Top 101 Free Agents of 2024

the around the NFL podcast is absolutely certain your team will nail free agency from the Chris wesling podcast Studio it's around the NFL I am Dan hes I have Heroes here I do Greg Rosenthal and Mark cesler free agency is around the corner boys the Greg Rosenthal top 101 conversation on this show today live on nfl.com Monday and I've been thinking Mark I did some real thought okay about this exciting so we're doing our competing and I just want to make it clear this is not about one upmanship of you Greg it's not none of this is personal this is just business you know what I mean competing would indicate it's a little I don't know element but the point of a competition is to win not to lose yeah right but it's business you ever hear that term it's business not personal it's a bit this is business um so this is what I'm thinking Mark okay Greg has a 101 he's got 101 blurbs we wanted to go bigger and at one point I asked uh big Funk behind the glass to contact the union and find out how many free agents there were maybe we'll do them all that seems even for us and what our Ambitions are a little bit over the top so then I was checking out the PFF which is a widely respected um analytics based football website uh if you're not aware um they put out a free agency 200 oo okay so now we have a baseline to work off now I would say should we do a free agency 2011 but no cuz what I want and tell me if you agree because this is our joint project I want people to say that oh wow Dan and markk did well over uh 100 more than Greg and then I thought what would what would be well over 100 and I came down to the number 213 okay soal the free agen 2113 okay and then I was thinking we got to blurb them all out cuz like PFF did 150 blurbs Greg's only grow to 101 did you do 101 blurbs we'd actually do much more cuz you end up using like 12 people so it's probably about but what lives on the side is 101 we AI that [ __ ] and then we get so we get all that and then what we do is we then go in let's say in the top 50 and we just little uh little hus like pop culture interjected little uh zuer humor and then cess dog with his cesler isms and some of some of his like in the deep dark night Marcus Davenport you know right we and mostly the top on edge about this he sees this as a good plan that I put thought into it so you put some cesler ISM some some you know turns of phrase in there in the top 50 because most people stop reading after that then last step and this is the most important do we do we preempt Greg we get out before Monday yeah no do we put it out right after Greg no we do the Mayo move remember Mayo everyone's like oh mock 74 he did one mock draft it was like the day before the draft we put out one we drop it a couple days before free agency the legal tampering period and that's becomes what everyone's truly waiting for what do you think I I think I first of all I appreciate the fact that I had not even thought about this list in the interim between our last show but you have put a lot of thought into it quite a um I have I can tell you up from proof I've been aiing articles since roughly 2021 and uh it's got the Technology's gotten better so I think it wouldn't be hard for us to layer in some of our own little spice and Jazz and no one will know except for mostly in the top 5050 yeah then well you get down the little oneg get to the one sentence blurbs when you get real low uh and one of the things I like about this plan because you guys are so passionate about it and so you you would obviously know this that with all the cuts yes and all the last minute signings that list is changing more than ever right up until always moving the end so that last four or five days of you like you can make your list now but going to be working feverishly keeping up with all the transactions and signings and and things added to the list and changing around and really meeting together quite a bit in those final 48 hours I I actually am kind of glad I'm getting mine done out of the way now cuz that I see you're doing that would only you know require someone who has really loves the game because I'm in deep right now I you're trying to get sh shake cesler out of the project I could tell it's a convincing effort by but but I don't think he understands the powers of AI and how much will lean into that to be tracking all this on our behalf we've got you know you didn't think about that Greg it's like guy should I put him ahead of tier tart or or not like that's wakey you know someone's calling you at 11: p.m. from the news desk or actually do you have a method to actually produce this anywhere or think the lady doth protest too much I do I do think there could be some fair questions about like tangibly getting approval to have this on our website except that we've been for 15 years like come on you you you slip Ali buur a $20 bill he'll do anything it on actually I think they would take some extra content it could be like Mock Draft Central competing in fact my biggest concern really is that if we turn this in they're going to ask us to be writing again which that's that's a concern as well so these are all things to think about here in the off season in a project that could really make or break our careers yeah I think we've got to we've got to tread carefully um what a show it was great great having everybody here this is the Thursday edition of around the NFL uh behind the glass today by the way uh sitting in for the great Eric Roberts who is with his uh lovely wife and they're they're doing they're on that wonderful Journey towards their first child landing on Earth um and they have an appointment of some kind what do they call it sonogram yeah sonogram big Funk behind the glass today m big funk in a big chair big Funk big chair he ain't scared what's up bud what's happening guys could have went for another hour but dang damn that hard big Funk at the best uh intro music Mar still waiting for our intro music Randy Chavez what's happening big Funk big Funk our our our podcast was now just a hangout podcast we were just like hey what's going on how are you buddy I'm doing good how about you guys this is interesting this feels uh feels different it's new A Rush of power suddenly to be sitting in that seat yeah how does it feel to be uh potentially have a power play opportunity of your own with Eric out out of the studio I mean it's it's tempting to abuse it right I mean power corrupts all doesn't it but uh I think I should be okay and I believe you have and this is a great speaking of power play I think you have something for a member of the show that you wanted to share oh that's right I do yes um okay I see cynth you want to bring in it's on the chair it's special the great Cynthia who does incredible work on her show ohes what is this this oh what good wow thank you Cynthia and what is it Mark explain well I mean this is this is actually quite uh week changing because I got my un uh soiled Super Bowl program which you remember was on my desk it was soiled someone had touched it Y and uh this is the ticket in case open it up let's see I mean show the audience on YouTube there's nothing in it uh hold it up well you take the little you got to take the film off but we can do that L people get the idea I want to keep it how about that what a what a move by Randy that's great um thank you very much I don't how do you feel Mark you feel I feel first of all I think I learned a lesson is like complain about more things um and then results start to happen it's true there's that but I have to say one thing about our company and right now you know we're in this building where uh you know half the place is leaking you've got all the outdoor Shrubbery under cars yeah it's it's got issues but I had multiple um people inside the building who listen to the show who reached out and said you can have my ticket I don't want it which is like you know I think that was that's a positive thing about our company about this Corporation shows that there's still a human element uh to the operation right I feel that um so uh Randy sitting in thank you Randy uh for holding it down today like we said uh yes the the free agency 21113 is coming but the one of record right now it is the Greg Rosenthal free agency 101 and we're going to get to that and and dig into it but before we do that let's hit the news waiting the snap Justin Fields moving off the left side free play for Justin work it down the left side he's got DJ board the five looping into the end zone for the touchdown touchdown bears and they're back in front so many big moments uh for Justin Fields uh this past season not maybe has not lived up to the highest of uh you know expectations but he certainly is flashed multiple times in Chicago Chicago and now with the Bears in a major crossroads moment we talked about it with Connie Fox uh on the Monday show the Bears had to make a decision what they're going to do we talked about in the news that Justin Fields had unfollowed um the Bears on social media which of course is becomes a story in today's football culture um he was a guest on the everybody's got a podcast now anybody noticing this I do not know human being that does not have a podcast this every player this is the newer thing Now podcast are hugely popular now obviously and media folk like ourselves that makes sense but now it seems as if almost every player in the league has a podcast as does uh Aman Ross St Brown on the St Brown Bros podcast posted on Wednesday here is Justin Fields an asked about his move to unfollow the Bears on social media oh why do people take social media so serious like but like why why this and that like I still mess with the Bears this and that I'm just trying to take a little break I unfollow the Bears and the NFL bro I'm not just trying to have football on my timeline like I don't believe that at all and he I do he said he was going on vacation and he's just sick of seeing all the like Fields reporting and stuff and but he unfollowed the Bears the Bears don't have that reporting sure they're putting out stuff of like college stuff of like what should we do with the draft you know stuff like that I I don't think it's that yeah but like but if you unfollow your team during this time it's going to lead to many more distractions that he has to deal with I would say that there's a tonal difference and like when Kyler Murray created all that drama a couple years ago and kind of started this trend he said he yeah he's tired of hear he's The Godfather and uh does Justin Fields want to stay in Chicago do you want to stay in Chicago or what's up yeah of course of course I want to stay um to be honest bro I'll be trying to like you know with all the talk it's it's hard to you know I guess kind of just boom be in one place but I can't see myself playing in another place but I know how that league is like EQ is probably the same way uh before you left Green Bay but I mean if it was up to me I would want to stay in Chicago I love right the city the city's lit the the fans there you know they're great and the people but um it's a business I ain't got no control over it so whatever happens happens but I feel like the biggest thing with all this going on right now I just wanted to be over so I get that that I get yeah and that I believe that it's it's it's Weighing on him and uh and we'll see we'll find out soon enough what happens I think he's like uh cuz you know get you get later on your career as a quarterback and you can pack in like a no trade clause or need to agree to a trade you know if something's going to happen if there's quarterback movement more than than ever before in the history of the league but he is powerless like if they move him he doesn't have any choice over that and like a team that probably has a lot of issues is going to want to trade for him and it's like you're a couple years into a career where like there's zero patience at quarterback and suddenly Justin Fields like a first round pick is getting moved and who knows where he winds up and his life has changed entirely yeah it's he's our offseason's just starting you know but he's been in it for what six weeks now and he has seen countless tweets and posts on Instagram and everything like wondering if he's going to be there and he probably knows the score that it's less likely and it must be a powerless annoying position he could just use the mute button you know I feel like that I mean I just looked at on Instagram when you mute people sometimes it still kind of shows up anyways so all the Bears have on their Instagram is like happy birthdays and thank yous and appointments of coaches it's not it's not like what will we do about Justin fields we love the college kids um but you know by the way and that's why free agency is so important and how amazing it is to think that until like the early 90s I think they didn't even have free agency for the players in any real way so it it could it's going to be and I think I think the real story is he knows what's happening just like we all kind of know what direction this seems to be heading that he will be traded and then that team will control his his rights and could pick up his fifth year option and then maybe franchise tag him he's a couple years away potentially from having any real power over where he wants to play and uh that's part of the reason why it's a bummer for him that the Bears thing didn't quite take one little note on their side that looks like an entertaining podcast and they're obviously they can get good guests that's that's nice but um little microphone tip like I could hear an airplane in the background so I just you know these are the things that you know with time and experience that's a loss but what win the producer and you know equinus and and am man R they must have been pretty excited when they were like oh we got fields on like the day that he has followed cuz I'm sure was planned ahead of time just like a big we're getting some pop on the around the NFL podcast it's big times beautiful timing uh in other news I love this story uh and uh listeners of this pod know that Nick serani has been on my radar for a long time uh and before the the Eagles went up in Flames uh last year after their 10 And1 start they just lost out essentially and then got embarrassed in the playoffs and it all kind of started with big Dom uh the curse of big Dom who is the security officer on the sideline the chief security officer who was banned for from the sidelines for the regular season the the bounce of the regular season after a December 3rd incident and a blowout loss of the ners in which he had made contact or got into like a sideline quarrel with Dre Greenlaw of San Francisco and this is wonderful I just love this Derek gun who is a Philadelphia radio host been there for a long time uh I'm just going to read the whole tweet it's got a little other juice in it too um and it gives you an idea of a lot according to sources Jaylen I love this by the way radio guy tweet this one got ignored I think because just people were confused yeah it's a little weird according to sources Jaylen big contract pulled in numerous directions on/off field put him under a lot of pressure he didn't handle well ellipses big Dom suspended Dash controls sani's emotion on sideline comma in his absence Nick gets in numerous arguments with players coaches during games so that's the headline that serion as soon as big Dom was banned from the sideline could not could no longer control himself and was just fighting with everyone and that perhaps I guess this is I'm inferring LED in part to the Meltdown of the entire operation it's like the most unbelievable NFL offseason story I can think of in a long time but if that's true that if that's true they kept the head coach it's wild I mean we kind of flasho flasho focused this a little bit because we know you know there was the trend that the team went one and five down the stretch without Dom but it's wild to waiting for that um bonus as the associate producer for presenting that guest that week under incoming we'll have a sit down yeah we'll discuss we'll break bread Mark and I about that that while we're celebrating said that was a big moment for for me and and I haven't really seen anything we'll get there we're going to break red after the uh top 213 blows up and over big cigars and a glass of Brandy on a a brown suede couch leather couch we'll touch on that okay that's good interrup no not at all but I just I this to me is just it kind of confirms everything Dan you were saying about serani where I don't think it that felt it felt like a a you thing and now it's clearly a real eagles thing it's good to get a dub every once in a while yeah I when he was shouting at the I think it was the Kansas City fans after they kind of locked into that Prime Time win that was a Tipping Point for me personally yeah I pretty much all fell apart I youit what was that correct I love that for the Eagles you do uh I don't love this for the Eagles he feels very diminished in terms of his leadership like the owner and hoe I think came in and made some decisions about the coordinators you know that that they wanted him to have possibly and the players are smart enough to know that and then you this report comes out and just in in general I think it puts you in a tough spot as a as a leader going into the season that like this information is out there and it makes you think about how AJ Brown reacted and really how all the players reacted like there is there has been No Smoking Gun like no great answer for what happened there it just it's one of the most mistifying like meltdowns of any team I can he shot up the hot butts rankings in unprecedented fashion superow they were the one seed and they went from the not only the one seed but like the best record in the NFL by two games at that point to being a little surprised uh he even kept the job what did you think Dana the Jaylen part of it I well you know i' I've been wondering about Jaylen too and because there was obviously a leadership void there when the when the team went down to flames and that it kind of begins with the quarterback and I thought that quarterback and head coach I mean that's how locker rooms are won and lost in a lot of ways so I don't we don't know really and maybe more will come out but I think it's pretty clear that serani is his he's in a vulnerable place and maybe doesn't have a real handle on the team anymore and I think we'll learn more about Jaylen Herz this year this is such a huge season for the whole operation obviously I'm checking out the rest of Derek Gunn's tweets by the way because I kind of Blown Away by the structure of that tweet uh that's not typically how he tweets and he's usually in little shorter bursts uh so maybe that's when he starts more of a a detail oriented but that's a tough one in the sense that um that that's the one that probably has gotten more notice than anything he's ever sent out you want to put together a fully formed paragraph in that he's one of those local reporters and he I know he's respected there in Philadelphia where he'll just have like one or two bomb drops per year that's a good one stuff like that you like to be you like to be that guy but you don't want to leave the comma a space away from from this you know word and if you're going to do an ellipses hit us we editing the Tweet now hit us with the third the third uh period if you're going to do an ellipses don't hit us with two but Greg you also on you know and I don't roam uh X good job Mr gun I'll have lots of typos you well you you seem intentionally you would go intentionally to kind of Zig on capitalization non- capitalization on your tweets that's that's stylized that's saying it's a mistake ridden effort but that's intentional yeah very intentional lack of punctuation uh lack of capitalization it happens I want to move into what you know Derek gun is go ahead you know is is a nice look at some seasoned uh chicken on the grill so I want to get into those kind of tweets that's that's good yeah sometimes to and it's not just Greg I've done this as well sometimes you don't capitalize and you don't punctuate and it's it's almost kind of like a it's a way of expressing your take in almost a matter OFA tone or almost a little bit of a a like a sarcastic tone I mean I get how it works like I don't thank you but I'm saying that's it's like a loer medium I don't think that Greg's I think it's intentional but I I do too I it's it's a choice and he's he's you know I don't think I know that Greg as the editor of the around the NFL section of the website understands basic and also complex grammatical Twitter the rules are different on Twitter you know it's a it's a lighter medium it's not worthy of punctu I think it helps you appear youthful and uh you know this is a bad P we're bad at this now um let's move on uh let's uh get into oh all right you know what I'm going to get out of the way yeah too I feel like we're this year is the good news I feel like we're running out of these where we have to throw it to Greg because it's a patriot retiring because how many more can there be because now we're at special special teams Ace Matthew Slater and uh if we're at the Special Teams Ace we have to be near the end go ahead the floor is yours danta Hightower was just hired as part of this staff uh so like we'll we'll now get to live through these guys as coaches uh which I'm in Gerard Mayo too although I don't Gerard Mayo well we don't have to live yeah that's a personal ter look if uh bill bich says that he's the greatest core special teams player in you want inspirational music under this go ahead I don't need it to be long I'm just saying let's give us a little inspiration out there yeah uh go ahead Matthew Slater is the best special team's core player in the history of the league according to Bill bich a pretty great expert on special I thought he was an expert on football until nobody hired him 10 10 time uh Pro Bowl pro bowler two time first team all proo I don't think that um makes you Hall of Famer personally but uh a Ring of Honor guy for the pat rots and just uh you know a unique career the son of an all-time great Jackie Slater I the one thing about I didn't know that just give some just give some love to a special team Ace and he he was a fifth round pick who really was in danger of not making the team right out of the gate and made this choice to make special teams his thing I always found it weird though because I'll never forget going to the Rams like intro in Los Angeles where it was like they brought all the LA Press in and you know hoop blah and all that business but like Jackie Slater like a Hall of Famer was there and Jackie Slater is 6'4 277 lb and Matt Slater is 6 feet tall 205 lbs you don't typically see a sun that isn't like why didn't you I would have thought oddson would say you produce another like tackle she's 3 foot6 just Rio per well I actually that was where my mind went the mom or someone must be very small in the equation and there are Generations that get skipped with certain things and we don't know the whole story I mean you know know now that I got the Twitter thing here's let me get into genetics okay it's it's a science but what an uneven science in a way care for me made no you've made it so Crystal Clear for me I mean you're making it sound like 6 foot 205 is some like Mini Guy sl' be like oh that's how often are you 4 in shorter and 70 lbs lighter than your than your dad that was also Jackie Slater's pling weight he's trimmed down a little but he's not a he's not diminutive Jackie Slater's only 50% of the DNA Matthew Slater comes from Jackie I did not know that that's that so we need okay that's uh uh that's what's happening in the news before uh actually let's take a break and then uh I want to cover one bit of behind the scenes uh a a massive conversation that needs to be had and then we're going to get to the one1 let's take a break well welcome back so um you may remember about a week or so week and a half or so before the Super Bowl we had our annual don't say Super Bowl episode where we cannot utter the words and if you do there's a monetary penalty and all three of us incurred fines um also we and this maybe seems a little unfair uh Eric I announced after the fact uh anything that he missed in terms of the buzzer uh he would have to pick up to find so he's into this now the pot and then we were like all right what are we going to do with the money and uh got an idea so big Funk let's bring back big Funk behind the glass what's up he didn't really go anywhere where's this where's this going all right what's up Funk what's happening uh big Funk ha has had a distinguished for a young man a distinguished career uh in broadcasting sure um part of his journey was at a a radio station uh and I don't know I can't speak to any of the the talent working there either good or bad and uh so this is in a hit piece uh your former employer I don't know if you want to name them it's up to you uh I mean do you think you know where I'm going by the way I I have a hunch um H but anyway the it was like a z morning Zoo type thing and uh there was a there was a radio uh bit uh where the Die Hard Packers Fan Randy Chavez uh was offered a sum of money how much Funk th000 bucks one G whoa 10 rocks if he got a tattoo of a rival of the Packers on his body yeah the catch of course being uh it must be done live on air and I think we do we have any footage from this incident any rival uh we well I I'll explain in a second here all right and now we're watching it on this radio when was this how long ago was this oh man this is like three four years ago fun fact the guy tattooing me Oni Masters oh very good so at least it was something professional so there's Funk and you check it out on the YouTube channel it looks painful on his thigh and it looks like a Chicago Bears wow if you if you subscribe to our patreon you can see an exclusive uh version of this which is a little racy it really is I haven't seen this video in years this is so we might have to blur it it's it's it's that uh salacious and sexy but Funk so yes here's what the plan is cuz I don't like that I you can take it back in I don't like I personally uh to put a young radio producer in that position like hey for the bid on the show uh tattoo yourself and we'll give you some money like when I was however old you were there 23 years old or whatever I would have taken the Thousand to cuz I had to pay rent so I have an issue now here's the question yeah are you okay with that t tattoo in the modern times or does it an annoy you a little bit that it's still on your leg it I'm not going to lie it does it does annoy me a little bit more so because every time I go anywhere at all usually someone I roll with whenever there's like a l like a little bit of Silence it's always like you know Randy has a bears tattoo his leg okay so that's exactly where we step in on this podcast with the money that we've raised from don't say Super Bowl and perhaps with the help of the listeners I propose we eliminate that tattoo from ry's leg either through laser removal or um or go the Johnny Depp route uh the wo forever route where we could uh modify it and turn it into something else I know it was fairly intricate um how do you feel about how do you feel about that as a possibility I mean I'm not opposed to it right I I I don't get me wrong the tat the tattoo is is a a funny reminder I guess depends how you consider funny of what I you like my where it was before years ago but I have no problem covering it up you know but that's it's near it's merely an option of course of course yeah so if if Randy is if that's something he would want like if that's ever something that crossed your mind like if I could do it over again yeah and get rid of it or if I could you know cover it up somehow we the around the NFL podcast and our our listeners are here to help well after viewing the the tattoo I I don't think we can cover it up like we were like oh can we change it into the Packers logo it's like no they can do amazing things though I know that I don't have tattoos myself but they can do amazing things in that realm that's be tattoo it's it's the face it's got to be too tough I think it either needs to be it's a very Greg thing to just assume that they can't because I feel like if we got someone on the phone he'd say like oh yeah we could definitely do something well the guy that did it to begin with probably knows he sounds like his career I mean I don't know if we can get him but you could also catch like f you Chicago Bear so my my backup plan my backup plan was like I would just write socks underneath it sometime and I mean I've added more pieces to my leg since but um I mean you know I'm I'm not a I have nothing I love tattoos so I have no problem adding more stuff to my leg it's it's just you know it tells a story to me it's memories I have I don't have the best memory but looking at tattoos reminds me of where I was and it takes me back to a place so you seem somewhat attached to it actually no it's just it's not I don't like the Bears I'm a Packers fan so we're certainly not going to do what those shock jocks did Once Upon a Time it put pressure on you it's merely an option if if you want to go down that road I wouldn't mind seeing some mockups from each of you guys ideas oh so you so you would prefer instead of the remove some sort of uh adjustment potentially I'm I'm I'm not opposed to anything really honestly cuz that's then like a two-part proc okay right okay an add-on okay and now I think whether it's our listeners um on social media whether it's the subreddit or wherever if if we can get some you know if it's if Randy does give us the go-ahead to do some uh crowdsource fundraising because I don't know the cost it could be potentially pricey uh but we're we're going to use the the the power of this platform uh to to make uh Randy Chavez's right leg uh pure again I appreciate the offer that's very nice of you guys I've never had someone uh extend such a generous offer such as that to myself so I think Dan for you the streak your streak of charitable uh you know Behavior we we've got a couple momentos over in the corner of the studio it just adds to that Legacy y from this was your your idea so you are Ben he uh he sent me an autograph all dbo Deo swano sent me that ball for the helping those underprivileged kids find a home it was like the business it was like the future Business Leaders of America or whatever well that work I did with the orphans down in Clemson now I now I can add this is yeah you're right I didn't look at it that way but it's starting to turn into well yourself you wouldn't you wouldn't see it that way but other others can't help but see it all right it's going to be up to Randy though I think we could afford it I'm looking at the pr I think we could have okay good uh Funk uh let's give you one week and we'll Circle back we'll let you kind of really ruminate and think on it because I understand that is part of the the ink Journey for people that it did take you that's a place in time that's where you were then we're not here to change rewrite history I will say though you three happen to be some of the most creative guys I know thank you keep going truthfully I mean it um who's Eric so if you guys if you guys want to come with some fun ideas I'm also open to that too I would I genuinely would like to I would like to see what you guys can you get us just a photo of it so that I can I will work on poti in my what about that old that you don't see it as much anymore but remember the cars that had let's say a Dallas Cowboys logo and then it would be Calvin and Hobs like urinating on the logo I remember those that would be a little bit of a throwback uh for instance I I do love Calvin and Hobbs Big Bill Waterson fan but I but getting getting Calvin PE on my leg might be because he'd have to be giant the logo is big enough where the Calvin would have to take up most of my leg and that would probably be a bit of a hard sell yeah all right well that's just one idea but see that creativity I like IDE men here thinking outside the box appreciate you guys always you got it funk all right I feel like uh I feel like that was progress in a potentially great situation for us well you're giving him the choice uh which I like he's one week you know right he has one you have one week no you have one week all right here we go moving on free agency 101 how many years have you been doing this on uh whether it's NFL Media or your old job at at NBC world like how long have you been doing a free agency list Greg I don't know 15 years or so and do you find yourself cuz I certainly was and when I was in the power rankings game I was very competitive about it I wanted to have the best power rankings do you have certain people and you don't have to name them that you kind of use as a measuring stick and you want uh to reach that bar or exceed it I don't like to look at the other list mine's out okay yeah once you've done yours so I think the P PFF you mentioned they they do a lot of work uh out there because I've seen them sending some tweets they Shake It Up different ways they got they got a lot of uh production behind it that looks great and they have something that I really like by the way which is a comp free agency comp for that player in past years I don't like to look at it till mine's out cuz then you just end up like it's like mock drafters end up just like making a combination of all the other mock drafts I never I never the same thing with power rangs never look for anybody else will a lot of they all do great great Excell does one and you enjoy doing it I do yeah it's a good it kind of really does start the offseason in a lot of ways because the this offseason Journey Begins with free agency uh well kind of begins with the coach and staff hiring Cycles into free agency and then of course the draft and all of a sudden teams are pretty much fully for first time we've ever let it go exclusively on the podcast for the first time this is you know nice little pop H that that's that's fan for fan Fair horn once more because I did not know that hit it you hear that ATN exclusive Greg Rosenthal free agency 101 so let's get into it Greg and we can and Mark you and I will um kind of uh Pro around the list ourselves and Greg's going to throw out some things that took away from putting it together we do look at other lists before we do our list yeah yes I studied the list of course because we have our big free agency 213 coming up uh and that takes a lot of research about the genre uh but uh the top 10 uh just so people know and then we can go anywhere we want okay uh number one Chris Jones number two Kirk Cousins number three T Higgins number four Josh Allen that's Josh Allen of the Jags the pass rusher number five Christian Wilkins number six Brian Burns number seven lerus Sneed number eight Justin mat matuk right buuk bu yeah yeah number nine Antoine Winfield and number 10 denil Hunter uh I have to say my big picture and right on the outside of the uh top 10 Mike Evans one of the great most consistent wide receivers uh of this era or any other era potentially about to reach free agency I love this list this year and and I know it's going to be pillaged gregy by uh franchise tags that window just opened and then you know uh anything else that goes down uh but uh the list itself I feel like if you're a team that needs to make upgrades almost every major position has some studs I think it's a strong list it's a big drop off maybe after the top 13 or 14 you know you mentioned Evans Jaylen Johnson's a really good one with the Bears Michael Pitman and then there's kind of a drop off and most of those players probably are getting tagged like eight I would guess if I had to put an over under out of those 14 players but I'm with you I think it's a good list and then I think there's another drop off around 40 or so it feels like you could do a you know it's a good thing you're doing 213 cuz it does feel deeper I don't know what it is with the trend of the NFL just more players on short-term contracts is what I suspect that there's like 140 good players like guy guys that can actually help your team so I think it's a deeper list and it's pretty high quality you're right throughout and for the first time in a long time you know one and two Chris Jones and Kirk Cousins they could actually change teams you you don't see that too often it's odd I mean I think there are years when you kind of take a larger look at the class of free agents and it's like all right we're going to hype this up and we're going to talk about it a lot but you're kind of struggling to find real juice but this list is dotted with intriguing especially on offense I think intriguing wide receivers running backs there a couple quarterbacks out there and right away it's like I in the top 10 I look at the Chiefs and the Vikings just having a lot of tough decisions to make try to navigate this they've got four of the top 10 so cousins and Hunter both have elements in their contract they say they can't be tagged which is amazing for them I mean hunter is gonna and the Vikings can't afford both and maybe that informs whether how you know how aggressive they are in trying to keep Kurt Cousins if they want to keep hunter or or neither who really knows and then the Jones Sneed example with a a Super Bowl champion I can't think of anything like it because Chris Jones got such a big contract last year he doesn't have the tag number which would be I think under $20 million instead his tag number is 32 and that really raises an interesting question with this Chiefs team that can you sign both of these guys could you sign Jones longterm and tag sne or vice versa with all the money they're already paying to M homes and the rest of the contract that they they're looking at maybe adding a wide receiver I don't think you can and when I think logically about it I actually think it's more logic iCal that they tag sne kick that can down the road and that Chris Jones might leave and they just might realize like you have to make tough decisions we've gotten the very best out of this guy he's getting a little older and we can't tag him for 32 and it's going to be so hard to get him signed before free agency starts that actually the move is to tag Sneed and that Chris Jones gets out there and just makes an absolute killing someone I kind of think that's what's going to happen and I know what you were saying mark on the last show cuz I agree with you you sometimes this free agency when a big fish does Shake free and they sign with a bad team looking to make a big splash and I mentioned how PFF has has these um comparison players in recent years and the comparison player is exactly what you're talking about and Domin Su who obviously the lions were in a Powerhouse when he was there but he was the face of that franchise he signs a massive deal with a kind of under the radar struggling Dolphins operation at that point and he kind of like just disappeared in a lot of ways he was still big time player yeah he was fine but he wasn't it wasn't like as impactful as if he would have went to a big time team or if the Lions figured out around him the the interesting thing about the Chiefs not to get off course here but no I think they're they're to me the most interesting conversation if they do say go the route you're talking about keep the cornerback and and Sneed is so valuable in the spags defense uh Chris Jones obviously the most valuable but cornerbacks and quarterbacks who could cover is a huge deal for that day what's great about that being the Chiefs is even if they just won a Super Bowl with a great defense and Patrick Mahomes as a game General and and they found their way back to the Lombardi there is a fun way where they save that money and let Jones walk like you're saying try to find and someone that can fill at the void and then attack the offense and build another Super offense around the greatest quarterback alive they they have like some different angles they can go here and the team can end up being a lot different in structure than the one that just won the Super Bowl uh be interesting to see there is like that again we mentioned like on the last show that Chris Jones sounds like he wants to stay in Kansas City now money and a monster deal from someone everyone kind of say that like Justin Fields just said that and he probably wants that but this situation is a little more special than like certain other players stick you know sticking with that Hamond eggar type team where they've been for a while like you can win more Super Bowls you can get paid really well in some form or fashion but they're in a tricky sit to my point so if you have if you do attack offense and instead the Chiefs have a list like running backs for instance great example I know they like their running backs but saquan Henry Jacobs uh Eckler wide receivers which they certainly need Higgins Evans Pitman Ridley these are all options out there potentially right now anyway but some of these guys will be gone but some will be out there Evans would be a fascinating one and people have connected so to them if they have some money to spend like getting that second receiver or first receiver would would be a game changer for them very they can create uh a a lot of cap space they're already well under they could cut mvs they can move the money around in in mahomes's contract they have some people they can cut and so they they could make it all work and there's a very recent example of them letting charvarius Ward leave for a big contract uh to San Francisco and that worked and and they might feel that like cornerback is a position that they can develop and spags is so good at doing that that they'll let sne go and I could be totally wrong and that they'll view Jones as the Irreplaceable one because he is more Irreplaceable that's why his numberers so much higher their defensive line is quite thin if they didn't have Chris Jones it's a very it's a compelling conversation it's just that sne so much younger that I do wonder if they think about timelines but to be clear they can't do both they can't keep Sneed give a massive contract to Jones and make Big Splash and free agency on the offense well not thir that's what I mean they they have to make a decision and I can't imagine they went through this whole season even after winning the Super Bowl not thinking man we got to make some type of moves on offense I agree with I think they'll be aggressive getting a wide receiver and and keep one of these two guys uh but not both and and Sneed was someone I passed this list around in early forms and Sneed was someone I just think if he gets free the league loves him you know he's just there's no cornerbacks on this list Jaylen Johnson I'm almost certain is going to get tagged this like at some positions there's just not any players the two positions are are cornerback and Tackle so if sne did somehow Shake free he'd make an obscene amount of money and I think they'd want to just keep that's where I like free agency to me feels like a bit of Fool's goal if you're the team that goes and gets some of these players because part of sneed's like success and journey is how he's used by spags how he fits in that defense I mean not that it wouldn't translate somewhere else but I think if you suddenly are the Chiefs minus like Chris Jones it becomes a gaping void where you you everyone visually can realize how special he's been on that defense that he's just in such a good spot he's kind of like kurk cousins when he left Washington that it's just so rare to actually have all this leverage where maybe they can tag him maybe they just feel like we'll let sne go we'll make some moves we'll put the $32 million on them somehow uh and then we'll get a long-term deal worked out that lowers that number at some point uh but that number is so big because he knows now if he could somehow get to free agency he's going to make more than Aaron Donald like he's going to make the most any defensive player has ever made their the salary cap is reportedly going up to around $250 million according to pro football talk we don't really know it could be anywhere from 243 to 250 but either way it's going up a lot where else do you want to go Greg what jumped out to you um well let's go 10 to 20 just because that that is more fun big names denal Hunter we mentioned was 10 Evans is 11 Jaylen Johnson I think is going to get tagged at at 12 Michael Pitman I think will also probably get get tagged with the Colts and then it's Tyron Smith the only good tackle on the market saquan Barkley to me easily the best running back on the market Calvin Ridley an interesting situation where the Jaguars get a better draft pick or have to give away a better draft pick if they resign Ridley so they're incentivized to not sign Calvin Ridley at this point so a good chance he gets free Jonathan Gard of the Texans Leonard Williams Michael U who was the highest uh guard tackle I have and then chony gner Johnson that's 10 to 20 and and one of the reasons Owen's up there and Tyron Smith's up there is cuz like the two positions that they're just not on this list are cornerback and tackle and it just says a lot I think about the NFL it's like you can get defensive tackles you can even get defensive linemen but there's like no tackles no cornerbacks available whatsoever you got to get those in the draft defensive tackle is not the easiest to find necessarily find in the draft sometimes as well at that one position but one name that stands out to me because part of this like I think smart fre agency is keeping core people around especially if you have a Young quarterback like the Colts cannot let Michael Pitman go in my book I don't think that he's a flashy number one type of guy in every in in all aspects of his game but it's like he is imperative to what they're trying to do on offense and what they're trying to build well I he might be the worst receiver group in the league if he's gone I think he's one of the more interesting cases if if he ever did get to free agency because he has produced even with a lot of bad quarterback play but he's also maybe not a a GameChanger necessarily so possession like again like where he's I I would love him as a 1B or a two as opposed to paying him like a one especially as like we're saying like there's so many good wide receivers coming out of the draft every year and every round uh he's a guy that you see those like Kenny gal is a good example not that they're similar players but where you get paid he'll be our number one our true number one and he wasn't and then all of a sudden it doesn't work out the guy Tyron Smith jumps out to me he's he's on your list where is he on your list I think 13 14 like I think for instance my team the Jets are going to be all over Tyron Smith because they're going to want to sign a big tackle and then draft a tackle uh with their pick and that's going to be great news for Smith because if if there's not a lot of big tackles on the market and there's a desperate team like the Jets that's going to drive his market up so he is going to get a lot of money maybe more than he deserves at this point he play great last year though he stayed healthy what's his age though where is he at he's I think now up to 35 he's going to get a lot he's going to get more money than you would think at 35y old uh tackle He's 33 actually just turned 33 so yeah look he was on the Hall of Fame all 2010's team I mean this is a a guy who's probably making the Hall of Fame someday and had really struggled with injuries the three previous years but he had a healthy year this last year I think that he actually might get the free agency because Tyler Smith uh who they drafted is is quite good you know GM Aaron is going to be all over that one right and uh and again it's a position that it's so bad Michael U uh for the P Patriots who can play guard or tackle I think he's best at right tackle he's going to get paid a lot of money cuz there's just not many young players available and then after that it's just like come on it's like Trent Brown who's a bit of a nightmare in terms of injuries and like off field stuff where he'll have one good year and then he becomes a headache he's the next guy maybe Jonah Williams who Bengals fans probably aren't in love with but at least he can just play uh alumor who is with the the Raider these guys are he can just play as those are where you get in trouble the signing round Jonah Willam and some fun guy like I saw someone I did see had beckon you know like beckon is might get some money just cuz he played last year Big Ticket he was bad by the way right and there's no one available so there's some projects out there but but those positions uh get paid you you mentioned classic one by the way Pitman I think he will get tagged I think Evans will get out there though and it is fascinating to think like where could he go and then I think of who else will get out there at wide receiver Maris Brown I think is going to be that guy you mentioned not he's not going to be like gal cuz I think he's a good player but he's going to make more than people expect because him and Ridley they're fast and they're available and you kind of need three receivers and they can be one of your three receivers they can be your two or your three they're not your one but a two like a Pitman is probably worth $20 million a year now so people are going to have sticker shock but mares brown or Calvin reallyy will probably get $20 million it's like years in a row where the wide receiver paydays for free agency have been insane I mean I guess you could find a team that really needed that wide out help and you could almost pair like a Maris brown with another wide receiver on the free agent market and completely change your room and you I like Maris brown but you want to play 20 million for Maris Brown you go get a guy in the second round but it's kind of like when Kirk Christian Kirk got paid 17 million a year a couple years ago and man that looked bad at the time and now I'm like actually he's pretty dependable and you need receivers and that's like an okay price that's just how it is I think yeah like you I'd have no problem with you putting um Higgins AB above Evans I mean I think Higgins you they could they could tag him too if they want it probably will tag him but the Bengals are such a mysterious operation but is that an age thing a little bit for you with Evans and like cuz what I kind of wonder what kind of contract I think Evans could find himself go to a playoff type team and be in a wonderful playing situation but like what do you pay him he's is he 30 31 31 I mean I'd have no problem paying him a lot of money but it's like is he that guy three years from now right he's come off one of his best seasons in a long time he's kind of ageless I'm a little worried I have him too low uh that he should be even higher on this list uh he'll be turning 31 in August but I would guess something like a 2-year 50 million doll contract you know or it's a three-year contract but it's really a two-year $50 million contract like I see no reason why he wouldn't get paid and it and the most surprising Buzz to me is like the last week or two is that like oh the the Bucks actually aren't going to pay him I don't know if I totally believe that it makes no sense to me but that's that's what's out there what what do you think of obj now as like 80th on this list I have Gabe Davis quite High I like me some Gabe Davis Curtis Samuel's another receiver receivers are always fun to talk about I have Beckham on my uh subcategory contract year fall Stars uh at least in terms of your rankings uh he's down at 83 and his agent who's who deserves a presidential like of Freedom uh for what he's gotten Odell Beckham compared to the production over the last five or six years um he you could point to again oh by the end of the season he was kind of looking like Odell again and then you pop the hood and the analytics are pretty good they they said that he's a uh you know premium number two maybe wide receiver uh but somebody else can pay for him I I know for instance my team was poking around before he went to the Ravens I hope they don't again I don't want like wrong side of 30 wide receivers that are going to be commanding a big salary when I could find somebody in the draft instead uh so I don't think he will this year I think he's he's going to a oneye deal again like one I think the rest of his career is just one year for about half the money that he made but you have a spot think I think Gabe Davis like you could talk yourself into there's a lot of untapped potential a lot of big play potential even Darnell Mooney I would rather have our guest on the show KJ Osborne I think is kind of a fun guy I'm with you I'd rather go I'd rather go young um you have Austin Eckler by the way way down um that I like you have him 20 spots lower than jamus Winston I believe um which is wild to me uh and in general I overrate the backup quarterbacks or I rank them somewhat High yes from what I understand this is not a great running back draft class so I would I I would I would say you probably should bump up some of these running backs but at the same time it is I think telling that coming off last summer where we're all talking about all these running backs getting banged these stars that aren't getting the contracts they want or deserve reserve and Eckler tried to get traded you know he tried to get a raise uh Josh Jacobs held out saquan Barkley held out and got a ridiculous like that contract is more ridiculous with every day they gave him this absurd incentive deal but he got no money out of it um what kind of money they get where they stack up Derrick Henry is out there I'm curious I love the idea of derck Henry going somewhere else on the right team like more than goodbye more than any of those other players I think Henry in the right setup uh could be a real dog for a team I had a thought because the team that's going to look so different on offense I think will be the Greg Roman Harbaugh Chargers like what about Derek Henry behind Justin her that would be fun and look don't send him to the Chargers we know I don't know I think they're going to be a different type of now they have Jim Harbaugh so now things will change there the but I mean what name of Coach want going to want to go find a moling run I love it I love it as it fit I so I struggled with where to put him in Jacobs Jacobs was about 20 spots higher a year ago had a bad year and that kind of follows his career where three and a half yards per car he's like one great it did look much better the eye test especially by the end he's a great receiver he's a complete back but I have him and Henry around 30 and that's where to me a lot of the good value in free agency actually comes as these one-year deals for veterans like you could say what you want about Clowney or even zidus Smith last year who was paid more than Clowny certainly it's like those guys were actually Bargains compared to paying the like 14 15 million a year for some young guy and Derrick Henry and and Jacobs to me are like the Veteran running back equivalent that but they're not going to make much money I think they're nice one-year ads and position scarcity and the money is all a factor so that's why I have guys like Pard and and DeAndre Swift and JK Dobbins I have them all ahead of Eckler because they're younger I I think Dobbins Eckler didn't look very good last year no he didn't I think Dobbins is actually I like guy some I always think teams should pay guys on two-year deals coming off injury cuz dobs could be a Dobbins could be like a nice longer term bet even if he's coming off not like seeing his name on this list it's like this stuff raises by because it's like he's already going to free see that and I the one thing I got to bring up here because you got your Q like you gave us you gave it the positional uh chart and how you rank these guys obviously K cousin's number one obviously and then there's like where do you go from this cuz it's not like plug andplay star players there's a lot of help at quarterback behind them but you jacobe Bret above Baker Mayfield yeah that was where I just had to go with my gut I know I'm going that one is probably going to get the most such a Greg move push back of anything butk fills a certain role for Greg type of a quarterback miles good one that's overlooked you know I what I decided to do Mark was kind of split the difference be fair to Mayfield they're they're both in the top they're right around 30 so it's not like they're that low in the 101 I was like if I'm going to stand up for jacobe and really believe that he's a dalon line type of quarterback just like I see Baker being which has to me a lot of value like would you rather have that or would you rather have Derrick Henry I would rather have that I think it's like some teams need that it raises the floor of your team so I put them right next to each other because I do think Jake brisket is very similar to where gin was a couple years ago where it's like he could step in and he could have brought your team to the playoffs last year Dan he he could have with who with the Jets with with hacket maybe no he would have improved their team a lot I think that's I I truly believe that's a level he's playing at he played it for the Browns he looked fantastic in that Washington he's still only 31 he's learned a lot like to me he's in his prime and him and Mayfield kind of occupy a similar space but ranking them versus like Robert hunt or you know Gabe Davis it's kind of impossible it's kind of hard to figure out where to put it like a mid level quarterback but that's where I truly believe Jake brisket belongs that he's better than a decent amount of quarterback You could argue because both of them played in the same offense the stefansky had more success you know ultimately with jacobe than he did with Baker jamus being your number five free agent quarterback is hilarious uh darnold not darn being beneath Tyler Huntley is just personal and I I I'll be the biger some those the bigger man uh to be fair uh darnold's moved up some of those some of those position ones you're looking at are a little off he is on my long list of 101 whereas Huntley is not so darnold has has overtaken him that might have congratulations that means it's time to take a break or is they breaking news what's happening back there Funk Funk really feeling the space right now well well I thought you wanted me to play it every time you mentioned 101 and I'd kind of been uh that works that was that was good actually I think it added some excitement to the earlier you were like you were like you made the little dj RB effect so like I close take listen listen Funk explore the space back there you're doing great appr let's take a break and when we come back we will finish our conversation on the top one you know one quick thing like people don't realize we don't take we we say we're taking a break and then we start talking one second later in real life you told the audience that like two weeks ago I know but it remains on my radar as a problematic item for us I would think Mark you the last thing you would want to do is take a break and extend theice you're right cuz we could start to take a break if you felt like it was like not authentic take a go walk experence I just think it seems like but I mean you know with the listeners but during that break you have to listen to your Douro ad read scrap all that we could actually we could keep you here in extra 15 minutes if we take authentic breaks negative no all right we'll be right back all right we're back and yes we are if you're just joining us uh this is going deep Rosenthal 101 not to be confused with the hands of cesler 2113 is coming uh on the on the doorstep of free agency next month Greg uh let's get back into it let's dive in so here's so QBs we just talked about running backs there's some really big names there in a draft class that's not uh high on RB Talent being told what is the what's a positional group if you're if you're a team that needs to plug a position uh where you're very excited because there's a lot of depth as always there's a ton of interesting quality safeties just teams just don't play safeties they always feel like they can find them or replace him but I think the linebacker discussion is probably more interesting because there are a lot of players available that are plug-and playay mostly three down linebackers in their primes that are going to start next year so that it's one of the only positions where you can look at and say wow there's a lot lot of guys that will I think get big contracts Patrick Queen is one of them coming from Baltimore Frankie louu from Carolina who's kind of been a gem you know diamond in the rough there but it's played really well Jordan Brooks who was a first round pick uh Bobby Wagner's out there Devin white a couple of the the Chiefs linebackers Willie Gade Drew tranquil Aziz ALS Sher who I really like for Tennessee so a lot of linebackers and and it's kind of a question of like it's a position that went really a favor to the point where like teams almost ignored it and now I wonder is it going to start coming back in cuz we've seen these teams like Baltimore and San Francisco and and even Kansas City's done a good job with their linebackers like if if you have a three- down linebacker it's such an advantage because no one else does and it's so hard to get these guys up to speed that a lot of I tend to think these guys like Queen and louu and Brooks they're just coming into their Prime they they they had some major ups and downs the first couple years cuz you have to learn coverage and I I think they will start getting paid in this market I was I really struggled with where to put them in Frankie louu like to me every time you watch the Panthers he's doing something and he's like the kind of perfect free agent pickup for me because it's like you're not going to have to blow the market to get him but he's going to be productive week after week do you have any concern because Patrick Queen I thought was underwhelming for big chunks of his time then the Ravens they didn't pick up his option but Smith comes in and completely formed Queen space on the field so if you go and is that kind of like a classic he's going to get a ton of money and then he doesn't shine the way you very possibly unless it's Mike McDonald and Seattle giving it to him and then I would just like trust him I don't feel good about that ranking and that feeling because I don't like how these rankings often and teams pay just off the contract year instead of looking at the full four years you know what I mean or the average year that they have and he's someone who's definitely like peing at the right time and and I give it up to him cuz he really did have a good year but even if he didn't get to 10 sacks but javian Clowney uh is another guy with uh with Patrick Queen yeah the Mike McDonald effect like he was a perfect scheme deployed the right way and and you saw their games jump up would that take place with a different team it is fun to rank like see where Clown's ranking go every year just gets like a little bit lower even though he had a great year he's now 41 he's right next to lante David he's the perfect like Levante David might set the record one year value right like how I I'm sure someone's tracking this like what player non-sp special teams um has the most one-year contracts he's got to be up to about five now right Sue had a bunch in a row at the end of his career I I think a similar type of player and uh that's there's a lot of players like that that are like wow they could really help you and but it's just like just give them one year and they'll help your team this year like a wait one more linebacker one more linebacker that you didn't mention there I don't I think you did was Levante David yes who's up there in years but obviously is one of the great linebackers in Bucks history he could still great cover linebacker which is so important uh obviously uh even with his age he has all the instincts still there is a very real world where the Bucks don't have lante D David or Mike Evans on the field in September like that that's pretty wild they're finally turning the page uh into a new era in Bucks football and Devon white who you know when you think of that that Super Bowl team he the all proo team back then and he was almost on his way it felt like to becoming a superstar and white yes and I I I have him ranked really low cuz he just seems like he drives the coaches there crazy and I I think some controversy last year about the last couple years reallying whatever and I I tend to think they will they will keep lante David as they did a year ago he was a free agent a year ago and that'll say a lot that they're happy to just let uh Devin white go the you mentioned Clowney that is one position where it's like man there's a lot of good defensive line like defensive end defensive lineman Avail if you need like 500 quality snaps out of interior or defensive end that's I think where The Sweet Spot is in free agency I love some of these guys like Andrew van GLE I I like he's great he'd be a good signing like I you know like I thought zarius Smith was a huge differen maker across from Miles Garrett and Cleveland and if you go back if you're the Browns and you don't resign him and you don't find someone to go do that same thing that defense is completely marked but you can't that's the good thing for a team like them like you can find someone whether it's there's a lot of option him or it's like a Leonard Floyd CL K DJ wanam was an okay player for Minnesota like there there are players your guy Bryce Huff I think is gonna be an interesting guy to watch I struggled with where to put him because all he does is win when it comes to like pass win rate is like Godlike and he pops off the screen too he just is so expl exp um yet he you know he never earned the full trust to get like you know 50 snaps a game I'm not sure why that is but I think he's going to make a lot of money so they didn't cuz he's young based on the playing time the the jet staff um didn't trust him against the run so if he is uh somebody that's Limited in that in that um respect and and that doesn't develop then you're paying for like that just a pure pass rusher and how much how much money does he get like he is a guy I fear uh because they they made the mistake I thought of taking Will McDonald last year when they had so much depth at uh defensive line and now they're probably going to let Huff walk because they have this first round pick that they need to develop a team could get a guy that's like an 18 sack guy and and if he develops in the other end of the game he's an all pro so I think he's a guy like give me give me a chance on Huff if I'm A team out there more than pay big money for Chase Young Who a little bit maybe of issues and the health issues with the surgery like give me a guy with upside I think Wes used to talk about that um with fantasy sports a lot and I and probably maybe it holds for this like give me the upside shot of a guy being a real stud rather than kind of paying a premium for a guy that has a much lower floor and the Jets are not in great cap situation at the moment either so it's like how would they value the Huff thing right uh Jonathan Gard is another guy who who get paid a lot of money off the edge there's a lot of different options there you mentioned Wes see the jacobe brasset thing this is where I need Wes we for you ask how long have I been doing it I did it for a few years before coming here one year without Wes here and then you know we would have our battles we would have our two lists we would bring them together I still got some of those uh lists from Wes on saved on my you know laptop and my Google Docs and everything and uh he would know I would like jacobe too much so then he would purposefully rank him even lower than he wanted to to even it out and I can't argue with that checks and balances are country was founded on the jamus Winston marccus Mariota battles between uh Wes and not sure who won that we both lost in the end I think the listeners lost well according to your rankings he's one of the top free agents out there he is 90th or something I stand on the hill and Ryan tanah Hill is there too that a a backup quarterback is worth a lot it's worth maybe more than a replacement level sa safety or like a rotational Lineback and I think they're underpaid so that's I rank them that way that to me they're more important I I struggled with where to put mchu where to put Josh dobs there's is low M's a little low I he's just reliable I mean like he's he's a one guy's a knucklehead and a career loser and one guy stepped in and did a nice job last year why how could they be so different what's different they're right next to each other on the list but why is the guy that really stepped in and did well last year behind the guy that went into Victory formation and called the touchdown run I'm not I'm not knocking him for touchdown run uh MCH I think if you Peak behind the he actually finished the season playing well but I don't think he was playing that well most of f jamus jamus has been a productive player is still relatively young I think he's more talented they're they're close though but if you need a backup though there's a million flavors jamus dobs was out there who's probably going to end up on the 101 once uh the tags happen because he's right outside Tyrod actually played pretty well darnold's out there Mason Rudolph's out there Drew locks out there there's like kind of a pretty some of those is tanah Hill too good to be a backup I mean does he take a starter job away if there's issues I mean I kind of liked T maybe I over think he's like the baker of this year where he's going to sign somewhere where he has a chance I I would have had him wa I did a a list earlier in August like before the season and he was so much higher so was one of his old teammates Christian Fon who's in my top 20 and his play this year spooked me a little bit that like oh yeah this guy is 36 years old and he get he had some moments well behind a terrible offensive line with a lack of skill positions absolutely but I just started to think okay maybe he's reaching that Matt Ryan part of the career not everyone's going to be Aon Rogers and you know before this year and playing so great at 373 I'd still if I were Pittsburgh and I know that they're they've got their whatever they're doing over there but like uh you just pick up tanah hill paing with Arthur Smith and there you go right why not I mean do more do better well do do more also but I'm saying the the do nothing route is like there's a ton of option Lo in the closet by the way a lot of listeners reached out about the summer what is it summer in a day uh the Ray Bradbury uh tale about the poor girl locked in the closet and now all Pittsburgh fans locked in that closet wanting to be let out to see the sunshine he really connected with the with the listener I have to admit I have to think about the entire story again to even understand why this applies to the Steelers but she used to be on earth and she saw the sun regularly that was like the peak Big Ben yeah she knew what it looked like to see an exciting offense in Pittsburgh and now she's in this otherw world Planet who are the other girls locking the Steelers in the closet though uh the GM okay omlin okay the Steelers themselves the girls the Steelers F or the football viewer yeah what what Randy sorry I'm sorry that was next don't tell us that I just liked it it was a good it was a good combo so let let us you know Mason Rudolph probably is holding that door closed and sure I'm sure he has a role in it Venus is closer to the Sun that's all I don't get the I can't see I'll take it up with the uh the estate of Ray Bradberry he passed away in 200 I mean he had a firm grasp on science fiction so I'm not going to go nuts with it but what one of the things you noticed doing this exercise what teams pop up a lot early in this list and for such a terrible roster I was like man a lot of the Patriots best players are free agents now like they are in a tough spot Kyle Dugger is the top 25 player on this list there's some dis I'm a little lower in him than than some others but I still like him he's a big playmaker on wenu is one of the best uh offensive linemen UN list Trent Brown is one of the best offensive linemen on this Hunter Henry is my number two tight end on this list but behind Dalton Schultz it's like this is a bad roster that's about to get worse you could see every one of those players going somewhere else we need kind of do think they all were maybe Dugger I don't even know we need to come up with like a list of overly familiar free agency 101 names it would have like Hunter Henry Curtis Samuel I'm not saying they're bad players but I feel like we're always talking about these guys this leard Williams is now uh become a somewhat regular I do wonder what New England because they got the second most cap room in the league like new leadership what do you do there like are you going to going to attack the market I hope you need to I have a feeling Robert Craft has has this uh storyline in his head in New England that he doesn't spend money I'm sorry is this the rainfall sound effect yeah you talked about not seeing the Sun so I was looking for rain I don't like that we have to make minutes every time I like it though I just like having random sounds beneath this thank you thank you for that you're doing great Funk anything else I I want to say the 101 number 101 oh yeah I did want to talk about this I really de it I I was think like it this this is not a final list either so you guys can have some influence if you want uh Michael Thomas is the choice right now I mean this is the guy that does he hold the alltime single season catch record still feels like four years 4,000 years ago feels that way I think it was 2019 he was the offensive player of the year a lot of injuries finally stayed somewhat healthy last year and is no longer the guy but as a one as a 101 little bit of a like locker room uh Menace yeah I mean more than a little bit caus some issues I believe nothing too serious uh he has spent a decent amount of this off season I've I've held back on bringing it up on the show uh Barry and Derek car again like it's happened more uh that was now a month ago but he made it very clear to the point Derek Carr like had to respond while like doing some sponsor obligation in New Orleans and just said I I want the best for Mike I don't know you know why he's doing this more or less so whoever whoever gets Michael Thomas you better that he likes your quarterback but he's like for instance I know this isn't how you do the 101 because there's a little like with Twitter and the lack of punctuation little winking nod to the whole thing yes uh you need to find someone in that tart uh that that wouldn't move the needle necessar should have been jamus okay so I thought about mchu I thought about but I wanted mchu a little higher on the list he's gotten knock J would have been wasn't 101 one year Gino was 101 which in hindsight way too low way too low how mad were you couldn't put Teddy Bridgewater on this list this year how mad did it be um it was sad but he's helping the Youth of America I thought Josh dos would be a fun 101 but I tend to do that that where it's always some like uh out of you know kind of left field quarterback and I thought Michael Thomas was a nice change of pace can't have Austin Eckler at 92 I understand why that's so low that's he's almost off the list Greg well he won't be s i all right I did not check this I curiosity I'm going to check one of your competitors I won't I won't say what it is that seems I feel like Wes would push back on that 92 what is Eckler giving you right now that that Deon single ter isn't who's not on the list for he's maybe the best pass catching running back in the league outside of mcaffrey and I know he didn't look great last year but maybe he was beat up I mean 92 I have I have a list from uh a metric site that we mentioned previously uh he's at 56 okay on their list live with that I could live with 56 like where do his comp is Dion Lewis where is where is Josh Jacobs on your list he's like in that 32 or something yeah aage three and a half yards of car last year got more juice moves better he did get better after McDaniels left and then he got hurt again ecklers had a lot of wear and tear on a relatively small body and just I'm going tell Matt Harmon about this I'm using my I'm telling Harmon there you go right now right do a show together it's some of those plays that you called out Dan the season he had the piano on his back I get the lack of explosiveness with a running back I found you don't want to chase him he had a damn piano on his back you got that you got to take that with running backs you don't want to chase the rebound at age 29 I think it's sensible contract safer to just be like okay that I would mind him in like a committee situation two years of the club option and maybe he was dealing with things and he comes back re rejuvenated I just think that's almost off the 101 extreme I'll move him up a little B he had like literally like 40 touchdowns the previous two years didn't have any season career uh derailing injury all right I might move him up at six spots Ahad Packers guard John runan and jet safety Jordan Whitehead it is really annoying rank white head has a nose for the football these guards maybe got to keep him behind Whitehead ranking these guards cuz like finding out who likes what guards or what the League's like and just like pretending I really have a hot take on John Simpson uh who's in my top 50 and Lloyd cushenberry who's a nice young Center but it's like um you guys are fine with 101 you're fine with Michael Thomas I guess cuz he's no I that's a good it's actually kind of hurting his value cuz in the end with with players getting taken off and added like it'll be like the he should be like 80 if you want my real I would put him in the 80s and put jamus at 101 but we're not going to fight that battle I jamus isn't a fun 101 Michael Thomas is is fun okay you know what I did this year I made sure to check that free agent kicker list and have respect very nice for the position and I realized uh quite an underrated kicker is worthy he's in my top 90 cyam faban so shout out to oh yeah he belong Cami faban maybe he should be even higher where do you have him uh he's like in the top 90 what about Lutz h i mean he just got cut a year ago if you've been annoying with as a kicker within a year then I you don't make the top 100 but KY Fairman has been awesome the last two years I feel like he deserves it Greg the legs zline was a monster this past year I didn't realize he's in free agency he's a free agency sh we got to lock him up we got to tag his ass yeah they probably will give faan a nice little deal Big Bone Randy's out there Dicker the kicker he is not he would have been I honestly would have put Dicker the kicker in the top 50 or something but he's one of those fake exclusive rights where he has no no actual bargain all right anything else Greg I think you did an excellent job minor quibbles overall certainly it's going to seem incomplete when compared to the free agency 213 but honestly uh the that's just that's not even your fault that's more our our ambition towering over all rivals and we and you know according to our plan we need to probably get to work in the next hour or two on that oh send the Bots I don't know what you the bot work uh you know scheduling note We're not scheduled to be back till Tuesday there'll be NFL combine we'll be talking about all those press conferen but you guys have a long weekend in front of you of just in the lab watching tape working a coup it's a couple drop downs and then an enter click and then we we go get a couple beers and we come back and most of the work's done AI quite frankly beautiful yeah that's how it works I think well it's going to work fine does it comb does it literally comb through the internet and grab bits and pieces of everyone else's I mean it'll probably grab some of Greg's so that's what we're going to have to be careful of well we'll replace some of the more obvious bits of plagiarism with a little cesler flare I love it I would like uh thank you Randy I would like to see an a iBot try to generate an average Mark cesler uh post like I said it's been for years we're going to supplement the AI with some cesler isms okay really just to sneak it past you know editorial too right a couple key words and they believe that we've done all the work and I come in with a Happy Gilmore reference everyone while Dan Dan's back to his old tricks it's like hey hey what about live like they really bang themselves by calling themselves live before the internet you know I make a couple like Logan Roy references here and there send send Glory Glory is ours all right Randy you did a nice job who's the Kendall Roy of the free agency list that's a good one to think about all right Randy get back to us in exactly one week thank you for filling in my pleasure all right till Monday day till Tuesday Tuesday he the call

Channel: Around the NFL Podcast

Views: 13,452

Keywords: nfl, american football, football, nfl podcast, podcasts

Id: lC2h4yPkYgg

Length: 80min 12sec (4812 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 23 2024