Offseason Musts for EVERY AFC Team

11:56Gregg Rosenthal:You're not going to have a quarterback anyway, right? I mean, and at best you're going to bring in a bridge quarterback. And then you have either guys that you're two years away from moving on from or a bunch of guys that are young that you need to just keep intact, you know, one more year until you actually can build a solid roster around them and they're on their cheap first-year contracts or their second-year contracts in this case. So I think that's super possible. It sounds insane, but I think it's possible.

12:22Jourdan Rodrigue:All right, you're up with the Patriots.

12:25Gregg Rosenthal:Yes, your New England Patriots, Greg. The Patriots dramatically outperformed expectations this season by getting to the Super Bowl. And one silver lining from that loss, in my opinion, is that it showcased exactly what they need to prioritize in their roster this offseason, and that's the offensive line. And Mike Vrabel actually was pretty adamant that he doesn't want to kick left tackle. Will Campbell really struggled all season, and especially in the Super Bowl, to the inside. But to me, that actually sounded like a coach more having the back of his player in the moment and maybe something that he softens his stance on as the further they get into training camp, and especially once he gets a look at some of the players available in this draft class.

13:07Gregg Rosenthal:Their top free agent is Kayla Von Chason, but they could stand to beef up the edges regardless. They were blitzing a ton through the latter third of the season and into the playoffs. And Mike Vrabel is going to want to rush a little bit better with fewer players.

13:19Jourdan Rodrigue:There's some big names available at Edge, both in the trade market and in free agency. And I think you're onto something there that that might be somewhere they look. They don't have the crazy amount of cap space that they had a year ago, but they got 40 million. They can create more. They have more than enough, and their drafts haven't been great. I do wonder if they get the Christian Gonzalez contract done this offseason or not. I worry that that could be a lingering issue. And it's a question to me whether they bring Stefan Diggs back. You would think that they would, and I do think they will ultimately.

13:52Jourdan Rodrigue:But he's sort of on a year-by-year. It's a fresh new$22 million contract every year. And if they wanted even more cap space, they don't really need. they could cut could cut digs if they wanted to go for a guy like a Mike, if they wanted to like swap him out for a Mike Evans or go for like a younger player, like make a trade, Brian Thomas Jr. Would be my dream.

14:11Patrick Claybon:Or instead of, instead of going year by year there, you could do an extension now for a couple of years, get some of that money back and then invest that in other parts of the team like the office.

14:21Gregg Rosenthal:And I think that that Gonzalez contract extension, that might be where to me, that's where I would put a lot of this cap space that they have in this year toward an extension. And then also be really realistic about the rest of their roster because what they went and did was spend really high in free agency, knowing that their quarterback in Drake May could get them to a certain contention level if they built up enough and went out and bought enough talent around him. But they absolutely are thin. They need to supplement a lot of talent through the draft and eventually start replacing some of those higher paid guys with draft picks that they develop.

14:57Gregg Rosenthal:And it's a special teams team. Mike Vrabel wants to use his special teams as an offensive weapon because he is a defensive-oriented head coach. And that means you need depth everywhere else on the roster. And they just don't have very good depth.

15:09Jourdan Rodrigue:No, they don't. They have almost their whole offense returning if they want, which that's good. So that kind of gives you a little depth, a chance to build. But the drafts just haven't been great despite Drake May being a part of it in the last couple of years. And if you look at their linebackers, their cornerback, even their offensive line outside of Campbell, who's going to be part of their future. Like, who's there in two years? They need a lot of, like, core pieces. I got the Jets. This is more of a bigger question. Every team can sell hope. Is there any hope with the Jets? We will find a way.

15:47Jourdan Rodrigue:They will find a way. The fans always find a way. But as we sit here in mid-February, this feels close to as hopeless as a second year head coach situation has been in a long while. The moment where I really lost all semblance of hope was when he fired half his coaching staff three weeks into the offseason, and then he wanted a defensive play caller, and then something changed, whether it was ownership or Aaron Glenn, just changed his mind. Then he fired everyone. Then he has Frank Reich, and it's just rough. The hope, I guess, would be that they have$66 million in cap space and a mostly clean slate.

16:32Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, like their free agents are Brees Hall, Quincy Williams. They're going to cut Justin Fields. They need everything, including a quarterback. But they do have money to spend. But I do worry that Mugi and Glenn know they don't have much time and it's just spending bad money to try to make this season work. And that's just continuing a vicious cycle. It is a tough situation right now.

16:53Patrick Claybon:Yeah, they're one year and two years and three years removed from a tough situation. I think like our general idea about the state of the Jets necessarily over these regimes hasn't necessarily.

17:03Jourdan Rodrigue:But at least Robert Sala had a defense, like had something you could hold on to. I think the offensive line is maybe something you could hold on to. Maybe there's the hope.

17:10Patrick Claybon:Yeah. So we find that hope in the offensive line. We realize where the team has been long term and we set our expectations there versus the expectations being to the moon. and they get their multi-time MVP back off of a torn Achilles and they go 5-12. Right.

17:28Gregg Rosenthal:They have so many picks. That's the hope.

17:32Patrick Claybon:Good point.

17:32Gregg Rosenthal:They have so many draft picks because of the Sauce Gardner trade and the Quinn Williams trade.

17:39Patrick Claybon:There's the issue with that.

17:40Gregg Rosenthal:But what will they do with them? So it's like all of us are watching like Trinidad Chambliss in court fighting for his future to stay in college just one more year. Please don't send me to the New York Jets kind of situation. But I would expect them to try to make a splash for a quarterback with some of those picks. Now, the Raiders are not going to move out of this pick. We'll get to that in a minute. But somewhere across the league, I expect the Jets, knowing they do have an offensive line here, a pretty solid one, actually, to try to push some of those chips in for a quarterback.

18:15Jourdan Rodrigue:I think they'll wait on a QB. I mean, I'm not counting Kyler Murray, even as he would be a splash and he would be interesting. To me, that's almost like the highest splash possibility that they could get. I would almost feel better if they sign a lot of guys that are kind of patches and they really focus on the draft. They even get more picks. They have two and 16. Like, just get all the picks. Get all the young players. Go on a long timeline.

18:42Gregg Rosenthal:You're operating on the assumption that anyone has had a long timeline on that team.

18:47Jourdan Rodrigue:Good point.

18:47Patrick Claybon:Good point. You made the point. they don't have the flexibility to think long-term, right? It sucks.

18:53Jourdan Rodrigue:We're into the AFC North, a division that disappointed, frankly, in 2025. I'll say. Let's start with your team, the Ravens.

19:02Patrick Claybon:Okay, so the Baltimore Ravens, obviously. Jesse Minner comes in. Declan Doyle, probably. What a name. Most people want to think about. And with Sean Payton, who had a more traditional fullback, Ben Johnson, if you want to, because those are the links that people have for the youngest offensive coordinator in the league now who's actually going to be coordinating the offense, which is great. He's not in a caddy spot, which why would you have people do that? But Pat Ricard is a free agent. It's important to note that he has never, fullback Pat Ricard has always out-snapped defensive lineman Pat Ricard.

19:36Patrick Claybon:He has a fullback. He can and has been successful at fullback, I think uniquely gifted at the position where he comes back. I think likely could wall. Isaiah Likely, yes. You let him walk. You utilize the franchise's all-time leading scorer at tight end where they've been able to have success with the quarterback. Tyler Huntley is back this idea that there's another backup quarterback where you come in and it's like, oh, you know, this guy won some games for the Cowboys. That was a lie and a myth. And we, you know, get rid of that.

20:06Jourdan Rodrigue:Snoop is a free agent, though. You got to resign. I thought about putting him in the one on one. Some good take from Snoop this year.

20:11Patrick Claybon:You should bring him back. gilman i think needs to be back linderbaum needs to come back dj has mocked jordan tyson for the team i understand that there's you know this is going back years you get a running mate for zay flowers you get more help uh for lamar at wide receiver but he's also got peter woods the clemson defensive lineman falling to 30 um it would seem like you know hope a little hopium if you're trying to trade back and get a guy you want but they need to be able to cause some problems on the interior of the defensive line because I think the issues at edge kind of overshadowed that but they had needs all the way up there to kind of cause problems uh there and one thing you could also do is since Calais is still playing football you could sign oh just just sign Calais if we're gonna chase rings let's do it in Baltimore and I I think that oh that would

21:00Gregg Rosenthal:be I like that fit in a Jesse Minter defense just taking up space in those light boxes man that'd be That's a good one.

21:07Jourdan Rodrigue:I love that. And my question with them is is bigger picture. Like, look, they just changed their head coach for the first time in almost two decades. How big of a reimagining is this going to be? Because he's from the staff. But this is a transitional offseason. They have twenty two million dollars in cap space. But I'm not sure they're going to keep Tyler Linderbaum, which seems crazy for a guy who's made some all pro teams. But then you go through guys who just contributed last year. Charlie Kohler was a big player for them. Kyle Van Noy, Aloy Gilman. Is Nnamdi Matabuike retiring or not? We kind of have this feeling that he's going to.

21:40Jourdan Rodrigue:Are they going to cut Marlon Humphrey? I'm not sure if he's going to be around next year. Is Roquan Smith absolutely locked in? How kind of reimagining do we get? Because this would traditionally, first year new head coach, be the year that you're like, oh, wow. It wouldn't shock me if DaCosta kind of went a little bigger in changing things than usual.

22:04Gregg Rosenthal:Similar conversation to the Bills, though. I think maximizing Lamar in this offense, I know we're over time. I think about the tight end position. They're going to want two tight ends, but they would potentially have a lot of money tied up in these two tight ends if they keep Isaiah Likely as well.

22:19Jourdan Rodrigue:So Kohler, you can bring Kohler back, who's good. Ollie wants him on the top 101. All right, you're up with the Browns.

22:25Gregg Rosenthal:Hot damn.

22:26Jourdan Rodrigue:I know, that was the other one. Other than the Jets, I was just like, hmm.

22:29Gregg Rosenthal:The Cleveland Browns once again prove they are a beacon of football process and team cohesion throughout a coaching search in which multiple candidates dropped out. They lost one of the best DCs in the NFL because he actually wanted the job, but they passed on him. And reports leaked about asking other candidates to complete personality assessments and written assignments for the head coaching job. So while there is fun potential with Todd Munkin, the guy who they eventually hired, several elements of this offense as well, including Quinchon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr. And they need to go draft a receiver with a high pick.

23:03Gregg Rosenthal:None of it will matter if they don't answer the quarterback question. And guys, there's a big quarterback question because Shadur Sanders is penciled in right now as the starter, especially after finishing out last season. He'll enter his second season. And meanwhile, the Deshaun Watson media machine is starting to quietly put some stuff out there about his preparation to return and possibly play in 2026. Sounds like it was discussed with candidates for that job as well. Curious about you guys' thoughts on that one. Just cook. Go for it, Greg.

23:39Jourdan Rodrigue:I would say I'd believe it when I see it, but it is the Browns, and they have been stubborn with Deshaun Watson, and if they can try to find any way to extract a little bit of value out of this disaster, maybe nothing Nothing would surprise me anymore. It's just great. It just doesn't seem... I think the reason is basically it's so painful financially to get rid of them anyways. You're just like, why bother? But it's another year where you're just kicking things down the road. I would make the argument, as of mid-February, this is one of the worst off-season offenses in the last 20 years because they literally don't have an offensive line.

24:23Gregg Rosenthal:Right.

24:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Somehow. and they have

24:25Gregg Rosenthal:this has been pointed out and I'm glad you're bringing this up

24:27Jourdan Rodrigue:we've said it on this show all season long that they don't have an offensive line $78 million in dead money that hasn't even hit yet because they haven't made the cuts their number one receiver is Jerry Judy who was kind of a disaster Quinshot Jenkins was great but he's coming off a very serious injury and so is not going to be ready for a long time and Shader is the quarterback like and David Njoku for what it's worth is a free agent that's a tough one but they do have the Mike Rutenberg Bible to study every night.

24:55Gregg Rosenthal:I actually understood that reference. The interesting part about this is that the defensive side of the ball obviously is very good, and they drafted well there as well. Carson Swessinger was a great acquisition by them. But again, you're overhauling your entire system again because you let Jim Schwartz walk out of the building. So it's new everywhere, And if it's going to be this new in every phase, you definitely don't want to have questions at quarterback and you don't want to have your entire offensive line contractually expiring at the start of the new league year. Like what?

25:37Patrick Claybon:I think you could take tiny bites at the problem, like extending a Delpit. I know it's a couple of years away from a Denzel Ward, maybe one year away from an award extension. You could do a Ward extension. I know like your you know Peter and Paul's relationship is going to be altered a little

25:53Jourdan Rodrigue:bit there but you know you got to choose one yeah I it's eight but hey Andrew Barry's got this if anyone can pull this off the the fact that they have all these void years in these players that aren't going to be there I think is is kind of a fiasco uh let's see Joel Batonio might retire

26:11Gregg Rosenthal:when you've already acquired the most dead money in league history you might as well acquire more dead money via void years, right? If you can, why not?

26:19Jourdan Rodrigue:It's not real. Some cost is a logical fallacy. Yeah, credit to Jimmy Haslam. He does spend the actual cash that many other teams don't, and it hasn't been well spent. The Bengals are kind of on the other side of that. Every year, every offseason has a theme for the Bengals. Remember last year was like, we're going to start fast. That's all they cared about. That's all they talked about. We're going to start fast. Then they had injuries. It didn't really happen. I think that the theme this year is just going to be defense again, but especially pass rushers been some buzz of like, they're going to be going after some of the young pass rushers on the market.

26:54Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, they would have had less of a pass rush issue if they had given Trey Hendrickson a long-term contract. Then again, Trey Hendrickson play much football for them last year. They have$53 million in cap space. And yeah, all their needs are really on defense and the interior of their offensive line. Not a lot of logical cuts. And so that's good. They are a good combination of cap space, ton of it, and not a ton of meaningful free agents after Trey Hendrickson. Joseph Asai might get some money out there. Cam Taylor Britt. Someone will give a shot to, but he wasn't playing much. And so Duke Tobin, and they decided to believe in this group.

27:36Jourdan Rodrigue:Zach Taylor, Duke Tobin for another offseason. Do you think maybe they'll get a little more like win now-ish than they've been in recent years.

27:43Patrick Claybon:I don't know if the win now aspect has been the issue. Yeah, that's fair. I think they honestly believe they had an opportunity to win now with what was available and that Al Golden was going to bring what it needed to lead a young defense to be just enough, which is clearly not just enough. It was a negative in that capacity. And, yeah, there's players available that they can sign in free agency. Are they going to do it?

28:09Jourdan Rodrigue:they have and they've gotten a lot of grief for not spending, but they've spent fairly normal and they just re-signed their own guys. They tend to go for the guys who go for like two for 20 in free agency. Like whatever Joseph Asai is going to get somewhere else, those are the types of guys that they might go after. So maybe not the top of the market, but maybe an AJ Epinesa or an Arnold Abichetti at edge rush. That can get them in the playoffs though. Yeah. Stuff like that.

28:34Gregg Rosenthal:The problem that they had was they overestimated how low the floor or underestimated how low the floor could be for this defense. Because a great offense, especially in the NFC, where everybody's trying to just load up in an offensive arms race, essentially right now, especially with the Chiefs down. Like, you just need a stable floor for your defense. And you have to know what that floor is. And they clearly had no actual clue what that floor, the depths of despair to which it could sink the rest of this team.

29:04Jourdan Rodrigue:Question for you guys. Do you think we'll get some Joe Burrow trade speculation in the next two weeks?

29:10Gregg Rosenthal:I will be driving most of it.

29:13Jourdan Rodrigue:Really?

29:13Gregg Rosenthal:No. Well, there we go. I'd love to see it. I mean, this is the Gregular season. Why wouldn't you love to see it?

29:19Jourdan Rodrigue:I always want a semblance of reality to it. And could other teams put it out there that they could give all the picks for Joe Burrow? Maybe. It seems unrealistic to me at this point.

29:32Gregg Rosenthal:The reason why I think that, and it might be unrealistic, but the reason the noise, you asked about noise specifically, the reason the noise will continue is because it's already started. There's been reports surfacing about like Miami trying to trade for him. It's like, oh, we're going to turn down four first round picks. Like, sorry. I think they would. There's already been stuff.

29:50Jourdan Rodrigue:I think the Bengals are the rare team that you would be like, I'll give you five first round picks and four second round picks. They'd be like, nah, we're not going to bother.

29:56Gregg Rosenthal:If the Bengals were the ones that leaked that report, they're telling you exactly what their price is. It's all that plus something else.

30:03Jourdan Rodrigue:I think it would be next year if it ever happened. It'd have to be like another.

30:07Patrick Claybon:I do think there are multiple teams that need quarterbacks. I'd like to have Joe Burrow play for their football.

30:12Jourdan Rodrigue:I agree with that. And I think the Pittsburgh Steelers would be one of them. You're up, Patrick.

30:17Patrick Claybon:Yes. The Pittsburgh Steelers, the first thing they can do this offseason, go ahead and announce that Aaron Rodgers is going to play one more season. Most of us do not care. But a lot of people, I think, would solve some organizational issues. If you go ahead and get that out of the way, him and Mike McCarthy one last dance, which means MVS, who is a free agent, will be coming back and we can have, you know, Green Bay less South.

30:38Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't want him to come back, but I guess I would feel like it would be disingenuous to say I do not care because we'll cover it here on the show.

30:45Patrick Claybon:Yeah, no, I care as much about Kyle Van Noy's location. Okay. Right. Where is he going to care?

30:50Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. I have a little a little. I don't want to stop you here, but I did have this lesson for Walker and I'm sure it was extremely annoying. I've now come to the realization the number one way that you can show that you care is to say, I do not care. You always care if you say, I do not care. If you didn't care, you just wouldn't say anything. If anything, it's sort of showing a little bit of a weakness.

31:12Patrick Claybon:In terms of the impact that I believe it will have on the 2026 National Football League. Yes. I don't mean you in this case. I mean in general. I do not think that Aaron Rodgers will have a significant impact on the outcomes of the 2026 NFL regular season.

31:23Jourdan Rodrigue:He did it. He brought it back around. Sorry for killing the Steelers segment.

31:27Gregg Rosenthal:I just love that every time it cuts to a one shot of Patrick, all we just see is the word Larry.

31:36Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes, Patrick is wearing a T-shirt called Larry the Brain Frog. Maybe we'll give the Steelers a little more time. Go ahead, Patrick. Sorry for ruining what was going to be an electric.

31:46Patrick Claybon:No, we can make it more about Greg. We can extend a couple of players who were very close to Greg's heart. Kyle Dugger, the former Patriot. And team MVP, which Greg likes to say derisively, Kenneth Gainwell because of like a two season long beef with regards.

32:00Jourdan Rodrigue:I love Kenneth Gainwell. It's derisive to the Steelers.

32:03Gregg Rosenthal:I love this.

32:04Jourdan Rodrigue:I need more of it. This is my love language.

32:07Patrick Claybon:Yeah. And so I think Jabril Peppers, if I could say that, needs to come back as well. The rest of the free agents, you know, not to, you know, diminish the impacts of Andrews Pete or Isaac Samalu.

32:21Jourdan Rodrigue:So Samalu is that guy where I sent this list out and everyone's like, oh yeah he's gonna get a ton of money i was like okay i didn't know that it's interesting james pierre played kind of well for them they might maybe i think they're gonna cut jalen ramsey i think he'll be in addition to my top 101 you're just looking for possible transactions but also

32:39Patrick Claybon:a shout out to mike at ford team gear who okay uh fantasy live in made a t-shirt uh celebrating

32:46Jourdan Rodrigue:larry the brain frog and sent it to us we appreciate you mike and that was because you

32:50Gregg Rosenthal:had a you tried to say the word brain fog yes coming off covid or just a sickness no anesthesia

32:57Patrick Claybon:yeah it was it was uh some anesthesia the day before and i tried i tried to say brain fog and i said brain frog and it's like the tweet about the grink uh you know the question was the grink there that was it it became a thing and a character on our show greg already forgot the story i

33:14Jourdan Rodrigue:remember i you know we're live on the show i would also like to see pittsburgh get a two like a

33:19Gregg Rosenthal:really solid two receiver. I think that would just take their offense from very mediocre to having the layers that it needs to have. My medium

33:27Jourdan Rodrigue:warm take is this team is not that far away and actually I kind of get the vision of not rebuilding, if nothing else. I don't know if Mike McCarthy was a good choice, but I think that they can win this year. You know what I mean? They have a good offensive line and a good defensive line. That's a great place to start. That's all I'm saying. Also, I did want to point out, we're taking the little little extra time here with the Steelers. One thing I really loved in San Francisco, Santa Clara, and then on social media throughout the end of the season, as we kind of were celebrating, okay, it's over, is a lot of people telling me what they really loved about this season were the co-hosts popping up.

34:07Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, and elevating. And you have your Jordan fans. A lot of people told me that. She's my favorite.

34:13Gregg Rosenthal:Why didn't you tell me that? I'm going to use this.

34:15Jourdan Rodrigue:This is because you got to save it for the show, you know, where it can be maximized. I'm just kidding. It just it came up now. I haven't seen you since the Super Bowl.

34:25Gregg Rosenthal:I saw you yesterday. Other than that.

34:29Jourdan Rodrigue:That's brief. And a lot of people I heard a lot of like, oh, Patrick's my favorite. And I passed one along from a notable media member, but I got a few of these, too. It was like it was a big year for Patrick. Yes. elevating too and a lot of big time shook fans and so it was like different people have different favorites but I think everyone really liked like the consistency and how you guys are on the show so much and it's our show together and that feels amazing so nothing made me feel better at the end of the season than hearing from the claymates and the we got to think of the rod

35:05Gregg Rosenthal:you know rod squad the rod regions

35:07Jourdan Rodrigue:yeah the rim rods I don't know what's going on.

35:12Gregg Rosenthal:No, no. Let's take a break.

35:15Jourdan Rodrigue:We'll be back with the AFC South. Apologies to the Steelers fans. Not big, but it's important.

35:25Gregg Rosenthal:Hey, it's Carissa Thompson. Everything these days is fighting for your attention, work, family, social media, and it makes it tough to figure out what should really come first. But here's something that absolutely deserves to be at the top of your list. Your breast health. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. And the rates are still rising. More women under 50 are being diagnosed too. But here's a stat that really hits home. One in two women who qualify for annual breast screenings aren't getting them. That's half.

35:58Gregg Rosenthal:And yet when breast cancer is caught early, the survival rate is over 99%, nearly 100 % for stage one before it spreads. If you're 40 or older, you should be getting screened every year. And if you're under 40, it is never too early to understand your risk. So come on now, pay the girls some attention, head to yourattentionplease.com to learn your breast cancer risk and what screenings you might need. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Brought to you by Novartis.

36:27Jourdan Rodrigue:You know how it's never really about where you're going. It's about who you're going with. Like destination could be totally average, but if the right people are there, it becomes a great memory. Toyota really gets that. Toyota designs vehicles around real life and real people, the ones who bring everyone together and somehow make the drive part of the fun. There's room for all the stuff that comes with togetherness, luggage, golf clubs, camping gear, plus comfortable seating, smart layouts, and space that lets everyone relax. And Toyota's lineup makes it easy to find your match. The RAV4 is perfect for everyday adventures.

37:02Jourdan Rodrigue:The Grand Highlander brings serious space for up to eight with generous legroom and expansive cargo space. The Highlander also has space for up to eight. It's ready for big moments and spontaneous ones, balancing style and flexibility. And the Sienna is built for everyday life. Carpools, road trips, snacks, spills. And it even has a built-in vacuum for when things get a little too messy. Because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at Toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people.

37:35Patrick Claybon: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.

38:26Jourdan Rodrigue:it. to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TremfireRadio.com.

39:21Jourdan Rodrigue:happening. Delivery is on its way. Okay. How about some clear skies? No. Well, then how about some French fries? Yep. A little escape? No. A delicious bowl of grapes? Yes. Yes, that. How about a freshly cut lawn? Can't help you there, but barbecued prawns. Order it and it's on its way. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Back on NFL Daily. And we are ready to throw it to the leader of the Rod Squad, Jordan Roderig.

40:06Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh my God. And a team that became near and dear to her heart. Yes. Houston Texans.

40:11Gregg Rosenthal:Hi, beloved Houston Texans. To open this portion of the show, I would like to read aloud to you a post on social media this week by the legendary and now retired Houston Chronicle columnist John McClain. If C.J. Stroud is traded, I'll walk naked down Kirby Drive at rush hour. Is anyone else willing to do it if he's not traded? Didn't think so. Basically, John McClain telling all of us that any discussion about C.J. Stroud potentially being on the trade block this offseason is ridiculous. and by the way, this man actually ate a newspaper after he had previously said I forget what the scenario was, but he was wrong about said scenario and said he would eat a newspaper Not a good track record He basically, he's true to his word so personally, you know this is not happening, obviously, but

40:58Jourdan Rodrigue:Todd McShay specifically is the one he's responding to, so I think that's important

41:03Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, I was not clear on where that even came from Todd McShay said

41:06Jourdan Rodrigue:No, but Todd McShay said on his podcast that Stroud could be a trade candidate. And so that if, you know, when the local news is looking for some stuff, then it's that particular.

41:18Gregg Rosenthal:Bad job by me because I did not even know where that conversation even came from. In all seriousness, though, Houston does have straightforward answers to like this offseason test that they're going to be now facing. They need to keep improving the offensive line, obviously, developing the offensive scheme, part and parcel with each other. And the young skill guys around Nico Collins, and they absolutely love Woody Marks, the running back who really blossomed through the second half of the season, but they need to keep adding at running back and Joe Mixon could actually be a cap cut for this team.

41:47Gregg Rosenthal:Um, the plan for Houston is really obvious and simple to me. They can keep the plan simple because they mostly have really, really, really good players, especially on defense and to maximize this defense while it is still intact. Um, they got a couple of pending free agents on the interior defensive line, uh, who I think they will make a priority to resign. But the floor of the offense just has to be higher. They were a 12-5 team last season in the regular season that lost four of its five losses by just one touchdown or less. And in those four games, held their opponents under 20 points.

42:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Not much cap room. You get Tank Dell back potentially from that devastating injury. So that's like adding a player. but free agents Ed Ingram actually I think is going to get a lot of money which sounds crazy in free agency probably not from the Texans. You mentioned Sheldon Rankins was yeah priority. They probably want to bring back.

42:42Gregg Rosenthal:They want to bring back settle too.

42:43Jourdan Rodrigue:But Christian Kirk's another guy who made himself some money in it's tricky. I don't think CJ Stroud is going to get traded. I you know the theater of John McClain walking down the street naked would be would be something.

43:00Patrick Claybon:Just people's reaction or you want to actually?

43:02Jourdan Rodrigue:No, I don't want to see it, but just the fact that if it happened, I'm sure they would blur it out like on the, I don't know, news when they put it on the news. Because that would make the news. It would make the news?

43:11Gregg Rosenthal:I think so.

43:12Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, he's like the most famous journalist in Houston potentially for sports walking down the street naked because CJ Stroud got traded.

43:22Gregg Rosenthal:The stakes are high.

43:25Patrick Claybon:I think there's a loophole where you could like create a structure where he's still walking down the street naked, but he's not necessarily visible.

43:31Gregg Rosenthal:I just think it's, it's such a like there, the vision for what this team is, is so clear and it's so straightforward. Like what needs to happen for them to take the next step and inclusive to the quarterback has to play better football because he absolutely lost it.

43:48Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. It was one disastrous game that said, when I, when I heard the trade thing, I was like, it wouldn't be the most shocking transaction I've ever seen if you did hear some whispers about that. I don't know. Or if that they thought about that. I just, there's something, there's something there. It'd be really dumb though. And I don't think this would be the year that that would, that would happen. But I don't know. That's my guess. I think, I think there are some teams that need quarterback. Like he would have a great market. Would they, would they think about it?

44:15Gregg Rosenthal:If it is going to happen, it would not happen. What? Two years before they have to pay him.

44:20Jourdan Rodrigue:Right.

44:20Gregg Rosenthal:It would happen the year before they have to pay.

44:22Jourdan Rodrigue:They can pick up his fifth year option this year. We got the Colts up next with me. It's a really tricky line for the Colts. It's just a big question to me. How do they balance a very win now roster, a very win now year for Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen getting another chance when their owner says very explicitly like, okay, we'll give them one more chance. The bar is extremely high. They have$35 million in cap space with the fact that their quarterback, who's been very up and down throughout his career, is unsigned, would take$47 million in cap space to franchise tag, and most importantly is coming off a torn Achilles and might not play for much of the season or be good when he does play.

45:07Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't think you can assume on top of just all the key players that have uncertain futures. Alec Pierce, Nick Cross at safeties was great for them. Quiddie Paye, I think is going to get money, not from the Colts. Braden Smith was the right tackle for years. He's considering retirement. He's also a free agent. Jermaine Pratt, who played a lot for them as a free agent. Could they trade Michael Pittman? Is DeForest Buckner going to play again? Is Charverius Ward ever going to play again? Is Grover Stewart going to be on this team? Like, there's just, there's a lot going on. And it actually, I think, makes the case to have kept Ballard because of the familiarity and, like, knowing this roster.

45:45Jourdan Rodrigue:but it's a very tricky line, I think, to walk here about like they got a win, but they are high on the list of I don't know what the hell is going to happen with this team this offseason. And they're going to be extremely active, not by choice because of all these questions,

45:59Patrick Claybon:which is why I think they should be a player in the Malik Willis circumstance.

46:02Jourdan Rodrigue:Right. That's what I mean. Like that sort of outcome wouldn't totally shock me because it kind of makes some sense.

46:07Gregg Rosenthal:Riley Leonard also wasn't bad, guys. I was assigned to the Riley Leonard games this year, too. Like he really wasn't bad, like as a bridge for the first part of the season. I think basically would you be okay?

46:18Jourdan Rodrigue:Was he good enough that you'd be okay? Him starting your whole season. Cause I think you'd have to accept that,

46:24Gregg Rosenthal:but that's not the parameter here.

46:25Jourdan Rodrigue:Right. But I think you have to accept that as a possibility,

46:28Gregg Rosenthal:but you, you only have to accept that as a possibility. If you, if you're going to owe him money and you're not, he's on his rookie deal. Like that really, you can't, I don't think you can frame it in that parameter. Cause that parameter is not,

46:39Jourdan Rodrigue:I guess it depends who else other than Daniel Jones. if you bring back Daniel Jones, would you have with him?

46:44Patrick Claybon:I think a team has already been in this circumstance where Dimes is coming off an injury and they have a choice between an explosive player or bringing back Dimes, and it was Saquon the last time. It's Alec Pierce this time. Just go ahead and extend Pierce.

46:55Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, that's what I said.

46:56Patrick Claybon:And I know I'm biased because it's one of my favorite players in the league, but instead of doing all the capture canary and the idea that he may walk and then tagging him, just go ahead and extend him now.

47:06Gregg Rosenthal:You pay someone known. You pay a known entity, and the known entity is he's going to make your offense more productive when he's on the field. The unknown entities are the injury recovery.

47:16Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, and we talked about Michael Pittman as a potential trade candidate if you wanted to pick up some picks that you've lost. But the defensive stuff really worries me a lot more than I think people are talking about. Those are some good players. Buckner, Cross, Charverius Ward, Quidipe, like on top of all this Daniel Jones stuff, it's a lot going on. A lot going on with the Jags this year. They were fun. And they're in an interesting spot. I'm curious where you're going.

47:42Patrick Claybon:Yes, and they have a need at cornerback. The benefit is they traded up to number three for a generational player who they can play at cornerback. And I think you start there. You go ahead and commit, and you say that he's going to be a cornerback. Yeah, we'll play him at wide receiver when they need to, but they don't have a need at wide receiver. They have a need at cornerback. So I think Travis Hunter plays corner. I went into this exercise hoping to defend Eric Armstead because he played 60 % of the snaps and they were a spectacular run defense. They were a full yard and a half better when Eric Armstead was not on the field.

48:17Patrick Claybon:So if you can find a trade partner there, you go ahead and do that. Maybe a cut candidate type situation and make Devin Lloyd an offer at the very least. Don't just go into this. I hope Jim Gladstone doesn't just go into this with the idea. Well, it's going to be too expensive. So let's not just make Devin Lloyd an offer to try to bring him back. I know the idea that ETN and him coming back is maybe, you know, a lot of opium in that. But he earned money last year. The team was great with him last year. And I think this is a roster as constructed in 2025 that can win the Super Bowl if they are able to get, you know, a few more pieces in certain spots.

48:56Patrick Claybon:So, yeah, just try, try to bring Devin Lloyd back.

48:59Jourdan Rodrigue:Bill Barnwell brought up Walker Little as a potential trade candidate. They can save some money with a few other cuts, but they are$13 million over the cap. So they're not a team that has a ton of wiggle room and they can make it. They need to help their offensive line. They need to help the secondary, especially has free agents and needs. So Travis Hunter fills one spot, but Buster Brown was maybe their best cornerback last year. And he's a free agent. Greg Newsome, who they gave up Tyson Campbell for who struggled is probably leaving the ship. so they're going to be active. I think they need help stopping the run like at defensive tackle and everything so there's a lot going on here.

49:38Jourdan Rodrigue:BTJ could be traded.

49:40Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, and that's where you could recoup some of your draft capital and that's where you could also not factor him in in your roster financial math moving forward. I do think that that's a possibility. One of the things that was interesting all season was watching them move things around in little shifts across that entire offense. And the combination of just knowing the background that James Gladstone comes from, and yes, I agree, they should make an offer to Devin Lloyd. I would hope that James Gladstone learns more from the Ernest Jones situation than he did from the rest of the Rams maneuverings at inside linebacker over the years, especially in this day and age of the league.

50:20Gregg Rosenthal:But at a certain point, you're just not going to pay a huge amount of money to a guy who you came into the fifth year or came into his final year not even sure he was going to be on your roster the following year. Same with running back. Now, just operationally, I can't speak for the team, but operationally and historically speaking, this is a GM whose background is we can go find more running backs. And they love facial tooting.

50:48Jourdan Rodrigue:They're fine there. I totally agree. And I like John Shipley, who covers the Jaguars on SI, had a couple connections that made sense to me, just talking about the coaches. Maybe a little Tyler Higby as the backup tight end there. I like, and then Malcolm Kuntz, the defensive line coach in Jacksonville. I think he'd be a good buy low candidate, was also the defensive line coach for Kuntz in his good season. Those are just some like very under the radar, maybe day three type of free agent pickups.

51:14Patrick Claybon:They could facilitate the goodwill between the folks in Nashville and them. I know there's going to be great communication and late night text. Reunite Armstead with Bob Sala as a show of, hey, you know, we're friends here in division trade.

51:27Gregg Rosenthal:As a gesture of goodwill.

51:30Jourdan Rodrigue:You might get away with just, if you're the Titans, just, all right, you can cut Armstead and then we'll sign him. But either way, let's go to that team, the Titans.

51:39Gregg Rosenthal:Okay. So I'm going to be honest with you guys. I have no idea how this is going to go for the Tennessee. Nobody does. This year. On the one hand, though, it is amazing content so far. I mean, look at this glorious bald head energy coming out of the Tennessee Titans building right now. Robert Sala is collecting the follically challenged infinity stones over here in Tennessee. And I love to see it.

52:04Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, a minimum of nine bald coaches on the staff.

52:09Gregg Rosenthal:Yes. Yeah.

52:10Jourdan Rodrigue:There's all the coordinators, Dable, Bradley, and then the head coach.

52:14Gregg Rosenthal:Yes. And and every every single one of them just really worry about them in the sun, I would say.

52:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Here's the problem. I don't know the assistant who's in the bottom middle, but he hasn't really gone home yet. He hasn't decided to give up the ghost. He's got some hair back there. So I think he's going to be insulted that the team retweeted this bald guy.

52:36Patrick Claybon:This picture is probably how he found out. He's like, okay, it's time to go home.

52:42Jourdan Rodrigue:I do find it interesting that this is the first Mike Borgonzi is actually running the show offseason. This changes every Tennessee offseason. and they have$103 million in cap space to spend. So they're going to be active.

52:56Gregg Rosenthal:And what's interesting is, and I think that Robert Sala will especially have a say with that front office in shaping specifically the defense. I think that he's hired people that, and I'll get to this in a minute, but he's hired people who he feels he can be a little bit more hands off on and other coordinator spots. And, but with the defense, especially because he's calling it, I think he'll want to use a lot of that money in building a sort of an identity and keep this defense creditable as it was all season, despite their win loss record. Plus have to get Cam Ward some help. Uh, Alec IO manner was great.

53:31Gregg Rosenthal:Uh, showed some pop at various points through the year, but they need, they need, uh, every other receiver spot.

53:38Jourdan Rodrigue:All right. Here's just some candidates. Sala guys. Uh, Jonathan Franklin Myers was good. He's a free agent. Quincy Williams. Free agent was a salad.

53:46Gregg Rosenthal:One minute.

53:46Jourdan Rodrigue:How about some day ball guys? Wandale.

53:49Gregg Rosenthal:I could see that.

53:50Jourdan Rodrigue:I saw our old friend Justin Graver suggest that one. Would they ever trade for Nick Bosa? Would they ever?

53:58Gregg Rosenthal:Juwan Jennings?

53:59Jourdan Rodrigue:Juwan Jennings is one. Like, there are the guys out there.

54:03Gregg Rosenthal:And the thing that I have, dynamically speaking, the curiosity I have about the staff, especially I will be fascinated to dig more into this throughout the season, is it's such a mishmash, okay, I said it right, of huge personalities under Robert Sala. Like he hired guys who either were head coaches or at one point had their hat in the ring to be head coaches at every single coordinator position. Brian Dable, Gus Bradley, who is also one of Robert Sala's mentors from way, way back. And John Fossil, who is about as high octane a special teams coach as it actually gets. So for me, all of these guys basically joining forces in one building is going to be so fascinating to me because if it goes well, everybody has their own island in a good way.

54:51Gregg Rosenthal:If it goes poorly, everybody has their own island in a bad way in a building where there's been a lot of backstabbing in recent years.

54:57Jourdan Rodrigue:Tons of change coming. Calvin Ridley, LeJaria Sneed, Will Levis, Tony Pollard, all could be guys that aren't back. Free agents. Kevin Zeitler, I think, is going to get some money. Chico Conquo is kind of interesting. A couple of the defensive players.

55:10Gregg Rosenthal:Hey, it's Carissa Thompson. Everything these days is fighting for your attention. work, family, social media, and it makes it tough to figure out what should really come first. But here's something that absolutely deserves to be at the top of your list, your breast health. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. And the rates are still rising. More women under 50 are being diagnosed too. But here's a stat that really hits home. One in two women who qualify for annual breast screenings aren't getting them. That's half.

55:43Gregg Rosenthal:And yet when breast cancer is caught early, the survival rate is over 99%, nearly 100 % for stage one before it spreads. If you're 40 or older, you should be getting screened every year. And if you're under 40, it is never too early to understand your risk. So come on now, pay the girls some attention, head to yourattentionplease.com to learn your breast cancer risk and what screenings you might need. Trust me, your future yourself will thank you. Brought to you by Novartis.

56:12Jourdan Rodrigue:You know how it's never really about where you're going. It's about who you're going with. Like destination could be totally average, but if the right people are there, it becomes a great memory. Toyota really gets that. Toyota designs vehicles around real life and real people. The ones who bring everyone together and somehow make the drive part of the fun. There's room for all the stuff that comes with togetherness, luggage, golf clubs, camping gear, plus comfortable seating, smart layouts, and space that lets everyone relax. And Toyota's lineup makes it easy to find your match. The RAV4 is perfect for everyday adventures.

56:48Jourdan Rodrigue:The Grand Highlander brings serious space for up to eight with generous leg room and expansive cargo space. The Highlander also has space for up to eight. It's ready for big moments and spontaneous ones, balancing style and flexibility. And the Sienna is built for everyday life. Carpools, road trips, snacks, spills, and it even has a built-in vacuum for when things get a little too messy. Because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people.

57:20Patrick Claybon: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.

57:44Jourdan Rodrigue:For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur.

58:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TrimphiaRadio.com. Get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well-groomed lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parm delivered. A day at the lake, that's a no. A Philly cheesesteak, that's a yes. An afternoon stroll, sorry, no. A burrito bowl, happily, yes. What about a day of sunshine?

59:03Jourdan Rodrigue:Not happening. A box of fine wines, yes, that is happening. Delivery is on its way. Okay, how about some clear skies? No. Well then, how about some french fries? Yep. A little escape, no. A delicious bowl of grapes, yes. Yes, that. How about a freshly cut lawn? Can't help you there, but barbecued prawns. Order it and it's on its way. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. I am up with Denver. Okay. Denver, I'll give the Broncos fans the love that they seem to crave from me specifically.

59:49Jourdan Rodrigue:They're always saying, why do you hate on the Broncos? You've been hating on the Broncos. I don't know if there's a team that's in a better position entering this offseason than the Broncos because they got plenty of cap space. They don't have any bad contracts that they need to cut and they don't have monster needs. That's where you want to be. And the NFL has a way of humbling you and you obviously get needs that you didn't realize you have. But to me, it's all of an additive offseason. We're in year four of this Peyton and Peyton combo, and they're just adding to positions that are already okay.

1:00:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Obviously, you'd want a little more dynamism, I think, in the skill positions. That's probably the one biggest need. You want Bo to get healthy, but Jonathan Franklin Myers, Alex Singleton, Justin Stranata, free agents, those are useful players, but overall, man, this is like a go-time type of offseason, and find some... If there's a team that should feel okay overpaying a little for guys that will be with the team for a couple years because they're available. I think they're in a good position to do that, to go after, like find the guys you really want and go, just go get them. Like whoever you want the most this off season, go get them Broncos.

1:01:00Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think that's go in a Superbowl that could potentially

1:01:03Gregg Rosenthal:be at running back because I mean, Greg, we sat down with Garrett Bowles and man, he really wanted to run the ball more. I mean, other than the comments about Bo Nix and it would have been a different story had Bo Nix been there.

1:01:16Jourdan Rodrigue:Could they be an ETN team?

1:01:17Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, that's, I mean, exactly. I think so. They could be, if Kenneth Walker doesn't get extended, they could be a Kenneth Walker team. They could be Rico Dowdle, Javante. I mean, there's a lot of backs who could potentially be fits because Sean Payton will build around what those players do well. And they've got the offensive line truly to be able to plug somebody who's maybe not even at the top of the market back there, but just somebody more experienced because you know that that's kind of what he's looking for as, as the head coach in his running back at this point, especially if they are so close to getting past this like hurdle.

1:01:54Gregg Rosenthal:I just felt like they thought they were a running back away or like a run game away. I don't want to blame the backs here.

1:02:02Jourdan Rodrigue:It's a great receiver room, but they just need a little more of a difference maker.

1:02:06Patrick Claybon:Well, I think ETN helps in the run game and the receiving game as well. A team that indexes so heavily on the screen.

1:02:12Gregg Rosenthal:Me and Patrick have geeked out over that all year.

1:02:17Patrick Claybon:Obviously, would love Travis to stay in Jacksonville, but go get it back for a team that is contending, if not for a 22-yard back. Kenny G wouldn't do it for you.

1:02:27Gregg Rosenthal:I was going to say, do you know, now that I'm looking at it, you know who I really want to see over there is Kenneth Gainwell. So why not?

1:02:32Jourdan Rodrigue:He would be good. Draft a guy, draft a receiver in the first round. It's a good receiver draft. Something like that.

1:02:39Patrick Claybon:But it'll be year two of Pat Bryant, who I think will be a bigger part. Yeah. He had an impact as well.

1:02:43Jourdan Rodrigue:I think that Bowles interview will be instructive for us. I think this is a team. That loss hurt more, I think, than any loss for any of the teams this year because you lose your quarterback the game before. It's all right in front of you. It's pretty unique historically what happened and devastating. They got a chance to make it right this year. All right, let's go with the Chiefs, Patrick.

1:03:05Patrick Claybon:All right. Obviously, Kelsey back. If Travis wants to play, Travis is going to play. You're going to sign him and pay him. Hollywood, I think, is gone. I think they need Cook back because, you know, you're going to have a corner leaving, another corner leaving, as this is now a... Brian Cook, the safety. Yeah, very high on my list. Spagged tradition. And go ahead and part ways. Considering money now an issue for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Gardner Minshew thing has got to eventually be over. Just go ahead and say if your backup option, which I think, honestly, the Kansas City Chiefs should be a player in the Kyler circumstance where Mahomes, who is the entire team, we've said this for multiple years, they'd be asking him to come back early.

1:03:48Patrick Claybon:And I know he's working hard. He's going to try extra hard and everything. The universe and the human body can only allow so much to the extent that he has needed to play, he needs to not play at the start of the season so that they can have some hope. So, yeah, that's my overall Kansas City Chief thing is have Kyler Murray start the first six games, go 6-0, chaos in the nation.

1:04:10Jourdan Rodrigue:If Kyler was smart, and well, it's so easy for me to say, but you'd have to just take less money and to rehab your value, like, that'd be so good. I was trying to think, because whoever the Daniel Jones is of 2026, like, that'd be a great pickup for the Chiefs. It shouldn't be Minshew. And for a second, I was like, I could almost see Andy Reid signing Aaron Rodgers to do the first five weeks.

1:04:32Gregg Rosenthal:Oh, my God. Here's what I think. It's too much.

1:04:36Patrick Claybon:That would make me care because then it would matter. That would not matter.

1:04:39Gregg Rosenthal:So Isaiah Pacheco is a free agent, right? He gone. Between that and also the most important move I think the Kansas City Chiefs made this entire calendar year was bringing Eric Biennemi back as offensive coordinator. sort of like not so subtly replacing Matt Nagy before he had actually left the building, which was one of the more, I mean, we didn't talk about it that much, but it was very much like, oh, it's happening right in front of you, right? Like it's happening as you were, the seat is not cold yet. In fact, the seat has someone still sitting in it, but I respect it because Andy Reid kind of softened the blow a little bit there.

1:05:15Gregg Rosenthal:That's huge because they have to reconstruct their run game. Their run game cannot largely run through Patrick Mahomes the way that it did at the beginning, especially at the beginning of this season and will contribute to his susceptibility to injury in the future.

1:05:28Jourdan Rodrigue:He restructured his contract. He being Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday morning, it opens up$45 million in cap space. It is the bank that the chiefs just go back to every year quarterback franchise tag. Tom Brady got so much credit for being underpaid and quote unquote, helping the Patriots. And I always thought it was overstated, but there was some, everything was, there was some truth to it. The Patrick Mahomes thing, I don't think can be overstated. He is so underpaid, and the way his contract is structured that he never changes it helps him out a lot. There's still$11 million over the cap. They could do it again with Chris Jones, but Rasheed Rice is facing domestic violence allegations.

1:06:04Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm not sure Trent McDuffie is a lock to be back on this team. Leo Chanel is a good player. He's a free agent. Jalen Watson, you mentioned earlier. Like, Brett Veach, Andy Reid, they're going to be making their money. There's just a lock going on. I'm fascinated by the Chiefs because they, you know, You ever see those graphics where it was like, if this team lost all their one score wins or you flip the one score results, what would their record be? You know who the best team in the NFL was last year? If you flip the one score games, it was the Kansas City Chiefs. They were not that far away from actually being pretty competitive, if not good.

1:06:37Jourdan Rodrigue:They would have been like 14 and three or something outrageous if you flip their one score games. They just were off.

1:06:42Gregg Rosenthal:I'm not that far away from being a billionaire. You just have to flip a bank account.

1:06:47Jourdan Rodrigue:That's fair. It is always a funny exercise, but it's interesting. Jordan, Chargers, your guy, Mike McDaniel.

1:06:54Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, I'm so big feature came out. Yes. Thank you for citing that, Greg. I am so freaking fired up for this. I can't wait to see what this looks like in the entire season. Actually, in my opinion, depends on the offensive line getting healthy, maybe in bringing an upgrade in depth. They had some big questions when Mekhi Becton was healthy. He was on and off the field. that just was an experiment outside of Stoutland University that didn't quite work out the way that they had hoped or envisioned. And in a worst-case scenario, how will Mike McDaniel scheme around if the inevitable curse does strike yet again?

1:07:32Gregg Rosenthal:How will he sort of scheme around this, which is one of the reasons they brought him in, is because he could be creative should such a scenario come upon them. Importantly on defense, minus Jesse Minter, I'm very curious to see what this is going to look like. Like you have a Jesse Minter disciple and Chris O 'Leary, who is the new defensive coordinator. And Odafe Owe and Khalil Mack are both free agents. We talked about this earlier this week, Greg. You could tag one, but a good team would extend and then possibly figure it out with Khalil Mack on like a year-to-year with incentives. If there's one thing Khalil Mack's going to do, it's going to be hit those incentives.

1:08:09Gregg Rosenthal:So I do think trying to bring the band back together in terms of that front will be really important.

1:08:14Jourdan Rodrigue:They love Mack so much. that's the most likely outcome, but he is talking retirement and they are a sneaky team. I think for like a Trey Hendrickson type, because they have$82 million in cap space. They're the best team that has the most cap space, but they do need to find defensive line, offensive line. You mentioned Becton. I think he's getting cut. Zion Johnson is going to get a big contract. I tend to think it'll come from the chargers, but he had his best year by far this last year. So if he leaves that he opens up another big hole. So it's, it's very unharba like that. I think they're good everywhere except the lines right now.

1:08:52Jourdan Rodrigue:So they need to spend some of that cap space. So that's when I look at like big name guys that are available, but it's probably their own guys like Zion Johnson and away. Yeah.

1:09:01Patrick Claybon:One minute. And also opportunity for Mac to, you know, finish his career there. I know that the idea, because if they, if they had needed to move on, But we mentioned the space and the opportunity. He could stay there, which will probably disappoint some folks in Chicago. The idea of a Khalil Mack return there.

1:09:23Jourdan Rodrigue:This year, when he talked about it, it felt a little more like, oh, he actually might retire. That's just my gut feeling. He probably comes back, but he might actually retire. It's possible.

1:09:31Gregg Rosenthal:One of the reasons I think that Zion Johnson is very likely to get an extension by them is, A, they are a smartly run team at this point. and they know they have to keep investing in their offensive line. And he really became one of their better players on that unit, despite all the chaos around him, especially through the back half of the season. And it's very, very sneaky. Went really under the radar, but Mike McDaniel went after Butch Berry, his previous offensive line coach in Miami and who he's been close with for years on these different coaching staffs, including in San Francisco. That's a key assistant hire in order to, to me, that forecast, hey reinvesting and continue to invest in the offensive line yeah they they could be in the mix there's a sneaky amount of starting offensive linemen available the idea is that they're never

1:10:21Jourdan Rodrigue:available in free agency but guys like Wyatt Teller who can just still play like guys like David Edwards and Conor McGovern from the like bills they may not wow you but they're available and so maybe the Chargers are the team that's going to spend uh the Raiders we had John Spitek on the show at the Combine would love to again. I don't know if he's a listener, but this is a big offseason for him. It's kind of the big John Spitek offseason. That's what I'm saying. Like, what you got, Spitek, you know? Because after the season, Pete Carroll gets blamed for everything. There was this ESPN article that came out that we talked about that almost felt a little unsavory, like kicking dirt on Pete Carroll on the way out.

1:11:06Jourdan Rodrigue:You already won. He got fired. Now it's like, okay, what is the vision now? Because we're blaming the draft on him last year. You got$91 million in cap space. Just outrageous. Like a Crosby deal doesn't... It makes sense to get draft picks for where they're at as a team. They don't need the money. The last thing they need is more cap space. They have... Wait, I'm not kidding. The teams that have too much, like it's actually, I believe, is a little bit of a problem because they don't have anyone to spend it on. They're also going to save money by getting rid of Geno, whether that's a cut, which likely is, or like a late round pick swap if anyone wanted it.

1:11:40Jourdan Rodrigue:And the needs are obvious. It's everything. Like there is nothing that they don't need on the roster. They're going to get a quarterback, but they still need another quarterback too. So even that is a need. So I looked and there's not many great free agents, Eric Stokes, Malcolm Koontz, most of the secondary. Pretty much have to replace your entire secondary. But it's kind of like, all right, show us what you got. Spy tech, putting him on the hot seat.

1:12:06Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, I think if going by the way Tampa Bay had built out their teams in the past, him being a member of that staff for so long, it was always like, especially up front, draft and develop guys, and then sign your own guys to big money extensions. I think the biggest domino in how badly all of this ended up going was the ripple effect of not either trading back for more picks out of that top pick last year or, you know, and I love Ashton Janty, but drafting a running back that high instead of looking at trading back and trying to pick up multiple linemen, whether offensive or defensive.

1:12:49Jourdan Rodrigue:But they did, and they didn't ever play them until the end of the year. That was weird.

1:12:53Gregg Rosenthal:And so I think that's where you get in the – it's complicated, right? That's when you get into maybe there's a vision in one part of the building And then there's not a vision, that same vision in the other part of that building. And his, by the way, his son is coaching the offensive line. So has a pretty significant say in who's actually getting on the field and he's not on the field. So that's what I'm saying. Like, I would just like to see a more cohesive plan from, from what they're saying and, and sort of having fun with the, um, you know, the, the mind games before the draft last year, I'd like to actually see an identity match what they are saying they want to be.

1:13:25Gregg Rosenthal:And that is, again, draft and develop and build slowly and then retain your good players. That's what they say they want to do. And it's Mendoza season, too.

1:13:32Patrick Claybon:But there was a significant contrast with one of the oldest coaches in the NFL and who would like to win now, who's bringing in veterans to try to get something done now. He's not trying to develop. He's trying to. And so they've eliminated that aspect of the vision. And so now if there is a shared vision, as you pointed out, Greg, you want to sign your guys, but there's no guys to sign.

1:13:56Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah.

1:13:57Jourdan Rodrigue:So you just got to take the L. And the guys that they signed last year, which, you know, for the most part didn't really work out. They're all free agents now, too.

1:14:05Gregg Rosenthal:You got to start over.

1:14:06Jourdan Rodrigue:You're just starting from scratch. The offensive line has basically been the same for a couple of years, which is good or bad. I'm not really sure. Usually it's good, but it hasn't really.

1:14:15Patrick Claybon:Everything was so chaotic. Can we even evaluate the young guys on that roster properly? It was all so bad. No.

1:14:23Gregg Rosenthal:Well, I mean, maybe your hero could share some notes with you about his thoughts on how.

1:14:32Patrick Claybon:Yeah, I'll give Chip a call.

1:14:34Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, I thought you meant Larry the Brain Frog was your hero. Because we actually have dug up footage of a segment featuring Larry the Brain Frog on NFL Network. Look, we were honking for a while, hitting every single AFC team. This is incredible work. Our crack research staff, that included Eric Roberts and Chris Babona, found a video. Let's watch.

1:14:57Patrick Claybon:Because he's got the brain frog. Brain frog? The brain frog's name is Larry. Yeah, Larry lives in Steve's head, and he tells him, eat your vegetables, but he doesn't listen to them. Is this the brain frog right here? I think that's the brain frog. It's a brain frog. It's a frog that lives in Steve's brain. Here's the thing, that one guy. It's not just a term. The brain frog is an actual frog that lives inside of the head of Steve from accounting. And we thought since Steve is so good at hacking the servers and taking fantasy players, why don't we invite Larry to come on our show? So making his fantasy live debut, it's Larry the brain frog.

1:15:34Patrick Claybon:Hello. Hey, Larry. Hello, hello. It's so great to have you on the show. Yeah, we can hear you. Can you hear us in the swamp and in the end of Steve's brain? Wow.

1:15:46Gregg Rosenthal:Production out. Larry the Brain Frog. Off the charts right there.

1:15:49Jourdan Rodrigue:And then you got a shirt out of it, too. Because he's got the brain frog. Brain frog. We need that as a drop. Now, Larry the Brain Frog, can he be part of NFL Daily occasionally?

1:16:00Patrick Claybon:Yeah, we'll see if this is the puppet, if we have access to the puppet, maybe. I can't do as good of a voice as Rank.

1:16:06Jourdan Rodrigue:Shout out to Adam Rank and Michael F. Florio. Always getting it done on NFL Fantasy. We got it done. we talked about the entire AFC. I think we provided context and information and we did it in a fun way. And we're going to do the same with the NFC. And that show is coming up on Thursday. What a big week this is. It's like a slow build.

1:16:30Gregg Rosenthal:Maybe not big, but important. But important.

1:16:35Jourdan Rodrigue:The rim rods? No. Not doing that. AFC today. That felt good. We will be back on Thursday with the NFL. We'll see you then.

1:17:12Jourdan Rodrigue:Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins.

1:17:16Patrick Claybon:Open your free iHeartRadio app, search 40s and free agents, and listen now.

1:17:20Gregg Rosenthal:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.