Latest / NFL Now / NFL Combine Prospects, Cowboys Free Agents, Competition Committee on Health & Safety

Transcript

NFL Combine Prospects, Cowboys Free Agents, Competition Committee on Health & Safety · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
0:08
Speaker 1: with iHeartRadio. Everybody, welcome to NFL Now on Monday of
0:20
Speaker 1: Combine Week. We are here. We've got live reports from
0:23
Speaker 1: Indie coming up today. We'll be live on the show
0:26
Speaker 1: from Indie coming up later on this week. So much
0:28
Speaker 1: combine news as we go into draft and of course
0:31
Speaker 1: free agency. In fact, let's start right there as we
0:33
Speaker 1: get in here on NFL Now, I'm Patrick play By
0:35
Speaker 1: in the NFL Los Angeles newsroom. Let's get to Indianapolis
0:39
Speaker 1: for a few instances of all things news. That's where
0:41
Speaker 1: Tom Pellicero is there ahead of the twenty twenty three
0:44
Speaker 1: scouting combine. Tom, of course, we've got to start with quarterbacks.
0:47
Speaker 1: Who's throwing, who's not throwing? Patrick Ohio states CJ. Strout
0:53
Speaker 1: is going to throw in Saturday's session inside Lucas Oils Stadium. Strout,
0:58
Speaker 1: of course, a highly productive passer for the Buckeyes. A
1:01
Speaker 1: big week for him, not just on the field, but
1:03
Speaker 1: also getting with these teams in the meeting rooms, given
1:06
Speaker 1: the history of recent Ohio State quarterbacks, just so teams
1:09
Speaker 1: can get a feel for how Strouds sees the game.
1:12
Speaker 1: Also going to throw Will Levis from Kentucky. That one
1:15
Speaker 1: is notable because Levis last season played through a lot
1:19
Speaker 1: of different injuries. He had a severe case of turf
1:21
Speaker 1: toe that he kept reinjuring the second half of the
1:23
Speaker 1: last season. Also had his non throwing shoulder that he
1:26
Speaker 1: was having issues with as well. Did not participate in
1:29
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl. That was because he felt as if
1:31
Speaker 1: he'd be better served just letting it rest. It wasn't
1:34
Speaker 1: something lingered into the spring. This will be the first
1:36
Speaker 1: time we've seen Levis on the field since then. Florida's
1:39
Speaker 1: Anthony Richardson also is going to throw, and Richardson, I'm
1:42
Speaker 1: told plans to do everything, all the drills, all the testing.
1:46
Speaker 1: He is a rare physical specimen and somebody who potentially
1:50
Speaker 1: could put up some big numbers here in Indianapolis that
1:52
Speaker 1: can spring him forward in the pre draft process. Not
1:55
Speaker 1: going to throw Alabama's Bryce Young Ian rab Port and
1:58
Speaker 1: I are told this is not because of the ac
2:01
Speaker 1: joint injury Young Dell with last season with the Crimson
2:04
Speaker 1: tide that hamper him through the course of the season.
2:06
Speaker 1: It's just a matter of Young wants to focus on
2:09
Speaker 1: going out there putting his best foot forward when he
2:11
Speaker 1: throws at Alabama's pro date. One other quarterback, note Hendon
2:15
Speaker 1: Hooker from Tennessee, obviously not ready to participate here just
2:18
Speaker 1: a few months out from tearing his ACL. Hooker did
2:21
Speaker 1: tell me during Senior Bowl week where he went and
2:23
Speaker 1: interviewed with teams that he anticipates being ready to run
2:26
Speaker 1: by the end of March, and doctors believe he can
2:29
Speaker 1: be fully cleared for training camp stroll around. Patrick a
2:32
Speaker 1: great schedule there if Hendon Hooker is able to make
2:34
Speaker 1: that turnaround after that late season ACL tear. And you
2:37
Speaker 1: mentioned Bryce Young. He was featured in Daniel Jeremiah's Top
2:40
Speaker 1: ten Prospects version two point zero, actually one of two
2:44
Speaker 1: offensive players in the top five, along with John Robinson,
2:48
Speaker 1: the explosive running back out of Texas Jalen Carter, Will Anderson,
2:52
Speaker 1: Bryce Young number three there Devin Witherspoon robbing out the
2:55
Speaker 1: top five. So Tom, let's talk some of these defenders
2:59
Speaker 1: who was also planning to work out. Coming up this
3:01
Speaker 1: week in Indie, we will see Will Anderson Junior from Alabama.
3:06
Speaker 1: I am told he anticipates participate and at least some
3:09
Speaker 1: and quite possibly all of the drills that they put
3:12
Speaker 1: forward for him coming up this week. Anderson is actually
3:15
Speaker 1: in the linebacker group here. The list hasn't come out yet,
3:18
Speaker 1: but I'm told to expect teams to request that Anderson
3:21
Speaker 1: also do defensive line drills, which, frankly, for a guy
3:24
Speaker 1: who put up his sack numbers in college, probably is
3:26
Speaker 1: a better fifth than some of the things that they
3:27
Speaker 1: ask the linebackers to do. So will be a good
3:29
Speaker 1: look at Anderson on the field this week. Jalen Carter,
3:32
Speaker 1: the big defensive tackle from Georgia, not planning to participate
3:36
Speaker 1: in any drills here at the Combine. His agent sent
3:38
Speaker 1: a letter to teams saying that he wants to focus
3:41
Speaker 1: on doing the interviews and the medical here and then
3:44
Speaker 1: he will perform at Georgia's pro date. Meanwhile, Tyree Wilson
3:48
Speaker 1: from Texas Tech a very intriguing edge player. He's got
3:51
Speaker 1: a wingspan like Janis, He's a big physical specimen. He's
3:55
Speaker 1: not ready yet to participate here. He dealt with a
3:58
Speaker 1: fractured foot, two broken metatarsals. He was in a boot
4:01
Speaker 1: for a couple of months. Got out of the boot
4:03
Speaker 1: in late January, but really about two weeks ago was
4:06
Speaker 1: able to ramp up, go full weight bearing, and resume
4:09
Speaker 1: his normal workouts. He might do the bench press here
4:12
Speaker 1: because it turns out that's the only thing you can
4:14
Speaker 1: really train for when you're in a walking boot. But
4:17
Speaker 1: other than that, he's going to save everything. Expectation is
4:19
Speaker 1: he'll be fully ready to go by Pro Day. One
4:22
Speaker 1: other note, Texas running back Bjean Robinson, one of the
4:25
Speaker 1: top prospects in this entire draft Patrick. Even though texas
4:29
Speaker 1: Is Pro Day is just three days after the Combine
4:31
Speaker 1: on March ninth, I'm told Robinson plans to do everything
4:34
Speaker 1: on the field this week. He just wants to compete.
4:37
Speaker 1: A look at DJ's top ten prospects, seems like a
4:39
Speaker 1: lot of guys are going to be in action this
4:40
Speaker 1: week at the Scouting Combine and Indie Tom Pella Sero
4:44
Speaker 1: there with the latest as we look forward to the
4:45
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three Scouting Combine presented by Noble to see
4:49
Speaker 1: the defensive line and linebackers on Thursday, the defensive backs
4:52
Speaker 1: on Friday, those quarterbacks like Will Levis and all the
4:57
Speaker 1: big quarterback out of Florida Vickinson on Saturday. Finish things
5:01
Speaker 1: up with the offensive line and running backs on Sunday,
5:03
Speaker 1: all exclusively on an NFL work as well as on
5:06
Speaker 1: plus dot NFL dot com. Just touched down. Yeah, Jackson
5:17
Speaker 1: steps up, fired, touchdown, Lamar Jackson been building going one
5:21
Speaker 1: man to be ten five hotch down back in the
5:25
Speaker 1: end zone. Uber name makes to catch. Lamar sends up
5:28
Speaker 1: flying for the exits in Foxborough. Hit my nine. It's
5:32
Speaker 1: that time. This ain't sound. It's up. Vibe. We was down,
5:38
Speaker 1: he said, Vie keep us now we all cry, Oh,
5:45
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson one of We'll see where he is. Greg
5:50
Speaker 1: Rosenthal's Top one hundred and one three agents articles set
5:54
Speaker 1: the drop it wait to find out how things turn
5:58
Speaker 1: out on the annual Top one over one, which is
6:01
Speaker 1: now published. So it's all out. But but you don't
6:05
Speaker 1: you don't want to wait, I've got something for you, okay.
6:08
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenkolf sitting right here joining me on the NFL now,
6:12
Speaker 1: as well as jeff Jada. As we look to the
6:14
Speaker 1: top one on one free age the music video count.
6:16
Speaker 1: It spoils it right. You got Lamar at number one, Yeah,
6:19
Speaker 1: I do, and it's breaking news right now. That article
6:21
Speaker 1: went up three minutes ago. They said, Jeffrey Chadia is
6:24
Speaker 1: on Claybourne's hosting, like, we gotta get this thing of
6:26
Speaker 1: people for the people, Lamar. I mean, that's an easy
6:30
Speaker 1: number one. And I'm just curious how this thing is
6:32
Speaker 1: gonna go, jeff because we look at quarterbacks when they
6:35
Speaker 1: get close to free agency. Kirk Cousins actually did it.
6:37
Speaker 1: You got a fully guaranteed contract. Deshaun Watson was not
6:41
Speaker 1: a free agent, but he was freely available a year ago.
6:44
Speaker 1: Every team knew it. What did he get a fully
6:46
Speaker 1: guaranteed contract? I think the NFL is afraid of what happened.
6:50
Speaker 1: If someone as good as Lamar Jackson, who's not going
6:53
Speaker 1: to be suspended, who's a lot better than Kirk Cousins,
6:55
Speaker 1: actually reached free agency. This is about as close as
6:58
Speaker 1: they get. On our podcast, Patrick predicted a trade, and
7:02
Speaker 1: maybe you disagree, Jeffrey, but I think as this goes on,
7:06
Speaker 1: I think it's more and more likely there is a
7:08
Speaker 1: potential trade for Lamar Jackson because if the Ravens don't
7:12
Speaker 1: want to give him a fully guaranteed contract or what
7:14
Speaker 1: he's worth, I think another team will. I think you're right.
7:16
Speaker 1: I think you're both right. I think trade is the
7:18
Speaker 1: most likely outcome of all this just because I think
7:21
Speaker 1: the Ravens have a case here, just because when you
7:24
Speaker 1: look at what Lamar Jackson has done, great player, great talent.
7:27
Speaker 1: I love Lamar Jackson, that's my disclaimer, but the last
7:30
Speaker 1: two years has been hurt. At the end of the year.
7:32
Speaker 1: The Ravens have not won a playoff game in the
7:34
Speaker 1: last two years, and I think there's some cover here
7:36
Speaker 1: because you've seen other teams trade star quarterbacks, get big
7:40
Speaker 1: hauls and move forward. So I agree with you. I
7:42
Speaker 1: love what Lamar Jackson brings to amy offense, but I
7:45
Speaker 1: also feel like the tide is turning against him and
7:48
Speaker 1: there's other teams out there that will pay him more
7:50
Speaker 1: than the Ravens. Yeah, that's something Greg has said last week.
7:53
Speaker 1: If the Ravens aren't willing to do it, then there's
7:55
Speaker 1: gotta be somebody that's willing to pay Lamar Jackson. And
7:58
Speaker 1: I'm getting a theme here in this top ten because
8:00
Speaker 1: it is live on NFL dot Com Slash Rosenthal. Greg,
8:03
Speaker 1: We've got Daniel Jones and Derek Carr in the top Tennel, Yeah,
8:06
Speaker 1: they're five and six. I struggled with this, not just
8:08
Speaker 1: because we had our colleague David Carr on our podcast
8:11
Speaker 1: ones to have Derek unblock me, so I'm afraid of
8:14
Speaker 1: what he'll do. That he's below Daniel Jones. He is
8:16
Speaker 1: below Daniel Jones, but they're five and six. I think
8:18
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones has a little bit higher of an upside here.
8:21
Speaker 1: We've seen him limit mistakes like he did a year ago.
8:25
Speaker 1: We know that he can prevent being the problem, and
8:29
Speaker 1: we know his running ability to me gives him a
8:31
Speaker 1: little higher long term ceiling. But if you're a team
8:34
Speaker 1: like the Jets, for instance, I'd much rather have a
8:36
Speaker 1: Derek Carr. And once again we'll see the value of
8:39
Speaker 1: free agent quarterback because I think Derek Carr's got to
8:41
Speaker 1: make more than thirty million dollars a year. I still
8:45
Speaker 1: think quarterbacks are the most underpaid assets in football, maybe
8:49
Speaker 1: in all of sports, because if Lamar Jackson was actually
8:52
Speaker 1: a free agent, truly free, no salary, kevin no, nothing like,
8:55
Speaker 1: he would make seventy to one hundred million dollars. That
8:58
Speaker 1: is what they are worth to a franchise. That's why
9:00
Speaker 1: I think a guy like Derek car will still get
9:02
Speaker 1: between thirty and forty million. I'll start with Daniel Jones
9:06
Speaker 1: here because I like what he did for the Giants.
9:07
Speaker 1: But I also feel like Brian Davie was a big
9:10
Speaker 1: part of what he did last year. And you start
9:12
Speaker 1: to hear all these rumors floating around about changing agents
9:15
Speaker 1: and forty five million dollars a year. He just hope
9:18
Speaker 1: that he's not getting too caught up in his own hype.
9:21
Speaker 1: I think he belonged with this team. I think they'll
9:23
Speaker 1: end up franchising him. The irony here is that they
9:25
Speaker 1: could have had him on a much cheaper deal. They'd
9:27
Speaker 1: give him the fifth year option, but they didn't know
9:28
Speaker 1: what he was going to become. So stay put. Daniel
9:31
Speaker 1: Jones making work for the Giants. But Derek Carr is
9:33
Speaker 1: a lot more interesting. And I don't know how you
9:35
Speaker 1: got blocked. You're a likable guy, Greg, But I look
9:38
Speaker 1: at Derek Carr a lot. Look at Matthew Stafford. A
9:41
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, people were ripping him and talking
9:43
Speaker 1: about he's not a winner. Derek carrs dealt a lot
9:46
Speaker 1: of dysfunction, goes to play with the Jets. He's got
9:49
Speaker 1: great numbers. His numbers are comparable with Matthew Startford with
9:52
Speaker 1: up for nine seasons. I think he can help anybody
9:55
Speaker 1: be a playoff team and the championship contender, and I
9:57
Speaker 1: won't get blocked because of that. I totally agree. And
10:00
Speaker 1: I want to point out I'm pretty sure Derek Carr
10:02
Speaker 1: blocked me watching the Raiders lose a playoff game at
10:05
Speaker 1: home because I was ragged eyed his teammate Matt mcgloyd.
10:08
Speaker 1: So that's like a gold star for him. He was
10:10
Speaker 1: being a good teammate. Greg does support if you have
10:13
Speaker 1: the block button, you can utilize that. Nobody's judging. They're
10:15
Speaker 1: asking people to unlock you. Was a little bit of
10:17
Speaker 1: touching such I don't know if I go that far,
10:19
Speaker 1: but keep going down this list because Eagles fans just
10:22
Speaker 1: had to deal with loss in the Super Bowl, and
10:23
Speaker 1: I'm seeing three defenders in your top How do they
10:27
Speaker 1: make this work on our grave? Number three was a
10:30
Speaker 1: great pick up three years ago. I don't think they'll
10:32
Speaker 1: be able to keep them. And then in the secondary,
10:34
Speaker 1: you have Chauncey Gardner Johnson and James Bradberry both in
10:37
Speaker 1: my top ten. I think they're gonna have to choose
10:38
Speaker 1: between one of them. You also look deeper, both their
10:42
Speaker 1: starting linebackers are available. Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox are
10:46
Speaker 1: both going to be available. Graham technically has an avoid
10:49
Speaker 1: in his contract, but he's going to be out there.
10:51
Speaker 1: They have so many good players that are available. I
10:54
Speaker 1: still think the Eagles are going to find a way
10:56
Speaker 1: to be aggressive sign a lot of these guys and
10:58
Speaker 1: sign other people's freedoms, because that's what the Eagles do.
11:01
Speaker 1: To me. I would prioritize Gardner Johnson. I think James
11:03
Speaker 1: Bradberry Jeffrey is going to be paid despite that holding penalty.
11:07
Speaker 1: He had an incredible season as a cornerback for the Eagles. Yeah,
11:11
Speaker 1: I would agree with that. He really fell into their
11:13
Speaker 1: lapse there because he had some missions with the Giants
11:15
Speaker 1: and he was, you know, a salary cap casualty. Great
11:18
Speaker 1: season for them, but I do think his market's going
11:20
Speaker 1: to be pretty high. Garter Johnson is a big player
11:23
Speaker 1: on the back end. But I would say that Hardgrave
11:25
Speaker 1: is a guy I try to hold on to when
11:27
Speaker 1: you're talking about Fletcher Cox being up in age and
11:29
Speaker 1: hard Grave being a real dominant pass rusher, not a
11:32
Speaker 1: phenomenal run defender. But like you said, they're gonna be
11:35
Speaker 1: needing somebody in that interior to really push the pocket.
11:38
Speaker 1: I'd love to see them hold on the hard grave too.
11:39
Speaker 1: But all those guys can command top dollar right now
11:42
Speaker 1: in a free agency. Yeah, and all should, especially considering
11:44
Speaker 1: what they accomplished last year. I know the one game,
11:47
Speaker 1: of course, especially the second half of the Super Bowl,
11:49
Speaker 1: is gonna leave linger in people's minds. But pretty good
11:51
Speaker 1: players all deserve a chance and an opportunity. We'll have
11:54
Speaker 1: more with Jeff Jadit Greg Rosenall is going to go
11:56
Speaker 1: really around the NFL podcast, So check that out on
11:59
Speaker 1: your favorite podcast vendors, as well as go check out
12:02
Speaker 1: the NFL dot com slash Rostall. Thanks Jeff, thank you,
12:05
Speaker 1: because we keep going here on NFL Now, all the
12:08
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys always looking to add talent in the off season,
12:11
Speaker 1: but are they in some cap constraints. Jane Slater breaks
12:14
Speaker 1: down the methods and the money next on NFL Now,
12:26
Speaker 1: Cowboys are on to the next season and doing so
12:29
Speaker 1: while some of the guys who score touchdowns in fact
12:31
Speaker 1: in that playoff went over. The Buccaneers are free agents
12:34
Speaker 1: in the offseason. Tony Pollard, Dalton Schultz, Noah Brown, Cooper
12:37
Speaker 1: Rush among a few, and there's some defenders as well.
12:40
Speaker 1: So let's approach the roster construction of the Cowboys in
12:44
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. Jane Slater joining us now on NFL Now,
12:47
Speaker 1: good afternoon to you, Jane. Stephen Jones has talked about
12:49
Speaker 1: putting more pieces, more talent around deck on the offense.
12:53
Speaker 1: How do they prioritize that moving forward? Great question, because
12:56
Speaker 1: they've got a lot of questions that need to be addressed,
12:59
Speaker 1: and we'll likely get all those answers at combined as
13:02
Speaker 1: we typically do. But yeah, we've got a lot of changes,
13:05
Speaker 1: not only to the coaching staff, but it's also going
13:07
Speaker 1: to look like a very different roster next year. But
13:09
Speaker 1: it starts with Dak Prescott in the sense that they
13:12
Speaker 1: truly believe and they just reiterated this yesterday. Todd Archer
13:16
Speaker 1: was able to catch up, of course, with the ESPN
13:18
Speaker 1: with Stephen Jones. The bottom of hotel will be chasing
13:21
Speaker 1: after Stephen tomorrow to get some answers. But he still
13:25
Speaker 1: believes Dak is the guy that can get it all done.
13:27
Speaker 1: But they've got to put pieces around him. You know,
13:28
Speaker 1: when you talk to Jerry Jones, one of his biggest
13:30
Speaker 1: regrets with Tony Romo was not getting that done. But
13:33
Speaker 1: here we are Dak Prescott heading into his eight season,
13:36
Speaker 1: and while he has been to the postseason, they just
13:38
Speaker 1: haven't gone that deep. But when you look at their
13:40
Speaker 1: points per game, it does drop off offensively in the postseason.
13:44
Speaker 1: So wide receiver is going to be in an area
13:46
Speaker 1: they really need to address. Seedee Lamb took a little
13:49
Speaker 1: bit to come along as that guy, but they feel
13:51
Speaker 1: comfortable with them there. The issue last year was who's
13:54
Speaker 1: the number two guy on the outside. Noah Brown had
13:57
Speaker 1: the closest yards in terms of the wide receiving corps,
13:59
Speaker 1: but he had about five hundred and fifty five less
14:02
Speaker 1: than Seedee Lamb. The hope is that Michael Gallup, who
14:04
Speaker 1: they saw into a long term extension after that injury,
14:07
Speaker 1: we'll start to move along. But we saw this account.
14:10
Speaker 1: They knew they had to address it, and they really didn't.
14:13
Speaker 1: They went out and got t Y Hilton. Didn't give
14:15
Speaker 1: them as much juice as they thought they were going
14:17
Speaker 1: to maybe get there, and they were very interested in
14:19
Speaker 1: OBJ and I'm told ob J is still part of
14:21
Speaker 1: that free agent list that they're considering. Robert Woods is
14:25
Speaker 1: another one that maybe they'll take a look at and
14:27
Speaker 1: if it's not through free agency, and by the way,
14:29
Speaker 1: t Y Hilton wants to come back. He really liked
14:31
Speaker 1: it in Dallas, so his agents will talk to Stephen
14:34
Speaker 1: Jones at the Combine this week. But there are guys
14:36
Speaker 1: like you know, I was looking down the list. You've
14:37
Speaker 1: got Quentin Johnston, You've got Jordan Addison. But it does
14:41
Speaker 1: typically take these rookies a little bit before they start
14:44
Speaker 1: to pop. I think they need a little bit more assurance.
14:46
Speaker 1: So I think that's why we could see them adding
14:49
Speaker 1: a veteran free agent wide receiver. But they've got to
14:51
Speaker 1: figure something out because that was an area that really
14:53
Speaker 1: hampered him last year, and we did jay and see
14:55
Speaker 1: them put some faith in Michael Gallop despite the fact
14:58
Speaker 1: that he was coming back from that injury. A similar
15:00
Speaker 1: situation for the offensive tackle Terrence Steele. He's coming back
15:04
Speaker 1: from a major knee injury. How do you think they'll
15:06
Speaker 1: approach him as he's going into free agents? Well, Terrence
15:09
Speaker 1: Steele is a guy that last year at the Combine,
15:12
Speaker 1: I just kept hearing all of the coaches and the
15:15
Speaker 1: executives praising Terrence Steele, and I think all of us
15:17
Speaker 1: sort of scratched our heads because maybe we didn't see
15:20
Speaker 1: what they had just seen yet. But then we saw
15:23
Speaker 1: Terrence Still get injured, and you saw how important he
15:26
Speaker 1: was to this offensive line. I'm told he's going to
15:29
Speaker 1: need a first round tender because there are offers out there,
15:32
Speaker 1: not offers, rather there is interest. Got to be careful there.
15:35
Speaker 1: There is interest from other teams and a guy like
15:37
Speaker 1: Terrence Steel, So we'll see what the Cowboys do with him.
15:40
Speaker 1: But I think the other big question for the Cowboys
15:42
Speaker 1: is what do you do with Tyren Smith. He's going
15:44
Speaker 1: to be thirty two years old. He really hasn't had
15:47
Speaker 1: a season without injuries. I think going back to twenty fifteen.
15:50
Speaker 1: They did play him out of position this year moved
15:52
Speaker 1: him over to the right side because of the success
15:54
Speaker 1: they've had with their rookie. But with the exception is
15:57
Speaker 1: Zach Martin, nearly every guy on that offensive line got
16:00
Speaker 1: hurt last year, so they've got a lot of questions there.
16:03
Speaker 1: They've also got a new offensive line coach. But when
16:05
Speaker 1: we talk about putting pieces around Dak, it starts with
16:09
Speaker 1: that offensive line, and then you've got to figure out
16:11
Speaker 1: what you're gonna do with your wide receiver, and then
16:13
Speaker 1: we've got lots of questions about running back. So there
16:16
Speaker 1: is a laundry list of things that they need to address,
16:18
Speaker 1: and you know, we'll kill a lot of those questions
16:21
Speaker 1: hopefully answered at combine because we haven't heard much from
16:24
Speaker 1: the front office since they exited playing the forty Niners
16:27
Speaker 1: in Santa Clara. And that's the one thing that I
16:29
Speaker 1: can predict, Jane, we will be hearing from Jerry Tildes
16:32
Speaker 1: very soon regarding the Cowboys in the twenty twenty three
16:35
Speaker 1: off season. Jane's later checking out the Dallas Cowboys here
16:38
Speaker 1: on NFL Now. Thank you, Jane, We come back on
16:41
Speaker 1: the show. Oh a fun season in the NFC North.
16:44
Speaker 1: Everybody could make a case that the franchises took positive steps,
16:48
Speaker 1: but the Lions aren't going to sneak up on anyone.
16:50
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty three, Jeff jadea back to see if
16:52
Speaker 1: they're driving the prices up in the Motor City. Next
16:55
Speaker 1: on NFL Now, Oh yes, control of the Packers destiny
17:03
Speaker 1: it turned out to be in the possess of the
17:05
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions. Curving Joseph said after the game. If we
17:08
Speaker 1: not go into the playoffs, y'all not going either, as
17:10
Speaker 1: they spoiled the playoff hopes. But playing spoiler not going
17:13
Speaker 1: to be the expectation for the Lions after their best
17:15
Speaker 1: record since twenty seventeen. They do have some work to
17:18
Speaker 1: do in regards a free agency. Jamal Williams, of course,
17:21
Speaker 1: the man who laid that stop playing with us quote,
17:24
Speaker 1: going to be an unrestricted free agent going into the
17:27
Speaker 1: off season. Michael Brockers, Alexandzloni already has a movement on
17:31
Speaker 1: the Michael Brockers front. So let's bring in Jeff Jadea
17:33
Speaker 1: to talk more about the Lions in their off season
17:36
Speaker 1: wish lists a great season, what do they need to add?
17:39
Speaker 1: Willing to focus on Joe. It was a great season,
17:42
Speaker 1: not the season they wanted to end on, but certainly
17:45
Speaker 1: a lot of optimism about what next year can bring in.
17:47
Speaker 1: Brad Holmes, the general manager, talked about not thinking like
17:50
Speaker 1: this is a window opening up, but trying to focus
17:52
Speaker 1: on every opportunity to win and get better. And so really,
17:56
Speaker 1: you look at this team on offense, tight end is
17:58
Speaker 1: an obvious place where they got to get better. They
18:00
Speaker 1: traded t J. Hogginson's the Minnesota Vikings at the mid
18:03
Speaker 1: season point and didn't never really found a great answer
18:06
Speaker 1: after he left. This is a great tight end market.
18:09
Speaker 1: Right now. You're talking about Dalton Schultzman and Dallas Cowboys.
18:12
Speaker 1: You're talking about guys like but Ingram, You're talking about
18:15
Speaker 1: Mike Kasecki. A lot of good players you can company
18:18
Speaker 1: to help this offense grow even if it loses a
18:20
Speaker 1: Jamal Williams and a DJ Chart. And we saw that
18:23
Speaker 1: offensive at multiple points last season, the number one scoring
18:27
Speaker 1: offense in the NFL. The problem was they needed to
18:29
Speaker 1: be Jeff, what do they do with the defensive side
18:31
Speaker 1: of the ball. Well, certainly a lot more has to
18:33
Speaker 1: be done on that end of it, especially on the
18:35
Speaker 1: back end where they give up a lot of big
18:37
Speaker 1: plays early on. They found a way to fix it
18:39
Speaker 1: with Aaron Glenn, got some guys in better position, but
18:42
Speaker 1: they've got some pieces. Jeff Okuda is a really nice
18:45
Speaker 1: young cornerback there. But again, cornerback and safety will certainly
18:48
Speaker 1: be areas where they want to bolster that unit. You
18:51
Speaker 1: look at the cornerback market, Jamal Dean is going to
18:54
Speaker 1: be out there. We mentioned James Bradberry from the Philadelphia Eagles,
18:58
Speaker 1: not even surprising to think about the possibility and talking
19:00
Speaker 1: to the Rams about trading for a guy like Jalen
19:03
Speaker 1: Ramsey who Brad Holmes knew very well from being with
19:05
Speaker 1: the Rams organization, and that's safety you're talking about. CJ. Gardner, Johnson,
19:09
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates. Again, they can they can get well in
19:12
Speaker 1: a hurry on that back end. Yeah, looking at over
19:14
Speaker 1: twenty two million dollars a cap space. We will see
19:16
Speaker 1: how the Detroit Lions move ahead as we get into
19:19
Speaker 1: deeper into this twenty twenty three offseason. Let's keep it
19:22
Speaker 1: in the North because the Chicago Bears showed a lot
19:25
Speaker 1: of promise, but then they finished up with ten straight
19:27
Speaker 1: losses the end of twenty twenty two season, a three
19:31
Speaker 1: or fourteen record. They do have the number one overall pick,
19:33
Speaker 1: which they could use to acquire some more picks depending
19:36
Speaker 1: on the quarterback interest in some other spots. But let's
19:39
Speaker 1: look at the unrestricted free agents that the Bears have
19:42
Speaker 1: in the twenty twenty three offseason. Not as dire a
19:45
Speaker 1: situation in terms of the Lions and having some high
19:49
Speaker 1: value guys who had a lot of success in twenty
19:51
Speaker 1: twenty two to try to get back in twenty twenty three.
19:54
Speaker 1: So where do the Bears. Where do they even start
19:56
Speaker 1: with regards to free agency? They start with the offensive line,
20:00
Speaker 1: and this has been an issue for the last couple
20:02
Speaker 1: of years for this team and Ryan Poles, their GM
20:04
Speaker 1: was with the chief a couple of years ago when
20:06
Speaker 1: the Chiefs went and remade their offensive line through the
20:08
Speaker 1: draft and freight and seeing. So he's got a nice blueprint.
20:12
Speaker 1: He knows how to make this happen. And you look
20:14
Speaker 1: at what's going to be out there right now in
20:16
Speaker 1: that market. A guy like a right tackle like Mike
20:19
Speaker 1: McGlinchey from the Sam School forty nine ers, for example,
20:22
Speaker 1: or a guard like Been Powers from the Ravens. Guys,
20:25
Speaker 1: you've been coming right now and mall you and help
20:27
Speaker 1: that run game, help that running quarterback and justin fields
20:30
Speaker 1: get better. But again, the stats on that line that
20:32
Speaker 1: really about at you. Fifty eight sacks allowed, that was
20:35
Speaker 1: fourth in the NFL last year. They got to be
20:38
Speaker 1: better upfront. The Chicago Bears moving ahead, We've got the
20:43
Speaker 1: number one overall pick. We'll see how they do things
20:45
Speaker 1: get the deadline. It's a franchise tag or transition tech players.
20:48
Speaker 1: Coming up. March seventh, four pm Eastern, Jeff Jadea. We'll
20:51
Speaker 1: look at some of the squads in the NFC North,
20:53
Speaker 1: the Bears and the Lions. Keep this moving, Jeff. As
20:56
Speaker 1: we continue here on NFL now fighting a shot on
21:04
Speaker 1: eight strike, it'll be Robinson to the second level and
21:08
Speaker 1: beyond touchdown. That's Bijean Robinson. He waited too long and
21:13
Speaker 1: down He goes to the physicality of Jalen Carter, Milebine
21:18
Speaker 1: under immedia, buttro off the itching not escape, Will Anderson home.
21:22
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, Strout fires man. It is grabbed in
21:25
Speaker 1: the ensup CJ. Strout. Wow, what a grow the twenty
21:31
Speaker 1: twenty three NFL Scouting combine Daniel Jeremiah's Top fifty prospects
21:37
Speaker 1: two point zero released today. Got to look at the
21:40
Speaker 1: top ten, but the top fifty on nfl dot com
21:43
Speaker 1: slash Jeremiah, Jalen Carter, Will Anderson, and Bryce Young one
21:49
Speaker 1: two and three again. Go to NFL dot com slash
21:52
Speaker 1: Jeremiah get a look at DJ's top fifty player. The
21:57
Speaker 1: Competition Committee meeting this week in Indianapolis ahead of the
22:01
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three NFL Scouting combine, health and say among
22:06
Speaker 1: the topics. As always of some rules proposals come in
22:11
Speaker 1: and they can come in hot and heavy, as there's
22:13
Speaker 1: some consternation among some teams regarding how things went in
22:16
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two season. That's why we have Judy Batissa
22:18
Speaker 1: there for yesterday's and today's meetings. Judy's let's talk about
22:22
Speaker 1: the Competition Committee and what they faced in Health and safety.
22:27
Speaker 1: Where do we go from there? Well, the Health and
22:31
Speaker 1: Safety Committee briefed the Competition Committee in this morning session,
22:35
Speaker 1: and that is always important because they get a lot
22:37
Speaker 1: of injury data. And I can tell you the overarching theme,
22:41
Speaker 1: the overarching conversation is how to get the head further
22:45
Speaker 1: out of the game. This is of course not a
22:47
Speaker 1: new topic. Concussions are an ever present concern, but the
22:51
Speaker 1: concussion numbers were up this year. The number of diagnosed
22:54
Speaker 1: concussions were up, and particularly interesting, they were up among quarterbacks. Also,
23:00
Speaker 1: special teams disproportionately high concussion rate. So the conversation is
23:06
Speaker 1: about how do you get the head further out of
23:08
Speaker 1: these plays? Special teams not a new conversation. What do
23:12
Speaker 1: you do to kickoffs and punts to make them safer?
23:14
Speaker 1: They're going to have that conversation again. They want to
23:17
Speaker 1: keep those plays in the game. They don't want to
23:19
Speaker 1: eliminate them. That's always a source of contention. But they
23:22
Speaker 1: need to make them safer because again disproportionate number of
23:25
Speaker 1: concussions happen on special teams. Another part of the conversation
23:29
Speaker 1: which I thought was interesting was the Guardian cap. They
23:32
Speaker 1: got good results from the guardian cap. You remember that
23:34
Speaker 1: is what players wore during training camp last year. About
23:37
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty players continued to wear it during
23:40
Speaker 1: regular season practices, and that could be a recommendation we
23:44
Speaker 1: see coming, not yet a mandate, but a recommendation we
23:46
Speaker 1: see coming for players to continue wearing that guardian cap
23:50
Speaker 1: again to reduce the number of hits during regular season practice.
23:54
Speaker 1: This is going to be an ongoing conversation. It is
23:57
Speaker 1: their number one concern getting the head out of the game,
24:00
Speaker 1: and it is not going away. The Guardian cap has
24:03
Speaker 1: come a long way since Matthew Stafford artist thumb on
24:06
Speaker 1: a defensive lineman, and here we are potentially looking at
24:08
Speaker 1: everybody wearing guardian caps in the future. Let's go over
24:11
Speaker 1: to some quarterbacks. You did report that one team would
24:14
Speaker 1: like to make roughing the passer reviewable. Where do we
24:16
Speaker 1: stand on that? Is that a possibility? Well, one team
24:21
Speaker 1: is going to make that proposal that they make roughing
24:23
Speaker 1: the pastor reviewable by replay. The Competition Committee did talk
24:28
Speaker 1: about that during yesterday's session. They looked at about eighty
24:32
Speaker 1: plays roughing the pastor, whether it was called or non called,
24:36
Speaker 1: and the question was did you like how this was officiated?
24:39
Speaker 1: And they looked at everything hits to the head, that
24:42
Speaker 1: hits to the lower leg, which is also part of
24:44
Speaker 1: roughing the pastor, and according to Troy Vincent, who is
24:46
Speaker 1: the executive vice president of Football Operations, only three of
24:50
Speaker 1: the eighty plays they looked at raised questions among the
24:54
Speaker 1: committee members about how it was officiated. Where they had
24:56
Speaker 1: some questions about was this officiated the way we want
24:59
Speaker 1: it to be. Having said that, I can tell you
25:02
Speaker 1: there is no appetite from the Competition Committe to make
25:05
Speaker 1: this a reviewable play. They remember all too well what
25:08
Speaker 1: happened when they made pass interference reviewable right by replay
25:12
Speaker 1: a few years ago. It did not go well. It
25:14
Speaker 1: lasted only a year and then it disappeared, and they
25:16
Speaker 1: feel this would be going down that same kind of path.
25:19
Speaker 1: Having said that, if a team wants to put that
25:21
Speaker 1: proposal out there, the full membership would consider it at
25:24
Speaker 1: the March meeting at the end of March in Arizona
25:28
Speaker 1: unless the team withdraws it so it could go before
25:31
Speaker 1: the full ownership for a consideration. All right, we'll see
25:34
Speaker 1: how they approached that. As the last time, it seems
25:36
Speaker 1: like there wasn't necessarily a commitment to really make things
25:38
Speaker 1: fully reviewable in terms of the penalties. Speaking of review,
25:42
Speaker 1: a lot of looking back a guy slipping and falling
25:45
Speaker 1: in Arizona at the Super Bowl. Judy playing service as
25:47
Speaker 1: a common subject of complaints are from players. Any discussion
25:51
Speaker 1: of that this week, There was discussion today from the
25:56
Speaker 1: Competition Committee about playing services again with injury data. They
26:00
Speaker 1: need a lot more information on that, how injuries correlate
26:05
Speaker 1: different types of surfaces. Obviously, the goal is to drive
26:08
Speaker 1: down the injury numbers no matter what kind of surface
26:10
Speaker 1: you're playing on, but they're also looking at different cleats
26:13
Speaker 1: and how that might relate to the injury rate. Remember,
26:16
Speaker 1: the question about fuel surfaces did not just come up
26:19
Speaker 1: at the Super Bowl. It was evolving over maybe the
26:22
Speaker 1: last two months of the season. So we will see
26:25
Speaker 1: where they go on that. But that needs a whole
26:26
Speaker 1: lot more study, I'm told. All right, when we have
26:29
Speaker 1: that discussion, movie provided to us the at least the
26:32
Speaker 1: contextualization by Judy Batista there in Indianapolis for the twenty
26:36
Speaker 1: twenty three Scouting Combine as well as the Competition Committee discussions.
26:39
Speaker 1: Thank you, Judy. As we continue here on NFL Now,
26:42
Speaker 1: of course, the opportunity to see the Scouting Combine presented
26:46
Speaker 1: by Noble in Indianapolis coming up on Thursday through Sunday.
26:50
Speaker 1: Don't miss the NFL's free fan events at Lucas Oil
26:53
Speaker 1: Stadium with Football Fund for the Whole Family. Next is here.
26:56
Speaker 1: Visit NFL dot com Slash Combine Access to register for
27:00
Speaker 1: free access today. You can also watch the Scouting Combine
27:03
Speaker 1: on NFL Plus, foot up plus dot nfl dot com
27:07
Speaker 1: and sign up for NFL Plus today. NFL Now is
27:14
Speaker 1: a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. For
27:18
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
27:23
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.