In short
Offseason preview for AFC teams eliminated from the playoffs, focusing on coaching turnover, free agency/trades, and draft priorities.
Guests
Greg Rosenthal and Daniel Jeremiah (NFL analysts). No other guests are named in the transcript.
Key claims
- Daniel Jeremiah argues coaching changes cluster because teams feel “urgency” once the “top dog” (e.g., Chiefs/Patriots era) becomes vulnerable, creating pressure to upgrade.
- Across teams, the biggest offseason levers are quarterback decisions, cap management, and rebuilding specific units (often offensive line, secondary, or pass rush).
Notable examples by team
- Texans: Over cap; prioritize interior offensive line; “ride” C.J. Stroud (don’t extend yet, but don’t ignore concerns); rumors of trade interest in Nico Collins.
- Bills: 11M over cap; likely receiver and defensive-vision changes; guard/receiver upgrades needed.
- Steelers: 29-30M cap space; secondary and QB search; use draft ammo (12 picks) and avoid forcing a QB this year.
- Chargers: 80M cap space; rebuild interior OL; extension targets like Tuiasosopo; consider Keenan Allen decisions.
- Raiders/Jets/Browns/Bengals/Dolphins/Colts/Chiefs: emphasis on OL rebuilds, defensive upgrades, and cap-driven roster churn; Chiefs still have Mahomes but face major cap/production concerns.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOCoaching Changes in the AFC
2:51 to 4:12
Analysis of recent coaching changes and their implications in the AFC.
“DJ, you had a theory about why these coaching moves have happened in mass in this season that I thought was really smart.”
AFC Team Evaluations
4:12 to 7:41
Big picture discussions on the offseason needs of AFC teams.
“And maybe you look this year, too, and think, well, if we didn't do it this year, what are we doing?”
Houston Texans Offseason Strategy
7:41 to 8:54
A deep dive into the Texans' draft picks and cap space considerations.
“That frees up 13, 15 million dollars right there.”
Buffalo Bills Roster Challenges
8:54 to 10:17
Analysis of the Bills' cap space and key free agent considerations.
“So you could see a lot of changes there.”
Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Focus
10:17 to 13:08
Discussing the Steelers' draft picks and needs for the upcoming season.
“Wide receiver adding help there as well.”
Los Angeles Chargers' Free Agent Strategy
13:08 to 14:01
Examining the Chargers' cap situation and upcoming free agent decisions.
“And and the guys on the front seven on defense, which are so good, like you're not just going to cut these guys.”
Analyzing the Chargers' Offseason Needs
14:01 to 16:40
Discusses the Chargers' cap space, free agents, and interior offensive line needs.
“I guess I like it because I wanted to get an outside.”
Evaluating the Raiders' Draft and Free Agency Strategy
16:41 to 19:35
Explores the Raiders' picks, cap space, and potential offensive additions.
“When you have that much cap space, you don't really need to make cuts.”
The Jets' Future: Draft Picks and Needs
19:36 to 22:30
Covers the Jets' cap situation, draft picks, and key positions to fill.
“They can just go outside with all that money.”
Tennessee Titans: Building Offense for the Future
22:31 to 24:59
Discusses the Titans' draft needs and the importance of strengthening their offense.
“Head coach, it looks like as we're recording this, Matt Nagy's been the rumor that that was going to be the connection.”
Show all 25 chapters
Kansas City Chiefs: Navigating Cap Challenges
25:00 to 28:03
Examines the Chiefs' cap issues and challenges in maintaining their roster.
“They're going to have to, they're going to have to get to the defense, but they fix the offense first.”
Evaluating the Chiefs' Defensive Future
28:03 to 29:15
Discusses the performance and future of the Kansas City Chiefs' defense.
“We thought that defense was going to be, you know, a chance to be an elite elite defense for a long time with all these young emerging players.”
Baseball vs. Football Dynamics
29:15 to 30:00
Compares the arbitrary nature of changes in baseball to the stability in football.
“By the way, sidebar, you know how weird of a sport baseball is?”
Reflections on Fan Experiences
33:38 to 35:08
Hosts discuss their experiences as fans of various sports teams, sharing emotions and frustrations.
“DJ has taken a moment to collect himself and just live with the playoff failures.”
Cleveland's Draft Strategy and Challenges
35:08 to 36:55
Analyzes Cleveland's situation regarding draft picks and salary cap issues.
“I was at work on Sunday when it was Texans-Patriots, and I heard he was in tears, which kills you.”
Addressing the Offensive Line Crisis
36:55 to 38:43
Discusses the urgent need for Cleveland to rebuild its offensive line.
Analyzing the Bengals' Offseason Needs
38:43 to 40:06
Explores the Bengals' potential moves and needs for the upcoming offseason.
“So I think they're in a pretty good spot right now.”
Team Identity and Consistency in Cincinnati
40:06 to 41:42
Discusses the Bengals' consistent team identity and coaching stability.
“And you've got to spruce up the interior of the offensive line.”
Miami's Quarterback Dilemma
41:42 to 42:00
Examines Miami's quarterback situation and the implications for the team.
“you're up all right i'm gonna go miami here uh miami is picking 11 43 75 87 90 so they are in a great spot here with draft capital in the first three rounds.”
Dolphins' Offseason Priorities
42:00 to 43:20
Discussing the Miami Dolphins' challenges with the cap and roster adjustments.
“They are unfortunately 27.5 million over the cap.”
Colts' Future and Free Agency Considerations
43:20 to 45:40
Analyzing the Indianapolis Colts' situation regarding cap space and key player decisions.
“It's not like they're like without talent on on the defensive side.”
Ravens' Key Decisions and Coaching Changes
45:40 to 48:00
Exploring the Baltimore Ravens' coaching situation and roster needs for the offseason.
“It's a little uncertain where he's going in his career.”
Analyzing the Jaguars' Offseason Moves
48:00 to 53:40
Discussing the Jacksonville Jaguars' offseason challenges and potential player moves.
“I don't know who they have in mind, but that was interesting.”
Importance of Draft and Free Agency for Team Success
53:40 to 55:50
Highlighting the significance of smart drafting and free agency for NFL teams' improvements.
“I'm hearing from my friends, some regular listeners, too, who they like it when you take me down to size, which is troubling because I'm already at such a low size.”
Evaluating NFL Draft and Free Agency Impact
56:00 to 58:03
Learn how effective drafting and free agency can transform NFL teams.
“We had a pick the other day, Borgals, a kicker like that.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Lowe's knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products, and more. Then once your to-do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop in-store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you could be earning daily cash on just about anything like a slice of pizza from your local pizza place or a latte from the corner coffee shop.
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2:14Come on now, pay the girls some attention and take the time to find out your breast cancer risk at your attention, please.com. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Welcome to 40s and free agents. I'm Greg Rosenthal with Daniel Jeremiah. It's the podcast that is marching towards player acquisition season, free agency trades, and of course, the NFL draft. And to set you up, we are going to talk about all the teams not in the playoffs in the AFC and had more changes on Monday with Buffalo Bills changing their head coach. DJ, you had a theory about why these coaching moves have happened in mass in this season that I thought was really smart.
3:00Yeah, I think everybody was in this neighborhood in their house and they felt good about their house and they felt good about themselves. And then what happened was the biggest house on the end of the cul-de-sac, the big mansion, it's up for sale. and everybody started saying, well, maybe my house isn't so good. I want to get in there because that was the Chiefs who've run this neighborhood for so long and kind of been a reason why a lot of people have been content just saying, well, that's an insurmountable force right now. And so we're having good years. We're getting in the tournament. We're a successful team.
3:33And now it's like, well, wait a second. We could have everything. It's all out there. There's no roadblock for us. So it's created this urgency and this pressure that I don't know that existed previously. I think that to me, when you have the top dog and it was New England forever, and then that became available, then there wasn't any gap because the Chiefs immediately took that over from them. I don't think right now, even with the teams we have left, and if you could make a case with Seattle, maybe more so because they have a younger quarterback, how much longer staff are going to play. You can make a case maybe Seattle could be ready to go on that type of a run, but it doesn't feel like that seat is filled.
4:11And I think that's one of the reasons that we've seen so much turnover. Yeah, I do buy it. And maybe you look this year, too, and think, well, if we didn't do it this year, what are we doing? And yeah, you're right. If you think about the coaches, Vrabel in his first year with the Patriots, Sean Payton in his third year with the Broncos, Mike McDonald in his second year. Ben Johnson almost beat Sean McVay, who's now like the old tenured head coach that is still alive. Ben Johnson in his first year. So why not make a change? And I know it's a good analogy for you because no one has like upgraded houses as those NFL network checks have been coming in more than you over the years.
4:47I'm still renting here. I'm, I'm just a humble servant, you know, a podcaster. I'm just, I'm just, just trying to make sure the trash cans get up to the curb. That's all I'm trying to do here. Okay. Okay. So we are going to go through all the teams in the AFC, just kind of big picture looking at all the teams and what they are going to be looking to. We'll keep it fast moving through all the teams. We'll start with the teams in the playoffs. Why don't you get us going? Yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to rip through here. I'm going to go with Houston to start out. and you look at them in the offseason let's start first of all i always do with the draft they've got the three picks there that they have in the top three rounds 28 38 59 uh 38 i believe was the tunsel trade um which gave them washington's second round pick they are uh under uh the cap here they are they are over the cap i should say 8.2 million dollars over right now so we got to sort some of that stuff out in terms of needs and focus um obviously we're going to start by the end of the season?
5:45I mean, the QB discussion, does it take place? I don't think you extend Stroud. I don't think you want to look. He hasn't played great for the last two years. It wasn't this isn't just an overreaction of two, you know, mediocre turnover prone playoff games. I don't think it's enough to say, OK, we're going to go in another direction. But I also don't think that you can ignore it and say we're going to lock him in long term. I think you ride that thing out. They need to upgrade the interior of the offensive line. This is one of those things you just kind And this is it's rumor season a little bit now.
6:17So I look, I don't know how much you put into this, but with all the young receivers they drafted last year, there is talk in league circles. When you start talking about guys, you would try and go after in trades. I think teams are going to at least try and call on Nico. I do think they will try and go. They'll try and call. Wow. But I mean, that's just, that's just, you know, the rumors you hear talking around in the league. This is why we got DJ on 40s and free agents. I think they'd be crazy to trade Neal Collins, but it is not crazy to call and just ask. Yeah. I mean, I sometimes worry about him because so much of the production that he had this season was the exact play that he got concussed on in the wildcard round.
6:58Him just getting thrown into really brutal windows and him making tough catches. I thought he was absolutely awesome this year, but man, they put him through it in terms of the physicality that he has to play with. With Stroud, I think it's easy. look, he's up for his fifth year option. You do that. If they really do believe in him, you could potentially get a little bit of a discount on him by showing that you believe in him right now. So I don't think, I honestly don't think that's that crazy if they truly believe in him. I do believe in him enough to do that. Looking at their, their cap sheet, look, they're, they're pretty set on defense in general.
7:34Like, of course you're always tinkering. It's just crazy. I like the roster. It's all about the offensive line. You can cut Joe Mixon. You can cut Mario Edwards. That frees up 13, 15 million dollars right there. But probably their best guard this year was was Ingram and he's a free agent. And so it's just continue to push money there in on the offensive line. Yeah, no, it's a it's a team that is very singularly focused or should be singularly focused on the offensive side of the ball. They are good to go defensively. Do you want me to keep going? When are you going to know? I'll go. I'll go with the Buffalo Bills.
8:06They are 11 million dollars over in cap space. We had an emergency. Sean McDermott, you know, is out episode with Ali Connelly that went up on Monday. It'll be interesting where they go in terms of their head coaching hire. Obviously, you want someone that's going to maximize Josh Allen. Is it an old friend of Josh Allen? Is it just elevating Joe Brady? Like, we'll see there. They actually have a lot of free agents that are important to think about. both their starting guards. I know you mentioned to me, you thought David Edwards could get a good contract and free agency. A lot of the old guard McDermott guys who you figure are maybe on their way out.
8:44Milano, AJ Epinesa is a younger player. Joey Bosa had a rough end to what was a really good free agency season, but that was a one year deal for him. And then some of the guys you just brought back in at the last second, like Poyer and Tredavious White. So you could see a lot of changes there. uh Dawson Knox is another guy whose cap number is really big and look they're gonna have to fill those guard spots I think they need some outside receivers clearly and and a new vision for what this defense is gonna be yeah I mean look I I look at that receiver position and just you've got you've you gotta go get somebody man you've gotta get somebody to help Khalil Shakir is a nice player they've got two solid tight ends but i just i the windows shrink this windows shrink in the postseason and you need guys who can make those combat catches physical um a presence a red zone guy to me that's got to be a direction that they look yeah they're a team look they need some reimagining but when i looked at the roster i i don't think it's as in as bad shape as as people think it's a it's a lot of spots where you got like one or two guys you need one more but you're not like building from from the ground up you're very good at running back solid at tight end so i i don't think it's a full rebuild which obviously uh makes sense the the this next coach is going to have to make the super bowl in his first three years or else him and bean are going to be out it's it's like the highest i don't even know if he gets i don't know if he gets the third year i think right it might be two years so you you got to win fast pressure is on brandon bean all right i'm going to go next here i'm going to go with pittsburgh um this is one of the more interesting ones looking at it as someone who's a draft guy they have 12 picks in this draft so in the first three rounds greg 21 53 76 85 99 they've got a lot of picks they can work with um this is a team that's got 29 almost 30 million in salary cap space you're going to start with the quarterback situation it doesn't sound like Aaron Rodgers will be back there so they're back in that market.
10:47Wide receiver adding help there as well. I mean, DK, obviously, the two-game suspension didn't help at the end of the year, but they were able to get around that but need another guy there. And then, really, I just put the secondary all the way across the board. That secondary has to be much better. I think they've done a really good job drafting on the line of scrimmage, offensive lineman, defensive lineman in the last couple years. They've got good young players there, a lot of talent, but they need to get better on the perimeter and they need to find the quarterback. And I could make a case if I just laid out an off-season plan for you here and I'll get the Rosenthal opinion on it.
11:18All these 12 picks. I want to take at least two of these picks. I mean, you could take two third-round picks. I'm getting ammunition at 27. And people always say, everybody always talks about the next quarterback draft class. And I'm like, well, I'm telling you, this quarterback draft class is not great. And there are going to be bona fide dudes next year. Not that long ago, we saw six quarterbacks go in the top 12. I'm not saying it's to that extreme, but there's going to be talent there. and if I were them, I wouldn't force the young quarterback this year. I would try and get some assets for next year.
11:49Bring in your new head coach. It might be a situation where, God forbid, they might have a losing season next year, something that they don't ever, never had under Mike Tomlin, but it might be for the greater good, if that makes sense. That does make sense, but we're burned here. I'm just a normie DJ following the draft from afar, listening to people like you until we get really close to it. And I've heard that the last three years. Oh, the next one's going to be better at quarterback. Oh, the next one's going to be good. Yeah, we've been in it. We had a monster year. What happens is it's like anything else.
12:22When you have that year where you get the six guys, last year was not as good. This year, it's very similar to last year, and I would say maybe not even as good as last year. So we had that peak. We have a couple down years, and I think we're headed back next year. I really do. Saw a good stat that more quarterbacks from this class have won games. You know, it's Bo Nix, it's Drake May, it's Caleb Williams in the playoffs. Jaden Daniels in the conference championship game the year before. Right, in the first two years of their career than any quarterback draft class in like 30-something years. And Caleb was very close to breaking that record in that Rams game.
13:01I don't think the Steelers have nearly as big a rebuild as people think. They have good young players on the line of scrimmage. That's a good place to start. And and the guys on the front seven on defense, which are so good, like you're not just going to cut these guys. They're good players. The contracts aren't that crazy. They have cap space. Jalen Ramsey's one guy where, you know, his his cap figure might out outweigh how much value he's giving them. But for the most part, like it's it's a solid enough roster. They certainly need another wide receiver. You know what? when you have this many like just look at 53 take the first round pick out of it 53 76 85 99 you know you find in between 53 and 99 you can find corners you can find receivers um you can find uh safeties that's that's a sweet spot for where their needs are because the you know the high ticket items you know outside of the quarterback position you're talking about you know those those offensive lines offensive tackles edge rushers like they're in pretty good spot in all those spots so the The Chargers are a team I was surprised was assigned to me.
14:04I guess I like it because I wanted to get an outside. I don't want an inside out looking like I thought Drew just thought like, actually, DJ doesn't really know his stuff when it comes to 80 million dollars in cap space. I mean, most, I believe more than they know what to do with the Patriots are up there looking for a new offensive coordinator. I've had some very interesting interview requests, Dable, Brian Callahan, Mike McDaniel. So we'll just see where that Arthur Smith, see where that ends up. The free agents are as good a list as any team has in the league, unfortunately for the charges though.
14:37So they're going to have to spend money to keep these guys. Cleo Mack considering retirement again, a Dafa away who came in, tear tart had a great year for them. Zion Johnson came through for them this year. I listened to this chargers podcast. Sometimes guilty as charged. They did, they did a top, top 10 chargers for the season. Well, there's four of them. So those guys are guys they're going to have to try to keep and also offensive line, offensive line, offensive line. I would think on the interior especially would be big. Yeah, I think rebuilding the interior of the offensive lines, number one, without question.
15:13You get the two tackles back. I think you have to, whether it's with a draft pick, which you can do with third round pick to say we're going to take a swing. And we're going to get a quality swing tackle because you have to have some insurance. Because Slater has had some injuries here, and that's a tough injury he's coming back from. I think all it's going to be fine coming back. But just maybe some young insurance at the tackle spot. But rebuilding the interior of that offensive line. I would also say on the to-do list, I mean, Tui Piloto is eligible for an extension coming off of a monster year.
15:45He's 23 years old. You know, elite character. Great dude. so I think those three pass rushers and I think in a perfect world they figure out a way to pay all of them to get Khalil to come back for one more year I think he's got value still and then you know away I think he ended up with seven or eight sacks he didn't have any with the Ravens he made himself some money he made some money whether it's with the Chargers or not he made some money it'll be interesting to see what they decide on Keenan Allen To me, that's a fascinating one because Herbert, I think he was the most targeted receiver this year.
16:22Well, a lot of those targets came from Ladd McConkie. And while Keenan was able to convert a lot of those third downs, Ladd would provide a lot more explosiveness with those targets. So it'd be interesting to see what they decide to do there. But when you look at where they are with skill players, young skill players, all on rookie deals, all cheap, they're in a great spot to be able to make some noise in the offseason. When you have that much cap space, you don't really need to make cuts. but since I've got you here, do you think they'll cut McKay Becton after? Yeah, there's no, I would be shocked beyond shocked if he's back next year.
16:55Okay. This is, this is why, uh, it's why you listen to forties and free agency. I wouldn't have known that I'm going to put them on my list. You know what? Hey honey, people like those articles. Let's go for a jog. You want to go shopping today? No, no, no, no, no, no, Forties and free agents is out. And they're going to let me know if McKay Becton is going to be back with the chargers. Put that on hold. You, you underrate, uh, in the weeds our listeners want to go all right you're up next um all right i'm up next i'm gonna go we're outside the playoffs now so i'm gonna go vegas vegas has 10 picks only two in the first three rounds so 30 or sorry no they have all three 136 and 67 so they've got their allotment there 84.1 million dollars in cap space so a lot of room there quarterback head coach offensive line exclamation point exclamation point exclamation point um and then i wrote edge d line there's they they can make a case outside of taking the quarterback which i would imagine will be mendoza with the first overall pick i think you could make a strong case let's just go bpa best player available on the offensive side of the ball let's try and load up use some of this money and get it get a functional offensive line i think they they had health issues too you get your left tackle back healthy that helps Colton Miller and then you know to me I think Powers Johnson has a chance to be a good center I like him there at that position over guard but continue to throw resources try and fix the offensive line you get the quarterback you'll have a you know a tight end who's arguably the best in the league and a solid young running back I think this could be a watchable offense within a year I do think that's possible I just assumed they would cut Geno Smith and I still would guess they will but if I had to guess but then when I saw that they had 80 million dollars in cap space and they only save 8 million dollars against cap they don't have to cut Gina Smith they could keep him around I don't know I would not I'll go on record and say I would not do that he's been a backup before I know but that was also we've seen Pouty Gino up in Seattle when he wasn't happy you know with the contract situation I don't know that that's he's already he's gone from that backup geno to starter geno i don't want to i don't want to do that he was back in a hall of famers in uh philip rivers yeah it's different and um right man i backed myself into a corner i don't think eli manning's a hall of famer so sorry okay taking that take well i thought you're gonna say russell wilson i thought we're getting ready to go to a whole is russell wilson the hall of famer discussion i'd put him in over geno i mean over uh eli i don't think it's crazy let's not um here let's just keep it they need absolutely everything there's nothing they don't need which is why in the end i think cooler heads will prevail and they'll keep max crosby there was some buzz that max crosby kind of wanted out after they didn't let him play the last couple games but i i doubt it i guess it's it's it's funny though you look at um if you're just looking at salary cap because we just talked about the chargers and all their space and you talked about the raiders and all their space so hey something in common well actually the chargers have a lot of good players need to figure out how to keep and it's pretty much a blank canvas for the Raiders.
20:05They can just go outside with all that money. And I don't know how much of that inside they need to, to re, to re, uh, resign there. Right. They, they, if they traded Max Crosby, by the way, they would save like$30 million against capital. What's the point? They have too much cap space. There's a lot of teams with cap space, which again, which again, you give me the teaser on the free agent crop overall, Greg, but I just don't think there's going to be enough great players to satisfy all the cap space that's out there. No, I've, been saying it now for a couple years there's too much cap space in the league it is much harder to find great players to spend it on uh than it is to to really get in trouble especially with the that's how dan more that's how dan more ends up making whatever you need to make like 30 million a year whatever we got speaking of which uh the jets let's go to them 66 million dollars in cap space mostly a clean slate here in terms of what you could add like they need everything they obviously need a quarterback they need a second wide receiver ad Mitchell was a nice throw in in that trade who actually was productive and maybe can help them as a three four receiver but they need linebackers they need defensive backs I mean it was one of the worst defenses that that you'll ever see uh they have Brees Hall as a free agent to me with all that cap space you might as well just tag Brees Hall and have one less problem uh to fill because he's a good running back and it's it's not a exorbitant tag Quincy Williams will probably be elsewhere they have to hire a defensive coordinator at some point um but a little surprising fun stuff you buried the lead what what's the fun stuff with the jets look it's not a lot to be excited about let me give you something to be excited about because you have an excited jets fans 12 picks greg the second pick the 16th pick so there's two first rounders 33 44 you got two second rounders then there's no third but then you get to a four you've got two fives you've got three sixes two sevens they need to spin off the same thing that I just said about Pittsburgh.
21:59They need to spin off some of this and they've already got extra capital next year. Just keep loading up, man. Keep loading up, get your lottery tickets ready for next for 27. Yeah. I think when they decided to stand pat, it's really amazing that there's 10 openings and the jets aren't, aren't one of them, man. I know this is not how it works, but you almost should be committing multiple years because this GM, at least Darren Mugi is gonna really set the groundwork for what this franchise is going to be like for the next five years or whether whether he has the job or not so many already have three first round picks in 27 right so even if Aaron Glenn is in there long term you got to think that that Mugi is and so we'll see that they were one of the easiest teams to look at because there's not many cuts there's not many good players uh Justin Fields I assume will get cut and that'll open this would be a fun team to be a scout for right now super fun because you have a chance to you get back in you you already got that nice house yeah i'm good on that get back to use to use one of your words you can reimagine this football team okay over the next two drafts will determine whether the jets are relevant for the next decade this is the this is their time they've got to nail it all right let's do one more team each and then we'll take a break okay I'll get to Tennessee.
23:15Tennessee is picking 435 and 66. Another team, 77.1 million in space. So they got a ton of spots here. Head coach, it looks like as we're recording this, Matt Nagy's been the rumor that that was going to be the connection. We'll see what happens there. So when you look at them, this one of any team, I just simplified it and I just wrote BPA offense. Just every round at the top of the free agent market, wherever you want to shop, we are taking the best player available on the offensive side of the ball because I want a year from now, whether or not we win five games or 12 games, I want to say we have our quarterback going forward.
23:58And I like him. I actually do like him a lot. I like Cam Ward. I think he's got a chance to be good. But you've got to get a chance to evaluate him. Load up. Just load up on the offensive side of the ball. You'll hear this kind of trend with me as we go through this. I have a very, I'm not going to waver on the philosophy when you have a young quarterback and people say, oh, you build up the defense. You don't have to score as many points. I'm like, no, no, I'd rather lose. I'd rather lose 28 to 27 with my young quarterback getting better, gaining confidence. That's going to be the long-term move for this organization.
24:27We can get to the defense, but solve the offense first. Give that kid a chance. And the defense has a few players. Jeffrey Simmons being the most notable among them. Not a lot of key free agents for them. Kevin Zeitler's 36 years old and figure he's not going to be back. They've put a lot into their offensive line over the last five years with the three different regimes that they've had and hasn't really borne fruit in particular, but you know, I think you're, you're right on just investing. Look what the bears did. Look what the bears did. Yeah. They're going to have to, they're going to have to get to the defense, but they fix the offense first.
25:04And then they look at all the hope that they've generated there with Caleb Williams, based off all the, all the things they accomplished in free agency, as well as a draft in one year. Would, would anyone take Calvin Ridley in a trade? His stock isn't that high. I think you're moving on there, but it's, and it makes sense. They probably will. You save$13 million in, in cap space, but like, what do you need the cap space for? Legereus Sneed, by the way, is another guy who I do not expect back there. That'll open up some cap space, but there's, there's kind of no point maybe just maybe just hope that you get a good calvin ridley year like you need as many people uh around i do like the young rook i do like the young rookies and i think the tight end and talking to people that were on that previous staff there is belief that that tight end helm is going to be a really really good player so uh file that one away they had a good first draft with mike borganzi but then again at the point he was making those picks this guy chad Brinker was more powerful than him and they've already flipped those roles that now it's Borgonza.
26:02Like it's, it's always changing in Tennessee, but he comes from Kansas city and they'll give him a few years here. Speaking of which the chiefs are not one of the teams. It's weird to be talking about the Kansas city chiefs in this type of a show, by the way, they are$62 million over the cap. And they have this bank account called the Patrick Mahomes contract, the greatest bargain for any team in the NFL. how underpaid he is relatively and the way it's structured. They just kind of change the money around. But$62 million over is a lot. Like they are not going to be able to go too crazy. They can save$20 million by cutting Juwan Taylor, which I think is a move they will do.
26:43Other than that, there weren't a bunch of obvious cuts. Mike Dana, Christian Fulton potentially could get some space. Would they ever consider trading Chris Jones or Trent McDuffie at this point in the process to save some money. They're going to have to be creative here because they don't have a quarterback at the start of the year, you don't think. Gardner Minshew also suffered a devastating injury, so they have to figure that out. Who's going to be the quarterback in OTAs? And they have a lot of needs. Pass rush, kind of rethinking the offense. Rasheed Rice has legal troubles, potentially. Hollywood Brown's a free agent.
27:23There's just a lot here. I could go on and on. I have a lot of notes on the Chiefs. They have a lot of work to do. It is not an easy job right now for Brent Veach, but you do have Patrick Holmes in the building and Andy Reid in the building. That's a nice advantage over normal teams. They've got to get back to nailing the draft. You know, it's not been, if you look at it, there's, as one of my buddies in the league always says, losing leaves clues. And when you look at kind of how the Chiefs have arrived to this place, you look at their last three drafts and the combination of lack of dependability, and production from those last three drafts.
27:58It's kind of caught up to them. And they did a great job in the previous years before that, where they had built up a dominant young defense. We thought that defense was going to be, you know, a chance to be an elite elite defense for a long time with all these young emerging players. And outside of McDuffie, I don't know how many of those, and Bolton's been really good, but I don't know how many of those guys have continued to just progress. Karloffis is okay. He's a solid player, but like they're not, not to the level, not to now, not to the level he's getting paid for sure. And some of the more solid players are free agents too.
28:30Jalen Watson is going to be relatively high on my free agency list because he's a player who's produced. Cook, their safety was their starting safety. Leo Chanel's an interesting player. Kelsey's a free agent. Does he come back? Because they gave him a lot of money. Those are one-year deals. Those go straight on that cap. So if he wants to come back, you assume they work out a contract for him. So that that's another big one. But man, a lot of work to do for the Kansas City Chiefs. All the people have been hating on them for all the years who just root for Nick Wright's downfall. They're enjoying life right now.
29:05But I'm not buying that that they're in some sort of total rebuild. When you have Patrick Mahomes and we're going to assume he's playing in the second half of next season, you're going to have a chance. By the way, sidebar, you know how weird of a sport baseball is? sure i just saw this yesterday like but kansas city like they don't i don't they don't feel good about their power so arbitrarily hey we're going to move the fences in 10 feet and uh done there's nothing wrong in football like that's like you know our kicker's not good so we're going to move the goal post up we're going to move the goal up about five yards or if you're the dodgers you're like and we have you know eight 100 million dollar players let's let's add another one and Kyle Tucker.
29:45Let's go. Let's take a break. We'll be back and wrap up. I'm going to go throw up. I'll be right back.
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33:37We are back on 40s and free agents. DJ has taken a moment to collect himself and just live with the playoff failures. That is being a San Diego Padres season ticket holder. It's tough, man. It's tough. But man, is it going to be sweet if we ever do. I mean, we knocked them out of the playoffs in 22. That wasn't that long ago. But if we could ever do it to this super team that they've built. And it does – you know what makes me feel good? And then we'll get back to football. What makes me feel good is I've long, long hated the Los Angeles Dodgers with a passion. And as they say, misery loves company.
34:13To know that the rest of all of baseball fandom, including the big market New York Yankee fans and Boston Red Sox fans and Chicago, they all joined me. They all said, you know what? You've been right in hating this despicable organization for as long as you have. And we're going to join the fight. So now they're clearly the number one most hated team in the league. And I'm sure by the time we finish this episode, they'll throw out another deferred contract for three, four hundred million dollars. Well, we'll see. We'll see how that works out for you now as a fan of two despicable organizations.
34:42It was a tough seven years between the Patriots making this. So tell me, are your kids both Dodger fans and Patriot fans? They're both huge Dodgers fans. Neither one of them are Patriots fans. They forsook me. Is that a word? Forsaken? Big Rams household here for my daughter and my wife. And my son, for some reason, became a Texans fan. So it was a good thing. I was at work on Sunday when it was Texans-Patriots, and I heard he was in tears, which kills you. He was pretty upset. After each successive turnover, he was getting – That's tough. some some things are happening all right i'm gonna keep us going here i'm gonna go to cleveland cleveland has 10 picks in this draft uh including uh in the first three rounds six 24 so two first rounders 39 and 70 so opportunity in this draft do some damage there they are 65 million dollars over the cap right now and i'm sure that's the deshaun watson factor i'm guessing is a lot oh that's not it is it not it what is it's a you know what it is it's because of deshaun watson and because they went all in in general it's all these guys that they've pushed money into the future forever all those aging offensive linemen that are not even they're all gone i have any of them they're all with dead cap next year there's like 10 25 six it's like it's a it's a problem oh there you go so there's that um the i wrote down head coach quarterback obviously the two big uh things there as we're recording this i haven't landed on a head coach yet i think it'd be huge if if the head coach isn't jim schwartz that they find a way to keep jim schwartz as a defensive coordinator who's an outstanding job there and who has the perfect defense uh for what they have personnel wise specifically with miles garrett i mean miles garrett was put on this earth to play uh in that wide nine that uh that jim schwartz utilizes there and then i wrote for the uh priorities outside obviously those two big ones head coach and quarterback the entire offensive line no big deal we just got to we just have to build an entire offensive line in this off season so thankfully they do have some picks there and they got to figure out the money side of it i never seen anything like it like we need a whole new group they here's what i'll give them i've never seen an over the cap page quite like them other than david and joku there's no one on the team you can cut really and save any money like literally not even an option because they've already done that they've already like moved the money around and then the offensive line thing is crazy that d daniel's not exaggerating literally the entire offensive line they're all free agents yeah it's insane and they're all aging too so i don't like fun thing the fun i don't think they're bringing them back i don't i think they're either like joel batonio is probably retiring uh they left tackles just wide open uh wyatt teller i think will be moving on he might be retiring like who knows here's the fun here's the opportunity so let's look at it as instead of uh oh no here we go of like this is a great opportunity they have young skill players from this rookie class on both sides but that i mean the when you look at fanon in the year that he had judkins what he can do um you uh wide receiver wise why am i on the uh the speedster who was uh gosh who was undrafted free agent bond isaiah isaiah bond he's got some juice but like they have a lot of different pieces a lot of different type of guys you can play with there now here's hear me out it's set up perfectly for them these picks we're going to build this young offensive line you have a chance to have the best young nucleus if you can hit on offensive line picks with some skill players you get the offensive line now here's the plan you're going to go we're going to give Shadour the year we're going to you know I don't know there's a great opportunity to upgrade over him right now he costs you nothing we're going to give you the year and either he proves he's the guy with all this young emerging talent that we have or proves he's not the guy and we're going to have a quarterback come in in 27 to a team with a really good young core of offensive players for him to grow with.
38:47So I think they're in a pretty good spot right now. Yeah, if not for the$40 million you're playing into guys not named Deshaun Watson that are not on the team and the money you're paying to Deshaun Watson. That'll clear up a year from now, I think, at least. Yes, they're clear. I never quite got them keeping Andrew Barry. I'm going to take your medicine in one year, guy, by the way. Just take your medicine. That's a good point because they had the most expensive team in the league in aggregate over the last two years. I mean, that's – and that GM, Stane? Well, he drafted really well last year.
39:22Fair. I appreciate you not trying to claim victory. No, not that, but not trying to claim victory on the Travis Hunter trade and me saying it was an abomination by the Browns last year. Did you really use that strong a language? I don't know if I did. But right now they feel better that they have those picks. The Bengals, a lot of cap space. They're an easy team to talk about because, like, I thought about, like, another team might even, are we going to get creative and, like, trade in Orlando Brown or T. Higgins just to fill spots up? But it's not what the Bengals are going to do. They don't have a lot of key free agents outside of Trey Hendrickson.
40:02Joseph Asai and Cam Taylor Britt have both played a lot for them but been up and down. And you've got to spruce up the interior of the offensive line. But beyond that, it's the entire defense. I mean, I know they drafted two linebackers last year. They didn't play that well. And then the other positions, it's wide open, basically, in the secondary in terms of their safety position. And then the entire defensive line without Trey Hendrickson, you need upgrades. Yeah, it's still, man, it's a golden opportunity. Same thing. Because Burrow, if he's out there, he's going to score a bazillion points.
40:35um so and you got two tackles that you like um you got a running back that you like it's not even just burrow and the and the receivers but man they kept their defensive coordinator so not a lot's changing there in cincinnati yeah it's funny i don't even know why i bothered to look in their at their draft selection they got seven yeah we're gonna roll with our seven we're Good to go. Exactly. They do like that. You know who they are? They are the Bengals are the Steve Jobs closet of the NFL. Like just put on that black shirt every day. Like we're going to have the same picks. We're going to try and do the same thing.
41:14Just consistency, man. We're going to have the same coach, same GM. We're going to have the same thing. Here we go. I used to get grief on the show that I called Zach Taylor just like the polo shirt. of head coaches like he's just solid you know you just just put on zach taylor and don't think about it you're not gonna you know win any fashion contest you want to go you want to you want to go golf you want to go to church you want to go to the movies fine you can go all three with a polo it's a versatile piece of clothing i mean i'm a big polo guy all right you're up all right i'm gonna go miami here uh miami is picking 11 43 75 87 90 so they are in a great spot here with draft capital in the first three rounds.
42:01They are unfortunately 27.5 million over the cap. We are trying to figure out the quarterback situation. Obviously we have a head coach to hire to a that's that ship sailed. And then I wrote down a corner is a, is a key area for them to address that, that, that secondary kind of built back up. So those would be some, some key areas. It's not a coincidence. A lot of these teams were talking about quarterback and head coach are uh are both on the to-do list yeah and you you mentioned to uh that that ship has sailed he said he welcomes a move it's going to be important for that it would be dope i believe which is uh his word he's honest it will be dope for him and and for dolphins fans i think at this point uh both him and tyree kill look you save much more money especially the way to his contract is if you trade them versus cutting them in fact cutting them is is a problem you almost can't cut to us you kind of have to get someone to just take like like something to compete you know like a seventh round pick swap that comes with the restructured contract just because of how the money is going to hit there i gotta assume tyree kill is done there too so he could be if not done period i'm gonna say that was got bad injury he had with his knee so there'll always be someone Who knows?
43:20Maybe maybe an Andy Reid reunion. It's not like they're like without talent on on the defensive side. And and even in terms of H. And Jalen Waddell. And I think they like Patrick Paul's developed that left tackle. Like he's been better. I always like to to to fess up on guys that have exceeded my expectations. I was not a big fan of Patrick Paul's in the draft process. I didn't see it, and he's played better and better and proved to be more than a functional player. So that was one that I got wrong, and they've got a talented young guy there. And a second-team All-Pro in Aaron Brewer at center.
43:58And when I looked at the free agency list, one of the least consequential free agencies lists in the league. So that's good news for whoever. It's John Eric Sullivan at GM. You know, I will say this. I will say this. I talked to some guys who have done a much deeper dive on their roster than I have at this point in time. And I don't know if they – one of them I believe interviewed. The other one I don't know if they – they were in consideration for the GM job. So they had done their homework on the Dolphins and kind of came to the same conclusion, which was this is not a tough football team. It's not a physical football team.
44:33So that's something to just keep in mind in terms of how they try and build this thing out. that um that has been borne out uh when they go play good teams in the mike mctaniel era and especially in cold weather but really in any weather his record against teams over 500 was pretty brutal the colts have a coach in shane steichen who might be looking around and thinking man i could have maybe coached up lamar jackson or josh allen he would have been one of the bells of the ball here if he had i'm sure he wanted to keep his job of course uh but i think he would have ended up with a pretty good job in this cycle.
45:07Instead, he's with the Colts, which is not a bad job. They have$26 million in cap space. They have a lot of questions. One of the best lists of potential free agents in the league. Daniel Jones, got to figure out what you're doing with him. The expectation is he's staying, so it's just the structure and how much. Alec Pierce, who's going to be really high on my list, a really good deep threat. Nick Cross, who was a great story for them as a developmental guy who turned into a really good safety. Quiddy Pei, who's played a lot for them. Braden Smith, who's been the right tackle forever, has injury concerns.
45:41It's a little uncertain where he's going in his career. And then DeForest Buckner says he wants to keep playing football despite a neck injury. But that's a tricky situation. And Charverius Ward, who was a big ticket item in free agency last year, is considering retirement. So those are two aging players, too. You're not even sure if they're going to play. It's just, it's a lot. So Chris Ballard, uh, that you have a good nucleus, I think to be a competitive team, but they're going to be one of, you know, if I was making one of those articles, a 10 most important, like active teams this off season, I think they're one of those 10.
46:13I have to, I have to go back and watch Quiddy pay this last year. Cause I thought he was kind of on this upward trajectory. And then I just was just pulling up his, his numbers from the year. It was kind of underwhelming there. But I mean the previous two years, eight and a half sacks in 16 games, eight sacks in 15 games. And that's the profile of someone who's a first-round pick, who's got solid production. If not, it's not elite production, but it's solid production. Those guys usually get paid handsomely in free agency. But I don't know what. I haven't studied him off of this last year. Yeah, he is kind of the picture of a guy who's going to get paid in free agency because there's not a ton of options.
46:51A little more on hope. A little bit of Odafe Owe better, I would say, before the trade. But now Owe, I think, made his money with how he played at the end of the Chargers. But similar. I would say their biggest need would be juice in the front seven. Just a little more difference-making juice on defense. And then cornerback, if Charverius Ward is retiring, that kind of opens up a hole where you didn't think there was one. And no first-round pick with Sauce Gardner. Yeah. So interesting with them. All right, I'm going to get to my last team, which is Baltimore. Baltimore, when we were doing this, I said, I got the playoff teams.
47:30I'll do Baltimore. And you reminded me they didn't make the playoffs. I was like, gosh, that game against Pittsburgh felt so much like a playoff game. I forgot it wasn't actually a playoff game. It was to get in the playoffs. They have 10 picks, 14, 45, and 80 there in the first three rounds. They have$8.4 million in space, which if they can get Lamar Jackson reworked, I think that'll create a lot more room there. Or they'll be able to be more active. I even saw in their press conference that Eric Dacosta, their general manager, had made a comment. If we can get this Lamar thing, it'll allow us to be aggressive maybe on the upper tier of guys in free agent markets.
48:04I don't know who they have in mind, but that was interesting. Edge rusher, edge rusher, edge rusher. They did not rush well last year. And Odafe, always a great example. Zero sacks with them, goes to the Chargers and finished with eight or whatever. He finished plus three in the playoffs. Not a single sack with the Ravens. so i don't know if that's you want to say that's part of the scheme um but you know seven and a half uh gavin said there for sacks for away so i was right between seven and eight um head coach situation we'll see what happens there i do know they love anthony weaver i saw he was coming back in for a second interview uh and maybe as you're listening to this they've already hired somebody but that was a name i would definitely keep an eye on you keep saying this like we're like banking this and we're putting them up in march it you know it's going up in 12 hours dj not you know The NFL moves fast, Gregory.
48:51It moves fast. Just Greg. The extra G just ends it. I say it every time, and you correct me every time, which just shows a character flaw on your part. Then to me, I wrote down, in terms of their keys, I wrote down Lamar Whisperer. Like, they need to bring someone in who connects with him. Whether or not that's the head coach, whether or not that's the new offensive coordinator, they need somebody who can connect and get the absolute best out of Lamar. I think that's one of the underrated on the to-do list. for this team yeah and maybe it doesn't necessarily have to only be an offensive guy if it is anthony weaver like he does kind of fit the mold actually now that i think of it if they want a guy for a long time they love him there they loved him as a player they loved him as a coach in terms of like almost as like a young harbaugh where it's you know obviously he's a defensive mind is what it reminds me of yeah of of just a guy who's gonna be kind of leading the charge for the entire building and in hiring the right people you could see that they have a lot of questions um you know matt abuike there's been talk that he could be retiring yeah i was very nervous about that one so i'm not sure what that does to the cap situation so i'll pass on that marlon humphrey is a guy whose production hasn't been as great in recent years and so is he there next year for sure isaiah likely is a free agent so it might be tough to keep him they gave mark andrews a a surprising another contract late last season actually i was surprised to see that good money for him so you would think they're not going to pay isaiah likely and they have tyler linderbaum as a free agent they didn't give him the fifth year option and if he gets out there i'm curious yes in a lot of these teams that we've talked about interior offensive line has come up a bunch for a lot of teams and i know look i don't think it's i don't think he played a perfect brand of football this year.
50:48There's some games where I thought he got moved around a little bit more than he had in the past, but this is a massive upgrade for the majority of teams who need interior alignment. He's like a scheme fit. I would think I have asked around a little about him because if he's makes it to free agency, he'll be near the top of my list. And, and yeah, he can get pushed back as a pass protector. So I think you got to have like the right vision of how you're going to use him in the running game where he can be a difference maker and maybe the right people around him and everything. You know who else they said that about last year?
51:19It was Drew Dahlman, and that worked out quite well. It did. That entire offensive line. How'd you rate him last year, Greg? Did we get that one right? Yeah, he was high up. He was quite high up on the list. Probably won't be as high up. Now I feel mean even mentioning this, but poor Patrick Claibon's punching bag all season as a diehard Ravens fan. Daniel Falele, also a free agent. But Ravens fans were just killing that poor guy. If you can call like a 6 '8", 360-pound man a poor guy. Yeah, well, not the best. I exhausted my list. Are you done too? Wasn't that it? Or am I crazy? I think I'm done.
51:58Wait, I have the Jaguars. Oh, it was always the Jaguars. They would have killed me. I'm so happy. Look at you. So the Jaguars. one of the teams in the AFC I would throw the Bills into this mix too the way that Texans game went I don't know as a team that just thinks man we could we could have made the Super Bowl this year if it had just fallen a little differently I really think they had the goods to make it happen they have a tricky offseason they're 21 million dollars over the cap I think they need some offensive line help. Secondary, I would say, would be a concern for them. They have Greg Newsom, who they traded for, and Monteric Brown, who had a nice year as free agents, and that was a thin position anyways.
52:44Devin Lloyd's a free agent. Travis Etienne is a free agent. I think you need some more bulk in the interior of their defensive line. They're obviously great on the edges. And so it does seem like a team, even though it has a lot of talent, a lot of good things going on that is in year two of a multi-year process of kind of turning over the roster so i do think they have a lot of work still to do yeah i think it's a defensive heavy offseason i think they continue to make changes there and and see if they can find some upgrades now remember um no first round pick obviously with travis hunter so but again hopefully you get him back and they've they've said uh james gladstone said that they plan on using him both ways again next year so that's a chance to get two impact players if they can run him out there for 17 weeks and and find his role and get him going but they pick 56 they do have three thirds so 81 88 100 kind of a rams-esque old school draft here um so they've got a chance they got to do it outside the first round though i am getting a note from our producer drew noting i drew dolman 14th on the initial ranks that's pretty solid i think even went up when when some other guys got taken um that's the good news the bad news is he was one spot below amari cooper i didn't know he wanted to retire i didn't say it cooper killed me last year that was the one guy i really had in the wrong in the wrong spot if i felt for the name fell for the name value a little bit speaking of name value wide receivers the one just x factor here would they consider trading brian thomas jr who wasn't a great fit in this offense he's just a complimentary piece right now i mean he's easily the third option you get a lot for brian thomas you if you were bold enough to do it i think there's teams in the league that would have a vision of how they would want to use him and maybe is a better fit and you could get a lot for him so that's that's something yeah for a team that doesn't have a first round pick maybe you look at that spicy um i love doing this exercise he helped me do some homework it is helpful don't you think it did i wrote this all down this was like a good early process i need a deadline to start planning out my free agency my team building all this stuff you're my feedback guy because you care what people think so what um what has the feedback been on uh on these episodes because i think it's pretty good these little daggers every now and then character flaw for for gregory you know constantly correcting care what people think not a good look but let us know to hit us up in in the dimension people are listening And the numbers are great.
55:21I'm hearing from my friends, some regular listeners, too, who they like it when you take me down to size, which is troubling because I'm already at such a low size. It's fun. It really is. And I'm not to be serious for a second. It's these episodes. And I think you guys, if you're football fans, will enjoy them and hopefully have been enjoying them because it's just a great primer as we get ready for the offseason. And I jotted some stuff down I wanted to get to as we wrap up here. If you look at New England, who's still playing, obviously two years ago, Drake May last year. This is just on my side of it with the draft.
55:57You know, Campbell, Henderson, Kyle Williams, Wilson, the guard, Woodson. We had a pick the other day, Borgals, a kicker like that. That's in two years. Denver, who's still going? You see R.J. Harvey making plays every single game. Pat Bryant, before his injuries, had been doing his thing the year before. You get your quarterback, Bo Nix. When healthy, you've seen, you know, Jonah Ellis. You've seen Franklin. You've seen Abrams Drain. like these guys making plays the rams ferguson making big catches uh josiah stewart is a rusher then the year before verse fisk quorum um you know on and on and i go through zabel and emanwari this year byron murphy uh the year before like these teams that's just a draft component you could make a strong list of guys for all these teams in free agency where they've nailed it two years greg two years of nailing the draft and maybe even one or two years in free agency you can take your team from the doldrums picking third in the draft to being playing in a championship game with a chance to get to the Super Bowl so that's why I love this exercise I was thinking that the Patriots in particular could have an impact on this free agency market because they had the most cap space last year they still have a lot and they spent like crazy they spent the most they they missed out on a couple guys Ronnie Stanley Chris Godwin and they ended up spending needed elsewhere and it worked out well and in one year just think about the hit rate that they had in free agency stefan diggs morgan moses who's been a solid right tackle for them uh all off season uncle milty right milton williams harold landry robert spillane carlton davis i mean those are like six or seven key guys of your key guys right there in one off season plus the draft picks that that you mentioned and that's got to get a lot of people around okay i guess i guess we We better start taking some swings.
57:44We could be like the Patriots. Yeah, no, but this is helpful. So as we get into, you know, top 50 season, mock draft season, your free agency list, this is fun. This is fun stuff. Yeah, we'll be posting each and every Tuesday all the way through the draft. So we'll be back in a week. By then, we'll know our Super Bowl participants. We'll see you then.
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From the publisher
Gregg Rosenthal and Daniel Jeremiah return with the latest news, including the news that the Buffalo Bills fired coach Sean McDermott. They then continue their offseason autopsy, this time with the AFC, breaking down the teams whose seasons ended short of the playoffs. From missed opportunities to unfortunate injuries, the guys diagnose what went wrong across the conference. Looking ahead to the 2026 offseason, Gregg and DJ map out potential paths forward for each team, including looming free agent decisions, draft priorities, salary cap challenges, and the foundational pieces worth building around. Which AFC franchises are closer to a turnaround than they appear, and which face a longer rebuild? It is a clear eyed look at where the AFC stands and how these teams can get back into contention.
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