Speaker 1: At least.
Speaker 2: He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
Speaker 2: your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Speaker 2: Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the Drive. I am Dale Lollie, he is
Speaker 3: Lee Matt Williamson, and uh, well, it is a much
Speaker 3: nicer Tuesday, Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: I'm a lot different than this morning. I'm gon.
Speaker 3: Wait, yesterday was yeah, it was jolly, yeah, chili and rainy,
Speaker 3: and today it's sunshine.
Speaker 1: Of these guys, they said, next week's supposed to gett
Speaker 1: nasty again. Couple daysposed to be great and let's get
Speaker 1: back to crazy.
Speaker 3: You know what when we go to West Palm Beach
Speaker 3: for the owners meetings, Yeah, I wanted to be bad here.
Speaker 3: I wanted to be crappy. I wanted to be ugly,
Speaker 3: snow all that stuff.
Speaker 1: Then we get home and it's all gone, right, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: I want to be down in the you know, walking
Speaker 3: on the beach and hanging out at the breakers.
Speaker 1: And but that's BArch in Pittsburgh. I mean, it's not
Speaker 1: really going to be up and down week to week
Speaker 1: or day today. But today's awesome. I had to.
Speaker 3: Tell so those of you who don't know I run
Speaker 3: the baseball league in Washington, the Pony League specifically, and
Speaker 3: my guys are I sent out my schedule. We did
Speaker 3: all of our stuff over the weekend, had our draft
Speaker 3: and all that stuff, and I sent up about that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: they start up here. And I sent my preseason practice
Speaker 3: schedule out and the guys were like. One of the
Speaker 3: guys was like, you didn't put a batting cage schedule
Speaker 3: on there. I said, well, first of all, we got
Speaker 3: to get the batting cage up.
Speaker 1: There's no batting cage as we speak.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I have the cage. We have to we
Speaker 3: have to hang it. To hang it, it's like fifteen
Speaker 3: feet off the ground on the top and it's down
Speaker 3: a hillside. I said, I'm not going to be there
Speaker 3: that day because that's the day we fly to West
Speaker 3: Palm Beach. Is the day we had the work day
Speaker 3: for it. I said, I don't want you guys climbing
Speaker 3: up there in bad weather on ladders to hang this thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, there's I've done it myself by myself
Speaker 1: before taking it up and put it down.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't want to do that in the rain.
Speaker 1: Just put it that way. Plus you know how to
Speaker 1: do it, and they might not and they don't right, right,
Speaker 1: So that's what you're dealing with.
Speaker 3: This time of year, they'll be we'll have more snow.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm sure I can't imagine making a practice schedule
Speaker 1: for baseball today because I'm sure I make it. Whether
Speaker 1: they'll be, whether they get used or not is completely
Speaker 1: up to my It's a guideline probably. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Like everything, you have to have a plan.
Speaker 1: I have a plan, and then you executed the best
Speaker 1: you possibly can have. Things come down the road that
Speaker 1: there's roadblocks and hurdles you got to get around or over.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: My friend of mine runs the Mustang League, and but
Speaker 3: ten years ago now my sons and I took my
Speaker 3: sons and we went back and we coached a Mustang team,
Speaker 3: which is nine to ten year olds just for fun. Yeah,
Speaker 3: my oldest son had just graduated college. My younger son's.
Speaker 1: He's a good player. Yeah, people don't know, right.
Speaker 3: So we go back and we coach a Mustang team.
Speaker 3: And a friend of mine was the league president at
Speaker 3: the time. He does he like schedules, you all, every
Speaker 3: thing is filled with practice times.
Speaker 1: Wow, it's like the whole NFL schedule.
Speaker 3: And we didn't have any rain that spring. Now, technically
Speaker 3: you're only supposed to practice with those kids five times.
Speaker 1: A week or four times. He knows it up with
Speaker 1: all day because he knows there was going to be rained.
Speaker 3: Some of the other guys were skipping some practices and
Speaker 3: you know, they we had tournament that weekend, so I
Speaker 3: was going to be missing three players. No. I practiced
Speaker 3: every single time there was a practice scheduled on there.
Speaker 1: We practiced, okay and so and got lucky and he
Speaker 1: actually got it in.
Speaker 3: We had a meeting late in the season and somebody
Speaker 3: asked about that and he's like, how many practice you have.
Speaker 3: I'm like, every one of them.
Speaker 1: A whole bunch. Yeah, yeah, and we're good. Well, and
Speaker 1: behold we won the championship. Practicing is important.
Speaker 3: We I think we started the season off like two
Speaker 3: and seven or something like that in the first half
Speaker 3: of the season. Second half of the season came around
Speaker 3: much different because we practiced. Coach getting back to the point,
Speaker 3: we stuck to the plan. Stuck the plan, we were
Speaker 3: scheduled to practice. We practiced. If three kids showed up,
Speaker 3: three kids showed up, But we practiced.
Speaker 1: You can get some three kids better at least right, That's.
Speaker 3: The way I saw it, and you know, hanging out
Speaker 3: with my son, we're doing baseball stuff.
Speaker 1: It was fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what you want
Speaker 1: to be doing anyway, Absolutely.
Speaker 3: So cool getting onto the show. I've seen some comparisons
Speaker 3: Matt of this year's draft to the twenty twenty two draft,
Speaker 3: and I don't see that refreshment.
Speaker 1: Who's the you talking about overall? About? Okay, who's the
Speaker 1: first overall pick in twenty twenty two?
Speaker 3: Twenty twenty two was?
Speaker 1: I don't think of it in years. I always think
Speaker 1: that's the Borough Draft, that's the Garrett Draft.
Speaker 3: That's a you know, was Trayvon Walker, Aiden Hutchinson got
Speaker 3: two picks, no quarterback in that Kenny Pickett went twenty
Speaker 3: first or twentieth, which is where he was slated to go. Folks,
Speaker 3: somebody on the message board today from yesterday's show talked about, well,
Speaker 3: Kenny Pickett was overdrafted. Nobody GMS have said that he
Speaker 3: was a third round pick. That's not what the pre
Speaker 3: draft stuff saying. No, go back and look google it right,
Speaker 3: google twenty twenty two pre draft rankings, and Kenny Pickett
Speaker 3: will be in the first round.
Speaker 1: Somewhere. Oh yeah, everybody had him right right right, I
Speaker 1: mean he was not a premier.
Speaker 3: In fact, a lot of people also had Malik Willis there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, So it was a shock on draft day
Speaker 1: how few right went when they were, when they went,
Speaker 1: when they went. But this draft is not that, No,
Speaker 1: I don't think.
Speaker 3: I think it wasn't a top ten pick, although some
Speaker 3: people had him there too.
Speaker 1: Right right right? The first quarterback, I mean quarterback.
Speaker 3: Yeah, to me, it's more like the twenty sixteen draft
Speaker 3: where goff and Wentz went number one and two. Okay,
Speaker 3: Bosa went three, and then Ramsey, Ezekiel Elliott, Jalen Ramsey,
Speaker 3: Ronnie Stanley.
Speaker 1: I might like those non quarterbacks better than this group. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it's yeah, in that there were two quarterbacks, yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: and then Elliott's the gents.
Speaker 3: Paxton Lynch was the next guy. He went at twenty six,
Speaker 3: which I could see happening this year.
Speaker 1: And even goff and Wentz, like several months before the draft,
Speaker 1: Wentz was not a household name or considered even a
Speaker 1: surefire first run North Dakota state guy, right right, I
Speaker 1: mean it was Senior Bowl, it was the process, and Okay,
Speaker 1: and I don't think he got pushed up artificially. I mean,
Speaker 1: the league, the league knows these guys. I'm scouted and
Speaker 1: of course, and the media is always gonna be a
Speaker 1: little behind, of course, But I also think that Goff
Speaker 1: isn't the first pick in every draft, that the prospect.
Speaker 1: He wasn't special Town, special Town. He wasn't a super
Speaker 1: athlete or anything like that.
Speaker 3: But you got a running back up there, You're gonna
Speaker 3: have a Ezekiel up Elliott versus genty.
Speaker 1: Okay, in that neighborhood, right, that's comparable a couple of
Speaker 1: tackles that Carter versus Bosas in the same neighborhood.
Speaker 3: Jack Conklin was strictly a right tackle. Does he go
Speaker 3: in the top ten every year? Probably?
Speaker 1: He wouldn't have last year tackle he went eight over
Speaker 1: all that year.
Speaker 3: A bunch of edge rusher's cornerbacks, you know those kind
Speaker 3: of guys. Laramie Tunsall went thirteenth. But there was a
Speaker 3: reason for that.
Speaker 1: That was a mask incidence, you know, that was frowned
Speaker 1: upon then a little more than nowadays. Yeah, but he
Speaker 1: would have went high.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I see what you did there.
Speaker 1: That was an accident.
Speaker 3: But also with the wide receivers.
Speaker 1: Kay, who's in that club?
Speaker 3: The first wide receiver taken that year was Corey cole
Speaker 3: at the Coleman year, Corey Coleman at fifteen. The Browns
Speaker 3: could have taken any receive. It was a it was
Speaker 3: a bad, bad receiver draft. They took Corey Coleman fifteenth.
Speaker 1: That's like Will Fuller.
Speaker 3: Will Fuller went twenty first, Josh Doson went twenty second,
Speaker 3: all terrible, Laklan Treadwell went twenty third.
Speaker 1: One thing like I always talk about and kind of joke,
Speaker 1: but maybe someday they'll do it. There'll be a book
Speaker 1: of NFL scouting history there. That was an era where
Speaker 1: the spread offenses and the Yeah, like Corey Coleman ran
Speaker 1: like two routes and there were times he didn't even
Speaker 1: run a route because cause they wuldn't to play so fast,
Speaker 1: they didn't want to tire him out. He would just
Speaker 1: stand there, yeah, and they'd hold up a Mickey Mouse
Speaker 1: sign or whatever or Donald Duck. I mean, like, I
Speaker 1: don't think the NFL knew how to scout that. They
Speaker 1: just knew that he was fast with size and made
Speaker 1: some big plays, but his game didn't translate. At all,
Speaker 1: and Treadwell had some of that, and so did one
Speaker 1: of the other receivers he's matched it. I forget which
Speaker 1: one it was not full Er. Fuller was just fast.
Speaker 3: Docks and was the other thoughts it was like that too, right, Yeah,
Speaker 3: the TCU, all those guys out of those Mickey Mouse offenses.
Speaker 1: Big twelve put up fifty points a game. The league
Speaker 1: didn't know how to handle them.
Speaker 3: I'm just looking here, Sterling Shepherd in the second round.
Speaker 1: He might have been the best receiver in the draft.
Speaker 3: Well, Michael Thomas was the second round pick, Okay, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: which shows you how quickly he fizzled.
Speaker 1: Like, well, his problem was he didn't run fast enough. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he ran like a four or five seven.
Speaker 3: Uh. Tyler Boyd was in that draft, Okay, So I
Speaker 3: mean there were some receivers in that draft who had success,
Speaker 3: but the first round guys didn't.
Speaker 1: No, they didn't.
Speaker 3: Just looking at that first surround overall, golf and Wentz
Speaker 3: went one and two, Bosa was three.
Speaker 1: Which way I thought you were going with this is
Speaker 1: Sanders might not be the second or third best player
Speaker 1: in this draft, but I think there's a chance he
Speaker 1: goes two or three.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, right, Ezekiel Elliott went four, Jalen Ramsey five,
Speaker 3: Ronnie Stanley six to Forrest Buckner.
Speaker 1: Seven, Jennipede a real good pick.
Speaker 3: Jack Conklin went eighth, Leonard Floyd nine, Eli Apple ten.
Speaker 3: Eli Apple was a top ten pickings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Ohio State looks apart, ran.
Speaker 3: Well, still in the league.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's I mean he never even had a good year.
Speaker 3: Vernon Hargreaves at eleven.
Speaker 1: He was a cover two guy. It didn't run well.
Speaker 3: Sheldon Rankins at twelve.
Speaker 1: Still in the league and it is okay, but not special.
Speaker 3: Tonsa at thirteen would have went much higher, of course.
Speaker 3: Carl Joseph at fourteen. Fifteen was Coleman. Sixteen was Taylor Decker.
Speaker 1: Which has been solid.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Neil was seventeen, not great. Ryan Kelly was eighteen.
Speaker 3: Shack loss in nineteen, dron Lee twenty, Fuller docks and Treadwell.
Speaker 3: William Jackson went twenty four.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 3: The Steelers took Arty Burns at twenty five.
Speaker 1: Steelers ended up with a handful of these dudes.
Speaker 3: With Actually, Arty Burns is still in the league.
Speaker 1: He signed somewhere yesterday.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he signed Miami.
Speaker 1: Yeah, where we once grew up at yeah, tenth tier
Speaker 1: in the league. I don't know if he's going. It
Speaker 1: is shocking he's still around, right.
Speaker 3: Paxton Lynch went twenty six to Denver.
Speaker 1: Also ended up in Pittsburgh. It was like five these
Speaker 1: dudes ended up a Steelers.
Speaker 3: Kenny Clark at twenty seven success, Joshua Garnett to San
Speaker 3: Francisco at twenty eight. Wow, Robert and DJ.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was off the field of stuff with him too, yeah,
Speaker 1: crazy and work ethic stuff.
Speaker 3: Twenty nine Arizona Carolina took Vernon Butler and at thirty
Speaker 3: one Germania. Fetti went, that's a pretty bad draft.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there's like five hits, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: Wentz and Golf are fine, especially Golf, and Wentz fizzled out,
Speaker 1: but he had a he had his moment. But all
Speaker 1: in all, and and the guys at the top weren't bad.
Speaker 1: The ram the top ten was right right right. The
Speaker 1: blue chip guys were pretty obvious both so you know,
Speaker 1: those guys all had good careers, but.
Speaker 3: Not a great group. Chris Jones went in the second
Speaker 3: round that year, which brings me to the defensive tackle
Speaker 3: stuff like this is a good This was an above
Speaker 3: average defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: Draft rankins, and I mean there were guys that were
Speaker 1: good prospects, whether they pan out or I.
Speaker 3: Mean a Shawn Robinson went in the second round, Jaron
Speaker 3: Reid went in the secondround.
Speaker 1: These guys are still around. Those Bama guys last Yeah, but.
Speaker 3: You know, a lot of the high profile positions wide receiver,
Speaker 3: quarterback kind of a.
Speaker 1: Kind of fizz. So, I mean it's hard to compare
Speaker 1: classes because they're not ever going to be Apple's d app right,
Speaker 1: but there are trends and like, I think we'll look
Speaker 1: at last year's and say, this might be one of
Speaker 1: the best quarterback classes ever. I mean, I know it's
Speaker 1: early and some of those guys careers will go south.
Speaker 1: But the fact that there was tackles too, I mean,
Speaker 1: the premium positions last year and you know Roma Duneesa
Speaker 1: is your third receiver, yeah, Harrison and Neighbors, and I
Speaker 1: mean there was just so many good dudes that we
Speaker 1: have a defensive player go until Dallas Turner. I mean, like,
Speaker 1: I think that'll be a historic draft.
Speaker 3: Well, and I think I think when you look at that,
Speaker 3: what can we learn from that draft? It was the
Speaker 3: big guys who have hung around the longest.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, even Conkland and you know, I.
Speaker 3: Mean Decker at six. I was gonna say, Okay, that's
Speaker 3: that's good. Kelly is still still.
Speaker 1: In the league. He's had a good career. Yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: and they'll not be Hall of Famers Rankins at twelve,
Speaker 1: he's still still in the league. Kenny Clark, Clark's a
Speaker 1: major success, Vernon Butler main Effetti is still in the
Speaker 1: These guys are still in the league. Those guys hang
Speaker 1: around even if they're not worthy of a first round pick.
Speaker 1: They end up retiring with a lot of millions in
Speaker 1: the bank and a lot of years under their belt. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean the first pick of the second round was
Speaker 3: Emmanuel Ogba.
Speaker 1: Okay, he's again, he's again career, Yeah, been around the superstars.
Speaker 1: But if they're still in the league now, they've done something.
Speaker 3: They've done something disdaining because half the guys in that
Speaker 3: first round aren't still.
Speaker 1: In the league.
Speaker 3: No, right, and the certainly really didn't. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 3: there's Corey Coleman played twenty seven career games. Twenty seven.
Speaker 3: I mean, also the fifteenth pick in a draft.
Speaker 1: I urge people to do this, I mean, go to
Speaker 1: draftistory dot com pick pull up any draft that's kind
Speaker 1: of in the books, but you know who's the hits,
Speaker 1: who's the missing not the last five years, and you
Speaker 1: might be a little less critical of man Kevin Colbert's
Speaker 1: last years were terrible, or Boys Steelers can't draft this position,
Speaker 1: or the draft is not isuccessful as you think. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm still a huge believer in drafting being more important
Speaker 1: than free agency, or I'd rather have draft picks than money.
Speaker 1: But I mean you look at like some of the
Speaker 1: best Colbert drafts, it's still three starters, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a really good draft.
Speaker 3: Starters out of a draft, and I'm talking not immediate stars.
Speaker 3: I'm talking they end up two three, You had a
Speaker 3: good draft.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it doesn't quite add up.
Speaker 3: And I also think you also have to look at
Speaker 3: the team as well, Like three starters on a team
Speaker 3: that goes team that wins ten games as much different
Speaker 3: than three starters on a team that goes two to fourteen.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, not to mention the team that won ten
Speaker 1: to twelve games often where Kevin was picking, and you
Speaker 1: add three starters drafting late to a team that didn't
Speaker 1: need eighteen starters, right, you know, I mean, like some
Speaker 1: of the bad, bad teams.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's I.
Speaker 1: Mean, you have a fourth round pick that you get
Speaker 1: four years out of in their contract and he's okay,
Speaker 1: isn't a miss?
Speaker 3: No? No? Paxton Lynch played five career games? Five? What
Speaker 3: he played in? Five career games?
Speaker 1: Really? Yeah? What does that happen?
Speaker 3: Nobody ever felt good enough about him to make it
Speaker 3: the starter.
Speaker 1: Didn't play more than that?
Speaker 3: Nope, I'm just Robert and DJ played thirty eight career games.
Speaker 3: Josh Garnett, who was San Francisco's pick at twenty eight,
Speaker 3: played twenty five games.
Speaker 1: I say he had like the most nondescript career of
Speaker 1: anyone in that round. Yeah, I mean, but again, I
Speaker 1: urge people, even if you just want to do Steeler drafts,
Speaker 1: look at the last thirty of them and really look
Speaker 1: at the picks and be like, man, the hit rate's
Speaker 1: not as good as you think. Or just take twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty if you want, and just look at the
Speaker 1: first round and be like, yeah, a lot of teams missed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it happens, or you just get a little bit out
Speaker 1: of them, or you know, injuries or whatever.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's all kinds of reasons why guys fail in
Speaker 3: the draft, And you know, sometimes it's not the player,
Speaker 3: it's opportunity. Yes, you know, the scheme doesn't fit.
Speaker 1: Sometimes they get drafted to do one thing and then
Speaker 1: the whole coaching staff gets fired and.
Speaker 3: That kind have happened well, and he gets erupt out
Speaker 3: with the old But yeah, I mean I just see
Speaker 3: some similarities there between that twenty sixteen draft and what
Speaker 3: we have upcoming.
Speaker 1: No, I think you're right, and I hadn't thought of that,
Speaker 1: but I do think there's a chance. You see two
Speaker 1: quarterbacks drafted pretty.
Speaker 3: High and a bunch of defensive linemen, a bunch.
Speaker 1: Of defensive linemen. The early picks seem pretty safe.
Speaker 3: And there's no receiver, which we've seen receivers go high.
Speaker 3: I'm again Coleman went filth. That seems about the right
Speaker 3: range for where the receivers start to go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean did McMillan run yet, Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3: It was a four to four to eight on their track.
Speaker 1: Yeah, which isn't as great we yet.
Speaker 3: Which probably is four five five somewhere in that may be.
Speaker 1: And yeah, yeah, which is what he looks like. It's Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what he looks like. But people talk about him
Speaker 1: like four to the Patriots.
Speaker 3: I think that's the way.
Speaker 1: I don't see that. I mean, I can't imagine. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure o'b receiver one.
Speaker 3: I don't think he will be for me. I was
Speaker 3: tearing before that. I wanted to wait and see how
Speaker 3: he ran, because if he went out and ran a four,
Speaker 3: four to two or something in this pro dayly, Okay,
Speaker 3: he's fast enough.
Speaker 1: I didn't quite pull the trigger on flopping him in
Speaker 1: Golden in my ranks, but they were due two weeks
Speaker 1: ago or whatever. Yeah, next time around, I probably will.
Speaker 1: But Golden could be Coleman too. I mean, none of
Speaker 1: them are to be superstars in my opinion. They've been
Speaker 1: to a better class I would say than that. I
Speaker 1: mean will Fuller and Treadwell, and I mean Treadwell was so.
Speaker 3: Josh Dockson was. Yeah, he was run fast.
Speaker 1: Ran fast, and he had like a forty eight inch
Speaker 1: or not forty eight, like a forty five inch vertical
Speaker 1: and they just used to throw him jump balls and
Speaker 1: he'd go get him like crazy. At TCU eighty one
Speaker 1: Career Catches, people caught onto that pretty quick. Eighty one
Speaker 1: career catch couldn't get open, right, Yeah, So anyways, let's
Speaker 1: get to a break. He is the Matt Williamson. I
Speaker 1: am Dale Lolly. You're listening to the Drive. You're on
Speaker 1: the Steelers Audio Network, Matt, and I'll be back with
Speaker 1: more right after.
Speaker 2: This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
Speaker 2: on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
Speaker 2: and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3: And we are back. I am Dale Lolly. He is
Speaker 3: the Matt Williamson. And Matt I thought, now that we're
Speaker 3: a little over a week into the free.
Speaker 1: Agency period, here it feels like longer.
Speaker 3: Let's take a look here, specifically at some of the
Speaker 3: defensive tackle contracts that were signed. And you tell me
Speaker 3: if yay or nay, if you'd have been in on
Speaker 3: this if you were the Steelers.
Speaker 1: Right, Because I assume you bring this up because I
Speaker 1: think we talked about it yesterday, like if by chance
Speaker 1: they don't land a big free agent, big money, uh quarterback.
Speaker 1: Been nice to have that money for Alan Hargrave whatever.
Speaker 1: And I had some interest in those dudes. Don't get
Speaker 1: me wrong. We brought up Godshot at one point, but
Speaker 1: there is a price point here. You know what's it worth? Now,
Speaker 1: I will say, and I know I saw you on
Speaker 1: Twitter today. We talked about this yesterday. Talking about contracts
Speaker 1: is harder than ever because inflation is so crazy, it's insane.
Speaker 3: The money being thrown around this year. Again, you're paying
Speaker 3: Dollar General, you're at the Dollar General shopping right, but
Speaker 3: you're paying Walmart price, which is vastly different. So ohso,
Speaker 3: Diggi zu wa, I'm looking here at this on the
Speaker 3: thirty thirteen. They just have them in order, okay, and
Speaker 3: I assume that's yes. I don't know what kind of
Speaker 3: how they've determined the order, but this is the order
Speaker 3: that they have them. Ohso, Digi Zua re signed with
Speaker 3: the Cowboys four years eighty million dollars. Didn't get to
Speaker 3: the really free agency. Who wanted to go back. They
Speaker 3: wanted back. They give twenty million dollars a year to
Speaker 3: come back.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I mean that was a franchise tag for
Speaker 1: a day, just to buy time. Situation. I don't even know.
Speaker 1: He's an above average starter. I mean, I would say
Speaker 1: middle of the road starter to above with some upside,
Speaker 1: and they're not that hard to find. They're not like
Speaker 1: offensive tackles, you know, or I mean, especially someone to
Speaker 1: his level. He's a three techning type guy. I mean yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean all these are going to be too much,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, but there might be one or
Speaker 1: two I'd be like, oh, I understand it. I'm having
Speaker 1: a hard time understanding that.
Speaker 3: One page keeps reloading on me here.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Sometimes there's like it's a little goofy jumping out
Speaker 1: of pop ups. Yeah, I think it's all the pop ups.
Speaker 1: Uh So, the next one on.
Speaker 3: Here is is Milton Williams. Four years, one hundred and
Speaker 3: four million dollars with the Patriots. That's like twenty seven
Speaker 3: per which is twenty six twenty six. I was thinking
Speaker 3: he was at twenty seven. It wasn't doing mathll twenty
Speaker 3: six million dollars for Milton Williams, who again, good player.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not a great player, A sending player. I like
Speaker 1: him a lot. I mean, he was a phenomenal tester
Speaker 1: that you knew was going to be a project. They
Speaker 1: developed him along and basically him and Jordan Davis would
Speaker 1: swap opposite Carter who never came on the field, and
Speaker 1: Williams is worth and is better than Davis and his
Speaker 1: skill sets harder to find.
Speaker 3: Twenty six million a year better.
Speaker 1: They just won a Super Bowl, so you get a
Speaker 1: little bump for that, But no, like I mean, if
Speaker 1: I'm the Steelers, I'm not giving him twenty six million.
Speaker 1: And the thing is, though the Patriots had to spend
Speaker 1: on something. I mean, they still one hundred million dollars
Speaker 1: cash pace them. But a right, right, I don't even know.
Speaker 1: It's a bad signing for them. You couldn't even no,
Speaker 1: oh no, no, Steelers couldn't dromp that. I don't know.
Speaker 3: Jonathan Allen, good player, good player, three years, sixty million dollars.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wonder how much that's guaranteed. Thirty one and
Speaker 1: deceending a nice pickup at fourteen or fifteen.
Speaker 3: Right, which is what it probably should have been.
Speaker 1: To your thirty five with twenty guaranteed or something like that. Okay,
Speaker 1: but that's a pretty big commitment to a guy that Washington. Well,
Speaker 1: this is kind of a side note. Maybe we'll get
Speaker 1: to them. Washington cuts them and signs a worst player,
Speaker 1: we'll get to it. Which I think is one of
Speaker 1: the worst deals in the in all free agency.
Speaker 3: Tershawn Wharton signed with the Panthers three years, forty five
Speaker 3: million dollars. They thought they had Milton Williams, right, and
Speaker 3: the Patriots came in and said, oh no, we're gonna
Speaker 3: here's some more money.
Speaker 1: Just take whatever you want. We need to get to whoever.
Speaker 3: Kirshawn Wharton fifteen million dollars. Ye were pretty average guy
Speaker 3: Steelers are paying. That's basically what the Steelers are paying
Speaker 3: Cam Heyward.
Speaker 1: And they're not even close to one another.
Speaker 3: Grady Jarrett. Grady Jarrett got cut by Atlanta and signed
Speaker 3: a three year, forty three point five million dollar deal
Speaker 3: to go to the Bears.
Speaker 1: There's no way he's all three. No, she probably knows that.
Speaker 1: But he's a declining player. I mean, that's like the
Speaker 1: worst pass rushing team in the league that cuts you,
Speaker 1: and that's your special He hasn't been good in the
Speaker 1: last two years, right, I mean he's the guy that
Speaker 1: relives on quickness and leverage and he just doesn't get
Speaker 1: off the ball like he used to.
Speaker 3: And you know, Javon Hargrave two years, thirty million dollars
Speaker 3: is thirty two coming off of torn That.
Speaker 1: Doesn't say he's older than you think, folks, And he's
Speaker 1: coming off a major injury. And the end.
Speaker 3: I would have been interested in bringing yeah, Javon Hargrave back,
Speaker 3: but not at fifteen million a year.
Speaker 1: I gonna say twelve. I'd consider it, but again, I
Speaker 1: don't know that he's a difference maker. Now. It'd be
Speaker 1: a nice piece, but is he a build a round
Speaker 1: type of guy? Definitely not.
Speaker 3: Dalvin Tomlinson.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a bad one too.
Speaker 3: Two years, twenty nine million dollars. Yeah, again, you released
Speaker 3: Oagun Joby. The Steelers released Ogunjobi because his camp it
Speaker 3: was thirteen million, right, right, These guys are blowing by that.
Speaker 1: That's right. He's only a run stuffer and wasn't much
Speaker 1: a one last year. Right. Other than that, usually those
Speaker 1: guys hang around and last. But you're also usually like
Speaker 1: five million just to rent the run stuffer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know JN Reid, who's like thirty four years old, he.
Speaker 1: Kind of always just hangs around. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Two years, twenty two million dollars.
Speaker 1: It's bad. It's not a truck, it's not.
Speaker 3: It's not like some of these other ones.
Speaker 1: Right, he'll get you three sacks a year. Yeah, he'll
Speaker 1: have some moments. It'll be with another team in a year,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 3: BJ Hill re signed with the Bengals three years, thirty
Speaker 3: three million dollars.
Speaker 1: He was more of the problem than the answer last year. Again,
Speaker 1: he's not terrible. I mean he would start for most
Speaker 1: teams kind of yeah. I mean like you'd be sixty
Speaker 1: percent snap guy for most teams and you'd try to
Speaker 1: draft over right, That's that's what he is.
Speaker 3: An affords that one. I like, he's a very specific
Speaker 3: time kind of right, right right. I got three years
Speaker 3: twenty seven point six million dollars from the Rams.
Speaker 1: That's actually kind of funny to me because myself included,
Speaker 1: the league has been prejudiced against Punaford for as he's
Speaker 1: he's just tall, but he's really hard to block. And
Speaker 1: I looked at like the Chargers d tackles last year
Speaker 1: at this time, like who are these guys? And they
Speaker 1: played well because.
Speaker 3: He didn't necessarily fit in the Steelers defense.
Speaker 1: Oh no, no, he would be a fit here at all. Right,
Speaker 1: I mean he's a Rams Upfield's free right right, right,
Speaker 1: He's use him like fist, right, But it's a nice
Speaker 1: pickup for them. That's a contract I understand.
Speaker 3: At least DJ Jones.
Speaker 1: He was a name a pre or pre free agency
Speaker 1: I said, at the right price, I would consider him
Speaker 1: at like eight million.
Speaker 3: Three years thirty nine mob right, that's not the right price.
Speaker 1: No, all he does is stuff to run, and he's
Speaker 1: good at it. But I thought, eh, you know, you
Speaker 1: can then groom a nose or whatever.
Speaker 3: Yeah, dream Aunt Jones one year, ten million dollars and.
Speaker 1: A year ago Seeattle or two years ago Seattle signed
Speaker 1: him to huge money which you never lived up to.
Speaker 1: They cut him. He's not hard to find either. Uh.
Speaker 3: Malik Collins got two years twenty million dollars from the Browns.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not sure. Well, they're so light on the
Speaker 1: D line. They had a dad something, but he's another.
Speaker 1: A lot of these guys are rent the players. I mean,
Speaker 1: these are all you know, you borrow have him for
Speaker 1: a year or two.
Speaker 3: Jawan Kinlaw that's the worst one. Three years, forty five
Speaker 3: million dollars for a below average player.
Speaker 1: I would average. I don't think he's a starter, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I would be very uncomfortable with him as
Speaker 1: a starter. Former first round pick with crazy tools, I
Speaker 1: mean like super long armed, six six, first guy off
Speaker 1: the bus, but not really good at football.
Speaker 3: Now, maybe he was miscast in their defense, and you know,
Speaker 3: but he was missed.
Speaker 1: He was miscast with the Niners and the Jets because
Speaker 1: this is a third team, yeah, you know, and the
Speaker 1: project isn't projecting yet. I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: worst contracts in free agency, to be honest with you.
Speaker 3: It's I mean, some of these other guys in are
Speaker 3: you know, you're looking at some one year deals, two
Speaker 3: year deals, but it's less than ten million. But they're
Speaker 3: also less than ten million dollar year players.
Speaker 1: And that's in a off season where everyone knows the
Speaker 1: dtackle draft classes is much better than ever, I mean,
Speaker 1: much better than average for sure too, you know, and
Speaker 1: they're still handing out those deals. And I don't think
Speaker 1: there's a shortage of those guys, Like there is tackles
Speaker 1: like I understand Dan Moore's deal or Jalen Moore's deal
Speaker 1: even more than half of those. Where am I going?
Speaker 1: Where other tackles I have to pick from? All those guys.
Speaker 1: You can kind of shake them up and put them
Speaker 1: in a bag. And if I got one of them
Speaker 1: and be like, okay, you know, it'd be the Ogunjobi
Speaker 1: Roll or whatever.
Speaker 3: Fifteen million years right right right?
Speaker 1: I mean, like they're not special though, well, I mean
Speaker 1: the bill's hard to find.
Speaker 3: The Bills signed Oguin Jobi one year, eight point three
Speaker 3: million dollars without knowing that he's going to be suspended
Speaker 3: for this first six months.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they were a little hasty, I think too. I
Speaker 1: mean he got picked up like I felt quick second
Speaker 1: after the Wheelers let him go. Right. Some of his
Speaker 1: stuff's injury too. Yeah, he has a history, but that's
Speaker 1: a lot of these guys really, that's true too. He's
Speaker 1: not alone on that at all.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean a lot of these guys have something.
Speaker 3: I mean, you played ten years in the league, of
Speaker 3: course you're gonna have some stuff that's happened.
Speaker 1: And he's not like Hardgrave coming off a major injury,
Speaker 1: you know, like last time we saw him, or he
Speaker 1: missed significant time and didn't come back and show us yet.
Speaker 1: You know now that market's kind of yucky shopping right.
Speaker 3: There, Kalais Campbell was still there.
Speaker 1: He's real unique though, Yeah, I mean I wonder if
Speaker 1: he would even say yes to half the team's out
Speaker 1: there or is he contemplating retirement.
Speaker 3: They can choose where he wants to go otherwise, and.
Speaker 1: He probably could be like I'll do it after mini
Speaker 1: camp and into training camp and whenever I feel.
Speaker 3: Like it, right, Rakwon Davis is still out there, just
Speaker 3: a guy. De Marcus Walker h fought Casey.
Speaker 1: It was interesting three years ago. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Austin Johnson the same thing.
Speaker 1: He was interesting, yeah three years ago, right, I mean
Speaker 1: some of those guys going off their first contract were interesting.
Speaker 3: John Jenkins, Benito Jones, right, like, this is where you're
Speaker 3: you know, this is what it is now.
Speaker 1: One name and this goes back to our long conversation
Speaker 1: yesterday about free agency is getting harder and harder to
Speaker 1: improve your team. The Raiders kept their nose tackle type.
Speaker 1: He's not a big name, dude, I forget him. I
Speaker 1: think Walkers is his last name. I can't remember off
Speaker 1: the top of my head. But he's a quality player
Speaker 1: that they didn't go crazy to keep. They signed him
Speaker 1: right before free agency stuck around. He's gonna be next
Speaker 1: to Wilkins. He'll give you three or four sacks a game,
Speaker 1: and he's a loaded to move in the run game.
Speaker 1: Ye mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, right, all right,
Speaker 1: And there's a couple Butler, Yes, Butler.
Speaker 3: He had three years, sixteen and a half million, so okay, right, yeah,
Speaker 3: at five and a half million a year, Okay.
Speaker 1: Right, and say that's that's the kind of deal. That's
Speaker 1: the kind of deal. I was like, Oh, that makes sense.
Speaker 1: If he would have hit the open market, I would
Speaker 1: have given him that.
Speaker 3: But not if he'd hit the open market in this market,
Speaker 3: he'd probably.
Speaker 1: Gets what I'm saying, right, he would have got.
Speaker 3: Three years twenty five right, right?
Speaker 1: Right? Twelve per right? Yeah, because he's got good tape,
Speaker 1: he's not crazy old.
Speaker 3: You know, he's probably looking disc one. I might fire
Speaker 3: my agent.
Speaker 1: I think there's an ampule of those guys I keep
Speaker 1: coming back to. Uh, I'm bad with names right now,
Speaker 1: the Alaric Jackson, the left tackle for the Rams. If
Speaker 1: he doesn't sign before free agency, and he's gonna get
Speaker 1: more Dan Moore, Yeah, I think he got like thirteen.
Speaker 1: I mean he's he got way less than Dan Moore.
Speaker 1: He's better and never hit the open market.
Speaker 3: Let's let's take a look at that market, because we
Speaker 3: both agree that the Steelers should be in that market somewhere.
Speaker 3: This guy's still out there. Cam Robinson.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure why on him. I mean, at least
Speaker 1: he could play, and he's been a starter in two places.
Speaker 3: Has not more money than probably an injury.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I'm not saying name when
Speaker 1: she give him twenty, but I'm shocked that he hasn't
Speaker 1: latched on somewhere Jedrick Wills. That interests me. But there
Speaker 1: might be going on more. There might be more going
Speaker 1: on there. I know him and the Browns that are
Speaker 1: falling out, and he was kind of a healthy scratch
Speaker 1: at the end.
Speaker 3: Well they said he was a healthy scratch. He had
Speaker 3: an injury before that. Did he have surgery?
Speaker 1: I don't know, And I think he had an injury
Speaker 1: like a year or two ago, and his play has
Speaker 1: dropped since that point. But he's a high pedigree ninth
Speaker 1: pick in the draft type of guy that if he
Speaker 1: wants to play for three million a year, I mean,
Speaker 1: is that I don't even know what what you'd offer him.
Speaker 3: I don't know either. Yeah, he's not He probably doesn't
Speaker 3: want to come in though, to compete for a job.
Speaker 1: No. I want him as a third guy, right, I
Speaker 1: mean ideally, and I don't mind spend, but.
Speaker 3: He probably thinks he's still a starter.
Speaker 1: Somewhere probably, and from what I remember, he's one of
Speaker 1: those right tackle. What Bama moved the left tackle in
Speaker 1: the pros. So if he's your Steeler third guy, could
Speaker 1: he do both? But is he willing to do both?
Speaker 1: Do you think he's better than he is? He might?
Speaker 3: You know Tyron Smith left tackle only, he's he's class Campbell,
Speaker 3: class CAMPB right if he wants to play well. And
Speaker 3: George Fant he's been on one.
Speaker 1: Hundred teams in around the league a million. He's right
Speaker 1: tackle only.
Speaker 3: I think Joseph Noteboom not the worst thing I ever
Speaker 3: heard be interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean I think he's played both, but
Speaker 1: I know he has left tackle experience. I mean he's
Speaker 1: he's better than some of those I'm not making fun
Speaker 1: a little Raven Clark, but you know they've picked up
Speaker 1: those guys hanging around forever. No, Boom's better than that
Speaker 1: level play.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Dylan Reddens physical. He was visiting somebody to Seattle.
Speaker 1: He's really scheme specific. Yeah, he moves well. I mean
Speaker 1: if you're on a lot of outside zone, which the
Speaker 1: Steelers do, but he's not real physical. He's lean.
Speaker 3: Jermainea Fetti, he was in that draft class we were
Speaker 3: just talking to.
Speaker 1: We just talked around forever. He's a mercer rider at
Speaker 1: this point too. Yeah, he'll be in the league. But
Speaker 1: that just screams what the the O lion short is
Speaker 1: is going on right now?
Speaker 3: Kendall Lamb mhmm. And the last guy on here is
Speaker 3: Landon Young.
Speaker 1: I don't know who that is.
Speaker 3: But some of the guys, some of these contracts, these
Speaker 3: guys have signed, like Morgan Moses got three years, twenty
Speaker 3: four million dollars Patrick McCarry.
Speaker 1: I actually think that's fine.
Speaker 3: Three years thirty seven and a half million dollars for
Speaker 3: Patrick McCary, who he might not be a tackle, he's
Speaker 3: older than you think. Yeah, Josh Jones got one year,
Speaker 3: four million. Dan Skipper resign with the Lions one one
Speaker 3: year for one point three Kelvin Beacham still getting four
Speaker 3: million dollars a year.
Speaker 1: Great for Yeah, he's not like the other ones where
Speaker 1: it's like he's just sticking around. He's no good. He's
Speaker 1: had a good career.
Speaker 3: The Browns signed Cornelius Lucas two years, six point five million.
Speaker 1: These ones don't bother me as well. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: they're three million. I mean just because you have to
Speaker 1: have a tackle backup.
Speaker 3: James Hudson got twelve million over two years with the Giants.
Speaker 1: There's so much good tape out there.
Speaker 3: Matt Pert resigned with the Broncos two year, seven million dollars.
Speaker 3: Chuma Edgua a Dogu, I should say, signed with the
Speaker 3: Jags two years, seven million dollars. Larry Borham still hanging around.
Speaker 3: He got two point five from the Dolphins. But at
Speaker 3: the top of that.
Speaker 1: I mean, the top stuff's crazy, you know.
Speaker 3: Twenty million, yeah, Jaylaen Moore got fifteen, Moses got eight.
Speaker 1: Like, I'm cool with that, just because it's the Patriots
Speaker 1: and they had to spend their money. It's kind of
Speaker 1: Milt Williams conversation. At least give me I'm gonna draft
Speaker 1: o line like crazy, give me the adult in the
Speaker 1: room that comes to work every day or right tackle.
Speaker 3: But to your point, Alaric Jackson three years fifty seven
Speaker 3: point seven to five million before free agency started, he
Speaker 3: could have gotten well over twenty.
Speaker 1: Oh he left twenty on the on the table over
Speaker 1: three years. Yeah, easily easily, probably be twenty guaranteed. It's
Speaker 1: just not a good pool to be You never want
Speaker 1: to shop in shopping it right, and I know it
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like much, but like when you assign Thornhill
Speaker 1: or even one more d lineman like they have a
Speaker 1: couple of these small signings they've made lately might allow
Speaker 1: you to draft a third or fourth round tackle that
Speaker 1: you hadn't planned one before, you know, and then you
Speaker 1: don't ever shop in those waters, right, you just keep
Speaker 1: don't keep me out of those waters. There's sharks everywhere.
Speaker 3: In his watch and they just keep churning those guys,
Speaker 3: and yeah, seem maybe.
Speaker 1: One of them turned to a guard or you know,
Speaker 1: right any yesterday, some of them might be your sixth
Speaker 1: lineman for four plays a game.
Speaker 3: Okay, play a lot in the preseason. Absolutely, But let's
Speaker 3: get to a break. He is the Matt Williamson. I
Speaker 3: am Dale Lollie. You're listening to the Drive here on
Speaker 3: the Steelers Audio Network, Matt and I'll be back with
Speaker 3: more right after this.
Speaker 2: At least he's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt
Speaker 2: Williamson on your twenty four to seven Home of the
Speaker 2: Black and Gold cast in Steeler. There's Nation Radio.
Speaker 3: And welcome back. I'm Dale Lolly here with the Matt Williamson.
Speaker 3: And there are other podcasts out there, Oh yeah, there's plenty.
Speaker 1: Back in the day when there was like Mining and
Speaker 1: two others back in the day, and what the heck's
Speaker 1: a podcast?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, Cam Hayward has his own podcast, Not Just
Speaker 3: Football with Cam Hayward, And today he said that he
Speaker 3: just wants this quarterback situation. He's kind of like the
Speaker 3: rest of us, just ask the quarterback situation to be
Speaker 3: done one way or the other and doesn't he's ready
Speaker 3: to move on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and obviously that ties into Aaron Rodgers. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's no secret at this point. And to me, Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers has every right to take as long as he wants. Short.
Speaker 3: He's making a lifetime decision, no question.
Speaker 1: He might.
Speaker 3: He could retire, he done.
Speaker 1: He could walk the earth. Yeah, you know, whatever he
Speaker 1: wants to do. The pulp fiction reference for our friend
Speaker 1: Justin who finally jumped on board. Yeah, so if he
Speaker 1: wants to roam the earth, do whatever you want. If
Speaker 1: you want to throw footballs for the Vikings or Giants,
Speaker 1: you're allowed whatever. But there's also a courtesy involved too,
Speaker 1: and other people are obviously waiting on you. Both can
Speaker 1: be true, right, you know, And frankly he shouldn't care
Speaker 1: what me, you and our listeners think, but it makes
Speaker 1: it easier for a new team to move on if
Speaker 1: they have answers sooner than later. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: a moving train, as we always say. And I don't
Speaker 1: know exactly what.
Speaker 3: Camp say, and I didn't understand. We're eight days in
Speaker 3: the free really not even eight day which seems like
Speaker 3: tomorrow will be the first week officially a free agency. Wait,
Speaker 3: everybody gets excited about the early signing period. That's you know,
Speaker 3: the early right tampering period. Free agency didn't start until
Speaker 3: four o'clock.
Speaker 1: On I'm the late years eight days old. Yeah, which
Speaker 1: you put it that way, it's like six years old,
Speaker 1: six or six years old, right right, And you put
Speaker 1: it that way, it's like, what are we all in
Speaker 1: a huff about? But twenty nine teams have their quarterback
Speaker 1: and there's a couple that don't. And I don't even know.
Speaker 1: If it's twenty nine, I would say, I'm giants. I
Speaker 1: would say, is a no, Steelers don't.
Speaker 3: Giants don't. The Steelers don't, the Titans don't, the Browns
Speaker 3: the mite.
Speaker 1: I was giving the Titans credit just to say that
Speaker 1: he's in college right.
Speaker 3: Now as we sit here right now, they do not
Speaker 3: have No, they don't. They're not going back to what
Speaker 3: they have.
Speaker 1: No, but their world's a little different because they have
Speaker 1: their choice of the litter from the still draft. But
Speaker 1: right as we sit here right now, but right, yeah,
Speaker 1: and they need to know. I mean it's because at
Speaker 1: that position, it's not I don't have my left guard.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just.
Speaker 3: At the same time, nobody's doing anything right now, right things.
Speaker 3: There are no football type activities going on other than
Speaker 3: guys training on their own. Right OTAs don't start for
Speaker 3: a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: If Rogers would assigned to the Steelers or Giants or
Speaker 1: whatever five days ago, yeah, he'd have their iPad and
Speaker 1: their playbook and he'd be learning, and maybe he'd be
Speaker 1: in touch with Pickens and metcalf or come up for
Speaker 1: a throwing session or maybe who knows, Or maybe he'd
Speaker 1: be on vacation, you know, which is also perfectly fine,
Speaker 1: because there's not They have busy lives too. I mean
Speaker 1: they're allowed to vacation. They have millions of dollars they
Speaker 1: can spend however they want, et cetera. No, you're right,
Speaker 1: I mean it's not he's not in Egypt in doing
Speaker 1: mini camp or whatever, and there's no reason to even
Speaker 1: get mad at him. He is every right in the world.
Speaker 3: He's making a decision right, right, this is do I
Speaker 3: want to play another year? Do you want to play
Speaker 3: for this team? Do want to play for that team? Fine?
Speaker 1: But what none on the above right, And it's a
Speaker 1: big decision now.
Speaker 3: One of the things that is out there I think
Speaker 3: there's a misconception about, and it involves Russell Wilson and
Speaker 3: his joining of the Steelers. Last year, I wrote a
Speaker 3: big story on this that was ended up being a
Speaker 3: program piece for one of the one of the games.
Speaker 3: And so I talked to Russell Wilson, I talked to
Speaker 3: Cam Heyward, I talked to t J. Watt, I talked
Speaker 3: to Minka Fitzpatrick about the process a year ago at
Speaker 3: this time, how did that take place? I think there
Speaker 3: was a perception out there that Watt and Hayward and
Speaker 3: Fitzpatrick all called Russell Wilson to recruit him to be
Speaker 3: a Steeler. That's not what happened. He called them to
Speaker 3: let them know that he a wanted to join the
Speaker 3: Steelers because and be he wasn't coming in here to
Speaker 3: take over the locker room or anything like that. He
Speaker 3: wanted to he wanted to be a part of this
Speaker 3: because he thought they had a chance to win and
Speaker 3: I don't know, and he wanted to call the team
Speaker 3: leaders too.
Speaker 1: Did the Steelers reach out to him before that or
Speaker 1: don't you know? They had?
Speaker 3: They had spoken which and before he made a decision
Speaker 3: whether he came here or not, he reached out to
Speaker 3: those guys. Hayward told me that he spent over an
Speaker 3: hour on the phone with Russell Wilson just talking and
Speaker 3: they had a relationship with Walter Payton, Man of the Year.
Speaker 1: They all know each other now I mean water agents.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Watt and Wilson are both Wisconsin guys, so they
Speaker 3: had cross paths at different times, so they talked make ahead.
Speaker 3: It wasn't as long of a talk as he had
Speaker 3: with Hayward. Yeah, yeah, and the same thing with Micking Fitzpatrick.
Speaker 3: It wasn't a long talk, but he talked to said, Hey,
Speaker 3: I'm just coming in to be one of the guys,
Speaker 3: so I would have call him though.
Speaker 1: You might have a better feel for this than me,
Speaker 1: But Fields isn't the oldest guy out there, but I'm
Speaker 1: sure he has somebody he knows on the Jets and yeah,
Speaker 1: where he put.
Speaker 3: Star wide receiver.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean if you think that had something to
Speaker 1: do with him signing there, You don't think he reached
Speaker 1: out to Garrett Wilson.
Speaker 3: Think they talked a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I was going kind of a different direction.
Speaker 1: But if you're Rogers or Wilson and you've been around
Speaker 1: the league as long as them, you're absolutely calling the
Speaker 1: team leaders, even if you've never speaken to Minka or
Speaker 1: Watt in your life, Like, hey, it's Aaron you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I met you at the Pro Bowl three years ago.
Speaker 1: Right right? Or my agent gave me your number, you know, I.
Speaker 3: Mean, or maybe a shareon agent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know exactly. And they can get in
Speaker 1: touch with each other. I've been around the block. How's
Speaker 1: life there? How close do you think you are? Let's
Speaker 1: be honest with me and you know, and that's what
Speaker 1: they should do.
Speaker 3: But I don't. That's not happening right now with Aaron
Speaker 3: Rodgers all because Heyward said he said, I ain't doing
Speaker 3: no darkness retreat. I don't need any of that crap.
Speaker 3: Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don't.
Speaker 3: That's simple. That's the pitch. If you want to be
Speaker 3: if you want me to recruit. That's the recruiting pitch
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers. If you want to be a part of it,
Speaker 3: so be it. If you don't, no skin off my back.
Speaker 1: And that's what I'm saying, Aaron, we don't want you
Speaker 1: or I hate you. Absolutely, people were.
Speaker 3: Taking it that right, he says. No, he's saying, Look,
Speaker 3: we're the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you want to be a
Speaker 3: part of what we got here, sign up for it.
Speaker 3: If you don't, you want to go to the Giants,
Speaker 3: you want to go to the Vikings, wherever you want
Speaker 3: to go, fine, that's your choice.
Speaker 1: But we're pretty transparent organization. We've been doing things this
Speaker 1: way and it's been successful. And if that's not something
Speaker 1: you're going to be a part of, so be it.
Speaker 1: Move on. But we need to know, we need to
Speaker 1: know that's a thing. Again. Rogers has every right to
Speaker 1: take this months if he wants, but the Steelers also
Speaker 1: have every right to say, hey, if you don't tell
Speaker 1: me by the end of the week, we'd we're done.
Speaker 1: Because moving train.
Speaker 3: It's a moving train, and they want to they want
Speaker 3: to know.
Speaker 1: They gotta know.
Speaker 3: We get asked about this all time. How many times
Speaker 3: you think Cam Hayward gets asked who the Steelers quarterback
Speaker 3: is going to be, right right, and he doesn't know.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure anybody knows.
Speaker 3: Nor one person knows what's in his mind, and that's
Speaker 3: Yan Rodgers.
Speaker 1: And he still might hasn't apparently not made his mind up.
Speaker 1: Do you think he take the Vikings though, over the
Speaker 1: Steelers or Giants. I don't see the Giants of the Steelers.
Speaker 1: It's just money, yeah, And he doesn't want to move
Speaker 1: his house or whatever. The Vikings won to me is
Speaker 1: kind of weird.
Speaker 3: I don't see it because at some point the Vikings
Speaker 3: are going to want to play the tenth overall.
Speaker 1: Pick in last year, right right? I mean like if
Speaker 1: I were him and I thought I could definitely make
Speaker 1: a case that I have a better chance to win
Speaker 1: sure there than here. Not the Giants obviously, and it's
Speaker 1: an appealing situation. It's a throwing justin. Jefferson looks great.
Speaker 1: You know, you're very familiar with the division and you've
Speaker 1: played against that organization eight thousand times. I just don't
Speaker 1: know that the Vikings are really equipped to do that,
Speaker 1: or to rock a boat with his personality when you
Speaker 1: put him on the bench eventually, or I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just like he's gonna come in a mentor he's
Speaker 1: not exactly known for the quarterback of the future who
Speaker 1: you drafted tenth overall last year. Now, maybe McCarthy's injuries
Speaker 1: not healed as well as we thought. That would be
Speaker 1: concerning to me.
Speaker 3: But they haven't done anything like they could have kept Daniel.
Speaker 1: Jones said, But why you would just give Daniel Jones
Speaker 1: that opportunity or Darnold for that reason, right, they could
Speaker 1: have done franchised.
Speaker 3: They could have done either of those things, and they
Speaker 3: chose not to. And oh, by the wa we spent
Speaker 3: like drunken sailors in free agency.
Speaker 1: That's what I mean, because since then they've spent so much.
Speaker 1: Now you're you gonna spend again on Rogers. I don't know.
Speaker 1: That's why it doesn't quite add up, because if you
Speaker 1: were super concerned about his injury, slap the franchise tag
Speaker 1: on Donald.
Speaker 3: You know, we're make Daniel Jones an offer. He can't
Speaker 3: refuge like Daniel you were here, you're our guy.
Speaker 1: You've been around right right, you know, I don't know
Speaker 1: if Minnesota is real. I think the Giants are very real.
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones leaving tells me that they think he's going
Speaker 3: to be ready for the start of the season.
Speaker 1: I assume.
Speaker 3: So Otherwise, Daniel Jones just sticks around, says, I'm going
Speaker 3: to be the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. I
Speaker 3: got Jefferson, I've got this. I can go out there
Speaker 3: and be the next Sam Donald, even if it's over.
Speaker 3: My first six starts of the year look great with
Speaker 3: these guys, and then they benched me for McCartney. Okay,
Speaker 3: but I put six games of good tape out there
Speaker 3: with good Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I'd rather compete with McCarthy, even if it's
Speaker 1: a tougher test than Richardson or if McCarthy.
Speaker 3: If McCarthy, let's say he's he's not ready six weeks
Speaker 3: into the season. If I'm Daniel Jones, I'm going to
Speaker 3: get all the training camp snaps, oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: Whereas in Indianapolis, you're getting fifty.
Speaker 1: I'mna have to split him at best, and you're gonna lose.
Speaker 3: The tie and then and then, yeah, you're gonna lose
Speaker 3: the tie. And they might want to give Richardson more
Speaker 3: just because like.
Speaker 1: He's our guys, he's the he's the Freedom Rep's like crazy,
Speaker 1: we don't start taking them away then you might. We
Speaker 1: don't know anything to you, yeah, other than this contract.
Speaker 1: Yeah him.
Speaker 3: We use the fourth overall pick in the draft for Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think any way you spin it, you'd rather go
Speaker 1: to Minnesota than Indy if you're Daniel.
Speaker 3: Jones, which tells me that that Minnesota feels like McCarthy's
Speaker 3: going to be okay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Rogers Park doesn't add up. It
Speaker 1: would if they wouldn't have spent on all those linemen
Speaker 1: in the last week. Now. I don't know how you
Speaker 1: swing it, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Anyways, let's get to a break. He is the Matt Williamson.
Speaker 3: I am Dale Lawy. You're listening to the Drive here
Speaker 3: on the Steelers Audio Network. We'll be back with hour
Speaker 3: number two right after this