Speaker 1: Welcome to the official Jets podcast, Ericalling here at One
Speaker 1: Jets Drive joined by Ethan Greenberg. We're gonna get into
Speaker 1: free agency right now. It is Thursday. The NFL leaguer
Speaker 1: actually commenced on Wednesdays, so if you're listening to this
Speaker 1: after Thursday afternoon, there could be a move or two
Speaker 1: that Joe Douglas has made. With that being said, we
Speaker 1: gotta get to some news, and later on in the podcast,
Speaker 1: we're gonna give you a little bit of light a
Speaker 1: window to what's been going on here at One Jets
Speaker 1: Drive today because we want speaking to all the new Jets,
Speaker 1: including Trod Taylor, and to Rod Taylor, I got a
Speaker 1: chance to sit down with him, but let's start with
Speaker 1: greens Ethan Greenberg in the house. Ethan, from your perspective,
Speaker 1: what's his day like in terms of let's take people
Speaker 1: behind the scenes. Oh sure, as far as the guys
Speaker 1: actually coming in, they signed their contracts, and then what
Speaker 1: happens From a content perspective, I think it's.
Speaker 2: Kind of like hurry up and wait a little bit.
Speaker 3: Because the guys that come to the facility, they have
Speaker 3: an itinerary and they have to whether it speak to coaches,
Speaker 3: Joe Douglas, personnel staff, take medicals, sign contracts like there's
Speaker 3: so much that goes on that we don't see, and
Speaker 3: then we just we wait and then those guys come
Speaker 3: to the studio that we're recording in right now, we
Speaker 3: interview them, whether it's podcast, whether it's one on one,
Speaker 3: whatever it is, get a little FaceTime, then get up
Speaker 3: on out of here.
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas has been active at all fronts since last Sunday.
Speaker 1: He resigned two potential UFAs off the bat and Chuck
Speaker 1: Clark and Greg Zerline agreed to terms of a couple
Speaker 1: of his ourfas and Kenny Oboa and Jay Canson. He
Speaker 1: went the UFA route for Tarrod Tayler, John Simpson and
Speaker 1: Javon Kinlaw. He even to trade for Morgan Moses. Then
Speaker 1: there was a reported restructuring today of linebackers CJ. Moseley.
Speaker 1: There are also two additions to that list including Thomas
Speaker 1: Morstead uh that happened throughout the week, and then the
Speaker 1: big defensive tackle from Arizona as well, who you go
Speaker 1: ahead of? Lucky FO two actually has a Jets connection
Speaker 1: because he played collegiately at Utah and his defensive line
Speaker 1: coach was so we're gonna have to talk to him
Speaker 1: about uh lucky. But with all that being said, what
Speaker 1: do you think about what's been done here from Joe
Speaker 1: attacking every possible possible avenue and also with this restructuring
Speaker 1: reporter restructuring CJ. Moseley and also DJ Reid's been quite
Speaker 1: active on social media as well, so maybe there's something there.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's been telling us something, but
Speaker 1: I don't think the Jets are done.
Speaker 2: I don't think they're done either.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of like cap analysts, like we've
Speaker 3: talked to Brad Spielberger from PFF in the past, and
Speaker 3: guys like him and who really take a look at
Speaker 3: the numbers when you look at restructuring. A couple guys
Speaker 3: had mentioned, you know, do you extend someone like DJ
Speaker 3: Reed now to try to free up more cap space
Speaker 3: this year? And I think that we kind of saw
Speaker 3: that with CJ. Moseley, who this was I believe the
Speaker 3: last year of his contract and he gets a two
Speaker 3: year deal reportedly in terms of the restructure, which frees
Speaker 3: up some more money for the Jets this year to
Speaker 3: probably make more moves. Whether that's free agency, the draft,
Speaker 3: whatever the case may be. But I think that Joe
Speaker 3: Douglas has I think Jets fans were a little antsy
Speaker 3: early in the negotiating window, which happened two days before
Speaker 3: free agency began. But I think when you look at
Speaker 3: the whole picture of what he's done, I think you
Speaker 3: have to be happy. You bring back to your point
Speaker 3: Zerline and Moristead, who were both essentially weapons for the Jets.
Speaker 3: Both of those players won the Jets games in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three. Chuck Clark is interesting because I think that
Speaker 3: he was such a versatile piece in Baltimore. We just
Speaker 3: never really got to see it last year because he
Speaker 3: tore his ACL. Then you add some big boys up
Speaker 3: front in terms of Morgan Moses and John Simpson and
Speaker 3: Javon Kin Long Lucky Fotso like the Jets right now
Speaker 3: going into the offseason, I think a lot of people
Speaker 3: would say, you're looking at the positions in which he filled.
Speaker 1: So let's go right there, perfect transition segue, as we'd
Speaker 1: like to call into business. Jets enter the offseason with
Speaker 1: needs it offensive line, backup, quarterback, wide receiver. Then defensively,
Speaker 1: you'd start at defensive tackle and safety. Let's go to
Speaker 1: offensive line first. What do you make of the moves
Speaker 1: is Simpson and then Morgan Moses returning for his second
Speaker 1: stint with the je Well.
Speaker 3: I think Simpson's really interesting because just speaking to him
Speaker 3: and doing some research, he was the first one to
Speaker 3: say like he didn't quite have the confidence he has
Speaker 3: now when he got cut by Las Vegas and then
Speaker 3: he kind of refound himself in Baltimore and he was
Speaker 3: in a left guard competition. He wins the job, then
Speaker 3: he gets a little pay day comes here, and I
Speaker 3: think that you can see it when you if you like.
Speaker 3: I keep saying this, if you have highlights as an
Speaker 3: offensive lineman, like if you're laying people out, you're.
Speaker 2: Probably doing something pretty good.
Speaker 3: And he's a tone setter, so I think from that perspective,
Speaker 3: I think you have to like it, especially like.
Speaker 2: It's a free agency.
Speaker 3: It's hard to get I would say team friendly deals
Speaker 3: with good players, but based on the reported numbers out
Speaker 3: there compared to what some of his offensive line counterparts,
Speaker 3: that guard received seems to be like a Jets friendly deal.
Speaker 3: And then with Morgan Moses, but he was a Jet
Speaker 3: and he was great, and he seems to be great
Speaker 3: for Baltimore. Frankly, I'm not quite sure why Baltimore was
Speaker 3: so okay with letting him go, And some people have
Speaker 3: said that on Twitter, and I think if you're a
Speaker 3: Jets fan right now, you think about where this offensive
Speaker 3: line could hypothetically be, Like left tackles I would imagine
Speaker 3: as a question mark guard. You would imagine Simpson Titman
Speaker 3: right guard. Let's say Avt for all intention purposes, and
Speaker 3: then Morgan Mojes. I mean, you're shaping up to have
Speaker 3: a pretty nice starting five who get after it or
Speaker 3: agile and our tone setters.
Speaker 1: Well, Avt's the chess piece. He could play left tackle.
Speaker 1: You can play all four of those spots on the line.
Speaker 1: The only spot that you're probably not going to put
Speaker 1: him at would be center. You're trying to find permanent home.
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering if the permanent home is right card
Speaker 1: and if there is a move on the horizon again
Speaker 1: Thursday afternoon, I guess it's a little bit after noon
Speaker 1: right now. It's the in the twelve o'clock range, either
Speaker 1: in free agency or the draft. Also, you got some
Speaker 1: depth pieces there, Carter Warren, Max Mitchell, Wes Schweizer, of
Speaker 1: course Schweitzer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a tough twist.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Also, just I can't imagine what it's like for some
Speaker 3: of the like the Adam Schefters of the World, Ian Rapaport,
Speaker 3: Mike Carfulo, Tom pelisera like the Insider guys. Like every
Speaker 3: time my phone buzzes because I have their tweet notifications on, like,
Speaker 3: I get like a little jittery and I feel like
Speaker 3: I need to check it in case something happens. I
Speaker 3: can't even imagine what those guys are like right now.
Speaker 1: I think there's a mindset change going on here for
Speaker 1: the Jets as far as what they want to do
Speaker 1: up front along the offensive line you talk to Simpson,
Speaker 1: I just feel like they want to get a little
Speaker 1: bit grimier, nasty, ear set the edge. And there's the
Speaker 1: guys in the past who've done some good things for
Speaker 1: the Jets, no doubt about it. But I mean, when
Speaker 1: you're talking about Simpson and Morgan Moses, thocial guys are
Speaker 1: gonna get after you. And also, I think that what
Speaker 1: we've seen in the past from Aaron Rodgers is that yes,
Speaker 1: he can do anything, but he's especially effective with the
Speaker 1: play action game and the Jets have one of the
Speaker 1: best running backs in the National Football League in Brisall.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they do.
Speaker 3: And I think that if you're Brice Hall, you got
Speaker 3: to be really happy about this. Obviously, fans are going
Speaker 3: to say, oh, this is great for Aaron, also great
Speaker 3: for Breze Hall. I mean, you take a look at
Speaker 3: Pro Football Focus, John Simpson had nine big time blocks.
Speaker 3: I'm not quite sure what that means, but big time blocks.
Speaker 3: You'd imagine that that's a good thing. And you have
Speaker 3: he has highlights of laying dudes out and that ranked
Speaker 3: second among guards.
Speaker 2: And then Morgan.
Speaker 3: Moses, I believe, had like the third best run block
Speaker 3: raide on Pro Football Focus this past year among tackles.
Speaker 3: So I think, basically to your point that Jets are
Speaker 3: getting a little grime heer if they really start to
Speaker 3: attack the running game with Priese Hall. I mean, he
Speaker 3: gives Breesze Hall a sliver of daylight and he's getting
Speaker 3: a decent chunk of change. You give him a hole,
Speaker 3: we see what happens there. Like to me, I'm thinking
Speaker 3: about that Denver run from this past season. He had
Speaker 3: a gaping hole to run through and now ended up
Speaker 3: in a touchdown. And we've talked about it so much,
Speaker 3: like he is so strong that if he really gets
Speaker 3: a full head of steam or a couple of yards
Speaker 3: of steam, it's going to be really difficult for defenses
Speaker 3: to bring him down.
Speaker 1: Jets aren't done along that offensive line. Let's skill to
Speaker 1: backup quarterback. We knew that was on their radar starting
Speaker 1: in the off season as far as veteran quarterback was concerned.
Speaker 1: They gave Zach Wilson and his team permission to seek
Speaker 1: a trade to Rod Taylor, most recently with the New
Speaker 1: York Giants last couple seasons. The Jets make a move
Speaker 1: there to get a very capable backup quarterback.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that if you're a Jets fan, you're
Speaker 3: obviously very familiar with Taylor, because the Jets played in
Speaker 3: this past year a little bit with the Giants. They
Speaker 3: played him in against the Browns the Texans. Like, I
Speaker 3: think that if you're a Jets fan, what you want, Well,
Speaker 3: first of all, you don't really want to see your
Speaker 3: backup quarterback on the field because you want Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 3: to be healthy. But if for whatever reason Taylor needed
Speaker 3: to come in, I think you'd feel confident that he
Speaker 3: could not only play well, but win the football game
Speaker 3: the way that this team is structured, where the defense
Speaker 3: is so good, you add some pieces up front, like
Speaker 3: we're talking about.
Speaker 2: I don't think the Jets are done either, whether that's.
Speaker 1: The I was like the ticketing team is not on either,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of noise here and a bell
Speaker 1: just wrung.
Speaker 3: So I will say, like, let's take him behind the scenes,
Speaker 3: like there's a probably less than five feet outside of
Speaker 3: the studio to both of our rights, there's just bell,
Speaker 3: and if you make a deal, you ring the bell,
Speaker 3: and the bell's ringing right now.
Speaker 2: Maybe they're excited about tyright.
Speaker 4: About.
Speaker 1: Yes, the New York Jets in twenty twenty four so
Speaker 1: very capable backup quarterback. I can't believe he's entering year
Speaker 1: fourteen already. With that being said, he's a guy who's
Speaker 1: still t mobile and one of the most accurate long
Speaker 1: ball throwers that I've seen in the league for a
Speaker 1: long time. So listen, you're in capable hands. If Rogers
Speaker 1: can't play. Now, if Rogers can't play, you're hoping for
Speaker 1: is it just a couple of games? I don't even
Speaker 1: want to think beyond of course, all right, so you
Speaker 1: have a really seasoned quarterback room and maybe you add
Speaker 1: a young guy to the mix. And Day three of
Speaker 1: the draft, the Jets have three compensitory selections. We'll get
Speaker 1: to that later. So let's flip into the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. A lot of movement defensive tackle, starting
Speaker 1: with Kim Law. The connection there with Robert sala former
Speaker 1: first round pick of the San Francisco forty nine ers
Speaker 1: back in twenty twenty, so Salon knows exactly what he's
Speaker 1: getting his hands on. And then you don't just stop there.
Speaker 1: Fotwo comes in, big body, it's like six four, six five,
Speaker 1: three thirty five, So you're thinking about that guy can
Speaker 1: come in and be a run plugger and occupy space
Speaker 1: and a younger version.
Speaker 3: So I think with kin Lawn FO two, these are
Speaker 3: like these are athletes. I mean you talk about Photo specifically,
Speaker 3: he grew up playing rugby and the Athletic put out
Speaker 3: this article on him that sheds a little bit of
Speaker 3: light about to his upbringing and.
Speaker 2: The hardship that he had to deal with.
Speaker 3: I would suggest that if you wanted like a glimpse
Speaker 3: or peak behind the curtain in terms of who Fotwo is,
Speaker 3: but on the field, like this is an athletic defensive
Speaker 3: tackle like al Woods. I think this is essentially the
Speaker 3: al Woods type replacement, like the run stuffer FO two
Speaker 3: is more athletic than al Woods is, especially at this
Speaker 3: point in both of their respective careers. Woods coming off
Speaker 3: a big injury and achilles injury at the twilight of
Speaker 3: his career, where Folks who's coming off his rookie contract
Speaker 3: with the Cardinals. So I think the upside is there,
Speaker 3: And I think if you're a Jets fan, you have
Speaker 3: to kind of believe in Jeff Ulbrick and this defensive
Speaker 3: coaching staff that they're going to get the best out
Speaker 3: of these guys. Solomon Thomas to your point, or someone
Speaker 3: you mentioned, he had a career year in sacks in
Speaker 3: this defense last year. Same thing with Quinton Jefferson, who
Speaker 3: reportedly agreed to terms with the Browns. So I think
Speaker 3: if you're a fan like Javon Kinlaw number fourteen overall pick,
Speaker 3: he might be thinking, well, you know, he didn't maybe
Speaker 3: play out the way that a lot of forty nine
Speaker 3: ers fans were hoping this guy. I mean, I don't
Speaker 3: know if you saw him today, he was in the
Speaker 3: cafeteria downstairs, He is so long and so broad, and
Speaker 3: you would imagine that Aaron whitecomm the defensive line coach,
Speaker 3: it's gonna have a field day with this guy because
Speaker 3: he's he has the measurables that the Jets want in
Speaker 3: their defensive lineman. Now it's just about teaching them how
Speaker 3: the Jets want to do it and unleash these guys.
Speaker 1: Any defensive tackle was gonna be happy playing next to
Speaker 1: a superstar in Quinn Williams, and the Jets have that
Speaker 1: luxury here. Let's go back to the safety position. Chuck
Speaker 1: Clark unfortunately wasn't able to play last year. We know
Speaker 1: he's been here rehabbing consistently. People have talked about what
Speaker 1: a good duty is, what kind of presence he brings
Speaker 1: to the locker room. So Tony Adams returns that free safety.
Speaker 1: He was under contract a lot of uncertainty elsewhere as
Speaker 1: he started the offseason. But you don't even let Clark
Speaker 1: get the free agency. You re sign him and you're
Speaker 1: set up there.
Speaker 3: I think with Clark, like how many guys I'm serious,
Speaker 3: like this is I'm curious in your wealth of knowledge
Speaker 3: in terms of being in the league for a long time,
Speaker 3: Like how many guys are as versatile as Chuck Clark
Speaker 3: because for those who.
Speaker 1: Don't know Ravens flying here to the Jets, by the way.
Speaker 3: Yeah there are, Yeah, there are a lot of former
Speaker 3: Ravens flying up by ninety five here. But with Clark, like,
Speaker 3: he's taking snaps at every single defensive position throughout his career,
Speaker 3: including like interior defensive line. So I'm not asking you, like,
Speaker 3: who are players that have done that in the past,
Speaker 3: but players who are talented and so versatile, Like I'm
Speaker 3: trying to think of guys over the last couple of years,
Speaker 3: and it's hard for me to name.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: They asked him to do pretty much everything, and he
Speaker 1: was central command for the Ravens and he's a guy
Speaker 1: who kept Kyle Hamilton off the field, which is crazy.
Speaker 1: If you really think about it. That speaks to the
Speaker 1: transition to the National Football League, and that's why you
Speaker 1: should be excited about it. A guy like kN Law
Speaker 1: not comparing these guys as far as positions are concerned,
Speaker 1: but sometimes it takes players longer to transition to the NFL.
Speaker 1: There's familiarity here and Kim Law's coming off a career
Speaker 1: here with the forty nine years Hever Knights with the
Speaker 1: reunites with a guy like Sala, who Sala has said
Speaker 1: in the past, a lot of guys come here and
Speaker 1: they end up having career years. Quinton Jefferson a great example,
Speaker 1: six and a half sacks last year he signs with
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns. Jets get younger, much younger at the defensive
Speaker 1: tackle position. Is this defense will continue to be nasty
Speaker 1: and salty in twenty twenty four?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 1: Say so, I will say this before we get to
Speaker 1: to Rod. Can you speak to what's out there? What's
Speaker 1: got your what's got your eye? What should we pay
Speaker 1: attention to? Because one of the needs that I talked
Speaker 1: about to start the offseason, the one position that Jets
Speaker 1: haven't addressed just yet has been receiver. We know they
Speaker 1: could have had another running back down the line. You
Speaker 1: got Breist, of of course you're Bob Kyle, but Israel
Speaker 1: Obana Kana very promising, a guy entering his second season.
Speaker 1: But what else do you think potentially could be out
Speaker 1: there here and free agency that we should continue to monitor.
Speaker 3: Well, So, just going on receiver alone, I think it
Speaker 3: was pretty quiet from the beginning, Like in the very
Speaker 3: early stages of the negotiating window, guys like Gabe Davis
Speaker 3: went and the most recent one was Calvin Ridley, who
Speaker 3: got a lot of money from the Tennessee Titans. Yes, Now,
Speaker 3: in terms of wide receiver, I mean we've talked about this.
Speaker 3: Maybe maybe this year's class isn't in terms of free
Speaker 3: agent class isn't as active as a lot of people
Speaker 3: thought because of the depth in the draft class, No doubt.
Speaker 3: So if the Jets were to add people in free
Speaker 3: agency at wide receiver, the guys who still remain as
Speaker 3: of now twelve oh six, just making sure that who's available,
Speaker 3: Guys like Marquise Hollywood Brown, Tyler boyd Odell Beckham Junior,
Speaker 3: who it seemed like was definitely in the mix to
Speaker 3: becoming a Jet last season. And then there's other guys
Speaker 3: like if you go, I mean there's Michael Thomas, who's
Speaker 3: obviously dealing with injuries as of late. I just think
Speaker 3: that if the Jets want to add a receiver, they can.
Speaker 3: I just keep coming back to that this receiving room
Speaker 3: is going to be in a better spot with Aaron
Speaker 3: Rodgers under center, regardless.
Speaker 2: And I do think that.
Speaker 3: We've spoke about this too, like Alan Lazard I think
Speaker 3: will be a much better player in twenty twenty four
Speaker 3: than he was last season for the Jets.
Speaker 1: And Gibson and brownly give you a depth as well.
Speaker 1: So okay, let's go to tackle. Tyrone Smith's out there,
Speaker 1: Trent Brown is out there, David Bactieri's out there. What
Speaker 1: do you think. Are you surprised it's Smith being out there?
Speaker 1: And again he again he would fill the void and
Speaker 1: left tackle. And obviously those three UFA's that the Jets
Speaker 1: had in the house, they're also out there, in fact
Speaker 1: in Brown, Billy Turner, and then a couple we haven't
Speaker 1: talked about a number of UFAs, including Jordan Whitehead the
Speaker 1: safety position going back to Tampa, but Ashton Davis remains
Speaker 1: out there as well, justin Hardy another guy. But let's
Speaker 1: focus on tackle.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I don't know what the hold up
Speaker 3: is with Tyron Smith. I think it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 3: Obviously I'm not privy to those conversations, but you would
Speaker 3: imagine a guy who's still playing at an elite level,
Speaker 3: even though there are durability questions, would sign rather quickly.
Speaker 3: And we're standing here, you know, this is now almost
Speaker 3: twenty four hours after officially, the new league year begins,
Speaker 3: which means that teams have had at least won three
Speaker 3: days to talk to Tyron Smith's representatives and try to
Speaker 3: work something out. Am I surprised that there's been a
Speaker 3: little no, little to no movement there a little bit.
Speaker 2: I'm wonder what that means.
Speaker 3: However, I will say I think Joe Douglas will end
Speaker 3: up signing a tackle period, because I think when you
Speaker 3: go into the draft.
Speaker 1: You know, we know that we're going to try offensive line.
Speaker 1: But they got a starting guard and you got a
Speaker 1: starting right tackle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but like you don't want to be pigeonholed no draft.
Speaker 3: So if the Jets do sign someone one of the
Speaker 3: guys that you just mentioned, Tyron Smith, Bactiari, Trent Brown,
Speaker 3: even a guy like Donovan Smith Okay, who I'm pretty
Speaker 3: sure is on record said something like it'd be cool
Speaker 3: to block for Aaron Rodgers. This is when he was
Speaker 3: with the Chiefs, like knowing that he was going to
Speaker 3: become a free agent. I think that that there are
Speaker 3: just a lot of options there, and so if the
Speaker 3: Jets do sign one of those guys, then you go
Speaker 3: in the draft and you can be in a spot
Speaker 3: at ten overall, where you don't know how one through
Speaker 3: nine is going to play out.
Speaker 2: So if you want to add a receiver, you go
Speaker 2: for it. If they're available. You want to add a tackle,
Speaker 2: go for it.
Speaker 1: Well, if you sign a tackle, starting caliber caliber tackle
Speaker 1: over the next couple of days, maybe over the next
Speaker 1: few hours. I wonder if the play is to get
Speaker 1: another playmaker at the top of his draft, you can't
Speaker 1: go wrong in another offensive linement. Moses is interesting, Like
Speaker 1: people are wondering why did Baltimore part ways? I look
Speaker 1: at that is probably more of a cost cutting future
Speaker 1: move because he signed through twenty twenty four. They knew
Speaker 1: maybe at the end of the day, is he gonna
Speaker 1: be on this roster in twenty twenty five. So Joe
Speaker 1: Douglas makes a move that's very smart, you know, and
Speaker 1: you get a guy who's gonna be starting at the
Speaker 1: right tackle spot. But as far as what he's done
Speaker 1: here early on in free agency, every possible avenue RFAs
Speaker 1: UFA's street. We didn't mention Isaiah Oliver. Guy's gonna come
Speaker 1: in and provide some depth in the secondary and can
Speaker 1: play multiple positions as well. The Jets have the best
Speaker 1: cornerback group in football who add to the mix, and
Speaker 1: it's just as a depth piece trade, you know. So
Speaker 1: he's done everything the UFAs, but they're not done it,
Speaker 1: and they also have flexibility and whatever move that they
Speaker 1: make moving forward, you know, it sets it up for
Speaker 1: an interesting spot. Remember he told us in Indianapolis not
Speaker 1: too long ago that bottom line is, I like where
Speaker 1: we're at now, we're kind of seeing the picture unfold
Speaker 1: before us.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think that obviously free agency crystallizes the draft. The
Speaker 3: one team that's actually on the Jets schedule for twenty
Speaker 3: twenty four that I think based on their free agent
Speaker 3: moves kind of paints their picture a little clear in
Speaker 3: the draft is Tennessee. You think about they have DeAndre Hopkins,
Speaker 3: they just added Calvin Ridley, they already have trailing I
Speaker 3: don't know what, so I don't know what their defense
Speaker 3: is looking like. But to me, my uneducated opinion is
Speaker 3: that they would likely go tackle or defense and they're
Speaker 3: sitting there at seven. Last year under the same regime,
Speaker 3: they drafted Peter Skoronski in the first round and he's
Speaker 3: playing guard for them. Could they want to add someone
Speaker 3: to protect Will Levis or you know, depending on like,
Speaker 3: if there's a quarterback available, would they be open to
Speaker 3: trading back if someone wants to trade up. That's the
Speaker 3: team that I kind of have circled right here based
Speaker 3: on their free agency moves at impact the Jets come
Speaker 3: draft time.
Speaker 1: But even if they did, fashion new might be on
Speaker 1: the table, and one of those top three receivers might
Speaker 1: be on the table.
Speaker 3: Exactly, which is why it all comes full circle to me,
Speaker 3: because if the Jets do sign one of these tackles
Speaker 3: we've talked about, you're in a good spot where you where.
Speaker 3: Let's say, for the sake of this conversation, if the
Speaker 3: Jets didn't sign one of those tackles, then all of
Speaker 3: a sudden, you're worried Tennessee's drafting a guy, and then
Speaker 3: maybe you have to figure it out what your solution
Speaker 3: is at tackle.
Speaker 1: Afterwards, I thought, on and you're going to get a
Speaker 1: starting tackle and you're gonna starting guard, and free agency
Speaker 1: you've already done that, so maybe one more is in
Speaker 1: play and this line looks completely different again. But one
Speaker 1: guy is gonna be lining up behind the offensive line
Speaker 1: in the spring and throughout the preseason. Tara Taller hopefully
Speaker 1: he's not taking too many regular season snaps, but we
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to talk to him. For myself and Ethan,
Speaker 1: We're going to keep you updated. Remember our apologies in
Speaker 1: advance because this was TAP twelve thirty Thursday, our free
Speaker 1: agency reset. At this point, Joe Douglas has been a
Speaker 1: busy man, and I can tell you right now the
Speaker 1: hall's buzzing down there right now. Hey, So how does
Speaker 1: it feel to Rod to embark on a journey with
Speaker 1: your seventh NFL team? Now?
Speaker 5: It's a blessing. Each team or each city has been
Speaker 5: unique in his own I've learned a lot and I've
Speaker 5: grown as a person as a player, and thankful for
Speaker 5: this opportunity I have here.
Speaker 1: What did you think when the season ended with the Giants?
Speaker 1: What was ahead for you?
Speaker 5: Truly, I honestly didn't know. Finished off on a good foot,
Speaker 5: but yeah, you never know. The league changes day to day,
Speaker 5: week to week, so you really have to be at
Speaker 5: peace about what you put on the field. And for me,
Speaker 5: I'm a believer, uh so I think that God, God's
Speaker 5: timing is everything, so he'll find the right the right
Speaker 5: steps in the right uh direction for you, and I
Speaker 5: just trust trust them.
Speaker 1: You've been through this before, no stranger of the process.
Speaker 1: What was it like this time around?
Speaker 4: Wasn't that bad? Actually?
Speaker 5: Obviously, listening to your agent, you're weighing out different different options.
Speaker 5: You're trying to see what makes the best, what's what
Speaker 5: makes the most sense, and ultimately thought that this was
Speaker 5: a great fit. Fortunately I don't have to move places,
Speaker 5: but excited about this, this journey here with the Jets.
Speaker 5: Have a talented roster, a lot of players that I
Speaker 5: respect from playing or just knowing alone in the years,
Speaker 5: and uh excited to get to work with these this
Speaker 5: group of guys.
Speaker 1: You just touched upon it a little bit, but money talks.
Speaker 1: We know that you got to make a living. But
Speaker 1: what made the Jets attractive to you?
Speaker 5: You look at the roster, very talented roster. I mean,
Speaker 5: obviously some injuries last year that you can't control. But
Speaker 5: I believe everything is in the house to be able
Speaker 5: to achieve what every NFL team is trying to achieve,
Speaker 5: which is a Super Bowl early right now. Obviously you
Speaker 5: never want to get into that. There's a lot of
Speaker 5: steps they got to get to that, but I believe
Speaker 5: that this team is capable of achieving that goal with
Speaker 5: with the with the right work to just.
Speaker 4: Put in.
Speaker 5: What do you see from them? Offensively explosive, group wide receivers.
Speaker 5: They compete their butts off, makes contestant catches. It knows
Speaker 5: how to stretch the field and just explosive playst's.
Speaker 1: Specifically, I wanted to ask you about guys like Garrett
Speaker 1: Wilson Brew.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm very I'm a big fan of Garrett as
Speaker 5: well as Breece. Too fast guys to electric, guys get
Speaker 5: the balls in their hand and it could be a
Speaker 5: big play.
Speaker 4: Wait to heaven.
Speaker 1: What's the mindset for you now at this point in
Speaker 1: your career, entering year fourteen, joining a team with the
Speaker 1: future Hall of Famer here and Aaron Rodgers coming back
Speaker 1: from the Achilles. You guys have a lot of combined
Speaker 1: experience when you're talking about being in that room together.
Speaker 5: Yeah, obviously being able to assist Aaron at any capacity,
Speaker 5: but also staying ready for the opportunity if it presents
Speaker 5: itself well at the same time, being able to offer
Speaker 5: my leadership and my knowledge that I've accumulated over the
Speaker 5: years to the younger guys within the locker room. My
Speaker 5: goal is to just help any capacity that I can.
Speaker 1: Over the years. What kind of interactions maybe have your
Speaker 1: head with Aaron and how much do you appreciate his game?
Speaker 4: I appreciate his game. I've said this before.
Speaker 5: He ranks very high on my list of quarterbacks, one
Speaker 5: of my faves. I haven't had a lot of interaction
Speaker 5: other than pregame conversations postgame conversation, but I have a
Speaker 5: ton of respect for Aaron. A big fan of his
Speaker 5: games and looking forward to being able to learn from
Speaker 5: him and and working alongside him.
Speaker 1: Why A big fan of his game Just the way he.
Speaker 5: Carries himself on the field obviously one of the in
Speaker 5: my opinion, one of the best passes of the football
Speaker 5: that the NFL has seen. And not necessarily the prototype
Speaker 5: that you see a lot of these guys that I
Speaker 5: was kind of conditioned to growing up, that you had
Speaker 5: to be a certain high, you have to fit a
Speaker 5: certain build.
Speaker 4: He's kind of broke that mode and he plays the
Speaker 4: game the right way.
Speaker 1: How do you break that mold when when you talk about.
Speaker 5: A well, when I say that, I mean not from
Speaker 5: when I first came into the league, I was told
Speaker 5: that I was too short.
Speaker 4: I'm six to one.
Speaker 5: I don't know there's plenty of guys that have came
Speaker 5: after me, but I think it also starts with Aaron
Speaker 5: Rodgers Drew Brees not being the six four the six '
Speaker 5: five stationary guy like can be as mobile as you
Speaker 5: need to, but also throw from the pocket, make plays, extend,
Speaker 5: extend plays as well too.
Speaker 4: Just a big fan of his.
Speaker 1: How have you been able to do it? Because you
Speaker 1: were a six round draft pick out of attack who
Speaker 1: had to wait his turn to actually get that first
Speaker 1: start in the National Football League where when you look
Speaker 1: at your resume now, most of your starts, of course
Speaker 1: came with the Jets division rival to Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just staying committed to the process. My time in Baltimore,
Speaker 5: obviously I didn't get a chance to play as much
Speaker 5: as I want, but I had a chance to learn
Speaker 5: from a veteran group of guys. I walked into a
Speaker 5: locker room with ray Lewis ed Reed. Flacco wasn't necessarily
Speaker 5: a veteran at the time, but I learned a lot
Speaker 5: from Flacco and Kwam Bolden, a lot of a lot
Speaker 5: of friends that I still have to this day. But
Speaker 5: I look back on that time and it was those
Speaker 5: four years prepared me for the opportunity that I had
Speaker 5: in Buffalo, and from there, I just, like I said,
Speaker 5: staying committed, not necessarily getting discouraged about the downs of
Speaker 5: the NFL season or of a career, but just going
Speaker 5: out and playing at a high level whenever you whenever
Speaker 5: the opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 1: Man, you're so level hated. But when you finally had
Speaker 1: the opportunity to get a start, when you're out there
Speaker 1: with the Bills, and we were just talking about it
Speaker 1: before we started recording, what do you think about the
Speaker 1: play call? Because here you are, you're getting your first
Speaker 1: start in the NFL and just saying, well, actually we're
Speaker 1: going to line you up as a decoy. And I
Speaker 1: first played at receiver.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of that. I never
Speaker 5: spoke on that, but also it's part of the game.
Speaker 5: We try to throw a wildcat formation out there to
Speaker 5: confuse the defense. Ultimately won the game, and that's really
Speaker 5: what matters is winning, and that's that's really what my
Speaker 5: mindset is. I mean, stats, yeah, they mattered to the outside,
Speaker 5: but for me, it's about wins. And ultimately we won
Speaker 5: that game against the Coats. It was a great feeling
Speaker 5: and it, like you said it, it sparked my career
Speaker 5: as a starter and very thankful for that time.
Speaker 1: What makes for a successful quarterback in the National Football
Speaker 1: League Because you said, you're not a big numbers guy,
Speaker 1: because you're interested in winning and losing. But with that
Speaker 1: being said, I think one of the most impressive ratios
Speaker 1: that you've had throughout your career is touchdown to interceptions.
Speaker 1: And now you're joining forces with a guy like Rogers
Speaker 1: number one in NFL history touchdown interception ratio.
Speaker 5: Yes, obviously, protecting the ball gives your your team the
Speaker 5: best chance to go out there and win. From a quarterback,
Speaker 5: you have to be a leader. You have to be
Speaker 5: able to perform on the pressure, and you have to
Speaker 5: be a guy that the team coaches, everyone organization depends
Speaker 5: on and can count on, and and crunch time on
Speaker 5: the field. As a person, you have to be truly
Speaker 5: the dependable person. And there's other factors that play into
Speaker 5: quarterback play, but I think those those three speak out
Speaker 5: to me.
Speaker 1: How is your game changed over time from the guy
Speaker 1: who came out as a hockey and starting with the
Speaker 1: Ravens and now.
Speaker 5: I think, if anything, I've just got better at the
Speaker 5: things that I do. Obviously being able, I've always been mobile.
Speaker 5: I've always been able to extend plays, never been afraid
Speaker 5: to push the ball down the field. Uh, the game
Speaker 5: has changed from when I first came into the league.
Speaker 5: Not to get too deep into it, but I like this.
Speaker 5: You see more of a spread offense. Now, you see
Speaker 5: more obviously air attacks. It was pretty balanced early on
Speaker 5: in my career as far as just offensive approaches. But yeah,
Speaker 5: I think I've just had a chance to grow and
Speaker 5: get more comfortable with the things that I do and
Speaker 5: the things that I've done, and I'm looking forward to
Speaker 5: still building and shoppening those twos and just continue to
Speaker 5: keep growing as a player. I think each year, obviously
Speaker 5: you look back at the things that you've done good
Speaker 5: and you want to build on those, but you also
Speaker 5: want to attack the weaknesses of what you could have
Speaker 5: done better and.
Speaker 4: Quarterbacks.
Speaker 5: Each year you have to find ways to get better,
Speaker 5: and it starts with self reflection and looking yourself in
Speaker 5: the mirror.
Speaker 1: How hard is that to start a new because I
Speaker 1: don't know if a lot of people could do what
Speaker 1: you've done throughout your career in terms of going to
Speaker 1: a new team and a new organization and picking up
Speaker 1: and then going to another team and another organization.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I want to say this too, but I think it
Speaker 5: really goes back to what I said about staying committed
Speaker 5: as a young kid Hampton, Virginia, having goals of get
Speaker 5: into this this level. You don't take anything for granted.
Speaker 5: You challenge yourself to be better, and ultimately you have
Speaker 5: to say so in that. I mean, you can you
Speaker 5: can go about the day. You can look at just
Speaker 5: being in the NFL and you could just be happy
Speaker 5: with that. But I'm always challenging myself to be better
Speaker 5: as a person and as a player, and that's just
Speaker 5: who I am. And I take those those challenges personally
Speaker 5: and I attack them daily and put the work behind it.
Speaker 1: What do you attribute to your upbringing you just talked
Speaker 1: about Hampton. Yeah, as far as what you learn there
Speaker 1: and what you carry with you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm the only child, so I spent a lot
Speaker 5: of time my parents, but also spent a lot of
Speaker 5: time playing sports. Hey you basketball, football, baseball, ran track.
Speaker 5: There's just a little bit of everything. But I also
Speaker 5: was fortunate to grow up watching Alan Iverson, Michael Vick,
Speaker 5: Ronald Cerry, Aaron Brooks, a lot of names from just
Speaker 5: guys from my hometown or the city over for the
Speaker 5: next city over, and trying to write my own story,
Speaker 5: trying to give something to a young kid back in
Speaker 5: Hampton Hampton Roads, something to look up to. So, yeah,
Speaker 5: I had role models, but I'm also trying to create
Speaker 5: that opportunity for the next generation as well too.
Speaker 1: How influential was Mike Vick with you in terms of
Speaker 1: maybe his guidance along the way, and he's a guy
Speaker 1: who had to stop here later out in his career.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I learned a lot from Mike. We didn't meet
Speaker 5: until I got to college.
Speaker 4: I grew up.
Speaker 5: Knowing Ronald Cerry very closely, Alan Irverson very closely, and
Speaker 5: I watched Mike, but I didn't meet him until I
Speaker 5: got to school. But he's he's helped me along the
Speaker 5: way as long as as well as those other guys
Speaker 5: as well, Aaron Brooks, Irvers and Ronald carry Out. I
Speaker 5: thank them for my success, but I also just thank
Speaker 5: them for being who they are and and uh and
Speaker 5: helping me throughout this journey. Someone that I could lean
Speaker 5: on and someone those people I could call any day
Speaker 5: and they pick up the phone and offer anything, whether
Speaker 5: it's just about life or about sports, to offer any
Speaker 5: of us anything they have to give to me.
Speaker 1: The longer you're in the league, how small this will become.
Speaker 1: Because you've mentioned Ronald Curry a couple of times now
Speaker 1: he's Buffalo.
Speaker 5: Even last year, UH our officeer coordinator Mike Kafka, we
Speaker 5: joked about it all the time. He was drafted the
Speaker 5: year before me, so he had. The longer that you
Speaker 5: stay in it, it definitely gets smaller. You see a
Speaker 5: lot of familiar faces, a lot of people that you've
Speaker 5: crossed paths with somewhere. But that's the that's the beauty
Speaker 5: of this business. That's a relationship business. Definitely at the
Speaker 5: you don't have to, but I think when you treat
Speaker 5: people the right.
Speaker 4: Way that that.
Speaker 5: That lasts and that memory goes a long way for
Speaker 5: a lot of people.
Speaker 1: Give us scatter report what you're at at this point
Speaker 1: your career. Throughout the years, You've always been accurate that
Speaker 1: long ball. When you've talked about the ability to extend as.
Speaker 4: Well, Yeah, I think I spoke to it.
Speaker 5: Like you said, obviously an accurate deep ball passer still
Speaker 5: mobile and can extend plays. I think the true definition
Speaker 5: of a do a thread quarterback.
Speaker 1: Defensively, you've gone against these guys. Very tough, okay, So
Speaker 1: so what's it like behind center liner up against this defense.
Speaker 4: It's tough.
Speaker 5: They create challenges, especially up front, but on the back
Speaker 5: end as well too. They have a we have a
Speaker 5: fast defense on the back end, and in a group
Speaker 5: of guys up front that can get after it. Linebacker
Speaker 5: position probably one of the best duos in the league.
Speaker 4: And just have a lot of respect for for the
Speaker 4: guys on this defense.
Speaker 1: So you're part of this free agency class and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna let you get going here in a second. What
Speaker 1: do you think about some of these big guys coming
Speaker 1: up in front of you and John Simpson walking in.
Speaker 1: You got Morgan Moses coming on board. Quarterback's best friend, right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm excited. I was spending time this morning, but
Speaker 5: I'm excited to get a play with these guys.
Speaker 1: And lastly, staying in New York, you don't have to
Speaker 1: you don't have to pack the bags or anything at all.
Speaker 4: It's the best city.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time.
Speaker 4: Thanks,