Latest / Football Junkies podcast / Ep.69: Divisional rodeo (AFC East)

Transcript

Ep.69: Divisional rodeo (AFC East) · Football Junkies podcast

0:00
Breaking news, breaking news, breaking news.
0:02
Zack Martin is retiring, folks.
0:04
That's right, after 11 seasons with the Cowboys,
0:08
Zack Martin is hanging it up, okay?
0:11
So, as I continue to say, every single time,
0:14
everything happens before I record,
0:17
while I'm recording, or after I'm recording.
0:20
This is definitely a curve ball.
0:21
We have a lot to talk about with that,
0:23
as well as the divisional rodeo continues,
0:26
but this time we're in the AFC East, to be specific.
0:32
We got a lot of controversy, we got a lot of things
0:35
we gotta talk about, okay?
0:36
The state of the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, and Patriots.
0:40
Best believe this is gonna be a really good episode.
0:43
So guess what, you already know my spill, all right?
0:45
You already know, this is the 69th episode
0:48
of the Football Junkies podcast, okay?
0:49
I am your host with the most, okay?
0:52
I am your chief, that's right, chief, Bagro Domus, okay?
0:56
I am your chief, head of the table,
0:59
anything and everything related to the bag and more, okay?
1:03
I am currently your GM, who currently
1:05
is not on a team right now, but don't you worry about it,
1:08
okay, don't you worry about it, okay?
1:11
But guess what, I am all these things and more,
1:14
but most importantly, the most important thing
1:16
that you must remember is, I am your host, Kale.
1:20
You already know how these things are about to go.
1:21
This episode's gonna be full of twists, turns,
1:24
hot takes, truth bombs, all of that and more, okay?
1:26
So guess what, on three, one, two, three, let's lock in.
1:30
["The Big Game Show Theme"]
1:33
["The Big Game Show Theme"]
1:53
All right, folks, let's just get into the meat and potatoes
1:58
of everything that is going on in the league right now.
2:01
So, one better way to start this episode
2:06
than with doing something that we haven't done
2:09
since around this time last year, and that is,
2:13
bag alert, bag alert, bag alert, bag alert,
2:15
bag alert, folks, that's right,
2:17
Elijah Molding gets the bag, folks, okay?
2:20
Three years, 18.5 million, okay?
2:23
13.5 in total guarantees, he will be making
2:27
roughly around 6.1 million a year.
2:31
So, all in all, what better way to start things off, okay?
2:35
So, Elijah Molding was originally with the Titans,
2:40
got traded to the Chargers,
2:42
and literally had his best season so far.
2:45
I mean, the stats speak for himself.
2:47
Now, the stats aren't something where it's like,
2:49
oh man, he's a old pro or anything like that,
2:52
but he had 43 solo tackles, three picks,
2:56
and seven pass deflections.
2:58
Like, that's actually pretty good, I'm not gonna lie.
3:00
It's not something where it's like,
3:02
it shows you how much of a role he played
3:06
in this Chargers defense.
3:08
So, all in all, it's a really good deal.
3:10
He gets paid while the Chargers keep somebody on their team
3:14
that is a really productive young player.
3:16
So, all in all, congratulations to him.
3:19
Now, moving to Zack Martin, okay?
3:21
We all know he's going to be our first battle hallfamer.
3:24
We all know he's gonna go down in history
3:26
as one of the greatest offensive linemen of this era.
3:30
Whenever you was going up against the Cowboys,
3:32
you were always going to see Zack Martin.
3:35
You're talking about somebody that has been consistent.
3:38
You're talking about somebody that has been loyal
3:40
to the Cowboys this entire time.
3:42
I didn't expect Zack Martin to retire.
3:45
I thought at best he was probably gonna play
3:47
maybe one or two more years on a competitor.
3:50
I think he wanted to in his career
3:52
with possibly maybe experiencing winning football
3:57
or maybe try to win a Super Bowl at best.
4:01
But I guess he probably realized,
4:02
listen, I'm getting up in age.
4:05
I have nothing else to prove.
4:07
I know I'm one of the greatest offensive linemen
4:09
in NFL history.
4:10
And I know I'm walking into Canton.
4:12
So, I have nothing else to prove.
4:14
All in all, congratulations to him.
4:16
Let's get into this division here.
4:20
You know, AFC East, yeah.
4:24
Man, so people are not gonna like me
4:26
for what I have to say, but it's okay.
4:29
It's okay, we are going to get through this.
4:31
So, let's start with the Jets, okay?
4:33
So, they're gonna have 15 million in cash base
4:36
with a rollover cap of $345,919.
4:41
You're gonna have free agents such as Hasan Reddick,
4:44
DJ Reed, Tyler Conklin, Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses,
4:47
Javon Kinn-Law, Solomon Thomas, Chuck Clark,
4:51
Isaiah Oliver, just to name a few.
4:53
Now, when we come to their draft picks,
4:55
you're gonna have your first, your second, your third,
4:57
your fourth, two fifth round picks,
4:59
and two sixth round picks, all right?
5:01
Your positions of need, quarterback, tackle,
5:05
outside linebacker, corner,
5:07
tight end, safety, defensive tackle.
5:09
So, all in all, these are very manageable needs, okay?
5:14
The only pressing need that they really have is quarterback.
5:19
And even then, I think they could really try to make a push
5:24
for someone like adjusting fields, right?
5:26
Going after someone like, I don't know, Russell Wilson,
5:30
or Kirk Cousins, or Sam Darnold, or Daniel Jones,
5:34
will not solve the answer, okay?
5:36
Trying to draft one this year
5:39
will not solve the problem either.
5:42
I think at best, their quarterback is next year.
5:45
I think this year, they should not take a swing
5:48
at quarterback, and I think they should just try
5:51
to build everything else so that the only thing
5:54
that you need is the quarterback,
5:56
instead of trying to piecemeal this thing.
5:59
Because, remember, this offense is trying to recover
6:04
from when they had Aaron Rodgers.
6:06
This entire team, actually, is trying to recover
6:09
from the Aaron Rodgers situation.
6:12
And, granted, he wasn't there for a long time,
6:14
but his impact has affected that locker room.
6:18
And so, now that you have a new regime in place,
6:21
now you basically have to rewrite those wrong.
6:24
So, you have a few options when it comes
6:26
to these different positions of need, okay?
6:29
So, tackle.
6:30
You can go when you can address it early in the draft.
6:34
You can get someone like a Will Campbell,
6:37
or a Kelvin Banks, or Josh Simmons,
6:40
or any of those different types of guys.
6:42
Gray Zable, if I'm not mistaken.
6:44
I think he's a tackle as well,
6:46
but he can play interior offensive line as well.
6:49
But you have options.
6:51
Just as you can go and you can get you
6:54
a veteran offensive lineman if you wanna take that route.
6:58
Because most likely, there's gonna be at least
7:00
a few line-free agents that are gonna wanna follow
7:03
Aaron Glenn into the Jets.
7:06
So, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them
7:07
is like a rotational piece of an offensive lineman
7:10
or whatever.
7:11
I wouldn't be surprised, honestly.
7:12
Now, outside linebacker, you can draft them,
7:17
but the question is how high are you
7:19
on the outside linebackers, right?
7:22
Because to me, I think the number one,
7:25
well, not really the number one,
7:26
but like, well, you know what, yeah, he is.
7:29
The number one outside linebacker to me is Mike Green.
7:32
And then it's, you know, Jalen Walker,
7:34
the Abdul-Carter's, the, what's the dude,
7:36
James Pierce's, you know, junior.
7:39
It's those guys.
7:40
But the question is how high do you value them?
7:43
Do you value them high enough that you would
7:45
take them seventh overall?
7:48
Or would you rather go and get you
7:50
a veteran outside linebacker just so, you know,
7:54
it's a little bit cheaper and you can, you know,
7:56
cut the edges when it comes to the building of this team?
8:00
Corner, you're gonna have to address
8:02
Corner in this draft because you're not gonna pay
8:05
DJ Reed top dollar money and you're gonna pay
8:08
Sauce Gardener potentially this year or next year.
8:11
You're just not gonna take that risk.
8:14
All in all, I mean, you have options even at Corner.
8:17
You have Ezra Thomas, Kobe Bryant,
8:20
Quincy Riley, Benjamin Morrison,
8:23
Will Johnson, Siobhan Revel, Trey Amos.
8:25
Like, you have multiple options.
8:28
And the beauty of this all is a majority of those corners
8:33
are going to fall, unfortunately,
8:35
because a lot of them all have the same red flags,
8:39
which is what?
8:40
Injuries.
8:41
So unless they wow people at the combine,
8:45
most likely their draft stock is gonna fall
8:47
just a little bit.
8:49
Or you can go and you can use your first pick
8:53
and you can get someone like a Mason Graham
8:56
or a Kenneth Grant for your defensive line.
8:58
Or Walter Nolan, depending on how high you feel about him.
9:01
But even with defensive line, you can double dip.
9:04
You can address it in the first round
9:06
and then address it in the third or fourth round
9:09
if you want to.
9:10
There are multiple options at defensive line
9:13
that a lot of people are not talking about
9:16
that I think if you pair them with someone
9:20
like a Quinnen Williams, I think this will be
9:23
a really ferocious defensive line.
9:25
Because we just saw in the Super Bowl what happens
9:28
when you have a defensive line that is able
9:30
to create constant pressure on the quarterback.
9:33
You can win big games.
9:36
Now for tight end, you could get someone
9:39
like a Colston Loveland, Harold Fanning Jr.
9:42
You can get the tight end from Miami.
9:44
I can't think of his name right now.
9:45
You could get Tyler Warren.
9:47
Like you have options at tight end.
9:49
The tight end class, believe it or not,
9:50
is actually really good this year.
9:53
So I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to get one of them.
9:56
Now when it comes to safety, you could get Xavier Watts.
10:00
You could get, what's his name,
10:02
Malachi Starks from Georgia.
10:05
You can get this one safety slash DB from South Carolina.
10:11
I forgot his name, but he's like 6'3",
10:14
like 2'30", or something like that.
10:16
But he can cover.
10:17
Like he can cover tight ends.
10:19
He can cover spot receivers.
10:20
Like he can do it all.
10:21
You have options at safety.
10:24
And then not to mention, if you want to,
10:25
you can bring in, you can bring somebody back
10:28
like a Chuck Clark just for a death piece
10:30
if you really want to.
10:32
So safety is a position where most likely
10:37
at least two or three of those safeties are gonna fall.
10:40
Like safeties are not valued as high
10:42
as what they probably should be.
10:44
So you could definitely get someone like a Malachi Starks
10:47
or someone like that in maybe the early second round.
10:52
But when we look at their candidates for restructures,
10:54
extensions, trades, and cuts,
10:56
Garrett Wilson, I feel like he might get traded.
10:59
I think Garrett Wilson just wants a new environment.
11:03
I think based off of his situation with Aaron Rodgers
11:08
and how he wasn't really utilized,
11:10
I think he just wants a fresh start altogether.
11:13
Now when we look at his market value,
11:15
it'll be a three year, $69.6 million deal,
11:19
which is 23.2 million a year, okay?
11:22
Saul Skarner, I expect for him to get an extension
11:26
either this year or next year,
11:27
but it would be smart to get it this year
11:30
because he had somewhat of a down year.
11:33
Because if he bounces back and has a better year next year,
11:37
you could probably be talking about someone
11:40
that's gonna reset the market again.
11:43
Do you really want to take that risk?
11:45
Because the Bengals, they're messing themselves up now
11:48
because why?
11:49
They didn't pay Jamar Chase last year
11:52
and allow him to play this year,
11:53
and now that he's won the Triple Crown, guess what?
11:55
They now have to reset the market for Jamar Chase.
11:58
There is no if, ins, or buts about it.
12:01
So at some point, you are going to have to
12:04
be maybe a little bit early
12:06
when it comes to one of these players, okay?
12:08
Now when we look at Saul's market value,
12:10
it's three years, 62.3 million, but it's only 20.8 million.
12:15
That's not bad.
12:16
That's actually really good.
12:18
That is a contract that you could work with, okay?
12:22
Now when we look at Alan Lazard,
12:25
either he's gonna get traded or he's gonna get cut.
12:27
Me personally, I think he's probably gonna get cut
12:29
just so they can just move on for him
12:32
because even if he was to be traded,
12:34
it's not gonna be for a high pick.
12:36
At best, it's gonna be for maybe a fourth, a fifth,
12:38
or maybe even a sixth round pick at best.
12:41
Breeze Hall, you could give him an extension, okay?
12:44
Because for one, his market is gonna be as robust.
12:48
And two, you don't have to give him a whole lot of money
12:52
because you could pay him while at the same time
12:56
draft a running back as well.
12:58
Because this running back class is diverse enough
13:02
to where you can go and you can get yourself
13:05
a very productive running back in the day two and day three slots.
13:09
And when we look at Breeze Hall's market value,
13:12
it's a four-year, $28.2 million deal,
13:15
which is only $7.1 million a year.
13:18
Not bad.
13:19
C.J. Mosley, his situation is a little bit complicated
13:23
because of the role that he plays on the team, right?
13:27
You're one of the pillars on that defense.
13:30
So do you want to get rid of him?
13:32
Do you want to keep him?
13:34
What exactly do you want to do?
13:36
Now, if it's me personally, I probably would approach C.J. Mosley
13:40
and ask him, what do you want to do?
13:43
We don't want to make that decision for you.
13:45
We'll let you make that decision for yourself.
13:47
And depending on what he wants to do, you'll do it for him.
13:50
Now, if he wants an extension,
13:53
at best you'll probably give him a two-year extension.
13:56
After that, you just have to let him go.
13:58
But if he wants to be traded, trade him.
14:00
If he wants to be cut, cut him.
14:02
Because right now, the Jets have a lot of cleaning up to do.
14:06
This is going to be possibly a two or three year mini rebuild.
14:10
It's not going to be a super deep rebuild
14:12
like what the Patriots are going through.
14:14
But you have to clean up all the players
14:18
that were on the team prior to this point.
14:21
So Al Lazaard and Vonte Adams
14:24
and all those different types of players, okay?
14:26
While at the same time figuring out
14:29
who do you want to bring back?
14:30
It's me personally, maybe I will entertain
14:33
maybe bringing back Hassan Reddick.
14:35
Maybe I will bring back someone like a Morgan Moses
14:38
because he plays such a pivotal role on that offensive line.
14:41
You got to bring back at least one or two veterans
14:44
for the love.
14:45
And Morgan Moses, I think, will probably be the best option.
14:49
Hassan Reddick, I don't know.
14:51
Because I only say this because of what happened
14:54
prior to the season starting.
14:56
When he was in a holdout
14:58
and there was a bunch of back and forth
15:01
and the Jets wanted him to practice
15:03
before they started talking about contracts
15:05
and Hassan Reddick was like, no.
15:07
It was a bunch of back and forth.
15:08
So only time will tell with that situation.
15:11
Now when we look at the Dolphins,
15:13
the Dolphins are already in a bad spot already.
15:16
You are negative 7.6 million in the red.
15:21
And your rollover cap is only three million.
15:23
Even with the boost that you're getting from
15:26
the seller cap rising,
15:28
that's still not a lot of money to play with.
15:30
So most likely you're going to be in the same situation
15:32
that the Cowboys is in,
15:34
which is not being very active in free agency.
15:37
That's part one.
15:38
Part two is free agents.
15:40
Kendall Fuller, Tyrell Dodson, Raheem Moster,
15:43
Kaleus Campbell, Robert Jones, Duke Riley,
15:46
Javon Holland, Kendall Lamb, Emmanuel Ogba,
15:49
Liam Eichenberg, Elijah Campbell, Anthony Walker Jr.,
15:53
Tyler Huntley, Tyrus Bowser, just to name a few.
15:56
Now draft picks.
15:57
Of course you got your first, your second, your third,
16:00
two fourth round picks, two fifth round picks,
16:03
and three seventh round picks.
16:04
Positions of need, interior offensive line,
16:07
safety, interior defensive line, corner, receiver,
16:10
linebacker, tight end, quarterback, running back, and edge.
16:14
Now for all the people that are probably freaking out
16:16
right now, they're saying, you listed quarterback.
16:19
Yes I did because they need a backup quarterback.
16:21
Relax.
16:22
Now when we look at all these positions of need,
16:25
you could address this a few ways, right?
16:28
You could try to see if you could bring back players
16:31
that you really love, and that way you don't have
16:34
to really address them super high in the draft,
16:38
or you could take a swing at one of these positions
16:40
and try to go after somebody that you really love.
16:43
Now me personally, we all know that the running back class
16:46
is deep, the cornerback class is deep,
16:48
the wide receiver class is a little bit deep,
16:51
and the tight end class is deep.
16:53
Now all the other positions that I did not say,
16:56
that's up for the team to decide, right?
17:00
So edge.
17:01
You know that you're in a position where yes,
17:03
you could get a pretty good edge,
17:07
but at the same time, wouldn't you wanna get
17:09
another weapon for Tua?
17:12
Wouldn't you wanna get productive tight end,
17:14
or productive receiver?
17:16
Because at this point, the choices for first round
17:20
receivers is very slim, because all you had is T-Mac,
17:25
Luther Burden, Emeka Ibuka, and Matthew Golden.
17:30
Everybody else is not a first round talent.
17:33
At best, they're probably second to maybe
17:36
fifth round selection, okay?
17:39
Now do you wanna wait that long?
17:42
I don't know, because there might be somebody
17:44
that you really have an eye for,
17:46
that they may get snatched up early,
17:49
just because of desperation, and you don't want this team
17:53
to get them and whatnot.
17:55
But when we look at defensive line, as I've already said,
17:58
the defensive line class is really good.
18:01
But I think you wanna pair a rookie defensive line
18:04
with a veteran defensive lineman.
18:06
And you don't have to pay them a whole bunch of money.
18:09
You could get someone like a Sebastian Joseph Day,
18:12
or BJ Hill, or a Javon Hargrave for cheap.
18:17
You don't have to pay a whole bunch of money for them.
18:19
Now when we look at things like linebacker,
18:21
you could get G. R. Campbell, or Chris Paul Jr.
18:25
from Ole Miss, two really good productive linebackers, okay?
18:30
And even then, even if you wanted to take
18:32
the free agency route, you can get a linebacker
18:35
for less than eight million.
18:36
I've seen it before, somebody would be willing
18:39
to play for the Dolphins just because it's warm weather,
18:41
it's in Miami, and you probably got family down there,
18:45
or whatever, something crazy.
18:46
Now when we look at quarterback,
18:48
I'm not really gonna go super deep into quarterback
18:51
just because you can get a backup quarterback anywhere.
18:53
I'm sorry, like you can bring in somebody
18:57
and have tryouts or whatever during camp,
19:01
and they're the emergency quarterback or whatever.
19:04
Just saying.
19:05
But when we look at candidates for restructure,
19:08
extensions, trades, and cuts,
19:10
I feel like Jalen Ramsey is gonna want out.
19:13
I feel like Jalen Ramsey thought that the Dolphins
19:16
were gonna be in a win-now mode type of situation,
19:20
but clearly that's not the case,
19:22
and clearly this is about to break up soon,
19:25
so you might as well wanna get a head start
19:29
before it happens.
19:30
Now, for someone like a Jalen Ramsey,
19:34
the problem is you gave him an extension, okay?
19:38
Is a team gonna be willing to pay out that extension?
19:42
Probably not.
19:43
So at best, you're gonna be taking on some dead cap
19:46
from that deal, from that whole situation, to be honest.
19:50
Now, when we look at Bradley Chubb, restructure.
19:53
Restructure all day, every day, okay?
19:56
And the reason why I say that is because
19:59
he has a cap hit this year of 28.6 million.
20:04
Next year, it's gonna be 29.3,
20:06
and then the year after that, it's supposed to be 29.6.
20:10
Those are very large cap hits for somebody
20:12
that has not been very productive lately
20:14
since being with the Dolphins, okay?
20:17
Now, when we look at his base salary,
20:19
19.4 this year, 19.4 next year,
20:23
and then 18.4 the year after that,
20:26
you have to give him a restructure,
20:29
because right now you need as much cap space as you can
20:33
to try to patch as many holes as you can
20:35
on this team before the draft,
20:37
because yes, you are in a good spot within the draft.
20:41
You're in the 13th pick,
20:43
but at the same time, you have so many holes
20:46
that you have to fill
20:49
that you're gonna have to prioritize
20:52
one position in the first round.
20:53
It's either gonna be a defensive lineman,
20:55
it's gonna be a corner, it's gonna be a receiver,
20:58
it's gonna be a tight end or edge, okay?
21:02
One of those positions, you're going to have to do it,
21:06
because right now you are staring at the barrel of a gun
21:10
because why?
21:11
This team has not lived up to expectations.
21:13
This team has not fulfilled the expectations
21:16
that was set by the owner,
21:19
and right now you are under a lot of pressure
21:22
just because of that one game against the Broncos
21:26
where you could have almost broken the record
21:29
of scoring the most points in one game.
21:32
Really think about this.
21:34
Since this whole acquisition of talent,
21:37
of Tyreek Hill, Tyronne Armstead,
21:39
Bradley Chubb, Jaylon Ramsey,
21:41
you guys have sucked against real competition.
21:45
When you go up against a winning team, you guys crumble,
21:49
but when you guys go up against a weak team,
21:51
a team that's going through a rebuild or a losing team,
21:54
oh, you guys are on them like white on rice.
21:57
That's not how you win games.
21:58
That's not how you get to the Super Bowl.
22:00
You have to be able to face competition,
22:03
whether it's somebody that is a playoff contender
22:06
or whether it's somebody that's tanking.
22:10
You have to be able to do it.
22:12
Otherwise, guess what's gonna happen?
22:13
You're gonna be in Cancun every single year.
22:16
When they went up against the Chiefs in the playoffs,
22:19
guess what happened?
22:20
They folded.
22:21
You cannot allow that to happen.
22:23
You've put too much money into this team
22:26
for them not to go anywhere, okay?
22:28
And honestly, I feel like you could probably put Tyreek Hill
22:32
in there as well only because of his comments
22:36
towards the end of the season.
22:38
I think those comments probably ruffled some feathers
22:42
within the Dolphins organization.
22:45
And I wouldn't be surprised if somebody picks up the phone
22:48
and shows some level of interest
22:50
for someone like a Tyreek Hill.
22:52
Now granted, they gave him an extension,
22:54
but I think a team will be willing to take on
22:57
at least 50% of that deal.
23:01
Just because, I mean, it's Tyreek Hill.
23:03
Now do I think it's gonna materialize
23:09
within the next few weeks?
23:10
I wouldn't be surprised,
23:11
especially with the combine coming up next week.
23:13
We all know that once the combine happens,
23:18
that's when you start seeing an influx of news.
23:22
That's when you start seeing a lot of
23:23
credible information coming out.
23:25
Now we're in this sort of like dead period
23:28
where you're gonna see a whole bunch of people
23:30
put out stuff just for likes and clicks and interactions
23:32
and things of that nature.
23:34
So keep your eye on the Tyreek Hill situation
23:36
because that is a very interesting situation to look at.
23:41
Now is there anybody else that I could possibly think of
23:44
that may get an extension or may stay?
23:47
Maybe Liam Eichenberg,
23:50
depending on how the team views him,
23:52
or maybe someone like an Isaiah Nguyen,
23:55
but people like Javon Holland, he's gone.
23:58
He is not coming back.
23:59
He is looking for the bag.
24:00
Kaleus Campbell, he's probably leaving as well.
24:04
He's probably gonna try to join the Chiefs
24:07
or join the Ravens or the Bills,
24:09
just so he can try to see if he can win
24:12
at least one Super Bowl and just ride off into the sunset.
24:14
But all in all, this is gonna be a very important year
24:18
for the Dolphins because a lot is riding on this.
24:23
If you do not make it to the playoffs
24:26
or let alone make a deep playoff run,
24:29
oh, they're cleaning house.
24:31
They're gonna scrap this thing from the bottom.
24:34
And you do not want that, trust me.
24:36
You're gonna be seeing some players,
24:38
they're gonna be giving away for basically
24:42
chips and a half pack of cigarettes.
24:45
I'm just being honest here, folks.
24:47
Now when we look at the Bills, okay,
24:49
they have negative 12 million in cap space
24:52
and they have a rollover cap of 1.3 million.
24:54
So you're already in the red, okay?
24:56
And we look at their free agents.
24:57
You got Amari Cooper, Rasul Douglas,
24:59
Austin Johnson, Mack Hollins,
25:02
Damar Hamlin, just to name a few, all right?
25:05
Your draft picks, you got your first,
25:07
two second round picks, no third round picks,
25:09
two fourth round picks, two fifth round picks,
25:12
and three sixth round picks, all right?
25:14
Positions of need, corner, interior defensive line,
25:18
safety, wide receiver, running back, all right?
25:21
So for starters, you're definitely gonna need
25:25
to address either corner or defensive line
25:27
within the first round.
25:28
Because for one, both rooms,
25:32
they just need a breath of fresh air.
25:34
Ever since Trudevius White left the Bills,
25:37
that corner back room has not been good.
25:39
And granted, they tried to make a trade
25:40
for Rasul Douglas, but I don't think
25:42
Rasul Douglas is coming back to the Bills.
25:45
And there's nobody else in that secondary room
25:47
that I would say is like, you know,
25:49
starter caliber, honestly.
25:52
Like who is somebody that you can say
25:54
is a legitimate one in the corner back room
25:57
for the Bills?
25:58
I'll let you answer that question in the comments, okay?
26:00
Now, when it comes to defensive line,
26:03
you are in a position where if you don't wanna trade up,
26:07
you could allow one of them to fall
26:09
and you could take a swing on one of them, right?
26:12
Now the question is, would you be willing to do that,
26:16
or would you be willing to maybe address, you know,
26:19
safety or receiver?
26:21
Because remember, the last few years,
26:24
you guys have missed one receiver.
26:27
You guys could have had Xavier Worthy,
26:29
but you allowed the Chiefs to make their move
26:31
and guess what?
26:32
Now they got Xavier Worthy.
26:33
Now granted, Keyon Coleman was still productive,
26:36
but he's not Xavier Worthy productive.
26:39
No disrespect to him.
26:40
Now when we look at safety, you can address safety
26:44
in a myriad of ways, but my only problem is,
26:49
you're so limited to the cap that you're gonna have
26:52
to rely on the draft so much to patch up these holes.
26:56
Because again, even if you was to do some restructures,
27:00
which we're about to get into in just a little bit,
27:03
it still won't be enough for you to like make
27:05
significant moves to really better this team.
27:09
And then when we look at running back,
27:11
I would definitely double dip at running back
27:13
because who in the world is gonna pay James Cook 15 million?
27:17
Now granted, I understand that he just had his best season
27:20
of his career so far, but I'm not paying you 15 million.
27:24
If everybody had one great season,
27:28
there will be no need for the cap
27:30
because everybody would be resetting the market
27:32
and getting cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs type money.
27:36
That's not how this thing works.
27:38
And with the running back class being as great as it is,
27:41
Devin Neal, Caleb Johnson, Trevion Henderson,
27:44
Quenshawn Jenkins, Taj Brooks, Bauschel Tootin,
27:48
Omarion Hampton, I can keep on going for days.
27:52
You have options.
27:54
Make sure you get at least two.
27:56
But when we look at candidates for restructure,
27:59
extension, trades, and cuts,
28:01
Damar Hamlin for sure, you can give him an extension.
28:04
Nothing super crazy, probably sort of a deal
28:08
that what Elijah Molden just got,
28:10
nothing earth-shattering, but just something
28:13
that keeps him with the team.
28:15
Mack Hollins, you have to give him an extension.
28:18
Mack Hollins was balling in the playoffs.
28:22
You gotta keep him, okay?
28:24
Because right now I think all you will have
28:27
is Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman.
28:29
So you gotta bring him back at least.
28:31
Curtis Samuel, I just wouldn't do it.
28:35
Amari Cooper, he became a ghost once the, you know,
28:40
once the playoffs came around and whatnot.
28:44
It's just not worth it, personally.
28:46
Gregory Russo, I would definitely give him an extension.
28:49
I would get ahead of that now
28:51
instead of waiting until next year
28:52
because if Gregory Russo has a crazy season
28:56
like how I think he's going to,
28:58
you are going to be paying a lot of money
29:00
and you're gonna have to cut somebody
29:01
just to pay Gregory Russo
29:03
because you're not gonna just let him just walk.
29:06
I could tell you three teams right now
29:07
that would want someone like a Gregory Russo,
29:09
just being honest here.
29:11
Because when you look at his market value,
29:13
it's a four year, $99.5 million deal,
29:16
which is $24.9 million a year.
29:20
If he has a double digit sack season
29:23
and is a finalist for defensive player of the year
29:25
or any of those awards,
29:27
you are talking about somebody
29:29
that could be making a hundred million.
29:32
Well, he could be getting a hundred million dollar deal.
29:35
Okay, not a hundred million dollars.
29:40
I know there's a bunch of Bills fans,
29:41
what are you talking about?
29:42
You don't know what they're talking about.
29:44
You're messing things up.
29:45
Relax, it's okay, relax, it's the coffee.
29:49
Now when we look at restructures, Von Miller for sure.
29:52
Because man, oh man, his base salary this year, 17.1.
29:57
Next year, 19.6.
29:59
And the year after that, 29.6.
30:02
Do you really think the Bills are going to allow him
30:05
to just keep this unscathed?
30:07
Oh no, there's definitely gonna be restructure.
30:10
And then when you look at his cap hit,
30:12
his cap hit this year, 23.8.
30:15
Next year is 26.3.
30:17
And then the year after that is supposed to be 32.6.
30:20
You are going to have to restructure his deal
30:22
because for one, he's getting up in age,
30:24
his production has gone down.
30:27
And at this point, you have to admit
30:29
that this deal was a bad deal.
30:33
You guys were thinking you guys were gonna get
30:35
the same Von Miller that the Rams got.
30:38
But the only difference is guess what?
30:40
Von Miller was teammates with one of the greatest
30:43
defensive linemen in NFL history in Aaron Donald.
30:46
That's the only difference in this entire equation.
30:49
You don't have somebody else outside of Gregory Russo
30:53
that you can say, hey listen,
30:55
he can definitely take a lot of pressure off
30:57
of someone like a Von Miller.
30:58
You don't have that outside of Gregory Russo.
31:00
So right now, you have to rely so much on the draft
31:04
to patch up your holes.
31:06
But at the same time, with you being a playoff caliber team,
31:11
players will be willing to join your team
31:15
and they'll be willing to take less
31:17
because they know that guess what?
31:18
As you have Josh Allen, guess what?
31:20
You will always have a chance to make it to the playoffs
31:24
because right now, there's nobody else in your division
31:26
that can rock with you.
31:28
Not the Patriots, not the Jets, and not the Dolphins.
31:32
It's literally y'all division until Josh Allen gets old,
31:36
decrepit, and wants to retire.
31:38
Now when we go on to the final team,
31:40
that is the Patriots, okay?
31:43
So granted, you are gonna have the most cap space
31:46
in all the league, but the drawback is,
31:50
you have a lot of important holes that you have to fill.
31:53
So when we look at their free agents,
31:54
you have Jonathan Jones, Jacoby Brissette, Deontre Watch.
31:58
I mean why, excuse me, Austin Hooper,
32:01
Jermichael Hasty, Jaylon Hawkins, just to name a few, okay?
32:04
Your draft picks.
32:05
You got your first, your second, two third round picks,
32:08
one fourth round pick, one fifth round pick,
32:10
and two seventh round picks, okay?
32:12
Positions of need, offensive line,
32:14
both tackle and interior offensive line,
32:17
edge, corner, receiver, tight end, linebacker,
32:20
running back, safety, defensive tackle, okay?
32:23
So with defensive tackle,
32:25
with the uncertainty of Christian Barnborn,
32:28
you have to possibly get an assurance policy just in case.
32:32
Because outside of him,
32:34
there's nobody else on the defensive line
32:36
outside of Keon White that has been super productive.
32:40
And with this defensive class
32:42
having some bona fide starters at defensive line,
32:46
you have to get at least two of them.
32:49
If you get someone like a Daron Harmon and Jordan Phillips,
32:54
that's a lot better than what you have right now.
32:57
And then not to mention,
32:58
we all know that Mike Raible loves his defensive lineman.
33:01
Come on now, he loves his defensive lineman.
33:03
Corner, you can address that day two or day three, honestly.
33:08
You don't have to address it in the first round.
33:10
You don't have to address it that high in the draft.
33:13
But D-tackle, I mean, you can get Mason Graham.
33:16
If you get Mason Graham,
33:17
and then Christian Barnborn comes back,
33:20
that's a nasty defensive line right there already, okay?
33:24
Now linebacker, you can go about this a few ways.
33:29
You can go and you can draft one,
33:31
Chris Paul Jr. or Jihad Campbell.
33:35
Or you can go, you can try to get
33:37
a veteran linebacker for a low.
33:40
You can get one for maybe five or six million a year.
33:43
It's not really gonna hurt your pockets as much, right?
33:46
Running back, as I've already said multiple times,
33:48
you can get a running back anywhere in this draft.
33:53
I would not be surprised if some of these running backs
33:55
become undrafted free agents.
34:00
So that might even sweeten the deal even more,
34:02
because now you don't even have to waste
34:05
a draft pick on them.
34:08
You could just invite them to camp
34:09
and just see where they are, tied in.
34:12
You can draft one.
34:13
I wouldn't draft one as high as where they're drafting,
34:16
because they're drafting fourth overall.
34:18
I just would not do that.
34:19
But if you get someone like a Harold Fanon Jr.
34:23
or a Colston Loveland or the tight end from Miami
34:28
or Jack Besh, because I think he came from being a tight end.
34:34
You can convert him back into a tight end,
34:35
or you can go and get somebody from free agency.
34:38
If you take any of those routes, guess what?
34:41
That makes things a little bit better,
34:42
because right now, I mean, your tight ends,
34:47
they're okay, but they could be a whole lot better.
34:49
Now, receiver, you can get T-Mac,
34:54
you could get Luther Burdick, you can get a Mecha Bucca,
34:58
you could go and try to see if you can make a sign-in trade
35:02
for someone like a T. Higgins.
35:04
You have options at that position.
35:06
But the only problem is,
35:08
you guys are not in a position to win,
35:11
because if you guys are in a position to win,
35:13
I think T. Higgins would be more open to going to y'all.
35:19
But because y'all aren't winning,
35:21
I don't think T. Higgins would want to entertain y'all.
35:23
Even if y'all was throwing him crazy money,
35:26
I still don't think he would do it personally.
35:28
Now, you could try to go and get someone else,
35:30
like a Stefan Diggs or a Darius Slayton,
35:34
or I was gonna say De'Andre Johnson,
35:36
but no, that's a hell no.
35:38
De'Andre Hopkins, you could get one of those
35:42
older veteran type of receivers if you really wanted to.
35:47
Somebody that's not gonna cost you a whole lot of money,
35:49
but you know that their leadership in the locker room
35:52
and their productivity on the field
35:54
is definitely gonna be felt from the moment, excuse me,
35:58
that they joined the team.
35:59
Corner and edge.
36:02
Corner, you can address it that high.
36:07
Me personally, I wouldn't.
36:09
At the same time, I think it really depends on
36:13
how everybody runs in the comp.
36:15
If Will Johnson runs a four, three,
36:17
you have to get him that high.
36:19
If Benjamin Morrison runs really well,
36:23
or Siobhan Revel, or Trey Amos, or Ezra Thomas,
36:27
or Kobe Bryant, or any of those guys,
36:30
if they run pretty well, you're gonna have to get them.
36:34
Because outside of Christian Gonzalez, who else do you have?
36:36
Jonathan Jones is up in age.
36:38
Now, granted, he is a free agent,
36:40
but are you gonna be willing to bring him back?
36:41
I don't think so.
36:42
But at the same time, you probably could bring him back
36:47
just because I don't think his market will be as defined
36:50
as what people think it will be,
36:52
but you probably will have to double dip at corner.
36:55
You could definitely get one in the first round,
36:57
then get one in the second round,
36:58
or you get one in the second round and third round.
37:00
But at some point, you're gonna have to double dip
37:03
at both corner and defensive tackle,
37:07
and possibly running back.
37:08
Now, edge, outside of the first rounder type edges,
37:14
I haven't really looked at anybody else.
37:16
I probably should, I probably will this weekend.
37:19
But I mean, you got the notable names,
37:21
the household names, Abdul Carter,
37:23
Jaylen Walker, Mike Green, James Pierce, all those guys.
37:28
The question is, do you wanna draft them that high or not?
37:30
Me personally, I wouldn't draft them that high.
37:35
Like, if you're drafting an edge rusher that high,
37:38
they have to be like borderline, like all pros, okay?
37:44
And they don't come out, you know, every single year.
37:47
It's very rare that they come out in the draft, honestly,
37:52
especially this high.
37:52
Like, shoot, if you would have told me that T.J. Watt
37:55
would have been better than Taco Charlton,
37:57
which was crazy because Taco got drafted before T.J. Watt,
38:02
everyone was like, oh yeah,
38:02
Taco Charlton is gonna be a monster.
38:05
He's gonna be a game changer.
38:07
And where is Taco now?
38:09
And where's T.J. Watt?
38:11
Just saying, okay?
38:13
Offensive line, me personally, I would address this high,
38:17
okay, because right now,
38:20
all you really have is an aging David Andrews, okay?
38:24
There's nobody else in this offensive line
38:26
that you should feel very comfortable with.
38:29
You have already cut Chukes
38:31
because you know Chukes was not good.
38:33
Your left tackle is definitely gonna need to be replaced.
38:37
I wouldn't be surprised if they put some money
38:38
at left tackle.
38:40
And then everybody else, you can get that in the draft
38:43
or you can get veterans, one of the two.
38:46
But you are gonna have to invest a lot of resources
38:50
into this offensive line for Drake May
38:52
because you don't wanna be in a situation
38:55
where he's getting beat up
38:56
and by the time you do address the offensive line,
38:59
he doesn't wanna play anymore.
39:00
So you could get someone like a Dan Moore.
39:03
You could get someone like a Calvin Beachiff.
39:05
You can get someone like a Tevin Jenkins.
39:07
You can get someone like a Kevin Zeidler.
39:09
I just named you a few offensive linemen
39:11
that you could get right now
39:12
that may be willing to play for your team.
39:15
You could get someone like a Brandon Sheriff.
39:17
You have options at offensive line
39:20
and it doesn't necessarily mean
39:21
that you have to get these top in offensive linemen
39:25
that you have to reset the market for,
39:27
but you could go and do it.
39:29
Shoot, take a big swing at Trey Smith.
39:32
Reset the market for Trey Smith.
39:35
If you get someone like him, guess what?
39:36
That's gonna be your best offensive lineman.
39:38
He's gonna be a great guard
39:41
and then you can just build everything else.
39:43
You could address it in the draft.
39:45
You could address the other positions in free agency
39:48
because I don't think Kevin Zeidler's market
39:51
is gonna be that high.
39:52
Same thing with Tevin Jenkins or any of those guys.
39:54
Even Dan Moore.
39:55
Dan Moore is not gonna cost a whole lot of money.
39:57
Now he's going to get paid,
39:59
but he's not gonna get paid, paid.
40:01
There's a difference, okay?
40:03
Now when we look at candidates
40:04
for restructure extensions, trades, and cuts,
40:08
Jacoby Brissette I would definitely extend
40:10
just because you want him to have a backup.
40:14
Every quarterback needs a backup.
40:15
And who better than Jacoby Brissette, okay?
40:18
His market value is only a one year, $3.1 million deal,
40:22
which is only $3.1 million a year.
40:25
That's not bad.
40:26
It's not gonna break the bank.
40:27
It's not gonna mess things up.
40:29
You guys are gonna have to restructure in a few years
40:31
or whatever.
40:32
You don't have to do that.
40:33
Now, Jonathan Jones,
40:35
if you wanted to take the route to extend him,
40:37
it would be a two year, $5.6 million deal,
40:41
which is $2.8 million a year.
40:43
Do you really wanna do that?
40:45
Part of me says yes because of the veteran presence,
40:49
but at the same time,
40:51
at some point you're gonna have to find their replacement.
40:54
And this might be the year for you to do it.
40:57
You got a lot of good corners coming out of this draft.
41:00
You got people like Darian Porter, Jaday Baron,
41:03
people that I haven't even named.
41:06
Okay?
41:07
You got some really good corners and safeties
41:10
that are coming out of this draft class that you could get.
41:12
Now, granted, if Bill was still there,
41:15
you could get somebody in the fifth or sixth round
41:17
and he can turn them into an all pro.
41:19
But because that's not the case,
41:21
well then, you know, here we are.
41:22
But at the same time,
41:24
I would not be surprised if some of the former players
41:27
that did play for Mike Vraple
41:29
would want to join with the Pagers
41:31
just because they're so familiar and comfortable
41:34
with Mike Vraple and his system.
41:36
So I say all that to say this.
41:38
You have options.
41:40
You could go a myriad of different ways,
41:43
different routes or whatever.
41:45
The question is, which side do you want to prioritize?
41:49
Do you want to prioritize the growth of Drake May
41:52
or do you want to solidify this defense
41:55
and make it super dominant?
41:56
That is the question that they are gonna have to ask
41:58
prior to the legal tampering period
42:01
and free agency and all those different types of things.
42:03
But I want to end this episode here.
42:05
If you guys like what you are listening,
42:06
please, please, please, please, please,
42:08
make sure you guys leave a five star, five star,
42:11
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42:13
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42:17
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42:21
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42:24
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42:26
Give me a second.
42:27
So we are available on, and it's a lot,
42:33
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all you have to do is go on the RSS feed
42:51
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42:54
if I'm not mistaken, all of those options will appear, okay?
42:59
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43:01
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43:18
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43:27
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43:29
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43:39
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43:46
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43:48
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43:52
Follow me on there, that's where I do a lot of my debates
43:55
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43:57
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44:01
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44:03
on certain topics and whatnot.
44:06
Sometimes I'll react to pressing news
44:10
and all those different types of things, okay?
44:12
Just come on over there, have a good time.
44:14
Same thing with Blue Sky as well, GMKale, okay?
44:17
G-M-Kale, K-A-I-O-E.
44:20
Am I forgetting anything?
44:22
Am I forgetting anything?
44:23
Oh yeah, we're on Spotify, we're on Apple Podcast.
44:27
You guys already know that, but as always,
44:29
I hope I give you guys the fix that you guys need.
44:32
I love you guys, I appreciate you guys so much.
44:34
Next week, we're going to the West Side.
44:38
We are going to the NFC West, okay?
44:42
It's gonna be a good one, okay?
44:44
Now, it may not be good for the 49ers fans,
44:46
because you guys may not like me, but it's okay,
44:49
because guess what, we're gonna be A-okay.
44:51
So as always, this is your GMKale signing out.
44:55
Peace and love, later.