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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 3/4/24 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

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  Jeff Legwald is our Broncos insider Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five Pro Football,
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  the insider I've covered Jeff leg Wall. His appearances are always must listen radio.
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  You learn a lot. Bronti five Betsafe Colorado, the exclusive club for
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  passionate gamers and vetters across the state. It's Leggy on Altitude Sports Radio ninety
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  two five. Yes, Jeff Legwell Time a Monday after noon. Jeff Legwall
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  joins us on the Ramos Law Hotline. If you've been in a car accident,
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  you need ramos Law medical doctor and attorney ramos Law dot com. Yes,
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  the Broncos conclude their own contractual version of a twelve car pile up today,
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  as they have informed Russell Wilson he will not be on their team anymore.
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  Leggy. They're taking on eighty five million dollars in deceased cap space.
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  It is not going to be something they can spend on any players. Going
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  forward. Two years, eleven victories, a whole lot of money, and
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  an ugly divorce. When you, Jeff Legwald, sit down to write the
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  book one day, what is your chapter on Russell Wilson going to be?
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  Like? You know, Nate. I come away with the fact that I
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  still think there were only two paths of this, and the first path is
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  you did the trade and then you commit everything to it. You commit your
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  playbook, you commit your emotional connection, you commit your roster, and you
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  go forward until year three, four five and then see where you are.
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  Or the other path was to not do the deal at all. And in
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  the end, the Broncos didn't pick either of those paths and because of that,
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  the exit will be somewhat painful for them. And it's clear they came
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  to the conclusion they Sean Payton said last week here at the Combine that they
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  would have a meeting Monday that included Greg Penner, the owner and CEO,
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  and it's obvious they had that meeting and the statement came before the end of
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  the day, so you know, everyone is on board for the pain and
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  now they have to just deal with it quick meeting. Huh wow. Well,
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  I mean, are we all shocked at the outcome? Yeah, it's
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  just stunning. I mean they you know, both Sean Payton and George Peyton
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  had to fight off using the past tense here in India last week when they
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  were talking about it and you just knew this was where it was going all
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  along, and they finally formally did it, and they did it in such
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  a fashion they don't have to talk about it now, which is why they
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  did it after they were here. All right, what would you do?
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  Would you take the bigger cap hit this year or next year, because apparently
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  they have the option, Andy, I think they will take the bigger cap
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  hit this year unless something has changed in the past few days. But as
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  of here in Indie and when they were still here, everyone was still here,
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  it certainly felt like they were going to just take the biggest shot this
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  year and deal with it and move on. So what that looks like,
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  by the way, specifically when it comes to the math on that, as
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  the Broncos can essentially they can take on the fifty million version of it for
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  the upcoming season cap going up to two hundred and fifty five point four million,
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  So they'll take the heavier one this year, have it be a little
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  bit lighter next year. They'll have a lot of guys off the books by
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  next year and maybe give them a bit more flexibility. Plus you have to
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  assume again, Leggy, you know, maybe not fifteen percent growth in the
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  cap, but you know, an eight to ten percent growth in the cap,
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  and that gives them a little bit of flexibility when you start to look
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  at, Jeff, the the candidates to not be Broncos anymore next season in
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  order to be able to help the team get those savings. Uh, you
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  know, I know you're always loath to wildly speculate, especially when it comes
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  to guys' job statuses and everything else like that, but uh, tip your
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  hand a little bit for us. Empty the notebook, if you will,
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  Jeff, Who's who's most likely to not be a Bronco next year? Well,
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  you know, Nate, I'll just say, uh, if you're a
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  veteran with one of the team's biggest contracts, you're on the burner. You
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  know, you're on the bat You're on the front burner now because they they
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  got to have solutions. Now. Now it's real. You know, before
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  it was a lot of we were all doing the intellectual exercise of how you
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  can do it and what you can do. Now they are, they're in
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  it now, and uh, you know, I I you know, I
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  look at the top ten cap figures and that's I think that's where they start.
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  That's where we should all start. And I'm certain if some guys won't
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  play ball, they won't be Broncos anymore. And the guys who want to
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  be here and are willing to just some things, because you know, the
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  Broncos have to be careful. They can't just do the old gonna turn gallery
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  into signing bonus, because all that does is take this problem and move it
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  down the road for them to deal with later, and then you sort of
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  never escape it. And you and you're the smoldering Embers. That is the
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  New Orleans Saints right now. That's what that looks like. So but to
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  your question, I think if you're a veteran Bronco and you have one of
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  the top seven eight contracts, you're eligible for a discussion or your release.
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  So real quick, just evere knows what we're talking about. Garrett Balls,
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  Justin Simmons and then Garrett Balls, Tim Patrick, DJ Jones, Cortland,
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  Sutton, Jerry Judy, Yes these are you didn't buy those jerseys for the
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  kids for Christmas? Well they'll be on sale, all right. So what
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  do you think the plan is? You've been out there, you've been you've
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  been getting to do your reporter stuff. Right in the middle of the action.
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  Will there be another veteran brought in or they simply gonna draft another QB
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  and it's going to be a very young room. Well you know that that
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  the qbs are going to be overdrafted in this draft, and I don't think
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  they're going to have any chance to get any of the top four. That's
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  that's my opinion. You're your fourth real quick, Leggy. Is it McCarthy
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  or is it Nix Pennix? Who you got is the fourth? I don't
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  know yet, but you know, I think the league's fourth is McCarthy right
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  now. If I had to, if I had to tell you the polling
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  of the league, uh, you know. And the question is is what
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  do you do? Because they don't have a two. So that means if
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  they're going to take a quarterback at twelve, they're going to go way off
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  the rails, even on their own grades. They will never admit it.
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  It will never be public, it will never be information we can verify or
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  not. But I don't think there's any question if they take the fifth quarterback
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  off the board or the sixth quarterback off the board at twelve, they are
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  overdrafting by a significant amount, and you know, to that end, they
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  just have to decide and that and that's not a solution for twenty twenty four
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  because the guy you get there isn't going to be ready to play. I
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  just don't think that's the case. But you know, you're, you're,
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  so you're gonna be looking at you know, sort of the mix you know,
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  Pennex combo there or down the board? You know, does the BYU
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  kid look good to you in the third? I mean that's that's that's what
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  they're looking at. You know, do they like somebody in the third or
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  fourth better than other people and believe there's a developmental guy there? But I
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  think that's why, unless the board falls weird, the signing a veteran with
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  Stidham and then possibly a developmental in the building is the way it unfolds.
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  And you know, Sean Payton keeps saying telling the story of seeing the meme
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  where you don't want to, you know, get the next guy. We
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  don't have to cross his name out. But he didn't say that guy was
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  going to play in twenty twenty four either. He says they just need to
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  get that next guy. Jeff Legwald is brought to you by Betsave Colorado,
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  the exclusive club for passionate gamers and betters across this state. Leggie's some interesting
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  anecdotes coming out of the combine, including you mentioned the byu Kid Keaton Slovas
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  and apparently him and Davis Weber Bros. And joking about how Davis Webb was
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  gonna put Michael Pennix through the ringer in the meetings. We heard Pennick's talking
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  about it afterwards. Boy, they really put all my bad plays up there.
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  What is Davis's web sort of standing in his role inside the building right
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  now? Is he sort of worked his way into the inner circle of trusted
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  voice for this coaching staff. He didn't have to work his way there,
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  mate, he was already there. This is a good young coach the Broncos
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  feel spectacular about. I personally believe down the road he is a play caller
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  waiting to happen and possibly a head coach. That's the kind of demeanor you
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  hear from him. The preparation his interview with the Broncos is already the stuff
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  of legend. I mean, the amount of stuff he came into that interview
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  with is in fact, you know, Sean Payton has told the story of
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  he said, I felt like an idiot to even let him get in the
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  car to go back to the airport. And they called him when he was
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  going back to the airport to say get back here, we're hiring you.
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  And so he has a bit an important voice in this, and he was
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  He was an important voice with Russell. I mean he was the go between
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  between John Payton and Russell for much of the season. So it's an important
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  voice and he will have a lot to say about how they do this.
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  But because I don't think they necessarily are looking at this it's like we got
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  to have the guy for a solution at twenty twenty four, I think they
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  can be creative down the board and take somebody they really really like and will
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  support as an organization, and that gives you a far better chance for it
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  to work. But he will be an important voice in that. All right,
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  Well, were your big takeaways from the combine? I keep hearing everybody
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  talk about lots of receivers and tackles maybe available. What are your thoughts of
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  what you saw in Indy. Well, there's lots of tackles. Early,
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  there's a gas in the group. You know maybe after guiding there's a gap
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  there after the top, you know, bunch, So if the Broncos want
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  one, I have to use that twelfth pick to get it. There's always
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  gonna be a ton of receivers. Now that's just the way college football is.
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  But there's some early corners that look good, really good. And you
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  know, obviously the tackle the top that there will be a very very highly
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  highly rated tackle when le Broncos pick at twelve. And you know, I
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  always believe, unless you just get bad injury luck, that's a ten or
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  a twelve year player, you know when you're looking at that, So that
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  will be enticing, you know, no matter what happens in the in the
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  quarterback situation, Lagie, how many draft picks do you think they can add
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  right now? They're sitting there with six, including not having a second rounder.
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  As as we go through, you know they're gonna have to get rid
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  of guys. They're gonna have to try and trade somebody. How many more
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  picks do they got in them? It'd be hard, Nate, because I'll
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  tell you what's going to happen in this draft. Nil has destroyed Day three.
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  You get in the middle of the sixth. This draft's gonna drop off
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  a cliff and you're gonna see people simply taking players so they don't have to
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  bid on them. Uh, in the undrafted mode, they're not necessarily gonna
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  be what would have been sixth and seventh round grades in previous drafts, but
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  they're gonna be players teams want and they don't want to have to bid for
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  them, you know, when the undrafted things come around, because you know,
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  these days, your top undrafted guys are getting better bonuses than some of
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  the seventh round picks. So uh, you're you're gonna see teams racing and
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  that, uh, that back end, and they're not gonna want those picks.
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  So you know, the supply and demand thing is going to be tough
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  for the Broncos because they don't have a lot of fuel to work with.
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  You know, they need quarterbacks to stay on the board for that twelfth pick
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  to really be something. And I my take away this week has been I
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  don't think quarterbacks are staying on the board. They never do, but I
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  think this one will even be more ridiculous. That's fourth and fifth quarterback is
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  gonna get They're gonna be overdrafted like crazy. Four in the top ten.
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  You think four in the top ten fourth quarter? Yeah, the fourth quarterback
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  may not even last till eight. Yeah, it's gonna be crazy. I
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  think. You know, I've been proven wrong in the past, but I
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  just that's my sense from because I think people are going to sort of force
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  themselves to like JJ McCarthy more and more and more as the draft gets closer.
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  All right, leg I got a question for you. We're gonna kind
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  of circle back to the RUSS thing. We just got this from Spring.
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  But Tim Patrick one of the people that was actually thanked by RUSS. No
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  Sean Payton or George Peyton or Penner mentioned in the statement, but Tim Patrick
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  was thanked by RUSS. No. Jeff Legwald he quote tweeted Tim Patrick quote
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  tweeted the rust tweet and said thank you brother, see you soon with the
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  fingers crossed emoji. Well the guys listed, do you think inside the guys
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  on the thank you list, will they be identified as RUSS as guys And
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  will that affect the future? Do you think at all? Are we going
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  to start to learn as to what part of the building was who? I
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  guess, Yeah, I mean that's always possible. But the Brocos would be
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  a very shallow, poorly run organization if they're going to do it that way.
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  I mean, you keep good players, you don't care who they like,
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  you know, you know what I mean. Yeah, I get it,
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  I get what you're saying, but it's very I mean, but the
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  coaches also let us know very angrily that he's not psyched that certain things are
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  getting out of that locker room either. No, that's no question. But
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  again it's I mean, this is uh, you know, to begin with
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  that, I was a sort of a nicely worded passive aggressive, you know,
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  thank you for everything. But I'm not thinking anybody who made this decision
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  like the thing too. But you know, and look, you know,
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  I've practiced some pass aggressive in my time too. I fully recognize when it
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  looks good, and that was a really well played, pasive aggressive statement.
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  But you know, he thanks all of the people I thought he might,
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  you know, just from being around the locker room. And but let's let's
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  really wrap our heads around the fact that Julia McLoughlin got to thank you and
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  no one running the team did. So that's all you need to know.
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  Rob rode a pretty damn big check but yeah, it was the cafeteria workers
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  that got thanked. It was Jeff Legwold everybody ESPN dot com joining us from
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  Indianapolis, covering the scouting combine and getting the top one hundred assembled as only
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  he can. Leggy, good stuff, buddy, thank you. Hey,
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  I just one like say I wanted to add. I'll tell you who had
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  a really nice combine and will actually rise up the board as one. Luke
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  McCaffrey. I think people said, boy, he was running that line pretty
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  good, Leggy. I I you know, people can considered him kind of
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  a sixth rounder at best. Maybe when he came here and he left much
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  better. And that's a very rare thing. I don't people shouldn't underestimate how
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  rare that is. And just for the record, the combine ended this morning
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  and I may have been the only reporter still messaging it. Well, yeah,
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  I'm either the only moron or you know, I got things done.
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  But he's out. We need your hotel art. I want a Leggy hotel
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  art collection. By the time, when did you leave? There's always some
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  real quickly though with the with the McCaffrey thing, did he go back to
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  Landou do you know because Landau is the one that got Christian ready. Yeah,
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  you know, I'm not sure about that. And what you find out,
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  well, I mean, Long's working for other folks. Now, you
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  know a couple of weeks help a guy out. I need to know Leg
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  Between the Senior ball and here, he really did himself well and it was
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  kind of cool. It was kind of cool to hear people talking about it.
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  Speaking of the local kids. Jeff dim Kamara plays way into day two.
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  Oh what a combine? You want to you want to come and do
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  a workout? How you should you? Baby? Put that on a reel
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  and looked at it. He had a great and look, you know combine
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  workouts. I get it. I've seen more than my share, so h
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  but I will tell you if that's how you attack Indy, if you want
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  to get something done, whatever can get done in Indy, he got it
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  done. Good stuff right there, Jeff Legwald. Attack in Indy is only
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  he can hanging out having the steel bagels on day seventeen to the combine,
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  Jeff, good stuff, buddy, Thank you. I'm finding my way home
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  tomorrow. See your felts all right, Jeff Legwall ESPN. Jeff Legwall brought
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  to you by Betsafe Colorado. It is the exclusive club for passionate gamers and
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  betters across the state.