Diggs traded to Texans and NFL Draft Burning Desires

In a room full of heroes - Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler, and Patrick Claybon react to the Bills trading Stefon Diggs to the Texans (03:57). After the break, the guys tell you what each NFL team's burning desire should be as they head toward the NFL Draft (28:44).

Note: time codes approximate. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Around the NFL Podcast wants you to know your
college girlfriend.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Never got over you.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
That's that's good, damn right.

Speaker 4 (00:11):
Welcome to another episode of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Greg rose thal in this week for Dan Hansens in
the host chair in the Chris Westling podcast studio, surrounded
by a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Patrick Claybon.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Let's get after it.

Speaker 5 (00:30):
Let's get after it. Why not, we're here, the lights
are on. Yes, let's let's acquire.

Speaker 6 (00:36):
It's another beautiful sample centered around perhaps.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
You Pat Oh, I forgot?

Speaker 4 (00:42):
I do want to hear the new Patrick Clayban theme
song songs really throughout.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
This episode when it just feels right.

Speaker 4 (00:51):
Eric, but this one especially puts me in a nice
mood and a cloudy, uh, kind of stormy day here
at NFL Network.

Speaker 5 (00:58):
You're whimsically waiting through uh, a quaint neighborhood.

Speaker 6 (01:04):
Do you feel they've captured you had some issues with
them not actually capturing maybe your full personhood in some
of these.

Speaker 4 (01:10):
Well, I mean, how could you hit a thirty second song?
The van contains multitudes, but.

Speaker 5 (01:15):
Yeah, this is yeah, we I talked over the best part,
but yeah, it's you.

Speaker 6 (01:22):
Were going to play these for your for your wife
at some point in the household, and.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
We have not I should have gotten to that point.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
Okay, use it when you need it.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
We're reminding you, well, yeah it maybe it's not going
to work in the way Mark and visioned.

Speaker 6 (01:37):
Well, no, I just I think it's a it's a
you don't just you you find that right.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Which is just a hammer drop.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
I would say, I would suggest maybe just play for
the whole family and say, isn't this cute?

Speaker 3 (01:47):
There's something fun at work today? Yeah, with daddy.

Speaker 6 (01:50):
Yeah, that's I don't think it's using it to its
maximum potential.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
But that's fine. We'll see.

Speaker 5 (01:55):
Hey, it's your progative, it's your Hey, there's great news
from work. And then it's like, oh what is loads
of it?

Speaker 3 (02:03):
How are you doing? Mark?

Speaker 6 (02:04):
I'm good, thank you. I arrived here very very early
this morning.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
I mean, how are you doing this week without Dan?
You know, famously you started this podcast on the back
end of the damaging program without me and without you know,
and without West.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
So you and Dan go back further. It's like a
missing appendage for you.

Speaker 6 (02:21):
When he is out of this it is it feels
I feel it's two weeks in a row where we
haven't had our full cast.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
I don't I find it.

Speaker 6 (02:28):
Typically i'd be one that's not here for one of
those two weeks, so to be the person here it's
been odd. But you know I also went when people
on vacation, we have a code not to f with
each other on text, and like I texted Dan once
or twice and then felt bad about it. It's like
you're forgetting he's not even in the continental United States
right now, so.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
It's where he is. It's like six hours earlier, I believe.
So you don't.

Speaker 4 (02:47):
You don't want to be thinking about work when when
you're gone, but you know it's unavoidable.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
It happens when you're built for it. Look, we're built
for it.

Speaker 4 (02:55):
It's April fourth, we're only three weeks away here from
the draft sneaking up on us, and we talked top
ten mock with Josh Norris earlier in the week. This week,
we're going to go through as many teams as we
can get through with burning desires Penny into this NFL draft.
You know, a basic show might call them, you know,

(03:18):
team needs or whatnot. But this is a little deeper
than just like a need. Yeah, sometimes your body needs something,
but sometimes your body has a burning desire. Yeah, wants
and needs are not all created equal, and these are
burning desire, right. And some of these teams, you know,
with what's even happened this week, I can think a
few teams suddenly like we've got major holes to fill
on our roustler. And look, we've hit the top ten

(03:39):
pretty hard. So we're going to try to mostly focus
on teams outside the top ten. But if we have
some that we haven't really hit on within the top
ten or a special need, there's no rules in these games.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
We will do that.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
But before we do that, we got a big time
trade to talk about.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
So let's get to some news here.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Allen, out of the gun, takes the high stop, throws
should have left it the five flowers his shoulder into
the enisode touchdown Buffalo, a three yard splash from Allen
to Diggs and the Phils leading nine to three.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
That was the Divisional round game winning touchdown by Stefan
Diggs during the twenty twenty season, his first in Buffalo.
His last proved to be the twenty twenty three season.
He is headed to the Houston Texans. And I did
want to play that clip just as a reminder because

(04:32):
I think it's getting lost in these last few days.
What a ridiculous success the Stefan Diggs trade to Buffalo
was not that I should have to point this out.
That was a season where he led the NFL by
the way with one hundred and twenty seven catches fifteen
hundred and thirty five yards in only four seasons. He
had well over five thousand yards for this team, and
they were, you know, by some measures in terms of

(04:56):
point differential and everything like that, and wins like as
successful as any team in the NFL over the last
four seasons, not named the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes,
but he is headed to Houston. It's a fascinating trade.
I think there's a lot of angles we can get to.
Let's start from the Buffalo side. Mark, when you saw

(05:18):
that this happened on Wednesday, did it feel to you
like it came out of the blue? Were you surprised?
Where do you want to go with it?

Speaker 6 (05:28):
I read it described as sort of stunning and shocking,
and very few stories hit that world for me at
this point. But I think we had talked about open
mysteries to the offseason and think like unfinished business coming
out of last season even the year before. It's like,
what is the future between Stefan Diggs and the Bills.
And so from that angle, I am not stunned by

(05:50):
the move. I think what they got for it is
going to rankle feathers with Bills fans, and I understand
that the money side of it is a labor for
the front office this season. But I feel like in
terms of Stephan Diggs, this is Stephan Diggs the person,
like the player fell off a cliff a little bit
after Joe Brady took over. He was, you know, top
three in yards receiving, led league in receptions, you know,

(06:13):
when they were about five and five, and then the
coordinator switch happened and Stephan Diggs was not used the
same way. I don't really buy this. He's not the
same guy anymore. I think he can go have a
great one year at least with the Texans. But the Bills,
I think have gone into a soft reboot mode a
little bit, and Diggs his future here felt a problematic.
Just was too many reports instances ideas that behind the

(06:35):
scenes he was difficult and there was a schism between
he and Josh Allen, and I'm starting to believe that
that was more true than I might have six months ago.

Speaker 5 (06:43):
And the schism, essentially right, wasn't something that developed in
twenty two if we're to believe I'm a skeptic about
I don't think Stephan Diggs is a demonstrably different person
in twenty twenty four than he was in twenty twenty two.
I think the groundwork had been laid a long time
ago by taking people who were prone to say those

(07:06):
sorts of things and giving them the information to say, oh,
you know, the Bills, and there's frustration all the Stefan
Diggs this, and then you get all these smoke fire conversations.
I think Stefan Diggs is one of the better receivers
in the National Football League. I think Brandon Bean does.
I think Nick Cassario does right. But the Bills, as
we a conversation we have all the time about the

(07:28):
Saints about managing the salary cap.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
There's different ways to do it.

Speaker 5 (07:33):
The Bills went down a particular route, and now that
they are within the consequences of the particular route that
they went down, and I don't think that they're a
better football team. I think it's a preposterous idea to
say that the vibes or it's like, oh, you know,
he was a problem and the relationship, I mean, get
open and have your spectacular quarterback throwing the ball like

(07:53):
who cares. He was a part of a change, a
shift in this franchise where Bills fans saw incredible success
because he was.

Speaker 4 (08:02):
There, right, I think that's all true, and yet I
do think in sports sometimes the relationship runs its course
for whatever reason, and these are humans. And being said
as much, Patrick, he admitted, like, look, the Bills, especially
for the twenty twenty four season, are in a worse

(08:24):
place today than they were yesterday.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Are we better today? Probably not.

Speaker 7 (08:29):
Yeah, it's a work in progress and we're going to
continue to work on that. I would just hope that
people know I'm as competitive as hell, and I'm not.
I ain't giving in.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
I've I want to push back a little bit on
this idea that though, yes, the Bills are resetting and
making some hard decisions and they're going to be a
very different team next year than they were this year.
But I see where being is I mean from in
the sense that it's like, why wouldn't they be one
of the absolute favorites in the AFC. Still, I do

(09:06):
think people are just jumping to this idea that they're
like a deeply diminished team when I look at their
roster and I see one of the best quarterbacks in
the NFL, the best offensive line that the Bills have
had since they've been there, some young, exciting, dynamic talent
in Kincaid and Cook and Shakir who aren't ready to
be like superstars, but it's something to work with.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
You do still have the rest of the offseason.

Speaker 4 (09:31):
The Bills have shown and they don't have much cap room,
but they have shown that they're good at picking up
different little pieces. And then when I look at the defense,
like it's a really good defense and it's a really
successful coaching staff.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
So to me, I look at them.

Speaker 4 (09:43):
They've defended their title in the AFC East three years
in a row, four total, done it three times a
defensive and I look at it and having gone through
it as a Patriots fan and seeing what the Chiefs
have done in other successful organizations. A lot of times
when you go into a season and there was a
lot of change, but the quarterback and the coach are
really good and kind of the bedrock of what the

(10:04):
team has been good. That's the year everyone sleeps on
them and it's like, no, a lot of what's good
about this organization is still there.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
And the odds are they're not going to make.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
The super Bowl this year, because the odds are every
year no one team is going to make the super Bowl,
especially in the Patrick Mahomes era, and then people will
be disappointed in them. But I would put them right
there with the Chiefs or behind the Chiefs as one
of the most likely teams to make it back. And
sometimes hard decisions have to be made. And I do
think this was just a personal thing. It was a

(10:37):
financial thing and a personal thing that they were going
to take this crazy, big cap hit at some point
when they divorced from Diggs, and it could have been
this year, it could have been next year, and they
kind of decided maybe this year makes more sense when
we can get a second round pick back.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
And there's just a lot going on and it feels
I guess the.

Speaker 6 (10:53):
Confluence of all those issues, Yeah, that's why the move happened.
And I don't think it's that big of a mystery,
But in terms of just keeping the Bills situated right
behind the Chiefs with Josh Allen like and the fact
that they're an incomplete picture, and they could pick up
three wide receivers in the draft and one of them
could hit, and then you've found you're justin Jefferson possibly right,

(11:13):
But that's an incomplete score right now.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
We don't know what's gonna happen.

Speaker 6 (11:16):
But from a perception angle, if you're a Bills fan
and your Super Bowl window is sitting there wide open,
and you move on from six of your eight captains
from a year ago, the team does look different. And
I think Brandon Bean at least is being honest, like,
I don't know if they've gotten better. I don't think
we have at this point, but we'll see what's to come.

Speaker 5 (11:32):
And that's the thing, and I appreciate the honesty because
it's just a preposterous to me, right, a preposterous idea
to say that Stefan Diggs was that much of a
problem emotionally, that he was holding the team back that
much and that was the reason why you got right
out of your own stadium in the snow against the Bengals,
or the reason that everything fell apart last year. I

(11:52):
understand there was a crucial drop in a playoff game,
but the reason he's dropping the ball because he's open.
Right to drop a ball like that, you have to
get open in the first place, Like he's still capable
of doing that, And like Marquez Valdez, Scantling was making
great plays in the bad So were you thinking like
MVS is greater than stuff on. It's just I just

(12:12):
have a tough time believing that the downside of not
having them on your football team anymore. Going to another
game in the AFC that is probably going to the playoffs,
you could could seriously consider the possibility that you're playing
good stuff on Diggs if you're fortunate enough to make
it to the playoffs. I don't necessarily buy that the bet.
I get it Greg that they're still a good team,
but I don't.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
I don't buy that they're better.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
I just think sometimes these are humans and the smoke
that we're talking about, like there were there were issues
here in terms of him staying away from the team
last year. They had certainly they had the blow up
after the playoff loss that that he was upset about,
and I heard I heard information, and they talked about that,
and I you just heard publicly from Josh and Steffan

(12:58):
that it wasn't maybe as tight as it used to be.
And I did think it was interesting that Brandon Bean
talked about Josh Allen being informed at various stages of
this process that, yeah, despite all the reporters passing along
the news, like I saw something in the Athletic that's like, oh,
they fully planned to have Digs on their roster and

(13:20):
they weren't just blowing you know, hot air.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
They've finally just gotten off or they liked.

Speaker 4 (13:24):
It's like, I don't buy that, especially when I hear
this from Brandon Bean.

Speaker 7 (13:27):
Josh and I have a pretty regular conversation on things,
and I think it's important for me to make sure
if I think something could happen, to make sure he's
not blindsided. And so I would, you know, without going
into the discussion with Josh when the last time we
spoke was, I did alert him that, you know, there

(13:48):
had been some inquiries and it wasn't one off the table.

Speaker 6 (13:53):
I mean, it's just that, you know, I think this
this was a possibility going back for a while to
the Combine meetings. Now what's happened. It happened quickly this week,
and I'm with you, it's personal. Like I think Tim
Graham on The Athletic wrote a pretty involved, intense piece about,
you know, point by point of what happened. But I
would just say in general, like, if I'm the rest
of these AFC heavies, I would be annoyed that you

(14:17):
just turned the Houston Texans volume up even more. Like
you want to tell me about a team that's right
behind the Chiefs on paper, It's not the Bills.

Speaker 3 (14:24):
To me, it's the Texans.

Speaker 6 (14:25):
And it's like, thank you Buffalo for making this AFC,
you know, evolving powerhouse even more glowing and unusual to
deal with.

Speaker 4 (14:33):
Okay, yeah, let's hit it from the Texan side, because
what an offseason that they have had. They give up
a twenty twenty five second round pick, but oh, by
the way, they got a Day three pick, a Round
five pick this year back, and a twenty twenty five
sixth round pick back. And the more I thought about,
I was like, wow, those two picks are pretty significant.

(14:53):
Someone actually did the you know, trade value chart of
those two picks, one of them being this year versus
the second round pick next year, and it's like, yeah,
the Bills win that trade in a vacuum, but like
just in terms of the picks being traded, but not
by that much.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
So actually it was.

Speaker 4 (15:11):
Almost like a face saving move that, Okay, we did
get one second, but we had to give up two
picks back plus Stefan Diggs, and so that really makes
it look like it was more of a salary dump
than anything.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
It was a mix.

Speaker 4 (15:27):
It was a salary dump more than getting the draft asset.
And Houston has to be freaking thrilled that they have
Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell, and Dalton Sultz as
their top four pass catchers. And oh, by the way,
you like Noah Brown, John Metchi, Robert Woods are still
on this roster. It's gonna be a great group of

(15:48):
in terms of competition, in terms of depth on that team,
it is awesome. And I think Stefan Diggs is gonna
give you the best Stepan Diggs possible at thirty one,
not that you weren't getting it Buffalo, but he is
going to be ready and he's going to be on
a team that can use him. And maybe the numbers
aren't quite as high as peak Buffalo days. Because there's
so much competition for catches, but that he is still

(16:10):
a really dynamic receiver for CJ.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
Stroud and gives and.

Speaker 5 (16:13):
Gives the Texans so much just in terms of opportunity
and what they can do. And not to mention that
they bring in Joe Mixon the off season as well,
who's soaked it literally almost never came off the field
for the Bengals. So he had two AFC contenders that
are going to have a couple of their best offensive
players playing against them potentially down down the stretch and
maybe even in the playoffs. But it's there's so much

(16:35):
because you go from a group that's like young and exciting,
and Brown comes on mid to late last season as well,
and it's like where are these contributions and then there's
just so much and it's it's almost like where's the
where's the crack going to be?

Speaker 2 (16:51):
Like what's what's the flaw?

Speaker 6 (16:52):
And it's yeah, the roster is like is pretty wild
on offense considering where they were two years ago. I mean,
very few team have transformed that quickly like the Bills
around Josh Allen did and now they're going in the
other direction. You kept Bobby slowick and this stuff on
Diggs thing does not need to be a three or
four year commitment. The guaranteed money runs out after this year.
If he turns into a problem or he doesn't, he's

(17:15):
the same player. You don't even have to have him
on this roster next year.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
Right.

Speaker 4 (17:18):
There is something to me about wide receivers landing a
new spot and just you getting the best possible version
of them for a year or two. Not like you
wouldn't later, but I just think it's a natural human
thing that you land in a new place and you
want to be at your very.

Speaker 6 (17:34):
Best a new house guests and these are very polite
and then like if they're there too long and their
border like.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
In terms of Digs, like he'll have a Hall of
Fame case someday if he continues on this path.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
I think of someone who.

Speaker 4 (17:46):
Was like, oh yeah, well, like I tweeted this out
that like, multiple things can be true. I don't think
it was a crazy move by the Bills in this
spot that it might have been time and and okay,
but it also is an amazing move for the Texans
and they're going to get the best version of Digs
and got a lot of responses from Bill's well, how
are you gonna get the best version of him coming

(18:06):
off his worst season at thirty?

Speaker 3 (18:08):
When does that ever happen?

Speaker 4 (18:09):
I was like, Okay, well, if you wanted to ask
Randy Moss, Terrell Owens in the way that I'm talking
about this Steve Smith at aged thirty five in Baltimore,
and like, yes, Steve Smith and some of the like
in Smith's case, he had at her numbers sometimes earlier.
But I mean the best version possible where it's a
career resurgence, it is an excellent player, and guys that

(18:32):
get open like Diggs, that that travels in slok will
I think know how to use them.

Speaker 3 (18:37):
And Nico to me is a is a one.

Speaker 4 (18:41):
Basically he's a T Higgins maybe, and and so Digs
and him are ones together with Dell. It's just it's
freaking amazing because the Texans are ready. We're going to
be a team that people myself included thought like, I
don't know, why can't they make the Super Bowl this year?
And this puts it on another level. I think they
need some interior offensive line help. I do think there's

(19:02):
some issue there. They don't have any guys on their
defensive line other than Anderson, which is a big other
than that, they've really developed it or any younger, So
they need some people for the future there. They certainly
need a cornerback other than Derek Stingley. This is not
a perfect team. Their defense was playing better late last season,
but they were kind of averaged throughout last Like, it's
not a perfect team, but man, I would not be

(19:23):
surprised if it's Texans Chiefs kickoff.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Especially when you consider CJ.

Speaker 5 (19:29):
Streup that was not just first season, but Bobby Slowick's
like first play college, Like, there's only an opportunity to
go up here. I guess unless, right, the whispers about
Stefan Diggs, maybe he goes in and he ruins everybody's relationship.

Speaker 3 (19:43):
I'm just okay, happen to me.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
On specifically what Stefan Diggs did.

Speaker 6 (19:50):
So well, there are like there are anecdotes of him
just generally that when like when his brother tweeted out
that he should be not on the Bills rescue him
kind of thing, and he had a chance to address
it and he didn't. He stuck up for his brother,
not the Bills. And there were like four or five
situations like he did have a tweet this is well,
I don't think that there's stuff we don't know about

(20:10):
it tweet him.

Speaker 4 (20:10):
I don't think it's anything crazy, but he did have
a tweet this week that was literally a day before
this trade, whereas you can't make this up. At the
Peaky Pirate asked Josh benefit from having a top tier receiver?

Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yes, is he essential to success? No?

Speaker 4 (20:26):
And Diggs responds, you sure, and it's it's it's just
these little things, and I think it's natural because of
course Josh benefits and it's essential.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
To have like great receivers. But it's all.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
I just think it's been a little bit of a
credit issue between Diggs and Allen and that it might
have been a little bit of an impersonal thing.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
And it is what I heard.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
Between them when they were yelling and stuff that I
do think there was a little bit of like who
is more important to this team?

Speaker 3 (20:56):
Who made who?

Speaker 4 (20:57):
And if you're the two most important players on your team,
have a little bit of an issue in terms of
sharing credit. And we've seen this from the best players
of all time. It's happened the best organizations of all time.
It broke up Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones for twenty
years broke up. Stean Davison K that's an issue, then
then maybe okay, that's the time in there having an
interpersonal thing and it's it's totally natural, but it.

Speaker 6 (21:19):
Maybe it's a time to break it. It really happened in Minnesota.

Speaker 5 (21:22):
It's we wish we could have managed things a little
less differently yas the time and what are we doing
right now with the opportunity that.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
We have to try to be successful?

Speaker 5 (21:32):
Yeah, And if you're telling me that, if you can't
just get over it and make it work with a
very talented person, then I question, I question how much
you really want to win.

Speaker 4 (21:46):
But if you've just went through a season where you
went into that season as an issue and then you
came out of this season and you feel like no
one solved it, whether it's Stefan Josh, the coaches, the
front office, then I just think in football like they can,
they can still be a strong organization. And maybe you're
right that they're taking they know they're taking a step back.
By the time didn't didn't feel crazy to me.

Speaker 6 (22:07):
I just think you added the other the money side
of it, the fact that you get to pick out
of it on some level his age. Maybe you don't
believe that with the dude, the offensive corner they have
that he thrived last year and it just kind of
all fits together. I mean, but there's a track record
of stuff on Diggs being a slightly diva ish wide
receiver at multiple stops like that, Like that's that's a

(22:28):
hymn thing.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
He's the through lines.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
The money side of it is crazy, though. They're taking
a huge dead cap at over thirty million dollars to
trade one of their best players, which really hurts, and
they probably were gonna have to take a similar issue
hit if they did it next year, and they just
decided let's take it all this year. They're not gonna
spread it into next year, being talked openly of Actually
they have a little less cap room now. They'll be

(22:50):
able to freeze them up with one of their post
June first but they have very little money to spend.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
They're gonna have to sign their draft picks.

Speaker 4 (22:57):
It is crazy, and it's mismannered that you are taking
that big of a capit to get rid of one
of your best players on a contract you signed a
couple of years ago. That's that's a mistake, and and
you it's partly, I would say, even largely because of
the mistakes you made elsewhere on the roster, primarily von Miller.

Speaker 5 (23:15):
And it does help with perception, perhaps on the fan
base side and probably on the ownership side, if you
float a lot of conversation about how insufferable this person is,
but makes it.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
But to be fair, I to be fair, I don't
think it's out of not infer because I don't think
it's insufferable. But I think Stefan Digg's heart essentially supported
the idea that, like there were some issues there between
him and Josh Allen. When your brother's out there saying that,
and you know, yeah, if the money is the same,
passive aggressive ways on that side too, to maybe get

(23:47):
out of there.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
Yeah, if the money is the same and you're in
building full of people that don't want you there, then
why would.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
You be there?

Speaker 5 (23:53):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (23:54):
Yeah, I could talk about this one forever. It is
really a fascinator. Not that feels a little bit like
I just mean like it is one of the more
fascinating trades I can remember in a long time in
terms of great players still playing well. Going from one
contender to another. One is an example Houston of a rebuild.

(24:15):
And I don't really believe in rebuilds in the NFL,
but you gotta say Houston did it. They got lucky
because look, CJ. Stroud could have got taken number one,
and they would have taken Bryce Young and maybe very
you know, a lot of this doesn't happen, or there
are various things you get lucky.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
Or maybe Bryce would be successful.

Speaker 6 (24:34):
I mean, right, well, they got lucky that they were
able to trade their last quarterback for like four kingdoms.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
But they they went through a couple a couple of
seasons where it was truly tear it down to the studs.
Nick Casario is still there, and just a couple of
years later they are now competing for a title and
the Bills are doing the thing that's even harder, which
is the most successful run they've ever had since since
the lost Super Bowls. To me, like the most consistent

(25:01):
team in the NFL over the last five years other
than the Chiefs and the Digs. Is what put them
over the top. That trade was an absolute sick success.
The thing that was crazy to me was yesterday hearing
some people pushing back on that it was like that
was an absolute win no matter how this ended, do
you agree? Bills fan Eric Roberts before we take a break,

(25:22):
looking back on his time with the Bills, I mean
it was fun. I'm not gonna lie, but he will
be remembered because I mean the end was messy.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
It could you know, have gone.

Speaker 8 (25:30):
A breakup's never easy, but things were definitely different between
him Josh's first few years in Buffalo. Hey, we played
Madden together. We're brothers, and that kind of, like Sideline
love kind of evaporated, and you know, obviously during games
you see him kind of john at each other, and
the Bill's fandom is like Josh is the savior, you know,

(25:51):
so that people are gonna side with Josh. I mean,
he don't get me wrong. I I have a dig
signed jersey in my closet. So like he was pivotal,
essential to the success they've had over the last four seasons.
But I think in many ways they found a way
to win without him. I mean, like Mark kind of
pointed out when they did this run to make the playoffs.

(26:13):
He started the season I think five out of six
games one hundred yards and then he kind of just
wasn't there, so I think they found a way. I
think they're going to go through Kincaid. I don't think
Curtis Samuel and Shakir and Hollins are.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
They're not the answer. They're not the answer, But piece is.
I think where you need to find, you got James Cook.

Speaker 8 (26:32):
Josh Allen is RB one in most cases, I just
think it's a change of times.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
All I'm saying is the Bills went let's count him
up from nineteen ninety nine until twenty nineteen, so that
is a clean twenty seasons without winning ten games. They
got that ten win season before Diggs arrived there, but
that team was a little lucky to get there. Then
the next four years thirteen wins, eleven wins, thirteen wins

(26:59):
eleven and if you look at the hold on, if
you look at the point differential, though even better than
the Chiefs the last couple of years. They have been
one of the best teams in the NFL for four
street season. Digs isn't by the only reason why, but
he is a big reason.

Speaker 6 (27:12):
That's that's fine because relative to what the Bills fans
and what the Bills dealt with for in eras in
a row. I get it, but there's still three four
other teams that won the Super Bowl during the Stephan Diggs.

Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yeah, and I know it's not met.

Speaker 6 (27:25):
It's like it's nice to have a thirteen win season
and eleven win season, but it's like, I don't want
to hear that they're more successful than the Chiefs and
some some some subtilities like.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Not in the tangle. The Chiefs win super Bowls as
a team, right. I didn't say the Chiefs.

Speaker 4 (27:37):
I'm just saying other than the Chiefs, like they've been
as consistent in what I don't know, but a team
that is successful, because you're going to be looking back
on these as the.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
Good old day.

Speaker 8 (27:48):
I had a blast watching Digs in no way in
my life. Good riddance. I mean, you know, there are
some things to stick out because of the messy end
to it all. But like I loved having step on
the team. I don't see I don't definitely I've you
that we are not the Bills are not better.

Speaker 4 (28:01):
I mean the crazy thing is they had a legit
chance to win the Super Bowl last year. I mean
they they played them even in that game and they
didn't come through, and who knows what would have happened,
but it didn't happen. We're gonna take a quick break
and then we're gonna get to burning desires of teams
around the NFL.

Speaker 6 (28:24):
He's from Alabama, you're just hair has a lamaabon.

Speaker 5 (28:36):
Yeah, but you've just been to a barber where you've
found here, So I don't know, am I I'm still
in the lama ring.

Speaker 6 (28:42):
I'd have to investigate alama closer, but maybe a lama
after they were shaved down that you know, it gets
hot in the summer.

Speaker 4 (28:49):
I lived near a lama farm growing up, not a lie. Uh,
and you know they got to shave them.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah, were they Were they meet lamas or were they?

Speaker 5 (28:58):
No?

Speaker 2 (28:58):
They do lamas for what would you call it? Would
that be wols?

Speaker 3 (29:01):
Actually don't even Yeah, I think that's why they had them.

Speaker 6 (29:04):
Was a lama farm in Massachusetts. That's sort of not
the first place I would target for that.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
You know, where I grew up.

Speaker 4 (29:09):
There are all sorts of farms in western Massachusetts, fruit farms,
animal farms.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
But yeah, I'm not gonna name it.

Speaker 4 (29:19):
You know, maybe he doesn't want his name out there,
but yeah, a guy, a kid who was in my
class his family owned the Lama farm. And yeah, once
it started getting hot, you see those Lamas there goes
the wall.

Speaker 3 (29:30):
Is that it No, it's in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
Is well, don't don't do them out.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
It's fine.

Speaker 4 (29:38):
Maybe maybe it'll be on another farm though it'll be
good for business. I have no idea if it's still open,
but it was right nearby. And no, I don't think
there's that much of a resemblance between Patrick and those Lamas.
But look, if Lamas looked like Patrick Claybond, people would
like Lamas more. I feel like lamas don't get a
lot of love out there. You know who's gonna get

(29:58):
a lot of love. Teams we haven't talked about in
a little while, so, uh, we're gonna go through as
many teams as we can, uh, and we're gonna talk
about the burning desires that these teams have heading into
the NFL Draft. And I guess I would put it
to you guys, we'll try to get through as many

(30:19):
as we can. I know team, you know, everyone likes
to hear their team talked about, So we're not gonna
go too long.

Speaker 3 (30:23):
But I would say.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
To my friends Patrick and Mark just I think start
as strong as you can, because we don't you never
know how many we're gonna get through the most burning
of desires where the loins are just on fire.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Start with those, and let's start with Mark Stesler.

Speaker 6 (30:41):
I have been looking around at a number of different teams,
and the one that stands out for me in terms of,
like you've got a glaring hole. Now are we saying
this has to be like the first round? It's somewhere
because it's not the greatest position. If there's a number
of teams out there that that I think need uning backs.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
Okay, all right, because I think it's just issues. It
doesn't matter where you fill them.

Speaker 6 (31:04):
And it's and we do talk about this team, but
I look at the Dallas Cowboys as a team that
like they've made They've shipped around their offensive line a
little bit. It's not the strength that it was once
and it hasn't been for years. But like, you've got
issues at center potentially, but they're starting running back is
douce Von, who I think is an interesting We went
to training camp and kind of fell in love with them.

Speaker 4 (31:22):
Maybe Rico Daubto, I would say, but if they had
to play a game today, right.

Speaker 6 (31:26):
And there's whispers that they're going to bring back Ezekial Elliott,
which to me just flies in the face of everything
that they're attempting to try to tell anyone that they're doing.
They're doing very little. There are a couple decent running
backs in this draft. Maybe it's not first round, but
I need to see this team bring in some juice
and bring in some youth and not re sign Zeke
Elliott who is three or four years away out from

(31:48):
being the guy he once was.

Speaker 5 (31:50):
Yeah, and the bargain shopping, just if I know that
there's been a whole lot of all in criticism, like
anytime anybody else does something, it's oh or the cow
really all in. It can't be just bargain shopping the
whole way through and trying to get a draft steal,
like at some point they have to be proactive, enshuring

(32:11):
a significant part of what this offense has been in
the past four to five years. And I'm with you, Mark,
Zeke can't be the answer. And I don't even know
who the running back would be if they were to
try to reach in round two or something like that.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
It's a horrible.

Speaker 4 (32:26):
It's a short but we say that, and there's a
lot of good rookies that come out in the middle
rounds every year, and some of these seem excite.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
It depends on who you listen to.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
Trey Benson or Marshall Lloyd sound to me like guys
who would have a chance to come in and fill
two hundred and twenty five carries at a high level
if you can block for them.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
But that that's.

Speaker 4 (32:48):
Part of the issue. I'm glad you mentioned the Cowboys.
They were one of the eight or so teams I
had the biggest star round because pick a position. This
roster suddenly has also sorts of issues. Interior offensive line
major issue. I'm assuming Tyler Smith is gonna play left tackle,
but he was one of the best guards in the

(33:08):
league I thought last year, so it could be left
tackler guard. But like suddenly, you really need a center
and a guard. You need a running back. That was
next on my list. I think you need a wide receiver.
You're okay for twenty four with Lamb Cooks and Tolbert,
but you need to start developing another receiver there. They

(33:29):
kind of fell apart last season because they didn't have
anyone to play linebacker when vander esh got her, and like,
linebackers are no longer important until the point where they're
like ending the seasons for the Eagles and the Cowboys,
and I think there's gonna be a little bit of
a correction, and like they've kind of reached last year
for Mazzie Smith in the first round in Luke Schoonmaker,
and maybe those two guys work out after quiet rookie years,

(33:51):
but they need Mozzie Smith to start right now because
they don't have any defensive tackles. So that's like, that's
another position where they have about as many screaming needs
and as many stars and like wins over the last
few years as any team. But man, they have a
lot of big ones, a lot of burning design.

Speaker 5 (34:08):
I was looking for just in terms of bad offenses,
trying to go through something for another show, and I
sorted by.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
The wait what you do other shows?

Speaker 2 (34:18):
Yeah, there's there's a couple gotta hitch your bets.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
I mean, can you be specific here? Who is their enemy?

Speaker 2 (34:25):
Well? No, it's this was for.

Speaker 5 (34:26):
Path, a path to the draft and NFL going through
team needs, so you know, the rising Todde lifts all boats.
But I was I was.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
Looking Standel Teremiah on it so kind of an enemy, but.

Speaker 5 (34:36):
Okay, I was looking for the teams with the lowest
average separation. You know, the Cowboys are in the bottom
three of the league. MM, like what that was? That
was surprising to me. I know Dak throws a lot
of you know, tight window passes, and it's just everything
shouldn't always be so hard.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
Well that isn't that like a Mike McCarthy offense. Yeah,
trademark where it's like go win guys, and scheme isn't
getting you open.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
Like that's why they got sick of them in Green Bay.

Speaker 5 (35:03):
And so like I understand, you know, it's twenty twenty
four and we're not gonna build the whole offense around
a running back. But as good as Deck is, maybe
take something off of his plate. Yeah, just every once
in a while.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
That was.

Speaker 6 (35:14):
That was the complaining an off season ago. And it's
gotten worse.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
All right, Patrick, hit me with another one. All right,
another team.

Speaker 5 (35:20):
Let's go to another place that has a burning desire.
A burning desire to me is when it's really a need,
like it's it's obvious to you and everybody else did.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
When you walk in the room. That's what you want.

Speaker 5 (35:36):
And we're gonna have Nathaniel Hackett's offense coming back and
having Aaron Rodgers, which I would make the argument that it's.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Aaron Rodgers offense.

Speaker 5 (35:45):
And the Jets have been very proactive, but they have
a burning desire not just for a position for Brock
Bauers or Romo Dounze Woo. They need Aaron Rodgers to
look out there and make eye contact with somebody and
do something based on their matchup that's completely independent of

(36:07):
Nathaniel Hackett.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
Weill said.

Speaker 5 (36:10):
And I think it's gotta be one of those two players.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
Considering where they're picking in the draft.

Speaker 5 (36:15):
If everybody's running to get quarterbacks, if somebody jumps up
and has a higher opinion of Quinon Mitchell or Tryon,
if they've got to get one of those two.

Speaker 3 (36:24):
I kind of love this.

Speaker 6 (36:26):
I especially think Bauers fits for a couple of teams,
and like I almost thought the Jets for a candidate.

Speaker 3 (36:32):
To maybe even trade up if they really.

Speaker 6 (36:34):
Want to go all in and get like Marvin harrit
It's like you go get the best wide receiver in
the draft. If you want to trade up with the Chargers,
but the charger zone burning need makes that a little difficult.
But if you replace Alan Lazard with a dunn't see,
then you've got Mike Williams, who, like Mike Williams, is
probably gonna miss five or six skeedus.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
He doesn't need to be open to make a catch.
To Patrick's point, I just.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Think like you.

Speaker 6 (36:56):
You just you'd have the best wide out group in
the league if the rookie plays up to what we
think it can be.

Speaker 4 (37:03):
Yeah, that would be sexy. And those are three guys
like Garrett Wilson gets open on his own, a Dunez,
and Mike Williams, to me, is one of the best
contested catch receivers in the NFL.

Speaker 6 (37:16):
I'm gonna I didn't get this this Alaurien Yu during
my opener, So next time, I hope, I do.

Speaker 2 (37:21):
I hope to.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
The New Orleans Saints.

Speaker 4 (37:29):
They make a lot of mistakes in their front office,
and they survived, and they're in the middle and sometimes
they just like a player too much and they give
up multiple first round picks to move up and sign
a project by the name of Trevor Penning that was
in the first round a couple of years ago.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
Sometimes they get hooked on a guy and it works.
It's Chrys a lobby.

Speaker 4 (37:54):
And then sometimes it's Trevor Penning who seemed to be
in the doghouse and they wouldn't play them even Tho
when they were playing the fourth string left tackle. Now
they're entering a season right now without really any left tackle.
I guess it'd be maybe Landing Young, maybe it'd be
Trevor Penning. And I look at this team and I'm
I just look at like they don't have a third receiver.
It's a lobby and Shaheed, but you can survive without that.

(38:16):
And I look at this position, and it's always concerning
for a front office when you have a burning desire
for a position you just tried to fill a couple
of years ago.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
But this guy seemed to get into.

Speaker 4 (38:29):
Some sort of interpersonal issue with the coach, which is
also a feature of this organization. Not a bug, or
it is a bug, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
It is a feature. It is a feature and a bug.

Speaker 5 (38:40):
And that's the that's the most painful thing about it
is that I had this as a burning desire myself,
right you did.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Because it was a burning desire.

Speaker 5 (38:48):
I was in there in New Orleans during the draft,
and it was so obvious that they needed a tackle,
like that was what they were going to do. And
so they get Trevor Penning and and there's the foot issue,
and then there's Liz Frank and it seems like this is,
as Michael Thomas pointed out on Twitter, like this is
a recurring theme where somebody has something and then it's well,

(39:13):
let's see how it goes, and then the player has
to get surgery on their own time, not during the season,
and then they're late getting into the next season. And
you wonder, you know, if Ryan Ramchick could have had
that surgery that he had in February, if that's a
December surgery, are things a little bit different now? And
so it's it's back. It's back as a burning desire,

(39:35):
and do we start this whole process over again or
do they they maybe try to move up, use whatever
they can to get them more.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
Now, this is a deep class, so if nothing else,
I think they could sit there and take one. But
it it's disappointed. I'm glad you mentioned Ramcheck. Dennis Allen
told reporters and I don't think we mentioned it on
the show that his procedure is not recovering as quickly
as hoped.

Speaker 3 (39:59):
And he's had a lot of injuries.

Speaker 4 (40:01):
He was a really fantastic pick, a fantastic player whose
injuries have caused him to miss significant time and he
hasn't been as effective.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
And there's been little whispers even about like.

Speaker 4 (40:13):
Not retirement because they renegotiated his contract, but just like
his knees in a lot of trouble. So that's two
major issues for the Saints. I do want to hear
the music behind you at this time.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
I do too.

Speaker 6 (40:27):
I can think of someone out there that went through
a breakup. This individual engineered it and so he's probably
not the one feeling the heartbreak. But Sean Payton and
the Russell Wilson relationship, which you know, a calendar.

Speaker 3 (40:45):
Year ago, there was hope that he could make the
most out of it.

Speaker 6 (40:49):
Well that's over, that's out the door. And I can't
think of another coach in the league. While everyone's heming
and hauling and keeping secrets about what they want to do,
Sean Payton has like openly talked about like the Arizona Cardinals.
Another team sitting up there, the Chargers in absolutely enviable
positions for someone like him who has his eye a
wandering eye on a new quarterback, because I don't think

(41:10):
Sean Payton wants to after last season, mine in the
year two and do nothing in this position. Now he's
in a tough spot because likely four of them will
be gone if they can't.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
I'm saying, if they can't engineer.

Speaker 6 (41:21):
A trade up that that was our last episode's concept
and we didn't have them doing that, then you're looking
at probably someone like bon Nick's out of Oregon to
be Sean Payton's quarterback. And the more I've gotten into
this player, I'm not saying it's the fifth quarterback, and
that's risky and you don't have to you don't want
to sell the farm on it.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
But he's accurate, he's.

Speaker 6 (41:42):
Athletic, he's got pocket poise, he's got a little bit
of a running game to him. It sounds like someone
that Sean Payton could work with. He's a heady quarterback.
It's not ideal, but if you're Denver less, ideal is
coming out of this with no quarterback at all and
trying to make it through a depressing, one more depressing
year in Denver. Well, probably Russell Wilson's like as the

(42:04):
way football works, Russell Wilson's in Pittsburgh, like winning games,
or like a Steelers team that's five and one.

Speaker 4 (42:11):
Bo Nicks does make a little sense to me for them,
just maybe not at twelve, like it's a little rich.

Speaker 3 (42:17):
Hit him in the second round, get him in the
third round. Maybe, like a lot of times.

Speaker 4 (42:20):
These quarterback, especially the fifth sixth ones that we talk
about maybe going you could trade down back to like high,
don't go as high as you hope, because then then
you're really reaching for talent. Those comments from Peyton at
the owners meetings really made me take a step back
because you know, I've watched John Payton from AFAR for
a long time and the way he uses the media

(42:40):
is one of a kind. And I guess the way
I would say he uses the media very often is
he does not tell the complete truth to them, you know,
so like, why are you throwing it out there that
you want to trade up? It's like, okay, well then
I just and it's this time of year, I'm not
breaking any news that almost any coach in GM talking
about their draft plans, you can look askance at why

(43:04):
is he throwing that out so hard at an odor
as being because when I hear that, I sort of
assume he means the opposite, which is that he's not
going to be doing that.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
I don't know, but maybe he's like Jedi.

Speaker 4 (43:17):
Mind tricking me to the point really is it's going
to require a Jedi mind trick to go into the
season with Jared Stidham and Tanucci. Right, he did say,
you know, Jared Stidham is going to have some serious competition.
He did not want to entertain any questions that like that.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
Maybe he meant maybe he meant from Bin Denucci right,
that sounds serious the wrong way us coming. I do
think it be aware of Galaxy branding things that shot.
I think like Sean Payton may be telling the truth
okay a lot of times, which is something he's got
in trouble for saying too much of the truth. But yeah,

(43:53):
I think the player they want to trade for is
Caleb and that opportunity seems to have passed, and so like,
what's what's he willing to give the farm for?

Speaker 6 (44:05):
They do have more draft capital than people would realize.
Like I keep thinking like Husse of the Russell wasn't
in there, like they have no they have a bunch
of draft picks.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
Like, they also have a lot of needs.

Speaker 4 (44:15):
Like, what is a position group that the Broncos feel
great about? I like, I don't see one. The offensive line, eh,
like Patrick swattans'r best player. And they still need cornerbacks
right Their second cornerback was picked on mercilessly. Although they
did find someone in jo Quon McMillan. It was a
nice story for a nickelback. You know, Simmons is no

(44:36):
longer like I guess they feel okay at safety Cadence
Terns and Brandon Jones.

Speaker 3 (44:40):
I don't I don't even know.

Speaker 4 (44:41):
There's not a position group you look at and you're like, well,
that's the identity of the team. That's a huge strength.
I they are very very uh milk tested me. You
know who else is not milk toast is that.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
There is a Cardinal.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
They don't even have any milk in their toast.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
I heard I heard one one podcast.

Speaker 4 (45:06):
It was Bill Simmons with Mena Kimes saying that a
lot of people going big on the over six and
a half for the Cardinals right off the bat, and
there's this idea I like the Cardinals coaching staff that
the Cardinals are this team on the rise, and then
I go to our lads dot Com NFL depth charts
and I look, the entire roster is a burning desire.

(45:27):
I have a burning desire for their entire defense to
be improved. There's very little talent on it. Wide receiver
would be another position. They've got an offensive line, they've
got a quarterback, They've got James Connor. They really don't
have much else. Their entire defense, I would say, is
as talent poor. I would put it thirty second in
the league out of thirty two. So to me, that

(45:49):
is a burning, burning desire, and they inherited a tough situation.
I really believe in the coaching staff. I think this
is gonna be a good coaching staff based on what
I saw a year ago, and that can improve your team.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
But man, they need a talent infusion.

Speaker 4 (46:01):
I think they're going about it the right way, trading back,
getting more picks last year, and you hope those picks hit.
I think they had a good draft last year. They
might be trading back again. But when I see a
burning desire that I see the fire of Jonathan Gannon
saying I need some players to go along with this
scheme that is working pretty well.

Speaker 3 (46:17):
Because I do not see a lot of strengths on
this team. I see a whole lot of weeks shooooo shoo.

Speaker 6 (46:23):
I think if you're a Cardinals fan, if you're watching
what's happened over the last like thirteen months, you have
to be extremely encouraged.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
I'm with you on the coaching staff.

Speaker 4 (46:31):
I will say this, I get it, and I get it,
like we have encouraged from the bottom of the barrel
to next. But to me, it's like, I think you
look at this and it's like, man, they have a
lot of work.

Speaker 3 (46:40):
If they hit on the draft picks.

Speaker 6 (46:42):
Though, because I think the master plan is like they
it feels to me it's like eighty percent that they
trade out of the fourth spot, and then you've got
let's say it's the Vikings the most likely trade partner.
You've got the eleventh and the twenty third, and I
think you address maybe edge, maybe it's Dallas Turner for instance,
at eleven, if you ever got down there past the
Foel Welkins, and then you get your wide receiver at
twenty three, and you've had two major needs addressed, and

(47:04):
you have accrued probably additional picks and everything else.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
It's a corner or it's like an interior off depends why.
I mean, the good part of needing something everywhere. And yeah,
and they might be pushing back to Cardinals fancying, hey
we hit on Garrett Williams last year. Yeah he was
a good rookie, but you still need more than one.
And Buddha Baker like, you could almost improve any position
on the roster other than I think you feel pretty
good about tackle and quarterback.

Speaker 5 (47:26):
But when those are your needs, it does put you
in a position where if you're in a trade down spot,
you can fill a couple of those spot. You can
get down into the early teens, take a shot at
Jared Verse, you get your edge, you know, depending on
how you want to fill things out. But if it's
not because I think the easy idea is stay and

(47:49):
take Marvin Harrison junior, right, that's the.

Speaker 3 (47:51):
Also not the worst idea, Yeah, not a bad one.

Speaker 5 (47:53):
If that's if that's the problem, then then you're in
a good spot. I mean, of course you'd like to
have better talent on your own, absolutely, but it's there's
not a situation like this is in a Saints type situation.
We have to stay and watch everybody pick and then gee,
I hope we get a tackle because like this.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
Is this is clearly what we need. That they could
do whatever they want, all right.

Speaker 3 (48:12):
What I want to do or what I'm asked to do.
Take a quick break. We'll be back after that. I
don't trust Greg during these breaks. Who knows what he's
gonna get.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
Up to, especial when desires burning.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Yeah, we're back.

Speaker 4 (48:32):
We got burning desires, and I got a burning desire
to hit as many teams as possible. So we're gonna
try to go even faster with this last little segment.
And uh, I'm gonna start with a burning desire of
The Miami Dolphins feel like they haven't gotten a lot
of attention this year.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
It's offseason. I like what they've done. I like their roster.
They got a sneaky desire.

Speaker 4 (48:53):
They've spent a lot of money on Jalen Phillips and
Bradley Chubb, but they've also lost a couple of big
time rotational edge guys this year. One of their artist,
Phillips is coming off of torn achilles. One of them's
coming off of a torn acl and I look at
their front, their edge, and then especially defensive tackle right
next to those edges, and I see a big holes

(49:14):
on that Miami front. So I think that is a
position group, whether it's interior or the edge, planning a
little bit for the future that they need because Jalen
Phillips and Browley Chubb might not be ready for week one,
and it's unfair to expect them to be kind of
full Jalen Phillips Browleychubb in week.

Speaker 6 (49:31):
Yeah, people have linked like Byron Murphy, that would be good.
Exist that makes sense. I flip in and say that
they ow an issue at left guard like they cannot.
I just don't like the idea of not having the
best possible offensive line with Tua the way he is.

Speaker 4 (49:43):
But you can do baby, can coach, Yeah, can coach.
I mean you can do both. You can do in
the second and third round. And yeah, I think they've
done a good job coaching up.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
Aren't a lot of great guards in this one.

Speaker 5 (49:52):
But the offensive line, Yeah, the interior offensive line jumps
out there to me because they've done so much right
in terms of still they the skill positions on the
team that you're not even necessarily worried about it, and
you think, you know, considering the way that they can play,
and when you.

Speaker 4 (50:08):
Might want to plan a little bit for the future.
I did think about writing down third receiver, but for
now they're You're right right to say that that's not
a burning desire.

Speaker 3 (50:15):
That's just like a little that'd be nice.

Speaker 5 (50:17):
But I feel the intense heat emanating off of the
interior offensive line right as right, as well as you
know some spots on the defense, all right, Mark.

Speaker 6 (50:29):
I am the most fascinated outside of Houston with the
Los Angeles Chargers under Jim Harbot because I think that
you know, up up at number five, if they don't move,
they're gonna get They probably get Marvin Harrison Junior. That's
nice and that addresses a lot of issues, but there's
still going to be like this run heavy, old school
team from like nineteen thirty six. I think it at

(50:50):
certain times if they're up and they want to do that,
and it's like Gus Edwards I like a lot actually,
and I think he fits well and like he's obviously
got the hardbass stamp of approval from his Baltimore time
as well. But I'm looking at what they do at
the running back position too, and I know we'd mentioned
that for the Cowboys. So there are a couple teams
competing for running backs later on. And then I'm like realizing,
you can go Jonathan Brooks from Texas. I watched some

(51:12):
of him. Interesting player, But then there's Lake Krum from Michigan.
Literally John or Jim Harbaugh's old running back, not rated
as highly by most and not maybe you know Derrek
Henry part two, but just like, what will Harbaugh do
to I think he's gonna want like four or five
running backs to compete and like lead the league and
rushing attempts. And so I just want to see, because

(51:33):
there's so many Michigan players in the draft, how many
Jim Harbaugh Michigan players link up through this whole process.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
I think I think we may get a couple.

Speaker 5 (51:42):
But I also don't think considering because we've seen how
much of the Ravens staff is in Los Angeles now,
like how much that shared that it's not just the
self scouting that's gone on in Michigan. But Harball's not
coming into this being completely unaware of and if this
isn't like a an urban Meyer type situation where gosh,

(52:05):
just free stylin and doesn't necessarily know what the players
are and who the competition is. I do think that
while if the players in the right spot, we will
see Michigan guys over there.

Speaker 2 (52:16):
But I do think the general view.

Speaker 5 (52:20):
Of how Harball is going to run this thing, especially
starting with the draft, might not necessarily be the ultimate turnout.

Speaker 2 (52:27):
I do think the world is kind of open.

Speaker 4 (52:30):
I do too, and I think a wide receiver is
very possible at that pick. Everyone thinks they're just going
to talk off the offensive line because he's so into
the offensive.

Speaker 3 (52:37):
Line at five. We'll see at five, right with you.
They're exciting. They have a lot of needs losses.

Speaker 5 (52:45):
Oh well, you know, we've talked a lot about the
Houston Texans. But sometimes you look and see how happy
the neighbor is and you start to wonder about your
own relationships. And I think the Jacksonville Jaguars have a
burning desire, not just for talent in general. But let's
discuss the cornerback situation and then the secondary situation in

(53:08):
jackson A great football mind, and Greg Rosenthal pointed out
to me, despite my excitement about the twenty twenty three
Jacksonville Jaguars before the season. There are some real problems
in the secondary, and those problems did hold up, and
there are some cornerback needy teams in front of the Jacks.
I'm looking at the Indianapolis Colts. But let's say there's

(53:28):
a Quinnyon Mitchell or a kool Aid McKinstry or a
Terry On Arnold. I think one of those guys could
fulfill a burning desire for the Jacksonville jack Yeah.

Speaker 4 (53:37):
I think it was probably a debate what's their biggest need,
like an interior defensive lineman or a cornerback, and then
they get our Armstead and then that kind of answers
that question. They need a wide receiver too, I really
believe it, and I think they'll be open to it
at that point in the draft. There is a chance
that it's Brian Thomas, but maybe they look at someone
that it's a second round pick at wide receiver. But

(53:59):
they seemed very much like a cornerback wide receiver type
of team. When when you sign Ronald Darby, who who
I've always kind of liked it.

Speaker 3 (54:07):
He's like, he's a.

Speaker 4 (54:08):
Little better than you think, but he's that guy that
kind of gets signed to late in the mix to
fill in for your starters and then plays more than
you think and you're like, oh, I was a good
signing this time. He was like an early signing because
they were just like, we need someone to start worth
signing him. If that's your number two cornerback, you need
you need more, you need more in the future.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
They were.

Speaker 5 (54:26):
They were lost in the woods without Christian Kirk the
end of the season.

Speaker 2 (54:32):
It was a direcese.

Speaker 4 (54:33):
They did not expect them, fell out the side of
the earth. They did not expectation Calvin Ridley. They really thought,
I think it was going to be Ridley gave Davison
z uh and Christian Kerk still reasonably deep. I like
the Devin Duverney signing. Let's stay in the division. The

(54:53):
Colts just keep keeping their guys, That's what they do.
They signed Julian Blackman's safety this week. Thought that was
a nice move. But they need more. They need more
pizzazz around Anthony Richardson. Keeping Michael Pittman is not enough.
You need another receiver. This is another team I look
at as receivers and cornerbacks, receiver and cornerback like they
need them both. They're not they don't have enough juice

(55:15):
with Gus Bradley and their defense. And they tried with
a couple of picks last year at cornerback and they're
young there, but they could add another, but they keep
taking receivers and Alec Pierce right now looks like kind
of a foul ball that's not really working out. Josh Downs,
I think is gonna be a solid single, especially for
a third round pick.

Speaker 3 (55:32):
Maybe even better than that, maybe a double.

Speaker 4 (55:34):
But I think they need more juice at wide receiver
and cornerback.

Speaker 3 (55:37):
Those are two positions.

Speaker 6 (55:38):
Yeah, cornerback release stands up. But it's like, we don't
know a lot about Anthony Richardson. I like what we saw,
but it's like, of course, just like keep giving him
targets tight ends wide receivers because their overall wide receiver
group is just kind of like blah bowl of an
all ice creams.

Speaker 3 (55:55):
Let's get some guys who can make some plays on
their own.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
How about you.

Speaker 3 (55:58):
More, Let's go out to Seattle. Ooh ooh, yeah that
was wait.

Speaker 6 (56:02):
New coaching staff. They've got defensive tackle needs. You could
look at a couple of different parts of the defense,
but I am focused on the interior offensive line to
keep Gino Smith safe, to open up the ground game.
They've got four guys right now competing for the center
and two guard spots who have a combined sixteen starts

(56:25):
in professional football, and some of that's developmental. And you
always hear them say we like our young guys, but
it's like in a pretty solid offensive line draft, like
whether it's you're going to get a different tackle to
move somewhere around, Like, let's just keep working on this
offensive line.

Speaker 3 (56:39):
That was where I'd start with Seattle, and it was
bad last year.

Speaker 4 (56:42):
And I think it's the reason why I pushed back
against a lot of the Gino criticism from a year ago,
because the offensive line really struggled and if you kind
of divorced him from like plays he was protected, he
he did really well. They also need an edge, Like
to me, they just keep I don't know what they're
doing on defense exactly. Mike McDonald comes in and they

(57:05):
bring an Aiden Dirt to be their defensive curdinate dirty
from Dallas, the defensive line coach from a totally different system.
So I think that's good. He's like welcoming in different thoughts.
It's gonna be Mike McDonald's team, though, but they've been
just kind of picking around the edges here in general.
They fix their linebacker position, they sign Jerome Baker, Thrill
Dots and kind of or at least change their linebacker position.

(57:27):
But they just keep adding all these edges that are
just like, okay, like boy Mafe, Darryl Taylor Nuosu was
a good signing. They drafted Derek Hall in the second
round last year that didn't exactly work. Like they still
need like a guy that's a dude, like an un
they keep They have a lot of good twos and threes,
they need a one. And I think when I think

(57:47):
about a Mike McDonald defense, I think you definitely want that.

Speaker 5 (57:50):
Yeah, and especially considering because the Ravens defense on the
interior last year is just a breakout year on the
part of Justin Madeak, Davian Clowney had his best season
in a very very long time, And you just wonder,
who's the Who's the guy that's gonna play seventy five
percent of the snaps right out there on the edge,
maybe get eight and a half none sacks and isn't

(58:13):
really coming off the field. And I think they've tried.
I think that's what the MAFE pick the Taylor pick, and.

Speaker 3 (58:20):
And it's the same GM.

Speaker 4 (58:21):
So it's a little that's where like where they are
is a little confusing to me. Not confusing, but it's
just a different sort of overhaul that John Schneider, the
guy who in theory was making the pick, although we
know it was him and Carroll.

Speaker 3 (58:32):
Now it's really just Schnyder.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
So now the problem is fixed. Pizza.

Speaker 4 (58:36):
Well, no, I don't know that. I just I think
they've got a chance. I think they've got a chance
to be pretty good. Actually, they have a lot of.

Speaker 3 (58:43):
Things that you would want. I'm going to talk about
te might feel like it's kind of gotten.

Speaker 4 (58:51):
It's under the radar a little bit of the forty
nine ers this offseason, just because they haven't done a lot.
And when I look at their offensive line especially, but
I would look at cornerback two of like, they always
make the offensive line work, they always make the cornerback
room work. And you can't pay everyone, and this is
the salary cap era, and they're paying money to their

(59:13):
receivers and Nick Bosa and they're gonna pay Brandon Nyuk hopefully.
I think that will happen eventually, you gotta get cheap elsewhere. Man,
wouldn't it be nice to have some like badass offensive line.
You've got Trent Williams and just four guys you coach up,
and then you got Tarvarius Ward and some guys you
coach up. And so I think this is a draft
issue that they're only gonna get these premium players if

(59:35):
they can hit on draft picks, and that it's a
tough needle thread. You can find your AYU deep in
the first round and that'll change your team. And to me,
they could really use that cornerback and especially the offensive
line instead of coaching them up enough to be like
good enough, Like let's have some bad asses. Trent Williams
is not gonna be, you know, at this Hall of
Fame ridiculous level forever. And cornerbacks.

Speaker 6 (59:56):
I could see them as a candidate to trade up
if they love a tackle and they can swing a
deal to get just to not wait until thirty one
to get the guy if it's if there's a run
on tackles, and I agree, like they could get someone
to come in and compete at right tackle. And Trent
Williams is still there, but it's like, be aggressive. You're
the Niners, Like, don't wait for the third or fourth,

(01:00:17):
fifth best option.

Speaker 4 (01:00:18):
The salary cap is real, I always you know, it's
an exaggerationing state. It's not real, but it can be
negotiating for more for more teams than not. It's harder
to find great to good players to use that cap
space on. The forty nine ers are the exception. They
keep finding these great players so much that it really
is an issue with them in terms of team building
that it makes John Lynch have to really hit these picks.

(01:00:41):
And I just feel looking at their roster they again
are kind of at a point where they need to
start infusing the next super duper stars, and that's tough
to do.

Speaker 5 (01:00:51):
And especially when so many teams are in a position
where it's even worse than the forty nine ers up front,
like they don't have a Hall of Famer at left
tackle to say, well, at least that right, at least
that's there.

Speaker 3 (01:01:03):
True and a coach that seems to make it work.

Speaker 5 (01:01:05):
Yeah, And they're competing against the rest of the league
which is in a similar position of need where now,
thanks to their success, more than half of the league
is running the same.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
Offense right where everybody's looking for the same player.

Speaker 3 (01:01:19):
I know that, and picking ahead of them in this draft.
You we have not reached saturation.

Speaker 4 (01:01:24):
To me, Alex van Pelt in New England might be
the saturation point when I mean, look, they haven't all
worked either, Like Luke Getzi with the Bears didn't really work.
Like that's that tree. Not everyone in this tree is
going to work. But at some point the saturation is
an issue. Like when eight to ten gms in the
league were drafting similar players to the Patriots because they

(01:01:45):
were all Patriots disciples.

Speaker 3 (01:01:48):
Around the league.

Speaker 4 (01:01:49):
I think that created a real, you know, competitive problem
for the Patriots and these other teams. And I think
the same thing is going to happen with all these
McVeigh offenses at some point. All right, let's pause one
more time. We will app things up on the other
side and we are back. Okay, let's let's go speed round.
We'll each go one last one.

Speaker 5 (01:02:09):
Well, yeah, I'm looking at the team that just lost
to the San Francisco Ford Nunders. That was a fun
team for all of us. The Detroit Lion, glad you
picked them. They have a burning desire for a playmaker.
In the secondary. I really don't care if it's a cornerback,
if it's a safety, maybe it's a Cooper de Jon,
who knows. But this identity of this football team, you
can find it every place, even in quarterback and Jared

(01:02:32):
Golf all the way to the defensive line. But the
secondary is just kind of there.

Speaker 6 (01:02:37):
And they've been trying, and they don't have a ton
of needs. So it's like, go get that thing that
you need.

Speaker 4 (01:02:41):
I would I would push back a little bit on
that one. I think they need help up front on
both sides, and you're right, they're in a good spot
where it's not these screaming needs. But they came in
drafting Pinasoul saying they're gonna be all about the offensive line.
He is by far the youngest guy on that offensive line.
It's an older group. They haven't brought in anyone that's
me any difference there, and so I think they need
to start thinking about the future on the offense and

(01:03:03):
the defensive line. The defensive line picks other than Hutchinson
have been, you know, not all bad, but they haven't
had big hits.

Speaker 3 (01:03:12):
And if you're counting on Marcus Davenboord and.

Speaker 4 (01:03:13):
DJ Reeder to be your starters coming off injuries and stuff.
I think they get back to a Dan Campbell meat
and potatoes linemen on both sides.

Speaker 3 (01:03:23):
See I snuck in my opinion on that one. It
wasn't mine. I had go to Baltimore.

Speaker 6 (01:03:28):
I think that they it's fair to say that they
are in this state in life where they're a little reckless.

Speaker 3 (01:03:34):
They need all sorts of things.

Speaker 6 (01:03:35):
They have more needs than you'd realize, like, and it
starts with the fact that they let John Simpson, Kevin Zeitler,
Morgan Moses all leave off the offensive line. You still
have Ronnie Stanley, Patrick McCarry, Tyler Linderbaum, but you'd need
help at guard I think, or look at an upgrade there.
But I could also say you could say they they
need you could you could upgrade a tackle if you
wanted to. You need edge rushers. You have no more

(01:03:58):
ol Odell Beckham. And you're in a place at wide
out where you're you've reversed back a season where you've
taken weapons away from Lamar Jackson. So they could go
in a lot of different directions here. I don't think
I wouldn't have a problem with them picking a different
change difference changing wide out as well, but like they
kind of need a lot, Like they were the Ravens
bled a lot of talent off this roster.

Speaker 4 (01:04:18):
They did, and probably more than any team in the league.
Their roster feels like an incomplete now, just because we
know how they work, playing the supplemental or compensatory pick
game and waiting and signing a lot of veteranss. I
think there's seventeen guys left off my one oh one
they're going to be signing. I feel like a lot
of players that are free agents and available that end

(01:04:39):
up playing three to five hundred snaps for them. And
Eric DaCosta uh and his predecessor as you knew, some
who's still there. I mean, it's like this guy retires
and then he's he's in the booth at the combine.

Speaker 3 (01:04:51):
Is he really retired. I don't know. To me, he's
probably contributing. Uh.

Speaker 4 (01:04:55):
They do a great job, but I'm with you they
I feel like they have a lot of snaps to
still find this offseason.

Speaker 6 (01:05:02):
They do always have like seventeen to eighteen third round
picks at the end of the right and.

Speaker 4 (01:05:06):
So they'll do it that way. But I'm with especially
you shout it out Ed Dresher. I think that that
is definitely something they would want to address. Cornerback is
another for my final one, where shall I go? You know,
when it comes to the Patriots, it's just been all
quarterback talk. They don't have a left tackle. It's possibly

(01:05:33):
the worst wide receiver group in the NFL. Right the
case it is, I think Kristian Gonzal is going to
be a great pro. They need cornerbacks, like a lot
of needs here, just saying they have some burning desires
outside of quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:05:50):
I just I think I don't know.

Speaker 6 (01:05:52):
Like it's interesting because we could have imagined what Bill
Belichick might do in this situation. It's hard to know
what this front office will do necessarily. But like there
is a that they can get too cute and not
get a quarterback. I get that you trade down, but
then too cute and don't want to get a wide
receiver and too cute and don't get one of these
other Just like let's be you need everything, but get
the positions that you want a rookie contract, like you
want a quarterback on a rookie contract. You want if

(01:06:14):
you're gonna have a diva wide out. You want him
on a rookie contract like you want a left tackle.
You want him on a rookie contract, versus like trying
to pick up these other Their group of wideouts is
one of the most the least creative team building collections
of pass catchers.

Speaker 3 (01:06:29):
You can imagine the last half decade. It's pretty rough.

Speaker 4 (01:06:32):
Ten Kendrick Bourne is your best guy, but he's coming
off a torn aco I kind of pop.

Speaker 3 (01:06:37):
Douglas was good last year.

Speaker 4 (01:06:39):
I mean, they just they just have issues, and yet
they do not think they should trade out. If Adam
Schefter is right, as he said on his podcast, is
this week given me this hope that he really thinks
it's Jayden Daniels at two when he puts that out
there in early April, He's tended to be right.

Speaker 6 (01:06:54):
Daniels is three versus the Commander's taking Daniels.

Speaker 3 (01:06:58):
He says, what did I just say? Said?

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
You said Daniels it too?

Speaker 3 (01:07:01):
Yeah, just got what I want. That's what I want.

Speaker 4 (01:07:05):
I would be happy with Jade and Daniels too, but
I feel I really like the idea of Drake may Well.

Speaker 6 (01:07:11):
Let's hope that, you know, every Patriots fan gets what
they want a quarterback after two or three tough seasons.

Speaker 2 (01:07:17):
With all our hearts go out to you.

Speaker 3 (01:07:19):
That was it.

Speaker 4 (01:07:21):
Eagles get a freaking linebacker. It it keeps ruining your seasons.
And then you, you know, get a linebacker you didn't
know what you had with Kaizier.

Speaker 3 (01:07:28):
White Bucks get an edge. Giants get a running back.

Speaker 6 (01:07:32):
Bringing up running back Brandon Singletary is not taking you
to the rams in a good spot, I think, but
certainly need a lot more.

Speaker 4 (01:07:38):
How you know, don't make it so hard on your
defensive coordinator. You definitely need to try to replace not
just Aaron Donald, but get more edge helped too. What
a show, what a what a lot of fun with
you guys, always good. Thanks to everyone listening. We will
be back next week with three shows. Uh Dan, We'll
be back and uh until then, thank you to Eric.

(01:08:01):
You know, I know that's a big day for your bills.
H Ormark Sessler put Patrick clay Von He's a call,

(01:08:25):
HM