On this episode of Move the Sticks, Bucky Brooks and Lance Zierlein react to the beginning of free agency! The guys explain how certain moves may have dictated where Shedeur Sanders will get drafted and weigh in on Myles Garrett having a change of heart after the Browns made him the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history. The Bears are building in the trenches and have gone all-in on upgrading their offensive line but they may not be done just yet!
Move the Sticks is a part of the NFL Podcasts Network.
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
What's up?
Everybody's Bucky Brooks and Lance z represent to day on the Movie six podcasts.
Lance, what is going on? How you hold it up?
In this free agent friends?
Oh? Man, it started off hot and heavy.
I was like, man, it didn't with all the trades that got it kicked off.
I was like the pre pre free.
Agency, and you got DK moving, and you got Geno moving, and the quarterback carousels shuffling. And then here in Houston, you know, you got off of Laramie Tunsel and the trade and all these free agent signings are coming in.
It's crazy to see, like how quickly.
The money has escalated at so many positions. It's like, I can't even process Daniel Jones getting fourteen million. But then when you look, you know at backup rates, especially backups who may have a chance to start.
Like, that's what backup quarterbacks make.
Now you get at you get fourteen million, that's not a problem.
I mean, that's that's what they make. That's what they're always gonna make.
It's kind of crazy, right because you think about the money that Justin Fields got from the Jets, which puts him at twenty million per Look, you gotta guaranteed I love it. But he is the lowest paid starter of anyone that's not a rookie. And then Daniel Jones goes into Naptown competing with Anthony Richardson, and you got to think that he is on the inside track to win that job. He's making fourteen million dollars. You have Geno Smith swapped out in the Pacific Northwest. Sam Donald comes in to Seattle and basically signs the Baker Mayfield contract plus a little a little extra little sprinkle on top. It's Look, it's crazy to think about, like the quarterback carousel, how it's spinning and we're still waiting to see what Pittsburgh and New York are going to do respectively. In the names that you hear out here, Russell Wilson, you have Aaron Rodgers. I mean, I don't know if there's anybody else outside of that. If I'm Russell Wilson, I'm you know how we used to play that musical chairs, Yeah, on the yard and they get the one chair and they're spinning around. Yeah, they better hurry up and figure it out because not many seats left for the dance.
No, no, there's not, and you know, they gotta they gotta get this thing, like Rogers going to Pittsburgh. It feels like it's a done I mean, I don't, I don't want to say done deal, but it's feeling like there's just you're out of you're out of spots, you're out of chairs, as you said, and you're out of people playing the game.
So if Aaron gets that last spot, I.
Don't I don't know what happens to uh, you know, I don't know what happens to to Russell Wilson.
I don't.
I don't know where Russ Russ goes.
He'll have to go somewhere where he's got a chance to compete as a starter, or he's got.
A chance to be a really above average.
Backup, a good backup who can step in and start and maybe win some games for you. So it'll be interesting to see. I know this though, but it's you know, the Geno Smith move for the Raiders.
I thought that was interesting. I don't know if that says something about their thoughts.
About shod Or Sanders, if if they don't think Shador is the guy that they want to target and they want to bridge quarterback for the next you know, a couple of years, a year so that they can kick the can down the road for a quarterback, maybe in a in a different round other than first round, or maybe in a different year. I don't know if it means, hey, let's put him here and we'll still draft Shad or Sanders sixth. You know, the conversations that I got into at the combine, I just didn't find the NFL teams. It wasn't really about attitude. It was really about they just they had a second round or third round.
Great on them, and that's that's that's bananas. But look it only it only takes one, Yeah, it is. It is funny though, because of the conversation and we'll have this extended conversation on these quarterbacks. It's so interesting to me to hear the conversation about Shador Sanders and people say, oh, he doesn't have this, but then the that Tyler Shutt is getting over whatever, and I'm like, man, if you look at their collech's careers, it's not even close in terms of the production and what they've accomplished. But here's where we are at this state of the process. And it's funny you brought up Shaduur Sanders. I feel like every podcast has to do it. But Lance, what if I told you that, I'm looking at the move that the Cleveland Browns made to acquire Kenny Pickett. Yeah, and it leads me to believe that Shaduur Sanders would be the pick for them when they take a quarterback.
I could see it.
I don't know that they do it with the second pick, but see in my last mock, I had them taking Travis Hunter and then moving back into the first because they have two third round picks, So I had them moving back in the first and taking Shador Sanders, you know in the twenties.
I actually could see that. I actually could see that, because then you.
Got you got a chance to have a real competition, and you really you want in that situation, I think you would want Shador to win that job. A lot of times you want quarterback, you know, to sit behind veterans. That could be the case in Cleveland. It gives you the option either way if that were to happen, If you draft should door with the second pick of the draft, I don't know.
I don't know.
If it changes how you approach the quarterback situation. I mean, it's never a bad thing for a rookie to get sometimes with mental reps on the bench and kind of but the one different, the thing that's different with Shaudors I think he's he's wired a little.
Differently than some of these other quarterbacks.
I think he's actually he's a guy who I think has a lot of confidence. I don't think he's easily shaken. So I mean, to me, I think should Or Sanders maybe could handle man. There's always the speed of the game and the x's and o's and stuff like that. It's gonna be hard for any any rookie. But sometimes I feel like should Or Sanders might be able to handle a little more of the pressure of the glare than maybe any of the other quarterbacks in this draft. It's one of the things that I kind of like about him. Doesn't have an elite arm, doesn't even have I think he has a very average arm, but he throws with accuracy. It's just it's gonna be interesting to see where he goes. But I did wonder, though, to keep it to put it back in free agency, Buck, I did wonder how many of these moves were directly tied to looking at this quarterback draft and saying, uh, we're gonna pass this year, or we're gonna pass in the first round. Then all bets are off in the second or third round. You know, I don't I don't know. I don't know how that plays out, you know.
So I do think the run on quarterbacks that we've seen in free agency is a direct, kind of direct reaction to what everyone had a chance to see from the quarterbacks of the combine.
Uh.
The reason why I mentioned Kenny Pickett maybe paving the way for shir Dr Sanders to go there had little to do with the pick, whether it's the second pick or whatever. Stylistically, a lot of times you see people stacked a quarterback room with similar types. And so when you see the Browns move off of dtr athletic playmaker, they send him out, they bring Kenny Pickett in, who's more of a.
Traditional pocket passer.
Maybe this is Kevin Stefanski saying, hey, let's ready our playbook, let's ready our scheme for someone that is more of a traditional passer as opposed to what we had in the past, where we had these athletic quarterbacks, and you.
Know, they kind of had a Hodgepies.
They had Deshaun who was athletic, Jameis dtr and none of the pieces fit. Maybe this is Kevin Stefanski saying, Hey, I want to make sure everybody in this room is kind of similarly skilled, so I don't have to do multiple learning, create multiple playbooks for our offense to operate if one of those guys is not in the lineup, Yeah.
Let's get intel. That's a that's a good way to think of that, you know.
And you don't know. This is Kenny Pickett's fourth year. I think he had two of Pittsburgh won last year. You know, Kenny kind of came out of nowhere. He was one year wonder out of pit. The numbers is last year didn't match.
Any of the other numbers. They were crazy.
And so maybe he's a guy that kind of gets it a little bit now in year four. Maybe he's ready to, you know, to be a bridge quarterback for another quarterback coming. I don't know if he's ready to pull a full on Saam Darnold, but you never know, I.
Mean you never know. I mean he did have some talent coming out.
There was I thought the poise was something in the pocket that kind of bothered me a little bit coming out of college. I didn't think he handled it great in Pittsburgh, but that was a lot to put.
On his plate in Pittsburgh as well.
There are some really big wide receiver personalities in that room. They can make it a little tougher on quarterbacks sometime as well.
So you never know. You never know. But free agency is off.
And running, and man, these numbers are crazy. What do you think about Miles Garrett resigning? I thought he was like, oh, you.
Mean the guy who said he never gonna put the uniform on.
Yeah, funny Lance, It's funny when they slide that big old check over there.
Amazing on a lot of things that you said, Oh you know, I'm out of here.
I need to be with a winner.
That the contender got a Lance, we'll pay you.
For you for Hey, you know what, I'm back. I love it here. I would never leave Lake Erie. This is what I've always wanted.
Grace, guys and and snow like, this is a perfect place for me to build a family.
And but Bruce down, I'm exact.
I think. Look, I never thought the Cleveland Browns were going.
To move off of Miles Garrett when you talked about the kind of talent that he is. I mean, what four straight seasons where he's had over fifteen fourteen or fifteen sacks.
He's been a dominant player.
He is one of the guys that we absolutely can put the generational talent tag on. He's been as advertised for the Browns, and I understand why they wanted to pay him.
And I also understood why when.
They give you eighty eight million dollars to sign, why you signed it right away And You're like, yeah, I don't know if I'm ever going win, but I'm certainly gonna be uh rich rich and I may have a chance to go down the street and and and and kind of find a new bust in the Hall of Fame.
So I understand that part of it.
I've got.
You know, I really wonder if he just said, if he came to the realization that Cleveland wasn't gonna move him, and he just said, I might as well take a.
Bunch of money, then, you know, I mean, because.
I do, I can't see how he would want to get out and try and see what it's like to win to win at a high a higher level, because it doesn't. It feels like Cleveland's got a lot of a lot of work to do right now there, so give so many picks. I mean that Sean Watson stuff was just such a killer for that organization. And I can see him wanting to get out. Man, I can't I understand it. He wants to go out and have a chance.
But uh, I.
Mean, if you don't think you're going to you might as well take you might as well take that that payday.
I guess it's time for the lead block presented by T Mobile for Business.
Football needs a network willing to go the extra yard. So do you go further with T Mobile for Business?
Lance, I'm gonna get on you because I know this used to be your man before he became the.
GM of the Chicago Bears. The Bears have gone all in on trying to upgrade their squad.
So let's talk about what the Bears have done in free agency, whether you like it or not. The first thing they went out and did they upgraded the offensive line. Acquired Jonah Jackson be a trade from the Rams for a six round pick. Joe Thuni comes over in a trade from the Chiefs for a fourth round pick in twenty twenty six. Drew Dolman his son three year, forty two million dollars contract, twenty eight million guaranteed.
Lance Your boy Ryan Poles has been listening.
He's been listening to X He's been listening to the streets.
He's trying to fix the offensive line so that this team can pop.
What do you think about what the moves?
I mean, you know, protect Kayla Williams or you're gone at the end of the year. I mean, I think I think he's one of the gms that is in the crosshairs right now and he needs to win. He needs to show growth. And the best way to do that is show that the guy you drafted first ahead of Jayden Daniels is up there in the same category with Jayden Daniels. And the best way to do that is before you can tell if he is or not, you got to protect him and you got to give him a chance.
Now, he's got to stop hanging on the ball so.
Long and all that.
But you know, you you added good football players.
I think Jonah Jackson is solid.
You know, Joe Toney is a good guard. He'll be a good player for you.
Drew Dolman allows you to He's a zone scheme center who can get out in space and get to angles and and I think he can help the run game from his own scheme standpoint. Ben Johnson, I would assume had maybe some say in these guys.
I don't.
I don't know if he really got in there, and if he even has an opinion on offensive line, I don't know. But you know, because Drew Dolmen is a is his zone scheme center, I think that that kind of tells you what they're going to uh, what they're going to be heavy into in Chicago. But I like it for Ryan Pols because you didn't give up any first round picks, you had a lot of money to spend. You immediately went after the offensive line. If you want to really swing the sword, you can go at the first You can go at an offensive lineman in the first round with the UH with the tenth pick, or maybe Trey Back still get a left tackle if you want to put competition over there at the left tackle spot. Or you know now you are close enough to being where you need to be that you can maybe wait a full round, maybe even two rounds before you attack another tackle position. I still think I still think they need competition at the left tackle spot. So it wouldn't shock me if they looked at tackle with the first round pick.
But I like it.
I mean, he's given us, he's given himself a chance, he's got some weapons on offense. Polls I'm talking about and now Caleb Williams. Now now I will say the wide receiver spot. It will also be interesting to see what they do a wide receiver because DJ Moore didn't.
Do a whole lot. Keenan Allen's best days are gone obviously. Roma Dunza is the dude, you know.
I think they'll look I think they'll look at tightening up the wide receiver spot as well.
But I like it for me.
I mean, you knew it wasn't where it needed to be. We got money to spend, let's go get some guys.
No, So I like it.
In terms of Ben Johnson leaning into what made them successful in Detroit, I think it's really important as a head coach and play caller that you know the ingredients that served you well in Detroit. Detroit became the monster because of that offensive line being able to dominate. They have versatility up front that could go from zone scheme to gap skiing. They could bully you at the point of attack because they had some monsters and these are solid players.
I can't say that they're the bullies that he left.
In Motown, but it certainly gives them an opportunity to be who they want to be. On offense, you're playing in the Windy City. You're dealing with the elements. You're also dealing with the division that prize itself in physicality and toughness. The only way to beat the bullies is you got to be able to hit the bully in the mouth.
A better served to hit the bully in their mouth.
And oh, by the way, they might have set their quarterback up for more success because they finally have an offensive line and they may have a commitment to the running game. They should allow Caleb Williams to have success and Grady Jarrett.
They added Grady Jarrett in the middle too, So I know it's I know it's not.
It's on the other side, we're still talking trench football because the Lions, you know, build the trenches.
Build the trenches both sides of them.
And let's go get a Jamier Gibbs and A and A and a MC David Montgomery, let's go wreck you.
And that's kind of what you know. They've got all the right little pieces in place and so, but but it starts in the trenches.
Man.
That's that's where the uh that's where the heart and soul of teams a lot of times beat and you got to get that right. And I think Ryan Poles was doing everything he can't. It may it may work, it may not work, but he needs it to work right away for job security. I don't think there's any question about that.
It absolutely has to work.
And I would say this, I think if you pair uh DeAndre Swift with maybe a guy like Caleb Johnson that blend someone that is more like David Montgomery to Jamior Gibbs, that might work.
How about dreaming Me?
I mean, you can't go wrong with triaging Henderson being able to have the juice. So that's a rep for the lead block presented by T Mobile for Business. Football needs a network willing to go to extra yards. So do you go further with T Mobile for Business lance. I love having conversations. I have to make this an abbreviated one because it's gotta go jump on free agent friends.
So here's what we can do.
We're gonna work it out where we come back and we kind of complete the podcast because I feel like we kind of cheated the people.
There's so many moves.
But after Wednesday, we'll at least know where most of the movers and shakers are going. So maybe late in the week, me and you hop back on the podcast and kind of scrimmage it all out and talk about the moves that we're there and you.
Too.
Until then, y'all make sure you're watching this from network.
Check the ticket to see where everyone is going. I am Bucky Brooks. That's Land. See this would move the sticks the podcast. We'll check you out next time.