Free Agency Primer on Everyone But the Quarterbacks | NFL Deep Dive

Published Mar 1, 2021, 4:02 PM

It's the "No QBs" edition of the Monday Morning Podcast, as Conor and Gary take a trip through the other 21 positions to see how the market might play out in an unusual offseason.

Wide receivers might feel the cap crunch more than any other position, as a lot of big names are available but plenty of teams will instead be eyeing a highly regarded draft class and those oh-so-cheap rookie contracts. Can guys like Godwin, Golladay or Allen Robinson land big deals anyway? The offensive line group, meanwhile, presents a lot of steady options, which is all anyone is looking for up front anyway.

On the defensive side of the ball, will Shaq Barrett finally break the bank? Will the Giants let Leonard Williams get away? Plus a look at a deep cornerback market, and why safeties might be out of luck again.

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Hello, and welcome to the m m QB Monday Morning NFL Podcasts. I'm your host, Gary Grantly. I'm joined this week by Connor Or of The weak Side podcast, and I gotta say, Connor, I was watching some uh some coaches film over the past week, and I noticed that aside from quarterbacks, there are like tons of other guys on the field at once. I don't know exactly how many, but but I figured we should investigate who those other guys are and actually talk about non quarterbacks on the show, which would be I don't know, like the first time we've done hit all offseason, considering in our defense the absurd news cycle. The sound that you're hearing now is every listener in their car powering down the radio so that are powering down their podcast device and they're saying, no, no, I'm just kidding you should people should listen to this guy wide receivers offensively. They're all people to come on, We're we're gonna have a bit of an off season primer. Let's call it right here, uh with the non correction, looking at a little bit at the draft class, but more looking at the free agent class, and and you know, quite frankly, how it's going to be affected by the depth at some of these positions here. And I want to start this one off with the wide receivers. I've been fascinated by this. I've been talking about it basically NonStop for like six months now. Uh. It is such a strong and deep wide receiver class. And I thought sort of a quiet headline last year was the fact that none of these receivers who were in free agency got paid because everyone just looked at the draft class and said, well, we're just gonna get our guy there on the on the super cheap deal and find our a G Brown or DK Metcalf for Terry McLaurin, whoever might be. Uh, but we have headliners this year like we haven't had in the past couple of years, and it's just kind of like, what's what's gonna give here? So I guess my first question to you, Connor, is when you look at this class, uh, you know we have Allen Robinson, Kenny Golladay, Chris Godwin headlining it. I mean, are these guys just settling for for franchise tags? I mean, are any of these guys gonna get big deals here? I don't think so. Um, like you said, there's a depressed cap situation, so money is at a premium there. Um, this is another generational receiver class that's set to come out. And really, if you look at everything situationally, it doesn't make sense to see a ton of these guys on the market. So Chris Godwin, right, you look at Chris Godwin, He's he's gonna be back in Tampa Bay. Tom Brady is not gonna let him go anywhere when that window to compete is so finite. And maybe Tom Brady is good until he's fifty, I don't know, but you can't think that way when your quarterback is gonna be forty four years old next year. And so Godwin, you assume is going to come back and maybe they'll transition or figure out something else to do with Shaq Barrett. Um. I think that. Um. The same can be said for Holaday because you know, you want to give a fair evaluation to to Jared Goff, I think, and you want to give him somebody to throw to. Um. You don't want to sit him back there and get him pounded. And you know you keep him on the franchise tag for that year and then you get the compensatory pick, you know, next next year. I mean, I don't think that's a terrible situation um for the Lions. And then Allen Robinson, for as much as he's tried to box his way out of town and his continuing his efforts, now the Bears are in the market for a quarterback like hardcore right now. Matt Naggie and Ryan Pace are going to lose their jobs if they don't get a quarterback to come in and bring them to the playoffs after this year. So that means you need a number one wide receiver for that quarterback to throw too. I think they're going to destroy their salary cap for this season in hopes of hanging on right and getting that second deal and then figuring it out as they go along, And so I think Robinson's a key part of that. I really think that the the value in this class. I know you highlighted Keelan Cole, you know, I think Will Fuller if he can stay healthy, Curtis Samuel, I mean, that's I think that's what you're looking at here. Um And obviously Juju Smith Schuster maybe he gets the big money out of this class. But I think all the top dogs as usual are going to get tagged pretty quickly. Or um, I want to say it was the off season in eleven off season in remember the cap situation was a little bit tenuous, and you saw a string of bet on yourself one year deals, um, where guys were taking like just high end one year deals that weren't franchise tag deals and then just assuming that the cap situation was gonna be better than next year. Um. So I think we could see a string of those as well. Yeah, I think that's probably what you're looking at here. And and by the way, a quick trivia question that everyone can think about as we sort of wrap up the receivers here. Uh, total dollars last year on the free agent market for wide receivers? Who was Who is tops on that list? That is my trivia question for for everyone on this Monday Morning NFL podcast. Uh. And and yeah, I will be the guy who ignores the important numbers here and just because looks at the total dollars and makes a big deal out of it. But this guy was a bit eye opening at the top of this list. Uh. Yeah, I mean, when it comes right down to it, we have the you know, we have the press cap situation. We also have no doubt teams are looking at this receiver class and saying, Okay, well, we're gonna do the same thing the Titans did by getting a J. Brown. We're gonna do the same thing that the Seahawks have in TK metapp. The rookie wage scale has created such absurd values, especially at the receiver position where these guys are coming in NFL ready. Uh, not to mention extremely talented and obviously the you know, when you draft a guy, you're taking a risk. Uh, you know you can. You can ask the Philadelphia Eagles who you know, sometimes you end up with Justin Jefferson and sometimes you end up with a Jalen reagor J. J Artiaga Whiteside. Uh So there's risk there. But I mean a J. Brown made literally one tenth of what Allen Robinson did a year ago for two guys who I mean quite frank, I I take a J. Brown over Allen Robinson um at the moment and certainly for the future considering age. So I mean, if you can, it doesn't feel like the fall on scratcher lottery ticket type of deal with these guys anymore. If you're taking him in the top fifty. Uh. And the reward is just it's it's huge. It's so big as far as roster building goes. It is and it's a continuous cycle, right, like you can you can keep replenishing that uh uh. You know, I think back to the Giants who had Odell Beckham and then um got down this avenue where they almost and then they drafted Sterling Shepherd um, and I think if it wasn't for injuries, and then they got Slaton. Where you know, if you follow that life cycle, if you do it right, you really don't ever have to commit to that long term deal, right and and you can just keep replenishing that position, and it doesn't really matter what round. Like, you know, if you foster the right environment, you can keep getting these guys in here um at lower deals, and especially if you have a younger quarterback, the quarterback gets better, makes the wide receivers better. All that stuff, um, you know can kind of work a little bit harmoniously to the point where like you know, gosh, I mean, I I don't see you know, receivers. I'm not gonna say that they're gonna go the way of the running back. Um, that's not really what we're trying to say. But at the same time, like it's gonna make a lot less and less sense to pay them big money over time. And I think that this free agent market specifically might be one of those times that were like, huh that uh, that makes a lot of sense, and these poor guys are gonna be scrapping a little bit to get some good deals. Yeah, I mean, that's that's what's a while about. It's such an important position, whereas maybe running back isn't so much. There's just so much depth and so much talent at it right now. But uh, even like you know, I remember ed Bouchett had reported like a year and a half ago that Juju Smith Schuster might not get ever get a long term deal over in Pittsburgh, And it's kind of like, oh, no way, could could couldn't imagine that. But you look at it now and it's just like, I don't know how they'd even do it. One with their cap situation. Two with the fact that I don't really know if they don't know badly they need him, uh you know, it'sful to Yeah, I mean, if if they come to uh, you know, a team friendly agreement. Maybe that's what it ends up being. And look, everything is set up for for a lot of team friendly agreements here. Uh, Tennessee is another one to keep an eye on. Corey Davis out are on the market. Uh A J. Brown can renegotiate after this upcoming season, and they did just move on from Adam Humphreys, so you figure there might be room for Corey Davis on a one year deal here. And Uh, other than that, I mean, I don't know. Uh, I think you're right on the bucks. I think they end up tagging Chris Godwin. I think they also bring back Antonio Brown because I think they're just not enough teams willing to lower themselves into that sewer at this point. But um, you know a lot of these guys are gonna be looking for those big money deals and they're just gonna be bummed out. Yeah. And it's weird that we, like, we continue to trick ourselves into thinking that one of these classes of anything really, but quarterbacks and offensive linemen are and and pass rushers to some degree are gonna be lucrative, right, I mean, you know, and and cornerbacks too. Yeah, And those are really the only positions I mean it sounds like such a banal, all like analysis of the game. Uh like almost like I'm channeling Dave Gettlman a little bit here. But at the same time, it's such a truism. Right, it's quarterbacks, it's cornerbacks, it's pass rushers, and it's um protecting the passer. Like that's really it. Everything else you can view as completely and totally replaceable. And uh, I don't know, this is one of those good uh springs. I guess to remind ourselves of that. And uh, maybe to all the receivers out there, Uh, when you're in college and you get a chance to Richard Sherman the whole deal, maybe don't turn that down. The answer to the trivial question, do you do? You want to take a guess before I reveal the answer. So it was who signed the biggest total money deal out of all the receivers? Total value? Yeah, not annual, although this guy was third annual. So it's sound like it was a total value in year deal. A total value. Um, it's gonna be someone weird, right, yeah, I mean yeah, that's what makes it a great tribute question. I Mean, it's not like like Cole Beasley or someone is it? No, he's not that good. Who is it? Randall Cobb twenty seven million over over three years. He also got the most guaranteed money. Uh, Brian it is? Uh it is? Someone could have this list. I mean I thought Robby Anderson. I think Robby Anderson's just just a big time talent. I thought he was going to break the bank. He obviously didn't. Emmanuel Sanders got two for twenty four. Uh. Briscode Paris, I thought Brashode Peremann was gonna get a big deal coming off that big finish in Tampa, uh last season, And I know he settled for one year six and a half, sort of bet on his self himself a little bit, but also kind of had to and frankly it didn't work out. I don't think he's getting a whole lot more on the market this uh, this upcoming off season. So if you're a wide receiver at this point, your prayer is just for one team to be so desperate like situationally, think about where the Ravens were coming into this off season, where they were so obviously desperate for a wide receiver, but the market just didn't bear it out and there was really nobody for them to spend on Um and maybe the Ravens of that team this year that goes out and gets a Juju Smith Schuster or a Will Fuller specifically, I think would fit really well there. Um, But you need that team, you need a down market, you need all these things to work for you in order to get that deal. And there just aren't a ton of wide receiver desperate teams out there right now. There are a couple of teams who maybe are looking to please a quarterback who can now bring in one of these guys at a reasonable price and be like, see, think about, if you're Brian Gouda Kunts, what you could do for the future of the Aaron Rodgers relationship this offseason. Like it's like it's like Black Friday shopping right now for wide receivers. It's gonna be tremendous well. And I think the Packers are specifically interesting because we've seen a lot of young guys struggle to sort of catch up with Aaron Rodgers early in their career, so those guys tend to take off a little bit later maybe, but bringing in a veteran is probably the way to go for for Green Bay. So we'll see, Uh, we'll see what they do here to sort of rectify maybe the lack of activity among the potential rogers weapons last year. But let's let's go to the offensive line here for for a little bit. This is kind of an interesting year for offensive line in one because you actually have a pretty good draft class coming up. It seems like every year for the past decade we've just been saying, boy, this is uh, this is a pretty crummy group. Last year you had the four tackles, and then after that you had a pretty steep drop off. This year, it's a really good group coming into the league. Uh. So you know, like I said, I think teams are always going to if they can convince themselves that they can do it via the draft, Uh, they will do it that way. But uh, handful of guys here. You know, Trent Williams, I think, even at his age, I think he showed last year he has plenty left in the tank. And I would, uh, I would bet on him having a good three years left in his you know, let's call it his prime here at this point. Uh. And then you got some interior guys. But I guess the guys who always kind of interest me are the offensive tackles, because you're always looking for really just good enough at offensive tackle. And you know, like a guy like Daryl Williams in Buffalo ended up emerging as a quality right tackle last year. I mean, he's been that earlier in his career, but injuries sort of made him a big question mark. Uh is he in for a big pay day here? I mean, if if you could plug in Daryl Williams the way he performed a year ago, uh, you're feeling pretty okay about what you have at at right tackle. And that's that's something that a lot of teams do not feel right now. Yeah, I picked him as a potential tag candidate, which I did see written a lot of other places, just because offensive line, I think is the one market that is perpetually gonna be um bigger or more robust than we expect going in. And that's because quarterbacks are still the biggest investment piece in the game. And you know, uh, the way that the general managers kind of understand it is like, Okay, well X plus y equals and we need a good offensive line to protect these guys and and see how everything works out. And so yeah, I think that Darryl Williams, I really, like, you know, really turned his career around last year. Um and the Bills are going to be desperate to keep that continuity. And I think what's gonna help Um Williams specifically is that the Bill the Bills are going for it this offseason, right, this is the going for it offseason where they saw themselves within like a grasp of the Super Bowl, and so now they're going to punch the accelerator. That means they're gonna bring back guys maybe that they shouldn't bring back. They're gonna spend more money than they think they might want to, because Josh Allen is still on his rookie deal and you know, all that stuff works out. But yeah, I mean I think this is a really really good opportunity to get a good offensive lineman um uh in free agency. I mean, even Cam Robinson is like maybe you're kind of median based, like you know, if you he's the he's the dmarketer between like quality and quantity of tackle and you know, but a solid guy there. And you know Taylor Molten is obviously, you know, that's a guy that I could see spending top money on. Like actually resetting the market for you know, and so I think this is a this is a really interesting class. But again I doubt Carolina lets him go because you're trying to get him att Stafford, you're trying to lure a veteran quarterback, and you're not gonna let your left tackle go either. Yeah, it's uh speaking of left tackles, the guy I find most interesting because I was really I I don't I don't want to. I don't want to bust on him. Uh. I was just shocked to see him in the top forty of a lot of free agent lists out there is Alejandro villain Aueva in Pittsburgh and part of his age, yeah, he's three two. He's also coming off a year where he just didn't play particularly well. But the thing that makes me most nervous about him is this is the old uh um. You know, everyone used to throw out the you know, Donald Penn didn't give up a sack this year type of stat with the Raiders, and it's like, well, the ball was coming out of Derek Carr's hands within like the first one point four seconds of every play, so it was it was kind of difficult to give up sacks. That year, and what you saw from the Steelers last year was, you know, as we all know, the the all time quickest quick game passing attack that the league has seen in a while. There just wasn't a whole lot of stress put on their offensive line as far as pass protection went. And Villain Aueva still had some issues. You kind of saw it, especially late in the year. Uh. I just I couldn't see sort of bringing him in as something more than like sort of uh uh, you know, a one year affordable stop gap depending on what the market ends up being. And you know you brought up Cam Robinson. I know Cam Robinson brings some risk with him, but I think you can sort of say there's sort of an untapped ceiling maybe for Robinson at this point. Uh. But I'd rather, you know, Kelvin Beecham, I think as a guy i'd bring in before Villain Aueva. Uh, I'd probably bring in Okong to. I mean, I'm talking about guys purely on the left side of the line who have played there, and Villain Aueva makes me makes me awfully nervous though. Well, and it's another one of those uh like truisms that you would go back to But if you're Pittsburgh and you're bringing back Ben Roethlisberger, an aged Ben Roethlisberger for one more season, and you're not retaining the left tackle, what does that say about your own internal evaluation? And if you know you're another team in the league, Pittsburgh has routinely proven time and time again that they're the best at evaluating talent or one of the best teams that have ealuating talent in the NFL. And so does that factor in it all to your decision making where it's like, Okay, you know these guys aren't keeping Villon Awavas, so why would I go out there and spend that money when I could just you know, try to make this work. And I'll add that I think one of the things that we don't talk nearly enough about is offensive line coaching, right, and the fact that so many of these guys careers have ebbed and flowed with coaches, and you know, this is a position group that can get much better, really really quickly with good coaches. I think it's why you see offensive line coaches is one of the first line of defenses for struggling coaches to hire and fire. Um The Giants did it last year in the middle of the season when they had a rookie offensive tackle um and I think that that will become more obvious over time. I think there's some guys who are really, really really good at coaching offensive line UM and are typically on teams that have really really good offensive lines, and that's not a coincidence. And I think some of them are just friends of coaches who you know, uh, couldn't get an offensive coordinator job and just kind of get stuck somewhere. And you know, that's that's easy to tell too, And I think that that's pretty obvious. So I think I think that's an interesting thing too, And I wonder how much of that factors in where if you're someone like Gosh, I mean, you know, Dante Scarnecki is an obvious one, but you know, the former offensive line coach of the Patriots. But if you're someone with that level of ability and few people were, you know, you're not going out and spending on the offensive line. You're bringing guys in and making them better. You could have named that segment. You should have hired Bill Callahan. I mean, he's wherever he goes, he ends up getting ah, you know, the Browns had some talent upfront, but he also he got some big time years out of guys who you would not have expected to be big time contributors. Whyatt Teller first and foremost. But yeah, as far as you know the rest of his free agent classgow, you know, if you're talking about interior guys, I think Brandon Schurf is a is a difference maker in the run game. Uh, And I think that we're spending on on the interior. But we've also seen, I mean, like we've seen some guys who really probably shouldn't be on the field lining up at guard and center on a handful of team. So you know, how much do you pay for for a Joe Tuney or or Corey Lindsley to sort of prevent that from happening to your team here? Because they're just there's not a ton as far as like pure interior guys. Uh, you know, whether it be this this free agency class or this draft classes here, so you figure, uh, Tuney and lindsay they're they're getting they're getting paid. Here. Here's here's the one caveat to all this that I think is really interesting. And you and I have talked a little bit about this is oftentimes big games where all the other coaches are watching. So the Super Bowl like that, you know, in the in the end of the playoffs where there's a consequence and in GMS two when there's a consequential breakdown at position, it does inform the off season, right, So look at the Kansas City Chiefs breaking down in the Super Bowl and essentially losing that game because of their offensive line a and be their inability to for some reason bolster that right and do things to help their offensive line throughout that game. And so I do think that that makes a difference in the off season. I do think that creates a sense of urgency to get better at offensive line because your thought process is like, well, god, they have Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill and Clyde Edwards Hilaire, and they still can't win a Super Bowl because you know, there's there's a leak up front. And so I think that that's gonna be an interesting sort of informative um super Bowl too, and and and maybe that helps change the market a little bit. Let's uh, let's go to the other side of the ball here. We're gonna call this, we'll call it defensive line and it includes edge guys who who played standing up last year. So this is sort of edge plus interior d line. But that's just way too worthy to say, uh defensive lineman here. Uh. I mean, look, there's sort of been a let's let's call it a debate, a discussion across sort of NFL Twitter and NFL media about you know, do you do you want to build your would you rather have your pass rush built up or your secondary built up? I The way I view it is this, Ideally you have you know, five Dorrell Reeva's type coverage guys on the back end, and then you're you're feeling fine. Uh. I think the way the basically the way the sport is played at this point. If you have a weakness in the secondary, if you have one guy who's a liability, now you have an issue. Whereas when you're building up your pass rush, if you get one or two good guys and have one or two guys are kind of non effective. Uh, you can still have a great pass rush. And if you have a great pass rush, it obviously makes the lives of the guys on the back end much easier uh than it is if you if you can't get to the quarterback and can't bother him. So uh, the nice thing about shopping for a pass rusher is, uh, it's it's a position where they're the aggressor. One guy can make a huge impact that sort of has a chain reaction on the rest of your defense. And uh, I think that's why it's still worth paying for these guys if if it's the right guy, maybe not overpaying, but if you have a guy who you feel is is truly a difference maker, that's uh, that's the way to go. And that's a way to upgrade your entire secondary without actually trying to shop around. And and uh, you know, sort of building a at a at a reactionary position that also involves a lot of chemistry in it. I agree, And this is like, you know, to continue off for a lot. You know, my last point, this is a Super Bowl that was super informative on the value of pass rushing. And I think that you know, to think that that doesn't matter. Like I remember covering the Giants and it was the year after the Seattle Seahawks had crushed of Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl, And so what did every single in battle, general manager do. They went out and got big cornerbacks, right, big lengthy cornerbacks to thump at the line of scrimmage. And you know, the market for them was just bonkers for a year and guys, bad guys were getting big deals, right. And so now you look at this, UM, you know, Jason Pierre Paul and Shaq Barrett um totally destroy teams in the Super Bowl. And so now you have all these guys, um, you know coming out, uh, and it puts a premium on them. I and I don't think there's any doubt about that, and so this is gonna be an interesting market. I like Alden Smith. UM. I think that that is a guy who I watched a ton of last year, UM and just blown away by his ability to get back into the league and to you know, get himself to a point where, um, he was able to be a factor on that defense. It was an awful defense, but not because of him. You know, I think that he was all over the field. UM, he's just such a dominant player, singular player, and he plays the run just as well as he plays the past. And so that's like an all around guy that I like that you could probably have for for not a ton of money. You know, I think that's a you know, kind of a safe investment piece there. Yeah. He Uh, I don't know what the numbers end up being. He had played just a ton of snaps last year, uh for a guy who had not been I mean, I'm bringing up now eight eight snaps is h. I mean, that's that's an ob scene amount of playing time. So you you wonder even if you bring him in, uh you know what he'll be uh bringing up his age here with a very slow internet connection all of a sudden. Uh, so he'll be thirty two in September. So even if you want to put him in a rotational role, and that's another thing we can get to here, uh, you might get an even more effective player at this point. But uh, you look at like a J. J. Watton and nol Uh. Diane Rassini had put out the report that what was drawing off for around fifteen sixty million, which is, you know, just just a just a smidge below what he was set to make with the Texans this year. So uh, if you bring in a J. J. Watt and he's just gonna play forty snaps a game for you instead of the ten thousand snaps he played last year for the Texans, UH where he was tripl team on every play because there's no one else worth blocking on that defensive line. I mean that is that that's a potential difference maker in a you know, in even a part time role. Yeah, yeah, I and and that will be a really interesting me personally. I'm not spending a ton of money on on J. J. Watt. You know, I don't think that's a place that I would want to go if I'm a GM. I think that, you know, unless unless you sense a total void um in that room where you need a guy to come in and fill the personality. You need a guy that's going to come in and mentor people like if there's extrain as sort of conditions to your signing. I love Hassan Reddick, Like I think that that is a guy like the Cardinals had figured out how to use at the end of last year. I think he had what six sacks in the last four games, and all of a sudden, they're turning them loose and they're putting them in a position that feels a little more natural to him. Like that, that's a guy that I'm going after, um because I think again, as this as this class kind of compresses and we see who's remaining on the field, in the field like Matt you do on for example, Like I could see the Ravens tagging him again um, or at least entertaining the possibility, because he's just so important to what Don Martindale does and they're not gonna be able to get somebody else in there to replace him immediately. So I think there's gonna be a lot of interesting guys like that. Um. But Hassan Reddick is one where like if the Cardinals let him go um and assume that that was kind of a fluke, because I think he did have five of those sacks in one game, so I think that's important to keep in mind. Um. But if they assume that's kind of a flukey thing and they can maybe move some of the other pieces around to replace them, then that's a guy that I go after, Like, that's a guy that Bill Belichick could eat up, you know and uh and do some really interesting things with. Yeah he had uh and and yes you are you're right, he had five sacks in that one game against the not very mobile Daniel Jones with a hamsering injury. Uh. Reddick was really effective and sort of a part time role earlier earlier in the year though, and then when Chandler Jones went down, he sort of emerged as a as a big time talent. And look at you know, obviously he's a one year wonder at this point, and are you taking your life into your own hands if you sign him? But um, he's a fascinating guy in this market. Uh. You know some of these guys in gotway is kind of I guess the poster boy for this, but Trey Hendrickson, I'd sort of drop into this category to uh, sort of the pure past rush specialist guys. And I do wonder how those guys get viewed. As we saw a slight, slight uptick in run first offenses in UH in twenty I think the rate went from like forty two, which is the first time and forever we've actually seen an uptick in a run pass balance run percentage. So you know, I wonder if a lot of teams are you know, as as you sort of look at the Derrick Henry type approach where okay, well everyone's getting small and fast on defense, we're gonna get big and and physical on offense. Maybe that's something you see going forward. I wonder how it affects teams evaluations of a guy liking gog Way or a guy like Trey Hendrickson. Well, and to it's a reflection of how well you've built everything else. Like the Saints, like Trey Hendrickson doesn't exist without Cam Jordan's um Sheldon Rankins, who was another guy that really kind of cleared some space when he was healthy um last year. Like you know, one doesn't happen without the other. And I think that teams do eventually kind of catch that fallacy right where Um. You know, maybe it's you're a product of You're just not a solely a product of the defense. But all that stuff helps, right, All the things that you have around you helps, And so I agree with you. I think if you're not playing the run at this point, that's why I liked Alton Smith so much. If you're not playing the run aggressively, Um, if you can't be on the field for three downs, if the defense or if the offense goes quick and tries to trap you on the field, you're becoming a liability increasingly. And I do think that the NFL is getting bigger. I do think it's getting stronger. Um. So it'll be interesting to see where it goes because it only makes sense, right what the tight you know, the Titans. You can't find Derrick Henry, but you can get big people to push people around. That is a cheap, renewable resource in this environment, whereas you know, other things are at such a more premium. Right speed is one in a million thing that you have to pay for um. Whereas you know, big physical people pushing people together is is something that you can find a great deal of. So the actual free agent market here is is really interesting. And as far as the draft class goes, I think you have you don't have any uh uh Chase young type guys coming into the league, but you do have an interesting and sort of deep uh defensive line class coming in. But I mean, look, Shack Barrett. If they're gonna tag Chris Godwin, this is Shaq Barrett's best opportunity to get a big, long term deal. I think Jack Barrett's absolutely worth uh in the neighborhood of of you know, sixty million over three uh and and we'll see, uh, we'll see if he gets it or not in again depressed cap year, but uh, you know, if there are enough teams looking to get that difference maker on the edge, I think he absolutely should be getting paid. Leonard Williams is the other guy to sort of, you know, obviously a very good player earlier in his career, and I have that monster breakout year last year. Do you do you buy it? That's I guess that's the question teams are gonna be asking themselves. Dave Gedlman is just going to keep tagging him until the end of time. The we're gonna have to, like the league is gonna have to actually come up with a percentage raise, Like Leonard Williams will be thirty one, and it'll be like a nent raise from his initial salary. It'll be like the eighteenth time in a row he's tagged, and he'll he'll have by that point bought several small islands. I was gonna say, he's gonna he's gonna have like an ownership steak by oh Man. I loved it. You know what though, just as an aside, Dave Getleman is building a really good defensive line and I have joked about him, probably not as much as a lot of other people, but enough where I do feel it necessary to give him, uh some kudos there. I think they're gonna do some serious damage next year if they can bring everybody back. And I think they will bring everybody back. Yeah. Uh that I'm a big I'm a big Carl Lawson guy. I was shocked when we were putting together our our top free agents list to see that Melvin Ingram is thirty two years old. I did not I did not anticipate that. I do wonder what phase he's in in his career right now. And uh you you know you mentioned Matt Judon. Uh. Judon is just really interesting to me as a guy. I think he has more value in Baltimore that he does anywhere else. He's just not such a valuable piece for that defense. I don't know if anyone else is going to break the bank for him. But it's it's almost like, I don't know if you're if you're the Browns and you just roll over a bunch of cap space or something, It's like it's like, Okay, well let's get Matt jude On and make the Ravens worse and uh make us a little bit better. That's a good point, um, And I think that they're the kind of front office that could probably think that way. Right. It's not like a long term commitment, but you know, you just do enough to uh to bang the Ravens a little bit. I I think that they're gonna have they're they're gonna have to upgrade their past rush this offseason to get somebody to just you know, if you got somebody that was like just a little bit better than Olivier Vernon was, you know, you're going to make Miles Garrett unstoppable. And I think that that's gonna be a really fun thing to have happened in Cleveland. And uh, the other guy I'm really interested see what happens with him on the market is Leonard Floyd here, who had such a nice year under Brandon Staley, who reunited with with the Rams last year. Obviously, I mean, look, he was he was a high draft pick. He's talented. That's that's why they took him so high in Chicago. The thing that's so fascinating to Leonard Floyd is I think it's very easy to look at this and say, like, well, you know, he found his he found the right defense coordinator in Brandon Staley, and he found the right defensive line playing with Aaron Donald and and getting all those one on one matchups. Uh. And he was such a disappointment in Chicago that that you don't you don't break the bank for him, but you look at what Chicago did in I mean, look, Robert Quinn was Look, Robert Quinn was the worst free agent signing of the off season when it came to, uh, the value they got on the field. They just got nothing out of him in Chicago. And whatever reason that might be. You do do you put it on Chuck Pogano? I I don't know. Uh. Do you put it on the fact that they have a slow track at Soldier Field and that that also you know that only affects the opposing offense, but it affects your pass rush, uh, a lot of things. But you might just sort of look at Leonard Floyd and say, Okay, maybe he's not quite what he was with the Rams last year, but he's also a lot better than what you saw in Chicago. I'm terrified in the same way that I would be scared to sign a big free agent off of a Vic Fangio team, Right, And Brandon Staley is Vic Fangio's apprentice. And what that defense does is it creates these like star players at these positions who, if they follow the scheme, are going to become these you know. And and there is a great deal of personal work involved in that. I'm not, you know, downgrading that, but look at everywhere that Fangio has been in the NFL over the last like fifteen years. And then Staley, who's a direct disciple of that, and you know, Justin Simmons is a perfect exam Boen Denver. They're going to have to tag him again probably to keep him around. But the fear is that, you know, if you signed him to that big deal and then you let Vic Fangio go, what becomes of him? And I think that that is the same fear I think with anybody who is in that Brandon Staley system. It's the same scheme, right, It's a it's a little bit of a of a dolled up version of the same scheme. So it's going to create star players, um just by purpose of following the rules. And I think if I'm another team that isn't running that system, and really there's only two teams that are running that system, then I would be scared to commit to something like that. Let's uh, let's go to the defensive backfield at this point, and we'll kind of I don't have a ton to say about either of these spots, your safeties and cornerbacks. I do want to start with safeties. I mean, look, five years ago, it was kind of like, all right, everyone's gonna play this. Uh, you know the cover three looks, these the Seattle style secondary and you need your single high guy. Uh, you need your range e Earl Thomas. Uh. And by the way, Earl Thomas is still inside. You wonder if someone's kind of stuck him this year. Uh, you need that guy in the backfield. That's that's what everyone's looking for. And and we're just at a point in the lead right now where everyone's using so many split safety looks and it was already positioned that was kind of getting devalued, you know, a couple of years ago. Just no, none of the safeties got paid. Uh. But you look at guys like, I mean, I I love uh, I I love a good range e center field safety at John Johnson. I think fits that mold Marcus Williams coming out in New Orleans. That guy's a able Mallie Cooker is really interesting. He's coming off an injury, but uh, that's what he was. Uh that that's why he went so high in the first round a couple of years ago. And he just never really fit, uh ideally with what Matt eber Fleus was doing in Indianapolis. So, uh, you look at those guys and you just wonder will they ever have that type of value again, like what we saw in Earl Thomas I'd guy had five years ago. That's a great point. And you know, as as the schemes evolving, the importance of certain things evolved, I think that certain character traits you're looking at are going to downgrade. And you know, uh, this class in general is the perfect example that they're the embodiment of let's copy the Seahawks. Um. You know that a lot of these guys are in that sort of area. I would again, I mean Justin Simmons and John Johnson are probably the best safety is available. Um. And but they're fangio guys, right and their stalely guys, and so again it's like, do you want to spend that kind of money on them? Not knowing how to unlock them to their fullest potential elsewhere, and so that leaves you with you know, to me, maybe the best option is someone like Mali Cooker, where you're probably gonna be able to get him cheaper and you're gonna be able to revive his career UM or or at least attempt to do that UM in a scheme like I think that's where the value is in this class, because otherwise you're gonna be spending a lot of money for somebody that, to be honest, you don't know how to use. And uh, the analogy there is like UM for Christmas, my parents asked me what I wanted, and I asked for you know, uh, this absurdly expensive pair of running shoes that like people who in marathons where and you know, I am like a guy who like plods through the park, uh, you know, a couple of times a week, and you know, you put them on and you run, and sure it feels great, but it's like I am not the person who needs this. You know, Uh, this is not going to change my life in any way, shape or form. And I think that that's what some of these safeties are, Like they just don't fit with uh the scheme and the system, and you know you're not going to be able to use them to their fullest potential. I know, it's just what I mean, you look at Matt Eberflus and you know, look at Matt Eberflus and be like, oh, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. We we we can totally pluck out of this defense and and make guys better. But Hooker might be the one type of guy who they just he he just wasn't the right fit for for what they were doing there. Uh. And this is also going to be this position where you're gonna see a couple of guys tagged. It's only eleven point two million is the projected number for the franchise tag Justin Simmons probably gets it for the second year, which is still perfectly affordable for him. Uh, Marcus May, it sounds like it's gonna get tagged here. So I think that's gonna be an option for a for a handful of these guys. Um cornerback, which obviously obviously is still a more valuable position here in the secondary. Uh, it's a uh, it's a good cornerback group coming in. It's a very deep draft group coming up. So uh, we'll see how it affects these guys. Uh, I might be. We're gonna get to linebackers in a minute, and and those are some. There's one guy I will I will die on this hill for him and I will probably die. But as far as the quarterbacks go, I I really like William Jackson. I think William Jackson is a legit amitt number one. I know he had a bit of a down year last year, but I would pay for William Jackson, I you know, to get him for three years as a as a true number one. And when you move past that, it's just a lot of guys who are The quarterback position always fascinates me because it's like when you get outside the top let's say fifteen to twenty guys, those guys in range like twenty to seventy five, they just year to year, there's such volatility. I mean, you can shuffle those guys however you want. Ronald Darby is a guy who's out there again. I think there are years where Ronald Darby has been a top thirty corner. I think there are years where Ronald Darby has not been one of the one best corners in the league. Uh, it's just such a volatile position once you get outside uh the elite guys, and you know, it's I think that makes it particularly difficult to invest in. Yeah, I agree. Um that said, Shack Griffin is the guy that I think I would I would spend money on. And I don't know if the Seahawks are gonna do that. If they're gonna chalk it up to, well, he was good, but our whole defense was trash anyway, and we have to throw the baby out with the bath water. But I don't think that that makes any sense. I think that Shack Griffin played really well on a bad defense, and I think that a good GM is going to recognize that and bring him in. I think he's a he's a he's a he's a number one cornerback somewhere. And again that the stress on cornerbacks who play on teams who don't have pass rushes, and I don't wanna. I don't want oversey to too much. Gary and Calmley is a guy I like. I liked him last year. I continue to like him. Uh. I just think when you play in that Texans defense where they just had nothing in the past rush the last two years, and you're asking guys to cover for the amount of time they have to cover for h it just makes them, it makes them look bad. And I think you could put Shaquille Griffin in that category. Quentin Dunbar is also out there. Another Seattle guy, Uh dun Bar specifically, I think played through some injuries last year that uh probably zapped him pretty good. So you wonder if you're gonna find value there when it's all said and done. But uh, there are a lot of guys, you know, do you think a J. Bouyer can bounce back here is sort of look at another guy I played on a team with zero pass rush YEP. I mean it's uh, it's gonna be really really interesting to see how this market plays out. You've got a guy in Patrick Peterson who uh is frankly, he's he's declining, And I guess the question of how rapidly do you think that decline is happening? Uh? I think it's happening a little too fast for up for me to be comfortable with the signing him. Uh. Mike Hilton is really interesting to me. I think he brings a ton of value as a Blitzer out of the slot. Uh. I don't know if I would. I think, you know, almost like June, and he has a lot of value to the Steelers. I don't know if he has a ton of value to another team. I think he's a decent quality player, but I don't think he's a guy you pay if you're outside of Pittsburgh. Yeah, I agree. No, I think this is uh, this is a really um it's gonna be an instructive class um to see where where people kind of view the game going. You know, if they're gonna load up on these guys, then maybe they still think that this is gonna be a you know, an air raid sort of um uh future in the NFL. But I don't know, I don't know where it's going. I think Patrick Peterson is the kind of guy that you sign um like you would Richard Sherman to come in and coach up a room of young guys, you know, to get it to give your room some identity. And I think that he'd be good at that um. But otherwise, yeah, I mean you can't you know, are you gonna depend on him to lock down your number one guy every week? Probably not, But that era is also you know going or long gone at this point, I mean there there really isn't that kind of dependence on cornerbacks at this point either. I also really like a killer Witherspoon and it's irrational, but uh I I hope he gets a star jobs somewhere. I think he's really good and he might not be very good, can I guess? By the way, as we transition into linebackers, who the one that you're obsessed over is yes, okay Um. For those who don't know, uh well, I don't even know if you know this, Gary, Um. But when you fill out your power rankings or you submit your award picks, um, there is always an expectation from the rest of the staff that there is like a highly esoteric, um you know, sort of spirit behind this, and so like like, you know, I remember texting my my co host on the weak Side podcast when we were talking in the award picks came in and uh, you know, we're comparing picks and then all of a sudden it's like, oh Jesus, did you see who Gary picked? You know? And then it's like all right, you know, and it's not a bad thing, but it's just like it forces you to like, um, it forces you to rethink everything that you've been doing. And then it's like, okay, now am I two in the mainstream? Like Gary's the kid who shows up um at the at the high school party and wants to play television on vinyl and everyone's like, what is going on here? Uh? And so I think that, uh, that's that's that is the precursor to me wondering if Matt Milano is the person that you're obsessed about in this free agent class. No, no, do like Matt Milano. Matt Milano is not my television on vinyl here. Uh. Yeah, it's it's look, I think Matt Milano is gonna get paid. It's not a great linebacker class here, uh, in free agency or in the draft. Lante David's probably your headliner. So we'll see how it plays out. But the guy I love, and he has been objectively terrible so far in his career. But he's so fast and he's so explosive. And I think I mentioned a couple of years ago, I was like, this guy, this is your breakout star, Jared Davis out of Detroit. And again he's he's just been really bad. Uh. And it doesn't add up. And I think there's gotta be like half the defensive coordinator in the league must be looking at him and being like, oh my goodness, Like give me that guy and I'll figure it out with him. Uh. You know, I think he's a guy who probably will always be primarily a blitzer on on passing downs. But I think it's fine. I think he's really good in that role. Uh. He's just so, he's so fast, he's so explosive. I just I'm stunned at how quickly it went south for him under under the Matt Patricia regime in Detroit. Uh. Some interesting stats on Davis. Uh you know, uh played four teen games only of defensive snaps last year. So a rough rough go there. And uh probably the NFL coverage linebackers equivalent of the Golden Sombrero allowed a perfect one completion percentage from quarterbacks last year fifteen of fifteen, an opposing quarterback rating of one forty four point six, which was up from his one six teen point six the year before. Um, but in your diff in your uh in your defense, uh miss tackles way down. Uh So uh so there you go. I don't I don't know, I don't know what else to say. He he blitzed less than he ever had in his career last year. Um, he got to the quarterback less than he ever had in his career last year. Um, and he covered worse uh than he had at any point in his career last year. That said, Um, you know, you go to PA, you go to New England, which would not well, I don't know, maybe you don't go to New England because Patricia is now there and Patricia barely used you last year. But you go to a team like that who can figure out how to use that one tangible skill set and all of a sudden, you know, you're You're back on top, you know, and and Gary looks like a genius here. So I like it. I like the play, the long term play from you. Those coverage numbers are absolutely repeatable for him by the way he has he has been. I had this conversation a couple of years ago on I think it was on like the like it was like a Locked on Lions podcast or something, when I was talking up the Lions as uh the next dynasty in the NFL. But uh, you know, I was like, I'll just give more reps. Just give him more reps at coverage and and he'll he'll pick it up. And again, I don't know exactly how it could have gone so wrong in Detroit. Uh, except look, maybe it was just too much on his play at that point. Maybe you have to simplify things for him, let him be more of a fast flowing guy. But he uh, he's I I just I'm gonna regret everything that I've said during the segment in your defense. There was zero There was zero development in Detroit under mat Patricia zero um and what did he do Instead of coaching up younger players, he Panics signed veterans and put them in their spots and took them off the field and didn't give them a chance to get better. I do think that there's a there's a lot of guys, you know, that could end up being like the Uh. I've never seen the Lost Boys, but I'm I'm just gonna call them the Lost Boys because I don't I don't know. Is the Lost Boys about something terrible? It's it's like is that the vampires one? I don't know? I Lost Boys. Uh. Let's just do a quick cursory Google search here to make sure I'm not like, this is very Uh it's like we're both Jenny Brentis is at this point. Pol Oh wow, it's like a it's like an eighties vampire movie. Yeah, a comedy horror um with Corey Hame Key for a young Key for Sutherland, well, Corey Feldman. Um what wasn't what didn't have Corey Feldman in fact? Then Um so I don't know what why they're called the Lost Boys, but maybe um you know, Uh, it's like I had that reminds me of like, um, if Christmas. I had this uncle who you know, when his family hosted, and so we would walk in with all the Christmas presents and he would be like, oh my gosh, it's like the gift of the Magi here. And I was like, but it's not, because the gift of the magi is you taking something from yourself to give to something. You know. There was like that in balance right where it's like I cut off my hair, but you got me a hat Like that is just because there's a lot of gifts, it doesn't mean it's the gift of the you know what I mean, Like it's pice. Yeah, it just drives to be nuts. Um, but yeah, no, uh, maybe there's a group of you know, and I think DeAndre Swift could be one of those guys too, where just never got the chance to be developed with reps to sacrifice, you know, for short term gain for Patricia to try to legitimize him as a coach there. And so I think if somebody wants to spend an offseason with him, he could be a special player. I don't think that I think you could teach someone to cover with that speed. I think you can teach one to put their body bet to anticipate and put their body between a quarterback in the ball. I think you could do that. He just felt like every coverage rep just feels like he is uh deer in the headlights. I mean, he just he just freezes and guys just run around him, and by the time reacts, it's it's too late. So we'll see what happens here. He's just I know, there's got half the defensive coordinators in the league must be looking at him and just saying, uh, let me have him. I can fix him, which obviously most of the guys are wrong when they think that, But I can't wait to see how spectacularly bad. This uh, this segment sounds in a um like the Michael Jackson video bad. Yeah, well you know yeah, did you know? By the way, interesting trivia question as we fade out of that um that my that that song was supposed to be a duet between Michael Jackson and Prince Oh really, and the reason that Prince turned it down He read the lyrics and I guess it was supposed to be like a call and response thing, you know, like kind of an argument between the two of them. But Prince read the lyrics and he said, who gets to say you're but his mine? And someone said Michael Jackson. He said, well then I'm not doing it. And then that was that. Oh yeah, he said, that's a great story, said I'm the boss. Yeah, badass. Real gift of the magi moment from from Connor for all of us, just something to take the taste out of our mouths from that linebacker discussion and just you know, end on a clean, minty taste. Alright, Honnor is back on Tuesday with a week side podcast and I I look, I'm getting real close to the point where I'm just gonna read off the names of people who are not subscribing yet because you are doing disservice to yourself and uh no, that's it, just to yourself. That's go, go subscribe to the Week's Side podcast. Uh, Connor, thanks, uh thanks for joining me. Yeah, thanks for having me. The mm QB Monday Morning NFL podcast is Connor Or and me Gary Grantly. We are produced by Shelby Royston s Eys. Executive producer of podcast is Scott Brody. Mark Ravick is Emeritus editor of the MMQB. Andy Benoit is the founder of the mm QB NFL podcast. Be sure to subscribe to this feed, as well as the feeds for The week Side Podcast and the Albert Pier Show. They are all available for free on Apple Podcasts, and once you do subscribe, please leave a rating m review for all of them. 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