Latest / Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports / Jeff Legwold joins Moser, Lombardi, and Kane 5/30/24

Transcript

Jeff Legwold joins Moser, Lombardi, and Kane 5/30/24 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

0:00
Makus and Shanker Studios. Their passion is Justice Kicks, if MHD one,
0:05
Profield, Gender, Boulder Genender. It's Nate Krekman saying you Lindahl join us
0:10
for Kreigman and Lindall today at three. This is al To two Sports Radio
0:16
ninety two five Moser, Lombardi and Kane. Jeff Langwald is our Broncos insider
0:24
Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five Pro Football, the insider I've covered while Jeff
0:30
leg Wall his appearances are always must listen radio You learn a lot. It's
0:35
Leggy on Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five showing us we are every Thursday at
0:49
eight o'clock by Jeff lagwalldo ESPN dot com. On the Ramos Law Hotline Car
0:52
accident you need Ramos Law medical doctor and attorney ramos Law dot com. Leggy,
0:58
can I welcome you with some breaking news from the NFL that dropped about
1:00
a minute ago from Adam Schefter. Weirdly, we're just talking about Courtland Sutton
1:07
and him when you get a couple million more. It sounds like from Jeremy
1:10
Fowler on his contract. Well, my argument was, I get he's not
1:15
asking for number one wide out money. But he's not a number one,
1:21
and neither is this guy. But Jaylen Wattle just got a three year,
1:25
eighty four million dollar contract with seventy six million guaranteed from the Miami Dolphins.
1:34
Is Courtland Sutton just looking around the NFL seeing these wide outs getting paid,
1:38
including look his teammate last year, Jerry Judy getting paid, and being like,
1:42
well, maybe I do deserve a couple million more. Yeah, I
1:46
mean, I'm sure he is, because that's that tale is as old as
1:49
as time in the NFL. I mean, contracts are almost obsolete the moment
1:53
guy signed them, just because of the dynamics of it. You know,
1:57
it's when you up, when you are, when you are available, when
2:04
the team has to sign you. It's it's very rare teams do what the
2:08
Broncos did with Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick and signed them so much before they
2:15
hit free agency, and it's it's rare for players to do it. And
2:20
now you see why. I mean, he he probably left money on the
2:23
table when he did it in some fashion, and he you know, it
2:29
sort of occurs to you at some point down the line. But and now
2:32
I think sometimes we forget just how high the cap is now and and some
2:38
of these contracts fit pretty easily under the current cap and wouldn't have you know,
2:45
five years ago. We just sort of had to adjust our mindset about
2:49
the mask. But you know, the Broncos cap situation is Russell Wilson impacted.
2:55
And they can't do much with anybody right now, including him and not
3:00
you know, again, unless somebody changes their mind in the building. I
3:04
have not gotten a sense they're all that amenable to bumping him too much beyond
3:10
maybe some performance incentive type things. But you know, again, a lot
3:15
can change, because it's really not a big deal right now, but you
3:20
know it could be. But they've certainly added to the room as if they're,
3:23
you know, trying to get insurance. Well, listen, when he's
3:25
thirty years old, his contract will be up. I'm not I'm not extending
3:30
a guy into his thirties getting a two to three million dollars a year bump.
3:35
I'm not doing that. You'd be silly to do this, especially a
3:38
guy who has history problem or injury history problems, Jeff and maybe only going
3:43
to get slower. And I like Courtland Sutton. I think he's a fine
3:46
white out. He's not a true one. I wouldn't do it at all.
3:50
And by the way, he's got two years left on his deal.
3:52
Why is this all coming up now? Yeah? Again, I think it's
3:57
all the change mode in the building. You know, if you're a player
4:00
from a previous regime, and if you're Courtland Sutton, you're a player from
4:04
like four previous regimes now, and I think guys just get tired of the
4:11
uncertainty. You know, what do you think of me? What's my role?
4:15
Uh? You know, sometimes it's just human things. It's yeah,
4:18
it's money. Uh, you know, money's in there because that's the business.
4:24
But a lot of it is that the kind of stuff we all worry
4:27
about at work, you know, do my bosses like me? Do I
4:30
have a role? Uh? You know. And they've had so much change
4:34
in the building. I'm frankly surprised this hasn't happened a little more. But
4:39
they haven't really kept anybody long enough to to have this come up really.
4:45
Uh. And if they have kept the guys, sometimes they've been injured and
4:48
they haven't been in this position. But I don't I don't get a sense
4:51
they're going to do much of anything with them, and he may just have
4:55
to decide, am I am I coming in or not just to get the
4:59
clock ticket and I'm you know, getting another season accrued. And maybe they
5:04
make a move because they I mean, that's that maybe the one position that
5:10
and running back, or they may actually have depth on a on a very
5:14
thin roster overall. Okay, but he better not comm in and be a
5:16
bit bad apple. I mean, that's the worst case scenario when you're trying
5:20
to get you know, Look, I know what you're saying, but when
5:25
guy, when teams cut guys, they never say, you know, people
5:28
never say, oh, he had a contract three more years, that's correct.
5:31
Correct. Nobody nobody said, hey, Russell Wilson's got a contract.
5:35
So I don't I don't really give too much credence to a guy has this
5:41
many years left on his contract and he should just honor it because the teams
5:45
never do. Uh. And I guess that's just maybe I'm a little jaded.
5:49
After I get what you're saying, I completely agree with you. My
5:53
point is what kind of leverage does he really have and what would he commem
5:56
in with the Yeah, when you're a non playoff team, it's hard to
6:00
have leverage, and you know Sirtan has leverage, yeah me, because he's
6:04
you know, to me, they've got to convince him they're on the right
6:08
track, right, I think he has the ultimate leverage, Like, I'm
6:13
really good and you better talk me into this is going in the right direction
6:16
before I signed for another five years here, you know, Leggy. One
6:20
thing I was thinking about was ESPN just kind of threw up their their teams
6:26
with the best chances to win the Super Bowl according to their projections, and
6:30
the top four teams were the Niners, Chiefs, Lions, and Cowboys according
6:34
to them. And I think all those teams have something in common, at
6:39
least offensively. They'll have speed, right like, all those teams have guys
6:45
that can run and create. Basically, spend my beef with the Broncos for
6:48
the last four You guys know this, I said it on your show a
6:51
lot. This is you know they have the Broncos have speed and spots,
6:57
but top to bottom, I don't think any personnel guy in the league I
7:00
know would consider them an athletically speed filled team. Well, and that's what
7:05
I wanted to get to is that I understand that they try to do that
7:09
a little bit with the wide receiver group. Like Mims has speed, they
7:11
get Franklin. Franklin has speed. But the running back room is a different
7:15
discussion entirely. Like those teams have that. Maybe not the Cowboys anymore,
7:18
but you know the Niners they have Christian McCaffrey. The Lions they have Jamior
7:23
Gibbs. Like these teams have speed in the backfield. And it looks like
7:26
the Broncers are building a whole bunch of guys that are like the same dude,
7:30
you know what I mean, Audric Estimay, Javonte Williams, samaj p
7:32
Ryan. They're all big backs who are bruisers, but maybe don't have breakaway
7:38
speed. Does that matter to you, Well, it wouldn't matter as much
7:42
if the tight end room was a little more. You need that speed element
7:47
at tight end or running back if you're gonna attack nickel defenses with any consistent
7:53
success. I mean, you've got to stress teams between the numbers and the
7:58
nickel. That's that's where you can win matchups. That's why all of those
8:01
teams have good tight end presence too, if you really think about it.
8:05
Yeah, because everybody's in the Nickel seventy to eighty percent of the time now
8:11
and more and more every day, it seems like, so you you've got
8:16
to have that that presence at running back or tight end, or you're not
8:20
going to be able to attack the defenses you face most often, like the
8:24
good offenses do, and they just need you know. But again, you
8:28
can't. You can't change out coaches all the time because every new new coach
8:35
wants a new look of the roster, he wants his own guys, and
8:39
it takes like two years. I mean, look at all the turnover the
8:43
Broncos have had in Sean Payton's first two off seasons. Yep, before he's
8:48
even before you sort of even at the starting point and say he only makes
8:54
it four years or you know whatever. You know, how itever it turns
8:58
out, then you're doing it again. And it really is hard to maintain
9:03
any kind of organizational uh roster building. I mean, you look at how
9:09
the Ravens are building a roster, and you look how the Broncos are doing
9:11
it, and it can't be more different. You look at the Niners how
9:15
they're doing it. The Chiefs, you know, are the ultimate example.
9:18
You know that it's just you know, again, the Chiefs had sixteen guys
9:24
start the Super Bowl. They drafted. To me, that's that's how you
9:28
do it. Yeah, they got my homes, but you got to have
9:31
a roster plan and speed. You're right, Speed's got to be apart of
9:35
it. Let me just follow up on something real quick. Good teams with
9:39
good players are good. Yeah, that's true forever. But you're so right.
9:50
You said what the Chiefs are doing. The most predictable thing in the
9:54
entire first round of the NFL draft was the Chiefs taking Xavier Work. Is
9:58
it not like it was them finding the fastest guy because they didn't have a
10:03
lot of speed last year. It's like, what do we find another Tyreek
10:05
Hill speed guy? Why don't we just go and do that? Oh?
10:07
There he is cool? Ill. I mean again, you have the draft
10:11
built roster. You have the luxury of just adding on every year because your
10:18
roster has the you know, it's like every house. Your house is only
10:20
as good as the foundation. Doesn't matter what the paint looks like or how
10:24
pretty the roof is. If the foundation stinks, it's going to be a
10:28
crappy house. And rosters are like that, and that's why. You know,
10:33
again, I know people get bored with me, but the draft.
10:37
That's why the draft matters. You know, we all get caught up in
10:41
all the drafts and inexact science. You can't predict, you know, blah
10:45
blah blah. Yeah, the good teams use it to build, and then
10:50
it gives you the luxury of looking at the draft board and saying, yeah,
10:52
Xavier Worthy fits right now, let's let's grab him and add it on.
10:58
And when it seems like you know, the quote quote unquote luxury pick,
11:03
Well, when your roster's been built through the draft, you just keep
11:07
on keeping on. Man. The Ravens have made a you know, that's
11:11
the way they do business. That's the way the Steelers do business. You
11:15
know, Mike Tomlin has not had a losing season, and no team may
11:20
participate less than free agency than the Steelers do. Yeah, you know what,
11:24
I read your article about Jared Stidham, which I thought was very good.
11:28
As always, Lake, you read everything that you write. This guy
11:33
doesn't have a shot at the starting quarterback position. I mean, I can't
11:37
envision a scenario where it's not Bonix at twenty four years of age with sixty
11:41
one college games under his belt, getting his feet wet early, and going
11:46
for it in a season that the Broncos aren't going to win in anyway.
11:48
How could it possibly be Jared's Didham? Yeah? And to me, Momas,
11:54
the only scenario is twenty sixteen when Sanchez and Paxton Lynch both crater and
12:03
look miserable. And that was the most hyped quarterback competition that people didn't get
12:09
right. It wasn't close from day one to when they made Trevor Simmey and
12:13
the starter. Yet on social media I had to see every day about how
12:18
close it was. Never close. That's how he could win it the other
12:22
two guys. But part of me thinks Sean Payton has decided bo Nix will
12:26
be the starter no matter what. You know. I just want to see
12:31
how fair of the fight is when it really matters. Doesn't matter now,
12:35
you can say whatever you want this time of year, and he has You
12:37
know, they can split rets evenly right now and it doesn't impact bo Nix's
12:43
development. But you don't make bo Nicks the starter this year. His developmental
12:48
curve essentially stops in September. Because if you're not the starter, you get
12:54
almost no reps at all, and there's almost no real develop mental value beyond
13:01
meetings. Uh, if you're not the starter. So that you know,
13:05
again, I want to see how fair of the fight is when training camp
13:09
is going, when the preseason games are going, and when September is a
13:13
couple of weeks away instead of a couple of months. Jeff Leaguwell ESPN dot
13:18
Com. Last thing for you, Jeff Moser went through ESPN's FPI. That
13:22
is the Football Power Index that is going to project where teams draft. Right,
13:28
and do you have the numbers still in front of emotion to the Bronco
13:30
They sure do well. The Broncos. Uh like NASA, by the way,
13:35
Yeah, they're all it's all geeks. They come to our they come
13:39
to our meetings at our NFL summit every year. My eyes blaze over.
13:43
I got you know, I could like name tight ends and stuff. So
13:48
it spits out these numbers, Jeff. The worst team the Patriots. The
13:52
chance at the number one is twenty two percent, Top five is sixty six
13:54
percent. Chance over the top ten pick is is eighty seven percent. Right,
14:00
Well, le Broncos are number three. They have their average draft position
14:01
seven. The chance at the overall number one, twelve point four. The
14:05
chance at the top five pick is fifty one percent, and to pick in
14:09
the top ten is seventy seven percent. Does that sound right to you?
14:13
Of course it's Doug honestly, guys, objectively objectively, Can you say this
14:20
roster is more talented than the team that finished eight to nine last year?
14:24
No? I hell you, I said, when most read the numbers,
14:26
I'm like, that makes total sense to me, total sense because I just
14:30
look at just look at their top three free agents that departed. The quarterback
14:35
won't play as well as Russell Wilson unless they get extremely lucky. The safety
14:39
won't be as good as Justin Simmons, and the linebacker probably won't be as
14:43
good as Josie Jewell. Let's throw the center in. Will the center be
14:46
as good as Lloyd Kristenberry? Not the talent drain. They're not keeping up
14:52
with the departures, and that's you got to do that first before you can
14:58
think about being a playoff team. You've got to keep up with the departures
15:03
just to stay status quo. And I'm not even sure they've done that.
15:07
But again, we're looking at the you know what, the fifth head coach
15:11
in the last eight years, essentially, and it's just you can't it can't
15:16
be any other way. I don't know why people expect it to look differently.
15:20
This is how it looks. This is what when you rotate head coaches.
15:24
This is what's so weird to meet Leggy and I can't look. I
15:28
can't fathom saying something like this on a sports talk radio show in Denver,
15:33
but I said, the Broncos plan next year is very similar to the one
15:37
that I want the Rockies to have that it seems like they're executing right now,
15:41
which is the win loss record doesn't mean as much to me as much
15:45
as the young development of talent on that roster. And I'm putting the Broncos
15:50
in the Rockies like in the same category because I don't think either of them
15:54
are going to do any bit of winning this year. So it's all about
15:56
can the younger guys play well? I agree with that, but they got
16:00
to put him on the field. You know, the last year almost no
16:03
snaps Marvin Mins two hundred something snaps, and they didn't play rookies last year
16:08
when they easily could have played them. So you know, until they decide
16:15
to do this, and you know you're around the league, there's always a
16:22
curiosity whether Sean Payton is going to try, you know, to lean on
16:27
veterans to win more week to week than a long term plan. And I
16:33
think people are very interested to see how he approaches the potential of a rookie
16:37
quarterback because you know, what kind of patience in game and during the week
16:45
did he show with a nine time pro bowler? What's that going to look
16:48
like? What's Detroit look like with a rookie quarterback? You know, the
16:52
sideline blow up or you're going to see those things because that's a tough go
16:57
for a rookie quarterback. And we don't have the data. We've never seen
17:03
Sean Payton as a head coach with a rookie quarterback and a struggling roster.
17:07
We have not seen it. We don't know how it's gonna go because there's
17:11
no data. That's Jeff Leagwell, ESPN dot Com and Joriness every Thursday.
17:15
Always appreciate the time. Leg you, Thank you buddy, Thanks Bellos,
17:18
See you, buddy.