Speaker 1: I'm Terry Fonto, general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, and
Speaker 1: this is the NFL Report.
Speaker 2: Oh, Terry Fondo told us Steve on this very show
Speaker 2: that he was going to be aggressive going after the
Speaker 2: quarterback position, and oh was he ever?
Speaker 3: Let him Cook?
Speaker 2: Cook gave her cousins. Welcome back into the NFL Report,
Speaker 2: James Palmer, Steve, which with you. We have a monster show,
Speaker 2: The Condor Max Crosby star for the Vegas Raiders. I
Speaker 2: must say Open Raiders. Las Vegas Raiders is going to
Speaker 2: join the show. Baldy returns from his quest around the
Speaker 2: world as Baldi's favorite films returns. We also have Nicki
Speaker 2: Gavala from The Washington Post, who covers the Commanders better
Speaker 2: than anyone. Will also have Mike Garratfullo the NFL Reports
Speaker 2: NFL Insider on what's going on with the linebacker and
Speaker 2: safety markets. But Steve, we saw Terry Fonto there. Who
Speaker 2: won free agency or I guess I should say who
Speaker 2: made their team better?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're not.
Speaker 4: Gonna We're not to judge who won free but Terry's cooking.
Speaker 4: Terry's cooking, he gets Kirk Cousins. I think that's good
Speaker 4: enough to go take a team from seven to ten
Speaker 4: to ten and seven at the least they get Darnell Mooney.
Speaker 4: They trade Desmond Ridder for ron Dale Moore, a potential
Speaker 4: explosive player.
Speaker 3: Right now, I'm gonna say Atlanta JP, all.
Speaker 2: Right, I'll go with the Houston Texans getting the Deil
Speaker 2: Hunter to rush opposite of Rookie of the Year Will
Speaker 2: Anderson Junior. Could that be the best edge duo in football?
Speaker 2: There's a chance there. And then the middle of the
Speaker 2: road pieces they did, Steve just getting some other guys
Speaker 2: on two maybe a couple on three year deals to
Speaker 2: corride some depth on that defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 2: Joe Mixon. I think they made themselves love that team
Speaker 2: that is now in that group chasing down the Kansas
Speaker 2: City Chiefs in the AFC.
Speaker 3: Yeah, b okay, okay.
Speaker 4: We started things off talking about the teams right that
Speaker 4: we thought did something. But let's look at position groups JP,
Speaker 4: because I you know, when I look at the start
Speaker 4: of free agency, you're like, Okay, Kirk Cousins gonna go
Speaker 4: New Hunter's gonna go.
Speaker 3: No, it was Matt Jones. These were guys like you know,
Speaker 3: you know, Jameis.
Speaker 4: Winston, Mark Mariota, the backup quarterback market in the fact
Speaker 4: that so many teams, at least half the teams in
Speaker 4: the NFL, went and got themselves backup quarterbacks after seeing
Speaker 4: last year sixty six different starters and seventy seven in
Speaker 4: total quarterbacks have to play because the injuries.
Speaker 3: Poor play things like that.
Speaker 4: So the premium, and we have talked about this on
Speaker 4: the show, the premium of having a solid backup quarterback
Speaker 4: or a bridge quarterback clearly was the huge thing with
Speaker 4: the evaluators this year, especially knowing that they might not
Speaker 4: be able to get into the top three in one
Speaker 4: of those elite group of quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: But Jay p look at this is on the gate.
Speaker 4: I mentioned Marcus Mariota, Jacoby Brissett, Drew Locke, Gardner, Minshew
Speaker 4: Sam Darnold. Yeah, even Russell Wilson and Mitch Trabisky. I mean,
Speaker 4: I'm saying that in the same sentence Russell Wilson and
Speaker 4: Mitch Trubisky being among that group.
Speaker 3: So again, I enjoyed the team's paying attention to it.
Speaker 4: With the trend we've seen over the past few years
Speaker 4: with injuries to starting quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you might need more than two considering the
Speaker 2: Cardinals and the Rams each played four quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: This Bronces and Stags to go.
Speaker 2: Deeper than just your backup quarterback. I'm going to look
Speaker 2: at the big boys that stand in front of the quarterback, Steven.
Speaker 2: How about the guard market that went on during the
Speaker 2: early portion of free agency. I'm gonna look at this,
Speaker 2: yere look. Robert Hunt with the Panthers gets five years,
Speaker 2: one hundred million dollars, Damian Lewis with the Panthers four
Speaker 2: years fifty three, Landon Dickerson four years eighty four to
Speaker 2: re sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams add a
Speaker 2: pair of guards as well, and Kevin Dotson and Jonah
Speaker 2: Jackson for about fifty million apiece. This is an interesting
Speaker 2: trend here, Steve, and I think it's for a couple
Speaker 2: of reasons. The main one being, and I've talked to
Speaker 2: some guards and centers about this over the course of
Speaker 2: the last season, which is there are defensive tackles that
Speaker 2: are getting more and more athletic. There are no longer
Speaker 2: just freaks playing on the outside of the defensive lines.
Speaker 2: We are seeing more and more freak athletes on the interior,
Speaker 2: and we're seeing edge players coming and sneaking over top
Speaker 2: of the sad guys like Micah Parsons and other type
Speaker 2: of talented players that are looking to attack the weakness
Speaker 2: of the interior. And we know this is always what
Speaker 2: Tom Brady you usted to always talk about. You can
Speaker 2: go around the outside, I'll step up and still make plays,
Speaker 2: but if the pocket is collapsing from the interior, you
Speaker 2: have problems. I love what the Panthers did to try
Speaker 2: to protect Bryce Young and here two. But the main
Speaker 2: trend we're seeing here is because the town on the
Speaker 2: other side of the ball is getting so good, you
Speaker 2: now tocounter that have to make sure you have really
Speaker 2: good guard play. Steve, And the other part of it
Speaker 2: is there's not enough of them. That's the other problem.
Speaker 2: And these guys that can do it got paid, Daves.
Speaker 4: The money is supply and demands driven when it comes
Speaker 4: to free agency, and that's what you said, there's not
Speaker 4: enough of the stud guards. But I like what you
Speaker 4: said about the athleticism because you think about it, the
Speaker 4: majority of defenses now, a lot of them have a
Speaker 4: small athletic hybrid safety will linebacker type where you've got
Speaker 4: to get out in the open space to get to
Speaker 4: them or you've got to do things in blitz packages,
Speaker 4: so that's part of it as well. But also remember
Speaker 4: Sean Payton used to always have his Saints teams incredibly
Speaker 4: talented from guard to guard.
Speaker 3: Guard center guard.
Speaker 4: Is where they put their money because a lot of
Speaker 4: these quarterbacks now are not your standard six or four
Speaker 4: guys who can see over them. They've got these shorter guards,
Speaker 4: so you've got to really measure the height and do
Speaker 4: things to keep them clean. In the pocket they can
Speaker 4: evade the guys coming from the outside.
Speaker 3: That's part of it as well. I saw your finger.
Speaker 3: You got something to say.
Speaker 2: JP A quick note. What team has been more successful
Speaker 2: than anybody over the last couple of seasons. I'd say
Speaker 2: the Kansas City Chiefs. That team has a dominant center
Speaker 2: and two dominant guards in the middle of their offensive line.
Speaker 2: With Joe Tooney create Humphrey playing that center spot and
Speaker 2: Trey Smith on the other side, that is a dynamic
Speaker 2: group of three in the middle for Patrick Mahomes Eve
Speaker 2: that I think has allowed them to go out and
Speaker 2: just make different decisions at the cackle positions. That allows
Speaker 2: them to know that in the interior, Patrick Mahomes is
Speaker 2: going to be protected and he has the ability to
Speaker 2: move if guys get to them from the outside. Taking
Speaker 2: of guys from the outside, Steve, which we have arguably
Speaker 2: the best in the game in Max Crosby, The Condor
Speaker 2: coming up on the show next. He's gonna join us
Speaker 2: and Baldy's gonna join as well, because those two relationship
Speaker 2: unlike any other two maybe around. The Condor joins the
Speaker 2: NFL Report.
Speaker 4: Next, it's time for the lead Block, presented by T
Speaker 4: Mobile for Business. A sport as fast as football deserves
Speaker 4: America's fastest five G network, businesses go further with T
Speaker 4: Mobile for Business. Welcome back to the NFL Report, Steve White,
Speaker 4: James Palmer JP. We are joined by two superstars right
Speaker 4: now as Brian Baldinger is in the house, as is
Speaker 4: his dude, the man he brought the Moniker to the Condor,
Speaker 4: Las Vegas raidersterback hunter.
Speaker 3: Max Crosby.
Speaker 4: Max, thanks so much for joining us, Baldy, thanks for
Speaker 4: having us in the house.
Speaker 3: Okay, Max, let's.
Speaker 4: Get this started. We're gonna we're gonna get the free agency.
Speaker 4: The Raiders were active out of the gate. They got
Speaker 4: you a wing man, they got the Condor a legit
Speaker 4: wing man. Here and Christian Wilkins just want to get
Speaker 4: your thoughts about adding one of the best DT's in
Speaker 4: the game.
Speaker 5: Yeah, super excited about it. Obviously, Christian hell of a player.
Speaker 5: I've known him all the way from back in college
Speaker 5: after my sophomore my red shirt sophomore year, we went
Speaker 5: to a it was a touchdown club in Columbus. We
Speaker 5: end up being together and spending some time together with
Speaker 5: our with our girls and and spending the night together.
Speaker 5: It was it was a great time and we got
Speaker 5: to you know, get to know each other a little
Speaker 5: bit better. And then obviously seeing what he's done in
Speaker 5: his career, we went to the combine together. Obviously, Cleveland
Speaker 5: Farrell really good friend of mine, literally a brother to me.
Speaker 5: He was teammates with him, So we've known each other
Speaker 5: for a good amount of time now and uh, you know,
Speaker 5: we've had some conversations and you know, obviously we end
Speaker 5: up pulling the trigger and bring him here to Las Vegas.
Speaker 5: So it's super exciting. Man, he's a hell of a player.
Speaker 5: He brings all the energy in the world, and those
Speaker 5: are the type of people I'm trying to be around,
Speaker 5: and I'm so excited for him. He earned that contract,
Speaker 5: and you know a guy like Malcolm Koontz as well,
Speaker 5: who came on, you know, super super heavy towards the
Speaker 5: end of the year. You know, we're just bringing more
Speaker 5: guys along, Tyree Wilson's, the Jannaies Robinson's. You know, we
Speaker 5: got more and more guys coming in and we're gonna
Speaker 5: go on waves and and and really have some fun
Speaker 5: this year. I can't wait.
Speaker 2: All right, Max, I'm not gonna get entirely away from
Speaker 2: your running mate and Christian Wilkins, but you added another
Speaker 2: guy in free agency, Elsie. Roll the tape real quick.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 6: We go anyway, dude, nice Crosby so damn angry, right,
Speaker 6: I like the thing is like he's not I know, right,
Speaker 6: he just calls He keeps calling everybody little ass boy, Hey,
Speaker 6: little ass boy.
Speaker 5: I'm like, I'm a little out here, but not always.
Speaker 7: You know, yeah, sure, shure out a song. He's a
Speaker 7: big ass boys what he is he got? But uh nah, man,
Speaker 7: it is awesome. You know there's a guy's you know,
Speaker 7: not as much fun to play against, but throwing your team.
Speaker 7: I absolutely love it, man.
Speaker 5: Excited to be with him. Christian.
Speaker 7: Some of the best you know talkers. I've been around
Speaker 7: in the NFL. To have him on our side, to
Speaker 7: practice against him every day, it's just gonna make me better.
Speaker 7: I'm super excited about it.
Speaker 5: Max.
Speaker 2: We gotta ask you, what was your initial reaction when
Speaker 2: Gardner Minshew was going to become your new teammate? Do
Speaker 2: you call him?
Speaker 5: Do you do you.
Speaker 2: Reach out to him and talk about what happened? And
Speaker 2: also he mentioned Christian also and the two of you
Speaker 2: have a skill that apparently not a lot of people possess.
Speaker 2: Who is the better trash talker between you and your
Speaker 2: new running mate?
Speaker 5: To answer that question, you know, I'm auld humbly say myself.
Speaker 5: I feel like I'm, you know, an elite talker. But
Speaker 5: you know, at the end of the day, it's you know,
Speaker 5: when I first found out, I just started laughing. I'm like, wow,
Speaker 5: you know, it's a you never you never expect that
Speaker 5: to happen. But for me, I think it's hilarious. You know,
Speaker 5: Gardner is a hell of a hell of a player,
Speaker 5: and just seeing what he did last year, taking the Colts,
Speaker 5: you know, where basically everybody wrote them off, and winning
Speaker 5: a lot of football games and giving them a chance
Speaker 5: to you know make the playoffs was was super impressive
Speaker 5: to me and everywhere he's gone. You know, he was
Speaker 5: one one of the first quarterbacks. You know, I sacked
Speaker 5: when he was in Jacksonville, so I know him very well.
Speaker 5: And I had a lot of fun in practice and
Speaker 5: talking talking mess and going back and forth. But dude,
Speaker 5: I got a ton of respect for He's going to
Speaker 5: come in and he's going to compete, so that's all
Speaker 5: you can ask for at the end of the day.
Speaker 5: And a guy like him, he's going to bring great
Speaker 5: energy to the locker room. And today I got to
Speaker 5: got to be with him and Christian as well. I was,
Speaker 5: you know, in there working out this morning, and you know,
Speaker 5: I got to spend some time with them, so I
Speaker 5: know they're fired up and where we're definitely ready to go.
Speaker 8: Max, you're proud to be literally first in line to
Speaker 8: be the all Energy team. I mean that's how you
Speaker 8: You pride yourself in being first team All Energy. But
Speaker 8: so does Christian Wilkins. I've seen plenty of Dolphin practices.
Speaker 8: I don't care if it's during the season or OTAs.
Speaker 8: He's the first guy in line, Max, he's the first
Speaker 8: guy on the field if you're hitting sleds. He's the
Speaker 8: first one on the sled. I want to know, Max,
Speaker 8: who's going to be first in line? Are you still
Speaker 8: going to hold that Moniker? Is Wilkins going to beat
Speaker 8: you to the sled? Who's going to set the tempo
Speaker 8: and practice every day? Or is it you guys in
Speaker 8: stereo doing it together?
Speaker 5: Yeah? You know, I love I love a healthy competition.
Speaker 5: So he's gonna have to work real hard to try
Speaker 5: to be being to the front of the line. So
Speaker 5: I love it. I mean, anybody that tries to step
Speaker 5: up to the plate and try to you know, out
Speaker 5: energy me, I respect it. You know, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 5: But I know Christian he's got a ton of energy.
Speaker 5: He loves football, and the way he carries himself is
Speaker 5: the way you're supposed to carry yourself. This game is
Speaker 5: meant to be fun, and at the end of the day,
Speaker 5: it's not fun when you're not winning. So we play
Speaker 5: on winning a lot of football games together. I can't
Speaker 5: wait to have him out there, a guy that understands
Speaker 5: what it takes to win, what it takes to become
Speaker 5: better and better every single year. That's something that fired
Speaker 5: me up. You know the most about Christian is seeing
Speaker 5: his progression. People are trying to write him off early
Speaker 5: in his career, similar to how they try to do
Speaker 5: the same with me, and the fact that he's gotten
Speaker 5: better and better every single year just shows that he's
Speaker 5: putting in the work. So at the end of the day,
Speaker 5: you know, we got to do it together. If we
Speaker 5: want to win, we got to do it together. I
Speaker 5: know he's going to be, you know, trying to out
Speaker 5: energy me and beyond that. But I'm a different breed,
Speaker 5: so I can't wait.
Speaker 4: Hey, Mack, speaking a different breed this off season, right
Speaker 4: after the season. You got the knee procedure done, you
Speaker 4: got the hand the thumb procedure done. Last time I
Speaker 4: saw you had the splint on, I just saw you don't.
Speaker 3: Have it on. Where are you in your rehab?
Speaker 4: You're talking about you in the facility already when you
Speaker 4: saw the guys working out today, Where are you in
Speaker 4: terms of your rehab?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, me and Baldi talked about it a
Speaker 5: couple of weeks ago, and we did our podcast The Rush.
Speaker 5: Go tune into that if you haven't seen it already, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 5: low plug, but go check it out at the end
Speaker 5: of the day. You know, I'm doing incredible. I started
Speaker 5: January twenty second earliest I've ever been in the building
Speaker 5: in an off season. I've been getting to it. I'm
Speaker 5: already back boxing. I'm able to throw this right hand
Speaker 5: in my training as well. My knee is feeling incredible.
Speaker 5: I'm able to run in the treadmill, run in the pool,
Speaker 5: and I'm flying. My cardio is getting there back to
Speaker 5: you know, like I said, I probably myself. I'm being
Speaker 5: the best in every category and I know I'm getting
Speaker 5: closer to that every single day. So it's been an
Speaker 5: incredible off season. I feel great, my knees feeling great,
Speaker 5: my hand as well. So yeah, I got the best
Speaker 5: team around me, Rick Slay, aj Nibel, Ricky. My nutrition
Speaker 5: is everybody Alex Carrero working on my body five times
Speaker 5: a week. It doesn't stop. And uh, those guys. Without them,
Speaker 5: it wouldn't be possible. And that's why I try to
Speaker 5: get my guys to do. You know, we got a
Speaker 5: ton of D lineen. We have almost ten D linemen
Speaker 5: in the in the building already. We've been training for
Speaker 5: over a month now together and getting after it. So yeah,
Speaker 5: we're we're focused on the best in the world, and
Speaker 5: that's what we plan on doing.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, I love that, Max, I love it.
Speaker 2: So I got, I got, I got two parts for you.
Speaker 2: On one, you're talking about all these things you're doing
Speaker 2: with the knee. I hear you bought a new house
Speaker 2: with a trampoline. That's that's like in the ground. Is
Speaker 2: this accurate? Are we are we able to get on
Speaker 2: this trampoline or is that Mark Davis saying no, do
Speaker 2: not jet on this trampoline.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's it's pretty safe. You know, I haven't jumped
Speaker 5: on it for obvious reasons. You know, still coming back
Speaker 5: getting closer to one hundred percent with it. But yeah,
Speaker 5: it is an end ground trampoline. And I've seen my buddies, uh,
Speaker 5: you know, get on it and fly around. And you know,
Speaker 5: we got we got a gym, all type of things.
Speaker 5: But it's a it's a working progress. You know, we
Speaker 5: got some work to do on the house, but uh, yeah,
Speaker 5: it's it's beautiful and there's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 5: you know, we're gonna have a half field, you're gonna
Speaker 5: have a full basketball court, a whole gym, and you
Speaker 5: know it's gonna be another place where all the guys
Speaker 5: can get together and we can you know, just improve
Speaker 5: and just create that you know, that tight nit camaraderie
Speaker 5: that you know is necessary to go out there and
Speaker 5: and you know, win football games.
Speaker 8: Max, I feel like these off seasons are becoming more
Speaker 8: and more important for a team that wants to get
Speaker 8: where they want to go. You just mentioned the camaraderie, Max,
Speaker 8: and how important that is. Getting to know your teammates,
Speaker 8: cutting it up with them, spending time with them so
Speaker 8: that when you get on the field, it's nothing more
Speaker 8: than a locked up brotherhood. We're literally each guy is
Speaker 8: pulling each guy like almost play to play to play.
Speaker 8: And I feel that with Antonio, I feel it with you.
Speaker 5: We felt it.
Speaker 8: We all felt it across the league down the second
Speaker 8: half of the season, Like how important is that to
Speaker 8: you this offseason with all the new guys, the chemistry
Speaker 8: and building that thing?
Speaker 5: Now, Yeah, you know it's everything. You look at all
Speaker 5: the best teams in the league, they're a unit. There's
Speaker 5: no clicks and there's no separation. Obviously on every team,
Speaker 5: you're going to have certain guys you've got to pull
Speaker 5: a little bit harder, you got to push a little
Speaker 5: bit more. But at the end of the day, if
Speaker 5: everyone is on the same page and believes in each
Speaker 5: other and it's fighting for each other, you're gonna have
Speaker 5: a better chance to win. That's something I feel like
Speaker 5: last year, you know, we took a huge step in
Speaker 5: our D line group just being so tightening, and that
Speaker 5: bled through the team. Our D line we have dinners
Speaker 5: every single Thursday. We pick a different location. Somebody's paying
Speaker 5: for it every week. You know, at the end of
Speaker 5: the year, I mean there's eighteen weeks, so we're running
Speaker 5: out of places to go to and we you know,
Speaker 5: Davante obviously has a beautiful house. We call DeVante, We're like, yo,
Speaker 5: could we host a host a dinner and He's like, yeah,
Speaker 5: come on down. He's like, come on down and bring
Speaker 5: the guys. So we went to DeVante's one time. We
Speaker 5: went to Jimmy G's house as well, and you know,
Speaker 5: that stuff is important, so we want to bleed that
Speaker 5: through the whole team. You know, it starts with the
Speaker 5: guys leading the way, and you know, I feel like
Speaker 5: that's something that's super important. It's just being a tight
Speaker 5: knit group because in the game, it's a direct translation.
Speaker 5: I can't if I don't have a real relationship with you,
Speaker 5: I can't hold you accountable and they're not going to
Speaker 5: respect me the same way as if I know your
Speaker 5: whole family and I know your kids, and I know
Speaker 5: what you like to do when on your downtime, it's
Speaker 5: a different type of relationship. So, like I said, right now,
Speaker 5: we have like ten guys in the building right now.
Speaker 5: Tyree's in there, Nessa, all these young guys, Matt Butler's
Speaker 5: we're already in the building working together and we're so
Speaker 5: close and we'll go smoke cigars together, things like that
Speaker 5: and just build our relationships because on the field, it's
Speaker 5: a direct translation. When you're on the same page, you
Speaker 5: don't even have to say anything. It's like a sixth
Speaker 5: sense and you understand the guy next to you. It
Speaker 5: just makes everything come together. And that's what we're trying
Speaker 5: to believe through the whole entire team and organization. So yeah,
Speaker 5: you know, we got we got work to do. Obviously,
Speaker 5: it's only March, but we're going in the right direction
Speaker 5: and we're very you know, very confident that we're going
Speaker 5: to go out there and you know, make some noise
Speaker 5: for sure.
Speaker 2: Max, I love you talking about that camaraderie aspect of it,
Speaker 2: because I remember hearing your head coach be very open
Speaker 2: at the combine saying, one of Max's biggest jobs this
Speaker 2: offseason is to bring Tyree Wilson along. We know the
Speaker 2: type of rookie season he had, we know the health
Speaker 2: that he had in coming into his rookie season. What
Speaker 2: is when he says that, what does he mean by
Speaker 2: bringing him along? You mentioned the camaraderie side of things,
Speaker 2: but how do you also bring him along in year
Speaker 2: two to make sure he's a force opposite of you.
Speaker 5: Well, there's a standard. It starts with a standard, and
Speaker 5: that standard you don't break it for anything. If you
Speaker 5: have guys holding you know, others to that standard starts
Speaker 5: with me. At the end of the day, I gotta
Speaker 5: I gotta hold that standard and upheld it every single day.
Speaker 5: And that's my responsibility as a captain, as a leader,
Speaker 5: and as a guy. That's that's a game changer on
Speaker 5: a day basis, not just on the field, but I'm
Speaker 5: practicing in the weight room. I take a lot of
Speaker 5: pride in that. So a guy like Tyree, he was hurt,
Speaker 5: he wasn't able to be with us in OTAs he
Speaker 5: was missed half of camp deal with the injury, so
Speaker 5: it kind of was a slower process to get him
Speaker 5: fully ingrained and understand what it takes to be a
Speaker 5: professional and be a part of our group and a
Speaker 5: part of something that's bigger than just ourselves. And he
Speaker 5: came a long way from the beginning, I mean from
Speaker 5: week one to week eighteens like night and day, Aldi
Speaker 5: was very honest about it's seeing Baldy make videos of
Speaker 5: what is wise, not law and that, and it was real.
Speaker 5: You know, some people were sensitive about it. But at
Speaker 5: the end of the day, if you're not held accountable
Speaker 5: and you don't understand what you have to do and
Speaker 5: why we're doing it, then you'll never improve. And in
Speaker 5: this business, it's a production based business. I don't care
Speaker 5: how good you look, how big you are, how fast
Speaker 5: you are, in attracts to whatever. In a combine with
Speaker 5: you know, tights on, it's what you know what matters.
Speaker 5: What you do on a daily basis, when you're in
Speaker 5: that building, when you're in practice, when you're in the
Speaker 5: weight room, when you're on the if you're not doing
Speaker 5: if all those things aren't right, then you're not going
Speaker 5: to go out there and be at your best. And
Speaker 5: to Tyree is a guy who wants to be great.
Speaker 5: He works at it, He's been working at it, and
Speaker 5: he understands what it takes to do it on a
Speaker 5: daily basis, and I try to. I'm constantly showing him
Speaker 5: that and other guys are also doing it, and Tyree
Speaker 5: is a part of that. Now he's a part of
Speaker 5: our family and he's going to be a great player
Speaker 5: in this league. He's a guy that's got all the size,
Speaker 5: all the ability. It's just about putting it together. And
Speaker 5: everybody's timeline is different. Some people come right out the
Speaker 5: gate and have, you know, instant success. Some people it
Speaker 5: takes five years, some people it takes two years. It
Speaker 5: doesn't matter. At the end of the day, when you
Speaker 5: come to a building, it's a fresh start, no matter
Speaker 5: if you're the number one pick or you're undrafted. The
Speaker 5: work starts when you get in the building. And Tyree
Speaker 5: understands that. Now. He's a great kid. I love being
Speaker 5: around him. I give him a hard time every single day.
Speaker 5: It's constantly bothering him and where are you at, what
Speaker 5: are you doing, what are you eating? But it's because
Speaker 5: I care and I want him to fulfill his full
Speaker 5: potential like he wants to. So, yeah, you know, I
Speaker 5: take a lot of responsibility in that Max. Real quick.
Speaker 8: My last question to you. You know, you've had a
Speaker 8: drastic lifestyle change, and part of that change in the
Speaker 8: commitment to becoming the best player.
Speaker 5: To ever played that position. What you're doing right now.
Speaker 8: It kind of started with when you watched the last
Speaker 8: dance of Michael Jordan and how you said, this is
Speaker 8: how I want to live my life. I want to
Speaker 8: be this guy. Can you just share, you know, if
Speaker 8: you go through the whole story matter, we can share
Speaker 8: a little quickly about what that did to you, you
Speaker 8: your wife and really the whole direction.
Speaker 5: Of your life. Yeah, you know, to give you a
Speaker 5: quick summary, After my second year in the league, that
Speaker 5: was the first year I got sober, so I had
Speaker 5: about a year under my belt. I just finished my
Speaker 5: second year in the league. I had was playing through
Speaker 5: a torn labram, I had a broken hand and I
Speaker 5: had to get surgery on both. So right after that
Speaker 5: second year, the COVID year, I went out to LA
Speaker 5: had to get those surgeries and I was in a
Speaker 5: hotel my wife for about three days and we literally
Speaker 5: sat and watched the last dance from starting to finish,
Speaker 5: and I was just sitting there and I was disappointed.
Speaker 5: I know, I took a step back in my second year.
Speaker 5: I wasn't as good as I was there, but I
Speaker 5: watched that I was so inspired by it that I
Speaker 5: literally I went back and I'm like, Babe, I'm changing everything.
Speaker 5: I'm going back. I'm ana civil with nutritionness. I don't
Speaker 5: care how the food tastes. I want to be the
Speaker 5: best version and put everything that needs to be put
Speaker 5: into my body. I want. I'm gonna go to the
Speaker 5: strength staff. I'm gonna say, listen, what do I need
Speaker 5: to do to become the best version of myself? And
Speaker 5: I put the trust in everybody in that building because
Speaker 5: I want. I know I made it this far by
Speaker 5: just being just the ability I was. I was blessed
Speaker 5: with and my love for the game, but I didn't
Speaker 5: have everything else in a row. So after seeing that
Speaker 5: last dance, I was like, why can't I do this?
Speaker 5: Why am I not in the conversation with TJ Whyt
Speaker 5: Why am I not in the conversation with Bosa. I
Speaker 5: should be in that conversation. There's no excuse, and it's
Speaker 5: been over three years now, and I've completely changed the
Speaker 5: outcome of my career. I'm going in a direction that
Speaker 5: I know I'm I'm supposed to be at because I
Speaker 5: do it every single day. I'm in there at six
Speaker 5: in the morning and off season every single morning, and
Speaker 5: I'm putting in work and focus on every little detail
Speaker 5: I could possibly focus on and improve in every single day.
Speaker 5: So that you know that inspired me. I got Michael
Speaker 5: Jordan literally tatted on my torso, like that's a guy
Speaker 5: that I inspire to be like because he wasn't the
Speaker 5: man at one point he had to go through he
Speaker 5: got cut in high school and went through everything he
Speaker 5: went through just by being ultra dialed in and every
Speaker 5: single way and having the mindset that nobody's going to
Speaker 5: stop me unless it's me, and you've got to face
Speaker 5: the man in the mirror every single day, and that's
Speaker 5: the way you become the best version of yourself. So
Speaker 5: for me, you know, he inspired in so many ways.
Speaker 5: And ironically, I just you know it's about to get announced,
Speaker 5: but I just signed with Jordan as well, so it's
Speaker 5: a full circle moment and h you know, lessing and
Speaker 5: super fired up man, and I know I'm not at
Speaker 5: my best yet. That's what motivates me every day. You know,
Speaker 5: I know where I'm going, I plan on being the
Speaker 5: best I ever do it, and uh, you know, it's
Speaker 5: a it's a one day at a time process back.
Speaker 4: So I'm just getting totally inspired by like just hearing that.
Speaker 4: You know that that story is amazing. Congrats on the
Speaker 4: deal with Brand Jordan. And you know one thing I know,
Speaker 4: you launched the Max Crosby Foundation this year as well.
Speaker 4: Your inaugural foundation dinner is Thursday night. I want to say,
Speaker 4: isn't it like the UFC headquarters out there in Vegas?
Speaker 4: Tell us a little bit about your foundation and why
Speaker 4: you felt now was the right time to launch it
Speaker 4: to help improve the lives to so many other folks.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's everything to me. I know how many people
Speaker 5: helped me when I was at my lowest, and that's
Speaker 5: what I want to do, is get back to others.
Speaker 5: I just had I just celebrated my four years of
Speaker 5: sobriety this past weekend, and it just I had all
Speaker 5: the people that have helped me the most in that room,
Speaker 5: that have understood what I had to go through to
Speaker 5: be where I'm at and it was one of the
Speaker 5: coolest moments I've had. So this foundation is focused on
Speaker 5: you know, teen substance teen substance abuse and also animal rescue,
Speaker 5: something that you know, it's close home with me. I
Speaker 5: got three pitbulls, two rescues of my own, so it's
Speaker 5: something I really care about. And you know, the UFC
Speaker 5: APEX we're gonna be having that dinner at Thursday night,
Speaker 5: which is which is tonight. And Dana White is a
Speaker 5: super super close friend of mine, a dude who took
Speaker 5: me under his wing since since I got out here
Speaker 5: in Vegas, so he opened up his house for me.
Speaker 5: He's going to be there as well, and you know
Speaker 5: a lot of great people. So we're super fired up
Speaker 5: for it and we're going to be you know, catching
Speaker 5: some tracks, handing out you know, some donations, and doing
Speaker 5: a lot of things in the community here in Las
Speaker 5: Vegas and also in Michigan and Texas another place around
Speaker 5: the country as well. So yeah, it means a lot
Speaker 5: to me. It's everything, and I feel like this, you know,
Speaker 5: everything is about timing and life and you can't rush
Speaker 5: to anything, and also you don't want to wait too
Speaker 5: long either, you know. For me, I wanted to do
Speaker 5: it the right way. I want to have the right
Speaker 5: people behind me. And like I said, like we talked
Speaker 5: about before the show, Bert is incredible. He's he's running
Speaker 5: the show, and my wife as well is helping out
Speaker 5: a ton. So I got a bunch of great people
Speaker 5: and a great team around me to go out there
Speaker 5: and maximize this opportunity to help others. So we're super
Speaker 5: fired up about it.
Speaker 3: Well done, Well done, brother.
Speaker 5: I love it. I love it. Max.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for everything you're doing. You guys
Speaker 2: can see at the bottom of the screen Max Crosby
Speaker 2: Foundation dot Org. And it's just the start of that,
Speaker 2: but it's not the start of what you've been doing
Speaker 2: giving back. I remember last time I saw you in
Speaker 2: person was on the field at the Super Bowl. You
Speaker 2: being honored as the Walter Payton Man of the Year
Speaker 2: nominee for the Las Vegas Raiders. So Max, thank you
Speaker 2: so much for joining us. Enjoy the dinner. If you
Speaker 2: got three extra spots, I know there's a lot of
Speaker 2: flights to Vegas for all three of us. Maybe we
Speaker 2: can get there in time. I don't know, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe three of us can join You appreciate you joining
Speaker 2: the show though, Buddy, thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you, Max.
Speaker 5: Thank you guys are the best. Appreciate it.
Speaker 2: That's a rap for the lead block presented by T
Speaker 2: Mobile for Business. Sports as fast as Football deserve America's
Speaker 2: fastest five G network. Businesses go further with T Mobile
Speaker 2: for Business. Coming up on the NFL Report, A guy
Speaker 2: that Max might be chasing down? Which quarterback? Will it
Speaker 2: be for the New York Football Giants? Could it be
Speaker 2: Daniel Jones? Could it be Drew Locke? We'll find out
Speaker 2: for Mike Garrifolo next on the NFL Report. Oh, it
Speaker 2: just feels so good to have the NFL Reports NFL
Speaker 2: Insider Mike Garriffolo back, Mike, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: And I just have to start with this. How many
Speaker 2: hours have you slept in the last Let's see from
Speaker 2: Sunday to we're taping on Thursday.
Speaker 1: Now, you know there's real journalism happening out there about
Speaker 1: many important things. I don't want to make it sound
Speaker 1: here's what I love, though, it's over quickly. Like when
Speaker 1: I work out, I'd rather do the sprints. Point, I'd
Speaker 1: rather do the sprints than the long distance running. Like
Speaker 1: I really feel for the baseball writers Lake Snell has
Speaker 1: even signed yet, like this is a six month or
Speaker 1: fourth let's see seven January a four month process, and
Speaker 1: they're just like on on alert at all times for
Speaker 1: four like ours is a blitz, but it's done in
Speaker 1: like three to four days.
Speaker 2: We're already winding down.
Speaker 4: So to that point, Mike Gee, we've seen, you know,
Speaker 4: we've seen a lot of things. We saw backup quarterbacks
Speaker 4: come off the board. We saw guards come off the board.
Speaker 4: But then some of the off ball linebackers, and this
Speaker 4: is always just such an intriguing position how teams value them.
Speaker 4: This has really been kind of a trickle with some
Speaker 4: of these guys, Patrick Queen, Frankie Louvu. You know, some
Speaker 4: of these guys got multi year deals. But what about
Speaker 4: that market and the pacing of it and why there
Speaker 4: really it hasn't been so much a lot of big
Speaker 4: money spent there.
Speaker 1: I should say, I don't know, because you know, Ziir
Speaker 1: Franklin did an extension before free agency and it came
Speaker 1: in just north of ten million dollars per year, and
Speaker 1: I actually was expecting a bunch of because there's nothing
Speaker 1: agents love more and tearing down other agents deals right
Speaker 1: as expecting a flood of texts to be like, oh
Speaker 1: got awful dealble because you know, whether it's it's not
Speaker 1: not that I'm comparing him to these guys, but Jack
Speaker 1: Leonard CJ. Mosley is the one that really blew the
Speaker 1: top off the market. The one year got up to seventeen.
Speaker 1: So it's been seventeen. Rokwan Smith and Leonard around eighteen
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty, and these guys are now like it's And
Speaker 1: so I checked in with a couple of ages. I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: this deal here. They're like, no, it's a good deal.
Speaker 1: These guys are not going to get paid what they
Speaker 1: used to get paid. And I don't know why this
Speaker 1: market settled back down. And you know, Patrick Queen pays
Speaker 1: the market for some of these linebackers and he's at,
Speaker 1: you know, eleven million dollars per year. I want to say,
Speaker 1: are a little higher than that, maybe twelve somewhere in
Speaker 1: that area. And it's only the dealers only structure it.
Speaker 1: They guarantee the first year, so it's not a high
Speaker 1: guarantee or any of this stuff.
Speaker 2: So the off the.
Speaker 1: Ball linebackers, some team's really pouring resources into it. And
Speaker 1: then this market for whatever reason. And sometimes, by the way,
Speaker 1: when I see that, I go, oh, must be a
Speaker 1: strong draft class at a certain position, which is not
Speaker 1: a strong running back class, which is why those guys
Speaker 1: got paid. But yeah, that kind of surprised me that
Speaker 1: that market kind of settled back down again.
Speaker 2: I kind of want to stay there, Mike, because I
Speaker 2: look at the four teams that were left at the
Speaker 2: end of this past season, and all of them had
Speaker 2: a really good linebacker. Course, And I remember having a
Speaker 2: conversation in Baltimore in the locker room with Steve Spagnolo
Speaker 2: was saying, my defense just doesn't work without a linebacker
Speaker 2: like Nick Bolton running it in the middle of my defense.
Speaker 2: This is kind of a copycat league. Why aren't people
Speaker 2: seeing that as one of the best defenses out there
Speaker 2: starting to value this position in terms of dollars when
Speaker 2: it's valued in terms of player. Why doesn't it add
Speaker 2: up in certain positions like this.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm guessing that Nick Bolton's agent is hearing this
Speaker 1: and saying, Okay, let's hope that well, maybe you spoke
Speaker 1: a little Yeah, maybe Spags he goes and gets a
Speaker 1: head coaching job, And that's the guy that he'll pay
Speaker 1: when he's a free agent to get over there, or
Speaker 1: maybe Spaggs is still in Kansas City and say, hey,
Speaker 1: you know how important he is, dear defense. Don't forget
Speaker 1: about that. So you know, some teams are going to
Speaker 1: value it. Teams are going to say that this is
Speaker 1: what we do. When the Ravens did the whole thing
Speaker 1: with Roquan it was because the Bears at the time
Speaker 1: weren't willing to invest that kind of money and off
Speaker 1: the ball linebacker, and the Ravens did.
Speaker 2: And I do remember a GM.
Speaker 1: That I pretty much respect and have a good opinion
Speaker 1: for what he does is it's like, you can't you
Speaker 1: can't pour that kind of money into that position.
Speaker 2: They did. It's their philosophy.
Speaker 3: It fits what they do.
Speaker 1: You got to pay what fits your franchise and your
Speaker 1: coaching scheme at the time.
Speaker 4: Well, I'd say one position again that falls in line
Speaker 4: with that is safety. So you have some teams who
Speaker 4: really value the safety position, especially now the most teams
Speaker 4: are playing more and more teams are playing a three
Speaker 4: safety thing, and then.
Speaker 3: Others, like this year, that's not the case.
Speaker 4: So the Bills basically cut their safety squad three deep
Speaker 4: and let those guys at the market. Now this the
Speaker 4: safety market is still rather saturated.
Speaker 3: Mike.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and some of these guys who did get paid
Speaker 1: on the market, the free agent market, I think we're
Speaker 1: expecting some higher deals than they actually got. Know, Xavier
Speaker 1: McKinney did well. Kyle Dugger with the Patriots was an
Speaker 1: interesting one because I think the rest of the league
Speaker 1: got the impression that no matter what they offer Dugger,
Speaker 1: the Patriots are going to match it, and that's why
Speaker 1: they put the transition tag on him at around thirteen
Speaker 1: million dollars in exchange and change. My understanding is they
Speaker 1: were trying to get a deal done at thirteen So
Speaker 1: at this point, if you're Dugger, you know, maybe you
Speaker 1: sign the tag. You could even play on it if
Speaker 1: you want. Because a lot of times these markets, and
Speaker 1: the defensive tackle market is one of them, there are
Speaker 1: certain guys now that are starting to get paid after
Speaker 1: they did smaller deals, shorter deals, and all of a
Speaker 1: sudden they come up and it's like, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: this guy only got three a couple of years ago. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what, he's healthy, he produced, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, teams are putting more money into that right now,
Speaker 1: and those guys are getting to Sheldon Rankins got a
Speaker 1: huge deal. He's glimbing the ladder as he's gone. Along
Speaker 1: with regard to how much money he's gotten now, he
Speaker 1: was coming off in Achilles the first time, and he
Speaker 1: is coming off I believe six sacks this year. So
Speaker 1: a lot of times about the timing and what's happening
Speaker 1: in the market at your position.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we know there's not a whole lot of
Speaker 2: defense and some tackles coming out of this draft, at
Speaker 2: least from who I'm talking to, doesn't think it's the
Speaker 2: deepest draft in that sense. That probably helps guys like
Speaker 2: Sheldon Rankins out there. And you're sitting there in Hoboke
Speaker 2: and Mike, I have to ask you about one of
Speaker 2: my favorite guys in the league, Drew Locke, coming to
Speaker 2: the New York Football Giants. Was that one of the
Speaker 2: ones that kind of surprised you a little bit, going, well,
Speaker 2: this is a guy that maybe has a chance week
Speaker 2: one to be their starter after kind of getting his
Speaker 2: career back together in Seattle. It was not on my
Speaker 2: radar at all.
Speaker 1: In fact, I had had people say if Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: gets moved from Carolina, which the indications are that's not
Speaker 1: going to happen at this point. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it ever was in the Cars.
Speaker 2: I know they value him highly.
Speaker 1: Look for Drew locked tohead to Carolina because of the
Speaker 1: connection with Dave Canalis and all that stuff and whatever.
Speaker 3: So when it.
Speaker 1: Happened, I was kind of surprised at the team. But
Speaker 1: then the more I thought about it, I'm like, you
Speaker 1: know what, Drew Locke played well that Monday night game
Speaker 1: where he came in for Gino Smith right off the
Speaker 1: bench and played well a lot of time. How do
Speaker 1: you get signed by a team and paid good money
Speaker 1: by a team play well against them the previous season.
Speaker 2: That's what happened with Drew Locke.
Speaker 1: And I also did expect the Giants at some point
Speaker 1: to add a veteran option, and it doesn't.
Speaker 3: You're seeing that six pick.
Speaker 2: In the draft right there in your screen.
Speaker 1: Doesn't procrude them from taking a quarterback in the draft,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't preclude them from starting Daniel Jones week one.
Speaker 3: I mean it sort of semi.
Speaker 1: Resembles the Eagles situation back when they took Carson Wentz.
Speaker 1: They had Sam Bradford, then they went out and signed
Speaker 1: Chase Daniel and then they drafted Carson Wentz and then
Speaker 1: they wound up trading Bradford right before the start of
Speaker 1: the season when Teddy Bridgewater got hurt. Not saying that
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones would be a hot commodity, but potentially you
Speaker 1: could do something like that if it gets to that point.
Speaker 1: So the Giants would that six pick, if they stay
Speaker 1: at six or if they potentially move up. I'm still
Speaker 1: looking at them as a possible quarterback situation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it would seem on if they don't address it
Speaker 4: with Daniel Jones's injuries and you just don't know what
Speaker 4: he's gonna do, you know after this year, if they
Speaker 4: don't address it, all of a sudden, they get caught
Speaker 4: next year in a bad situation.
Speaker 1: And also think about it in terms of this, right,
Speaker 1: you do that, and now you don't need to do it.
Speaker 1: So maybe it's a little bit of playing cat and
Speaker 1: mouse with teams when it comes to the draft. Let's say, oh,
Speaker 1: what Giant signed a guy like no That still allows
Speaker 1: you then to explore trades because a you're not desperate
Speaker 1: for it, you can't have a fallback situation, and B
Speaker 1: they don't think that you're necessarily about to jump up
Speaker 1: and bite right.
Speaker 3: Hey, Mike Tee, really good stuff.
Speaker 4: I mean, I love talking about some off topic stuff
Speaker 4: after a great start of the week. Really appreciate what
Speaker 4: you Ian and Tom do for our franchise. Well done.
Speaker 4: Now go get some rest and now coming up after
Speaker 4: the break, we're.
Speaker 3: Gonna talk Washington Commanders.
Speaker 4: I said early on, this is gonna be one of
Speaker 4: the busiest teams this offseason. We're gonna be joined by
Speaker 4: the Washington Post beat writer Nikki Jabala to talk about
Speaker 4: all of the moves Dan Quinn and this new regime
Speaker 4: have made in the nation's capital. We are back at
Speaker 4: the NFL reports see why James Palmer and now we're
Speaker 4: joined by Nicki Gabala, the Commanders beat writer for the
Speaker 4: Washington Post, one of my former stopping grounds back in
Speaker 4: my writing days, and Nikki. Earlier on Thursday, Commanders made
Speaker 4: a trade which seems to kind of clear the path
Speaker 4: for them even more to draft a quarterback with a
Speaker 4: second overall pick, any quarterback Sam Howell and a fourth
Speaker 4: or six rounds draft pick in Seattle and they get
Speaker 4: back a third and a fifth. What about that move?
Speaker 2: Who?
Speaker 9: Yeah? I mean they now have six picks on the
Speaker 9: top one hundred. They had five previously. They began free
Speaker 9: agency with the most salary cap space, They've signed the
Speaker 9: most veteran free agents, so they are loaded to continue
Speaker 9: their roster overhaul. They're also loaded going into the draft
Speaker 9: to give them some flexibility if they want to cut
Speaker 9: another deal and try.
Speaker 5: To move up.
Speaker 9: You need a partner to do that. But you know,
Speaker 9: if they want to give her to try, they certainly
Speaker 9: have enough ammunition to do so. But it also just
Speaker 9: helps them fill out the roster and really, you know,
Speaker 9: make a move and try to get a younger quarterback,
Speaker 9: which seemed likely when they signed Marcus Mariota, a guy
Speaker 9: you would think comes on to either you know, be
Speaker 9: a backup and mentor a younger guy or step in
Speaker 9: to start early if necessary.
Speaker 2: And let's stick to that quarterback spot and making you
Speaker 2: talk about the young guy they're picking. You mentioned all
Speaker 2: of them, but the first one they have is number two. Overall.
Speaker 2: Does this move make you feel like number two is
Speaker 2: one hundred percent a quarterback or do you see them
Speaker 2: moving out of that spot at all? Given the fact
Speaker 2: that everybody just assumes they're really starting the draft at two, right, Yeah, I.
Speaker 9: Mean, I think they have to take a quarterback no
Speaker 9: matter what the question is, will they take it at
Speaker 9: two or would they try to trade back and try
Speaker 9: to get, you know, one of those second third tier
Speaker 9: guys and try to continue to fill out the roster
Speaker 9: and maybe grab you know, a tackle later on. So yeah,
Speaker 9: I mean I still to me, it still feels like
Speaker 9: number two, you go and grab the guy you want there,
Speaker 9: especially again with bringing in Mariota. You have that veteran
Speaker 9: that sort of that mentor type that can that can
Speaker 9: back them up.
Speaker 5: But we'll see.
Speaker 9: I mean they've they've done a lot in really four
Speaker 9: days of the open negotiating a period of free agency.
Speaker 9: So I don't think they're anywhere close to that. I
Speaker 9: don't even think they've come close to denting their cap space.
Speaker 9: I mean, you just had so much, so I think
Speaker 9: anything is fair game going into the draft.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting, you know, you talk about we'll see
Speaker 4: if they trade back. I think the guy they just
Speaker 4: traded away is a prime example of what happens when
Speaker 4: you have when you have an opportunity to draft a
Speaker 4: quarterback high and don't. So to that note, the new
Speaker 4: offensive coordinator is Cliff Kingsbury, former Arizona Cardinals head coach,
Speaker 4: coach Kyler Murray, coach Caleb Williams last year at USC's
Speaker 4: or Caleb Williams to be the first overall draft pick
Speaker 4: of the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3: However, do you think.
Speaker 4: With all the moves we've seen Adam Peters and Martin
Speaker 4: Mayhew in that front office make with the commanders, they
Speaker 4: may be aggressive and trying to bring Caleb home to
Speaker 4: the DMV.
Speaker 9: I would not roll out anything. I learned that less
Speaker 9: than a long time ago in Washington. I will not
Speaker 9: roll out anything. I will say based on their approach
Speaker 9: so far, it does feel like they're being very methodical
Speaker 9: about completely rebuilding this roster. I mean, they resigned only
Speaker 9: three guys from you know last year that were free agents.
Speaker 9: They have completely overhauled it. Their approach has to bring
Speaker 9: in veterans who can mentor and develop and kind of
Speaker 9: lay the foundation and really use the draft to build
Speaker 9: the core this roster. So would they trade up maybe,
Speaker 9: but they've also said many times they don't want to
Speaker 9: mortgage their future to one player, and if that means
Speaker 9: giving up a hall of draft picks, that would certainly,
Speaker 9: in my mind count as mortgaging the future. But you know,
Speaker 9: if they feel strongly enough about a guy and I
Speaker 9: goes willing, you know, I again wouldn't rule anything out.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like Nikki, there's a sense at all
Speaker 2: that there's somebody that's just a front runner in your
Speaker 2: opinion at the quarterback position in this draft, that you
Speaker 2: just feel like fits what they're looking for, maybe more
Speaker 2: than somebody else.
Speaker 10: I know it's early, yeah, and I feel like there's
Speaker 10: like it's split debate, especially locally between the Jayden Daniels
Speaker 10: and Drake May if they stick it to and you
Speaker 10: assume Caleb Williams is going on.
Speaker 9: I think it's interesting to me that, you know, some
Speaker 9: are fully convinced that it's going to be Jayden Daniels,
Speaker 9: especially now with Marcus Mariota on board, because Marcus is
Speaker 9: his style is more like Jayden Williams. So you know,
Speaker 9: I do think if I had to guess now, I'm
Speaker 9: leaning more towards Jayden. But I also think that could change,
Speaker 9: you know, as they go through pro days, as they
Speaker 9: bring him in for top thirties, possibly have private workouts,
Speaker 9: are going to get to know these guys even more
Speaker 9: so I'm leaning toward you know, Jane Daniels, pub we'll.
Speaker 3: See, well, James knows.
Speaker 4: I'm leaning towards Jayden too, because quarterbacks at Cliff Kingsbury's
Speaker 4: offense have to be on the hop.
Speaker 3: Because a lot of times there's a free runner.
Speaker 4: There's a free runner coming at that quarterback, going back
Speaker 4: to the days of Texas Tech.
Speaker 3: So but again, he's grown. You know, he knows how
Speaker 3: to coach this NFL game. No, I's not going to
Speaker 3: get this quarterback killed.
Speaker 4: Here's a question, and I just don't know if he
Speaker 4: had enough time to decipher. But do you think you
Speaker 4: know and seeing these moves right, the fact that Dan
Speaker 4: Quinn coached against this group of guys for the past
Speaker 4: couple of years, twice a year and got to see
Speaker 4: what's there, do you think that has gone a lot
Speaker 4: into the thinking of the shaping of this roster, like
Speaker 4: we destroyed that guy, we can't have him here, or
Speaker 4: this guy's really good, we want to keep him in
Speaker 4: the MiG.
Speaker 9: I think in part I mean Dan has said that,
Speaker 9: you know, every stop in the past has helped him
Speaker 9: kind of get to where he is, and the fact
Speaker 9: that he knows what he likes more, he knows what
Speaker 9: he doesn't like. I mean, they did bring in guys
Speaker 9: who are very familiar to a number of guys on staff.
Speaker 9: You know, Austin Eckler with Anthony Lynn, zach ERTs with
Speaker 9: Cliff Kingsbury. You've got a couple former Cowboys players, former
Speaker 9: forty nine ers for Adam Peters, a former Lions player
Speaker 9: for Lance Newmore at the assistant GM. But you know,
Speaker 9: I think he has really evolved his defense and he's
Speaker 9: one of the few that actually say we're going to
Speaker 9: tailor it to our personnel and actually does that. So yeah,
Speaker 9: I think there have been players and opponents in the
Speaker 9: past that have influenced, you know, the way he approaches
Speaker 9: this and the way he's doing it and you know,
Speaker 9: his second chance to be a head coach.
Speaker 2: I love it, Nikki. It also feels like, as we
Speaker 2: say goodbye here, I want to put this into your
Speaker 2: you know, just your quick thought. Am I right to
Speaker 2: say that a lot of these a lot of these
Speaker 2: free agent signings that they've made. Culture is a big
Speaker 2: part of it. If you look at the type of
Speaker 2: guys that they are just yes, very quickly, it's huge.
Speaker 9: I mean, they have to redo everything Washington.
Speaker 3: So yes, well said they do have to redo everything Washington.
Speaker 2: This is not a four years this is everything in Washington.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Hey, Nikky, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 4: We really appreciate the latest on the news and all
Speaker 4: the quarterback talk. You're at the NFL report coming up.
Speaker 4: We got Brian Baldinger. Oh he's back and we're talking
Speaker 4: AFC Salry.
Speaker 3: Oh, this NFL report. We can't get enough of Baldy.
Speaker 2: Roll the Tate elsie, No, you cannot.
Speaker 4: All right on a bombshell, lay it out, brought a
Speaker 4: bombshell ratt let's have one.
Speaker 3: Here we go.
Speaker 11: Sources say the Tennessee Titans are signing Jaguar star receiver
Speaker 11: Calvin Ridley. Listen to this massive deal four years, ninety
Speaker 11: two million dollars for Calvin Ridley, fifty million dollars fully
Speaker 11: guaranteed in this deal negotiated by David Mulgeda.
Speaker 3: And res As. I'm a athletes first.
Speaker 11: Calvin Ridley turns thirty this season, thirty, and he gets
Speaker 11: a massive, massive deal from the Titans. Everyone has been assuming,
Speaker 11: I think this whole time, that it was going to
Speaker 11: be the Jaguars is going to.
Speaker 3: Be the Patriots.
Speaker 11: No, no, it is the Tennessee Titans, quietly lurking, working
Speaker 11: and now landing a top free agent received for a massive,
Speaker 11: massive move for the Titans.
Speaker 4: This is the NFL report that was Ian Rapidport on
Speaker 4: free agent frenzy on Thursday, on Wednesday breaking the news
Speaker 4: about Calvin Ridley, James Palmer, Brian Baldinger back here, Baldy
Speaker 4: saw the move by Calvin Ridley one of many by
Speaker 4: the Tennessee Titans. So let's focus on the AFC South
Speaker 4: and let's start right there, Baldy with.
Speaker 3: The moves that the Titans made in the direction that
Speaker 3: they're headed in.
Speaker 8: Well, I mean, all these teams in the AFC South
Speaker 8: are led by top flight quarterbacks picked, you know, at
Speaker 8: the top of the draft. You know, whether it's Anthony Richardson,
Speaker 8: you know, CJ last year, Rookie of the Year, you know,
Speaker 8: all the way to Trevor So you know, and then
Speaker 8: Will Levis.
Speaker 2: So you.
Speaker 8: Make the selection, you identify your franchise quarterback, and then
Speaker 8: you just never stopped building around that franchise quarterback to
Speaker 8: give him every opportunity to be successful. And so here
Speaker 8: comes Calvin Ridley. Kind of caught me off guard. He
Speaker 8: caught a lot of other people off guard, just not
Speaker 8: just where he went, but the amount of money they
Speaker 8: committed to. Calvin Ridley and Steve we All, you know,
Speaker 8: followed him from the stage when he was first drafted
Speaker 8: by Atlanta. I mean, it was pretty clear that he
Speaker 8: became the number one receiver in Atlanta.
Speaker 5: He was the number one wide.
Speaker 8: Receiver Jacksville a year ago, and now he's going to
Speaker 8: get that opportunity along with DeAndre Hopkins to kind of
Speaker 8: fill that role with Will Levis. Is they try to
Speaker 8: build this thing and kind of compete with what we
Speaker 8: saw the Houston Texans do a year ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, bod, it's no longer just handed off to Derrick
Speaker 2: Henry with the Tennessee Titans anymore. And you look like,
Speaker 2: get Lloyd Kushenberry to protect him in front, and you
Speaker 2: also get Tony p to surround Will Levis. Let's go
Speaker 2: as you mentioned CJ. Stroud in the Houston Texans. I
Speaker 2: love what this team did baldi in the offseason so far,
Speaker 2: with what they've done in free agency, I think Daniel
Speaker 2: Hunter and Will Anderson Junior could be the best edge
Speaker 2: duo in football possibly, but also the other moves on
Speaker 2: the defensive side of the ball. Not huge, massive deals,
Speaker 2: but they create more depth as a group for Damiko Ryans.
Speaker 2: What's your take on what Nick Casseio has done in
Speaker 2: this offseason?
Speaker 8: Well, I thought Nick Cassio struck gold last year, both
Speaker 8: in the draft and in free agency, whether it was
Speaker 8: Dalton Schultzer and the linebackers or de Elite Collins, all
Speaker 8: the guys they signed up front. But you look at
Speaker 8: just that, the guys on the screen right now, and
Speaker 8: you look at fully fut of Casi. All right, you
Speaker 8: got yourself just a space eater. You got denikeo Autry
Speaker 8: to win inside or outside. I mean, he's a ten
Speaker 8: sat guy just if he stays anywhere near healthy. And
Speaker 8: then you get Daniel Hunter. Look, we all like Trynathan Greenard.
Speaker 8: We all saw the development that he had in the
Speaker 8: year that they put together in the first four years
Speaker 8: starting Okay, Well they upgraded from greater when they went
Speaker 8: and got Dadel Hunter. And let's face it, Danel Hunter
Speaker 8: is from Katie, Texas. He's a Houston kid. He could
Speaker 8: have taken more money in other places. He wanted to
Speaker 8: go to Houston. It's the destination, you know, Demiko Ryans
Speaker 8: has this teleora about him. Players want to play for Demico.
Speaker 8: He knows that, like I just like coaches that are active,
Speaker 8: they're responsive, they're in guy's ears picking them up. I
Speaker 8: think we all saw that from Demico a year ago.
Speaker 8: And boy, they're building something I think pretty special in
Speaker 8: Houston right now.
Speaker 4: Baldy all got about ninety seconds. So looks combo the
Speaker 4: Jags and the Colts. The Colts basically just re signed
Speaker 4: everybody who was a free agent on their team, whereas
Speaker 4: the Jags they got out first and they made a
Speaker 4: trade for Mac Jones to back up Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 8: Well, I mean if you just look at yes, Indianapolis,
Speaker 8: they brought in Flacco to really kind of help mentor
Speaker 8: you know, the young quarterback Anthony Richardson, which is a
Speaker 8: good move. But you know, you look at Grover Stewart
Speaker 8: and Taekwon Lewis and Kenny Moore and Pittman and Zaire Franklin.
Speaker 8: Those are all resignings. They're all really good players. So
Speaker 8: that's good. And then look, Jacksonville had this collapse last
Speaker 8: year that nobody saw coming. We saw a quarterback in
Speaker 8: Trevor Lawrence. Maybe it was injury related, but suddenly he
Speaker 8: didn't look like he was on the same trajectory that
Speaker 8: we saw the first two years. And so I got
Speaker 8: to see what Jacksonville does to kind of bounce back
Speaker 8: and get back on top, and if they have what
Speaker 8: it takes ship back on top, because I think the
Speaker 8: momentum is going in other places in the AFC South
Speaker 8: right now.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Baldi, I mean a bad collapse by Jacksonville, it's
Speaker 4: going to show some mental stomach for them to kind
Speaker 4: of build themselves back up.
Speaker 3: Baldi.
Speaker 4: We appreciate the conversation always everything. Thanks for joining us
Speaker 4: with that great Max Cosby interview as well.
Speaker 3: Now the NFL.
Speaker 4: Report we will be back next Monday at seven pm
Speaker 4: Eastern Time on TV, on streaming look on the NFL channel,
Speaker 4: and as a podcast.
Speaker 3: And guess what with the hits don't stop coming. As
Speaker 3: Commander's head coach Dan Quinn.
Speaker 4: Is going to join Shad and I on Monday.
Speaker 3: So this is what we give you at the NFL Report.
Speaker 4: You give you the great interviews, we give you the
Speaker 4: real talk, and we give you Baldy. Everybody have a
Speaker 4: fantastic weekend again, chuck us out on Monday.
Speaker 2: I missed Baldy.
Speaker 3: I missed it.