The Around the NFL podcast has downgraded Mark to Questionable. From the Chris Wesley podcast studio, it's Around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis. Greg Rosenthal here. Mark Sesler. Now, you did take the serum. Is that why the injury designation you were downgrading?

I don't know the reason. These things are typically just dropped out of thin air into my lap. I did learn that Bayes from Mayfield-Westherable to do what? How about that?

After Dr. Tuffleheimer. Rest in peace, by the way.Wow.Bre news.

We didn't make it to today's show. We lost the good doctor.

That cough was as bad as it sounded. Baker Mayfield dealing with a really nasty case of gigantism in the head right now. So hopefully that comes down by the opening of the legal tampering on Monday.

I also like that Baker Mayfield learned from a reporter during During the truth serum interview that he was about to become a father. That seemed to catch him off guard during the actual interview.

I don't know. It caught him off guard, or maybe he just revealed that he didn't care that much. He was just like, Got the au pair. I got things. I got money. Baker is still in the Baker zone. You know what I mean?

But I don't think he knew that his significant other was pregnant based on how that interview went.

I mean, he got his wife in those commercials, too. So this is a big spot for Baker. Gigantism, though.

That's a That's a tough one. I think he did say... He expressed surprise. I think he said, Oh, really?

I mean, she's heavily pregnant right to that. So he's not very observant during the offseason. He's off on his own doing his own thing.

As you wrote, Greg, in your 101 write-up, he's gotten better with quick decisions. Maybe he's so quick now, he has not looked down and seen his wife extremely pregnant.

I worry about how he sees the field then. That seems like a troubling... As troubling as his career, which has one great year, one bad year. You want him on the year with the one year, $3 million dollar contract, and maybe not the $35 million dollar contract.

What's going to happen? I keep hearing he had a great season. Was it great?

He had great moments.

Actually, his-Finnish strong.

We're going to get into all the free agents with the franchise tag in the rear view and the transactions now largely done. You would imagine his teams really dig in this weekend to begin or finalize their plan of attack for free agency, which will be all over next week. Shows Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, if necessary, Friday. A couple of years back, we did a Deshaun Watson lands with the Browns Friday emergency podcast.

That was another time when I went out to lunch and thought that that would be a calm afternoon and then bang, a nuclear bomb lands on your face.We'll.

Also be taping that.In your face. That Monday show from right before the iHeart podcast. Yes. We're running out to see if we win.

Hopping on a plane on Sunday and heading to the iHeart Awards.

More I think we're going to win that, by the way. Really? I just feel like a an energy. We just assume we're going to lose to the Kelsies. I think it's going to go the other way. I'm predicting I think we're going to win.

Like a Dune style, a disturbance in the forest type situation.

I don't know. I'm not a Dune person, but like...

Isn't that a disturbance?

No, it's not. And you know it's not.

That's a strategy. All right. Anyway, to talk about all that free agency stuff, we have one of the... Man, let's be honest, one of the biggest names in the game, Mina Kimes, who does it all over at ESPN, and she's been on our show many times, and she'll be back on the show again in a little bit talking over Greg's list and free agency in general. But before that, let us get caught up on some news. Hopefully, give us our best chance to win the whole thing.

Can we get a final let's ride for Bronco's country?

Of course, Bronco's country. Let's ride. There we go. All right, so Russell Wilson. You've heard of this guy, right?

Oh, yeah. Hey, now.

He no longer... Hey, now. He, once upon a time, was a huge star for the Seattle Seahawks. He went to the Broncos where he was expected to continue to be a huge star. That didn't work out. And now he is free to sign with any team. And the Steelers are on that list of potential teams. Beat writer Jerry Dulac, who's been there for a long time, reports that the team has interest in signing Wilson. Wilson Wilson, according to Dulac, also has interest in the Steelers. We talk about right church, wrong pew. I said last week when we were talking Justin Fields with Rodo Pat, that it's the worst smokescreen in Pittsburgh since the then Redskins, well, then Redskins, then Coach Mike Shanahan said he was deciding between John Beck and Rex Grossman, and he's ready to stake his reputation upon it. That's how it feels like with the quarterback room in Pittsburgh right now. They have to bring somebody in, or we simply cannot take the Steelers seriously. However, Mark Sesler, I'm not sure if Russell Wilson joining the gang leads us to take them seriously, but it would be an upgrade.

Let's say that. And that's what everyone's come to agree on. It's an upgrade in theory over Kenny Picket. To me, I think it's a tough sell inside the building. It's a tough sell to us. Fan base that is not going to to have the wool pulled over their eyes. We've all watched Russell Wilson for two years, and you can spin last season as he was vastly improved. No, he wasn't. He is a shell of what he used to be, and I think it's a tough sell for Steelers fans to say, We're going this direction, or it's the only thing we're going to look at. At least explore other options.

I disagree with that. I think he was much improved from year one in Denver. In fact, and counting stats, they can mislead. But look at his counting stats with in year one in Denver. He threw for over 3,000 yards. He threw for 26 TDs, just eight interceptions, got bench down the stretch. So he could have flirted with a 30 TD season there in Denver, which we don't even think about it that way because it didn't look so great. The tape didn't quite match some of the good production, but he had runs where he did succeed. So yes, I think I agree with you, Mark, that it's a hard sell, but maybe it's a bigger upgrade than we think just because we're so down on Wilson and the Wilson experience at this point.

I'm closer to Mark here in the two polls just because what's that saying, Don't let perfect be the enemy of good? So that would be a reason, Okay, well, Russell Wilson is an incremental improvement. I would say, do let perfect be the enemy of good in this case. The whole point of a front office is to find a top 10 to 12 quarterback. That's it. That's the most important thing that is in your entire organization until you have one. You need to have a shot to go find one. And signing Russell Wilson is giving up on that shot to me. He's not a big enough upgrade to me from Mason Rudolf. To me, he is the Kenny Picket of veteran quarterback options, where Kenny Picket was this guy that no one really wanted to take in the first round, and he was the 20th pick in the first round. He wasn't a real exciting quarterback prospect. It was aiming for the middle. And that's Russell Wilson. There's no What's the point in signing a mid-level quarterback because that's going to stop them from going after a great quarterback, which is what they need to do.

They need to spend all their resources on that.

I think you might... I could have this wrong. But perfect as the enemy of good would mean that they are only going for the best possible. And because they're only going for the best possible, they're not looking at getting something good or close to...

Don't ignore is getting better. And Russell Wilson, in theory, is getting better. So I say that does not apply here. You want the words flipped.

No, I say what I've heard before is good is the enemy of great.

Well, it's all in the same.

If you settle for Wilson, you're not going for the great, which would be the top 10 quarterback. Perfect is the enemy of good.

It's all in the same idea.

I more side with Mark on this side of the poll.

This is going great.

Voltaire is the man who is most commonly that we attributed to.

I wish we could dig him up and ask him to use that correctly.

I don't know where Voltaire had Russell Wilson on his free agency rankings, but it's like, to me, it's not enough higher than Russell, than Kenny Picket or Mitchell.

Well, according to your rankings, you'd rather have Jacobi %.

Oh, absolutely.

We'll get to that.

I mean, Russell Wilson also had one of the highest SAC percentages in the NFL in each of the last two years. Important to note. His yards for attempt last year were actually down from the year before. He slides me off a piece of that.

Jake brisky.

I like Jake brisky, but is he going to be the new Teddy now? We're going to be talking about him 12 years from now.

No. But my point is-Don't get me started on Tyrod Taylor in your top eight.

Can't we please?

He's not... He's in top eight free agent quarterbacks. He played great last year in his limited time, so he's a great back. He walks on a limp at this point. Backups are worth something. But Jacobi, to be fair, would be in the same bucket for me, where you're not really trying for a great as a quarterback either. I think he'd be a better option. But the point is, you need to be putting bigger resources into taking a big swing. You're not going to win with defense and running.

In that division, too, please.

All right. So, yes, as we talked about at the beginning of yesterday, show, the decision to trade for Russ Wilson in Denver and then give him the massive contract will have continued to reverberate with that organization for years because they have $85 million in dead cap money at Not to bum out my neighbor or whatever.

Sounds like he's already going through it.

They have no chance to win the Super Bowl in the next two years, in my opinion. I think deep down, they know, too. Is it affecting some roster decisions now as they look ahead to the next season. The Broncos release safety Justin Simmons. This man was a second-team All-Pro in four of his last five seasons. He's been to the Pro Bowl multiple times. He's not young, but he's not old. He's turning 30 at the next season. Had another productive season last year, but the Broncos move on. Greg, I think A, Simmons got to be in a good place on the 101, and B, Is this a direct correlation to Russ?

I think it's a close correlation to Russ. I think they viewed Simmons. It was written by one of the Beat reporters as a luxury that they could no longer afford. I think it's a little more He's complicated than that. He's turning 31 this year, and he's coming off probably his worst season. I know he got that second-team All-Pro that might have been a little bit off reputation if you talk to some people. You saw some decline, and he's getting older at a cheap position. Would he have been released, though, if they just had $80 million in cap space? No, probably not. This is a rare case. I think it is a cap cut, but if he was playing at his very best level, he wouldn't be cut. Every time these cuts happen, some people point out, See, the cap is real. All you people that say the cap's not real, it's real. I get that, but there's always context to it, which is these players still never get released if the teams really want to keep them. I don't think they really wanted to keep Justin Simmons. They didn't really view him as a difference maker.

Yeah, just against the combination of his age, his position, and the fact that they legit did need to make some tough decisions with the Russell Wilson situation. 14.5 in cap savings is that matter.

Well, and to Dan's good point yesterday, take all the medicine you can now. It's like, we're not winning the Super Bowl this year. Justin Simmons at most probably has one more year left with us based on this contract. It's like, do the Patriots thing where Maybe we'll risk getting rid of them a year too early, but it's probably not and just move.

Because they can have it be a $53 million price tag this year, and they'd have to make some more cuts. But it's like they can make it not just split down the middle.For.

Russell.right..

For Russell is part of it, but that affects the rest of their financials. But I totally agree with Dan. It's like, use this year to get as healthy as you can for next year.

I'm with you. They can't win a Super Bowl in the next two years, of course. But I don't think it's not just because of Russell Wilson. It's just because he's inheriting a pretty bad roster. It is crazy to me, and this is an anomaly. Last year, the Bucks had $76 million in dead caps. To be '76. ' The Rams had over $70. They both made the playoffs. The next two teams on that list were the packers and the Eagles, who had nice seasons because they ate a lot for Aaron Rodgers, over $55. I think there's a route to being competitive. Not winning a Super Bowl is certainly not this-What were those teams again?

The Rams.

The Rams and the Bucks.

Established star, quarterback Bucks.

Sure, but over under like win total was the lowest-I guess what I'm saying is-they were surprised.

Why I'm especially strong on that with Denver is not only did that move backfiring kill you financially, you're starting over again at quarterback. It's like, unless something falls into your lap, it was a five-year mistake.

Their route is the Baker-In there, it sucks. The Baker route where the Bucks stumbled on Baker for that amount of money, got decent quarterback play. Could they do that? Certainly with Sean You were a rookie.

I mean, they could do it with Baker.

Right. The problem is the rest of the roster, I'm with you, the Bucks, the Rams. Now, in hindsight, the packers had a lot more going on.

We also spent about four off seasons in a row suggesting that the Broncos looked looked like an AFC title type roster, and it never panned out. None of these guys ever panned out across the board.

That always bothered West. West was always big on the Broncos.

They just looked loaded in the offseason.

Even the Joe Flacko Broncos, he was thinking they might turn it around.

Yeah, I think we're done with the offseason hype pieces around Jerry Judy and Courtland Sun.

Yeah, it got a little tired.

It's time. You know what else it's time for, Mark? Esra Cleveland update. Bang. The Jaguars signed the guard to a three-year 28.5 million dollar contract. Rapsheet says that deal includes 14.5 million in guaranteed money. So the Jags who got Cleveland from the Vikings at the deadline, they lock him up before he reaches the open market, bully to them, and I'm sure bully to Trevor Lawrence.

A lot of guards are going to get paid. I don't think Jaguars fans are too excited about this, because this is an indication that a lot of-I've spoken to several, and they are over the moon, Greg. I'm really basing this on John Shippley, who is a great reporter, and he didn't seem too excited. He's a reporter, not a writer, but I think-Hey, listen, I just root for good storylines, okay?

When I was a kid, when I was a teenager, yeah, I had favorite teams. But then I grew up. I'm not out here rooting for laundry.

Oh, they said the report.

But the story lines, that I root for. I root for the players. I root for certain players good guys, but root for a team? I'm a grown man.

Why? Can I ask you one question?

Why do you take this so briefly? Can't they do what they want?

Are you asking me or that guy?

I'm asking you as the portrayal of that person. Every time someone's coming up with a viewpoint that you don't quite agree with, they suddenly barely passed high school from Hackensack, New Jersey.

I'm saying that's just a very standard block and tackle, journal explanation.

I feel a little attacked because I almost feel like at this point, I actually have to pretend I'm more of a fan of the Patriots than I am just to satisfy Dan's craving.

No, you got a little bit of the... You got a little bit of the Sesler in you where your true feelings betray how you're trying to put out sometimes, depending on how the pats are playing. You have a little more energy about them still when you talk about it.

Absolutely. I'm going to be following them and more into them than any other team. Hey, it's just laundry. But it's just the volume is so far down than where it It was that it's tough.

Well, you're not a child at this point.

I'm a grown man. I don't root for teams running around with their colors on. Oh, I like their colors.

Forget child. I'm just a front runner because I was just as big a fan in '16 and '18. It was just like, Okay, we've accomplished it all. What's the point?

You can't be taken seriously in this business unless you really take a step back.

I can't take him seriously in this business. Is that how he performs?

I also feel bad, though, Dan, because sometimes Sometimes I realize I put the news run down in the wrong order. I did edit in our Slack channel. I did not intend to have Esra Cleveland. That's for me. I moved it back down in a later edit, but I don't think you saw that. That probably should have been... That was just-When was the edit? That was an odds and ends on the... It's in our pot now. Oh, there it is. It's in our pot.

There's the latest. Bill's News. We talked about Jordan Poeyer being Got to get to the... He got a cut yesterday. I don't think this falls on the wrong side of the vengeance scale, but there was more to come from Buffalo starting yesterday. They also cut cornerback Jardavius White, big name, Mitch Morris. They rework Von Miller's deal. We talked about how that was a mistake that they were living with. And they also bring back Mitch Trebis. That's weird.

In all this news.

Got to get to Mitch Trebis. Got to get Mitch locked down before the open market. Really gets the size up where he fits in. Taylor Rapp also signed by Buffalo. So a bunch of moves there. And this is a team very clearly managing their salary cap and also, Mark, looking to take things in a slightly different direction next year. You know the coach is going to be there. You know the play collar, you know the quarterback. But there's a lot of other things. You get the idea that Buffalo is a team to keep an eye on, how they attack this offseason after yet another really painful playoff ouster.

Yeah, you saw this coming because this was another case where we left the building and then the bills flooded the newswire with additional cuts. But they were like, when we finished our show in terms of over the cap, in the worst cap situation in the league. They shave 37 million off of that. That helps. There's more work to do. But it is interesting because reading some stuff from people in Buffalo right now that Sean McDermott, who He has nothing but success, if you go globally, compared to what the bills were before Sean McDermott, seems to be about on as big of a hot seat as there is right now. I think fans are going absolutely crazy. He just seems to be under a lot of pressure.

I know, and I get it. There are some things about him that are frustrating to me. The 9/11 story and how he runs that team pointed out some of his weaknesses. But I also think you got to give teams credit that are right in the mix every year. That's the whole goal.

He succeeded.

I know we're in this thing that only Super Bowl's matter. It's like, no, that 2017 season was magical when they first made the playoffs. Then in the last four seasons, they've been right there. It's very frustrating. But this was, I think, a necessary day for them where they had to change eras a little bit. Poeyr was part of that era. Tredavius White made some all-pro teams, but he just tore his Achilles. He had a torn ACL. This is a move they would have made in any season. Mitch Morris, I thought was It's interesting because he's played 1,200 snaps a season for four or five straight years, and he's a solid center, but just maybe a little overpaid. So that was the cap space thing. And then Von Miller only is keeping his job because he had all this guaranteed money. I was curious, he actually took less money in this deal. Why did that happen That's weird. Someone inside the league texted me he could get suspended, and the way they structured it, he's going to get guaranteed that money. So he took $3 million less. But if he does get suspended, he'll end up with more.

It works out for these players with the guaranteed.

I know that football is completely different than basketball, but I don't feel that Sean McDermott, hot takes on 9/11, notwithstanding, should be on the hot seat. I'm going to use my own fandom parallel in the NBA when Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and John Starks, and whether it's Doc Rivers or Derek Harper, could not Could not get over the pump against the Bulls and Michael Jordan. And I don't remember anybody in that media market ever saying, We got to fire Pat Reilly.

Yeah, but Pat Reilly had won five titles inside the league.

But I'm saying it I understand that, but it's sometimes, my point being, you get good at the wrong time. And Buffalo running into the teeth of the Patrick Mahomes era is really tough. And I understand that you could say, Well, then you got to bring somebody that could figure out how to beat Pat Mahomes, and maybe that time will come. But I'm just giving McDdermon and the Bills fans in general, and Eric Roberts behind the glass. This is just a very... I've been there in a different way as a fan. It's so frustrating to be here at this moment because if there was no Mahomes, yeah, the Bills probably get over the hump once or even twice by now, but they haven't been able to.

I guess also what I was noting was that Bills fans in that region, I'm not saying high-thinking Bills fans from other parts country, but it's like there isn't a level of agitation. How do we decide if he's on the hot seat or not? I think there's a fair amount of pressure and a tightening vice around the Bill's experience.

He adds to that because he's just about as tightly wound as ever. I'm feeling that now. I'll bring a basketball reference closer. I consider the Bill as the Lob City Clippers and Patrick Mahomes, Steph Curry, and the Warriors. You can't even get out of the West. They never even got to a conference final, but that's fair. I was thinking about my Celtics right now. We've had a ton of success.

Football is completely different than basketball.

Anything short of a championship is going to be disappointing when you're the big-They're on the Steinbrenner doctrine.

You must win the NBA Finals.

At this point, this season, which- Which is not a great place to be. It's not great because if they lose to the Nuggets, it's like that's totally understandable.

You know who found-I also sound like an idiot in that clip, by the way.

I don't think so.

Football is completely different than basketball. That is an embarrassing sound bite. It's fine.

It's fine. You're fine. Now, I forgot what I was going to say, but it was probably trenchant. All right, that's what's happening in the news. We'll take a break, and then we'll welcome in Mina Kimes. Welcome back. Sausage Fingers getting a lot of use on the ax. Recently because we've been having a lot of great guests, and that roll continues for Around the NFL. Back for another appearance. It seems like so long ago that Mina Kimes was coming into our old studio in Culver City. He had stopped at a gas station and got us some hip hop themed potato chips, and it began a wonderful relationship, the ESPN star and the NFL heroes. What's up, Mina Kimes? Welcome back to Around the NFL.

Hey, I don't know if that was the beginning of our relationship. I don't even know if that was my first appearance.

I think it was your first appearance. Also, I believe you'd had a rough and tumble time at that 7/11 before picking up those chips.

That is true. That is lore now in our relationship that I was so determined to make it that I...

Mina, you'll find out Dan likes to create narratives, which over the years just start forming into total fictions that create narratives.

This is just storytelling. Mina, quick pop quiz. What was the the hip hop star who was on those potato chips?

I think it was Cardi B.Incorrect. Greg?incor-well.

I don't know if I'm right. This came up, we were talking about it.

You spoke confidently about it when it came up recently.

I thought it was Migos.

Migos chips. That sounds potentially right? All right. No. But you spoke with confidence when we talked about it last time.

One of your listeners. You guys have a very active, engaged fan base. I'm sure one of themGood call. Remembers or can go back into the archive.

You got that right.

Let us know who is correct. All right, Mina, you have taken some time out of your busy schedule, and thank you for that to help us dig in on the updated rankings. And by the way, just to put it on your radar, Mina, because you're a major national personality. Mark, Cecil and I are going to be putting out our free agency 213 at midnight on Tuesday. So just if you want us on one of your programs.

Yeah, still working on it.We're.

Available.dogedly.we're available.Wow..

Tuesday seems like a bad time for it since all the things happen.

Don't need it. Don't need to hear from you and Greg on this. Our way. Anyway, Greg's 101 is updated. So, Greg, why don't you get us going here? How do we want to attack what's going on?

All right. I thought it'd be fun we go through by position. Now that all these free agent tags have been put on, we've had some interesting players added to the list, like Justin Simmons is now in the top 50, and maybe go through by positions. Just do a quick run through of a top 10 by positions, and then you guys throw out what you don't like or any sleepers, any bus, any fits that you like. I think defensive end is probably still the deepest, even though the top of the lot got taken away. At Defensive Edge, I have Daneel Hunter out there at number one, Jonathan Grinard, your boy Mina at number two. I don't know if he's your boy, Bryce Huff. He's your boy. Chase Young, four, Zedaria Smith, five, Andrew Van Ginkle, 6, Jedevian Clowny, Josh Uche, Dorrance Armstrong, Marcus Davenport. I mean, even guys like Shaq Barrett and Leonard Floyd, who are good players, are not on the list. This is a position where you can still find some players in free agency. I think Renard especially had a nice week that he's the only guy in the sweet spot that is hitting free agency at this time, and there's going to be a bidding war.

I think the Texans are comfortable letting him go for whatever reason.

Grainard, I don't know if he's my boy. He's like an NFL Twitter, Sweetheart.

He's a hipster favorite.

He is last... Obo Conranco was Jonathan Grunard before Jonathan Grunard, incidentally, on the same team. He's like, I'll watch the tape and you see how good he is, how complete he is. Good player, So he is a good player. I agree with you on Houston, especially since you got Will Anderson Jr. They do have a lot of cap space. So I like this group. It's a lot of one Bs and twos. Hunter is, I think, the only a real superstar. A guy like Bryce Huff is someone who, you guys know, small sample size All-Star. Question, did New York just have too much depth? Obviously, they like to rotate their pass rushers, or did they feel he wasn't an every down player? That's the question the acquiring team will have to answer. Just looking at this list, I think that Andrew Vankeekle was surprisingly great last year. That's a player that I feel like could be had at a reasonable price.

He's a Mark favorite.

It's not just his name. He sounds like it came from a child's fable. But at the same time, I feel like it's years in a row when you're watching the Dolphins, and he pops up once a game or twice a game doing something completely different. It's like Greg notes in this that if Bill Belichick was still in New England, he'd be going to the Patriots today, right now. But I think he could help. He's the free agent pickup I like because you don't It's not to blow your budget for him, but he always seems to make a difference.

I think Huff is a guy you want to take a swing on, I think. As a Jets fan, I saw how constant he was in terms of his a pass rusher. They didn't trust him against the run, so you got to watch your tape and make a judgment on your own outside the building. But 26 years old with win rates that are as good as almost any player in the league. If you can get him, he's going to be expensive. But if you can I get him at a little bit less than where the top names are going, you might get the most productive SAC specialist of any of them. I understand why the Jets might be walking away, but I also could see it ended up being a big mistake.

It matters so much when you hit free agency because Josh Ushe, coming off last year, would have been towards the top of the list. And then the Patriots, they never just played him that much. And he's still a good pass rusher, but do you trust him? I have a little bit of Chase Winovich, I don't know if fatigue is the right word, or just remembering how poorly his post-Patriots career went, and he was a similar type player. But it is a position. You need three edge players essentially in the NFL, three good ones. And these guys can all be number two. There's guys who aren't even on the list, in Gakwe is still out there. Epinesa, Charles Harris, that are decent. It's deeper than other positions. You can actually find guys unlike receiver. Let's talk receiver. Wait, can we just...

I have one last idea for Jadavian Clowny, who's coming off a really good year in Baltimore. What's the name of the event on NFL Network where we come back to camp, back to training camp or something?ITC.

Inside Training Camp.

But like the big launch day. I think it's like we're all back together. Back together Saturday.

Back together.

That's what you guys call it.

We're never actually back together. We're never there. We're not included. We're just still here.

Everybody but ATN, back together Saturday. But J. Davian Clown is at the event, wherever one of the camps, and you get a big wheel, and whoever it lands on gives him a one year, $7 million contract. I feel like he'll sign that and everybody wins.

I would not mind him for my Seahawks' reunion with Mike Mac, who I thought got the most out of him. That was a tremendous marriage of defensive coordinator with his skillset because he's so versatile, he can cover, he's so athletic, already has a jersey. A few of us forget the Davian Clowny era in Seattle, but that's something that they need to augment. That strikes me as, like you said, that one-year single-digit millions, maybe a high with of incentives deal, but the coach already knows how to use him best.

Good news for you under my plan, 1-32 chance.

That is where the value is in free agency. It's like you're not going to get stars at good prices, but you can get especially these older defensive linemen or older defensive players in general, and you get them on one year contract. The Browns loved it last year with him and Zedaria Smith. Let's talk receiver where there won't be cheap contracts. The top 10 now has been decimated, and now Calvin Ridley is the best receiver available, in my opinion. Mark East Brown, who I heard Mina, you and our friend Patrick Claybon dismissing on your podcast. It's a whole ATN Mina Keims' crossover this week because you have our regular Patrick on your show, and We'll have to check that out.

When you have a player that you and a friend or a colleague of the media are obsessed with, and whenever they do something good, you text. I'm sure Greg Rosenthal and Steven Ruiz. Anytime Gino Smith did everything, I'm sure you guys got in touch because he's your guy. That's amazing. So Marquise Brown is the opposite for me and Claybon. And I think it's because we were Lamar stands and we were constantly let down by his drops. And every time he would have a drop, instantly I would pull up my phone and one of us would text the other and upset, be angry about it. I look at this group of receivers and I look at the draft and I just don't see why you would pay a significant amount of money for them. I think the guys at the top, you're Higgins, Evans. They're probably going to... Indy has money and they can keep Pitman Jr. We'll see for how much. But beyond that, guys, wouldn't you rather have a rookie on a cost-controlled contract given how well they've played in recent years? Yeah.

So the rest of the list, and they are candidates to get overpaid. Gabe Davis, I have third. Curtis Samuel, who I'll never give up on, and somehow still only 28 years old and is a great role player. Actually, it probably won't cost that much. So I think he's not a bad pickup. Darnell Mooney, K. J. Osborne, Odell Beckham, Tyler Tyler Boyd, Michael Thomas, who we're going to get to a little later for Flaming.

It's a bunch of malcontent.

Jeff Duncan, Kendrick Bourne, who I always think is good, and then Josh Reynolds, and it falls out for there. It's like a bunch of role players. Brown, Ridley, and I think Gabe Davis are probably going to be that guy you're talking about, Mina, where they get paid a ton of money without having a ton of production. I like Markees Brown.

I feel like he's a player. You have to keep him happy, though. It's like no matter what situation he's in, you're playing with one of the best quarterbacks of our generation. By the end of it, he's tweeting stuff, and he's just an adjunct. So it's like, you got to be careful if you're going to go give him a ton of money.

Is this the year where Odell's market finally matches up with where he is? Or where is Odel? He's still even another year later, and he's still... He's 31. We did see some things, Mina, from Odel, but then he was also losing playing time down the stretch in Baltimore. And Greg, as you pointed out in your 101 write-up, which I agree with, I wonder if they could do it over again. Would Baltimore get new Hopkins? And maybe things are different there, but that's the past. Where do you think Odell's market is this offseason?

I think this is the year that it drops off because last year it was mystifying to me who Baltimore was bidding against when they paid him. What was it? 16 million, if I remember correctly? It actually almost felt like a Lamar cost to get the deal with Lamar. That's It was a total speculation. But you remember at the time when they signed Odell?

Then it was worth it. But I don't know if that's true.

Then it was worth it. They might have been negotiating a little bit against Aaron Rodgers, general manager of the Jets, back then. He was reported connected to them a lot, and then Baltimore went and got him. That's how I remember that.

Maybe he'll be a jet. But yeah, I just, again, I don't... There were moments where you saw with the ball on his hands, still looks really good, but he was so inconsistent for Baltimore, and Then at the end, just games where he wasn't used at all.

Here at NFL Network, they've got paintings all up and down the hallway of NFL legends. At one point, they painted initially, and this got on my radar. It's all the iron. Well, Odo Buckin was painted as a Cleveland Brown because that's when we landed here in theory. Then by the end of the season, some painter had to come in and change him to a Ram, and then they just stopped changing the outfit because it's like, he's going to be on his multiple teams since then.

No, they made the mistake. They should have just used the image on the wall him doing the one head to catch the giant, and away we go.

When I was writing that write-up, I actually was thinking about a theory which seems obvious enough, but as I get older, I think it's more and more true. How much money less would Odel have made in his career if he wasn't so good-looking. This is coming up on your pet project, Love His Blind. I think it really has mattered.He's pretty privileged. I think if he was an unattractive guy all along, he would have made less money.

Okay, he's There's a lot of attractive guys in the NFL, but he also has, I think I just mentioned the catch. The catch gave him a... It made him a legend. I think it's more the catch.

Yeah, it's the marketing aspect of the catch.

But again- But that all contributed to it. It's a good theory, Greg.

Greg, Saquon, though, I feel like, is as much of a looker, and he might geticed out here. Although I think the big data bowl is over. But if someone who goes to MIT Sloan wants to test Greg's theory and see whether pretty privileged exists in the NFL, obviously, Jimmy G is going to drag up those averages. But beyond that, you might be on to something.

Well, and even Saquon, maybe he wouldn't have been as big a star coming out of college. He wouldn't have had as much hype. It all feeds into itself. Let's talk runningbacks while we're here.

By the way, I mean, can you come back a Saturday night live show at Joxxers Daily in Culver City? Greg's going to unveil his top 10 babes of the NFL. If you could join us for that show. Get a babysitter.

I'm looking at this free agent now, wondering who is going to be the pretty privileged pick of this class.

You know, Kirk. Kirk's done pretty well in this career, too. Stop it. Okay, top 10 running back: Saquon, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Austin Eckler, DeAndre Swift, JK Dobbins. Keeps going. Devon Singletary, AJ Dylan. I'd go Even Zack Moss is in my top 10. Outside the 10 is Antonio Gibson, Gus Edwards. This is one where the veterans seem like they're better than the rookie class. Not like they're going to get paid because there's so many of them. But this This is the year, for instance, I would like to get Tony Pollard. That would be the guy if I was a GM out of that group, and maybe DeAndre Swift would be a close second of like, he's not going to cost that much. But Tony Pollard, a year removed from that injury. People didn't really give him much leeway for coming off that I'm in the injury a year ago. I would go after Tony Pollard. No?

I don't know. I don't know.

I would say Tony Pollard. It's like you're 1B. You have, I don't know, for instance, the Patriots. They could put a 1B with Ramondre Stevenson, and that's a nice one-two punch.

I I increasingly am of the mind that that two-track approach to running back is the way to do it. You get a veteran who's a mid-tier running back contract, so not that much. And then you draft a running back in the mid to later rounds. That's what Miami has, right? With Mostert and Achan, for example. So yeah, if you could grab a Pollard on a reasonable deal to pair with a rookie, Henry and Spears in Tennessee this past year as another team that did that, I think that makes sense. I don't think any of these guys are going to command huge contracts because, as you said, there's so many of them, and the draft is not great.

Can I throw out one prediction? There are some guys that are going to be getting paid a little bit more than we're expecting. I think Saquon, of the guys on this list, there might be a general manager or two that view him as a little different and with a higher ceiling and then right offense.

They should.

Could be better looking, Bronx native. That maybe he can be somebody gets a bigger deal, not a monster contract, but a contract where it's like, Oh, he got an extra year. It's some more guaranteed than we expected. He's different.

We mentioned this yesterday. I love the idea of him on the... Just plug him into the Houston Texans who have the third He's got the most cat money in the league and are going to come out of this.

Some reporting, they're not into them.

But I think that team is going to come out of this March to May process as the Darlings, the uprising Darlings. But because the NFL probably is just a sci-up, of course, Saquon Barkley will wind up on the Dallas Cowboys.

What do you think about that?

The nerd number is actually like Saquon more than I thought this year. Obviously, super frustrating offense to watch. Although there were still games this year where Saquon would just take over. It was very obvious he was still the best weapon in New York, but bad run blocking, the basic numbers were not good. The next-gen stat metric that I like, rushing yards over expected, which accounts for blocking and the positioning of the defenders, still had Saquan as, I believe, a top 10 back amongst the high volume backs, which was actually better than anyone else, I think, of these free agents when I looked it up. He's different. Yeah. I think he's not one of those guys, what I'm saying, who's all fluff and all fame and looks. I do think he's still a really good player.

I think he's better in some ways than he was as a rookie and is a smarter runner that takes what's given. I thought he ran really well last year. I actually thought Josh Jacobs ran well enough in the last month of the season that you were like, Oh, that was Josh Jacobs again. Did he miss the last month? He concerned me. Or his last games of the season, he finally started making people miss like he used to. Let's go to safety. This is the deepest position just because teams don't care about it. There's so many players available. It's crazy. I have Chauncey Garner Johnson at one. I did check out the rankings of other places after I put mine up, and people are way down on Chauncey Johnson now. He's no longer in the top 50s in any of these other lists, so I guess I'm on a limb there. Xavier McKinney, who's great. Kam Curl, who's great, Julian Blackman, who quietly had a really nice season. Then Justin Simmons, Jordan Fuller, Jeremy Chin, Gino Stone, Jordan Whitehead, Elohe Gillman. It goes on and on. Your boy Quandre Diggs, maybe he should be on this list, too.

Micah Hyde, we're not sure if he's going to retire. There are a million safeties out there. Mina, pick something you don't like about my list. That's what is my love language. I miss... Wes used to just at this point in the show, just tell me what I had wrong.

Yeah. I mean, CJD, I think you're right. People are probably too low on him I think it's because last we saw him, when he did come back from injury, he was very late in the season and he wasn't quite himself. Still a really good player, but I would put him outside of the top five, to be honest. I mean, these are some really good safeties. Justin I know he's 30 years old. He still plays at such a high level, and he's so versatile. I really think he could probably play in any defense, but I mentioned on Twitter today that the packers are a team that are going to be linked with a lot of safeties. They're switching to new scheme with their defensive coordinator, Jeff Halfley. More single high. Simmons is a guy who can play the post. He can drop down into the box. He's still a really good tackler. He's really smart. He called the defense To me, maybe McKinney and Curl, I would put above him just because they're young and also very talented. But if you're a team where you're just... I love McKinnie. Mckinnie is really good. If you're just a safety away, though, and you're filling out the roster like Green Bay, I would love a Justin Simmons there.

And Simmons is like a Walter Payton Man of the Year locker room guy. He's the guy that you just anchor your defense around and you plug it into this Green Bay team that's on the rise. I like that.

Green Bay does not have a safety, really, on their roster right now. And they struggled last year.

Maybe they think they don't need one. Right.

And the ones- That's it.

Yeah.

Yeah, go ahead.

Well, doesn't it feel like that defense, they keep drawing first-round draft pics at it, and it just never clicks. And there's always these coverage bus, and I know they hate Joe Barry, defensive coordinator, but the problems precede that. Doesn't it feel like they need that veteran cerebral presence? I know Jire Alexander is forever my honorary captain of that defense, but a guy to really be the leader of of the defense. For me, you have a lot of youth. Bring in that veteran presence, super smart player, guy who's seen it all. And I feel like this roster is so close. Right.

They should do what the best thing to do in free agency is, which is just get role players. That's the best free agency is to fill role players, like lower-level starters. It just made me think, though, everyone's going to be so high on the packers this year. I'm going to be because there are pretty easy fixes here. The Coordinator on defense, the safety position, stuff you can actually do to fix this team, and so many good things. They are going to be the trendy, like they make the Super Bowl team in September.

What do I do?

Let's do quarterbacks. So Kirk's actually going to become a free agent. I do wonder if Denver is sitting out there as the team that is getting no buzz, which is often the team that actually makes the big signing because they keep a bit in-house. I just think Denver, Atlanta, in my mind, are the two most likely places now with Minnesota. Then it's Jacobi Praset, Baker, Tana Hill, Russ, Jameis Winston, Minchou, Tyrod. I got Josh Dobbs and Sam Darnold. There's a lot of I have a lot of people out there. Drew Locke hasn't even met Mason, Rudolf. There's a lot of backup quarterbacks available. Do I have Russell Wilson in the right spot here? Dan, I think.

I would put him over Tana Hill. Tana Hill was really bad last year. It's fair. Jacobi over Baker is so spicy, Greg.

That has stood out to all of us.

He just skated over. He's like, Yeah, then I got Jacobi, then I got Baker.

We've been trying to reason with Greg for years on this.

I don't think you totally disagree. Who has been better when he actually played quarterbackback?

I think she does, based on the way she reacted just now.

I don't believe it. I don't believe it.

I would rather have Jacobi at the contract that I think he'll command relative to Baker in a vacuum. I would probably with Baker. I thought he put together some really nice performances last year. But Baker at 35 versus Jacobi at 10. Give me Jacobi all day long.

I want to ask you a question. In your world, do you think it matters at all that Kirk Cousin's wife is from Georgia?

This was a concern with Mike Mac, by the way, in Seattle, because his wife is also from Georgia, and Seahaw fans are very concerned about the Falcons, the lure of Atlanta. I mean, Less so than that, to me, is the Zack Robinson offensive coordinator, the Ramsefication of the Falcons. It just seems like Hurt Cousins is such a natural fit for what they're going to want to do on offense, and they have the money to do so. I feel like they're the obvious leader in the clubhouse if Minnesota doesn't bring him back. You mentioned Denver. I think they would have to go full Saints cap to try to make that work. Pittsburgh, to me, makes way more sense than... I don't think they're going to do it because it seems like they don't want to take a big swing, but that, to me, makes a lot more sense than any other team at Atlanta.

I'm trying to wrap my head around. We were just talking about how Denver just really screwed the pooch with Russell Wilson. It's messed them up in a lot of ways. We're going to get now, we're going to break the bank for a 36-year-old quarterback coming off an Achilles tab. How does that- You like that? I'm a dinner fan. I don't know if I like that. By the way, the top eight of this list of quarterbacks: Cousins, Reset, Baker, Tana Hill, Wilson, Jameis Winston, Garner Minchou, Tyrod Taylor. What about this guy? Come on. You know, Vic Fangio in the secondary as well. He's been trying to just piece this defense together as best he can. A blitz. Darnold is able to stay upright.You can't take down Sam. Oh, he makes a guy miss. Now he's in space. Now he accelerates. Still going. Inside the 10 for the top.

Look at the record, 0-3. There are no flags, and that is all Sam Darnold.

That is all Sam Darnold.

I'm still so mad we were robbed of Sam getting a real start in San Francisco. Thank you. The few days where it looked like that might happen. Thank you, Mina.

That's all I wanted, Mina.

Just give him one shot and see if he could light it up. And I got these bozos saying, Shut up about that. He stinks. If he would have had a chance in San Francisco, it could have been different, maybe. But another year, another chapter of frustration for the Darnled Hive, Mark.

The discourse would have been so toxic.

I've heard it all before.

I feel like they're out there, though. They're a sleeper cell. They're waiting. Mina is part of it. I've noticed Orlafsky, Daniel Jeremiah, they're all out there waiting. That means there's some in front offices somewhere, so you might get your wish.

I can't just put clearly a shot against me that you couldn't just put him at eight. That felt definitely personal.

He doesn't have pretty privilege, no offense to Sam, but he does. I'm stealing some. Somebody pointed out he looks like a Lego policeman, and I've never thought that out of my head. That's pretty good. But he does have pretty pick privilege. You saw Mitch Trubisky re-sign with Buffalo.

Yeah, had to lock that in.

Pretty pick privilege. That's a real thing. That is more of a thing than pretty privilege.

You're right. We didn't get the Darnasaur. I would have liked to have seen that. I would have been curious. We didn't get the Teddy start in Detroit, which I wanted. We're fine with that. Just one last one. Linebackers Very Deep will do the top 10 at that position. Frankie Louvou, I went with number one.Patrick Clean.Actually, it's spicy. Patrick Clean has been so up and down in his career that I don't even feel good about my own ranking there. He was so good this year.

I got to bring Roquan Smith this week.

I know, but then his coach. So maybe if he's in Seattle, great. But I don't know, Roquan Smith. Man, people just forget he was getting benched before Roquan showed up. Jordan Brooks, Levante David, Aziz Alshair, who our old producer, Justin, is really high on how he played in Tennessee. Drew Tranquil, Devon White, who a couple of years ago was an All-Pro, Bobby Wagner, Willie Gay, Josie Juhl. You can get a linebacker. There's like a million 2-3 round linebackers, down linebackers. It didn't even include Blake Cashman or Tyrell Dodson or Kyle Van Nooy, if you want to call him a linebacker. So there are a million linebackers out there and none in the draft. And the top guys on this list, at least the top three, I think, will get a decent amount of money. Who would you take out of that list as your number one, Mina?

Well, I I probably would have put Dodson and Cashman in the top 10. I think they're both really good ascending players. Lou Vu, to me, he's the other NFL hipster fave. You got to have the right defense where you're asking him to rush the passer because he's got Swiss army knife type player. I don't think he's a guy you just plop down and you're like, All right, you're the mic, you're the leader of the defense. We're going to build around you, necessarily. I think you got the rankings is correct. It really depends on what your needs are on defense. But I really like Patrick Queen. I thought he played so well this year. And it wasn't just... When Roquand first came in, it was like, Okay, great. Now, Patrick Queen is this incredible athlete. We can just point and shoot. He can play fast. He can just get out. He can just play with his hair on fire. But this year, I think you saw him take another step in coverage, diagnosing routes, reading the quarterback, reading the run so well. He's on that trajectory now. We're seeing with linebackers where it takes them three or four years to really learn how to play the position.

I want to know what Mark's questions for Mina are. Mark is an ultra preparer. He makes pages and pages. Well, give me some preparation. I know it might not have to do with the group we're talking about, but I want to hear these questions.

Also, Mina, you should know that Mark usually goes with Levi, his jacket of choice, but he was wearing the Blazer today, which is out of season for him, but I think it connects to you and the level of esteem that you bring.

That's not untrue, but we are also I'm leaving on Sunday for Austin, Texas, and so I'm just wearing... I think I have to wear this in Austin, so I'm just going to drive home. That's the move.

You're going to drive home all the way in a Blazer?

Well, I mean, to where I live in Los Angeles. But yeah, to that home, sure.

I'll do that. You want to take it off before the Getty in the...

I don't... It was a decision I made.

Also, we have our suits to this thing. Well, that's it. I'm not there.

You never drive in a Blazer. Then it's all stiff and you're sweating in LA.

No, you stick it over the top of the passenger seat, and then When you get out of the car, you put it back on.

Do you think we're nominated for Best Sports podcast for the iHeartMedia Awards or going to Austin on Monday for the show? If we don't win, Mina, do you think we should do a Kanye, Taylor Swift, DMA?

Tell her who we're up against.

It's bad. It might be you. It's, Kelsey Brothers are involved, like every other That's hard.

Lebitard, Kelsey Brothers. We are, I think, probably the least listened to of the group. Pardon my take, I think, is one of them.

This is really the titans of the industry.

We have pretty privilege, though.

We also don't know who's vote. There's no proof or investigative knowledge of who's voting for this. It's not just out there in the public, and that probably hurts us because it's like-So you're like the lions. Sure.

I like that. I like that. We're hoping if we attend, maybe they're like, All right, throw them the bone. Hey, do you have questions, Romina?

I want to talk about one team that I think has a lot to do this offseason, and Yes, we know about the Dolphins. Jeff Riebeck, who writes for The Athletic about the Ravens. I want to read this paragraph. The Ravens unrestricted free agent class is set to include their 2023 TDL leader, their top two backs, their most accomplished wide receiver, their two starting guards, a Pro Bowl inside linebacker, excuse me. Their return specialist. The list is so long. Two of their three leaders in Sacks and the ASC leader in Interceptions. It's like the Ravens typically always find a way, and I just assume they'll plug these pieces in with players and go 10 and seven again. But that's a laundry list. How do you attack that?

With the brain drain and coaching, too, it's one thing for us to say, Well, they're bringing in defensive veterans, and Van Doy has a career Clowny has a career here, but you lose not only Mike McDonald, but also Anthony Weaver, now the defensive coordinator for Miami. They promoted internally, but there's still some change there that makes things hard. I was just pulling up their tab because I wanted to see what they could from who they can already restructure. I think Roni Stanley has a pretty big contract because they're talking about a weekend, and I think that they're going to try to get something done with him. It seems like, I haven't really heard his name come up in trade requests, and in doing so, they might be able to create some flexibility there. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, you can restructure some of these, Lamar. Anyways, I think, though, that the bigger thing more than the defense to me is the guards. Simpson and Zitler, because this offensive line is blown under the radar. What a strength that they've been for this team, particularly in the run game. I feel like you got to at least bring one of them back.

Right. Both their starting guards are available, and John Simpson is a guy that, I heard from people, that is going to get paid. Kevin Zitler is one of a sneaky all-time bag getter. I think he's going to hit his fourth good free agent contract, or fourth good contract in the NFL, which is almost impossible to do. God, I love it. God bless him. For NFL players. They could have a surprising cut or two here before Monday. I don't know who it would be or else it wouldn't be surprising. I guess Marlon Humphrey would be one that wouldn't-I'm playing with the SpotTrack tool right now.

Have you guys ever used this to where you restructure the content? It's so satisfying.

Whoa, really? I mean, I use SpotTrack all the time, but I don't break it down like that.

Rodney Stanley could be another surprise because something could happen there. Let's wrap One last position will get you out of there. Cornerback. It is hard to get a cornerback in free agency. A couple are off the board already. Kendall Fuller is my number one by default. He's a good player, but he's 29, and he's probably better in the slot than outside. So it's not like a number one corner. Stefan Gilmore is a good example of what I was talking about before, where the best values in free agency are these short term deals. He's still playing well, but he's 33. Kenny Moore, Chedobi, Awuzie, who's coming off a bad year. Steven Nelson, Christian Fulton, who I'm not going to give up on, who I just think has some good ball in him. Adory Jackson, Keisha Nixon, who's an all pro returner. Akela Witherspoon, and Tredavius White coming off of injuries. It's not a good list.

This is the worst group. Looking at your list, oh, my God. I think Gilmore is the best player, but you can play, obviously, man coverage. You don't want to sign him to a multi-year deal, though, probably. So your hope is that he's going to ring Chase. Seeing this list, my only takeaway is the Chief We should probably trade LeJarrius Sneed because some team is going to give up something ridiculous for him because he's so much better than most of these players. Bingo.

And they will. I think they will. It seems like they are certain that they're just allotting for Chris Jones to get We signed and then them to trade. But just corner. If all cornerbacks are bad, then they're not all... And then guys like Steven Nelson are actually good because they're just not the worst thing ever. It's just so hard to find cornerbacks.

I don't know. All right, Mina, we're going to let you go because you got a lot to do. You want to get any plugs in there?

You got NFL Live later. What do we got? What's with Ron Rivera on the show.

With Ron Rivera. We're on NFL Live in 50 minutes with Ron Rivera. As we discussed, check out the latest episode of the Mina Keim show featuring Lenny, featuring the great Patrick Claybon, who is always a delight. Preach. Talking about free agency. Yeah, you can also watch it on YouTube. Thank you so much for having me, guys.

Thank you, Mina. Remember, Mark and I have our free agency, 213, coming out Midnight Tuesday. If you need us, let us know. Mina Kymes, everybody. There she goes.Thanks.

Mina.thank you. It was the best.

Seeing that cornerback group. My God. Well, let's take a break. Then when we get back, we'll wrap things up. Great. Welcome back. Yes, you just heard the great Mina Kimes. Seeing that cornerback group It reminded me that it won't be long before Zuzer will be putting together his Greybeards 2024 roster. It is always the back end of the defense that I feel I most worry about. I'm feeling like I'm going to be in a position where I'll have, I don't know, Antonio Cromardi in the slot at this point. Once the bones are picked from that group.

This is an old group. This is an older group. I mean, that's how free agency works. You're not going to be 22.

It just shows you how it's so hard to find cornerbacks. It just feels like it's an impossible position. I think about that, too, when they do the combine, they're the best athletes. I mean, you could make an argument for the defensive ends or the tight end in different ways. But I think if you're-A wide receiver? I think if you're judging just total athleticism, and I think it's the hardest position. It's an impossible position. I think they are the best athletes.

That's what I played in high school, by the way. There you go. Running back.

You played a little line, too, as I recall.

Running back, but then It became we would just take anyone that is of a certain size and stick them a cornerback.

Were you like the corner? Some cornerbacks, they stick their nose in it, and other cornerbacks is like, Oh, they don't really want it.

No, I was the cornerback that they would do all things under heaven to not put on the field.

I love to play a little fly on the wall with the coaching staff of Camp Happiness High and just hear them be like, With Sesler's athleticism, we got to get him in an impact position. Number one corner, shut down half the field.

No, they were like, We've got to get him on the Ridgefield press beat instead of the actual plane beat as fast as possible.

Speaking of Michael Thomas, by the way, we mentioned that he's going to be out there. The Thomas-Saintz marriage had some really high highs. Second-round pick in 2016, three-time Pro Bowl or two-time first-team All-Pro. I mean, this is a guy that once had 149 catches in one season. He got He got the bag because of it, immediately suffered an ankle injury his first game the following season. Really, ever since that moment, has never been the same. I don't think he qualifies under Locker Room Lawyer, which is always something I love. But I think he does qualify under the column of Pain in the Ass. Also a guy that has opinions. I saw Jeff Duncan, I think, who had a report out there that the Saints were done with Thomas. Michael Thomas's reply under one One of my favorite Twitter handles, of course, Can't Guard Mike. I will read this verbatim and understand in terms of the lawyers out there, somebody looking to sue for libel or slander. This is Michael Thomas, a nod to Zuzer. Jeff Duncan is a trying to stay It's irrelevant, so let's speak on it. The Saints leak information to him to try to ruin players' value.

But see, I'm not broke, so I can speak on it. He is broke, so he needs clicks. Go look at all his articles that never end up being true. Now, in Thomas's defense, there's a lot of business being done by beat reporters to get favors and saddle up and cozy up with front offices for work down the line. Now, is he a hook? I don't know that for sure, is he broke. We don't know Duncan's financial situation.

I doubt it. Perhaps he's been gainfully broke and strong. Point being, a little pot calling Kettle Black because I'm not sure the reporting, specifically the one about Mr.

Duncan being I hope it can be corroborated without triple sourcing it.

How do you feel about it? Tell me how you feel about it. I don't know what he is upset about because the article is only for digital subscribers. But the news, they got to make money. Shout out to nola. Com. But the news was just that the Saints were releasing him, which I got to admit is a pretty big to fly in the ointment for the old top 101 because Michael Thomas has been there at 101 this whole time, and I was like, Release him. He's a free agent. And apparently, they had this insane contract where there was-The Saints?

Insane contract? What?

His agent was quoted saying, It's a one-year deal. Always has been. That's 100% how it's structured. No two ways about it. He's an unrestricted free agent like everyone else in March 15. But apparently, he had some bogus void year that was $80 million in it, and it was just total fantasy. So Technically, he wasn't a free agent yet. Jeff Duncan releasing that, maybe Michael Thomas thinks he's putting that out there to almost make him look bad, that they're not releasing him. He was always a free agent all along. I don't know if there's more to it than that other than he has been down talking Derek Carr as quarterback, too, for much.

It was nice of Michael Thomas at the end of that tweet to say, not just he needs clicks, but go read. I believe he said, Go read all of his articles and find out if they're true or not. That's actually going to help Jeff Duncan. Well, he got the paywall on top of it. If you're a paywall person, otherwise, that's going to be a tough road.

He did put out an article, and this might be what he was upset about, about a month ago where he said it's time for them to move on from Marshawn Latamor and Michael Thomas with some vague inside the locker room stuff. That brings up Latamor, who, by the way, is quietly one of the more interesting stories in the NFL. I think he's going to be traded, and yet no one is reporting about how he's going to be traded. And that seems to be more of a Dennis Allen.

People don't want to be called a in public.

Marsha and Latamor. Marsha and Latamor is totally separate. He hasn't had it.He could do it, too. Well, he hasn't had any major issues other than there has been reporting that him and Dennis Allen don't get along. And Dennis, like the Chauncey Gardner Johnson.

So every offseason, Dennis Allen has to have a falling out with a key member of the secondary?

The difference It's his Latamor as a top-tier cornerback, and if he truly was available, very intriguing, and I would think should get a high draft pick.

Absolutely, especially in this market. Humana humana. All right. Good week of shows. Huge week of shows coming up next week. We said, we'll be doing beginning of the week in Texas, but we'll be very quickly coming back to LA and doing a mixture of shows from Texas and mostly from here in Los Angeles in the studio starting on Tuesday. We'll be all over the free agency picture as it unfolds and how your favorite teams fare in what is sometimes an unfair process for agency as a fan because you get yourself excited. And then, like I said, it don't always work out, but the excitement of the signings, you could always spin it in the moment is a beautiful thing. And then draft season comes and that's hope season. And everybody's staring at a playoff roster at the beginning of June. We're not there yet, but this is the first step toward that.

I mean, it's ripe ground for heartbreak. And only at this point, if you're above a certain age in life or station in life, you'd have to be almost an ultra-rube to fall for some of these signings. Because if you look at the vast majority of them, two or three years later, they're roadkill.

Well, they can help you out as role players. Mark, you're right.

You're a technical lighthouse, Mark.

Some of them. Like the top tier. Like, yes, like Ceeju Ouzama probably got a little too much pop a a couple of years ago for what a blocking tight-end could add to the offense. But there's a lot of good role players that you pick up.

Mark, let's close the week with something that we touched on on Wednesday's show, I believe, or maybe it was Monday's show. You had an abrupt announcement retiring from Twitter. The nature of the tweet seemed to be an attack of the analytics community, as I recall, followed by an abrupt, I believe the word. Let me pull it up. Is it still alive?

I'd rather we gloss over the actual wording.

Well, it's in the Discord.

People can go find it.

You could delete it. Oh, it's still there.

No, I didn't need to delete it.

I don't need to read the whole thing, but the final, just the reason why I'm saying this. You ended it with, This is my last tweet ever, and I believe in you. So that was February 28th. It is now March seventh. I don't see another tweet. Is it a deed over? I've done nothing since then.

Yeah, because it's a personal thing. For me, I think if you go read the guts of the tweet, or at least part of the guts, it's more a little bit about how I feel that sports in general has lost its... I think that numbers and analytics are fine. If I could edit it a little, I would have taken some of that acerbic out of it. But sports writing and everything has just lost its beauty from the old days a little bit. I know Greg will say, Well, then you go write a sports article that tries to bring that back. But I just think that...

That is definitely That's definitely not what I was going to say.

The general environment has become so- Can we give Mark some dramatic music underneath this? Go ahead. Here's a second part to it. I've noticed that I'm a 50-year-old adult that gets every week. They give you that thing on your phone about how many hours you spent just sitting on your phone. And it's like when it comes to things like Twitter, I no longer feel joy when I tweet something where I just sit around and find out who likes it and who responds to it for the vast majority of those tweets. To the point where I'm like, I'm just post it in my life. Other people enjoy it, use it, have fun. People can find community on it. I'm not saying everyone should follow me or anyone should, but I myself am a post sitting around looking at likes. I want to carve that out of my life and it's gone.

I think I'm excited about this as Mark's friend. We have been on the end of many a text in the last 10 years, furious about what other people are tweeting. It did seem like it was an unhealthy thing. Not even so much whatever you wrote.

Or what I was tweeting. That was also problematic.

But more like what you were reading from other people. If that is going to make your life healthier and be out in the world more, interacting with the actual world, I think that's a good thing. I like Twitter, but you know.

Yes, I agree with everything everyone said.Mark?We.

Don't have to agree with me. No.

This is your journey here.

It's just simply a personal decision. Could I have maybe You've crafted a more graceful final stanza.

I just hope you're not on it still reading all the tweets that annoy you.

No, I would only go on if there was something I had to link into that I'd been told is for the show or something like that.

Well, good luck on this journey. Thank you. And I believe in you. What did you write? You wrote...

Well, I ended with a positive note. If there were an edit button, which people have always asked for, I would have probably made a few changes there. But I'm not going to go delete it five minutes later.

They did add an edit button, but you have to pay for it. I'm not doing that. Then everyone can read your edits. Here's the thing. If you can read the edit, it actually makes it worse. You look like a nose. Then you just check what the edit is, and it says It's stupid.

This morning retweeted a post from Adrian Grenier, the actor from Entourage. I think people should... This is a good way. This might be a good way to go out. If you copy this exactly with the photo, so it's a A picture of the guy from Entourage, Haven't been posting because I've been too present, distracted by the moment. Sorry, but thank you. That's what you're getting at in a way.

I don't know.

I mean... Go full grand year is all I'm saying. Do a goodbye post How would you say that. That would be mine.

Also, you'll miss out on opportunities to do things like we can retweet. Our friend John Gonzales just launched his own daily basketball podcast. Good transition. But he can't do that. To check that out. Now that I see in my feet. I'm going to do that right now.

Yeah, I'm going to do it myself.

I couldn't write back to the soccer owner friend that you have. He probably thinks I'm not thankful, but I am if he were to dig into this.

He's a listener, as I said, Shalind.

I think he would understand that I-He's aware that you actually can't reply.Right.Per ethics.Off the hook with him. Yes.

All right. Thank you, everybody. I hope that clarifies everyone who's wondering about that tweet. All right. Until Monday in the beginning of free Here we go. He the call.