Speaker 1: NFL Inside Report is the production of the NFL in
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. I'm rest and this is
Speaker 1: NFL Inside Report coming to you after a wild first
Speaker 1: week of free agency and now in the thick of
Speaker 1: the pro day circuit, all as we kind of merge
Speaker 1: these two worlds ahead of the NFL Draft in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: So much is happening right now from the personnel evaluation
Speaker 1: standpoint in the NFL and has made for an absolutely
Speaker 1: wild ride these last couple of weeks. And here to
Speaker 1: help us make sense of it all, Steve Whitch in
Speaker 1: ARTFL that we're consider Ian Rappaport, both of whom were
Speaker 1: just at the Liberty Pro Day featuring the first quarterback
Speaker 1: that's going to be drafted in the history of the
Speaker 1: Liberty University program. Malik absolutely lit it up out there.
Speaker 1: It was so much fun to watch. I had to
Speaker 1: push your being with my buddies Daniel, Jeremiah and Bucky
Speaker 1: Brooks here in studio to call the workout and and Steve,
Speaker 1: I gotta start with you there because was it as
Speaker 1: fun and was the atmosphere as lively inside that field house,
Speaker 1: that indoor facility and Liberty as it was for us
Speaker 1: watching it, it really was rhet I mean, he will
Speaker 1: tell you like all the sidelines were packed with you know,
Speaker 1: family members, Blake Bliss's family was there, a lot of students, UM,
Speaker 1: So it was packed and you know, this was a
Speaker 1: big day for Liberty. They got to showcase their program.
Speaker 1: So they really went above and beyond in terms of
Speaker 1: welcoming the media and everybody else. But the cool thing
Speaker 1: was to see Malik and his teammates. I mean, they
Speaker 1: had a ball. They knew all these eyes were on.
Speaker 1: It was all thirty two teams you represented, but they
Speaker 1: just went out there and cut it loose. It wasn't
Speaker 1: a stressful prod. I've been a pro days where it
Speaker 1: just seemed a little bit tense and this was really
Speaker 1: just kind of a free for all. Lead it ripped
Speaker 1: and whatever habits happened. And I think and I think
Speaker 1: that all begins with Malik Willis because he was the
Speaker 1: guy who was around his teammates all the time, even
Speaker 1: when he wasn't doing the drills, encouraging those guys on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought that was really cool to see Um and Ian,
Speaker 1: I know, an opportunity for you to be around, you know,
Speaker 1: at least one or more representatives from all thirty two teams.
Speaker 1: You get a sense at all of where the lead's
Speaker 1: perspective one Malik Willis is at this point while you're
Speaker 1: there watching him throw. So first of all, I want
Speaker 1: to agree with Steve on the atmosphere. It's like they
Speaker 1: let fans in. I think there were some friends in.
Speaker 1: It was it was kind of electric, you know, and
Speaker 1: these are fun, sort of non competitive events. Anyway, Um,
Speaker 1: I have a lime into one other pro day and
Speaker 1: it was Alabama and this was not like that. This
Speaker 1: was fun, and you know, it seems like Malik Willis
Speaker 1: really fed into that. And you know, we heard Steve
Speaker 1: and I heard some really good things from Hugh Freeze
Speaker 1: before the pro day just about what kind of guy
Speaker 1: and malink Willis is, and that really showed up on
Speaker 1: the field. I thought that was pretty cool. The other
Speaker 1: thing is, guys, like I went into this pre draft
Speaker 1: process thinking that there would not be a quarterback taken
Speaker 1: probably until Pittsburgh at like twenty or whatever. They are
Speaker 1: now based on the quarterback needs, based on the teams
Speaker 1: that were here, based on the landscape of this situation,
Speaker 1: it feels to me like we'll get a couple in
Speaker 1: the top ten. Like that's just I don't know, maybe
Speaker 1: Steve has a different field, but that is my feel,
Speaker 1: And I mean it seems like we're gonna end up
Speaker 1: where we always do, which is quarterbacks going in the
Speaker 1: top ten and everybody's scrambling up together. Yeah. And I
Speaker 1: think that's a good point in because basically we've seen
Speaker 1: this crazy rush of quarterback dominoes falling really since the
Speaker 1: combine like came back boom. We got the Russell Wilson trade,
Speaker 1: we got all these trade We've got the Carson went
Speaker 1: straight now, we've had the Matt Ryan trade, DeShawn Watson trade.
Speaker 1: I mean, it feels like every day we've had a
Speaker 1: monster move in. Like, you know, for us to here
Speaker 1: sitting here evaluating the draft, knowing that as a whole,
Speaker 1: this quarterback class was not as highly touted, probably league
Speaker 1: wide and from a media perspective as the one we
Speaker 1: saw last year, and so you had to work. You
Speaker 1: had to wonder then, like is that why we're seeing
Speaker 1: all of these teams kind of go all in to
Speaker 1: try to get a quarterback that's been established in the NFL.
Speaker 1: You know, whether it was a major move like the
Speaker 1: Shawn Watson, Russell Wilson, or a smaller move like you know,
Speaker 1: training for Carson Wentz or signing Mitchell Robiski or Marcus Mariota,
Speaker 1: which we've all seen now. So did you get a
Speaker 1: sense that the overall strength of the quarterback draft class
Speaker 1: dictated some of these moves I that we've seen. Yes,
Speaker 1: I definitely did. And it seems like, you know, like
Speaker 1: every year there's a couple of teams where, you know,
Speaker 1: let's say they draft one or two like Jets and
Speaker 1: Jaguars last year. Grad example, like, okay, they are getting starters.
Speaker 1: They are drafting starters. So in free agency, the Jets
Speaker 1: didn't need and they needed to trade Sam Donald last year,
Speaker 1: but they didn't need to go get a quarterback. They
Speaker 1: were going to get one. This is not like that, right,
Speaker 1: So what's gonna happen is by the time we get
Speaker 1: to the draft, everyone will have a starter. Everyone will
Speaker 1: have someone that did start to day one, and then
Speaker 1: it's just a matter of where does everybody else go?
Speaker 1: And that's why I like, it's actually kind of fascinating
Speaker 1: because what it does is it opens up quarterbacks to
Speaker 1: everyone who doesn't have a long term starter, like I
Speaker 1: mean think about it, Steve, Like, think about the teams
Speaker 1: they're here today, the Falcons, the Panthers, the Washington Commanders, um,
Speaker 1: the Steelers, Like, all of those have starters and the
Speaker 1: other one. So all of those could draft a quarterback
Speaker 1: very early in this draft. Yeah, and I think to
Speaker 1: that point, you know, they've got to project out a
Speaker 1: little bit too. So let's look at the teams whose
Speaker 1: rosters are kind of bear I mean Carolina and Atlanta.
Speaker 1: You know they could put they could put players in
Speaker 1: a hat and pick one in the first round. With
Speaker 1: those two, you know each one is top ten pick
Speaker 1: and be okay. But they may say, okay, look, if
Speaker 1: I'm Atlanta, We're bringing in Marcus Mariota to be a starter.
Speaker 1: He is a shotgun, r PO on the move, run
Speaker 1: past quarterback. Well that's what Elie Willis does as well.
Speaker 1: So you know we keep hearing Malik Willis right, is
Speaker 1: a developmental guy. We could develop on the Marcus. He
Speaker 1: could run, learn this game, run this game. So a
Speaker 1: lot of this is gonna depend and this is talking
Speaker 1: to some people. What team he goes to. If the
Speaker 1: coaching staff is going to build around him, build a
Speaker 1: roster around him to play to the strengths, because the
Speaker 1: strengths are very high, Like he's not to be able
Speaker 1: to go fit necessarily any team. But you know, with
Speaker 1: all these teams paying all these millions of dollars to
Speaker 1: hire these offensive wonder kins, it is their job to
Speaker 1: fit the personnel. And so that's where I think this
Speaker 1: comes up. But I'm with Ian, some team or two
Speaker 1: is gonna get sweet on Kenny Pickett em Malik Willis
Speaker 1: and draft them at the top ten, top twelve. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you could very well happen. It could be a team
Speaker 1: that's sitting there now, or could be a team that's
Speaker 1: moving up, or maybe even one that's moving down. Let's
Speaker 1: say the Detroit Lions, who like what they have and
Speaker 1: Jared Golf they want to get there next. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: the Lions were here today. Lance Newmark, one of the
Speaker 1: top scouts, was here today, and um, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't think they draft one it too, but like, does
Speaker 1: somebody come up for maybe one of the tackles and
Speaker 1: they go back to six. Maybe they see that happening.
Speaker 1: And that's like that was so interesting about the Golf
Speaker 1: trade last year, is like the Lions traded for him,
Speaker 1: kind of thinking maybe he wasn't long term thing happ
Speaker 1: because it's fine, but he's a placeholder. And then you
Speaker 1: look around the league, it's like everyone's a placeholder except
Speaker 1: for guy. It's very exactly right, because everybody's understanding that
Speaker 1: if you don't have one of those five guys, we
Speaker 1: better find a way to go get one pretty quick.
Speaker 1: That so I think that's I think that's a real
Speaker 1: good point. I thought for a while that the Lions
Speaker 1: at thirty two might be a good spot for a quarterback,
Speaker 1: you know, get that extra fifth year. But now they may,
Speaker 1: like the top three guys may be gone by then,
Speaker 1: so you know, you've got to think about that in
Speaker 1: a in a different landscape. I do want to touch
Speaker 1: on the Atlanta Falcons here because they are the last
Speaker 1: team to make a trade, sending their franchise icon Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan off to the Indianapolis Colts after Falcons flirted with
Speaker 1: and ultimately failed to land DeShawn Watson from the Houston Texans,
Speaker 1: who has now ended up in Cleveland. We'll get to
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson here in just a moment, but Steve, let
Speaker 1: me start with you knowing the Falcons as you do
Speaker 1: and having covered them during some of those transition periods.
Speaker 1: This is a pretty momentous move for general manager Terry
Speaker 1: Fontno in his second year now with the franchise to
Speaker 1: move a player of Matt Ryan's stature and to now
Speaker 1: try to build this future around Marcus Mariota and TBD. Right, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that that that's the thing. And you know,
Speaker 1: had they not gotten involved in the Deshaun Watson sweep sticks,
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan would still be their quarterback, and and and
Speaker 1: Ian knows. The fact that they decided to do this
Speaker 1: now has a lot of people saying, well, if you're
Speaker 1: gonna do this, shed is not last year when you
Speaker 1: had the quarterback class, you could have got Justin Fields
Speaker 1: or possibly Trail Lands who went to pick before they
Speaker 1: selected to the Niners. But um, now that they're at
Speaker 1: this point, they didn't matter solid by getting him to Indianapolis, right,
Speaker 1: so he can finish out his career on a contender.
Speaker 1: But now it's kind of what do you do because
Speaker 1: they have got to nail this draft, whether they take
Speaker 1: a quarterback or not in the first round, they have
Speaker 1: so many holes. Next year they're gonna have a boatload
Speaker 1: of money and free agency because it resorbing Matt Ryan's
Speaker 1: forty million dollar cap and all this year. But the
Speaker 1: big question he is do you wait? Because one thing
Speaker 1: I have found in all my years of covering the
Speaker 1: NFL in the NBA, when you try to wait for somebody,
Speaker 1: you're really rolling the dice because that player could get hurt,
Speaker 1: he could have a bad season. Um, he could get arrested,
Speaker 1: and then that player or two you might have been
Speaker 1: hoping to get, you might not get because you might
Speaker 1: win too many ball games. There's someone could trade up.
Speaker 1: So to me, if you like one of these quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: you go get him. You get him into your system,
Speaker 1: and you start developing him now, because there's a lot
Speaker 1: of things that could factor in negatively if you wait
Speaker 1: to try to get him. So, Steve in regards to
Speaker 1: the Falcons making the move to send Matt Ryan on
Speaker 1: his way, you know, I remember thinking back to to
Speaker 1: how um, you know, John Mara talked about the h
Speaker 1: the situation with moving on from Eli Manning and trying
Speaker 1: to replace him and bench him, and like, when it
Speaker 1: comes down to it, there's really no good way to
Speaker 1: move on from a guy that has meant so much
Speaker 1: to your franchise, Like It's just it's kind of hard
Speaker 1: any way you think about it. So there's been a
Speaker 1: lot of judgment about how, you know, the Falcons are
Speaker 1: treating Matt Ryan, how the Browns are treating Baker Mayfield. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: how do you feel like the whole situation was handled
Speaker 1: here as the Falcons try to flour, you know, a
Speaker 1: new future. Well, it's awkward because it wasn't like the
Speaker 1: painful pill since it wentz say New England, let go
Speaker 1: with Tom Brady, right, you know, or when the Niners
Speaker 1: society to trade Joe Montana wasn't like that type of sufference.
Speaker 1: This is more awkward, awkward because again they had planned
Speaker 1: to move forward with Matt Ryan until they got involved
Speaker 1: with the Shawn Watson So there was that outside trigger,
Speaker 1: you know, the same thing in Cleveland with Bigger Mayfield.
Speaker 1: So the difference is Matt He's He's the best player
Speaker 1: in Falcon's history, right an m v P. Just somebody
Speaker 1: salvats his team after the catastrophe in two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: he came as a rookie, got into the playoffs, replacing
Speaker 1: incredibly popular player in Michael Fick. So you know, look,
Speaker 1: I feel this way because I have special feeling towards
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan. I think he's just a special dude and
Speaker 1: a special player that the folks aren't really gonna you know,
Speaker 1: that the so called fans or whatever you wanna call
Speaker 1: are not going to appreciate him until he's gone and
Speaker 1: then people remember everything he did and things he did
Speaker 1: to help make you know, great players, and how he
Speaker 1: was joined with Julio Jones and Roddy White and and
Speaker 1: Algae Crumpler and and guys like that. Um to really
Speaker 1: appreciate his impact on that club, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: this was a a franchise icon that was traded and
Speaker 1: it was like it was totally fine. And I can't
Speaker 1: believe we're in a place in the NFL or someone
Speaker 1: like Matt Ryan can get traded and it seems normal.
Speaker 1: But like you think of what has happened the last
Speaker 1: two weeks with you know, Deshaun Watson and Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: and Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan, like it really has
Speaker 1: become the NBA. And I don't know that that's a
Speaker 1: bad thing. I Mean, it's been incredibly stressful for me,
Speaker 1: but it's been unbelievably fun and topsy turvy and crazy
Speaker 1: fans um. But look, I mean, we're at a point
Speaker 1: where if a star player or a quarterback or whoever
Speaker 1: is not happy with the situation and wants out, they
Speaker 1: can get out. And so the Matt Ryan trade from
Speaker 1: the Falcons to the Cult just one of the dominoes
Speaker 1: that fell as a result of the pursuit of Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 1: Falcons weren't the only team that are now trying to
Speaker 1: pick up the pieces of that failed pursuit. We will
Speaker 1: talk the impact of the Deshaun Watson trade from Houston
Speaker 1: to Cleveland and where that stands in the rankings here
Speaker 1: in NFL history among impactful trades. You don't want to
Speaker 1: miss it. Right after this here in NFL Inside Report, guys,
Speaker 1: thinking about how we're talking about all these quarterback moves,
Speaker 1: I mean, we talk about the compensation that went back
Speaker 1: to the Houston Texans in a blockbuster deal, uh for
Speaker 1: the Browns to acquire Deshaun Watson, and like, thinking about
Speaker 1: the quarterback reverberations that have happened. I don't know that
Speaker 1: if one quarterback ever getting traded has affected so many
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks in the movement that they've had with teams.
Speaker 1: If I right, Like you know, not only does not
Speaker 1: only do the Falcons lose out in trade Matt Ryan away,
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield is going to get traded at some point,
Speaker 1: we expect, traded released whatever. The Saints decided to go
Speaker 1: back to Jamis Winston. I mean, they were just like
Speaker 1: so many of these dominoes, and I've never seen a
Speaker 1: trade have that much impact on so many different franchises.
Speaker 1: About right, I agree. I mean this was to me
Speaker 1: the most consequential trade in NFL history, and if and
Speaker 1: I'm not just saying just because the Cleveland Grounds changed
Speaker 1: the face of the franchise by acquiring you know, the
Speaker 1: five quarterback in his prime, which is also very important.
Speaker 1: U Um, it's also this affected the most people. I mean,
Speaker 1: it basically got Matt Ryan traded. It's gonna get Banker
Speaker 1: Mayfield probably not cut, probably traded. Um. Carolina Panthers franchise
Speaker 1: was forever altered. The Saints sending up going back to
Speaker 1: Jamis Wood's so much. Okay, but that's a lot of play,
Speaker 1: that's a lot of different teams, and it's just you know,
Speaker 1: we wonder, like you know, it was like with Seattle
Speaker 1: and Russell Wilson, like he was only going to Denver. Yes,
Speaker 1: that affected two teams, but it wasn't like a widespread
Speaker 1: thing like it affected two teams. Well, this was, I mean,
Speaker 1: it was seriously like the most impactful trade I think
Speaker 1: in league history. Um almost why I think it committed
Speaker 1: so much of our attention because we've never telt with
Speaker 1: anything that meant so much to so many different people,
Speaker 1: let alone the personal feelings associated with Deshaun Watson and
Speaker 1: this off the field situation itself. Well, let's let's also
Speaker 1: look at you know we have we may not have
Speaker 1: seen the end of this cast aid. He got all
Speaker 1: these these dollars guaranteed. He got all these years on
Speaker 1: the contract guaranteed. And even though it seems like it's
Speaker 1: a one off, because of the demand, right, there was
Speaker 1: supply and demand, and there was a lot more demand
Speaker 1: than supply to draw the guarantees. Well, we see Indianapolis
Speaker 1: all of a sudden about guarantee the back two years
Speaker 1: of Matt Ryan's dealing, and so agents are gonna be
Speaker 1: asking for these guarantees. Now, this is the new Steve
Speaker 1: Hutches and Poisonville, and so people are gonna ask for it.
Speaker 1: They may not get it. But the Shawn Watson, his agent,
Speaker 1: David Wogetta, also got him a no trade clause which
Speaker 1: gave him unbelievable leverage in this situation. So more players
Speaker 1: are gonna be asking for this no trade clause. Um.
Speaker 1: So again we talked about the ripple effect. We saw
Speaker 1: how it affected so many more teams. It's canna affect
Speaker 1: others when it comes to negotiating deals, especially now that
Speaker 1: when this era of general managers who are wheeling and
Speaker 1: dealing like NBA general editors and trading players instead of
Speaker 1: necessarily you know, waiting and trying to you know, find
Speaker 1: a QB through the draft. Yeah. Ian, do you think
Speaker 1: with the Watson contract becomes a one offer, do you
Speaker 1: think it becomes more commonplace? I mean, like, I know,
Speaker 1: we don't. We're not gonna see players like that hit
Speaker 1: the open market essentially. I wouldn't say open market, but
Speaker 1: hit the market in in some way, shape or form.
Speaker 1: But do you think these guarantees, fully guaranteed contracts become
Speaker 1: more common now? Yeah? I do? Um, And I would say,
Speaker 1: like for someone like Russell Wilson who has a baseball
Speaker 1: agent and Mark Rogers, you know, you know he's gonna
Speaker 1: want a fully guaranteed deal. I mean, I don't think
Speaker 1: it'll be now, but you know after next year, he's
Speaker 1: gonna long one. And I mean, to me, that's the
Speaker 1: biggest thing to kind of alter the landscape of the
Speaker 1: NFL is quarterbacks are gonna want fully guaranteed deals and
Speaker 1: and a lot of times they're gonna get it because quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: as we've learned, to have as much power as anyone else.
Speaker 1: So what they want, they generally get. So I imagine
Speaker 1: we're going to see a more fully guaranteed deals from quarterback.
Speaker 1: The other thing is, you guys talked about it, the
Speaker 1: no trade clause. That is the absolute camera and I like,
Speaker 1: I've done this for ten years. Steve's done it for longer.
Speaker 1: I've done it for ten years, and probably until this offseason,
Speaker 1: I did not understand what a no trade cause was.
Speaker 1: I mean, I knew it meant you couldn't get traded,
Speaker 1: but what I didn't understand was it actually meant I
Speaker 1: can only get traded here, so trade me here. The
Speaker 1: power you have within no trading clause is incredible and
Speaker 1: I've probably underestimated that until this off season. And Ian,
Speaker 1: lastly here on on the other pieces, to this Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson deal, Baker Mayfield, as we talked about, probably gonna
Speaker 1: get traded out of Cleveland here at some point. Um.
Speaker 1: The Colts now have their quarterback with Matt Ryan, so
Speaker 1: that seat is filled. Uh, and then Jimmy Garoppolo out
Speaker 1: there is another quarterback that we've talked about as the
Speaker 1: potential being traded. Where do those two situations sit at
Speaker 1: this point? We'll start with Baker Mayfield. Um. And obviously
Speaker 1: that's sort of because of the Matt Ryan trade. That's
Speaker 1: the most relevant right now. To me, the two teams
Speaker 1: that make sense are the Carolina Panthers and the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 1: I don't get the sense either of those teams are
Speaker 1: doing that for that contract, in fact that I know
Speaker 1: they're not. So to me, it's really about how much
Speaker 1: money will the Cleveland Browns eat to make this happen?
Speaker 1: And it seems that they're amenable to eating some, but
Speaker 1: how much? And I don't get the sense it will
Speaker 1: happen soon or though you never know. UM. I think
Speaker 1: with Seattle it's more of like, okay, we can see it.
Speaker 1: I think the Panthers probably make a little more sense
Speaker 1: as far as the possible trade destination. You know they
Speaker 1: still have Sam Donald. If it's Donald and Baker Mayfield, like,
Speaker 1: that's an interesting quarterback room. Um, and that probably means
Speaker 1: they don't have to draft. And as far as Jimmy Garoppolo,
Speaker 1: you know, it's really fascinating because, um, I think we
Speaker 1: all thought he was gonna get traded, never mind the
Speaker 1: fact that he had major shoulder surgery. Now we're a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks out from shoulder surgery, a lot of
Speaker 1: the seats are taken. He's do a reasonable salary. He's
Speaker 1: good person. I think maybe the foot and now is
Speaker 1: just keep him right. I mean, save him for if
Speaker 1: there's a quarterback injury before camp, or what if Trail
Speaker 1: Lance isn't ready, or save him for whatever. There's no
Speaker 1: need to get rid of them. You know, you can
Speaker 1: bring him back. I mean, look, he's a starter who
Speaker 1: led your team to the playoffs. You can do worse
Speaker 1: as a franchise than to have Jimmy Garoppolo in as
Speaker 1: your starter. To me, that's not the worst thing in
Speaker 1: the world. There. It is a wild free agency, a
Speaker 1: wild quarterback trade markets, and the draft talk is just
Speaker 1: heating up so much intrigue still to come as we
Speaker 1: approach April in Las Vegas. After we kind of assess
Speaker 1: the dust settling on the quarterback blues that have happened
Speaker 1: and those that will happen in the first round and
Speaker 1: be on Steve why She and Rapping Bart set us up. Guys.
Speaker 1: Thanks very much, appreciate you. Thanks guys, thank you, and
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for this episode of NFL Inside Report.
Speaker 1: Takes some much for being with us here today. Reminder
Speaker 1: to download, rate review our show on the I Heart
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Speaker 1: We certainly appreciate it and we'll be back with you
Speaker 1: next week as we get closer to d two thousand,
Speaker 1: twenty two NFL Draft. For our producers Thomas Warren and
Speaker 1: Tim Perrotca, I'm your host, Frett Lewis. We'll catch you
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