordan Cameron definitely over Clay. But that's the thing.
Speaker 1: You don't know if Jordan Cameron will stay healthy. I
Speaker 1: guess all this business about the forty niners to combine
Speaker 1: saying no, we want Michael Crabtree back, Well, okay, you've
Speaker 1: had a nice month to sit on that, right. They
Speaker 1: don't want him back too much. I guess that was
Speaker 1: just hot air well, Matt Mayoko of the CSM berre
Speaker 1: he has said that if of all the teams on
Speaker 1: Mike Michael Crabtree's wish list of r he doesn't want
Speaker 1: to go back there at all. I would want to
Speaker 1: go to Miami too. It sounds like fun if we
Speaker 1: have to leave here, all right, let's talk about who
Speaker 1: got better in free agency. That was a power packed news,
Speaker 1: but we still have some time to talk about which
Speaker 1: teams we think got better in free agency over the
Speaker 1: last I guess it's only been a week, but really
Speaker 1: even the pre free agency period, everything that's happened, it's
Speaker 1: really the most uh interesting, busy time of team building
Speaker 1: in the whole year, I think, over the last ten days.
Speaker 1: So let's start with Mark Sessler. I'm gonna go Seahawks,
Speaker 1: and it's it's not overly complex. I mean, you're a
Speaker 1: team that already was arguably the best most talented team
Speaker 1: in football, certainly in the NFC, and you've added Jimmy
Speaker 1: Graham to the mix, addressing your biggest need, the passing game,
Speaker 1: which had issues down the stretch. You've you haven't just
Speaker 1: drafted someone that you hope will work. You've got a
Speaker 1: home run total playmaker here. He'll make Russell Wilson that
Speaker 1: much better. You lose Max Unger in the deal that
Speaker 1: they definitely gonna need to find some depth along the line.
Speaker 1: But other than that, this just makes Seattle Heads and
Speaker 1: Tails the best team in that division, probably the conference.
Speaker 1: It's amazing because Seattle hasn't really done anything else. Ye
Speaker 1: one very simple move and that that one move. It's
Speaker 1: such a home run, and I agree with you that
Speaker 1: they feel like one of the better teams. Do you
Speaker 1: think they're by far the favorites in the NFC or
Speaker 1: just I don't a little bit ahead of the right.
Speaker 1: It's a little early to talk about. We grade all
Speaker 1: this free agency by who across who acquires new players.
Speaker 1: I think the Packers won free agency. They resigned their
Speaker 1: own guys. Mark made this point earlier. I've seen this
Speaker 1: uh pointed out in several places that Julius Pepper is
Speaker 1: the only player on the entire roster right now who
Speaker 1: has ever played it down for another team other than
Speaker 1: the Packers. They they do it the right way. They
Speaker 1: they build through the draft, They signed their own, they
Speaker 1: extend their own. They they kept Randall Cobb, they kept
Speaker 1: Brian Balaga, and this is a team that controlled the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship game for three and a half quarters. To me,
Speaker 1: they're right there with the Seahawks. Well that you just
Speaker 1: gave away your team that got better in free agency?
Speaker 1: There it is. They're one of them. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: the best teams in free agency are the teams that
Speaker 1: don't even need it. And Green Bay it's a huge
Speaker 1: thumb up, thumb to the nose to everyone else. It says,
Speaker 1: we're not even gonna use this. What's there's three ways
Speaker 1: to get better? Ring going to touch the side because
Speaker 1: there were they build completely in house, and I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, bad teams that don't have a quarterback have
Speaker 1: to desperately go out and find these other shiny parts
Speaker 1: and it's a terrible cycle to be in. We've seen
Speaker 1: that with the same team's year after year in Green Bay.
Speaker 1: When you have a good quarterback, since you can build differently,
Speaker 1: I think they have the deepest roster in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Just it's crazy that they don't have any free agents.
Speaker 1: That they're part of it right. The Packer Report uh
Speaker 1: dot com. I believe their Twitter account was the first
Speaker 1: to uncover that Julius Peppers is currently the only member
Speaker 1: of the roster that's ever played for any other team.
Speaker 1: Isn't that wild? TV something West about twelve seconds ago?
Speaker 1: But when you can get that, that's why he was
Speaker 1: spurring it. I was trying to organize and see what
Speaker 1: was going on. You know, I I understand David, when
Speaker 1: you're out there, I feel your pain. Sometimes you missed
Speaker 1: the point that I like Wes's angle better because he
Speaker 1: gave me credit for that when it definitely did not
Speaker 1: come for me so good on NFL. Now this morning,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take a five minute time out. You guys
Speaker 1: just take over the show. I've been suspended. I when
Speaker 1: I had the Colts as a winner, they we said
Speaker 1: over and over again in November and December that this
Speaker 1: was an offense that is the most explosive in the
Speaker 1: league when it's not being held hostage by Trent Richardson
Speaker 1: and and an injury ravage Reggie Wayne. So they upgraded.
Speaker 1: I mean, Frank Gore is the opposite of Trent Richardson.
Speaker 1: He's extremely reliable, and and Richardson was not reliable. And
Speaker 1: Reggie Wayne just his body broke down. It's not his fault.
Speaker 1: But Andre Johnson caught eighty five passes last year, closed
Speaker 1: out the season in season finale with a ten catch
Speaker 1: winner in thirty four yard game. Proven he's still plenty
Speaker 1: left in the tank, preach If he can catch eighty
Speaker 1: five passes from what Mallet and Fitzpatrick and Savage, he
Speaker 1: don't forgets case Keenum catch a hundred from from Andrew
Speaker 1: luck Well, I mean and then so we were just
Speaker 1: glowing over Ted Thompson and the Cults are a different
Speaker 1: grieg since a totally different type of team, A wheeler
Speaker 1: and dealer. He wants to sign people. There are other
Speaker 1: ways to get it done too, and the Cults feel
Speaker 1: like one of those. Let's get over the top. We
Speaker 1: want to challenge the Patriots. We have our sites set
Speaker 1: on them. You go at Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, you
Speaker 1: think they're good enough to get there? I don't know. Well,
Speaker 1: I hope you haven't already one of you evs and
Speaker 1: already made this point. But the Colts last year, whereas
Speaker 1: the Packers led the league and having the most draft
Speaker 1: to players on their team, the Colts led the league
Speaker 1: and having the most free agents on their team. And
Speaker 1: that was last year. That was before they signed Todd
Speaker 1: Harriman's who's gonna start for them, Kendall Langford, who will
Speaker 1: play for them? You mentioned Don Johnson, Trent Trent Cole
Speaker 1: is a good signing for them. They bring back Mike Adams,
Speaker 1: as he said, like that, I like, you can't really
Speaker 1: fault they have to do some things in free agency.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Kendall Langford, Trent cool and the
Speaker 1: return of Robert Mathis will stop Legarrett Blunt in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But but I like what they've done on offense. I
Speaker 1: like thinking that teams would have to strategize just to
Speaker 1: stop Lagarrett Blunt. Team certainly has. He only has one
Speaker 1: good game every year. Uh, my winner, one of my winners,
Speaker 1: but I guess it's the my main winner. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: give it to the Buffalo Bills. Now. I didn't love
Speaker 1: the money that they gave to Charles Clay. I don't
Speaker 1: love the Buffalo tax that they had to give to
Speaker 1: Lashawn McCoy or Matt Castle for that matter. But I
Speaker 1: do think Matt Castle is a significant upgrade me J. Manuel,
Speaker 1: even though West disagrees, I do think Lashawn McCoy has
Speaker 1: a significant upgrade from C. J. Spiller, which no one's
Speaker 1: going to disagree about. And I do think overall they've
Speaker 1: made their team much better with Percy Harvin and Charles Clay.
Speaker 1: So even if the money is a little crazy, like
Speaker 1: they had the cap room and this is a much
Speaker 1: better team right now than they were a month ago,
Speaker 1: and they were already pretty good there at day dress team. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You also, I mean it's hard to always come back
Speaker 1: to this point. It's probably one reason that I almost
Speaker 1: went Jets here, but I have to leave the Jets
Speaker 1: off the list. I mean, it's some nice they were aggressive,
Speaker 1: like the Bills, well because you don't have a quarterback.
Speaker 1: Dan was offended. He saw our show rundown and he said,
Speaker 1: typical that we left the Jets. Well, they've gotten a
Speaker 1: lot of attention on this show, and I think that
Speaker 1: we I think that they, at least unlike during the
Speaker 1: Glacier phase, went out and said we're gonna go bring
Speaker 1: back players. That mean somebody the organization into our fans
Speaker 1: and we're gonna throw a lot of money. Now that's
Speaker 1: gotta work. Yeah, but they brought in one big difference maker.
Speaker 1: I guess too. You gotta give Marshall a difference maker.
Speaker 1: He's a difference maker two, So they had to buffalo
Speaker 1: to me brought in difference makers. I mean they Harvin
Speaker 1: is a difference maker, Clay is a good edition, Hughes
Speaker 1: was a big resigning McCoy's obviously. I mean these are
Speaker 1: what does it mean like if you are let's say
Speaker 1: it is Matt Castle for eleven games and E J.
Speaker 1: Manual for five, what is the difference? How many more
Speaker 1: games do this? Does this team winnings? You the prettiest
Speaker 1: eight and eight team in the league. They're basically the
Speaker 1: Rams in the NFC. Their defense at least has the
Speaker 1: potential to be good enough, and with all those weapons
Speaker 1: around him that I don't know, you can win. Some
Speaker 1: bad quarterbacks have had eleven and twelve win season, and
Speaker 1: this was a team I think was naturally going to
Speaker 1: fall off of what they did last year. So I
Speaker 1: think what these moves are doing, if nothing else, is
Speaker 1: kind of preventing that from happening, because it was gonna
Speaker 1: be tough to go nine and seven with that type
Speaker 1: of quarterback play. Again, who goes second place behind the
Speaker 1: twelve and four Patriots next year? One of these years
Speaker 1: it's gonna end. So, uh, those were our best. Those
Speaker 1: were teams that who got better in free agency? The Colts,
Speaker 1: the Packers, the Bills, and the Seahawks. But who got
Speaker 1: worse in free agency? Let's start with Mr Westling. You know,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of obvious answers here, but one
Speaker 1: that kind of is flowing behind been below the radar,
Speaker 1: A team that in this may have been led by
Speaker 1: Damnaschick tramping through, tramping through the newsroom every day after
Speaker 1: the season. Who's gonna give the Patriots the hardest game
Speaker 1: in the FC this year? He thought it would be
Speaker 1: the Steelers, that they would be they would be the
Speaker 1: biggest contender. Tell you're about to say the Texans, because
Speaker 1: he's a Damnaschek is a huge Texans guy. Now, well,
Speaker 1: anyway of late, I don't get that. Sorry, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't get the Texans thing. Yeah, I don't get
Speaker 1: the text things. Sorry. Your point, well, they had a
Speaker 1: lot of needs. They we thought they might fix the
Speaker 1: defensive backfield. They lose troop Troy Polamalo. They don't really
Speaker 1: fix safety, they don't fix cornerback. They don't do anything there.
Speaker 1: Jason World's not only leaves he retired. They don't want
Speaker 1: James Harrison back, even though James Harrison was the best
Speaker 1: defensive player on the field for them in many of
Speaker 1: their second half games. I don't see how they've gotten
Speaker 1: better at all. I think they've gotten worse with all
Speaker 1: the losses they've had on defense. I mean, they but
Speaker 1: that's kind of in a Packers Packers this way. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: they lost more people than the Packers. The Steelers are
Speaker 1: never big free agent operatives. They just aren't the differences.
Speaker 1: They don't manage their cap well and they have to
Speaker 1: let some of their good young players walk away over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, and Ted Thompson would not
Speaker 1: let that happen. That so at some first round draft
Speaker 1: picks haven't panned out like they used to paying out.
Speaker 1: You're still waiting for Brillian Shays here and Jarvis Jones.
Speaker 1: You don't know what they are right now. They're they're
Speaker 1: a team. I agree that should be great, and then
Speaker 1: you look at like the cap numbers, and then you
Speaker 1: start realizing why things can get a little crazy When
Speaker 1: Lamar Woodley is on their cap this year for nine
Speaker 1: eight and a half million dollars. He's been on two
Speaker 1: teams since and you have Cortes Allen at seven million
Speaker 1: cap pit, Cameron Hayward at seven. You know guys that
Speaker 1: aren't great great players when they're that high up, then
Speaker 1: you get into problems. I mean, you think the whole
Speaker 1: division is kind of like what's I started thinking about.
Speaker 1: The Ravens lose Tory Smith and Burnell McPhee. They usually draft, well,
Speaker 1: they'll they'll be at least nine and seven or ten
Speaker 1: and six. They usually are. The Bengals, I mean we
Speaker 1: say this every year. We thought they might go out
Speaker 1: and get a quarterback to challenge Andy Dalton after another
Speaker 1: embarrassing first round playoff loss, and they said shortly thereafter,
Speaker 1: we're not gonna do that. I don't care what else
Speaker 1: they do with the roster. Yeah, they were not. Otherwise,
Speaker 1: they're not a winner. If they If they they did
Speaker 1: bring back Mike Nugent, well there you go. The Browns.
Speaker 1: They lose Kyle Shanahan, Josh Gordon their quarterbacks in rehab.
Speaker 1: They signed Josh McCown, who was underwhelming to Mark and
Speaker 1: other Browns fans. Jordan Cameron's gone, Jibbal Shard's gone. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Browns aren't a better team, not at all. They
Speaker 1: probably us more talent than than some of these other
Speaker 1: teams in the division, honestly, when they can't afford to
Speaker 1: on any level. That's a good point. Well, they did
Speaker 1: add Germon Williams and Randy Starks. We like those moves,
Speaker 1: but a lot of money. Overall, they've they've lost more talent.
Speaker 1: You're right, the whole division very quiet, was really an
Speaker 1: interesting fun division. Maybe we go back to when the
Speaker 1: a f C Central winner was eight and eight. I
Speaker 1: like that, who is your who is your loser? Here?
Speaker 1: Let's talk about a team that's not going to be
Speaker 1: eight and eighth this year, and that's the forty Niners.
Speaker 1: They might be three and thirteen because yes, you signed
Speaker 1: Tori Smith and I don't know why he decided to
Speaker 1: go there, but I mean we talked about it. Chris
Speaker 1: Borland came out of nowhere. That's a disaster. Patrick Willis
Speaker 1: has gone, Frank Gore has gone. Whether you like Michael
Speaker 1: Crabtree or not, he's out the door. I mean, Justin
Speaker 1: Smith probably won't be back. Your core, the core of
Speaker 1: your defense, the heart of it right up the gut
Speaker 1: is completely shredded and gone. That was what the Niners
Speaker 1: were under Hardball and when they were on offense. They
Speaker 1: were running the ball with Gore and really at this
Speaker 1: point you got to turn to a second year running
Speaker 1: back and Reggie Bush unless they don't, unless they go
Speaker 1: out other people to anchor what is what they say
Speaker 1: Jim tom Sewell says wants to be a run heavy
Speaker 1: team again. I just I don't see it. I think
Speaker 1: there's a lot. This is another team that comes go
Speaker 1: out in draft for need Well. They brought back Plaine
Speaker 1: Gabbert again. You know, he's it's if it's not Mike Nugent,
Speaker 1: it's playing Gabbert. He's killing us with his comebacks. I
Speaker 1: don't know what. I don't have a wonderful I'm just
Speaker 1: saying that one kind of flew under the radar. Yes
Speaker 1: it did, and he might play. I mean that's scary.
Speaker 1: You know. You know how who is running their offense too.
Speaker 1: It's it's a guy that was the third the guy
Speaker 1: that Jim Harbaugh thought was the third or fourth best
Speaker 1: coach offensive coach they had. You know, he wasn't the
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh, who's a great offensive mine.
Speaker 1: He was the next in command after Greg Roman, who
Speaker 1: also has gone. So it's just we that whole thing.
Speaker 1: To me, that's my biggest concern with them, on top
Speaker 1: of all the players they are. It feels like a
Speaker 1: pond in late summer that the waters not fresh. It's
Speaker 1: just old smelly water. Come on, you gotta get to
Speaker 1: get some rainwater in there and clean this place out.
Speaker 1: If the forty Niners want to use that in any
Speaker 1: marketing brochures like feel free, Oh we're old smelly water.
Speaker 1: I do, I do? Can. I can already see myself
Speaker 1: in a future podcast in August talking about the forty Niners,
Speaker 1: Like I was talking about the Cowboys going into last year,
Speaker 1: will be five and one. Tom Seula is like a
Speaker 1: local here. I kept like trying to say, a lot
Speaker 1: of you guys had the Cowboys as the worst five
Speaker 1: teams in the league, and I kept just saying, they'll
Speaker 1: probably seven and nine. They have a good quarterback, they
Speaker 1: have Tony Roman. I do kind of think maybe everyone's
Speaker 1: gonna end up slamming the forty Niners as this total
Speaker 1: disaster so much, where you know, they still have a
Speaker 1: lot of talented guys in the team, they have Kaepernick,
Speaker 1: and maybe they'll be a little more like a seven
Speaker 1: and nine type of team. It's wise words from our supervisor. Uh,
Speaker 1: my team that was got worse over the last week,
Speaker 1: and this could get me in trouble with on particular
Speaker 1: shadowy League figure. It was the Denver Broncos. And I'm
Speaker 1: I'm just looking at the facts, and here are the facts.
Speaker 1: They have resigned Virgil Green and signed Owen Daniels to
Speaker 1: replace Julius Thomas. That's a big time loss. They have
Speaker 1: signed Shelley Smith two replace Orlando Franklin. That's a big loss.
Speaker 1: She'll be good. They have lost Terrence Knighton, they have
Speaker 1: lost Raheem More and they to sign to pick up
Speaker 1: a safety to replace anymore. They picked up Darian Stewart,
Speaker 1: who the Ravens had no use for whatsoever. So you
Speaker 1: just kind of look at the players that have gone
Speaker 1: out the door and you look at the players that
Speaker 1: have come in, and it has been really a very
Speaker 1: good offseason for the practice. Well I don't I think
Speaker 1: their entire future depends on which Peyton Manning shows up.
Speaker 1: I don't really even care about those moves. Julius Thomas
Speaker 1: is the big one, But I don't care about you West. No,
Speaker 1: I mean, Julius Thomas Moore isn't a huge loss, pot
Speaker 1: Roast wasn't a natural fit for wave fields. There are
Speaker 1: four of our top thirty players on our hundred and
Speaker 1: one free agent list. Look at that number twenty sixteen
Speaker 1: nine number three that Julius Thomas is the one that
Speaker 1: really stinks because their offense sung when he was in there.
Speaker 1: But I still think it all depends on which Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning shows up and can Peyton Manning effectively roll out
Speaker 1: twenty five times a game. They're not gonna ask them
Speaker 1: to do that, but I mean, there it's a whole
Speaker 1: new offense or it's some cobbled version of Kubiak's offense,
Speaker 1: and what Peyton Manning's lobbying for that is. That's one argument,
Speaker 1: though I think that they could be better. I'll take
Speaker 1: Gary Kubiak over Adam Gaze. I'm a Gary I'm a
Speaker 1: Gary Kubiak fan. I think success everywhere he's gone has
Speaker 1: offense will travel that. You know that's a good thing.
Speaker 1: But well, I take him over Adam Gays and Jay Cutler. Right. Uh,
Speaker 1: But you know, not a lot of teams lost four
Speaker 1: quality starters. So those are teams that got worse than that.
Speaker 1: We have the Cowboys who got worse I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: do we have any others? I know they just signed
Speaker 1: Greg Hardy, but you they built their entire attack list.
Speaker 1: You're on DeMarco Murray the offensive player of the year,
Speaker 1: and look, I know you're gonna make fun of me.
Speaker 1: It would not surprise me if Darren. If Darren McFadden
Speaker 1: does well in Dallas. Because of his running style, he's
Speaker 1: always been more dependent than other running backs on his
Speaker 1: offensive line. He needs a big holder run through, and
Speaker 1: I think Jerry and Stephen Jones probably think, hey, we
Speaker 1: turned DeMarco Murray's career around, we can do the same
Speaker 1: thing for Darren McFadden. But that's a huge, huge gamble too.
Speaker 1: You know, when your whole foundation was DeMarco Murray list.
Speaker 1: I think that's a that's a fair prediction for McFadden,
Speaker 1: and they certainly liked him for specific reasons. But it
Speaker 1: also feels like a team that is going to have
Speaker 1: to go out and draft a starting running back unless
Speaker 1: they make a move here or some sort of a trade,
Speaker 1: and that doesn't Trent Richardson tell us that the last
Speaker 1: time they talked about, listen, this running back coming up
Speaker 1: through the draft, this is a guaranteed no issue going
Speaker 1: to be a total stud. We don't know anything. No
Speaker 1: one knows that for sure. Yeah, it's a lot of
Speaker 1: risks for you for a run based offense. They did
Speaker 1: they I guess they're getting Sean Lee back to play
Speaker 1: running back. Well, I'm just saying that's one big talented
Speaker 1: player coming out of there. I think they can I
Speaker 1: think they can draft a running back. I mean, Jerry
Speaker 1: they can draft. Sure, they can draft him. But it's
Speaker 1: like a lot actually, outside of DeMarco Murray they've made
Speaker 1: They've had some big misses when they've drafted running back.
Speaker 1: The best running back in the draft is coming off
Speaker 1: in a cl No one mentioned the Eagles here as
Speaker 1: a team that got worse. So, uh, is it safe
Speaker 1: to say we're not buying? And I think if Dan
Speaker 1: was here, he might have picked the Eagles in fairness,
Speaker 1: But is it fair to say we're not buying all
Speaker 1: the doom and gloom about chip Kelly's crazy month. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're better or worse. I've been
Speaker 1: taking a weight and see attitude towards what they're doing.
Speaker 1: If Sam Bradford is who Chip Kelly thinks he is,
Speaker 1: or who he thinks he can turn them into. Then
Speaker 1: they're better, but they could be. They could be much
Speaker 1: worse next year. I'm with you because, if anything, Chip
Speaker 1: Kelly certainly feels like people saying he has no plan.
Speaker 1: Why think he very much is determined to do something
Speaker 1: his way, And I'm I don't want to judge it
Speaker 1: right now. I mean a lot of they brought an
Speaker 1: imported a lot of injury risk type guys. Let a
Speaker 1: lot of talent go. But who knows that's a team
Speaker 1: that could still in eleven games. Yeah, I think it's interesting.
Speaker 1: I think they have brought in a lot of talent
Speaker 1: that his moves have been bold and a little crazy.
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure they're worse. It wouldn't surprise me
Speaker 1: if they're better. I want to see how this team
Speaker 1: comes together. When I didn't make the playoffs last year.
Speaker 1: They could be better than that, right, I want to
Speaker 1: see how Sam Bradford looks in their offense. So it's like,
Speaker 1: if you look at their moves one by one, I
Speaker 1: don't think any one of them is crazy, but when
Speaker 1: you kind of add it all up, it's just it's
Speaker 1: a lot of moves. Uh. No Patriots on this list either,
Speaker 1: You guys. Just they're going to be twelve and four.
Speaker 1: I know, but they lost they lost Derrell Reeves. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but they've been twelve and four hundred times. Yeah, bringing
Speaker 1: the old medieval music. What are you doing? You're trying
Speaker 1: to convince us to rip on your team. No, I'm
Speaker 1: just asking the question. He's got his legs up on
Speaker 1: the table. Now. The throne of this is great. You
Speaker 1: know what. The throne of ease is. The throne of
Speaker 1: eas is. I don't care if they go nine and seven.
Speaker 1: I'm serious, day Won I'm happy. It has been great.
Speaker 1: It's been the best fourteen years you could ever ask for.
Speaker 1: If it's over, I'm cool with that. Who's managed the
Speaker 1: salary cap better than the Patriots since Bill Belichick got there? No,
Speaker 1: not a team in the league, so it doesn't bother
Speaker 1: me what they've done. I like what you're saying. All right, Uh,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be it for today's show. We got It's
Speaker 1: not a lot of stuff. I've been waiting for this
Speaker 1: since the topic has been a long show here. I
Speaker 1: know you. You've shown you you've shown to be an
Speaker 1: expert in this field. So I want you to tell
Speaker 1: me what what do these five things have in common?
Speaker 1: Last Holiday? Just right, beauty shop here, spray taxi? What
Speaker 1: are those five things? What do they all have in common? There?
Speaker 1: Movies cluing l tie from being a tie because it
Speaker 1: was pretty surprising. How you you know you knew bringing
Speaker 1: out the House of que movie. Yeah, now I could
Speaker 1: have gotten that. The first few is where you'll see
Speaker 1: Last Holiday. I never heard of anything taxi. Uh there
Speaker 1: was the movie with Jimmy Fallon that quickly ended his
Speaker 1: movie career. Was it was that taxi? That was it?
Speaker 1: He would have never thought that he would have bounced back. That.
Speaker 1: That's strong as he has percifully ended his movie career. Well,
Speaker 1: that is a strong note to finish on Queen Latifa's
Speaker 1: I am dB page. Next week we're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: I don't know who should we talk about next week?
Speaker 1: I think next show. Well, we're a show that's based
Speaker 1: on news as it happened, so we'll find out. Oh man, hey, alrighty,
Speaker 1: I forget. We're not coming back next week. We're going
Speaker 1: to be back on Friday with another show. Get ready.
Speaker 1: We gotta come up with some topics. Until then, Dan
Speaker 1: Hansas will be back for Friday's show until then Mr
Speaker 1: is Greg Rosdalve signing off for Mark Sessler, Chris westleying
Speaker 1: t D behind the glass. We'll see Friday