Speaker 1: To us buyers touch style by waddle stuck into the
Speaker 1: end zone of Miami Boy, tight fro, tight window. They
Speaker 1: had to get that touchdown on that play. They get it.
Speaker 1: What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going? Everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield? And on today's show, a new week is here,
Speaker 1: and so too is free agency. At least almost the
Speaker 1: league is already rolling with reports of trades, moves, and
Speaker 1: goings on that began last week with that really crazy
Speaker 1: Wednesday kind of kicking things off, and things will only
Speaker 1: continue to get more bonkers in the coming days. Today
Speaker 1: here on the podcast, a primer, a look at some
Speaker 1: potential fits and landing spots, plus a look back at
Speaker 1: recent free agency periods, returning to an increase in the
Speaker 1: NFL cap figure, and a whole heck of a lot
Speaker 1: more busy podcast from somewhere in South Florida. This is
Speaker 1: the Drive Time Podcast. We kick off the podcast today
Speaker 1: with some news of a tender ring of cornerback Nick
Speaker 1: Needham with a second round designation. So after a season
Speaker 1: where Nick allows no touchdowns in coverage, has a pick six,
Speaker 1: some consistent impressive coverage on the inside, and a handful
Speaker 1: of plays coming down on the blitz, off the edge
Speaker 1: and the running game. I want to find this guy
Speaker 1: has been and the path This is a path for
Speaker 1: an undrafted free agent right He had to earn his
Speaker 1: job originally back in twent nineteen, had to fight off competition,
Speaker 1: high draft picks, proven veteran free agent editions, and he
Speaker 1: has done nothing but battle and earned playing time. And
Speaker 1: now he earned a nice little pay raise as a
Speaker 1: result in his fourth NFL season, And just to put
Speaker 1: a bow on his numbers from his most impressive year yet,
Speaker 1: fifty nine tackles, two interceptions, five passes offense, a fumble recovery,
Speaker 1: a sack, two QB hits, five QB pressures, fourteen run stops.
Speaker 1: Those are a Pro Football Focus metric for rundown tackles
Speaker 1: within two yards of the line of scrimmage, no touchdowns allowed,
Speaker 1: a career low eight point six percent miss tackle rate.
Speaker 1: And I think my favorite of all of them is
Speaker 1: right here. Three penalties for Nick Needom last year. That's
Speaker 1: down from ten his rookie season, down from seven, and
Speaker 1: year number two to just three a year ago in
Speaker 1: his third season. And that's a position where you face
Speaker 1: two way goes and really if you get beat instantly
Speaker 1: in that position, like the best way to defend that
Speaker 1: once you get beat is to grab on and hold.
Speaker 1: So good on Nick need Um for just three penalties
Speaker 1: last season in a very difficult position on the football field.
Speaker 1: And we talked about again that slot spot in some
Speaker 1: of the receivers that he had some really great coverage
Speaker 1: numbers against last year. I should say there was a
Speaker 1: stretch of games against Tyler Boy, Jamison Crowder and now
Speaker 1: Super Bowl m v P Cooper Cup where it was
Speaker 1: a catcher two per game for US a few yards
Speaker 1: in those games. And he also gave you ninety snaps
Speaker 1: last year in the post as a free safety, including
Speaker 1: forty four of those in a Week fifteen game against
Speaker 1: the Jets when Javon Holland was on the COVID list.
Speaker 1: Not to mention a hundred forty seven snaps on special teams.
Speaker 1: What to find? What a value, What an example to
Speaker 1: have on your roster. Just another one of these guys
Speaker 1: that Josh Boyer. We've heard stories about him kind of
Speaker 1: pounding the table for Nick need Um as a U
Speaker 1: d f A back in nineteen, just another defensive back
Speaker 1: who goes undrafted to playing in Josh Bowyer's DB's room.
Speaker 1: That's where he was in twenty nineteen, and also with
Speaker 1: the Patriots prior to that, to turning into a legitimate
Speaker 1: quality starter. Nick need Um, J C. Jackson, Malcolm Butler,
Speaker 1: just to name a few. There, so great value here
Speaker 1: for the Miami Dolphins. Before we get into and expand
Speaker 1: upon my free agency primer that's up on Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com this morning, I want to go ahead and
Speaker 1: look at a few things, and first among them is
Speaker 1: a look at the cap and the correlating rise in
Speaker 1: annual salary, these guarantees and just general money that will
Speaker 1: be spent in the coming weeks. Here at the onset
Speaker 1: of free agency this year, the cap is at two
Speaker 1: hundred eight point two million. Last year it was at
Speaker 1: one eighty two point five million, down from twenties number
Speaker 1: at one point to which was up from twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: at one eight point too, and the year prior at
Speaker 1: one seventy seven point two, So you kind of get
Speaker 1: the rhythm there, right. Eleven million dollar increases ten million
Speaker 1: dollar increases their year to year about a five percent
Speaker 1: increase with that trajectory each year until you get to
Speaker 1: that COVID season, which kind of knocked things out of
Speaker 1: whack there for one season. But now a twenty million
Speaker 1: dollar increase from where it left off last season. So
Speaker 1: we're right back on that track with you know, give
Speaker 1: or take five percent increase in the year to year.
Speaker 1: So the NFL man business be booming even inside of
Speaker 1: a pandemic, but especially outsider, I should say, you know,
Speaker 1: two years removed from the onset of COVID really becoming
Speaker 1: a part of our lives. So when we think about
Speaker 1: the contracts that we might see with that dip and
Speaker 1: cap and now back up, you have to remember that
Speaker 1: you must re calibrate each year what each contract means
Speaker 1: relative to the league cap figure. Right, So five percent
Speaker 1: give or take increase. Apply that to the players as well.
Speaker 1: So what was once a twenty million dollar contract now
Speaker 1: becomes a you know, getting I don't know math, but
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that becomes one million dollars. You have
Speaker 1: to apply that into the way this goes. But I'm
Speaker 1: gonna talk about Dolphins pass free agent periods here in
Speaker 1: just a moment and reflecting upon you know when free
Speaker 1: agency used to kick off in the middle of the
Speaker 1: night back in the day, and you know this was
Speaker 1: the case back with Albert Haynesworth. What was that two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine. I think it changed just a few
Speaker 1: years after that. I want to say the eleven lockout
Speaker 1: ushered in the change to make free agency a primetime
Speaker 1: event because it was pushed back to like July or
Speaker 1: August that year, if not, you know, soon thereafter. But
Speaker 1: that's besides the point. The point about Albert Haynesworth giving
Speaker 1: that blockbust or deal in an NFL record forty one
Speaker 1: million dollars and guarantees back in two thousand nine, a
Speaker 1: defensive tackle setting the guaranteed record for most guaranteed money
Speaker 1: in a contract. Think about how crazy that is. And
Speaker 1: at one point I intended to get to was the
Speaker 1: contract that Harold Landry was reportedly agreeing to with the
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans this last week. A fantastic defensive end, edge rusher,
Speaker 1: edge defender for the Titans. He pulls on the reported
Speaker 1: fifty three million dollars in guarantees. And remember, haynesworth two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight season was one of the best we've
Speaker 1: ever seen basically until from a defensive tackle until Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald arrive and basically took that down seven eight years
Speaker 1: in a row now, but seven years for one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen million for Haynesworth. To keep it relative, how
Speaker 1: about in domin con Sue six years later it became
Speaker 1: the biggest contract to a defensive player ever at six years,
Speaker 1: a hundred and fourteen so it was sixteen point four
Speaker 1: a p y for Haynesworth, nineteen a p y for
Speaker 1: Sue and sixty million and guarantee, so an average and
Speaker 1: ten million dollars of guarantee money for the life of
Speaker 1: that contract. That's not exactly how it works, but just
Speaker 1: kind of pro rating things compared to Haynesworth carry the
Speaker 1: one six point one million and guarantee. So that's a
Speaker 1: good look there a snapshot at how the cap has
Speaker 1: increased and increased salaries, you know, over the course of
Speaker 1: the last decade plus. And just to put a bow
Speaker 1: on that point, Aaron Donald got six for one thirty
Speaker 1: five and lord knows what he would get today on
Speaker 1: the open market. But again twenty two point five per
Speaker 1: and another three point five million increased from the deal
Speaker 1: that Sue signed with eighty seven million guaranteed a substantial
Speaker 1: increase there. So that's my preamble for saying money is
Speaker 1: gonna be funny with a considerable leap in cap space
Speaker 1: this year. So Harold Landry's guaranteed money of fifty three
Speaker 1: million dollars, like, he's a tremendous player who finished in
Speaker 1: the top ten both in QB pressures and run stops
Speaker 1: among edge defenders last year on Pro Football Focus. You
Speaker 1: have guys like Nick Bosa, Trey Hendrickson, Von Miller, Miles,
Speaker 1: Garrett Shack, Barrett max Cross be checked in in that
Speaker 1: vein last year in terms of guys that had more
Speaker 1: pressures and more production. For what that could look like
Speaker 1: for a guy right around top ten and both of
Speaker 1: those categories, and what that could look like for the
Speaker 1: guys that you know have had more production than that
Speaker 1: at the top of the class. And just like the
Speaker 1: quarterback position, I mean you see it with Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and that report of fifty million per So, I just
Speaker 1: want to do the groundwork to say these figures are
Speaker 1: probably gonna make you say wow, like all week long
Speaker 1: expect increases. It's simple mathematics. And that's done by the
Speaker 1: fact that I can do the maths involved in this one.
Speaker 1: So that leads to something else I wanted to explore
Speaker 1: here before we get into the free agency primer, the
Speaker 1: top of the market at each position and kind of
Speaker 1: lay the expectation there. Again, this is according to spot
Speaker 1: rack dot com and just a disclaimer, there is so
Speaker 1: much more to these deals than a p Y, but
Speaker 1: it does give us a little bit of baseline, just
Speaker 1: kind of to compare these things, you know, apples for
Speaker 1: apples across the board. So quarterback Rodgers the reporter fifty.
Speaker 1: Mahomes is forty five right behind that again, two guys
Speaker 1: that you know m v P races, deep playoff runs
Speaker 1: and in a Super Bowl championship there recently from Mahomes,
Speaker 1: guys that are just at the top of the game
Speaker 1: and getting you know, the top of these current quarterback
Speaker 1: landscape or quarterback contract landscape. I should say. With those
Speaker 1: two guys right there, running back Christian McCaffrey sixteen million
Speaker 1: a p Y leads the way there. He signed that
Speaker 1: deal recently a couple of years back with the Panthers
Speaker 1: at receiver. It's gonna be mostly recent deals because That's
Speaker 1: how this the cycle works, right. DeAndre Hopkins seven per
Speaker 1: and that was, you know, a significant gap to the
Speaker 1: next guy, Julio Jones at twenty two point five. You
Speaker 1: wonder what Adams would get, you know, outside of a
Speaker 1: franchise tag. They're probably closer to the new Coopkins number,
Speaker 1: if not more. Tight end position, George Kittle fifteen million
Speaker 1: per offensive tackle Trent Williams just edged out David back
Speaker 1: Tier by ten k Both those guys right around twenty
Speaker 1: three million per at the tackle position. Last year at guard,
Speaker 1: Joe Tuney of the Chiefs reset the market at sixteen
Speaker 1: million per, which is the same number Joel but Tonio
Speaker 1: got in season with an extension with the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1: But Brandon Sure playing on that double tag for the
Speaker 1: Commanders was an eighteen. He'll potentially hit the market here
Speaker 1: coming up this week, leaving Washington after two years of
Speaker 1: getting the tag there. At the center position, Frank rag
Speaker 1: Now with the Lines got his extension thirteen point five per,
Speaker 1: and Corey Lindsley of the Chargers got his deal last
Speaker 1: offseason at twelve point five. On the interior defensive line,
Speaker 1: we already mentioned this guy, Aaron Donald twenty two point
Speaker 1: five a p Y off the edge. There's so many
Speaker 1: guys I had to list them all, and basically to
Speaker 1: get down to that Harold Landry figure J J. Watt,
Speaker 1: per Nick Bosa or Joey Bosa, I should say twenty
Speaker 1: seven per Miles Garrett twenty five per Khalil Mack twenty
Speaker 1: three point five, Von Miller nineteen and then Landry seventeen
Speaker 1: point five. For off ball linebackers, Darius Leonard of the
Speaker 1: Colts nineteen point seven a p Y at cornerback, Jalen
Speaker 1: Ramsey at twenty a p y and then safety at
Speaker 1: seventeen point five, Jamal Adams and his ap y there.
Speaker 1: So again, those are the top of the market. Contrary,
Speaker 1: it's kind of how the market gets set and then
Speaker 1: you plug them in as you go along there. I
Speaker 1: always love this time of the year for not just
Speaker 1: the player acquisition, but kind of the playing with the
Speaker 1: cap and figuring out a way to make it all
Speaker 1: click together, to put together that piece and maximize the
Speaker 1: allotment of resources that you have. But while those big
Speaker 1: time signings, you know, slot in accordingly based upon production
Speaker 1: and precedent, there are always always gonna be bargains to
Speaker 1: be had. We see it every single year. Of course,
Speaker 1: the price tag reduction always means an increased sense of risk, right,
Speaker 1: That's kind of how this works. But I mean there's
Speaker 1: always risk in the sport and what is the ultimate
Speaker 1: game of chess. But you look back at like Brent Grimes,
Speaker 1: for instance, coming off an achilles tear in really dampened
Speaker 1: his market. Then he gets a one year, five point
Speaker 1: five million dollar deal with the Dolphins and has a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl season, similar to Eric Rowe back in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: a one year deal here in Miami. Also, he had
Speaker 1: a hard time playing through an entire sixteen game schedule
Speaker 1: before that, which certainly had an impact on his market.
Speaker 1: Now after getting extension within his first season here, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins has played all forty nine possible games in those
Speaker 1: three years, So you can find those guys. Doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be top of the list. And just to kind
Speaker 1: of go back over the Dolphins recent free agency here,
Speaker 1: I was looking back and you know, I remember all
Speaker 1: these free agent classes, but just to really lock in
Speaker 1: and and look back on how the team has done
Speaker 1: in some of the bargain deals are just good deals
Speaker 1: they've had, you know, Byron Jones, a big part of
Speaker 1: this defense the last couple of years, and Emmanuel Ogba
Speaker 1: were certainly nice gets there. Nineteen mentioned Eric Rowe, how
Speaker 1: about Josh sitting back in and that was a fun
Speaker 1: signing for one game because he played so well in
Speaker 1: that season open and then he gets hurt and missed
Speaker 1: the rest of the season at a spot that the the
Speaker 1: Dolphins really thought, you know, the fan base thought we'd
Speaker 1: kind of solved that left guard issue. They're heading into
Speaker 1: that year. Plays just one game that the best acquisition
Speaker 1: and kind of make this, you know, comprehensive because the
Speaker 1: trades are a big part of the game nowadays. But
Speaker 1: I thought the best ad there was the trade for
Speaker 1: William Hayes the defensive end. But a very nice teen
Speaker 1: season there were the Dolphins in twenty seventeen season. I
Speaker 1: should say Issa Abdulla could do remember him. He was
Speaker 1: playing so well before that injury in the Christmas Eve
Speaker 1: Buffalo game, the one that essentially sent Miami to the
Speaker 1: a f C playoffs that year, and Dominican Sue also
Speaker 1: traded for Kenny Stills. That was one of my favorite
Speaker 1: moves of the last decade or so. No Sean Marino
Speaker 1: mentioned Brent Grimes and how about Brandon and gibbson gokuks there,
Speaker 1: So it's a good place to cut it off. But again,
Speaker 1: remember when they used to kick off free agency at
Speaker 1: midnight Eastern on Friday night? You remember that? Or was
Speaker 1: it Thursday night? I'll never forget. This is before I
Speaker 1: had my first iPhone, sitting in a movie theater, and
Speaker 1: because I was so geeked about football, I don't remember
Speaker 1: what movie this was. And after a quick search on Google,
Speaker 1: there are two possibilities, semi pro and strange wilderness that
Speaker 1: I went and saw in theaters. Maybe it was witless protection.
Speaker 1: I doubt I got her done. That's a bit of
Speaker 1: a sarcastic mark there, But I was checking the Finns
Speaker 1: dot com because this is before Twitter and the signing
Speaker 1: the update of Justin Smiley, Like that was one of
Speaker 1: my first memories of really being just nuts about the
Speaker 1: sport and about this team and about this league with
Speaker 1: Justin Smiley as a midnight free agency signing back in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. So there you have it. One
Speaker 1: last note on this. A guy that does not get
Speaker 1: enough credit for the work he does because something we
Speaker 1: talked about all the time on this podcast is the
Speaker 1: flexibility and Brandon Shore a big, big part of that
Speaker 1: positional flexibility. We always love to talk about here the
Speaker 1: minimal dead money and available cap for this offseason. Always
Speaker 1: feel great about having that in your back pocket around
Speaker 1: this time of year, and a big shot out there
Speaker 1: to Brandon Shore for making that happen for this Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins club. All right, let's go ahead and take our
Speaker 1: first break. We're gonna come back and recap and get
Speaker 1: to an in depth look at the free agency primer
Speaker 1: up on Miami Dolphins dot com this morning. Written by
Speaker 1: yours truly Drivetime Podcast Travis Winkflord, brought to you by
Speaker 1: Auto Nation. Alright, we are presented by Auto Nation here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime Podcast with Travis Winfield, and we have
Speaker 1: a piece up on Miami Dolphins dot com this morning.
Speaker 1: Taking a look at what I did was I went
Speaker 1: and looked some websites that had suggestions about positions of need,
Speaker 1: and off of those, took the NFL dot com Top
Speaker 1: one one free agents list and just kind of spelled
Speaker 1: out what is unique about those position groups and maybe
Speaker 1: some connections to those guys from previous coaching staffs. And
Speaker 1: some Pro Bowls and all all the fun stuff we'd
Speaker 1: love to do here the Drivetime podcast taking a look
Speaker 1: at everything comprehensively at those position groups, and then also
Speaker 1: some interesting facts about the other position groups that were
Speaker 1: not on that list. But first I go back to
Speaker 1: a couple of quotes here from the sit down interview
Speaker 1: on YouTube as well as the Drivetime podcast with general
Speaker 1: manager Chris Greer and head coach Mike McDaniel who recently
Speaker 1: on Drivetime had this to say. First with Greer knowing
Speaker 1: we have flexibility to do stuff is good, but at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, we're gonna build a team.
Speaker 1: It's best for us and quote and then McDaniels kind
Speaker 1: of follow up to that, which was, you know great
Speaker 1: as always talking about how it's not like the alliance
Speaker 1: you get when you're younger, where hey, you have the money,
Speaker 1: you should go spend it. You know, flexibility, sure, that's important,
Speaker 1: but don't just go spend it because you've got it.
Speaker 1: And liked how he talked about and this is something
Speaker 1: I heard, you know from the Move the Sticks podcast
Speaker 1: that I always love the reference here on Drive Time
Speaker 1: and just other stories around people that are executives or
Speaker 1: gms or scouts or coaches, whatever the case may be
Speaker 1: about how coaches. You know, I have a practice on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: I need a linebacker to run my practice, or whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be. That was just an example, right,
Speaker 1: I need a I need a free safety for this
Speaker 1: particular practice to get done when I have to get done.
Speaker 1: And so that's kind of the short setted mindset in
Speaker 1: terms of we have to go get this done. And
Speaker 1: I liked how he talked about Chris Greer kind of
Speaker 1: being the balancer of that in terms of helping him
Speaker 1: maintain that balance when talking through everything, especially when you're
Speaker 1: talking about salary cap and spending limits, is how McDaniel
Speaker 1: ended that quote. So the collaboration of those two guys
Speaker 1: working together, just the wisdom that Greer has that he can,
Speaker 1: you know, institute for Mike McDaniel and vice versa two
Speaker 1: in terms of just, you know, here's here's the picture
Speaker 1: of things. I prefer how the best way I can
Speaker 1: run my system and get guys from my staff and
Speaker 1: career is gonna do what he can to make that
Speaker 1: happened as well. So those guys working kind of in unison.
Speaker 1: I thought that was evident in those answers and again
Speaker 1: talking about flexibility. Miami enters the free agency period with
Speaker 1: the fourth most projected available cap space and the eighth
Speaker 1: least amount of dead money in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: That's courtesy of spot rack dot com and just taking
Speaker 1: a look here at the CBS Sports dot Com. They
Speaker 1: kind of went through a mock draft and had teams
Speaker 1: needs uh listed on that lock drafting for the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: It was four positions and they were three on offense,
Speaker 1: one on defense across the offensive line, and they mentioned
Speaker 1: both tackle and guard spots, specifically the running back position,
Speaker 1: the receiver position, and then linebacker on defense. So we
Speaker 1: start here with the NFL dot Com Top one oh
Speaker 1: one written by Greg Rosenthal who had a chance to
Speaker 1: meet in Indianapolis of the Around the NFL podcast and
Speaker 1: the entire crew. That was a pretty cool, uh little
Speaker 1: sitt and chat and meet and greet there with my
Speaker 1: guy Mark Sessler, who's one of the best people in
Speaker 1: this entire industry. So thanks for saying what's up, Mark
Speaker 1: and talking to me off to the side of the
Speaker 1: a t n riser there. So Greg Rosenthal wrow at
Speaker 1: the NFL dot Com Top one on one and across
Speaker 1: the offensive line. I went ahead and put everybody that's
Speaker 1: uh guard, tackle or center. They all made it in
Speaker 1: this list. The number one player on the overall boards
Speaker 1: to Ron Armshead of the Saints. Just one of the
Speaker 1: best left tackles of the last eight nine years in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. Really good player. Brandon Schurf from
Speaker 1: the Washington Commanders. We talked about him earlier double tags.
Speaker 1: The last two years, he's been a very good productive
Speaker 1: player at that right guard position for them after being
Speaker 1: the number five pick in the draft back in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: Ryan Jensen, the Super Bowl champion of the center for
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's the top center on this list.
Speaker 1: Dwayne Brown from the Seahawks is up here at number fourteen.
Speaker 1: James Daniels of the Chicago Bears, just twenty four years
Speaker 1: old on this list, Joe note Boom of the Rams.
Speaker 1: Number thirty three is Bradley Bozeman. Number thirty five Ben Jones,
Speaker 1: thirty seven is Trent Brown, the former tackle of the
Speaker 1: Patriots and forty nine. He's a massive, massive player and
Speaker 1: people mover Lake and Tomlinson, the guard formerly of the
Speaker 1: forty Number forty three on this list. Number forty Eric Fisher,
Speaker 1: formerly of the Colts and Chiefs. Before that, forty six
Speaker 1: is Connor Williams and the Cowboys. Fifty Alex Kappa from
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Number seventy nine is Morgan Moses,
Speaker 1: So a bit of a drop there from the top fifty.
Speaker 1: Lots of names on the offensive line in this top fifty,
Speaker 1: and then you go twenty nine spots to Morgan Moses,
Speaker 1: who had a great year last year for the New
Speaker 1: York Jets. Number eighty two Austin Corbett and number ninety
Speaker 1: four Riley Reef number Andrew Norwell. So just kind of
Speaker 1: looking at that list and one name that would probably
Speaker 1: be added to that if they updated it would be
Speaker 1: Roger Staffold, who was released and you might recall he
Speaker 1: was with the Rams at the beginning of the Sean
Speaker 1: McVeigh era, and he came back for that game back
Speaker 1: in week seventeen and had a fantastic performance in that
Speaker 1: running game against our defense, And I think that kind
Speaker 1: of shows you the value he provides on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: A big guy that can help you in the running
Speaker 1: game and obviously helping pass protection, and a good veteran
Speaker 1: presence there and a potential left guard on the open market.
Speaker 1: So again, what we have here one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Speaker 1: eleven twelve offensive lineman here in the top fifty of
Speaker 1: Rosenthal's list, and there's a good mix of it all guard, tackles, center, Armstead, Churf,
Speaker 1: and Jensen. The tack the top tackle, guard and center
Speaker 1: on this list have a combined nine Pro Bowls and
Speaker 1: some of the best tape across the league year in
Speaker 1: and year out. And the depth of this group, I
Speaker 1: think is really aided by the increasing longevity of the position.
Speaker 1: And that's that's for a lot of positions, right but
Speaker 1: offensive line. Like I look back to Andrew Whitworth, who
Speaker 1: just had the storybook ending to his career. You know,
Speaker 1: he arrives in Los Angeles after an eleven year career
Speaker 1: with the Bengals, all with the Bengals. He's thirty six
Speaker 1: years old and twenty seventeen. And I remember looking back
Speaker 1: when that happened, thinking, like the Rams one like three
Speaker 1: or four games last year, you're thirty six, where you're
Speaker 1: going and he goes there and winds up playing for
Speaker 1: you know, four playoff teams or four division championship teams
Speaker 1: or whatever the case may be, in a bunch of
Speaker 1: playoff wins and in a Super Bowl championship there. But
Speaker 1: you know, he caps his age forty season with that
Speaker 1: Lombardi and under his performance there at left tackle for
Speaker 1: five years, they had some of the best offenses, some
Speaker 1: of the best rushing attacks. And just looking across this list,
Speaker 1: among the offensive lineman in the top one oh one,
Speaker 1: there was thirteen in the top fifty and then how
Speaker 1: much total here fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen of them, twelve
Speaker 1: of them our thirty age thirty years or older on
Speaker 1: opening days, So you can get quality offensive line play
Speaker 1: on the other side of thirty. Everyone's doing it, and
Speaker 1: it's it's going to be the case again this year.
Speaker 1: Some other offensive line notables again, James Daniels twenty four
Speaker 1: years old, the youngest of the crop. So if you
Speaker 1: want to get a guy just kind of entering his prime, there,
Speaker 1: he's a good looking, uh inter your offensive line prospect.
Speaker 1: He's one of three players on this list to kind
Speaker 1: of who's set to test the market fresh off their
Speaker 1: rookie contract. Lake and Tom and Sin is a guy
Speaker 1: that has familiarity with Mike McDaniel played under him for
Speaker 1: the last five years in San Francisco, where Tehron Armstead's
Speaker 1: career began in the same offensive line room as Dolphins
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Frank Smith. So that's the offensive line snapshot there.
Speaker 1: At the running back position, number forty one is our
Speaker 1: first player and he's a running backslash wide receiver. Cordarell
Speaker 1: Patterson of the Atlanta Falcons checks in number fifty two.
Speaker 1: James Conner, who had a big time year after signing
Speaker 1: a pretty small deal with a one year deal with
Speaker 1: the Cardinals last year. Leonard four Net sixty two checks
Speaker 1: in is a third running back on the list, Melvin
Speaker 1: Gordon's number sixty three, Chase Edmonds another Cardinal number, and
Speaker 1: number ninety two Raheem Mostert, who the reports came out
Speaker 1: from Adam Schefter over the weekend that he is healthy
Speaker 1: and ready to go for football and full speed activity
Speaker 1: after an injury last season. So that's good to hear
Speaker 1: for him. But Patterson, man, this guy is an NFL enigma,
Speaker 1: primarily a return specialist the first seven years of his
Speaker 1: career after being a first round draft pick for a
Speaker 1: potential wide receiver role with the Vikings, and he showed
Speaker 1: that in his rookie season but never really got back
Speaker 1: to it, and then last year he gets converted to
Speaker 1: a not last year because if the Bears he ran
Speaker 1: some of this, and the falcon saw that and said,
Speaker 1: I'd like to have one of those, please, and they
Speaker 1: signed him up and rush him for over six hundred
Speaker 1: yards and six touchdowns on the ground, and his flexibility
Speaker 1: helped that offense create mismatches, give them flexibility across personnel packages.
Speaker 1: So he's a really fun player to watch. I'm curious
Speaker 1: to see his market where he winds up. James Conner
Speaker 1: tied for second last year in the National Football League
Speaker 1: with fifteen touchdowns on the ground. He was behind only
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor with the Indianapolis Colts. And then you have
Speaker 1: Leonard four Net on that list, who kind of recaptured
Speaker 1: his rookie for with the Buccaneers. I thought he looked
Speaker 1: his best in the National Football League the last two
Speaker 1: years with Tampa Bay. Last year twelve hundred sixties six
Speaker 1: yards from scrimmage and ten tds in the regular season,
Speaker 1: one year after a big playoff run and a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl championship. So interesting list. There some veteran presence is
Speaker 1: We've talked about us running back class kind of being
Speaker 1: deep this year in the draft as well. Just real
Speaker 1: quick back to most obviously arrived with the forty Niners
Speaker 1: and twenty sixteen. That was his fifth NFL team. He
Speaker 1: had to kind of work his way through some camps
Speaker 1: before he found a fit, and he led the Niners
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen with seven hundred and seventy two yards
Speaker 1: in the ground and eight touchdowns. At your running back class,
Speaker 1: they're moving on to the receivers at number eight. The
Speaker 1: first receivers Allen Robinson, number eleven, Odell Beckham, number twenty,
Speaker 1: Michael Gallup of the Cowboys, number thirty four, Russell Gauge,
Speaker 1: thirty six, Juju Smith Schuster, and then Christian kirk Is
Speaker 1: at number thirty nine of the Cardinals, number forty four,
Speaker 1: Will Fuller, fifty one, DJ Chark, number fifty five Marquez
Speaker 1: Valdez Scantling, and number seventy six Jamison Crowder of the
Speaker 1: New York Jets. So the franchise tag took the top
Speaker 1: two receivers off the board. It was number one Davante
Speaker 1: Adams and number three, I think Chris Godwin, but There's
Speaker 1: still plenty to love about this group of free agents,
Speaker 1: because well, Allen Robinson and Odell Beckham, we're gonna get
Speaker 1: you the Marquis. I mean, those are two guys that
Speaker 1: have had big time production. Beckham coming off a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl but also a knee injury there, and then also
Speaker 1: Michael Gallup number twenty, he'll probably do pretty well for
Speaker 1: himself as well. Russell Gauge and Christian Kirk. Those are
Speaker 1: two guys that are intriguing here after the top twenty
Speaker 1: their number thirty four and thirty nine, I should say,
Speaker 1: but you continue to see their numbers trend upward over
Speaker 1: the course of their careers, as well as Michael Gallup,
Speaker 1: as Gauge produced hundred and fifty six of his two thousand,
Speaker 1: sixty five career receiving yards so about over the last
Speaker 1: two years of his four year career, while Gallop checked
Speaker 1: in just under three thousand receiving yards and fifteen touchdowns
Speaker 1: in four years. And that was a very loaded Cowboys
Speaker 1: offense there with Ceedee Lamb and a Marii Cooper and
Speaker 1: Dalton Schultz, just a really really good plethora of options
Speaker 1: in that passing attack. And then Christian Kirk last year
Speaker 1: had a career best nine hundred and eighty two receiving yards. Man.
Speaker 1: He can make the big play down the football field.
Speaker 1: He is shifty with the football in his hands, A
Speaker 1: real guy that I think can run for some yack.
Speaker 1: He's I like his game heck of a lot, And
Speaker 1: we talked a little bit about the kind of opportunities
Speaker 1: from for maybe a guy that you can get um
Speaker 1: to have a bounce back or a rebound type of year.
Speaker 1: DJ Chark is one of those guys looked like a
Speaker 1: super a surefire superstar with the Jaguars with a thousand
Speaker 1: yards season and eight touchdowns back in twenty nineteen, but
Speaker 1: he's battled injuries since then. It hasn't played a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of snaps. He could be one of those guys
Speaker 1: that you look as a hidden gym in this class,
Speaker 1: coming at number fifty one on this list despite not
Speaker 1: playing a lot of football the last two years. And
Speaker 1: then finally the linebacker position, Bobby Wagner started off at
Speaker 1: number seventeen. He was recently released by the Seahawks number nineteen.
Speaker 1: De Andre Campbell number fifty four, Anthony Barr of the
Speaker 1: Vikings sixty seven, Kaiser White, seventy seven, four year Olacoon
Speaker 1: from the Falcons, Number Layton vander esh and number one
Speaker 1: d j On Brown. You know, Wagner's release gave this
Speaker 1: linebackers crop. The same thing most the other groups have
Speaker 1: is that one top of the line megastar and Wagner.
Speaker 1: He once win an entire season without a miss tackle
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. From Pro Football Focus. He also went
Speaker 1: to a straight Pro Bowls. Devandre Campbell's interesting because he
Speaker 1: was a four year Atlanta Falcon goes to the Cardinals
Speaker 1: for a year and then goes to the Packers for
Speaker 1: a year and winds up as a first team All Pro.
Speaker 1: So you know these guys can find lightning in a bottle.
Speaker 1: Campbell did it last year at the Packers. He's back
Speaker 1: on here as number nineteen. Anthony Barr has been a
Speaker 1: really good rusher slash edge edge rundefender for the Vikings
Speaker 1: for a long time. Kaiser White kind of a hybrid
Speaker 1: safety slash linebacker nicol linebacker type. Olakun had that pick
Speaker 1: against the Dolphins last year. That's says about as much
Speaker 1: as I know about his game. I'll look into him
Speaker 1: more of it if it requires and then Layton vander
Speaker 1: rash is a kind of a big thumper, a guy
Speaker 1: that had a really strong rookie season. You know, he's
Speaker 1: he's got a nice blend of size and speed. A
Speaker 1: pro bowler and second team All pros a rookie back
Speaker 1: in eighteen, and while he hasn't re found that that production,
Speaker 1: he has made three D forty nine tackles with twelve
Speaker 1: passes defense and eight tackles for lost and fourth season.
Speaker 1: He's got a lot of range and and just covers
Speaker 1: ground with his wingspan in length. So that's your your
Speaker 1: positions of need, according to CBS Sports dot com. Some
Speaker 1: additional facts are on top one hundred and one free
Speaker 1: agents from Great Rosenthal NFL dot com. Four of the
Speaker 1: top five players are cornerbacks or edge defenders, and if
Speaker 1: you separate the offensive line into tackles, guards, and centers individually,
Speaker 1: then no position has more players in the top fifty
Speaker 1: than the seven cornerbacks on this list, and with thirteen
Speaker 1: a piece, cornerback and edge are the most represented position
Speaker 1: on the entire list, again without offensive line being one spot.
Speaker 1: You know, Mike McDaniel spoke to his Combine presser about
Speaker 1: backup quarterback traits, you know, aiding a quarterback and also
Speaker 1: being able to come off the bench and win games
Speaker 1: if you need him. You hope you never do, but
Speaker 1: if you do. And he talked about if you need
Speaker 1: to replace Jacobe Brissett, who was the backup in one
Speaker 1: his contracts had to expire in the new league year.
Speaker 1: That there are four quarterbacks on this list there, Jamis Winston,
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, and Andy Dalton and they have
Speaker 1: a combined three hundred and forty nine starts among them.
Speaker 1: It's a I thought that was a very fascinating stat there.
Speaker 1: And then again, free agency is not the only medium
Speaker 1: with which a team can use to upgrade its roster
Speaker 1: this time of year. Trading draft picks has always been
Speaker 1: common practice. But did you know the veteran trade market
Speaker 1: remains robust because the number of trades has increased in
Speaker 1: the league year to year every year since. So that
Speaker 1: is your free agency primer again, this piece up on
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins dot com. You can take a look at
Speaker 1: that with some more in depth information there about beyond
Speaker 1: the top one on one on the list and the
Speaker 1: Dolphins success in that regard in years past, We're also
Speaker 1: going to cover the post free agency or post signings
Speaker 1: uh coming up later this week, just taking a look
Speaker 1: at whatever the Dolphins add, their in depth look at
Speaker 1: their film, their status, their numbers, their advanced metrics, some
Speaker 1: quotes from teammates and past coaches. You know, we'll have
Speaker 1: you covered here on the Draft Time podcast as well
Speaker 1: as you can find anywhere out there in the content sphere.
Speaker 1: Coming up next year on the podcast, We're gonna get
Speaker 1: you updated with the very up to the minute list
Speaker 1: of NFL transactions and acquisitions and getting you ready for
Speaker 1: this week of crazy, crazy NFL news and notes that
Speaker 1: next year. Drivetime podcas Gust brought to you by Auto Nation,
Speaker 1: coming into the C block here. Before we get out
Speaker 1: of here, I want to go ahead and finish up
Speaker 1: with a rundown here of the reported transaction wire ahead
Speaker 1: of this podcast and get you the latest on what
Speaker 1: has transpired across the league to get you the most
Speaker 1: ready you can for the time you hear this and
Speaker 1: before the new league gear starts on Wednesday. But also
Speaker 1: the quote unquote legal tampering period opens up later today
Speaker 1: here in the National Football League. I'm gonna update this
Speaker 1: right before bedtime on Sunday night to give you again
Speaker 1: the latest I hope with reports. So here's what we
Speaker 1: have so far. We've already discussed the big ones at quarterback,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers reportedly staying in Green Bay with the possible
Speaker 1: extension there. Russell Wilson to the Broncos for two ones,
Speaker 1: two twos, Noah Fense, Shelby Harris, Drew Lock and that
Speaker 1: midground pick swap. Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders. Not
Speaker 1: a quarterback here, but a huge one on Thursday came
Speaker 1: in Khalil Mack to the Chargers for a two and
Speaker 1: a six man him and Joey Bosa. That's gonna be
Speaker 1: a special pass rush duo there, with Thirdwin James creeping
Speaker 1: around in that box as well. Also, the Bears released
Speaker 1: running back to Riet Cohen with an injury designation because
Speaker 1: he didn't pass a physical from a knee injury something back.
Speaker 1: The Seahawks again released Bobby Wagner. The Chargers extended Mike Williams.
Speaker 1: The Broncos released receiver day Shawn. Hamilton's formerly of Penn State,
Speaker 1: was a big fan of his game as a slot
Speaker 1: receiver coming out of college there. He'll hit the market.
Speaker 1: The Patriots released Kyle van Noy. The Buffalo Bills released
Speaker 1: long time star John Feliciano. The Titans mentioned Roger Staffold
Speaker 1: also released Kendall Lamb and Derrington Evans, a I think
Speaker 1: third or fourth round pick at running back a few
Speaker 1: years ago. The Saints resigned Carl Granderson. That's a pass
Speaker 1: rusher off the board. Texans resigned linebacker Christian Kirksey, really
Speaker 1: good off ball linebacker there. Cleveland tendered Deerness Johnson from
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns. Found that to be interesting with Nick
Speaker 1: Chubb and Kareem Hunt still in the mix there. The
Speaker 1: Jets extend LaMarcus Joiner for another season. The Commanders released
Speaker 1: Landon Collins almost said Lyle Collins, and the Jaguars released
Speaker 1: Carlos Hyde. And that was where I stop. After recording
Speaker 1: on Friday, now back with you. On Sunday evening, the
Speaker 1: Bears released snows tackle Eddie Goldman, as Chicago continues to
Speaker 1: let go of some veteran players off that roster. The
Speaker 1: biggest news of the weekend was a Marie Cooper traded
Speaker 1: from the Cowboys to the Browns for a fifth and
Speaker 1: sixth round pick and a very interesting move there on
Speaker 1: the heels of that mid season Odell Beckham release last year.
Speaker 1: You have to assume Cooper kind of slots into that
Speaker 1: position and kind of fulfills that role. And they will
Speaker 1: also absorb roughly three years sixty million giver take to
Speaker 1: a Marie Cooper off that Cowboy off the Cowboys books.
Speaker 1: We'll see if that frees up space for Michael Gallup extension. Possibly.
Speaker 1: We've heard some rumblings about Lyle Collins possibly on the move.
Speaker 1: So the Cowboys a team to monitor here in the
Speaker 1: coming days in the week. And you know how I said,
Speaker 1: this all moved so fast. Well, by the time I
Speaker 1: went back to this podcast and update you. On the
Speaker 1: other side, Derrington Evan, after being cut by the Titans
Speaker 1: on Friday, has been claimed. He's now a Chicago Bear.
Speaker 1: The Falcons cleared up twelve million dollars in cap space
Speaker 1: with a Matt Ryan restructure. Is he a potential veteran
Speaker 1: quarterback that could be on the move this year or
Speaker 1: maybe next year. We'll see with him. The Chargers extended
Speaker 1: another wide receiver, Jalen Guyton. He's a nice big play
Speaker 1: threat for them, so they have him and Mike Williams
Speaker 1: back Jacoby Myers for the Patriots winds up with a
Speaker 1: second round tender, so he'll likely go back there with
Speaker 1: the Patriots. And then the rap sheet report of that
Speaker 1: particular second round tendering also mentioned the potential of full
Speaker 1: back fullback Yakob Johnson hitting the open market as a result.
Speaker 1: Speaking of fullbacks, we did not mention this earlier, but
Speaker 1: Andy Aanovich of the Cleveland Browns will not be brought back,
Speaker 1: or at least he'll test the open market come free agency.
Speaker 1: And then alec Ingold also was cut by the Las
Speaker 1: Vegas Raiders. Two very good full backs right there from
Speaker 1: the a f C potentially hitting the open market, and
Speaker 1: why not go ahead and end the podcast right there
Speaker 1: on the fullbacks. I'm cutting this right around five fift
Speaker 1: on Sunday evening, Sunday afternoon, so hopefully nothing goes down
Speaker 1: in a couple of hours it takes for me to
Speaker 1: put the podcast out and you guys for to hear
Speaker 1: this podcast, because with the free to see window opening
Speaker 1: or i should say legal tampering period opening on Monday
Speaker 1: at noon, this could potentially need to be updated right away.
Speaker 1: So that's where I'm coming your way here, Sunday night,
Speaker 1: what's to come here On Drivetime, We're gonna post a
Speaker 1: mail bag podcast as well as a get you caught
Speaker 1: up on the reports from the legal tampering period that
Speaker 1: will be up on Wednesday. We'll have in depth podcasts
Speaker 1: and get to know you pieces on Miami Dolphins dot
Speaker 1: com taking a look at each of your Miami Dolphin
Speaker 1: veteran acquisitions, whether it's free agency, trade or otherwise. We'll
Speaker 1: also have that Twitter spaces show for you guys coming
Speaker 1: your way on Wednesday night as well. One of my
Speaker 1: favorite weeks on the entire calendar. It is here in
Speaker 1: the meantime, That's gonna be my time. You all. Please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow the team
Speaker 1: across all social platforms at Miami Dolphins. You do not
Speaker 1: want to miss any of our content this week. We
Speaker 1: have plenty coming your way. Check out the fish Tank podcast,
Speaker 1: some great guests coming up there with Seth and o J,
Speaker 1: the YouTube channel for Dolphins Today, and some media availabilities
Speaker 1: as well as Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time,
Speaker 1: finds up Caroline, Daddy is coming back upstairs to watch them.
Speaker 1: Disney plus m