Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks are back with a new episode of Move the Sticks. Throughout the show, the guys give their opinions on the NFLPA's new offseason proposal for a reshaped offseason schedule (:30). Next, the pair react to Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson's record contract extension (6:34). For the rest of the show, the duo discuss 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster's comments on why he doesn't think a team has to draft an offensive lineman in the first or second round (12:35).
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And now move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
What's up? Everybody? Walk coming to move the sticks? DJ? Buck back with you, Buck? What is going on? Man? And Na Man?
Just another fun field weekend getting closer and closer to I don't know, June July. June is kind of like the did period when it comes to football, and I don't know, we got another week of OTAs and then we got a minatory mini camp and then we disappeared for six weeks kind of.
I know. By the way, there's been a lot of pushback on this schedule. We talked about it previously, Right, this can't This isn't going to happen, is it? Where they're just going to have a continuous offseason right into the season, Like, I just can't see that happening.
See, but I thought it was going to be a break. I thought they was gonna take a three month break at the end of February to give people time. Because as I was thinking, I was like, well, that'd be a good thing because then the coaches could get involved with DI scouting without having to be distracted with planning for the off season program. And then everyone kind of reconvenes whenever June July and just kind of go through it. I think young guys maybe can come through the building to get acclimated to maybe the pro game and then kind of let him go.
But I don't know.
You know, it's funny because I watched Doug Peterson's press conference, and he's talked about anything that's in the best interest of the game. He kind of feels like training camp is already long enough, and so the extension of training camp. The thing that just has me kind of stump DJ because I wrote about it is this comes from the Players Association, so this appears to be like player driven. So I just kind of want to see what does that model look like if it was player driven, because the current model everyone starts middle of April.
If you play.
Into the Super Bowl, that's about a six week break and then you kind of right back into it. I'm just trying to figure out what did the players, What are the players giving up to get back a different offseason schedule.
Yeah, I don't know. Again, I think if you're a coach and your kids are grown, maybe it's one thing. I just think you've got kids in school that sucks you just you're not You're not gonna get a break.
No, So let's let's talk about that because we have a bunch of buddies at a Scouts or whatever.
So let's just say they made it.
Let's just say they made training camp like after July fourth, like West Coast is get out.
Yeah, but I mean that's that's kind of what It's not that far away from there. Now they're talking about like like middle June, like you know, early to middle part of June is when they're talking about getting people in and that's your off season program, you know, going so like that's the month, that's the month that you would kind of lose there, so you know that's when kids getting out of school and all that kind of stuff. And it was like, you're gonna do it at the first of July versus what do we normally start?
Like the twenty second, Like around the twenty if you move it up two weeks, because all right, you're gonna eliminate one preseason game eventually, right, so you can get it down to the two preseason games and.
Then you know there's a lot of lag time.
Between the final cuts and the first regular season game because I think we had those final custom.
Like open weekend. There's always that open weekend.
There's a weekend, and you get all the way through to the next They can trim some of the fat if they want to do it to make it like a July a July start. My thing would be like, okay, So from a player standpoint, that month, that six months that.
You're away, that's when you're not protected.
All right.
So if I go work out in LA and I'm just working out at a.
Random gym and five, yeah, I'm on my own and the other part of it, and I know people don't do it, You'll get a benefit of doing it because it appears that the charges are running more like a college strength program. So imagine all the games that the team has made through this month, and then you have a six week off period and we can say a player are going to go off on their own and do their own thing. It's still different than being with that. I would almost feel like, hey, give them the early part off. I would rather have them doing the run up to training camp to get them ready so they don't pour their hamstrings.
They don't do that.
And even if we're talking about a July start, I would rather as the team and man, let my strength coaches get the team ready to play with a consistent, steady, steadily attended deal as opposed to the stops and starts and all of that. I think there's ways to Even when you talk about like vacation for the scouts and everybody else, I think there are ways to do it with different people being in the building at times. I don't think it's necessary for the coaches and all that to be in during all of the time when the.
Players are in.
I think you can tweak phase one to make it where hey, let's just do the strength conditioning.
I just can't remember how we did it during COVID.
But to me, this is like, hey, how do we approach it during COVID Because we had the COVID season and we didn't have many issues, why can't we do that?
No, it's interesting, man. We'll see how it comes together and if they get an agreement there, and then obviously the eighteenth eighteenth game is kind of what's looming over everything. They're gonna, you know, change things up, then that's gonna be that's gonna be part of the deal there. So I mean, it just feels inevitable, like it's happening, you know.
Oh it's it absolutely is happening. I think that's what they do.
And if I'm not mistaken, I think the CFL does two games, but DJ like, yeah, they do two buys, but they also do a two game preseason schedule.
Oh yeah, yeah, preseason.
But DJ, I can tell you, like in the CFL, you get two weeks to get ready for that preseason.
Game, Like it ain't a whole lot of Yeah.
I just remember when I was up helping out of Hamilton, they talked about you just got to win the first four days, try to get you try to make it where you don't get your guys hurt those first four days with hamstring injuries and those things, and.
Then you just kind of like, you know, ball is ball.
We just kind of get it going.
But yeah, like an eighteen week schedule over an eighteen game schedule over a twenty week period. I mean, that's gonna be a different grind. But that's gonna be different uscle when it comes to getting your team ready and.
All of that.
Yeah, no question. What we're gonna hit on today. By the way, is this new contract that was signed by Justin Jefferson and how that ties into some really interesting comments from Chris Furster, who's been a offensive line coach in this league for a long time, has been Kyle Shanahan's kind of right hand man in terms of managing their run game there with the forty nine ers, had some interesting things to say about the position in which he coaches. So we're going to tie these two things together. Let's start first of all here with the Justin Jefferson news. Four years, one hundred and forty million highest paid non quarterback contract that was handed out. I think that was expected. I don't know that I'm surprised by that. He was not going to be comparing himself to other wide receivers.
You knew that was the case, No, I mean you absolutely knew it was in case. You just look at the numbers that he put up. He had every reason to justify it. It would be interesting to see what CD Lambs as some of the other guys come in. But yeah, just Jefferson is at the top of the market. Thirty five million dollars for a wide receiver. I don't know if we ever envisioned a day with that was going to be the thing. I just think back to when we used to talk about quarterback money being in the twenty million dollar range and how.
Wide receiver our cousins, right, was that Kirk got twenty years and everybody lost their minds.
Yeah, and now we're talking about thirty five million dollars for a wide receiver. We've had the conversation a little bit about wide receivers and how plentiful the pipeline is at the collegiate level in terms of supplying the pro game with I would say pro ready wide receivers. I just wonder now that we're talking about thirty five million dollars for wide receivers for a Marquee number one wide receiver, when does it stop in terms of when do people say, hey, Okay, they're a handful of guys that can get that, But you can't have your whole team with multiple guys making twenty to twenty five million dollars at wide receiver, can you. I just think it just changes the apple cart, and it changes the way that we talk about building the team.
Yeah. I mean, the interesting thing to me is like four years, this is not you know, anything longer than that. It feels to me like you kind of get you know, unless you get the rare, rare exceptional guy. But I think the strategy, at least, you know, talking to different people around, the strategy seems to be, Okay, we can take wide receivers, they're ready to go, draft them high, get that first run on them, and then we can extend them to contract is going to put them in that age thirty season, and then we can go. Then we can recycle and go. Because it's not like other positions where an offensive lineman might not hit his stride until his third year. These receivers come out the package. They're ready to go, not only like to get on the field and play like they're ready to be elite players right from the jump. So you get him in there, you get them rolling, you take care of them on that second contract. But by the time that happens, okay, we've got nine years, we've got their nine year run, incredible nine year run, and then we'll let somebody else pay the next one.
And now that that could be the case and age could be a thing because we've always talked about running backs to sweet spot was twenty seven to twenty eight, Like once they get to that number, you're not likely to put big money into it. But wide receivers being at thirty if we talk about two contracts, so let's just say a four year contract in another four year contract, that's eight years, and then we're on to the next. In terms of a marquee elite player, I also believe it might be tied to how much are we paying to quarterback? See in Minnesota, what you're gonna have is you're gonna have a young quarterback for the next four maybe five years, So you can pay Justin Jefferson and some of those other guys. But when let's just say jj McCarthy turns out to be what they want him to be, when it comes time to pay him, how does the money ship.
Yeah, well, look at the wide receiver flips right, We've seen it well obviously with Mahomes, with Tyreek Hill, they flipped over that receiver roster. We're seeing it this year with the Chargers. You've paid Herbert, You've got to flip that roster over. Now. The Bengals have kept their group, but they haven't paid them yet. They're gonna have to pay if they want to keep them. You're gonna have to pay t Higgins and Jamar Chase, and maybe they choose one to you know, one over the other. I obviously would imagine that would be Jamar Chase, but that hasn't been done yet, so I don't know. I'm trying to think of the examples and even look even a Buffalo, right you pay, You've paid Josh Allen and Stefan Diggs and that big number is no longer there. So it's been kind of the it's been pretty it's been pretty consistent with the track record here of high, high, high priced guys for your young quarterback. And then after that the quarterbacks got to graduate and take care of some younger guys.
He has to do that.
Then will be what can be learned from the teams that have had success with the draft and developed program. So there are a couple of teams that come to mind in terms of being able to hit a receivers consistently.
The Green Bay Packers.
Of that, you think about all the young guys, I mean, they may have the chiefs wide receiver room in the National Football League. What have they been able to uncover and because they've done it for so long, what is their secret sauce? The other team I would look at, would be the Pittsburgh Steelers. What can we learn from their evaluation process when it comes to wide receivers to maybe replicate that in other areas. You have to have a team and offense a coach that can get the young guys up to speed, develop them, and get them to play right away. That is going to be the key and the wide receiver coach. I won't say it has been a throwaway position, but it now may become a more pivotal position in terms of development, because if we're going to have to make these decisions and choices between high priced wide receivers and draft and developed guys, with that guy that you have in that room has to be terrific in terms of teacher and an instructor when it comes to getting the young guys ready to play.
Yeah, I mean, look at the room that the Chicago Bears have put in there for Kayleb Williams to come in on that rookie contract. You bring over Keenan Allen, You've already got DJ Moore who's made some money, and now you obviously throw another young guy into the mix there with Roma Doonsday. But it's fascinating to see how the whole puzzle comes together, which is going to get us to our next point, which is this quote in this conversation that we had from Chris Firster last week that I want to jump into. So let's take a quick pause, Buck, we'll come back. We'll get into that, all right.
Buck.
You're the one I believe who saw this first and put it on the little MTS text thread there, So why don't you take it and run with it? Here on some interesting comments from Chris Furster.
You know, like in a general just Chris Furster onin coach for the San Francisco forty nine is just about how it makes sense for teams to look spend their top picks on guys who touched the ball.
You can score points guys who can deliver explosive plays.
And that in the draft you can find the bigs in later rounds. And he didn't necessarily say like six and seventh round, but you can find the bigs and rounds outside of the first round. And when I initially saw the comment it, I don't say I was taken aback, but I was surprised.
For so long, DJ, we've talked.
About teams and the teams that are kind of always in the conversation being a line of scrimmage teams, teams that commit to get into guys in the trenches O line, D line, and then you fill in the pieces around them. But if you're good at the line of scrimmage, it always gives you a chance to win. Here, we're talking about a team that has been into conversation, been to a couple of Super Bowls in the last five or so years, that is saying like, no, we gonna get the playmakers and those things that we can find the pieces outside of it. It just to me just kind of runs counterculture to how we think about what you need to do to be a champce we should caliber team in this league.
Yeah, and actually I think the Bill dug up the sound here too, So let's uh, let's let you listen to the sound and then I'll piggyback on the back end of it.
If you talk about all the traits that you need your system, when every year expects you guys to invest early in the draft on offensive line, how much is that a part of you trying to project these guys and maybe why you haven't invested, you know, first second round picks as often.
Yeah, I you know, I don't know about that's for John and Kyle for the most part, my personal opinion, This is my personal opinion if they ask me, invest in guys that touch the ball. Guys can touch the ball and score touchdowns. And then there's there's a range of guys second, third, fourth round, fifth round even that we will find starting offensive lineman in at some point. Can you draft, Yeah, you draft Trent Williams, You draft your pick and draft for you getting a difference maker. But there's guys that can make difference that touch the ball well into second, third, fourth rounds or second third rounds at least, and definitely in the first round that that guy that touches the ball. It makes a huge difference in the game. The right guard makes difference. We've talked about it before, but that's why we're able to find fourth and fifth round draft picks, and if they've been you go find you know, it's how dominant is the difference between pick you know, thirty four versus pick fifty four in offensive line play, and that's where that's what you're trying to balance all the time. So well, we best available player all those types of things. Definitely will and where we possibly ready to draft guys hired a draft. Yes, but if there's somebody that can touch the ball and make plays. In my opinion, you asked me, Chris, do.
You want him?
I want they guy to touch this the ball for me because I think we can develop those players much more readily and have developed those players through the time, because we do have a specific things that we're looking for. We know we're looking for through the course of time. That's the advantage of being together with Kyle for so long that we kind of can pigeonhole these guys and we always right. No, we're not always right, and nobody is on anything. So yeah, because you put five first rounders across the front, I don't know that we have to to have success. And it hasn't been that case as far as running the football and protecting the quarterback, you know, or do we have Yeah, we don't have five first rounders, so there's always going to be that. But the fact that you can throw a short pass to Devo even though the right tackle is getting beat, it ends up being a sixty yard touchdown. So yeah, the right tackle blocks somebody, but the guy gets tackled at five yards. You don't have the sixty yard touchdown. Boy, that right tackled did a great job. What's the matter if the guy touching the ball can't take it to the house. So there's the trade off and you're constantly playing that game.
Yeah, I think that's I think it's fascinating. I had a chance to work with coach Firster in Baltimore many many, many moons ago, but I think what he's saying makes sense. But I also think there's the there's the nuance to it that we've talked about before with the no tomato cans. Right, we did this conversation several years ago, which was, are you better off, you know, having two Hall of Fame linemen, two okays and one terrible? Or are you better off having five just see you know, C plus B minus lineman. And we said, actually, you're more more likely better off just having no weakness. You're as strong as your weakest link there, because you're going to that weakest link is going to be Waldo. He's gonna get picked on, and you're gonna have trouble with running the football. You're gonna have trouble protecting your quarterback. If you have one tomato can up there. You can't have that. So I agree with what he's saying. If you told me I had the choice of having a good offensive line with great weapons or a great offensive line with so so good weapons, I think I would lean more towards you know, the weapons as well, Buck.
Yeah, the weapons matter because the weapons ultimately impact the scoreboard. I think when you fully listen to the quote and what fars is talking about, there are a couple of things that stood out. One he talked about continuity between scheme and staff. It's the same scheme. The staff has been together, so we know exactly what the traits are that are necessary to play well in the system. That can be overlooked because that gives you the eye that you need. We always talk about like so when we talk about the Pittsburgh still is what the Pittsburgh still is having it manage when it comes to our receiver, where the staff has been together for a long time, When you think about Mike Tomlin, the consistency, Mike Tomlin working with the guys in the front office, they know exactly what they're looking for. So I think that part comes out of it also, And I just remember this the struggles that I had in evaluating offensive linemen, and then after you've been in the league for a while, you started to see what plays and dj the range that he talked about second round through fifth round.
When you go back in your mental rolodecks and.
You think about the guys that you graded as a second and the guys that you graded at fifth, and then you go and watch their trajectory through the league. A lot of similar plights. And if we're talking about the developmental part of it, it's a lot easier to get multiple threes and fours and fives to kind of throw darts on linemen than it is to do it at the top of the draft when you're going to try and double up at the position. Maybe if we're talking about attacking the offensive line like that, I think it takes a great teacher at the position, the old line coach, and it takes a front office that is willing to allow him to have multiple people.
To work with so that he can develop him. You have to be all in.
I think you have to be all in on this approach if you're doing it, and you almost have to treat it like college, where you have a different recruiting class every year that features one or two offensive linemen to get them in the pipeline for development.
Yeah. The other thing that popped into my head though, was do you remember how many times last year? And I think they ended up eventually doing it, But like Kyle Shanahan's record when they were trailing, like in the fourth quarter games was abysmal, Like it was, I can't remember what the number one.
They only could play one way. They only could play from a head. They had to be in front.
Yeah, and they had. And here's the thing, because there's the there's the illusion of run on almost every pass in their offense. You know historically what they've done, they've run the ball really well, and then the passing games worked off of that, everything looks the same. It puts a defense in a bind. They can find matchups, they can find space, things work together. When you're trailing, there's no threat to run. We're just pure drop back. Now it becomes not only are they on the on the quarterback to be able to make big time throws in the tight windows, but now you've got to protect them when they're really pinning their ears back and they're not worried about the run game. Now, I think he did a little bit more of that. Towards the end, you saw a little bit more kind of just straight drop back with Perdy because I think he got more confident in him to do some of those things. But that's not traditionally how that offense has been run, going all the way back to his dad. So and what's what's the other part of that equation, Well, your defense has to be keeping the score down in order for you to still you know, be in an advantageous position to protect your offensive lineman. We think of offensive lineman protecting the quarterback. Well, a defense and a scheme can protect offensive lineman. And I think that's one of the things they've had there as well. I think that has to be discussed as part of that conversation.
It has to be discussed, but listed on the offense side of the ball. And let's go because we're talking about San Francisco specifically, and maybe why Forrester believes that one of the issues that came up last year for the forty nine ers was their inability to win consistently against Manda Man. The teams that gave them the most problems for the teams that played a lot of Manda Man, the can't cit The Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns in particular, played a lot of bump.
Mande Man challenged them.
Took away the easy access that they normally are afforded because they run the ball and they have play action that matches at and so they have free releases into their routes. Well, now it becomes more of a mandemand league. It requires more skill, better route running, better playmaking. You need the guys on the perimeter to be able to win on their own as opposed to the scheme creating wins. Because remember when we talked about play action and a lot of things they did, it was guys on the move, bubble screens, tonal screens, deep overs. Yes, we've when we take that part out, can you beat a high level cornerback on your own?
It appears to me that Foster's saying, yeah.
We need to invest in the better way weapons that have those skills, and we have to invest in those early in the draft, because what do we talk about the number ones get drafted in the top rounds because coming out of college, they're the ones that have the complete toolboxes. They're not just one trick ponies. The number ones that typically are traditionally drafted in the first round. Route runners, ball catchers, playmakers, after the kids, they have all of that. Maybe it's the recognition that we need more of those guys to be able to succeed against everybody, as opposed to having this narrow path to victory against most teams.
Yeah, enter Ricky pearsall right, you look at their you know their receiver room and all the players they have, but they wanted another route runner, ius a good route runner. Now you get another one in there with piersol So again to help them against some of that man coverage that they're going to see. But you know, I don't think it's shocking the way he would say that. I also would add it is easier when you have Trent Williams already in the fold to say, okay, we can well, that's we don't ever have to help We don't ever have to slide left to help him out. We don't ever have to throw a tight end over there. That gives us a lot of liberty and a lot of freedom. And I was thinking about, you know, last year, the Chiefs, well the Chiefs, their tackles were not good. And even you could say, outside of Kelsey, the weapons were just kind of so so, but the defense was dominant, the quarterbacks unbelievable, and the scheme is fantastic. And the other portion of that is they did have difference makers on the offensive line on the interior because those three guys are phenomenal, and that that is you know, they get pushed and they can create a firm interior of that pocket. So again I'm not saying you want five C minus offensive line, and it'd be nice to sprinkle in some a's, but it's more important that you don't have any f's. That makes any sense.
It is that in this also, and Jim Harbot talked about this. He talked when he talked about the offensive line, and he talked about it working together and how the offensive line makes everybody better. But one of the things about the offensive line we talked about five individual pieces, but really they're one because they operated one of their vote ron.
They all come together and make it happen.
The chemistry in the offensive line room is probably the most important room that you have to see because these guys have to be able to finish each other's sentences. Because we've always talked about it like if you have a sinner who has some issues but understands how to play with his neighbors, understands how to use body help, understands oh like in this protection my guys, he may not be really helping me, but his body's going to be there, so now I can overseet to the other side. It's understanding all those things. They're not operating independently. They're operating as a collective. And if you have a bunch of bees, b pluses, that can be better than a team that has an A and an F somewhere on that offensive line.
Be good, very good. We don't have to be great to be able to get to the next level.
Yeah, no, I think it is a It's an interesting discussion as you look at how you build out your team. And you know, we've done that conversation with the Bengals a million times when they had the Pina soul chase decision, but they've still been chasing no pun intended, you know, fixing the offensive line since they made that decision, it's worked out well for him in terms of getting to a Super Bowl. Burrow has been beat up a little bit. The offensive line has had issues. He's taken a lot of sacks, taken a lot of hits. So they've been on a quest to try and have their cake and eat it too, so to speak.
Yeah, everything has to work together. So if you're going to operate on the premise we don't need a great offensive line, well you better be able to have some playmakers that can make it happen on catch and run concepts.
They can turn short passes into big games.
You have a quarterback that can get it out of his hands really quickly.
All of that has to work together.
You can't have a guy that wants to take long drops and throw it all the way down the field if you don't have the line in front of you. I just think in the team building process, when you make the decision to go one way or the other, you got to make sure that all your actions matches the philosophy.
Yeah. Another example, by the way, would be Peyton Mannings Colts, who the group of offensive linemen. I mean, if you looked at him as a group, good group. They played well together individually, not the not the most talented guys, but they understood the assignment. They knew the ball was coming out quick and where did they spend their money. They spent their money and resigning those stud receivers and uh, and that's where that's what the offense was.
So think about that.
We think about Bill Poli and the success that he had in building what two three teams up to contender status.
He always investigated marquee quarterback. He had marquee weapons.
You thinking about using Indianapolis as a result, like Marvin Harrison first rounder, Reggie Wayne first rounded, Edrian James first rounded, he would spend big time value on one offensive Gonzales too, wasn't Gonzales?
Yeah, Anthony Gonzales was a first round pick.
They had what Tory Glenn was a first round office tackle, Dallas Clark was a first round all the weapons, and then on defense they invested in pass rushers, so pass rushers, playmakers and one blind side protector and that was the formerly that helped the Indian Office Goals win a lot of games. It also helped Buffalo Bills win games before that. I mean, that's that's kind of the blueprint that has worked out. Well, maybe there's something to those theories.
Yeah, no, it's uh again, it's it's fascinating to me to see how there's you know, different ways to look at building a championship team. And when go back to the charge with Jim Harball, he said, you know, do you take a weapon do you take an offensive lineman? And his line was, I think offensive lineman are weapons. And that's the way he's going to do it. He's going to continue to invest in that. He's going to buck that trend a little bit, and he's going to say, you know, when everybody's zigging, I'm gonna zag and I'm going to try and build a behemoth offensive line and you know, we're gonna come out there with six of them beat you up. So that's that's that's the other side of it.
That is the other side, and we'll see what works out. But it is clear it's I would say, like a refreshing take on it. And I would say it's.
Unusual for an offensive line coach.
But then DJ, let's think about the late Howard Mudd and what he was able to do.
Yeah, like we just.
Talked about in and out, Like, think about how Howard Mudd was able to take undrafted players Jeff Saturday, undrafted player turn into a Perino pro bowler. I mean there's something too. I would say, the better your old line coach, the more likely it is that that philosophy can work for you. But if you don't have a terrific developer at the point of attach, you can't use you can't you can't follow that.
Yeah, I mean it's again. Another thing that I'm looking forward to is just seeing the Ravens, who you know, offensive line wise, they've lost some pieces. They're gonna have some new pieces in place here with this upcoming season. But you get a big time runner and Derrick Henry to put him in there, and then you know, that's gonna be the same thing that first I was talking about. Okay, well we're going to invest in the dudes and then the offensive line. It's gonna make the offensive line better because we've got a runner like that. So it's you know, it's interesting, by the way, if you had to pick, if you are the forty nine ers and right now it's McCaffrey who wants it sounds like he wants a new deal, and you've got Ayuk who wants a new deal. If you had to, if you had to pick, and I know, obviously the running back position and versus the receiver position has been heavily slanted towards receivers. But that guy's a little different back there in McCaffrey.
I think I still would lean towards McCaffrey. I mean, he just does so much for them, his presence and whatever. And one of the reasons why I was an advocate of him getting paid what he got paid the first time around is I felt like he would he had he had the game that could age gracefully at the position down, meaning when it became a little noisy, maybe his skills began to diminish a little bit. As a runner, he still could be a playmaker that could catch the ball out the backfield and do a bunch of different things. And I know people won't remember this name, but I was like, man, Christmascandford can do the running harmon stuff like later in his career. He can just come out on the edge. Put man be the third down back. What if no one wants to have a put a shield on, no one wants to have a high price guy. But man, you can't tell me that Christian McCaffrey can't run option routes out of the backfield back and forth on the backside of three pin one and win over and over and over again. I just feel like there's always value that he can bring, not saying that you can bring it. It would be hard for me if I'm the Niners to part ways with Christian McCaffrey's for him.
You know who we got cheated on was and it was it was no like McCaffrey didn't have this medical stuff, but Todd Gurley had that kind of I think was a the genitive degenerative right he had. He had the kind of that pre existing issue that cut his career way short. But he was one that I thought, you know, when he got paid man like, I thought he would age well like that too. But again he had a pre existing injury that just he couldn't he couldn't stay healthy. That was one that I always thought, man, that all these running backs kind of falling off a cliff his skill set when he can do run a rounds catching the ball like, he might be one the ages ages pretty well. But again, even even with McCaffrey, like, it is a risk if you're going to pay the running back, But I think that's one that I would probably probably step in line to take. And there aren't many of them, but that would be one. I would.
I just think you look at the production that he's been able to put up since he arrived. I don't know how you can do it. And I know people talk about the injuries and those things. Yeah, you need to draft another back. I just think you can transition him into.
Other roles that allows you to get the money, to get a return on the investment.
He's just been so good for them, And I know you're not supposed to get caught up in the emotion of like, oh, nostalgic man, he's been so man. The production is the production, and their record with him on the field is fantastic.
Maybe there's the compromise where you can say, hey, you know, kind of go year to year on this thing. We'll pay you gobs of money and every year that you know you just keep you stay healthy, and we'll just keep we'll redo it and we'll just keep giving you more and we'll stretch it out so we can spread me out, but we'll protect ourselves. But in terms of a dollar base and what you're making in a calendar year, you know, we kind of just for the position, we got to go more year to year, but we will you know, you'll you'll be light years ahead of every other running back in Hermison.
Almost like almost like paying them on a series of one year franchise tags.
That are Yeah, you just extended contracts.
Extending the contract just kind of good. Yeah, because you're almost at that point. I don't know without knowing.
His age specifically, maybe it's two years, and maybe you do it two years at a time, Buck, Maybe take two years at the time.
Yeah, but yeah, it can be longer. I think even now running backs I only get in three years and whatever. I think Josh James was like just a three year deal, saquon whatever. Like this had to be short and sweet just because of the life span of the position.
Yeah, that's interesting. Interesting conversation there.
Uh.
Spurred on by by Chris Firster. All right, Buck, anything else you want to add before we jump out of here.
No, that was good, man. I think it was short and sweet.
We we took on a couple of tips, just talking about the wide receivers and then the offensive line. I'm just looking forward to now what these other contracts look like when it comes to wide receivers. But you know what I'm really waiting on, I'm waiting to see what kind of deal Tua and Trevor Lawrence are able to because Dad is going to look, that's going to spawn another conversation when it comes to the quarterbacks and what quarterbacks should be paid.
Yep. And then now you start getting like the guys who are on the previous cycle, who like, all of a sudden, like Josh Allen, might be might be time to jump back up and line. Come on, now, my money back in that mix. All right, that's gonna do it for us. I hope you guys have enjoyed it, and we'll see you next time. Right here on, move the sticks