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NFL Early Offseason Recap: Coaching Changes Will Influence Free Agency, Trade Market · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, Welcome to the Inside the Birds NFL preview show.
0:13
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Mosher. When you last heard from me, I
0:16
Speaker 1: was recapping, not previewing, recapping the Super Bowl, the Seattle
0:21
Speaker 1: Seahawks just punishing the New England Patriots to win the
0:25
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and I mentioned that I'm going to continue
0:28
Speaker 1: to do shows revolving around the NFL and what's going
0:33
Speaker 1: on throughout the off season. So I wanted to go
0:36
Speaker 1: ahead and just start that right now. I look forward
0:39
Speaker 1: to talking about all the movement as we are right
0:43
Speaker 1: into getting into the heart of the NFL off season.
0:47
Speaker 1: We've got March ninth, you know, obviously right now the
0:50
Speaker 1: combines going on. Free agency will begin March ninth. After
0:56
Speaker 1: shortly after that it will turn to the NFL Draft,
0:59
Speaker 1: And of course once we get to right after the
1:03
Speaker 1: first waive or two a free agency, everything will be
1:06
Speaker 1: about the NFL Draft, and then it'll be the end
1:09
Speaker 1: of April. Next thing, you know, it would be May
1:11
Speaker 1: you get OTA's And that's just how quickly things develop
1:15
Speaker 1: here in the NFL. And this has actually been a
1:20
Speaker 1: pretty interesting start to the NFL offseason because there was
1:27
Speaker 1: so much There was ten I believe it was ten
1:29
Speaker 1: head coaches and then all the new offensive coordinators, all
1:33
Speaker 1: the new defensive coordinators. So I mean the Raiders did
1:37
Speaker 1: the smart and practical thing by waiting. They were very
1:42
Speaker 1: patient to get and wait for Clint Kubiak to become
1:46
Speaker 1: their head coach. They didn't try to, which is I
1:49
Speaker 1: always think it is a smart thing to do if
1:50
Speaker 1: that's the guy you and it's never smart to just
1:53
Speaker 1: wait and hire that guy because you think that that's
1:56
Speaker 1: going to be your head coach before you interview him. Obviously,
1:59
Speaker 1: they had a chance to speak to them prior to
2:01
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, in those windows when you can talk
2:05
Speaker 1: with a coaching candidate, but it's hard. I mean some teams,
2:10
Speaker 1: I've heard about this. Some teams want a guy, but
2:15
Speaker 1: they want to be able to stay true to their process,
2:19
Speaker 1: and then you see other teams start to hire guys
2:21
Speaker 1: and then they get itchy and wind up hiring somebody
2:24
Speaker 1: without giving the process it's full due diligence. But the
2:28
Speaker 1: Raiders did that. But because that, you know, I think
2:31
Speaker 1: it was just last week that they finished up their
2:34
Speaker 1: full staff, and there were there have been so many
2:37
Speaker 1: hirings going on way way into February that you don't
2:41
Speaker 1: typically see. So there's been a lot of movement. It's
2:44
Speaker 1: been an interesting offseason. We're going to talk about that
2:47
Speaker 1: on this show. But I want the show to be
2:51
Speaker 1: want everybody to understand that when I do this, and
2:53
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's just me, right. This is not
2:56
Speaker 1: Inside the Birds. Okay, This is not my intel or
3:01
Speaker 1: reporting on things that I know of or I've heard.
3:04
Speaker 1: That's what me and Adam doing inside the Birds. This
3:07
Speaker 1: is really going to be my big picture. Look. Just
3:10
Speaker 1: like throughout the season, I'd use this show as a
3:15
Speaker 1: platform to give you my thoughts on each game every week,
3:19
Speaker 1: and then I make a prediction the same thing here.
3:22
Speaker 1: This is going to be a show where I give
3:25
Speaker 1: you my feel but what's going on in the off season,
3:30
Speaker 1: how I think things are going to happen. I will
3:33
Speaker 1: react to certain things that do happen, certain trades, certain signings,
3:37
Speaker 1: and give you my opinion on them, and we'll talk
3:39
Speaker 1: about the teams and the NFL. Of course, I'll be
3:43
Speaker 1: you know, Eagles oriented as well in this show. But
3:46
Speaker 1: this is not going to be an inside Intel type
3:49
Speaker 1: of show. That's Inside the Birds. That's me and Adam
3:52
Speaker 1: Kaplan and I just wanted to set those boundaries to
3:56
Speaker 1: make it clear that this is sort of my fifty
3:59
Speaker 1: thousand foot but viewpoint on what's going on around the
4:03
Speaker 1: league based on, you know, being a reporter for god
4:08
Speaker 1: twenty two years we're going into now, so it's been
4:11
Speaker 1: been quite a while. I've seen a lot, heard a lot.
4:15
Speaker 1: I feel like I have a really good feel for
4:17
Speaker 1: why teams do what they do, why players do what
4:20
Speaker 1: they do, why coaches do what they do, and that's
4:22
Speaker 1: what I want to use this show as a platform for.
4:26
Speaker 1: I also hope people don't mind. I might even get
4:29
Speaker 1: into some non NFL related things from Philadelphia sports things.
4:37
Speaker 1: I mean this, We're getting to the end of February
4:41
Speaker 1: in early March, and I love this time period for sports. Right,
4:44
Speaker 1: You've got the Combine going on. We all know how
4:47
Speaker 1: much everybody loves the underwear Olympics. I'm not there this year.
4:51
Speaker 1: Hope to make it back next year. Just couldn't make
4:54
Speaker 1: it happen this year. Too many things going on. But
4:57
Speaker 1: the NFL Combine is a great event. Always sparks a
5:01
Speaker 1: lot of conversation and chatter around the league. All right,
5:05
Speaker 1: and simultaneously, you've got Spring training going on. A lot
5:11
Speaker 1: going on with the Phillies, a lot going on with
5:13
Speaker 1: the National League East in general in Major League Baseball.
5:16
Speaker 1: The World Baseball Classic we'll kick off in a couple
5:19
Speaker 1: of weeks. Some people love it, some people hate it.
5:21
Speaker 1: I like it. I don't mind it. I think it
5:24
Speaker 1: was fun. You know, the last one was great when
5:26
Speaker 1: it came down to Otani versus Mike Trout. I thought
5:29
Speaker 1: that was really, you know, just an unbelievable ending to
5:32
Speaker 1: a World Baseball Classic. And so you know, we're just
5:35
Speaker 1: coming off the Olympics, which had some truly amazing moments.
5:39
Speaker 1: So we've got all that going on. And of course
5:42
Speaker 1: college basketball. I'm a big college basketball fan. I try
5:45
Speaker 1: to watch as much as I can. I've probably seen
5:49
Speaker 1: more college basketball this year than I have in the past.
5:56
Speaker 1: I watch it a lot when I'm at the gym
5:58
Speaker 1: running on treadmill, so I've get to see in teams.
6:00
Speaker 1: Now full disclosure, I think people who listened inside the
6:05
Speaker 1: Birds have heard me talk about this before. Yes, I
6:07
Speaker 1: went to Penn State. I grew up though half my
6:12
Speaker 1: childhood in Connecticut, so I was a big I am
6:16
Speaker 1: a big Yukon basketball fan, and I have seen every
6:20
Speaker 1: single one, not in person, but I'm not like a
6:23
Speaker 1: Yankee fan who hasn't seen you know, eighty percent of
6:26
Speaker 1: the team's World Series is okay. I've seen every single
6:30
Speaker 1: Yukon men's and most women's basketball championships. I could name
6:36
Speaker 1: players from you know, Jim Calhoun's first three starting lineups
6:42
Speaker 1: or teams when he really came over and started to
6:44
Speaker 1: build Yukon into a national contender. That's how far I
6:49
Speaker 1: go back being a Yukon Huskies basketball fan. But I
6:52
Speaker 1: love college basketball. I love the Big East. I love
6:56
Speaker 1: I mean, or at least what the Big East used
6:57
Speaker 1: to be. It's it's not very good this year, but
7:00
Speaker 1: in general, I love college basketball. And I'll give you
7:04
Speaker 1: some of my you know, as we get into this thing.
7:06
Speaker 1: Later on, I might give you more of how I
7:09
Speaker 1: feel about the college basketball landscape, the teams. When we
7:12
Speaker 1: get into the tournament's biggiest tournament always one of my favorite, favorite,
7:17
Speaker 1: favorite times of the year. So you have a great
7:20
Speaker 1: collaboration right now, you got the NFL season really about
7:23
Speaker 1: to get into it. You have baseball in spring training.
7:27
Speaker 1: That's always a great time for me. Baseball was my
7:30
Speaker 1: first love, and of course March madness all coming together
7:34
Speaker 1: over the next five or six weeks, golf will get
7:36
Speaker 1: started and it'll be a fantastic time to talk about sports.
7:41
Speaker 1: So I might get into a little bit of that
7:43
Speaker 1: as well, and I hope everybody enjoys it. If you
7:46
Speaker 1: want to email me to feedback on any of my topics,
7:50
Speaker 1: or you want me to talk about something, or you
7:52
Speaker 1: have a question that's not necessarily, you know, heavily intel
7:55
Speaker 1: based just my opinion on something, please please go ahead
7:58
Speaker 1: and email me at Inside the Birds at gmail dot
8:02
Speaker 1: com and just say you know that this is for
8:04
Speaker 1: Jeff and for the weekend show. All right, I want
8:08
Speaker 1: to start off talking about the Seahawks because they're in
8:11
Speaker 1: a situation a lot like the Eagles were after the
8:14
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four season. They won their Super Bowl. It's great,
8:17
Speaker 1: it's grand, everything's wonderful, but immediately they have to start
8:21
Speaker 1: to deal with things that happen when you win a
8:24
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. The Eagles lost Kellen Moore, all right, Seattle
8:27
Speaker 1: just lost Clint Kubiak. He's going to be there offense.
8:30
Speaker 1: He's going to be the head coach of the Raiders.
8:32
Speaker 1: We talked about that they promoted from within, which is
8:36
Speaker 1: a good idea. They're keeping that sort of scheme, not
8:41
Speaker 1: sort of, they're keeping the scheme that just won them
8:44
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and really maximize Sam Darnold and JSN and
8:49
Speaker 1: their run game. But they have work to do. Obviously,
8:52
Speaker 1: when you get somebody's understudy, it doesn't mean you're getting
8:56
Speaker 1: that guy. Kubiak came in there and he transformed that
9:00
Speaker 1: offense immediately. That was his first year. I think we
9:03
Speaker 1: talked in past episodes how when Mike McDonald got there,
9:07
Speaker 1: he had hired Ryan Grubb, the offensive coordinator at Washington.
9:11
Speaker 1: You know, Washington had a great offense, all those great
9:14
Speaker 1: receivers that they had, and they played in the National
9:16
Speaker 1: Championship Game against Michigan a few years ago. But it
9:19
Speaker 1: didn't work out. And that's that's the issue that I
9:23
Speaker 1: talk about constantly that head coaches have trying to assemble staffs.
9:28
Speaker 1: You're not always able to get the guys you want.
9:32
Speaker 1: Sometimes you're fall in love with a guy and he's
9:34
Speaker 1: not what you thought, and you see changes all the
9:37
Speaker 1: time after a guy's first year. Go look at the Jets.
9:40
Speaker 1: I mean, Aaron Glenn. I'm not suggesting this was the
9:43
Speaker 1: right move, but Aaron Glenn just completely cleaned house after
9:47
Speaker 1: one year. Now. He had a terrible year as head
9:50
Speaker 1: coach of the Jets, as most Jets coaches do. He
9:54
Speaker 1: had a very bad year, made a lot of changes.
9:58
Speaker 1: That is the challenge that head coaches face. Fortunately for
10:01
Speaker 1: Mike McDonald, he was able to get himself. Clint Kubiak,
10:05
Speaker 1: who is obviously comes from the Kubiak Shanahan Tree, brought
10:09
Speaker 1: that offense to Seattle gelled from the start. Sam Donald
10:14
Speaker 1: becomes a Super Bowl winning quarterback, had a very good year.
10:18
Speaker 1: But now it's time for the Seahawks to do what
10:20
Speaker 1: the Eagles had to do, and that's, you know, pay
10:23
Speaker 1: the piper. And sometimes that's replacing holes like offensive coordinator loss.
10:28
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's paying players, all right, and JSN is up
10:33
Speaker 1: on a deal. He just wan Offensive Player of the Year.
10:36
Speaker 1: They're gonna have to pay him, no doubt about it.
10:39
Speaker 1: Devin Witherspoon, great cornerback. I believe he's three or four
10:43
Speaker 1: years in now. Gonna have to pay him if you
10:45
Speaker 1: want to keep them. Josh Joe, a great story for
10:48
Speaker 1: them is gonna become a free agent. If they want
10:50
Speaker 1: to keep them, they're gonna have to pay him. They're
10:53
Speaker 1: not gonna keep them. They're gonna have to have a
10:55
Speaker 1: good replacement and Sam Donald. If I'm Sam Donald's agent,
10:59
Speaker 1: and don't know if there's anything out there about this,
11:01
Speaker 1: but if I'm Sam Donald's agent, I'm going to the
11:04
Speaker 1: Seahawks and saying, yep, you signed me. At the time
11:07
Speaker 1: you signed me, yeah, you got me on one of
11:10
Speaker 1: those good free mid range free agent quarterback deals. But now,
11:16
Speaker 1: for two years in a row, my client has proven
11:19
Speaker 1: he's an upper echelon quarterback. He had a great year
11:23
Speaker 1: with the Vikings, he still got him on a discount.
11:25
Speaker 1: Now he won you a Super Bowl. Sure, he's under contract,
11:29
Speaker 1: but you got to pay the piper, and the Seahawks
11:31
Speaker 1: will probably do that. I imagine that they will figure
11:34
Speaker 1: out a way to make Sam Donald's contract commensurate with
11:38
Speaker 1: quarterbacks who are in the upper echelon of the NFL,
11:41
Speaker 1: and he deserves it. That's what happens when you win
11:44
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl. Now, some things might get complicated because
11:48
Speaker 1: immediately the Seahawks went up for sale, so it may
11:51
Speaker 1: have to be something that new ownership has to deal with.
11:54
Speaker 1: I don't know what the timetable is on that. I
11:56
Speaker 1: don't know how long it'll take for a sale. It's
12:00
Speaker 1: a good franchise, so I imagine they'll be you know,
12:03
Speaker 1: everybody wants to be able to get in on buying
12:05
Speaker 1: an NFL franchise, although I'm not sure. Man. Every time
12:10
Speaker 1: I think that those teams or those people who bought
12:13
Speaker 1: franchises like in the nineties, like Jeffrey Lurie, they are
12:16
Speaker 1: just counting, counting their billions from how much NFL franchises
12:22
Speaker 1: are worth now compared to what they were in the
12:24
Speaker 1: nineties and then early two thousands. I keep wondering, you know,
12:28
Speaker 1: right now you're buying in on an NFL franchise, how
12:31
Speaker 1: much more can can the price of an or the
12:36
Speaker 1: value of a franchise go up? But then you see
12:39
Speaker 1: the NFL is going to play about a billion games
12:41
Speaker 1: overseas and really become more global as we you know,
12:45
Speaker 1: go into the years, and that's gonna piss off a
12:48
Speaker 1: lot of people who don't like having to watch games
12:50
Speaker 1: and other countries. But that's making the NFL a truckload
12:55
Speaker 1: of money. They're selling jerseys or selling merchandise, filling stadiums overseas,
13:01
Speaker 1: and you know, now you got a billion more fans
13:05
Speaker 1: overseas watching these games, watching the Super Bowl, spending money
13:09
Speaker 1: on NFL product, That just help helps raise the price
13:14
Speaker 1: for the advertisers, help raise the price for the networks
13:18
Speaker 1: and the streaming services that are all buying into the NFL. So, yeah,
13:22
Speaker 1: it might not be as lucrative in twenty twenty five
13:26
Speaker 1: to buy in to an NFL franchise because the value
13:29
Speaker 1: is already sky high compared to what it is twenty
13:32
Speaker 1: years ago. But maybe twenty years from now, instead of
13:35
Speaker 1: talking about a couple of billions, you started talking about
13:38
Speaker 1: fifty sixty seventy one hundred. Who knows? Who knows? The
13:42
Speaker 1: NFL doesn't lose money, That's all we know. And so
13:46
Speaker 1: the Seahawks, to me, are it's going to be challenging
13:50
Speaker 1: for them to repeat. They've got a lot of great
13:52
Speaker 1: elements in place, great defense, good building blocks, for sure,
13:56
Speaker 1: but everybody's gunning for them. And now they're gonna have
14:00
Speaker 1: to pay their players, and we'll see how aggressive they're
14:04
Speaker 1: able to be in free agency after they do wind
14:07
Speaker 1: up giving the extensions to some of their in house guys.
14:10
Speaker 1: And remember remember this, they deserve everything that you say
14:15
Speaker 1: about them. The Seahawks were fantastic. They were the best
14:20
Speaker 1: team in football, but not by much. And you could
14:24
Speaker 1: very much argue the Rams were right there with him,
14:27
Speaker 1: and that if the Rams knew how to catch a punt,
14:30
Speaker 1: if the Rams knew how to execute a field goal,
14:32
Speaker 1: if the Rams were not a disaster in defending a
14:36
Speaker 1: punt as well, because that second game against the Seahawks,
14:39
Speaker 1: they had a huge lead and it turned when Shahid
14:42
Speaker 1: returned a punt for a touchdown. If the Rams had
14:45
Speaker 1: good special teams, they were a better team. They they
14:49
Speaker 1: scored against the Seahawks. We talk about this great Seahawks
14:52
Speaker 1: defense because against every other team, the Seahawks defense was great. Okay,
14:57
Speaker 1: against the Rams, they were not great. They gave up
14:59
Speaker 1: a lot of points. And so you got a Rams
15:01
Speaker 1: team in your division, you got a Niners team that's
15:04
Speaker 1: coming off a twelve win season. That's a tough TOV.
15:07
Speaker 1: This isn't like the Eagles who had to win the
15:09
Speaker 1: NFC East a game when the NFC East had three
15:13
Speaker 1: losing teams. Right, the Cowboys Commanders had a terrible t
15:17
Speaker 1: year this year, and of course the Giants had a
15:20
Speaker 1: terrible year. All Right, They're in a tough division. So
15:23
Speaker 1: I would not put Seattle. I don't know. I haven't
15:26
Speaker 1: seen the odds. I don't know what they're odds to repeat.
15:28
Speaker 1: I'm sure they're the favorites because they're the best team
15:31
Speaker 1: in football right now, and they've got a lot of
15:33
Speaker 1: young building block pieces, and they have very good coach
15:37
Speaker 1: who knows what he's doing. I'm sure they're the favorites
15:40
Speaker 1: to repeat. But if you're asking me right now, and
15:43
Speaker 1: I'm going to get into some of the coaching changes
15:45
Speaker 1: in a minute that I think made a huge difference,
15:48
Speaker 1: he ask me right now who I think enters twenty
15:51
Speaker 1: twenty six as the best team. I'm taking the gambling
15:57
Speaker 1: bets out of it. Who do I think are the
15:59
Speaker 1: top team teams entering twenty twenty six? I would put
16:03
Speaker 1: the Rams up there, all right. I think that they're
16:06
Speaker 1: gonna bring a lot of guys back and they will
16:08
Speaker 1: be Yeah. I think Stafford has already said he's going
16:11
Speaker 1: to come back, So I think you have to consider
16:13
Speaker 1: the Rams every bit as formidable as the Seahawks are,
16:19
Speaker 1: I would say I would say Denver. I don't think
16:25
Speaker 1: they're gonna lose a whole lot. They were able to
16:30
Speaker 1: retain most of their coaching staff. They promoted one of
16:33
Speaker 1: their better offensive minds to bass game coordinator, obviously Knicks.
16:40
Speaker 1: I mean, Denver probably would have been in the super
16:42
Speaker 1: Bowl if not for the knicks injury. But I like
16:46
Speaker 1: what I saw from Denver defensively, even though offensively, I
16:51
Speaker 1: think they have a long way to go. I think
16:54
Speaker 1: their defense will still carry them. So I think Denver
16:56
Speaker 1: will be very good. I do think I can see
16:59
Speaker 1: now I would put Buffalo over New England. I know
17:02
Speaker 1: that that sounds a little crazy. I don't think it
17:05
Speaker 1: sounds that crazy. I mean New England won again. They
17:08
Speaker 1: won fourteen games. Their strength of win was thirty three seventy.
17:13
Speaker 1: Their strength of schedule was three to ninety. All right,
17:15
Speaker 1: that was the lowest and among any NFL playoff team,
17:20
Speaker 1: any not AFC, any of the fourteen playoff teams. So
17:23
Speaker 1: they got fat on a bad schedule. Now that doesn't
17:27
Speaker 1: mean they're a bad team. But you saw they got
17:29
Speaker 1: some work to do on their their offensive line, and
17:33
Speaker 1: they have to work to do with playmakers on offense.
17:36
Speaker 1: SODA's Buffalo. But Buffalo has already shown they can score
17:40
Speaker 1: a lot of points without and I imagine that Buffalo
17:43
Speaker 1: will take some steps this offseason to get better offensively.
17:47
Speaker 1: So I would definitely put the Bills, the Broncos, the
17:52
Speaker 1: Rams would be among my top three. The Seahawks for sure.
17:57
Speaker 1: I mean they aren't going anywhere. Seahawks for sure, top
18:00
Speaker 1: four to win the Super Bowl. And then there's probably
18:05
Speaker 1: gonna be kind of a bounce back team. It could
18:07
Speaker 1: be the Eagles, it could be the Ravens. I really
18:10
Speaker 1: like what the Ravens did from a coaching staff standpoint,
18:15
Speaker 1: so we'll talk about that in a second. I don't
18:18
Speaker 1: want to give the Colts the benefit of the doubt
18:20
Speaker 1: because they you know, they're they're out of excuses. I
18:23
Speaker 1: know that they were having a great year until Daniel
18:25
Speaker 1: Jones got hurt, but I can't put him Top five.
18:27
Speaker 1: Texans maybe depending on what kind of moves they make
18:31
Speaker 1: that elite defensive Theirs should stay intact. Liked it a lot,
18:38
Speaker 1: and maybe the Chargers. We'll get into that. I think
18:40
Speaker 1: that the Chargers were the winners this offseason and coaching
18:44
Speaker 1: staff moves for sure. Now, of course, the Bengals, the Chiefs,
18:48
Speaker 1: teams like that, they're going to be looking for a
18:50
Speaker 1: bounce back. I mean in Detroit, Bengals, Chiefs, Lions are
18:55
Speaker 1: teams that have a lot of talent weren't in the
19:00
Speaker 1: playoffs that could very well easily be in the playoffs.
19:02
Speaker 1: But I was talking about the teams that enter as
19:05
Speaker 1: your bonafide super Bowl contenders next year. I would just
19:10
Speaker 1: limit it to the Seahawks, the Rams for sure, Denver
19:15
Speaker 1: for sure, and Buffalo for sure. Yeah, I would say that.
19:22
Speaker 1: I would say that Houston, I'm not ready yet. I
19:24
Speaker 1: need to see what they would do this offseason. Defensively, absolutely,
19:30
Speaker 1: they have a super Bowl defense, but they don't have
19:32
Speaker 1: a super Bowl offense, and I'm not sure that they
19:35
Speaker 1: can compensate. Denver they don't have a super Bowl offense either,
19:38
Speaker 1: but they won fourteen games and they were very good defensively,
19:42
Speaker 1: and I love their coaching staff, so I put a
19:44
Speaker 1: little bit more into that. I give them the benefit
19:47
Speaker 1: of the doubt a little bit more. So those would
19:49
Speaker 1: be the teams that I look at going into next
19:52
Speaker 1: year as the favorites. It will be wide open, for sure.
19:57
Speaker 1: One thing I want to tell you about this offseason
20:00
Speaker 1: is that because there were ten head coaching changes, and
20:04
Speaker 1: because it's a it's not a great free agent class.
20:07
Speaker 1: If you're listening to Inside the Birds with me and Adam.
20:09
Speaker 1: We're going through each each position. We're doing our free
20:13
Speaker 1: agency primer. We're in the middle of it. There's just
20:16
Speaker 1: not a lot of guys that you would say are
20:19
Speaker 1: great game changing free agents. Yeah, there's a Mike Evans, Okay,
20:24
Speaker 1: he's a great superstar wide receiver. Sure, but if you
20:28
Speaker 1: go look at the quarterbacks, the running backs, tight ends
20:31
Speaker 1: we've gone through. I mean, there's just not a bunch
20:35
Speaker 1: of great free agents. Teams are done. I think this
20:39
Speaker 1: is partly because gms have tend to trend toward younger
20:44
Speaker 1: and more analytics based that you're seeing teams be able
20:49
Speaker 1: to identify their core good players and keep them and
20:54
Speaker 1: get them under contracts sooner. You don't in the old days.
20:59
Speaker 1: There used to be you know, there's fewer Jerry Joneses
21:01
Speaker 1: who are going to make you play all four or
21:04
Speaker 1: five years of year contract and be great until from
21:07
Speaker 1: year one to a year five before you're willing to
21:10
Speaker 1: get that deal. That's old school. That is a cowboys approach,
21:14
Speaker 1: and that has worked against them, frankly, and it's the
21:16
Speaker 1: reason why they've been good but will be vulnerable to
21:21
Speaker 1: lulls and why they have trouble keeping all of their
21:25
Speaker 1: great players, and frankly, why they had to trade Michael
21:28
Speaker 1: part I mean, have to trade Michael Parsons. But why
21:30
Speaker 1: they get in this position where they're gonna have five
21:33
Speaker 1: or six players we're all good who wind up being
21:36
Speaker 1: the top paid player at their position because the team
21:39
Speaker 1: doesn't want to give them an extension three years into
21:41
Speaker 1: a four or a five year deal, which is the
21:44
Speaker 1: smart the Eagles do that, that's the smart thing to do.
21:46
Speaker 1: You want to get them extended before they get close
21:49
Speaker 1: to free agency, not as they're on the doorstep of it,
21:52
Speaker 1: and then decide that I'd rather just you know, be
21:55
Speaker 1: a free agent test the market where everybody overpays and
21:58
Speaker 1: then in turn make the Cowboys over. You're seeing a
22:01
Speaker 1: lot more younger gms in the league, more progressive, more
22:04
Speaker 1: analytics based, and because of that, they're getting their guys
22:10
Speaker 1: under contract a lot sooner making smart moves. Yes, it's riskier,
22:14
Speaker 1: but it's much less riskier than you know, trying to
22:18
Speaker 1: put together a really good team, trying to put together
22:22
Speaker 1: an amazing team based on guys that you're paying all
22:25
Speaker 1: top of the market money too, Like number, top three
22:28
Speaker 1: wide receiver, top three quarterback, top three left tackle, top
22:33
Speaker 1: three edge, top three corner. You can't do that. You
22:36
Speaker 1: just can't. Now, the Eagles can do some things, and
22:39
Speaker 1: teams can do some things with how they structure contracts
22:43
Speaker 1: to get a lot of really good players on long
22:46
Speaker 1: term deals, but by year two or year three of
22:49
Speaker 1: that deal, it's not always top three, top four, top
22:53
Speaker 1: five right now. Right now, I think Jalen Hurts is
22:55
Speaker 1: the eleventh highest paid quarterback, and because of the way
22:59
Speaker 1: they structure deal they can keep cap numbers low early on.
23:03
Speaker 1: So that's the trend now is getting guys who are
23:07
Speaker 1: good under contract when they were younger. You used to
23:10
Speaker 1: only be a handful of teams that would do it.
23:13
Speaker 1: Now it's most of the league. So when you look
23:15
Speaker 1: at some of the top free agents right now, I
23:17
Speaker 1: mean the fact that Malik Willis, who has started what
23:20
Speaker 1: like five or six games in his career, is considered
23:24
Speaker 1: the top free agent quarterback or the top free agent
23:27
Speaker 1: on the market by some it just shows you what
23:31
Speaker 1: the what free agency has looked like. I mean, Malik
23:33
Speaker 1: Willis is going to be a huge risk. I don't
23:37
Speaker 1: know that Jalen Phillips will make it to free agency.
23:40
Speaker 1: You know the Eagles are going to prioritize him. And
23:42
Speaker 1: then you get to guys like Alec Pearce and Tyler Lindenbaum,
23:46
Speaker 1: and you know a Trey Hendrickson who's already thirty one
23:49
Speaker 1: years old, Devin Lloyd, you know Kenneth Walker are running back.
23:54
Speaker 1: These are good players. But you know, you're not finding
23:58
Speaker 1: too many franchise guys defining players here on the free
24:03
Speaker 1: agent market like you used to so and because of that,
24:07
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna see a ton of trades, and
24:09
Speaker 1: I think the trade market has already started to get hot.
24:12
Speaker 1: In fact, you know, the Jets traded Jermaine Johnson to
24:16
Speaker 1: the Titans, a rare player for player trade for Tovandre
24:19
Speaker 1: uh was it Devandre Swift the tackle for the for
24:24
Speaker 1: the Titans. So what you have there is a situation.
24:28
Speaker 1: And this is why I say with all the new
24:30
Speaker 1: head coaches, you're probably gonna see a lot of trades.
24:33
Speaker 1: Because Robert Sala head coached the Jets. Now he's head
24:37
Speaker 1: coached the Titans. Now he's trading for a guy that
24:40
Speaker 1: he drafted while he's with the Jets. In Jermaine Johnson.
24:43
Speaker 1: So there's that comfortability there, and you're gonna see that
24:47
Speaker 1: a lot in free agency. You're gonna see teams sign
24:50
Speaker 1: guys because their new coach or their new coordinator has
24:54
Speaker 1: experience with him. So that so that you see this
25:00
Speaker 1: Jermaine Johnson for to and Andre Sweat trade, the Jets
25:02
Speaker 1: get a defensive tackle, the Titans get an edge rusher
25:07
Speaker 1: that they really desperately need. And the Titans are gonna
25:10
Speaker 1: be a fun team to watch because they've got a
25:12
Speaker 1: new coaching staff, They've got a ton of money, they
25:14
Speaker 1: got a you know, a number one pick quarterback that
25:17
Speaker 1: they know that they have to surround with talent. They
25:19
Speaker 1: brought in Brian be Able to coach him, which was smart,
25:22
Speaker 1: and they're gonna be pretty aggressive, and obviously that's already
25:25
Speaker 1: started with their trade for Jermaine Johnson. I think Keevon
25:29
Speaker 1: Thibodeau could be a guy that gets traded away from
25:32
Speaker 1: the Giants because he's three years in to a four
25:35
Speaker 1: year deal. They already have Abdul Carter, they already have
25:38
Speaker 1: Dexter Lawrence, they already have Brian Burns. I mean, yes,
25:41
Speaker 1: you want as many pass rushers as you can get,
25:44
Speaker 1: but you can't pay all those guys, and to be
25:46
Speaker 1: honest with you, of all of them, I think Thibodeau
25:49
Speaker 1: is the one that is. You know, he's a good player,
25:52
Speaker 1: but he's the least talented of all those guys, at
25:55
Speaker 1: least twitchy. And if you can get a second round
25:58
Speaker 1: pick for him or something like that, maybe a second
26:01
Speaker 1: fourth or whatever. I don't know what his market is
26:04
Speaker 1: going to be as an edge player. He's had some
26:06
Speaker 1: decent years. They can always draft another edge player to
26:10
Speaker 1: get in that rotation. Especially this draft has some pretty
26:14
Speaker 1: good edges and the Giants will have some picks to use,
26:18
Speaker 1: So I could see Cavon Thibodeau getting traded to a
26:22
Speaker 1: team that's got a good stable pass rushers is looking
26:25
Speaker 1: to add another one, you know, like the Ravens, they're
26:28
Speaker 1: always looking to add pass rushers. They really struggled on
26:31
Speaker 1: the edges. The Bears struggled on the edges. So any
26:35
Speaker 1: team that really could use a second or a third edge,
26:37
Speaker 1: because I don't think Thibodeau is a number one edge,
26:40
Speaker 1: you know, I think he's a number two or three.
26:42
Speaker 1: He's a good player. He can move inside and play
26:45
Speaker 1: in nickel, so he's versatile. I could see that happening
26:49
Speaker 1: where you're you're trading for him to play a couple
26:51
Speaker 1: of positions on the D line, move him around a
26:53
Speaker 1: little bit, so I could see him going Max Crossby.
26:57
Speaker 1: I know it's out there. I just think that if
27:00
Speaker 1: you're the Raiders, this guy has been mister Raider for you.
27:03
Speaker 1: You're trying to you're trying to rebuild your team. You
27:06
Speaker 1: want people to come be excited about you. And we've
27:09
Speaker 1: seen rebuilds. Some take a long time, and the Raiders,
27:15
Speaker 1: it does feel like there are a couple of years
27:16
Speaker 1: away from being a year away, even though you shouldn't
27:20
Speaker 1: be like that in the NFL. But they will have
27:22
Speaker 1: the number one overall pick. They'll take Mendoza, They'll have
27:25
Speaker 1: Clint Kubiak with Mendoza and with gent d and with Bowers,
27:29
Speaker 1: and they'll get their left tackle, Calton Miller back. So offensively,
27:34
Speaker 1: I think they'll be okay. As long as they get
27:36
Speaker 1: themselves some couple of alignment and maybe one more receiver.
27:39
Speaker 1: They're not far away offensively. If if it takes, if
27:44
Speaker 1: the Kubiak offense works for Mendoza and Bowers and Genty
27:49
Speaker 1: the way it did in Seattle for Howell and Kenneth
27:54
Speaker 1: Walker and Jsen. I think you can see some parallels there. Defensively,
27:59
Speaker 1: the Raiders need a lot. So while I could see
28:02
Speaker 1: the merits of trading Crosby, getting a bunch of picks
28:05
Speaker 1: and then trying to restack your defense, I just think
28:08
Speaker 1: that with the money that they have to spend, and
28:10
Speaker 1: if they use most of their picks on defense, or
28:13
Speaker 1: most of their free agency and slash draft picks on defense,
28:17
Speaker 1: they can be Okay, they can be competitive. So I
28:21
Speaker 1: don't know. I wouldn't if I were them, I wouldn't
28:23
Speaker 1: trade Crosby unless I got such an unbelievable offer which
28:27
Speaker 1: could happen that I couldn't turn it down. AJ Brown,
28:31
Speaker 1: We've talked about a Brown a lot. I still lean
28:34
Speaker 1: to thinking he's going to be traded. We'll see what
28:37
Speaker 1: happens there. Two other receivers I can see moving DJ
28:41
Speaker 1: Moore from the Bears. You know, he had a decent
28:44
Speaker 1: year with the Bears, but they're clearly moving on in
28:47
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson's offense to guys like the tight end Colson Lovelin,
28:52
Speaker 1: the rookie receiver they got out of Miss Luther Burden. Okay,
28:56
Speaker 1: they still have Roma Dune's a they can bring in
29:00
Speaker 1: another wide receiver in the draft if they want, But
29:02
Speaker 1: that's a If you have those three guys right there already,
29:06
Speaker 1: those three young guys who you think are gonna be
29:08
Speaker 1: the core of your passing slash receiving game, then Dj
29:12
Speaker 1: Moore could easily be you know, someone you could ship
29:15
Speaker 1: away for a couple of picks or a pick Lopez.
29:18
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be anything great. I think DJ's a
29:21
Speaker 1: little past his prime, but he's still someone who can
29:24
Speaker 1: help any team, and so I could see him being moved.
29:28
Speaker 1: You now, Brian Thomas. There's a lot of smoke around
29:30
Speaker 1: Brian Thomas Junior being moved. He had a great rookie
29:33
Speaker 1: year for the Jags. He did not have a great
29:36
Speaker 1: second season in a new offense with Liam Cohen as
29:40
Speaker 1: the head coach and Grant Udinsky as the play caller.
29:43
Speaker 1: In fact, they wound up trading right to bring in
29:46
Speaker 1: Jacoby Myers. You saw Parker Washington play well for them.
29:53
Speaker 1: They've got some tight ends they like to throw the
29:55
Speaker 1: ball to, and he dropped a lot of passes and
29:59
Speaker 1: maybe he's just not the cup of tea for the Jaguars,
30:03
Speaker 1: and maybe they feel like if if you knock them,
30:07
Speaker 1: if you give them a deal that they can't say
30:09
Speaker 1: no to. I don't know if he's going to be
30:11
Speaker 1: a first round pick, but if you have fine, you know,
30:18
Speaker 1: a decent offer, then maybe he gets moved and maybe
30:21
Speaker 1: in a new environment he's helpful. I don't know. Like,
30:25
Speaker 1: let's say he gets traded to the Giants. You know,
30:27
Speaker 1: Giants need receiver help. They probably they might not be
30:30
Speaker 1: able to sign resign Wandale Robinson, so they've got picks
30:34
Speaker 1: to play with. You know, you reunite Brian Thomas Junior
30:37
Speaker 1: with his college teammate Malik Nighbors coming back. Okay, and
30:42
Speaker 1: it's just Slayton still there. I mean, those two alone
30:45
Speaker 1: with Jackson Dart and Theo Johnson a tight end. All
30:48
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you can start to see the elements
30:50
Speaker 1: of the Giants putting together an offense. But you know,
30:53
Speaker 1: the question is what are you willing to give up?
30:55
Speaker 1: And how badly do the Jags want to move them?
30:58
Speaker 1: But I could see it happening. There's enough smoke there.
31:02
Speaker 1: Of course, you're gonna see quarterback movement for all the
31:04
Speaker 1: reasons that I've talked about there's too many teams that
31:07
Speaker 1: need a quarterback and not enough quarterbacks in the draft.
31:11
Speaker 1: There's only one true starter. He's gonna go to the Raiders,
31:14
Speaker 1: and after that there's a lot of question marks. So
31:17
Speaker 1: that's going to open up the door for guys like
31:19
Speaker 1: tou Kyler, Murray Tanner McKee. Obviously with the Eagles, Tyson
31:26
Speaker 1: Bagent names look for he's a backup quarter The Bears
31:29
Speaker 1: love Tyson Bagent, they love him. They don't want to
31:32
Speaker 1: trade him. He's a good backup. But you saw that
31:34
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams really took to the offense last year. He's
31:37
Speaker 1: going to be their quarterback, no question about it. So
31:40
Speaker 1: if someone's willing to give them something feasible for Baigent,
31:45
Speaker 1: and you could see the trade happening there. Even though
31:48
Speaker 1: that they really like Beagent, and I've heard good things
31:50
Speaker 1: about Beigent, it wouldn't surprise me if he got traded
31:54
Speaker 1: and went to a place where he felt he could
31:56
Speaker 1: compete for a starting job. And let's face it, how
32:00
Speaker 1: many teams do you think could use a quarterback right
32:02
Speaker 1: now because they're not sure about their own I mean,
32:06
Speaker 1: just go up and down the list, all right. The
32:08
Speaker 1: Jets need a quarterback. The Browns they don't know who
32:11
Speaker 1: their quarterback is going to be, all right? The Miami
32:14
Speaker 1: Dolphins if they trade Tua, which are gonna be what
32:17
Speaker 1: are they? We're you talking about here? Quinn yours as
32:20
Speaker 1: they're starting quarterback? So you know, maybe they signed Malik
32:23
Speaker 1: Willis because Jeff Hafley and their GM come from Green Bay.
32:27
Speaker 1: Who knows, but they still need somebody to do to
32:30
Speaker 1: go in and compete. So that's three or four teams
32:33
Speaker 1: right there and need a quarterback. The Cardinals would need
32:35
Speaker 1: a quarterback if they move on for Murray, right Atlanta?
32:40
Speaker 1: I mean, are they sold on Michael Pennix? Do they
32:42
Speaker 1: want to release trying to bring in somebody to compete
32:45
Speaker 1: with the Minnesota obviously now that their GM is out
32:48
Speaker 1: new interim GM in, are they gonna They're not? They
32:51
Speaker 1: sold on JJ McCarthy. Would they like to at least
32:53
Speaker 1: bring in somebody to push and compete. So that's why
32:57
Speaker 1: guys like McKee and bage In and will Vi and
33:00
Speaker 1: Spencer Rattler could all wind up getting dealt in some
33:04
Speaker 1: form of fashion. They're all gonna be different values, but
33:07
Speaker 1: they're all gonna they all could be dealt for a
33:09
Speaker 1: chance to compete somewhere, or at least push a guy
33:13
Speaker 1: that's already in place that hasn't proven anything. I mean,
33:16
Speaker 1: if I'm the if you're the Jets and you got
33:21
Speaker 1: what you got out of Justin Fields last year and
33:23
Speaker 1: you brought in Frank Reich, right, is Frank Reich the
33:26
Speaker 1: kind of guy who's gonna work with Justin Fields? Or
33:30
Speaker 1: is Frank Reich Moore a guy who's going to help
33:33
Speaker 1: you with your conventional pocket quarterback. I feel like it's that,
33:38
Speaker 1: you know, in fact, I think the Jets make sense
33:44
Speaker 1: on a trade for like a Tanner McKee, a timing,
33:47
Speaker 1: rhythm based passer who, by the way, you know, Frank
33:50
Speaker 1: Reich and Nick Sirianni they coached together their pals, all right,
33:54
Speaker 1: so Reich will have a lot of intel on McKee.
33:57
Speaker 1: The Jets have a million picks from all the trades
34:00
Speaker 1: that they made at the deadline from Quinn, you know,
34:03
Speaker 1: trading Quinn Williams and trading Sauce Gardner. So the Jets
34:07
Speaker 1: are a team that should be aggressive in trying to
34:10
Speaker 1: find a guy that can be a quarterback because you know,
34:14
Speaker 1: with the number two pick, they're not getting Mendoza, and
34:17
Speaker 1: I don't know that their starter next year is going
34:21
Speaker 1: to be in this year's draft class. I don't know
34:23
Speaker 1: if Tyler Simpson or Shambliss or wherever is going to
34:27
Speaker 1: be the guy. I mean, it really hurt them when
34:29
Speaker 1: the Oregon kid decided to go back to Oregon because
34:33
Speaker 1: it left them without any logical quarterback at number two
34:36
Speaker 1: where they pick. So I would think the Jets will
34:39
Speaker 1: be very aggressive in the trade slash free agent quarterback market,
34:45
Speaker 1: and I think McKee would make a lot of sense
34:47
Speaker 1: for them. Let's talk about some of the teams that
34:52
Speaker 1: I think made really help themselves this offseason with coaching staffs.
34:56
Speaker 1: All right. If I were to take one team that,
34:59
Speaker 1: I say, man, I love what they did from a
35:02
Speaker 1: coaching staff standpoint. As far as new coaches, new coordinators,
35:06
Speaker 1: I would say the Chargers, all right, they lost a
35:09
Speaker 1: great defensive coordinator in Jesse Minter. He is now the
35:13
Speaker 1: head coach of the Ravens. If you recall early on
35:16
Speaker 1: when I was doing the show at the end of
35:17
Speaker 1: the season, I thought that that would be the best
35:19
Speaker 1: fit for the Ravens to get Jesse Minter, a great
35:22
Speaker 1: young coach kind of reminds me of the Mike McDonald
35:26
Speaker 1: who was with the Ravens and now is the Super
35:28
Speaker 1: Bowl winning coach of the Seahawks. But the Chargers replacing
35:32
Speaker 1: with Mike McDaniel and then their defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary.
35:36
Speaker 1: Now a lot of people may know who he is,
35:37
Speaker 1: but he was the head coach at Western Michigan and
35:41
Speaker 1: Western Michigan had one of the best defenses in college football.
35:44
Speaker 1: O'Leary coached with Minter and with Jim Harbaugh over at Michigan,
35:51
Speaker 1: so he was a part of that staff there when
35:53
Speaker 1: they won the national championship. And from all everything, you
35:57
Speaker 1: hear really smart, really bright, and natural fit with Harball
36:05
Speaker 1: and he's he was with the Chargers before, so he's
36:09
Speaker 1: been with the Chargers. He's been I believe I think
36:11
Speaker 1: he was with the Ravens, but either way, I know
36:13
Speaker 1: he was. He was with Harball in the past. And
36:20
Speaker 1: you know he's also been at Notre Dame. So this
36:23
Speaker 1: is a guy who's well regarded and I have a
36:26
Speaker 1: feeling that the combination of him and Mike McDaniel as
36:30
Speaker 1: their offensive coordinator is going to be exactly what this
36:33
Speaker 1: Chargers team needs. And if someone's gonna be the one
36:37
Speaker 1: to unlock this offense for Justin Herbert, the passing offense
36:41
Speaker 1: in particular. You know they're gonna run the ball well.
36:44
Speaker 1: They're gonna run the ball well anyway. They ran the
36:46
Speaker 1: ball well with Greg Roman, with Jim Harbaugh. That's their philosophy.
36:50
Speaker 1: They're gonna get Slater back, They're gonna get all back
36:53
Speaker 1: as their offensive tackles. They're probably gonna upgrade their offensive
36:57
Speaker 1: line because it's a big value position for them. And
37:00
Speaker 1: now McDaniel's gonna come in and change how they run.
37:03
Speaker 1: They're gonna be more of a wide zone team. I
37:04
Speaker 1: think that'll be that'll probably cater to the strengths of
37:08
Speaker 1: both Kamani Vidal and Omarion Hampton. But the real key
37:12
Speaker 1: is the easier play action pass game concepts for Justin
37:17
Speaker 1: Herbert that were lacking in the offense in the past.
37:21
Speaker 1: And if they're gonna win a playoff game finally under
37:25
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert, it's gonna be because Mike McDaniel created and
37:28
Speaker 1: designed an offense that kept the bodies off of Herbert,
37:33
Speaker 1: kept him from having to be a superhero, kept having
37:36
Speaker 1: throwing the ball forty five times a game, you know,
37:39
Speaker 1: let's get him into that twenty five to thirty throws
37:43
Speaker 1: per game, used that run game, and then work that
37:46
Speaker 1: play action and Mike McDaniel's offense should be the remedy
37:50
Speaker 1: for Justin Herbert. If you can't win, if Herbert can't
37:52
Speaker 1: win playoff games with this staff here, then the Chargers
37:57
Speaker 1: are gonna have to look at find another core back
38:00
Speaker 1: in a year or two. As good as Herbert is,
38:02
Speaker 1: you got to produce in the playoffs, and you know
38:05
Speaker 1: it's time. It's time for him and there won't be
38:07
Speaker 1: any more excuses now that he's got Mike McDaniel as
38:11
Speaker 1: his offensive coordinator. They do have to get him some weapons,
38:14
Speaker 1: and I think they will, you know. I mean, he's
38:18
Speaker 1: got a nice receiver in McConkey. He's got a nice
38:21
Speaker 1: tight end in Gadson, who had a good rookie year.
38:24
Speaker 1: But it's not exactly the the it's not exactly a
38:27
Speaker 1: prolific staff of weapons that he's got there. They got
38:31
Speaker 1: they gotta they gotta pad that that wide receiver room
38:35
Speaker 1: a little bit more, which I think they will. Hey, everyone,
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40:46
Speaker 1: one and up. I love what the Ravens did. I
40:49
Speaker 1: already mentioned mentor head coach Declan Doyle as the offensive coordinator. Okay,
40:53
Speaker 1: so he's unproven. He didn't call plays. It's a little
40:58
Speaker 1: bit shun manionesque right with the Eagles. He comes from
41:02
Speaker 1: the Ben Johnson tree here, Ben Johnson. If you listen
41:06
Speaker 1: to Ben Johnson talk about Declan Doyle, it sounds like
41:09
Speaker 1: Doyle is a rising star. So it's a little bit
41:12
Speaker 1: of a gamble for sure, because he's never presided over
41:16
Speaker 1: an offense before. I mean, he was the offensive coordinator
41:19
Speaker 1: of the Bears, but we know that's Ben Johnson's offense.
41:21
Speaker 1: It's never caught plays before, is how I should how
41:24
Speaker 1: I should phrase it. But if he brings what Ben
41:27
Speaker 1: Johnson has brought to both the Lions and the Bears
41:29
Speaker 1: to the Ravens, who already have great private We already
41:32
Speaker 1: got an MVP quarterback, you got good offensive line, you
41:37
Speaker 1: got obviously a great running back in Derrick Henry, and
41:42
Speaker 1: they continue to make some moves to add wide receivers there.
41:45
Speaker 1: The Ravens should be one of those teams that you
41:47
Speaker 1: would think would try to make an attempt at Mike Evans,
41:49
Speaker 1: because that's what the Ravens do. They go after those good,
41:53
Speaker 1: solid veterans who still have gas left in the tank.
41:56
Speaker 1: I could see the Ravens being right up there, right
41:59
Speaker 1: back up. They're Super Bowl contenders. Anthony Weaver comes back.
42:03
Speaker 1: You know, he was with the with the Ravens under Harball.
42:06
Speaker 1: He went to the Dolphins. Now he's back his defensive coordinator.
42:09
Speaker 1: Those are three really solid hires there, jesse Minter decland Oyle,
42:14
Speaker 1: Anthony Weaver, you get. I think the Ravens really after
42:19
Speaker 1: parting waves with Harbaugh, which whenever you lose a coach
42:21
Speaker 1: who's coached you that long and you enter a new wave,
42:26
Speaker 1: enter a new generation, new iteration of yourself. To be
42:29
Speaker 1: able to come away with three guys like that, I
42:32
Speaker 1: think is pretty good. I think the Giants obviously helped
42:36
Speaker 1: themselves because they added stability, they added experience. They get
42:40
Speaker 1: John Harbaugh as a head coach, They hire Matt Nagy
42:43
Speaker 1: as an offensive coordinator, Denard Wilson as a defensive coordinator.
42:47
Speaker 1: I mean, these are all guys who've held these positions before,
42:50
Speaker 1: so it should bring in a I hate using this phrase,
42:54
Speaker 1: but I will an adult in the room type of
42:56
Speaker 1: element to their coaching staff. I think the Giants will
42:59
Speaker 1: get to the build. But it is worth noting that
43:03
Speaker 1: no team, I'm sorry, no head coach has ever won
43:08
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl with two different teams. It has yet
43:10
Speaker 1: to been done. You have had coaches get to a
43:13
Speaker 1: Super Bowl with two different teams but not win it.
43:18
Speaker 1: So John Harbaugh has already won one, and now he's
43:20
Speaker 1: going to the Giants and they want to win a
43:22
Speaker 1: super Bowl. Okay, they want to get back. They won
43:25
Speaker 1: two under under what's his I can't think of his name,
43:31
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, they won two over Tom Coughlin, okay,
43:34
Speaker 1: and two amazing ones, and ever since it's been downhill.
43:37
Speaker 1: So now they're asking John Harbor to get him back
43:39
Speaker 1: to that level. I think he can get him back
43:41
Speaker 1: to a very respectable level. Winning a Super Bowl is
43:44
Speaker 1: another thing, but certainly a good step in having a guy.
43:49
Speaker 1: You may not love Matt and Aggy because he's never
43:51
Speaker 1: really you know, he called plays in Chicago, but his
43:54
Speaker 1: his Chicago tenure as head coach wasn't great. I wasn't terrible,
43:58
Speaker 1: just wasn't great. But I'll tell you this, it's at
44:04
Speaker 1: least a step up in experience. There. Denard Wilson defensive coordinator,
44:09
Speaker 1: obviously another guy who was with Harball in Baltimore before
44:12
Speaker 1: he was with the Jets, and then he was with
44:14
Speaker 1: the Eagles, of course, and then the Titans all right. Well,
44:19
Speaker 1: actually he went to Baltimore, I believe after the Eagles.
44:21
Speaker 1: But nonetheless, you get what I'm saying. He's got a
44:23
Speaker 1: lot of experience. He's worked for some good coaches, so
44:26
Speaker 1: this should make the Giants a much more formidable team.
44:30
Speaker 1: Not to mention that, you know, they finally have a quarterback.
44:32
Speaker 1: They have a superstar receiver, he'll come back from industry injury.
44:36
Speaker 1: They have good pass rushers. I could see things developing
44:39
Speaker 1: quickly for the Giants. I just don't know how good.
44:42
Speaker 1: I don't know what their ceiling is, you know, I
44:45
Speaker 1: don't have to really think about that, but I definitely
44:47
Speaker 1: liked the coaching staff hires. I think the Ravens, the Chargers,
44:51
Speaker 1: the Giants, and my other My other team that I
44:53
Speaker 1: think really hit a home run on a coaching staff
44:57
Speaker 1: is the Falcons. And I'm gonna add Matt Matty Ice
45:01
Speaker 1: in there. Matt Ryan as their their president. A little
45:05
Speaker 1: bit of risky, former player, doesn't have much fronto off experience,
45:10
Speaker 1: but he's he brings I mean, obviously he was a
45:13
Speaker 1: great quarterback. He's been involved with the game as an analyst.
45:17
Speaker 1: You know, you can kind of liken it to maybe
45:19
Speaker 1: Lynch John Lynch going to the forty nine ers there
45:23
Speaker 1: being involved with the game, knowing what to look for.
45:25
Speaker 1: But I thought Kevin Stefanski was a great hire for them.
45:29
Speaker 1: Like I said, you win coach of the Year for
45:31
Speaker 1: the Browns twice and you should automatically be in shrine
45:34
Speaker 1: and Canton. I mean, that's that's hard to do to
45:37
Speaker 1: win coach of the Year twice in Cleveland. It's harder
45:40
Speaker 1: to win once in Cleveland, let alone twice. All Right.
45:43
Speaker 1: He's a good coach. Maybe he's not a great schemer.
45:48
Speaker 1: Maybe he's not known like the mcvey's or the Kyle
45:51
Speaker 1: Shanahans for being innovative in this and that that's fine.
45:55
Speaker 1: It's a good coach, good leader. He brought over Tommy
45:59
Speaker 1: Reeve to bec I think that's okay. You know, Reeves
46:03
Speaker 1: was also at Notre Dame. He was there in Cleveland.
46:05
Speaker 1: I can't really hold anything against Tommy Reese what happens
46:09
Speaker 1: with Cleveland, because it's a mess of an organization, all right.
46:12
Speaker 1: He's well regarded though. And then obviously I thought it
46:16
Speaker 1: was really smart to retain Jeff Olbrick, who I think
46:18
Speaker 1: is a very good defensive coordinator. He did a great
46:21
Speaker 1: job with the Jets' defensive coordinator until he got promoted
46:24
Speaker 1: to interim head coach and then had to give up
46:26
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator responsibilities. That was after they fired Robert Sala,
46:31
Speaker 1: but good defensive coordinator, really strong. Retaining him was smart,
46:37
Speaker 1: and I think that the additions of Stefanski and him
46:40
Speaker 1: bringing in Reeese and Maddie Ice there. I think the
46:43
Speaker 1: Falcons have some good talent already. They got to get
46:45
Speaker 1: their quarterback situation worked out. Is Michael Pennix their guy?
46:50
Speaker 1: But they have a decent O line. They have a
46:52
Speaker 1: star running back, probably the best running back in the
46:55
Speaker 1: league in John Robinson. They have a star wide receiver
46:57
Speaker 1: and Drake London. They have some good personnel on defense,
47:03
Speaker 1: not great but good. But again, they have a good
47:05
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. So I don't think they need too much.
47:08
Speaker 1: You know, they finished the year strong under Raheem Morris.
47:11
Speaker 1: I don't think they need a whole lot. I just
47:13
Speaker 1: think they needed good coaches who can identify good players
47:17
Speaker 1: and who can come in there and get this team
47:20
Speaker 1: over the top. So I really like those four. Those
47:23
Speaker 1: to me were the four best hiring. I don't want
47:29
Speaker 1: to call one coach but the conglomeration of coaching hires,
47:32
Speaker 1: those were, but there were some other good ones too,
47:35
Speaker 1: you know. I think it didn't get a lot of credit,
47:40
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't put up there as the top. But
47:41
Speaker 1: I thought the Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy and then getting
47:45
Speaker 1: Patrick Graham to be their defensive coordinator always like Patrick Graham.
47:48
Speaker 1: He actually did a good job with the Raiders defense
47:50
Speaker 1: last two years, but nobody would know that because the
47:52
Speaker 1: Raiders stink, but defensively for the lack of talent that
47:56
Speaker 1: they had, his scheme is good. He can blitz, he
47:59
Speaker 1: can zone. I mean, he can break down your protection scheme.
48:03
Speaker 1: He's smart and he's one. He's actually done really well
48:07
Speaker 1: in a lot of different places, including he was with
48:10
Speaker 1: the Giants at one point, did well there. So he's
48:12
Speaker 1: gonna go to a Steelers team that has some pretty
48:15
Speaker 1: good personnel on defense, especially upfront, and I think he's
48:18
Speaker 1: gonna make I think he's gonna be a perfect Steelers
48:21
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. They will be a bloodthirsty defense under him.
48:25
Speaker 1: They will come and attack you under Patrick Graham. So
48:28
Speaker 1: I thought that was a good hire. Their offensive coordinator
48:30
Speaker 1: Brian and Angelicio comes over from Minnesota under Kevin O'Connell.
48:36
Speaker 1: So you get a little bit of that offense combined
48:38
Speaker 1: with Mike McCarthy's West Coast offense. And so they obviously
48:42
Speaker 1: need a quarterback. That's a big issue for them. Maybe
48:45
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers will come back. They need a future quarterback.
48:48
Speaker 1: But I thought, actually for what for again from moving
48:52
Speaker 1: on from Mike Tomlin after all that time, to get
48:56
Speaker 1: guys like that, I thought were pretty good. Man. So
49:01
Speaker 1: many other changes. You know the question marks I have
49:03
Speaker 1: for the Bears. You know they promoted Press Taylor the
49:06
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator, but we know that Bryant that's Brian Johnson's system.
49:10
Speaker 1: I thought it was a little curious of Dan Campbell
49:12
Speaker 1: with the Lions going with Drew Petsing different style of
49:16
Speaker 1: offense than what Ben Johnson had brought there, But that's okay.
49:20
Speaker 1: Different doesn't mean worse. I just wasn't in love with it.
49:23
Speaker 1: They're a team that's built to win, and I thought
49:26
Speaker 1: they would go a little bit differently in a different
49:28
Speaker 1: direction with that offensive coordinator job. But at least Petsing
49:32
Speaker 1: has play calling experience, so that's good there. The Cardinals, look,
49:36
Speaker 1: I thought it was smart of new head coach Michael
49:38
Speaker 1: Floyd to retain Nick Ralis. I think Nick Ralis has
49:41
Speaker 1: done a good job there as their defensive coordinator for
49:44
Speaker 1: the most part, and retaining him, to me was smart.
49:49
Speaker 1: That was late in the year, in the off season,
49:52
Speaker 1: kind of higher for the Cardinals, so you're not gonna
49:55
Speaker 1: have everybody at your disposal. Offensive coordinator Nate Hackett I
50:00
Speaker 1: love that, But hopefully we'll see if Michaelafloor feels like
50:04
Speaker 1: he can call the plays there. You know, the forty
50:06
Speaker 1: nine Ers brought in Raheem Morris to replace Robert Sala.
50:11
Speaker 1: That is smart. That was just like when they got
50:12
Speaker 1: Robert Sala to replace who was it. I guess they
50:16
Speaker 1: had fired Steve Wilks after a year, but really they
50:19
Speaker 1: were looking for somebody to replace Tamiko Ryans and so
50:23
Speaker 1: they were able to get back Robert Sala. You saw
50:25
Speaker 1: Robert Salad do an unbelievable job with that forty nine
50:28
Speaker 1: Ers defense last year. They lose him. So you get
50:31
Speaker 1: a guy in Raheem Morris who might just be one
50:33
Speaker 1: of those guys who's a better coordinator than head coach.
50:37
Speaker 1: So at least he's experienced, he's been there, knows the system,
50:41
Speaker 1: knows the coaching staff, and I thought it was really smart. Well,
50:44
Speaker 1: I mean, he was with the Rams with McVeigh, so
50:48
Speaker 1: we know the similarities between those two teams, and so
50:50
Speaker 1: I thought that that was a really smart higher by
50:53
Speaker 1: them Chiefs bringing back Eric b enemy. That's obviously when
50:56
Speaker 1: they've had their best and most offensive success, when the
51:00
Speaker 1: enemy has been their offensive coordinator. We still know it's
51:03
Speaker 1: an Andy Reid operation, so remains to be seen if
51:08
Speaker 1: just moving on from Naggy and bringing been Me back
51:11
Speaker 1: really relightes reignites that offense. But there's no question that
51:15
Speaker 1: Chiefs offense has dropped off over the years. It needs
51:18
Speaker 1: to be reignited. The Cowboys, I thought, made a very
51:21
Speaker 1: very smart move, a very anti or uncowboy like move
51:26
Speaker 1: to bring in Christian Parker. We will see what they're
51:29
Speaker 1: looking for, is that fangio element to him, and we'll
51:32
Speaker 1: see if it happens. But a very anti cowboy like
51:35
Speaker 1: because they usually go with the defensive retreads instead they
51:38
Speaker 1: go for a young, first time play calling defensive coordinator.
51:42
Speaker 1: But I have a feeling that that's going to make
51:44
Speaker 1: that team a lot better. Let's see anything else I
51:49
Speaker 1: think next episode, I'm going to get into some predicting,
51:52
Speaker 1: some landing spots for free agents around the league where
51:54
Speaker 1: I think they're going to wind up again. Email me
51:58
Speaker 1: at inside the Birds at gmail dot com. What else
52:02
Speaker 1: is going on Philly Spring Training? A lot of people
52:06
Speaker 1: down on the Phillies. I'm not as down on them.
52:08
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna be all right. You know what,
52:10
Speaker 1: I've loved to seeing them get Bobachet, Sure, what I've
52:13
Speaker 1: loved to seeing them get a right handed bat that
52:16
Speaker 1: was a little bit, you know, obviously better or at
52:18
Speaker 1: least coming off better years than Adulas Garcia. Yes, of course,
52:23
Speaker 1: I think everybody would say that, but I'm gonna I'm
52:26
Speaker 1: gonna leave you with this. On the Phillies, I am
52:29
Speaker 1: watching the Minnesota Twins very very closely because they've already
52:34
Speaker 1: lost a pitcher to an injury. I think Joe Ryan's out.
52:38
Speaker 1: They had another player get hurt. You know, they wanted
52:41
Speaker 1: to be contenders, but they're losing guys to injuries or
52:44
Speaker 1: Pablo Lopez, That's who it was, not Ryan. Pablo Lopez
52:47
Speaker 1: probably gonna be out for the year, all right. They've
52:50
Speaker 1: got some players that they like on offense and their
52:54
Speaker 1: batting lineup who could either get off the bad starts
52:57
Speaker 1: or get hurt. Royce Lewis always gets hurt for them.
52:59
Speaker 1: The reason why I'm keeping my eyes on the Twins
53:02
Speaker 1: is this. Byron Buxton is a player who I think
53:06
Speaker 1: would be perfect in center field for the Phillies. I'm
53:10
Speaker 1: very well aware of his injury history, all right. Well,
53:13
Speaker 1: that's why the Phillies have young outfielders, right, That's why
53:15
Speaker 1: they have Justin Crawford. It's why I still have Rojas,
53:18
Speaker 1: they have marsh Okay, they've got Otto Kemp. They believe
53:21
Speaker 1: can be a platoon outfielder. All right. They're given Crawford
53:25
Speaker 1: the opportunity right now. He deserves it. He's ripped it
53:28
Speaker 1: up in Double A and Triple A. But Byron Buxton
53:30
Speaker 1: is the right handed power bat who can come into
53:34
Speaker 1: this lineup and back clean up. And he has said
53:37
Speaker 1: in the past he wants to stay with the Twins
53:39
Speaker 1: because he's always believed in that. He's loved Minnesota and
53:43
Speaker 1: he's always believed in them. But his comments more recently,
53:48
Speaker 1: he has seen what they were doing and he does
53:50
Speaker 1: not want to be part of a rebuild. So let's
53:53
Speaker 1: see where the Twins are at. Coming out of spring training.
53:55
Speaker 1: Now it might be more of a trade deadline move
53:58
Speaker 1: again with Minnesota than something going into the season. But
54:03
Speaker 1: if he decides he's if the Twins think that they're
54:06
Speaker 1: not going to be competitive and he wants to go
54:09
Speaker 1: compete and win that championship, he would be perfect in
54:13
Speaker 1: center field for the Phillies, and you could move Crawford
54:16
Speaker 1: to left all right, or if you have a situation
54:19
Speaker 1: where Garcia is really struggling and right. I don't think
54:21
Speaker 1: you have to totally end the Justin Crawford experiment just
54:25
Speaker 1: because you're bringing in Buxton. You can find other spots
54:29
Speaker 1: to get other outfield spots. He at Crawford in there,
54:32
Speaker 1: imagine especially at left field. But man, you're looking for
54:35
Speaker 1: right handed powerbad who's also a five tool player who
54:39
Speaker 1: can protect Harper and Schwarber in the lineup, it's Buxton.
54:44
Speaker 1: Go get him. If he's available, go get him. I
54:48
Speaker 1: think I'll wait till next episode to talk little college hoops.
54:51
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna give you this, and I told you
54:52
Speaker 1: I'm a Yukon fan, But the best team that I've
54:57
Speaker 1: seen so far, not even where they're ranked. We'll go
55:01
Speaker 1: check take a look in a second. But the best
55:04
Speaker 1: team I've set, a team that really has impressed me
55:07
Speaker 1: that I think can go pretty far is Iowa State.
55:12
Speaker 1: I watched a couple of their games, and I was
55:14
Speaker 1: really impressed with how they move the ball, how they
55:17
Speaker 1: defend one on one, how they shoot, how deep they are.
55:23
Speaker 1: I know, they're ranked fourth in the country, so I'm
55:25
Speaker 1: not like dropping some huge bomb on here. But like
55:29
Speaker 1: everybody knows about Duke, everybody knows Michigan's had a great year.
55:32
Speaker 1: Everybody knows Arizona and Yukon Florida defending champs. They're up
55:36
Speaker 1: there too. But if you're gonna pick a team that
55:39
Speaker 1: you're looking at saying whoa wait, why are they in
55:42
Speaker 1: the time? How good can they be? Because they're not
55:44
Speaker 1: always there, Iowa State. Iowa State's a really really good team.
55:49
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll win their conference tournament. You know. It's a
55:51
Speaker 1: little bit of a down year for Kansas Starving some
55:53
Speaker 1: issues with their best player and everything. But Iowa State
55:57
Speaker 1: was very, very impressive, and if they can get a
55:59
Speaker 1: top seed. I know Iowa State and top seeds has
56:03
Speaker 1: been not great for them in the past, but they're
56:07
Speaker 1: a team that I just I'm gonna watch them a
56:09
Speaker 1: little bit more, especially when their conference tournament comes around,
56:12
Speaker 1: because I really liked what I saw and I think
56:16
Speaker 1: they can be a very very dangerous team. All Right,
56:19
Speaker 1: we'll leave it at that. We'll get into some more
56:20
Speaker 1: things again. Email me inside the Birds at gmail dot
56:23
Speaker 1: com if there's anything you want me to talk about
56:25
Speaker 1: specifically with the NFL or other sports, and that's gonna
56:29
Speaker 1: do it for my NFL Weekend Preview. I may have
56:31
Speaker 1: to rename this show if I'm gonna start talking about
56:34
Speaker 1: other sports, but right now, we'll keep it with my
56:36
Speaker 1: NFL Weekend Preview show. I'm Jeff Mosher. I'll catch you
56:40
Speaker 1: all on the next one.