Ravens Maxx Crosby trade highlights a busy weekend on the eve of free agency

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1:49Robert Mays: Welcome to The Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. special Sunday episode for you guys today on the eve of the tampering period and the league you're starting in the NFL. We talked about it on Friday. If some stuff happened and we felt like there were enough newsworthy moments over the weekend, we would record something on Sunday. I would say that the weekend cleared the bar. I think we got there. Max Crosby traded to the Baltimore Ravens for two first round picks. We didn't talk about the Raiders side of this at all on the show, which that's on me. Let's do it now. Totally makes sense for the Raiders.

2:25Robert Mays: Like you're a team that's resetting to get two first round picks for Max Crosby, I think is where you want to be as you kind of put everything on the table when it comes to your roster. It's a lot to get for a 29 year old player. We don't often see this sort of price tag for guys on third contracts that are hitting this point in their career. We talked about that element of it from the Raven side at length on the show, But from the Raiders side of this, Max Crosby is a fantastic player, but I completely understand if you're the Raiders and you're totally resetting, thinking this is the best path forward.

2:59Robert Mays: We've seen what the Raiders are with Max Crosby and not much else. And I think trying to explore a different sort of reality completely makes sense if you're John Spitek and if you're Las Vegas. Bunch of other moves that came down the pike over the last couple of days. We had some other movement on the edge rusher market with Khalil Mack. The interior offensive line market has started to come into focus with the Connor McGovern deal signing back with the Bills. Sean Ryan signs with the Packers. That kind of pushed us to discuss some of the other center moves that we'd seen over the last few days with Tyler Biotis going to the Chargers and Garrett Bradbury coming to the Bears.

3:37Robert Mays: We had a few other smaller moves like the Zaire Franklin trade to talk about. And then the Eagles making a big move, re-signing Jordan Davis. And then we spent some time thinking about what that may mean for the Jalen Carter trade market and what his future might look like in Philadelphia. So very much enjoyed this conversation with Dave Hellman and Derek Klassen. Let's get to it right now.

4:03Robert Mays: Little emergency podcast action here on a Sunday morning, which I've been helped along by the Daylight Savings. So it's actually feels more like 10 a.m. But a little podcasting with your coffee this morning. Very excited to do it because we had a ton of news this weekend. I figured that we might. But Dave, you're sitting there Friday night. I'm enjoying a nice leisurely evening with my wife on the couch. And then I get the alert on my phone. I am incredibly excited. She does not care. A tale is old this time. One of my favorite things that happens when we get these like massive news moments at those times of night.

4:39Robert Mays: And we had a hell of a one on Friday night. We can say that.

4:44Derrik Klassen: See, that's the fun difference is I am marrying somebody who works in the industry. So Carmen and I just dropped everything we were doing and we were like charting out the value, deciding how we felt about it. I think we were like making dinner and had a TV show on and we just dropped everything for like 45 minutes to gauge how each other felt about this. It was great. And it's right in line. We joke about it for a reason. As soon as it's Friday night or as soon as you kind of feel like things are calming down, the Baltimore Ravens swing a major trade to, I don't even want to say pry their window open.

5:22Derrik Klassen: Because I think even despite a pretty disappointing season in Baltimore, I think most people were probably still going to be pretty high on them when all was said and done. But talk about a swing for the fences to get you excited about a new regime. I mean, John Harbaugh leaves and all hell breaks loose, like the biggest the biggest Ravens trade in history. I mean, I know that's only 31 years, but still, this is even for a team that hasn't been unwilling to spend. You know, we talked about Roquan Smith recently. Like, it's not that they've been unwilling to do it, but this still feels like another level when you're talking about the Baltimore Ravens addressing a problem.

6:00Robert Mays: There's no doubt. I think there are a few different layers to this where it feels unprecedented might be strong, but it definitely takes things into a new direction. I feel like for the market, for players, for the Ravens in general, I think there are a lot of layers that we need to dig into here. But Derek, I'm just curious, your initial reaction when you saw this, what was your thought when you saw that Baltimore was the team that ended up willing to do this?

6:20Dave Helman: I mean, I think this is a team that, again, is closer than last year felt. I mean, they were extremely banged up on both sides of the ball, but definitely on defense, their quarterback was hurt. Like this to me feels like a team that is still at its core, like a 10 plus win team pretty consistently. And I think for them to realize that Lamar Jackson is 29 years old, which is not old, but given the way that he plays quarterback in the way that he might age compared to some other guys, like this next three year window is kind of it. And so for them to try to pry it open with Max Crosby, who I know last year was a down year.

6:51Dave Helman: And, you know, I think some people have even made the argument that the year before was a down year. I still think he is a monster. Like I just, he is an iron man. Like the way that he's going to defend the run for them is incredible. He's the best pass rusher they've had in I don't even know how long. It's been a very, very long time.

7:06Robert Mays: This is probably Terrell Suggs on the edge. Yeah.

7:08Dave Helman: I mean, that's what we're talking about here. Like, legitimately, like, it's been a very long time since they've had a player like this. So I'm incredibly jazzed for this. I think it's going to be really, really good.

7:17Derrik Klassen: Yeah, kudos to you, Maze. I saw you pumping your take from the week where, hey, but you were right. I mean, obviously, it's a different player and you do something totally different. But a Jalen Phillips signing, the idea was to accomplish a similar goal and you just took it to a completely different stratosphere.

7:36Robert Mays: I don't think I deserve any credit for that. I think it just mostly speaks to where I thought their mindset might be. And that's my first reaction to this. It's funny that you guys go to, oh, they're still close and that's why they have to do this. My thought when you see a move like this is we're further away than we want to be. like in terms of just being able to ride it out and stay the course and operate the way that we typically like to. And I think that's, to me, one of the more surprising elements of this is that the Ravens, especially at edge, if you look back over the last 10 or 15 years, they've just done such a good job of having this kind of assembly line where they would cycle through these day two to day three type of picks over and over and over again.

8:19Robert Mays: And they'd let those guys hit free agency because they were comfortable being able to replenish that position. And it's kind of run dry. You know, the OA thing is interesting. Obviously he's going to get paid a lot in free agency, but he's a specific type of player. You know, he's a little bit undersized. He's, you know, pass rushing is mostly what he's giving you. Typically when they were hitting on those guys, I mean, Derek, they were big body players that really were able to give you a little bit of everything. And for them to just not have anybody like that come along in the last four or five years, I think just kind of speaks to, if not desperation, then urgency at the position in a way that we don't typically see with the Ravens.

8:54Robert Mays: And that's what this feels like to me. This feels like them scrambling a little bit in ways that they don't often have to. And that's not even a criticism. I actually think it's probably the right approach with where they are right now, but that's the element of this that just doesn't feel like a typical Baltimore Ravens move to me.

9:12Dave Helman: Well, and I think part of the issue with why the edge stuff has run dry is they were drafting different players. Like you said, like when they were drafting those third, fourth, fifth round guys, it was Pernell McPhee's and Zedarius Smith's. It was the 270 pounds. Yeah. Matthew Judon. Like it's going to be these guys who are 260 to 275 pounds. We're going to put them at three tech. Sometimes we're going to put them over a center. They're going to be spinners, all this stuff. David Ajabo, like Adafi Owe, those are not guys who really do that. And I think they kind of just started to go for speed in a way that just didn't really work for them.

9:43Dave Helman: And I think that they They couldn't figure out how to replenish the room in a way that they had for, you know, 10 years before that. And so I think this is I think maybe it's a little bit of desperation. But I also do think that this is like you bring in Jesse Minter and you're like, how do we get his defense off the ground as quickly as possible? And I think getting if we consider both free agency and the likely trade market, like Max Crosby was the best player that you could get on the market. And so I think for them to go out and do that, also knowing like specifically with Minter's defense, how important it is to have an edge defender who can defend the run at a really high level and set the edge like that.

10:18Dave Helman: I think this is going to go a really long way for them for that specific reason.

10:22Robert Mays: That's where I land with this as well. The price is obviously huge and we can talk about it, but having a two-way guy that's going to be able to contribute on every single play, but at the same time, I don't think he'll play every single play for the Ravens defense the way he did with the Raiders. And that's kind of why I think the production, you actually on a per play basis might see him be more efficient and more impactful. And listen, you look at the numbers from last year, he was banged up. He's on an imploding team. Betting that you're going to see a better version of Max Crosby in 2026 than you did in 25.

10:51Robert Mays: I completely understand that if you're the Ravens. So on a football level, I'm 100 % with you. But you look at the price and you just look at history. And we just don't usually see stuff like this, Dave. I mean, two first round picks. You look at the guys who've been traded for two first round picks over the last 10, 15 years. You can go back for a little bit further than that. it's almost exclusively second contract players that are star level guys. Micah Crosby. Micah Parsons last year is an easy example. We've got plenty more of those.

11:21Derrik Klassen: Micah Crosby.

11:21Robert Mays: Micah Crosby will be, yeah, just think about it. Micah Crosby will be real good. So Micah Parsons last year, you have that example. Jamal Adams, Laramie Tunsil. These are guys that are second contract guys kind of hitting their prime. Max Crosby is going to be 29 years old. And so this is just a market we don't typically see. And Quentin Williams is probably the closest analog when it comes to guys at this stage of their careers. Quentin Williams goes for a one and a two to Dallas. Dallas was trying to send a one and a two to the Raiders for Max Crosby. And the Ravens, because that offer is on the table, they have to top it.

11:58Robert Mays: And that's how you get to this place where you're sending two first-round picks for a guy who's about to be 29 years old. And that's just not typically the type of move that we see anybody make.

12:08Derrik Klassen: Which I want to be clear, it's a little unprecedented for the Ravens. I said on Friday night that it's exciting. And it is undoubtedly exciting to add a top four edge to your team. And we don't think the Ravens are going to be as bad as they looked at times last year. I don't love it. I can get as far as to say I like it for Baltimore. Because Lamar Jackson gives you a chance to be competitive. If you get this defense back to the level it was at a couple years ago. Like we know the Ravens are good enough to to be a big factor in the playoffs, potentially even have home field advantage throughout.

12:46Derrik Klassen: Like that's not a pipe dream. But two first round picks is such a lofty price to pay. And it's funny. I came to the opposite conclusion from the same amount of data as Derek, because it's like, oh, Lamar Jackson is is 29, 30 years old. This is the time to go for it. And I'm like, I don't know, man. This feels like the time where you want to have assets on hand to replenish things around Lamar Jackson. Like if something goes wrong, if if the offensive line isn't up to snuff and to be clear, also, we don't know what the Ravens are going to wind up looking like yet. We still have the vast majority of free agency in the draft to go through.

13:23Derrik Klassen: But if your offensive line is still a problem point, if you're receiving weapons are a problem, which spoiler alert, they kind of have been for a long time. If the Ravens can't get all of that right, all of a sudden you have that fewer resources and none of the big ones to fix it with. And when Lamar Jackson is 30 years old, that makes me a little bit nervous. Like you are putting a huge amount of onus on Max Crosby to be that dude with a capital D. Like if he's pretty good or like, yeah, like he's he's still great. then that's that's not good enough like it's got to be defensive player of the year caliber type stuff to make this pay off and it's not to say that it can't but I think I said this last week like you're just you're raising the threshold that much higher and the other part of that too you mentioned is other teams were willing to do this and the Ravens leapfrogged them I think you're right like that is a I think desperation comes with a negative connotation but they were very adamant, very, very adamant to try to get this thing over the finish line.

14:27Derrik Klassen: And it's like I said, I think it's a high threshold. It's a high bar to clear when you're doing this type of stuff. And it makes me pretty nervous. The price is the price, right?

14:36Robert Mays: I mean, if a team is willing to give up a first and a second, like you want them, like the price is the price. But should you be willing to beat that?

14:44Derrik Klassen: Like, should you be willing to beat the Dallas Cowboys in a bidding war? That would make me nervous if I were the Baltimore Ravens.

14:51Dave Helman: I would be like to have I think especially again when you consider mentor defense to have it's right it's not my money but here's the other thing I think I'm a little more like with team building like scare money don't make money like I'm going to do shit like this I think and especially on defense when you have like true field tilters like Roquan Smith like Max Crosby it just like changes the math for you on defense we saw this with them before obviously they have Kyle Hamilton as well like when you have enough of those guys who are field tilting field tilting players. And if you have one of them at all three levels, if you get that on top of like Lamar Jackson, even playing at 90 % of whatever his peak was, because last year he was like 60, you have a team that is again, the top of the AFC.

15:34Dave Helman: Like I, this probably does hurt them for whatever they might look like in 2028, because you're obviously taking away first round picks. But what is the chance that either of those first round picks is even 75 % of the player that Max Crosby is going to be for the next three years. And also money wise, if Max Crosby explodes, I think they can get out of this deal in like a year or two, and it doesn't really hurt them capitalized. Like, I don't think that this is that bad for them.

15:57Derrik Klassen: I want to take the opportunity to point that out. And it's another layer of this, too. And I think it's only fair to say because the Ravens are one of those teams. They just they have a great reputation for good reason. They get I think a lot of the things they do tend to get seen through rose colored glasses because you can see the logic and the process of it all. Robert you already said it but you wind up in this place because you haven't been drafting as well as the reputation suggests that you do and and I think that's worth pointing out because every draft weekend the Ravens take a guy with a name that we know who's not supposed to be there and everybody freaks out about it and to be fair to them sometimes that's Kyle Hamilton and and they have definitely made some great picks but you don't do this if you've been drafting as well over the last three, five years as the reputation suggests that you do.

16:51Robert Mays: Derek pointing out that you're seeking out field tilters on defense. That to me speaks to the larger conversation about what this means for the Ravens and their overall construction at the end of this process. We're now at a place where for years and years and years, when the Ravens were real in 2023, let's just say 2023, when the Ravens felt like their peak was as good as any other team in the NFL. Other than Lamar Jackson, how many like superstar level players were on the Ravens? Roquan and Kyle Hamilton. Kyle Hamilton was kind of ascending to that place, right? Like on offense, they were the most efficient offense in football that year.

17:28Robert Mays: Excuse me, 2024, they were the most efficient offensive football. It's just 2024. They're the most efficient offensive football in 2024. And it was Lamar and, you know, maybe Tyler Linderbaum, but for the most part, it's not of star-laden team. That's how the Ravens have been competitive consistently for a while here, where you look across the roster and you're like, ah, there's not a lot of star power, but there's not a lot of holes either. Like it's just well-constructed and, you know, there are a lot of contributing pieces and it all kind of makes sense together. This move specifically is pushing you in a slightly different direction, where that type of build, where you were solid across the board, but the peaks at the roster or maybe weren't that high, never really got you there.

18:05Robert Mays: And now you're at a place where this becomes very quickly, very top-heavy football team. If you're looking at 2027, Lamar, Roquan, Matt Abike, which is an entirely different conversation, Max Crosby, Kyle Hamilton, and then we want to throw Ronnie Stanley in there as well, but even if you didn't. So Jackson, Smith, Matt Abike, Crosby, Hamilton. You have five guys who are going to be making$26 million a year against the cap. you have two guys making between 24 and$10 million a year. That's what the roster has become to an extent when you do something like this. And part of the reason is you feel like you're pushed to this place because the roster isn't quite as good top to bottom as it used to be.

18:51Robert Mays: But this comes with risks. It's a different sort of mindset that comes with its own set of problems. And now you're in a place where after doing this, like Dave kind of alluded to, There's still a lot of holes on this team. You're probably not bringing back Tyler Linderbaum. You need at least one new guard. You probably need another pass catcher. You need another starting safety. You probably need, if not a starting outside corner, then some depth at outside corner. The Matabike question looms. If he comes back, then your interior feels a lot better. But this is a team that it's not a Baltimore Ravens roster where you're looking at it on March 1st and thinking, they don't really have that many holes.

19:28Robert Mays: They can kind of do whatever they want. That's not what this is. And so to see this type of a Baltimore team make this type of deal, I think it feels new coming from two different directions.

19:38Derrik Klassen: The fun thing is the quickness with which things can change. I mean, there's a lot of smoke and speculation about a Lamar extension. We've talked about it. If you can get him extended and free up that money to suspend a little bit more than you might, then maybe the whole picture for this thing changes. And for that matter, we talked about it at the beginning of the offseason. And if Nandi Matabike comes back with a clean bill of health, I'm just going full Derek and I'll just jump right on the bandwagon and not even think about it. So there are some pretty big variables here that can still change.

20:11Derrik Klassen: But right now, as we sit here on Sunday morning, I'm like, this is exciting, but I can't get all the way to love.

20:19Dave Helman: Merely, merely like the thing I'll say doesn't and maybe I'm coping because I already like the deal anyway. Doesn't them doing the deal feel weirdly optimistic for the Matabike thing? Like, I think if they thought that he wasn't going to play for them, they might be in more of a spot where it's like, okay, maybe we do need to take a step back here. But if they think that he might be ready to go, then it's like, well, why don't we just load up and get another Max Crosby and throw it in?

20:45Derrik Klassen: We keep having different reactions to the same stuff because I'm sitting here thinking if they felt really good about Matabike, They're like, OK, we've got an all pro guy coming back to this line. We don't need to do anything nuts. We can probably draft or make some middle of the pack signings that would get this thing up to snuff if Nnamdi is there. And trading for Max Crosby, to me, might signal, hey, we need to do everything guy who can wreck shit on his own, no matter what's going on with Matt Abike. So and to be clear, I have no idea what is going on. That's what I said, too.

21:21Robert Mays: I'm not even going to speculate. I have absolutely no idea. when you look at the finances of it, they're currently$12 million over the cap. If you look at over the cap, they're going to do something to Lamar's contract, right? Like it's whether, if he doesn't get an extension, then they're probably going to restructure it. If they take it down to zero, they would have like$26 million in cap space. There's some other things they can do as well. And I'll be curious, do they touch Crosby's contract? Because as Derek alluded to, there's no guaranteed money left on that deal, I think at all. And so if they want to just restructure that thing, it's$30 million in base salary.

21:51Robert Mays: That'll give them a little bit more wiggle room. And again, it feels like you're kind of compromising on the way that you want to do things on a couple of different levels here. But maybe we're just in that place where they understand they have to do that because if they can free up a decent amount of cap space, then you can find a starter at center, a starter, a guard. You go out and find a safety, maybe a corner like they might have the financial flexibility to shop in that middle class tier of players to fill some of those holes. But it's just a different conversation about the Baltimore Ravens than what than the one I thought we'd be having.

22:22Robert Mays: The last point here I think I want to make is that some people are going to look at the Cowboys being willing to deal a one and a two for Max Crosby a year after trading Micah Parsons and be like, what the hell? You didn't want to keep Micah, but you were willing to do something like this for a guy who's three, four years older. Two things I would say about that. Like we talked about with the contract, because that contract already exists, the cash payout is just going to be a lot different with Micah Parsons than it is with Max Crosby. I think with Micah, the first two years in cash was like 85 million.

22:55Robert Mays: With Max, I think it's 60 million. And so that just gives you a big chunk of change to work with to spend on other players if you're Dallas or if you're a team like Baltimore here. And the other thing, and this came up a lot in conversations with coaches, for personnel people at the Combine consistently. And it wasn't even about Micah necessarily. It touched on a bunch of different players. But I think from people in our seats, we underrate how important it is for teams and for people in those buildings, for the guys they pay the most amount of money to be the guys who set the culture in those buildings.

23:29Robert Mays: And I think with Dallas, whether you like it or not, they did not see Micah Parsons as that sort of guy. Max Crosby is that sort of guy. Max Crosby is the sort of guy where if you're paying him$30 million a year and you watch the effort and everything else, you're like, that's who we want to be on that side of the ball. And again, I'm not sure how much that should play a factor, whether we over-index for that and how teams make these decisions. But if you're trying to compare the Crosby situation with the Micah Parsons situation, I think that element of it at least needs to be acknowledged to understand why Dallas would do A and not B.

24:03Derrik Klassen: Never underestimate the importance of relationships inside the building. And if I haven't been clear enough about that, I apologize. Because yeah, the relationships with Micah in Dallas were not good. by the end, clearly. And I mean, it doesn't get to that point if they're better. But I will say in defense of the Cowboys, and it's a moot point because it didn't happen, you can't decide who wins until you see the big picture two, three, four years from now. But like if the Cowboys had managed to trade Micah and use those resources to get Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, Max Crosby, and still hold on to at least one first round pick and not be without first round picks in any of those years you can't say that they would have been the winners in that situation but i would have called that pretty nice like i would have looked at that and been like oh they kind of cooked here but they would have given away two twos in that scenario

25:00Robert Mays: though i mean they still come up more than they got yeah to come to come out with quinnon williams

25:07Derrik Klassen: and max crosby and not have gotten rid of a one to do it though is i mean i think if it weren't the Cowboys, I think we'd be saying some pretty nice stuff about that.

25:16Robert Mays: I think it's more so just that, again, I've said a bunch about the Quinn and Williams stuff. The Quinn and Williams train wasn't free. You know, you're still paying a lot to get those guys, even if you can still hang on to your first round picks as part of the calculus. All right. We're going to take a quick break and then we're going to come back and chat about the other edge rushing move that happened over the last couple of weeks.

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29:25Robert Mays: Don't spend a ton of time on this. Not surprising. I think they still had a need at this position because guys like this were hitting free agency. They did a very similar thing last year. But Derek, Khalil Mack back to the Los Angeles Chargers. One year,$18 million, just running it back for one more year.

29:42Dave Helman: And they should have, right? Like I kind of thought it would have been fun to see Khalil Mack on like a different contender. But in my mind, the Chargers are still a roster that is obviously going to be a playoff team. And so him just kind of returning there, keeping the stable on defense. That's a playoff team. Like, come on. That's a playoff team.

29:59Robert Mays: No Jesse Minter. You know, it's worth having a conversation. I trust the Jim and Justin offense over there. The only reason that my response to this wasn't just wholly positive. It's kind of like, it's fun to watch players change teams. That's the only element of this that just doesn't look at it and be like, good for them, good for him.

30:21Derrik Klassen: No, that's why, like, I had the same reaction as Derek, but it made me laugh when I was examining it because I saw the news and I was like, oh, that's kind of boring, isn't it? And then I thought about it and I was like, Khalil Mack re-signed with a team that's been at the playoffs two years in a row. Like, if he had gone to a different team that's been at the playoffs two years in a row, I would think it was very exciting. So good for the Chargers, even if it's kind of anticlimactic on Monday.

30:45Robert Mays: Yeah, and they had arguably one of the biggest edge needs in the entire league, if you currently look at their roster. I mean, they had, we talked about this last week. I mean, it's Tuli Tupelo2 and not much else with Odoff AOA and Khalil Mack hitting free agency. And they've got more money to spend. We'll get to the other kind of move that they made over the last few days here in a second. We talk about the interior offensive line market, but even with Biotis in the fold, even with Khalil Mack in the fold, this is a team that is still going to be able to spend, whether it's an edge rusher, interior offensive line, they've got a lot of money to throw around.

31:13Robert Mays: A team that has less money to throw around, but nonetheless kind of started the domino effect we're going to see with these interior offensive line markets. Connor McGovern signs back with the Buffalo Bills four years, 52 million, I believe it's$32 million guaranteed. You look at that contract by AAV, it slots behind only Creed Humphrey and Cam Juergens now with Drew Dahlman out of the mix, RIP, and not surprised, you know, based on this market, how many teams might've been interested in him, but still Derek$13 million a year for Connor McGovern is a healthy number as we kind of kick off the spending with this center group and the interior offensive line group in general the

31:54Dave Helman: Connor McGovern deal is like this to me I know we tried to put him on 8 million other teams because there's 8 million teams that need a center and he was you know other than Tyler Linderbaum going to be the best one on the market that's why he's getting$13 million a year exactly that's why he's getting$13 million a year but I I love this for Buffalo because to me if you're going to one they are losing offensive line coach Aaron Cromer like he left and I think to me if you are promoting the offensive coordinator to be your head coach I think it helps him a lot if you can keep one of the pillars of your offense in place in your center and like take some of the mental load off of the offense a little bit and let Joe Brady do some of the head coaching stuff that is now going to be on his plate and so I think keeping continuity there was I think if they had to pick between one of these two interior offensive linemen, like regardless of which one you think is the better player purely on quality, McGovern was probably more important to keeping their like overall continuity and level of play.

32:49Robert Mays: You lose two starters and your offensive line coach, two starters, including the center in a given off season. It's a lot of stability that's walking out the door. And so being able to maintain some of that while losing Cromer, I completely agree. And we can have a conversation about which of those guys is a better player or more valuable in a vacuum. David Edwards is going to get more money in free agency because he's a guard. But I always, and Barnwell would just hammer this into my brain over and over and over again 10 years ago when we were having these conversations and he was always right and I was always wrong.

33:20Robert Mays: He would talk about the multi-year outlook for guys when it comes to how much they're worth in free agency. And we're going back a while now with David Edwards, but Conor McGovern signed as a starting guard for the Bills when he got there in free agency a couple years ago. So David Edwards signed for a few million bucks a year as a depth piece and now is going to be getting$15 million a year on a third contract. And so I think that on multiple different levels, the fact that McGovern is the one that they wanted to shell out for at the end of this, Dave, I don't necessarily find surprising.

33:51Derrik Klassen: No, and I think it's an expensive win, but for all the reasons y 'all just outlined, I think it's a win for the Bills that maybe this is more a perception thing, but it just feels like they needed it. Like you're cutting guys left and right on your defense to get your finances right. Some of that justified. People have been crushing the bills for the DJ Moore trade for the last couple of days. And to get one of your two guys, because, yeah, like you lose both of them. I do think that is a very big deal for the Buffalo offense. And to retain the center who has so much to do with setting protections and helping the quarterback and kind of being the quarterback of your offensive line typically, if there's a guy that you were going to hold on to as a team that has a decent amount of retooling to do, I think it's a big, big win.

34:42Derrik Klassen: And again, maybe this is a perception thing, but it feels like a culture win to get it done before the market opens as well. To like go to a player that knows that he's about to hit the market and be like, can we get something done? What's a good price? and the player agrees to it without needing to hit the market and have competing teams send in offers for him. Like clearly Conor McGovern likes Buffalo enough to want to be there and want to be part of this coaching change with Joe Brady. Like I said, maybe that's more perception than anything, but from the outside, it feels like it matters to me that you're able to hang on to that guy three or four days ahead of time and before he's in line to have a bidding war for his services because clearly that would have happened based on the price that the Bills gave him and what we know Tyler Linderbaum is going to be worth in a few days.

35:31Derrik Klassen: He probably could have made more money if that was what really mattered to him. But re-signing with Buffalo was something he clearly prioritized.

35:39Robert Mays: I know it's tempting to like shit all over the Bills offense and what they were at the end of the year. The Bills finished fourth in offensive DVOA last season.

35:48Dave Helman: Fourth. Them, the three superstar quarterbacks are in a spot where if they don't have the best offense in the league every single week were like, what is wrong with them? And that was what it was with the Bills.

36:00Robert Mays: Obviously, there were issues with this team. We talked about it. The pass-catching group by the end of the season was just nightmarish. But now, when you bring back Connor McGovern and you trade for DJ Moore, we can hem and haw about the price, and I totally understand that. I think it's an aggressive trade, the one that they pulled off for DJ Moore. But if you just look at the roster right now, you essentially have the 2025 Bills offense that finished fourth in offensive DVOA with a DJ Moore and you have to figure out a starting left guard. Like if they can somehow piece that together with a guy who's maybe going to make half as much money as David Edwards will in free agency and you can get passable play at that spot, that's really now the only piece that you're turning over an offense that was very good.

36:43Robert Mays: And now DJ Moore is in the fold. So this sort of move, when you just look at the roster and the depth chart in totality, It's like, all right, man, like I can get behind like what this thing looks like now when you have all of the good elements for the most part of this thing coming back. And you add if an expensive player in DJ Moore, one you absolutely did not have when you think about the skill set you're adding to the offense.

37:05Dave Helman: This to me feels like, yeah, if they go and sign like Chris Paul to play left guard or something, just a guy who can get it done. And then you have DJ Moore who can actually play wide receiver and win some one on ones in a way you couldn't before. It's like the offense is probably better. All right.

37:18Robert Mays: That's a fair point, but that brings me to the next deal I want to talk about because I think we're at a point where Chris Ball might be a little bit more expensive than you want him to be. Packers re-signing Sean Ryan per Ian Rappaport, three years,$33 million on a deal that can get to$39 million for Sean Ryan. We'll see about guarantees. You know, the Packers are one of those teams where the guarantees don't go quite as far into the deal with some other teams. Like Theron Banks contract last year is a perfect example where the AAV is like 19 million. But if you actually look under the hood, it's not quite as strong of a deal as some other contracts with that AAV at the position might be.

37:57Robert Mays: But nonetheless, even if it can be a tiny bit misleading, three years,$33 million for Sean Ryan, I think it kind of speaks to what we were dancing around with the interior offensive of Y market last week, which was these guys on second contracts that are hitting free agency, like if they can chew gum and block somebody at the same time, like they're going to be getting way more money than you probably think. And I think that Sean Ryan, Dave, is kind of like the first shot across the bow here when we think about what that market is going to look like over the next week.

38:28Derrik Klassen: Which let me as the non Bears fan say this so that it sounds objective. My main takeaway from a lot of what's happened over the last three days is, damn, the Bears got some really good intel when they decided to trade a future five for Garrett Bradbury on Friday because that deal comes down. And, you know, I spent 30 minutes on Thursday trying to convince you they should go after Tyler Linderbaum. That deal comes down and it's like, well, what are they doing? Like these better centers are about to hit the market and you can do much better than Garrett Bradbury, even if he had a nice season for the Patriots.

39:02Derrik Klassen: Like he's only under contract for one more year. What's going on? And all in quick succession, I don't think we mentioned Tyler Biotish is a charger now for$10 million a year. I think our guess was maybe like seven. And Conor McGovern is a bill again for$13 million a year. I think our guess was like 10. And now Sean Ryan's getting$11 million a year or however the math winds up going, but a$33 million contract. So I look at that and I'm like, eh, trading a future five for a serviceable guy with one year left on his deal. not a bad bit of business for the Chicago Bears if you're trying to stay out of what is clearly going to be a very expensive market if this weekend is any indicator.

39:44Robert Mays: I'll say this, the Beattish and McGovern contracts are about what I expected them to be. So if you look at those two prices, like I thought McGovern would come in at that sort of number if Linderbaum was going to make 20 million a year. And when we were talking about Tyler Linderbaum on the show last week, I said it over and over and over again, I'd rather have Beattish for half, I'd rather have Biotis for half. It's exactly half of$20 million. And so those contracts came in about where I thought they'd be. But these are guys that have multiple years of proven track records as starters. Sean Ryan started seven games for the Packers last year at center.

40:17Robert Mays: And so that's the one that I feel like is just a little bit richer than I expected it to be. The market overall with the Biotis and the McGovern deals, that's settled about where I thought. And I'll be honest with you. The Bradbury thing, I think, given the market constraints and given the spot that you're in and given the skill set that you're seeking out, I joked about this when the deal happened with you guys, but it almost feels like the Peter Parker glasses meme, like Tyler Linderbaum and Garrett Bradbury, like that's where we're at. Like they're very, and even Dahlman. Like if you look at the mock draftable, like spider charts for centers, Dahlman and Garrett Bradbury, the two most similar when it comes to like size, athletic ability, everything else.

40:55Robert Mays: So them seeking this out is not surprising. I'm fine with this being the outcome, but I'll tell you this. When I saw the three years, 30 million for Biotis with the Chargers, I was like, God damn it. That's, that was it. Like that was, that was the sweet spot, man. Like, and the Chargers pulling that off again, a good player, a like clears the bar. Absolutely. You can win with him starting center as an above average starter to get that for 10 million before the market even opens, not chew into any sort of comp pick situation because he was cut. Like that is a win for the Chargers. I was excited to see that for them.

41:30Robert Mays: And I'm surprised that Washington didn't try to get at least something for him. And when it comes to a pick, because there was clearly a healthy market for Biotr. And that doesn't surprise me at all.

41:39Dave Helman: Yeah. I don't know what that was about, about them just cutting him instead of trying to get something out. When you knew like six teams were going to try to need a new center this year. Like that just didn't make...

41:47Robert Mays: He had three visits immediately. Before the weekend was even out, he had three visits set up.

41:52Dave Helman: Exactly. Like the only thing I find interesting and not in a bad way about the Chargers signing Biotis is I think Mike McDaniel's offenses have been a little bit more used to having guys who are a little bit smaller, a little bit leaner, a little bit quicker. And Biotis is not that. Biotis is all of 315 pounds and like a more burly kind of knock them around type of center. So I'm just kind of curious to see what the run game ends up looking like for that reason. But obviously, I trust that that offensive staff is going to to get it to work out. The Bradbury one is funny. the more I, when I looked at it initially, I was like, player's not good enough.

42:24Dave Helman: Like Bradbury's just not good enough. But then I'm like, dude, he's playing next to maybe the best guard duo in the league. That's it. It'll probably be fine. Like I was like, he's not that if he's centered 22, but he's playing next to the best guard duo in the league, it's, it's probably going to turn out pretty good.

42:39Robert Mays: I think it's just covering your ass. Like, I think that's what this is where you get a guy, it's a 5.5.7 million dollars against the cap this year for Garrett Bradbury. And so you're looking at that compared to the deals that you're going to have to sign guys to in free agency. And again, I assume they'll address this at some point on day two in the draft, or maybe even a little bit later. Day two is probably rich. Consider I know I've looked at the draft setters a million times. I know that they're probably like outside the top 100 in the fourth round, but I assume that the bears will address this at some point with a lot of the day two to mid round picks that they have in this draft.

43:13Robert Mays: But now that guy doesn't have to hit for you. That's the whole point of doing something like this is like, if we have to get by with Garrett Bradbury for a year at center, because of the quality of the other guys on your offensive line, because of the scheme and being able to, I think, plan around some of his limitations, I think that you absolutely can live with Garrett Bradbury for a single year. And that's why I like this move at the price it costs them.

43:37Derrik Klassen: I deeply love it. And like I said, if I were the Bears, I'd rather have just knocked that out for a small price than venture into these bidding war waters, which to go back to the original point. I get it if it's a little rich, but in Sean Ryan, a guy who can serviceably start for you and can play as many as three positions on the open market, that's probably worth$1 million. It's worth$11 million.

44:06Robert Mays: So great, great for him. the last thing I'd say about the Bears and stopgaps the other bit of news that I think is should be of notes to them Taylor Decker asking for his release from the Lions potentially being on the market obviously not the player he was a couple years ago has been dealing with tons of health concerns I mean there's a reason that he was openly talking about retirement in December but if you're a team like the Bears in the situation that they're in it's very similar to the Garrett Bradbury conversation where it's like, we did not expect on December 15th, we did not expect to need a new left tackle and a new center for the 2026 season.

44:43Robert Mays: Let's just do what we can to get by for this year and then we'll be able to address it. Taylor Decker at the right price and the connection with Ben Johnson, all of that. I think that is a reasonable solution to that problem if he does end up hitting the market. So, I mean, he would make sense for the Bears. I'm sure he'd make sense for a couple of different teams that just need a stopgap player at that position, but 100 % worth monitoring. And now if you're the Lions, you're going to need to be relying on that offensive line development pipeline that you were trying to put in place a couple years ago.

45:14Robert Mays: You know, they drafted Giovanni Manu. They traded up to get him. That was clearly kind of a multi-year plan where he's raw. Can we get him to the place he needs to be when Decker moves on? That time is now, Derek. The hourglass has run out here when it comes to the Lions needing to figure out who the next steps are for pretty much all of that offensive line, except for Penny Sewell, that really drove who they were a couple of years ago.

45:37Dave Helman: Yeah, like in my mind now, Taylor Decker is going to be like what Jonah Williams has been the past couple of years, where it's just like a guy who is barely passable starter. He can just get by for us and that'll be enough, which the Bears at left tackle, I think they would absolutely take that. With the Lions, I'm curious if they believe in Manu enough, if they think he's developed enough to go and start, or do they want to flip Penny Sewell to left tackle, which is like I don't know to me yeah I would not want to do that like I understand you can see the logic right of like you know left tackle is in theory more valuable um you know you know we've seen certain guys do that before but I just he's already the best right tackle in the league and like a true difference maker for you you don't want to take him from an a plus player to like even an a minus or b plus player like I would just rather keep him where he's at I think the

46:23Robert Mays: with this is, it's potentially not even about a commentary on, is he ready? I think it's, my bigger question is, is this a move about him being ready or is this a move purely about money? It seems like this move is mostly about money. And so does that send you to a place as we head toward the season here where you don't love your options, but you also couldn't live with Taylor Decker at that price anymore?

46:45Derrik Klassen: My only pushback on that, Derek, would be, I said all the same stuff about Tristan Wirfs when the Bucs moved him to the left side and And it worked out awesome. And, you know, when you have a freak like that, those are the types of guys you can typically ask to make the switch and have it pay off. So I got that in the back of my mind. Like, I typically agree with you that I don't want to ask guys to move and potentially get worse at a position. But Panay Sewell might be the type of freak who can do it and all of a sudden look like a top five left tackle. That is a good point.

47:17Dave Helman: Tristan Wurst did make the switch.

47:19Derrik Klassen: And, like, Tristan Wurst made it look better. he made it look effortless he's like what it's hard to just flip across the line and play the toughest position in on the offensive line and be an all pro at it says who a little bit of breaking

47:32Robert Mays: news as we're recording this it's 11 51 a.m central time by the way as we're kind of sorting through everything that's happening here justin sternad was about to hit free agency back to the Broncos, three years,$18 million for Justin Strenat. It's interesting. It was the exact deal that Alex Singleton signed in 2023 to come to the Broncos was three years,$18 million. So obviously with inflation, it's a slight step down from there. I guess the closest comparison would probably be the deal that Malik Harrison signed for the Steelers last year, which was two years, 10 million, it was$5 million a year.

48:12Robert Mays: That's kind of what this feels like, Derek. Like if that's now the market for third linebackers, that's what Stranod kind of is for the Broncos, where Malik Harrison is a situational kind of guy. He's not going to be able to play for you every single down. Stranod is a fantastic blitzer, but his skillset is fairly limited when it comes to being a do-it-all kind of guy. So sliding in like about where a guy like Harrison would be with cap inflation. I actually kind of think that makes sense when you consider a market for somebody like this.

48:40Dave Helman: And I think this to me too, is like the type of contract that covers your ass in the sense of like, it's not an obscene amount of money to pay for a quality move around third linebacker, but also in the event that they can't get something done with Alex Singleton and they don't like whoever they end up drafting to replace him, he can just start and we can get by with it and it'll be fine. And that's a decent amount of money to pay there. So that feels just like we're familiar with him. We're going to keep it consistent. If he's a little bit of an expensive third linebacker, that's fine. And if he's our second linebacker, that's also fine.

49:10Robert Mays: Speaking of that tier of linebacker, it's a step up. But I think a lot of the same thinking applies to this deal that we're going to talk about now. Packers trade for Zaire Franklin. Deal Kobe Wooden to the Colts for Zaire Franklin. You look at the remaining money on Franklin's deal. It's essentially two years,$15 million, which again, you're comparing that to what Stranod just got. And I assume Green Bay, part of the reason they're willing to do something like this, talking about the linebacker version of the Garrett Bradbury sort of contract. It's that, well, we know what Quay Walker's going to cost.

49:40Robert Mays: He came back to us with a number. Not sure we're willing to go there. There's a chance that this move for Zaire Franklin, Derek, is maybe half of what Quay Walker is going to get on the open market. And I think you can make an argument that with Jonathan Gannon, with Zaire Franklin in Indianapolis, there's some familiarity there. I think as a, we just want stability and we want it at the right price sort of move, I can totally understand this for Green Bay. I actually love this move.

50:07Dave Helman: You know, I still have some questions about like who the hell is playing defensive tackle for this team.

50:12Robert Mays: That's where we're going next year.

50:14Dave Helman: Right, and they're changing things around a little bit scheme-wise. Like I think they need a guy who's a little bit more of a nose guard than some of the other guys, but they still are so thin that I think it's hard for them to say that they can afford trading away anybody in that room. But again, if you are trying to save money at linebacker, which if Clay Walker's number gets up to 14, 15, $16 million a year, Zaire Franklin is not quite the level of player that Walker can be at his peak, but I think he's a really good hammer, like between the tackles. And so you're going to lose maybe a little bit of something in coverage, but I think as like an enforcer downhill between the tackles, pretty nice player to pair with Edron Cooper.

50:50Dave Helman: So I'm kind of into it as like their best veteran answer to replacing Clay Walker. Like they could have done it in the draft. There maybe could have signed some other guys, But I think this is actually a really good answer.

51:01Derrik Klassen: Very similar to the Garrett Bradbury trade. I love a creative answer to a problem where like, I don't think Zaire Franklin is as good or at least his potential at this point in his career is not as high as Koi Walker's. But what are the prices? And considering what I think Koi Walker is going to be worth, trading a player for a guy who can play and occasionally at a high level, we'll see what's around him by the time we get there. But I feel fine plugging Zaire Franklin into that and knowing the baseline is probably going to be pretty good. And you didn't have to give up a ton to get him. And now you can avoid bidding for higher priced players next week.

51:40Derrik Klassen: I think it's great.

51:41Robert Mays: Zaire Franklin is going to be 30, right? It's not like Zaire Franklin is 100 years old. Like he should still have a little bit left in the tank, especially on the deal that you're giving him.

51:49Dave Helman: I think that's good because we've how many times have we said like this roster? Oh, it's so young. all this stuff. I actually think there's a little bit of value of getting guys who are, they've done this a little bit longer. They're a little bit more mature. They're a little bit more buttoned up. Especially at that position. Especially at that position when the guy next to him is like 24 years old and still a little bit young. I'm not saying you're wrong.

52:09Derrik Klassen: I understand the logic completely, but it's funny the things we talk ourselves into where it's like, damn it, we're too young. We need a 30-year-old in here. That is typically the opposite of what we say about all roster building, but I see the logic. All right, before we move on,

52:27Robert Mays: we're gonna take one more quick break.

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54:49Robert Mays: the last kind of headline grabbing move that I want to talk about here before we get out the Eagles give a contract extension to Jordan Davis three years 78 million dollars for Jordan Davis that's a 26 million dollar AAV with 65 million dollars guaranteed reportedly very similar to the deal that Milton Williams signed last offseason. Exact same AAV, guarantees come in about the same number. Milton Williams' deal was longer. But, I mean, you're looking at it, only Chris Jones right now has a higher AAV among interior defensive linemen than Jordan Davis just got from the Eagles. And even if you account for some cap increase and cap inflation, that's a really healthy deal.

55:31Robert Mays: And I don't know, Derek. I mean, I can understand it based on the player he was last year, that Jordan Davis is commanding a lot of money. But you rewind like a year ago. The idea that we'd be having this conversation on March 8th of 2025 and Jordan Davis would be worth$26 million a year, I think really speaks to the strides we saw from him as a player and just in how often he was on the field last year.

55:55Dave Helman: That's the biggest thing is that he was on the field more. Like, I think when we all saw him in college, we were like, oh, my God, there are just not very many defensive tackles built like this. but even in college there were some he was maybe a little bit too big some of the conditioning issues you were like how long can he sustain this and that was for the first two or three years of his career true like he was really good for the 40 percent of snaps that he could play but now him bumping up to 65 percent I think he was a better pass rusher this year than he had been at any other point in his career and so I think that helps you also like small thing for him he was kick ass on special teams like blocked a number of kicks for them this year which is a nice little bump.

56:31Dave Helman: He was just the odds for you bringing that up and not Dave in this conversation. We're off the board in Vegas. I would have gotten there. Yeah, exactly. I'm sure he would have. And then the last thing that I would say to then, you know, we kind of talked about this a little bit with Crosby and Micah. The fact that we are getting so many swirling rumors about are the Eagles going to trade Jalen Carter? Are they not going to pay Jalen Carter? And you go and pay an obscene amount of money to Jordan Davis. That says something to me. That says something. Oh, that's such a good shout.

57:00Derrik Klassen: If you're not watching, if you're listening to this, Robert is doing the windhorst. What does this mean, fingers?

57:10Robert Mays: And what does this mean? The fact that they did this before extending Jalen Carter, and now you're attributing this amount of money to your defense, I think the reports are that they might want to bring Jalen Phillips back, which is going to be a really healthy number. Somebody's going to be the odd man out here. And Jeremy Fowler from ESPN reported, I can't keep the timeline straight, it was either last night or this morning, that teams have called about Jalen Carter. And that's not necessarily surprising when you see this sort of deal. There were some reports that they had made him available in the Max Crosby conversations that the Eagles might've been having.

57:42Robert Mays: So Carter's extension eligible after his third year, his fifth year option would cost$27 million because of where he was drafted and because he made a Pro Bowl. He's coming off a season where, and this is what worries me, when you have a procedure on both of your shoulders during a season, I mean, he was open about this. Apparently he couldn't do a pushup at points this year. And you saw that. I mean, it really kind of came to the nadir of it was when you watched him play against the bears in that black Friday game, he just couldn't play. I mean, you just saw the fact that he just could not be out there.

58:15Robert Mays: So how much of an issue is that? How much do the Eagles know about that? So Dave, there clearly is some smoke here with Jalen Carter and how available he might be and that throws a wrench into the interior defensive line market this offseason in particular where there just are not a lot of guys available it's very classic Howie Roseman being ahead of

58:36Derrik Klassen: the problem and maybe maybe Jalen Carter were to get dealt imminently or maybe this is just anticipating what could be a problem a year from now but you get Jordan Davis under contract all of a sudden that's a little bit less scary and I know they have different roles obviously they do different things, but just having that piece of your defensive line. And if you're banking on Jordan Davis continuing to be this guy, which I just wanted to say, what a cool story that I think probably went under noticed on a larger level just because the Eagles were a super frustrating team. And typically when you're talking about the Eagles, it's like, why aren't they better?

59:16Derrik Klassen: but Jordan Davis kind of reinventing himself into a Peloton guy and just being the slimmest listen six six three hundred and whatever pound defensive tackle yeah Robert you can relate to that you don't have to tell me I and like it's it's badass because there was there was so much talk about him as a prospect like oh he's too big to stay on the field he's gonna eat his way out of the league or just be too heavy to be a viable NFL player. And he's just a monster now. Like he is a svelte nose tackle, which isn't supposed to happen. And he was phenomenal last year. Like I said, I think it kind of it got buried under the angst about the Eagles, but a very, very cool story.

1:00:01Derrik Klassen: Happy for him. And now, even though if they're different players, like I said, it's it's less intimidating trying to replace Jalen Carter if he's there doing his thing in the middle of that line. So not to say Carter's future in Philly is over, but like I said, it's a hallmark of Howie Roseman to be like eight to 12 months ahead of what might happen. And that's kind of what this looks like. Peloton has to fold this into their marketing in some way.

1:00:26Robert Mays: They should.

1:00:28Derrik Klassen: Use Peloton to make$26 million a year. As soon as that video came out of him talking about, he's like, yeah, like I already worked out today. hey, we had practice and I'm just going to go hop on my Peloton. I was like, well, that's marketing right there. Let's get that into a commercial.

1:00:42Robert Mays: Last big deal that I wanted to hit before we got out of here. It feels like this happened 10 days ago, but I think it was on Friday. Cam Curl back with the Los Angeles Rams. Three years,$36 million,$24 million guaranteed. Not surprising when you think about the Rams having some financial wiggle room. The fact that now bringing him back, Derek, you got to feel pretty good about what that secondary is going to look like. You have Quentin Lake at safety. That's where you want to play him. You know, obviously we're going to have some flexibility there with Trent McDuffie, but now you got Lake, Trent McDuffie, cam curl all in the fold here.

1:01:18Robert Mays: The interesting thing to me is more so what this means about the market at the position, because there were some questions about what that was going to look like. I mean, we talked about it a lot last week, but if you look at a lot of the outlets that were trying to guess these things, there was a wide range for safety in particular. I think Cam Curl is very indicative of that. The PFF numbers had him at like nine ish million dollars a year. I think Daniel Popper for our guy, Daniel Popper here at the athletic had him closer like 14 or 15. It sits in at 12. And I think that is going to be a number that's worth keeping in mind when you look at what some of these other safeties are potentially going to make next week.

1:01:53Dave Helman: All right. And him getting 12, who I believe now a third contract player for him, he like, He's a little bit older than some of the other guys that might sign. I think some of the younger guys like O 'Brien Cook, they are probably going to now get up to$14,$15,$16 million, I would guess, based on what Cam Curl has done. It's a lot of money, man. It's a lot of money. And Cam Curl, to me, compared to some of the other safeties, is just like, I don't know, man. There is such a stability to his game that I absolutely love. And so for the Rams to bring him back, and then kind of like you mentioned, allows them more flexibility with Clinton Lake.

1:02:28Dave Helman: because like I could have envisioned the world where they let curl walk. They just move Lake to safety. McDuffie's your nickel. We figure it out at outside corner, but that kind of locks you into that. And I think we've seen maybe teams taking a little bit of, you know, the blueprint of what the Seahawks just did with them being able to shuffle around some of their corners and also what the Ravens have done for a very long time with Kyle Hamilton and some of their corners and Marlon Humphrey sometimes being a nickel and sometimes not. I think teams are kind of taking that blueprint a little bit.

1:02:56Dave Helman: And so I think the Rams trying to make sure that they keep those avenues open, I think, is a pretty good option for them.

1:03:03Robert Mays: Yeah, you look at it now. I mean, with with Curl, you still have Cam Kitchens in the fold. Obviously, you know, you bring back Quentin Lake. If you want to play Quentin Lake in the nickel when you're in nickel and you have McDuffie on the outside and then you can figure out that other outside corner spot. I mean, this group is in a very good spot, especially compared to where they were last year, even with a guy like Kobe Durant hitting free agency. So this Rams team is, they're addressing the potential issues that this roster was going to have as they know just how much is riding on this season.

1:03:29Robert Mays: And so it's not surprising to see them show a little bit of urgency and making sure that group comes together in a way that it did not by the end of last year.

1:03:37Derrik Klassen: I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed that your rundown doesn't include the Niners signing Eddie Pinheiro to a four-year$17 million extension. like I hate to be a caricature of myself but you just leave me no choice when you're trying to leave out major re-signings like Eddie Pinheiro to the 49ers which I mainly just think it's funny Eddie Pinheiro was great last year like he was 28 of 29 he like I mean he was fantastic but it's funny to me that the Niners got out from under the Jake Moody fiasco and immediately were like Like, let's tie ourselves to another kicker for the long term. Like, I don't know.

1:04:17Derrik Klassen: Eddie Pinero played great, but did the Niners have to rush out and do this was my main response to that deal.

1:04:24Robert Mays: I mean, just your buddy that has had terrible, terrible relationship luck for way too long and then just throws himself into the first thing that comes along.

1:04:31Derrik Klassen: Yeah, like you can be single for a little while. Like, that's okay if you're just getting out of something. Enjoy yourself. The Niners disagree.

1:04:38Dave Helman: The entire Shanahan's whole tree thing, their whole thing with kickers is just, I don't want to think about them anymore. And so the fact that he for a little bit didn't have to think about him, just like send it off. We're good.

1:04:48Derrik Klassen: I'm rooting for Eddie Pinero to stay that good, but I thought it was a funny decision by the 49ers.

1:04:55Robert Mays: All right. That's all we've got for today. Again, this will be up a little bit later on Sunday. We're going to give this a little bit of breathing room before our live stream that starts tomorrow at 12.

1:05:07Derrik Klassen: Wait, wait, wait, we can't, we can't, we can't sign off without talking about the hair. Like we can leave it till the end. Oh, come on. I don't know.

1:05:14Robert Mays: It doesn't need to be addressed.

1:05:16Derrik Klassen: You don't want to address the hair on the live stream for the first time. Cause like we have all of our friends coming on. Like they're going to say something about it.

1:05:24Robert Mays: It's not that complicated of a thing. I'd had the same haircut for a very long time. I was bored of it. I wanted to do something a little bit different. I didn't know what a like shorter middle ground might look like. And so my thought was, you know what? F*** it. I'm just going to take it all off. I've done it before. I know my head isn't weird and we're just going to figure out what we want to do on the way back to where I was. What an insane sentence. I know my head isn't weird. If you have not ever done this. Yeah, I guess I don't know.

1:05:55Dave Helman: I don't know.

1:05:55Robert Mays: And there are so many things that can go awry. There's so many different reasons that this could be a bad choice. I did this a lot when I was young. I did it in college consistently. And so I knew that the downside was only so low. So I was like, you know what? I just, I just wanted to change a pace. That was really it. That, that, that's all my, I came back, I came home. I had told my wife, this was possible. Okay. I had been dancing around it for years. Like legitimately, the first time this ever came up was after our wedding in 2023. And we were going on our honeymoon and I was like, you know what?

1:06:28Robert Mays: I just want to take it all off post wedding. Like, I just don't want to deal with it anymore. It's going to be for the summer. let's do it. And so this is not, I didn't like spring this on her, but I did not confirm before I left for the haircut on Friday that I was going to do it. And so I just rolled back into the house with this. And she said, it's like those videos of babies that see their dads without beards for the first time. Like that's how I feel right now.

1:06:52Derrik Klassen: Incredible that you just went in blind with your, with your wife. That's fantastic. That is bold.

1:06:59Robert Mays: She's coming around on it. She's, she's warming up to it because she's getting used to it. She doesn't have a choice. I mean, it looks fine.

1:07:06Dave Helman: It looks great, but it's a shock.

1:07:07Derrik Klassen: It's a culture shock. You know, I, I, I would, I wouldn't go in blind with my fiance. I would like give her a heads up like, Hey, it's going to look different when I come back to the house. But Hey, that's, I didn't know.

1:07:19Robert Mays: I really, I honestly didn't know when I left, I did not know I was going to do it. I got there, sat down, uh, the stylist that I work with, her name is Izzy. She's been great. I've, I've known her for years and years and years. We had a real conversation about it. I was like, I'm considering doing this. What do you think? And she's like, why don't we take it like halfway down and then you can make a decision? And she took it halfway down. I was like, I'm ready. Just do it. Just, just, just let's get rid of it. So that's where we're at.

1:07:44Derrik Klassen: I think we should do at least one episode where Derek lets all of his hair down and then I'll like, I'll quaff my thing up as good as possible. And we'll have like all three stages of hair growth on one TV, on one podcast.

1:07:58Robert Mays: Dave, you know, this part of reason for this is you had, there was no, like I, if I'm not wearing a hat, I had to do it. There was no like intermediate step where I just like didn't have to pay attention to it. And so now the fact that I don't have to worry about it at all for a while, I'm really looking forward to that. And so that was part of it. Part of it was laziness.

1:08:19Derrik Klassen: I understand the appeal of that, but I'm, I don't know. I'm too afraid of not having my hair. It's too valuable to what I've got going on.

1:08:28Robert Mays: There is part of me as a 38 year old man that it's like, what if it doesn't grow back? But I, that's not how science works. I understand that it's going to grow back.

1:08:36Derrik Klassen: It'll stop when it stops. It's not really about when you decide to cut it. I pride myself on not being superstitious, but I think I've said three superstitious things on the show this week. So maybe I, maybe, maybe I'm more superstitious than I give myself credit for because I can't risk it not

1:08:50Robert Mays: growing back. I see. Sometimes you're pushed into a place of desperation. Me with my hair, at the Ravens trading for Max Crosby. Like you're making decisions that are not optimized, but you feel like that's what you have to do in the moment. And that's where we are. Bringing it back on the tracks. There we go. That's all we've got for today. Like we mentioned tomorrow, or if you're listening to this on Monday morning today, March 9th, Monday, 11 a.m. Central Time, 12 p.m. Eastern. I've been saying it in Central Time because we schedule things on Central Time. I understand that's probably not how I should be talking about it.

1:09:22Robert Mays: The people in the Discord were a little bit annoyed Wade and I totally understand this. There was a listener from the UK who was like, you can't ask me to know that.

1:09:30Dave Helman: They only get to learn one time zone and they base it all off that. You can't ask me to know that.

1:09:35Robert Mays: Totally fair. So 12 p.m. Eastern on Monday, March 9th, we will be starting our free agency live stream. 15, 16 guests gonna be coming on over that five hour stretch. One of my favorite days of the entire year. Encourage you guys to come by, spend the day with us, spend the time. We'll be doing it from the studio. Derek's flying in today. Very much looking forward to it. For now, that's all we got. Appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you very soon.

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