Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast uses beer products. Welcome to
Speaker 1: another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast. My name
Speaker 1: is Dan Jansas, coming to you from a stadium filled
Speaker 1: with heroes, Mark Secler, Chris Wesley, and Greg rose Ball.
Speaker 1: What's up? Boys? It is that time every year without fail,
Speaker 1: late February, the scientists go into the lab and they
Speaker 1: stay in the lab, not for days, not for weeks,
Speaker 1: months m h. And when they come upstairs, you see
Speaker 1: the toll of the battle as they fought to make
Speaker 1: a list together, not as combatants, but as allies. And
Speaker 1: when they were done, they held it up high the top,
Speaker 1: one on one free agents of so stupid. They did it.
Speaker 1: They did it. Boys. How was the exercise this year?
Speaker 1: All of that just to put Graham Glass call at
Speaker 1: number forty four? It was better because West insisted this
Speaker 1: year while we were down in the in the lab
Speaker 1: to play that Jaws theme on repeat four months. As
Speaker 1: you saw, I think you mean brain fart there for
Speaker 1: two trying to be human there in the backfired. We've
Speaker 1: been in Indianapolis too long already. I uh, you know,
Speaker 1: this conversation actually will be the first I think that
Speaker 1: we had about this stuff. What we never spoke about it.
Speaker 1: Are you at there? Are you at the Beatles late period?
Speaker 1: Like let it be era where you're going into the
Speaker 1: studio and laying down your individual parts and then it's
Speaker 1: up to the producer two kind of put it all
Speaker 1: together and make it seem like you're actually a functional unit.
Speaker 1: I would say that's an apt in allogy well that
Speaker 1: I would say that was always it we All it
Speaker 1: is is we make a top one hundred list and
Speaker 1: then our editors, um, you know, combined the who lists
Speaker 1: we did used to kind of talk through once they
Speaker 1: were together if we wanted to make some corrections. But
Speaker 1: now it's like we're that much closer to death, and
Speaker 1: do we need to use that time to uh move
Speaker 1: guys up one or two? Let's just let the math
Speaker 1: take care of it for us. So does this mean
Speaker 1: that Ali buon Puri is your phil specter? Yeah, and
Speaker 1: he lets us know if we missed anyone and and
Speaker 1: uh so he's he's he truly deserves the credit. Break
Speaker 1: we break ties, please, I mean please, So if if
Speaker 1: you haven't heard um the show before the special and
Speaker 1: we've done it a couple of years down, and if
Speaker 1: you haven't more importantly read the top one on one
Speaker 1: free Agents of You could check it out at NFL
Speaker 1: dot com slash top one of one free Agents, Top
Speaker 1: one on one free Agents Top one on one feels
Speaker 1: like a better vanity U R L. But again, I
Speaker 1: don't make these decisions. Phil Specter does. Phil Specter makes
Speaker 1: bad decisions times, as we've learned. Um, So check that out.
Speaker 1: And it's a great list. And and Mark and I
Speaker 1: a little bit later on are going to reveal our
Speaker 1: top one oh one. Uh, it will be the six
Speaker 1: minutes that I speak during this episode, so stay stay
Speaker 1: tuned for that. That's where the Jaws music comes in.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I said, So it's something of a
Speaker 1: of a mini pod. We'll get right into it now.
Speaker 1: And gentlemen, um your list, which for the record, begins
Speaker 1: with Dak Prescott. But right off the top, you weren't
Speaker 1: in lockstep on that, were you? We weren't west Head
Speaker 1: Chris Jones Number one I did. I approached it a
Speaker 1: little bit differently this year. There's always that question when
Speaker 1: you're making this list, do you do it by what
Speaker 1: you're trying to predict the teams will value, or do
Speaker 1: you do it by who's the straight out better player.
Speaker 1: And to me, Chris Jones was the best player available
Speaker 1: in free agent. And I love Chris Jones. I love
Speaker 1: putting them second on on my individual list than I
Speaker 1: have checked out some of the other sites out there.
Speaker 1: I was shocked ESPN didn't have him in the top fifteen,
Speaker 1: which is just what a sign that that's why Chris
Speaker 1: Jones was in the in one list I saw on
Speaker 1: ESPN that is correct on their insider list, factoring in
Speaker 1: that they assume he'll just be no. I I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just think it was a bad list. But I've
Speaker 1: seen a couple of others and he's he's generally the
Speaker 1: top three or four, and to me, he was the
Speaker 1: clear best position player. I I do my rankings most
Speaker 1: of just like who I think has the most value,
Speaker 1: and so I do move quarterbacks up significantly. And I
Speaker 1: think you must have some degree to West because you
Speaker 1: you put you know, Dak Prescott number two overall, and
Speaker 1: there's some other really great players on the list. But
Speaker 1: that was one big difference and I was going through
Speaker 1: our individuals, is that I waited quarterbacks a lot more
Speaker 1: heavily in terms of giving them value. That they play
Speaker 1: quarterback because quarterback is more valuable than other positions, Like
Speaker 1: an average quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater to me, has a
Speaker 1: lot of value. Yeah, I get that. In quarterbacks are important,
Speaker 1: there's no denying that. To me. I struggle with the
Speaker 1: older guys because I just don't want an old quarterback
Speaker 1: in in today's NFL. It's a different league than it
Speaker 1: was four years ago. Five years ago. You can't get
Speaker 1: away with the statue in the pocket a stone Age pony,
Speaker 1: as Mark likes to say. I By the way, Greg,
Speaker 1: I just want to say, savvy, move right out of
Speaker 1: the gate to go to another media, giant media house. Uh,
Speaker 1: who creates a list of their own and just absolutely
Speaker 1: destroy it. I'm just saying one thing I noticed that's
Speaker 1: for uh, just for a little context, since we're talking
Speaker 1: about the stone Age Ponies. Drew Brees came in at
Speaker 1: fifteen on this list. Tom Brady all the way down
Speaker 1: at seventh. You know, Phil Specter loved that. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a spicy thing you can sell the article with,
Speaker 1: and they did. Tom ranked QB is in the headline.
Speaker 1: Phil rivers, it's so predictable. Well, if you remember when
Speaker 1: the old zeuser took Tom Brady out of the Superstar Club.
Speaker 1: That's how they played it as well. Brady moves units
Speaker 1: or generates clicks when you speak critically of him, so
Speaker 1: you can't get on Spector for that. Uh No. And
Speaker 1: it was really west Um that put them lower. I
Speaker 1: had them. I had Philip Rivers thirteenth, West had him
Speaker 1: thirty second, I had Tom Brady ninth, and West had
Speaker 1: him twenty seven. So the average is that's how it
Speaker 1: worked out. But I don't Chris Sims gave you guys
Speaker 1: a little what four a little bit. Don't what was?
Speaker 1: Now I'm gonna have to look at what. And it
Speaker 1: was kind of a backhanded compliment in the sense that
Speaker 1: here more football people I respect, putting Tom Brady too
Speaker 1: low something along those lines. Don't care. Tell me why
Speaker 1: you don't care it was. It just doesn't matter. It
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what Chris Sims says a
Speaker 1: better list. It just doesn't mean. But you like it though,
Speaker 1: don't care. I like Westling time. West. I didn't know
Speaker 1: that put in more work than Chris Simms did on
Speaker 1: this piece. So I don't care. One one one reason
Speaker 1: that I don't put too much into it, did I
Speaker 1: have it right? By the way, the general Yeah, you're
Speaker 1: he said to smart people. He complimented us, ranking Tannehill
Speaker 1: ahead of Brady, So that was the thing he didn't like. Um,
Speaker 1: I I questioned, is Chris Simms running this account? Oh?
Speaker 1: I mean, we're we're friends with I just don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't He's a big time star. He's got producers
Speaker 1: that could do things. Come to World War three. Wet
Speaker 1: even know I would. I would think he constructed that
Speaker 1: tweet on his own. Greg That is a tad cynical.
Speaker 1: I like Chris Simms. I think he does good work,
Speaker 1: but I don't care whether anyone's running his account or not.
Speaker 1: Here's the top ten on the list. Okay, it's Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott at one, Chris Jones at two, Amari Cooper three,
Speaker 1: Jadeveon Clowney at four, Shack Barrett at five, Yannick and
Speaker 1: gock Way at six, Justin Simmons at seven, Ryan Tannehill
Speaker 1: at eight, interesting Byron Jones at nine, Eric Eric Armstead
Speaker 1: at ten. So out of the top ten one, two, three, four, five, six,
Speaker 1: seven of the ten defensive players, So defensive needy teams
Speaker 1: have some blue chip options to hunt for next month,
Speaker 1: and some of those guys will get tagged, like Shack
Speaker 1: Barrett in gock Way. I don't think they're going anywhere. Well,
Speaker 1: can I ask you? I mean, I looked at your
Speaker 1: top ten, which we just read off, and I tried
Speaker 1: to find the first player I thought that would wind
Speaker 1: up on a different team, and for me, it was
Speaker 1: Byron Jones at number nine. I thought that it's logically
Speaker 1: and it seems every year the top fifteen is just
Speaker 1: like eliminated because most of them stay home. But I
Speaker 1: think Armstead what number was he He was ten and
Speaker 1: we West had him high, and I like that Clowney
Speaker 1: is the other one. I I I think Clowney, Anna,
Speaker 1: MARII Cooper both have better than fifty fifty chances of leaving,
Speaker 1: and Clowney I would put it quite high because he
Speaker 1: can't be franchise tagged and thirty two teams are gonna
Speaker 1: be bidding. Seahawks want pass rushers, but I just don't
Speaker 1: know if they'll be the top one. And I think
Speaker 1: the Cowboys might lose Amari Cooper. There's this weird assumption
Speaker 1: that he's gonna come back. Why are gonna being against
Speaker 1: But they don't have all the money in the world,
Speaker 1: and there's one team. It only takes one team to
Speaker 1: make him the highest paid player ever at receiver, and
Speaker 1: I think that could happen. Here's the other bit of logic.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys, as we know, as we've been talking about,
Speaker 1: have some really difficult decisions to make, and you see
Speaker 1: it right on this list. Um, they could go the
Speaker 1: route and I don't think it would be necessarily the
Speaker 1: best one, but they might find it to be the
Speaker 1: necessary evil to get things under control cap wise, is
Speaker 1: to go let Cooper go and then invest in one
Speaker 1: of these hotshot wide receivers and draft class full of
Speaker 1: them and hope they hit on somebody that could become
Speaker 1: an instant guy with that. Like Mike McCarthy spoke just
Speaker 1: before we got in here, and you know, maybe this
Speaker 1: means nothing, but he emphasized that he wanted Cooper there
Speaker 1: absolutely next year, no doubt about it. He he did.
Speaker 1: He had this one comment where he said it looked
Speaker 1: like a Mariy Cooper was really in sync with Dac
Speaker 1: and Randall Cobb, who he lauded and he coached before.
Speaker 1: Of course, I'd say even more in saying with that,
Speaker 1: so that makes he wondered. Does Yeah, he's on the
Speaker 1: list much lower down, but it makes you wonder if
Speaker 1: they see Cobb as a cheaper option. It's obviously very
Speaker 1: different positions, very different players. I'm just saying why I
Speaker 1: think that's not even in the top ten on this list.
Speaker 1: If a Mari Cooper never gets traded to Dells that
Speaker 1: I mean, it's true. Look at his numbers with him
Speaker 1: without a Maori Cooper. I just think someone could Why
Speaker 1: wouldn't Amari Cooper I guess make the most money and
Speaker 1: wide receiver history. I know he's not the greatest wide
Speaker 1: receiver and in ustry, but that's just how it happens.
Speaker 1: When you get to free agency. It's so rare someone
Speaker 1: that young, that good, and the cap is going way
Speaker 1: up and we don't know about what. Wouldn't you rather
Speaker 1: play for the Cowboys at twenty million than like the
Speaker 1: Bengals at twenty three million or something? I mean, if
Speaker 1: it was the Bengals, yes, but there's a lot of
Speaker 1: teams I think he would he could find uh, he
Speaker 1: could find attractive, and I think he might make million.
Speaker 1: I don't even know. It might be wild. Cycling back
Speaker 1: to the Stone Age, pony quarterbacks in Philip Rivers at
Speaker 1: twenty three. Every year I play a little game guessing
Speaker 1: who wrote the blurb, greg Or West, I think, and
Speaker 1: then I play a game within a game. It's called
Speaker 1: bet your life on the blurb, And I'm gonna bet
Speaker 1: my life that West wrote the Philip Rivers blurb for
Speaker 1: number twenty three. West, would you mind reading it for
Speaker 1: the audience? Check LaBrea for contagion like a horse fly
Speaker 1: stuck to rosin paper or a masted on mired in
Speaker 1: the infamous tar pits. Rivers furious, flat foot and flailing
Speaker 1: only served to hasten the end of his story. Charges career.
Speaker 1: No longer possessed of the quick jump step or strong
Speaker 1: arm necessary to compensate for an overwhelmed offensive line, Rivers
Speaker 1: is reliant upon a deep moat to sharp shoot from
Speaker 1: the castle tower. Look for Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni
Speaker 1: to coke their coax their old quarterback to Coke's Kingdom.
Speaker 1: I love is a beautiful blurb, very enjoyable read overall.
Speaker 1: I I love this article because uh, I get half
Speaker 1: the credit for all of West is great writing. I
Speaker 1: just like my my my rite upside, Like what Mark
Speaker 1: sent a nice dex great job on all the ribs,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to said back, like all the good
Speaker 1: ones are a hold on. I will say this, and
Speaker 1: anyone that reads both of you a lot will also
Speaker 1: identify some of yours. Where you've got you. You dropped
Speaker 1: some hammers and little shoot some arrows through people in
Speaker 1: a very great It's not like half of them are
Speaker 1: readable and the other are just the other. Let's get
Speaker 1: back on track, Mark, what what's something that jumped out
Speaker 1: to you when you went through this top one oh one? Well,
Speaker 1: I I look at someone like Corey Littleton and uh,
Speaker 1: he came in where it was I believe came off
Speaker 1: an awesome season and the Senate sixteen, and I think
Speaker 1: that's a very fair place to put it. But my
Speaker 1: question is when you look at Corey Littleton and he
Speaker 1: and I think he's going to have a lot of
Speaker 1: interest because he's versatile, he can do it all, and
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of players in that position that
Speaker 1: can do what Court Littleton did last year. Do you
Speaker 1: think that he could go to any team and be
Speaker 1: that kind of player or was that partly because of
Speaker 1: fit where he was with the Rams. I think he
Speaker 1: can go to any team because I think he's the
Speaker 1: linebacker you want where he is awesome in coverage. He
Speaker 1: can hang with scatt backs, he can hang with tight ends,
Speaker 1: and he can he's rangey and like Greg said in
Speaker 1: the Blur, which is what well written. He he also
Speaker 1: was one of the best special teamers in the league.
Speaker 1: He UH has a skill set that hasn't been as valued.
Speaker 1: I do wonder if he'll help UH improve that market.
Speaker 1: Like these off ball linebackers that are great in coverage,
Speaker 1: I mean they've barely existed, you know, in the NFL
Speaker 1: in the same way that Corey Littleton does. Like he
Speaker 1: deserves to get paid, almost like an edge rusher that
Speaker 1: everyone values guys who get sacks so much, but there's
Speaker 1: there's less Corey Littleton's than then guys who get ten
Speaker 1: sacks like Robert Quinn or something. We talked to Daniel
Speaker 1: Jeremiah on yesterday's show about what position groups in this
Speaker 1: draft class are not so hot, and he did He
Speaker 1: mentioned tight end right, and I think Hunter Henry it's
Speaker 1: gonna point more to a guy. I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: get a really nice payday for a guy that hasn't
Speaker 1: done a lot in the league, because when you factor
Speaker 1: in the draft class and the fact that he has
Speaker 1: those mouth watering skills, I imagine a team is going
Speaker 1: to invest in him. They're talking about him potentially right,
Speaker 1: which if he gets tagged, and I think he probably will,
Speaker 1: then Austin Hooper, who is lower on our list, is
Speaker 1: this gonna make so much money? He's thirty third on
Speaker 1: our list, which I think is I am, like, slightly higher,
Speaker 1: but I think that's right. I don't think he's a
Speaker 1: unique game breaking talent. He was in a great situation
Speaker 1: and is a really good plus player, But he's kind
Speaker 1: of the the perfect example of guys who make a
Speaker 1: killing in free agency, like a slightly better than average
Speaker 1: starter who's young in the middle of his prime and
Speaker 1: uh but isn't good enough to keep for Atlanta, Like
Speaker 1: they could prioritize keeping him, and they have their own
Speaker 1: issues and they're not doing it, and he's and he'll
Speaker 1: get paid like the top tight end in the league.
Speaker 1: Can I give you one other just impression of this list?
Speaker 1: I find, you know, invariably, um, it becomes a bit
Speaker 1: depressing because there are players that we when they were
Speaker 1: drafted in earlier on in the career. They were lauded
Speaker 1: rightfully so, and they changed the game of football. And
Speaker 1: now I'm looking at Nodami con Sioux at sixty six
Speaker 1: and Gerald McCoy at sixty and those are both people
Speaker 1: below linebacker Blake Martinez. I'm just saying, I get it.
Speaker 1: That's where again well ranked. But how quickly some of
Speaker 1: these guys fall off and show borderline borderline Hall of famers,
Speaker 1: both of them, though, I mean, they've had a great career.
Speaker 1: It's just an odd site to see Sue and McCoy
Speaker 1: down at that. You're right, it was, if anything. Some
Speaker 1: would maybe argue we overrated them, but they were pretty
Speaker 1: solid players last year for the tour. Blake Martinez like
Speaker 1: the last couple of months of the season, so his
Speaker 1: value plummet when he kept chasing after running backs who
Speaker 1: were trucking over him. That was your boy. I thought
Speaker 1: you might do one of the like West, let's make
Speaker 1: let's make a stand for Blake Martinez and just overrate him,
Speaker 1: just to stick it in my eye. But we weren't
Speaker 1: too far away from them. You had a fifty nine
Speaker 1: item sixty nine. I think that's one of the ones
Speaker 1: where you have to credit Bob McGain the the excellent
Speaker 1: beat writer for the Packers, longtime beat writer, where he
Speaker 1: was just pointing out week after week that Blake Martinez
Speaker 1: was getting his butt kicked. Mark then inexorbable, inexorable. March
Speaker 1: of Time, inexorable, inexorable, March of Time, the prison into
Speaker 1: which all human kind is born? Whoa right? Why am I?
Speaker 1: Why am I wasting podcast moments? Battling verbally Father time?
Speaker 1: The sands are draining through the hour glass. Um where
Speaker 1: else do we want to go? Oh? I have one
Speaker 1: editorial note I'd like to fill for Phil Spec, Phil
Speaker 1: Specter and the crew. Guys that are very likely to
Speaker 1: get tagged about a little icon next to their name.
Speaker 1: Love it, and then you don't have to even include
Speaker 1: it in the blurb, you know that's addressed with the
Speaker 1: little badge that it's next to their head shot. I'll
Speaker 1: go even a step further. Who has his finger on
Speaker 1: the pulse of tags in this industry more than Greg
Speaker 1: Rosenthal for the last half day. Yeah, Greg, Greg probably
Speaker 1: bats about nine hundred on whether it guys getting tagged
Speaker 1: or not. So use this and then you get removed. Anyways,
Speaker 1: it is a little messy, you know, they get taken
Speaker 1: off the list, I think, or they get a little
Speaker 1: little tag I I was pleasantly surprised to see sometimes
Speaker 1: like the guys that we disagreed on the most West Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I knew one was coming. One I loved because
Speaker 1: it's one of my favorite players of the last decade.
Speaker 1: Jason Pierre, Paul Chris Wesley had in his child Top twenty.
Speaker 1: I had him forty five and I love him, and
Speaker 1: I thought that was that was fair. But this is
Speaker 1: one where like I'm glad West, you know, drag JPPF
Speaker 1: he wasn't incredible for his when he returned last When
Speaker 1: you're beating the crap out of the quarterback every single game,
Speaker 1: you're having the Top twenty. Yeah. I one thing with
Speaker 1: him in in the list in general is just like
Speaker 1: you want to you want to give credit to last year,
Speaker 1: but you don't want to forget you know, the injuries
Speaker 1: in in the years before that too. But when he's healthy,
Speaker 1: he's a beast. Uh. Let's see, you have Kenyan Drake
Speaker 1: and interesting, he had a really nice season with the
Speaker 1: Cardinals after that Dolphins trade down at and it did
Speaker 1: make me think of, you know, where running backs fit
Speaker 1: in when it comes to free agency. And then I
Speaker 1: thought about, oh, what what did the two thousand nineteen
Speaker 1: lists look like? And I checked out and there he was,
Speaker 1: Laby on Bell number one on your list. It was
Speaker 1: after a lot of tags got removed. After all the tags.
Speaker 1: That's who sat at number one. Uh is, who's your
Speaker 1: highest running back on this list? Okay, so that makes sense,
Speaker 1: he's number four. And that was when we disagreed on
Speaker 1: We were pretty lockstep for the top twenty for the
Speaker 1: most part. But I had Henry about in west at
Speaker 1: Henry tenth. Yeah. Again, I was just going by who's
Speaker 1: the best player, and this is a guy who carried
Speaker 1: his team really far into the playoffs and he was
Speaker 1: their identity. They got their identity from Derrick Henry. That
Speaker 1: is a good player. I'd be a little concerned he had, however,
Speaker 1: many carries in the playoff. Yeah, that's that's fair. That's
Speaker 1: a fair concern. And uh and he's not great on
Speaker 1: third downs, but we had him pretty high. I still,
Speaker 1: you know, think that's pretty high. Melvin Gordon, who uh
Speaker 1: you know, once wanted to be kind of the next
Speaker 1: Levy on Bell is thirty five. And I still think
Speaker 1: when He's right, he's like a top ten to twelve back,
Speaker 1: But man, he's very streaky. He's had some big up,
Speaker 1: some big downs in his heart of nice value by
Speaker 1: because he ended up killing his leverage. It was the
Speaker 1: opposite of what he sought out to do by missing
Speaker 1: a lot of season, coming back, not being in shape,
Speaker 1: and then not playing up to his standards from the
Speaker 1: year before for a lot of the season. But if
Speaker 1: he has a full offseason, reports on time, has the
Speaker 1: chip on his shoulder, maybe signs to prove it type deal,
Speaker 1: he might end up being a guy you can get
Speaker 1: big value from. All of that is true. I probably
Speaker 1: held it too much against him that he was an
Speaker 1: awful teammate last year, But what can you do. He's
Speaker 1: a power back. He can make big plays. I mean,
Speaker 1: put it this way. We I don't think I'm alone
Speaker 1: saying I'd much rather have him than our number one
Speaker 1: free agent from last year, lev and Bell. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a pretty big swinging miss. I mean, don't
Speaker 1: even just bury us a little more for that. I
Speaker 1: want that, you know, the signing, the time where he
Speaker 1: went and it didn't quite work out. Where's Antonio Brown
Speaker 1: on this list? Interesting question? We did get asked about
Speaker 1: that afterwards, and uh, and West didn't want to put
Speaker 1: him on at all. And I thought, he can't really
Speaker 1: be signed right now because the investigation is still going underway.
Speaker 1: Technically he is a free agent. He's not on the
Speaker 1: Commissioner Exempt list or anything like that. But but they
Speaker 1: said they're investigating and all the things that he did,
Speaker 1: it feels like a suspension is coming. So I just
Speaker 1: thought it wasn't one. I don't want to see him
Speaker 1: on this list at this point. No, I don't want
Speaker 1: to see him on this list, and I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: rank He's not that valuable if he's crazy. If you
Speaker 1: gave me, if the league gave me clarity that he
Speaker 1: suspended four games to start the season and he's free
Speaker 1: to sign with teams, UH, then I would I would
Speaker 1: come up with where he should be. Great, you signed him,
Speaker 1: he has like one yard game for a month, and
Speaker 1: then he drags your team down to the bottom. I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess I understand all that, But like I'm looking
Speaker 1: at Greg slists and he had Gino Smith and a
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty and it's like, so Gino's ahead of
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown in terms that was the free agent that
Speaker 1: was like literally a bit just for me. Uh, Phil
Speaker 1: Specter in West because I knew Zito would actually not
Speaker 1: make the list. They tell me, tell me how Antonio
Speaker 1: Brown does not have negative value? Uh, you know what?
Speaker 1: And it's fair. And Kevin Colbert, the GM of the Steelers, uh,
Speaker 1: made it very clear that the Steelers want nothing to
Speaker 1: do with him. That ship is sailed And the same
Speaker 1: thing was done when Mike Mayok was asked about it.
Speaker 1: We're out of the Antonio Brown on business. I think
Speaker 1: he might have barges Bridge. It's still a little bit
Speaker 1: crazy to me, and I know he seems like he is.
Speaker 1: But this guy was arguably the best wide receiver in football.
Speaker 1: He's still should be in his prime. He's about thirty
Speaker 1: thirty one now and he's completely out of football. And
Speaker 1: he's not. He's not, you know, um, like I said,
Speaker 1: on an exempt list. He's just a guy that's been
Speaker 1: deemed poison. Yeah, but think correct. Yeah. The question is
Speaker 1: what does a you know, a forward thinking front office
Speaker 1: decide to pay him. How do you actually you know,
Speaker 1: prepare for next season around a personality like that, and
Speaker 1: is it in the best interest of Antonio Brown? To
Speaker 1: even be part of a football team where there seemed
Speaker 1: to be, you know, multiple black clouds of other issues
Speaker 1: happening in his actual life. And do all the women
Speaker 1: in your city you have to leave town when he
Speaker 1: gets there. I've I've got all fair questions. I've would
Speaker 1: be a logistical issue. I've got one point I do
Speaker 1: want to make on Gino Smith, which you brought up. Wow, okay,
Speaker 1: circling back. I'm circling back. So um to two quarterbacks
Speaker 1: have made it to the division around of the playoffs
Speaker 1: in the last two years total total. Okay too. You
Speaker 1: want to know who they were? Pat Patrick Mahomes and
Speaker 1: Gino freaking Smith. You bring Gno in, You're gonna have
Speaker 1: a winner. You're gonna win a playoff game. Who does
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson and Philip Rivers look to for guidance? Gino
Speaker 1: on the sidelines? Hey, what are you seeing? Gino? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean Gino Smith's job at this point is to
Speaker 1: like turn on the VCR in the tape room. And
Speaker 1: around two straight years. Eric Ebron at sixty three, he
Speaker 1: was an interesting guy to me. He's a couple of
Speaker 1: years removed, um from what about fifteen touchdowns with Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck disappeared a little bit last year. Uh, maybe in
Speaker 1: the right situation he could return to being a big
Speaker 1: time red zone threat. He's a guy that's still very
Speaker 1: young or young. Your analysis on this list has been
Speaker 1: on point, man, and I agree with you everything you said.
Speaker 1: He is a guy in the right situation who could
Speaker 1: make you look really good. But what are the odds
Speaker 1: that he lands in the right situation and his hands
Speaker 1: don't fail him and he comes up big like he
Speaker 1: did for that like three months stretch with the Colts
Speaker 1: when he was on fire. But that three months stretches
Speaker 1: an outlier for his right That's that's the thing. A
Speaker 1: six year career and a lot of mental airs. Even
Speaker 1: in that year, the Colts never quite fully embraced him
Speaker 1: as a guy they'd play every snap because they didn't
Speaker 1: think he was reliable, so he'd be He's an interesting
Speaker 1: pick up. Though you got you got Greg the leg
Speaker 1: Zer line. On this list, he is in the eighties
Speaker 1: six spot. We have any other kickers? I just need
Speaker 1: to be plugged in on Well, Mason Crosby just resigned
Speaker 1: or else he might have made it, So that's not
Speaker 1: I think that Crosby was on my he was in
Speaker 1: my top ninety I think. But someone's leg up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you get you get the nickname West. I have a
Speaker 1: question for you, what you said you knew this was coming.
Speaker 1: One player that we disagreed on I don't think it
Speaker 1: was Jpp. No, there was only one that I was
Speaker 1: really like, come on, Greg, and we talked about him
Speaker 1: in December, and it was Nick Kwatkowski, the Bears linebacker
Speaker 1: who I had in the top fifty and Greig must
Speaker 1: have had like ninety eight or something. A guy who
Speaker 1: when Danny Trevathan went down, quiet Kowski went in the
Speaker 1: lineup and just made play after play after play every week.
Speaker 1: He sandwiched in between Sue and McCoy. I put him
Speaker 1: on my list. That's just a little love to you.
Speaker 1: Eight one. You know, he's a fine, fine backup middle
Speaker 1: linebacker that came in and and made some plays. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go crazy. You like these slow middle linebackers.
Speaker 1: You put Dave David Mayo on your Listide, where do
Speaker 1: you get You're right, Dan, I have a quick quiz
Speaker 1: for you on the who wrote this blurb? Now? I
Speaker 1: know that when you get to number eighty and Marcus
Speaker 1: Mariota sitting there. Yeah, we hear about the Japanese Garden
Speaker 1: of Quarterbacking, the art of quarterbacking and Mariotta sphinx like
Speaker 1: regression already, footwork, arm strength, and pocket prisons. I know
Speaker 1: West wrote that, but then let me hit this one.
Speaker 1: Linebacker Devandre Campbell quick blurbs, so that kind of threw
Speaker 1: me off. Is this West is a Greg? The Falcons
Speaker 1: once held high hopes for Campbell as an athletic three
Speaker 1: down sidekick to Dion Jones. But Robin never stepped out
Speaker 1: of the shadows to thwart potent offenses with cruel intentions
Speaker 1: when bats wasn't around, because Greg would never make a
Speaker 1: Batman and Robin analogy. It's have you ever? Have you ever?
Speaker 1: Have you seen any Batman film? Or ever watched any
Speaker 1: vehicle cartoon or television wise about back yes, back in
Speaker 1: the day. You know I would see the original Batman, certainly,
Speaker 1: But Batman begins the one with Christian Bale I believe
Speaker 1: is actually the last superhero movie I've seen in the theater.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a slog I haven't seen the first
Speaker 1: one that brought about Katie Holmes not bringing a lot
Speaker 1: to the table. The blurbs are so distinct that there
Speaker 1: really are you this bet your life thing, like when
Speaker 1: we go back to the Batman thing, the second thing
Speaker 1: those are Those aren't just comic those are Christopher Nolan movies. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's why I went to see it. And I'm such
Speaker 1: a Christen Bale fan that Dark Knight is one of
Speaker 1: the classics. I've never seen any of the two thousand's.
Speaker 1: The Dark Knight Rises was good, not as good. I
Speaker 1: don't vouch for any of the Marvel stuff, But I mean,
Speaker 1: you're coming on Nolan's corner. I'm not saying it's back.
Speaker 1: You're trying to like lump him in with Iron Man seven.
Speaker 1: It's like, come on, this will come as no surprise
Speaker 1: to you. But when I was thinking of this blurb,
Speaker 1: it was like he was award I watched. I watched
Speaker 1: a little of that. How about the fact that here
Speaker 1: in Marcus Mariota's biggest fan over the years buries him.
Speaker 1: That's Chris Wesley, by the way, buries him at one
Speaker 1: oh eight on his list. I actually put Mariota at
Speaker 1: in my top sixty just because I thought, you don't
Speaker 1: know Mariota in a new spot, he'd be a top
Speaker 1: shelf back up at the very worst, and to me
Speaker 1: that that has a lot of value. I disagree on
Speaker 1: the value of a top shelf back up. I mean
Speaker 1: that we hear too. We heard this week that you
Speaker 1: know the Browns are excited to bring in Chase Daniel
Speaker 1: Give me a break at backup quarterbacks have value of
Speaker 1: Chase Daniels value. Marcus Mariota has more. Jimmy Smith, who
Speaker 1: was four four spots below Marcus Mariota, came back about
Speaker 1: halfway through last year and played really well down the stretch.
Speaker 1: I'd much rather have Jimmy Smith on my team than
Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota. He was someone I buried just because his
Speaker 1: injuries seem at the point where he misses three or
Speaker 1: four games every year. The name another player you guys
Speaker 1: disagreed on, you know significantly in terms of the placement.
Speaker 1: Is there another player that jumps out well? If I
Speaker 1: rated quarterbacks higher, I think West put some of the
Speaker 1: path rushers who I like, like the aging pass rushers
Speaker 1: who are more like one or two year guys higher.
Speaker 1: He had Robert Quinn quite high top thirty. I thought
Speaker 1: that was one of the best years of Robert Quinn's career.
Speaker 1: It was downright explosive last year he was. I just
Speaker 1: that he's some unwe are you're looking at the last
Speaker 1: four years and has like ebro as he put together
Speaker 1: long stretches where he's great. I put him fifty one.
Speaker 1: But man, there's a lot of those guys. If you
Speaker 1: need someone for a year or two that can sack
Speaker 1: the quarterback, there are a lot of players available. What
Speaker 1: are you guys doing taking my man Mario Addison, who
Speaker 1: I went to Italy and Germany with and sticking him
Speaker 1: down at number a hundred just disrespect well. I will
Speaker 1: say this though he it's not like he vanished for
Speaker 1: the past three years. He's been productive last year. We
Speaker 1: might be a little underrated on this list. I think
Speaker 1: you're right is that's a fair quibble. And I think
Speaker 1: one of the tricky things with pass rushers how do
Speaker 1: you rank the guys who gets sex but not hits
Speaker 1: or hurries. And it seems like every time Mario Mario
Speaker 1: Addison gets to a quarterback, he takes him down, but
Speaker 1: he's not causing a lot of disruption on the other downs.
Speaker 1: All right, So that's cool. We're having a great talk
Speaker 1: and we're gonna you know, get back to in a second.
Speaker 1: But Mark, I think I think it's only fair that
Speaker 1: we get the Jaws treatment as well. It us to
Speaker 1: the stormy waters. Because while while the scientists were in
Speaker 1: the lab, Mark and I were up in the kitchen
Speaker 1: and we weren't making eggs. I seen Mark was a
Speaker 1: mcanny Mark called krem rule before we started today, burnt
Speaker 1: looking cheese. It's a very standard dessert that's beside the park.
Speaker 1: As we have long teethed, we have put together our
Speaker 1: version of the Top one on one, Yeah, Flames, you
Speaker 1: heard it, heads and Mr fancy Pants our Top one
Speaker 1: on one of two thousand twenty free Agency start take
Speaker 1: it away. Well, it does not arrive without controversy. I
Speaker 1: think that's very fair, because you know, I spent half
Speaker 1: the morning reading through your list and and and looking
Speaker 1: at your work, and then I went back and cross checked.
Speaker 1: I cross checked your list with the list that Dan
Speaker 1: and I made up in the kitchen. And this, to
Speaker 1: me is either the most stunning thing that's ever happened
Speaker 1: in the history of list making in sports, or or
Speaker 1: I don't or something very dark has occurred. But our
Speaker 1: list was from head to toe identical save four on
Speaker 1: one spot. You guys have uh Bills turned Eagles quarterback
Speaker 1: Ronald Darby at number seventy three and Carlos Hide at
Speaker 1: number seventy four. Dan and I on our list, the
Speaker 1: only discernible difference that I could detect had Carlos Hide
Speaker 1: at seventy three and Ronald Darby. That's ridiculous, though, that's
Speaker 1: really ridiculous, Dan, what conclusion did we come Carlos Hide
Speaker 1: had a really nice season, not a superstar season, But
Speaker 1: I just think with Darby and his injury issues with
Speaker 1: the knee, um, Hide was just the guy he was
Speaker 1: seventy three and it just makes it a better list.
Speaker 1: And we believe you and I had a nice conversation
Speaker 1: about that before we flipped it. But you won me
Speaker 1: over with your you know, Hide sort of comeback story,
Speaker 1: and I thought, yes, you're right. It's time for me
Speaker 1: and Greg to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
Speaker 1: And we're not saying the same you had DJA. Everything
Speaker 1: else was. There was a period where Dan and I
Speaker 1: were not at thee for a couple of days and
Speaker 1: I missed this. I should not have done this. This
Speaker 1: is on me. But I printed out our list, UM
Speaker 1: and I put it on Dan's list to look at
Speaker 1: when he came in, and then he had a family
Speaker 1: issue and couldn't be in there for a day or two.
Speaker 1: And then suddenly bang alibon party. Which is your guys
Speaker 1: list that looks just like ours and ours it's not
Speaker 1: even put on the website, so I don't want to connect,
Speaker 1: you know, a billions phil spect. So you know, I
Speaker 1: am just saying that, I I let's just leave it
Speaker 1: there and let the lawyers take the baton. Surprising you
Speaker 1: guys both you had How are you? That was a
Speaker 1: no brainer that I mean, that's actually where we started
Speaker 1: our list, and then we worked our way in each direction.
Speaker 1: Um last game mark for the who wrote the blurb,
Speaker 1: it's a tough one number thirty six my boy Robby Anderson.
Speaker 1: Deep speed gets paid, and Anderson has plenty of it.
Speaker 1: He often disappointed his Jets coaches, however, and it's too
Speaker 1: talented to have fewer than eight hundred yards in each
Speaker 1: of the last two seasons. Well, and this is Greg.
Speaker 1: Greg has a lot of specialties. One of them is
Speaker 1: he is very when it comes to these players, you know,
Speaker 1: focused on the money they'll make and the in coming
Speaker 1: the earnings in the year over years. So the minute
Speaker 1: I heard gets paid, I went, Greg, I could be wrong,
Speaker 1: but it's also a nice brief clip blurb. If you
Speaker 1: if you deep, did you die of? A little deeper
Speaker 1: into the subtext here could be a little risky. It's
Speaker 1: all I'm saying. I think I don't where you're going, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, definitely more pithy than I am. I'm you're saying.
Speaker 1: You're saying, Oh, the guy with the last name Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: That's that's where you're going with it. You are you have?
Speaker 1: When about Mark is wearing a star lace right now?
Speaker 1: I mean I When it comes to player contracts, West
Speaker 1: says he doesn't understand time management scenarios. I also do not,
Speaker 1: but I also do not do much when it comes
Speaker 1: to smart I'm right, of course he's right. Robbie uh
Speaker 1: Anderson could be well, he's not as highly ranked as
Speaker 1: Lady and Bell a year ago, but we we might
Speaker 1: have vote he he'll he's a boom er bust guy.
Speaker 1: Either he'll be like a terrific pick up or he'll
Speaker 1: be a total disaster. You think he's the land in
Speaker 1: the right place. He's on the knucklehead list and he's
Speaker 1: he's he kept his nose clean last year. But if
Speaker 1: you do some research on his past, give him a
Speaker 1: lot of money, how is he can handle it? You
Speaker 1: don't know these guys. You gotta worry about certain guys
Speaker 1: that have the history. Like if it was my team
Speaker 1: and you have a choice between Emmanuel Sanders and Robbie Anderson,
Speaker 1: obviously they've provide two very different skill sets. But I'm
Speaker 1: just taking Emmanuel Sanders and not worrying about the risk
Speaker 1: of Robbie Anderson. I think that's fair. Alright. Final thoughts,
Speaker 1: final takeaways on the free agency top one on one
Speaker 1: list of well I now my number one takeaway is
Speaker 1: that we need to put a franchise tag symbol by
Speaker 1: these guys like we suggested. But um, I do think
Speaker 1: if you look at this list, the original list before
Speaker 1: the tags come in, you look at front seven on
Speaker 1: defense and say it's pretty loaded. That's where you can
Speaker 1: get help this year, even after the tags come in.
Speaker 1: I think you're you're right because those guys that we
Speaker 1: mentioned j PP, Quinn Everson, Griffin, Dante Fowler, the guy
Speaker 1: guys that aren't the top shelf guys, there's like depth
Speaker 1: there where those are above average quality starters, and like
Speaker 1: we just went through tight ends and it takes like
Speaker 1: one name until you get to at tackle, it's like
Speaker 1: a couple of names. It's Brian Bulaga maybe. Whereas pass
Speaker 1: rushers defensive lineman like Hargrave and DJ Reader, who I
Speaker 1: like a lot, you can you can find some of those.
Speaker 1: And my last, my last takeaway, just taking one war
Speaker 1: glance at it is jadeveon Clowney. He has a chance
Speaker 1: to be paid as much as anyone on this list.
Speaker 1: And I think, you guess, we'll see and we know
Speaker 1: the the analysis, and I see you guys went with
Speaker 1: this angle. A lot of people do. Like what he
Speaker 1: does doesn't always show up in the box score. But
Speaker 1: I if Seattle Seahawks aren't going after him aggressively, a
Speaker 1: team that desperately desperately needs a pass rush and they
Speaker 1: decide we're gonna just buy two guys instead of paying
Speaker 1: for Clowney, I mean I would just be a little worried.
Speaker 1: Like the Giant has been connected with clown AGAs some
Speaker 1: people see that given that guy all that money, when
Speaker 1: statistically health wise it hasn't. He hasn't always put it together. Well.
Speaker 1: I had a three sacks season, three sacks, but he
Speaker 1: could be the highest paid player, and he might make
Speaker 1: more than Aaron Donald. It's possible Saddle wants him back.
Speaker 1: They said they did what right if you? If you
Speaker 1: believe him, he falls under that parcels planet theory. There's
Speaker 1: only so many people on the planet that have this
Speaker 1: guy's athleticism and body back to back. Clowney at four
Speaker 1: and he's the biggest risk on this list to me,
Speaker 1: I know it sounds like a broken record, but Shack
Speaker 1: Barrett at five. They're gonna pay him. He's probably let it.
Speaker 1: He'll probably stay right in Tampa Bay. But does it
Speaker 1: ever concern you? No, no, no no, does it ever concern
Speaker 1: you when a player has like one huge breakout season
Speaker 1: and then do you just you just say, we assume
Speaker 1: that's the way the future is gonna happen. I hope
Speaker 1: it is. I think he found a great landing spot
Speaker 1: and it works. There was like a eight week window
Speaker 1: where he had about three sacks, I believe, and then
Speaker 1: he just went nuts in the beginning. At the end
Speaker 1: of the season. It was his real first big breakout years.
Speaker 1: So I get, I get what you're saying, but you
Speaker 1: have a lot of tauld work factor of factoring a
Speaker 1: lot of things with these guys, and that's one thing
Speaker 1: you factor in. But then you also offset that a
Speaker 1: little bit by saying when he was in Denver, he
Speaker 1: was behind von Miller and DeMarcus Ware or von Miller
Speaker 1: and Bradley Chubb, and he was still getting pressure when
Speaker 1: he was coming off the bench. So he was a
Speaker 1: guy who was disruptive even when he was a rotational
Speaker 1: guy there. And one, one last one is just man.
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick has a chance to just sweep sweep out
Speaker 1: this whole era. Not just Tom Brady, which would be
Speaker 1: the way to really do it, but Van Noy, Devin mccordy,
Speaker 1: Jamie Collins, Stephen Gostkowski. I think could get cut and
Speaker 1: end up at the back end of this list, or
Speaker 1: maybe not even but I guess he would make it,
Speaker 1: but he could get cut. There's just a lot of
Speaker 1: chances here, a lot of big names that Kyle Annoy,
Speaker 1: I don't know what about your other team, Scarneckia, he's
Speaker 1: here in Indianapolis. He'll be back on that coaching staff
Speaker 1: in six weeks. Can't wait for you can't wait for
Speaker 1: one of these Belichick disciples to sign Kyle van Noy
Speaker 1: and then he has like two sacks and thirteen tackles
Speaker 1: next year. Thank you. And I do like the Patriots
Speaker 1: saying let's sweep out the entire team after we went
Speaker 1: twelve and four. You know, it's untenable that we lost.
Speaker 1: Just it's natural. They're they're kind of time to reboot
Speaker 1: a little bit. All right, great job boys. You did
Speaker 1: it Mark and I did it as well. I mean
Speaker 1: I think we initially did it and then you know,
Speaker 1: here comes the bells and whistles for these guys. But
Speaker 1: that's that's fine. I really thought we were so high
Speaker 1: on Shelby Harris. That was a unique take from both
Speaker 1: of us. But you guys had the exact same out.
Speaker 1: What what was it you liked about Shelby Harrison? You
Speaker 1: were pouring orange juice when you mentioned that tremendous motor um.
Speaker 1: All right, check it out NFL dot com, slash top
Speaker 1: one oh one free agents and good work, guys. Thank you.
Speaker 1: We will be back on Monday. We'll be back in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles as well with uh full week of three shows,
Speaker 1: three shows every week through the draft. Um, so we
Speaker 1: continue that new trend. And thank you to everybody for listening,
Speaker 1: and we are now getting on an airplane smelling later.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna work that in. It's gonna be like the
Speaker 1: news sign off. Do you think that has Legs Dan
Speaker 1: Hands signing off for the mail mand S throwing the
Speaker 1: old Boss and Rick Hollywood on the carpet. Still Monday,