We just never lost it in Vegas and that's a bottom line.
Oh yeah, welcome to the post Super Bowl NFL Report, White and my co pilot James Oliver. And that sound you heard was Titan Travis Kelcey last June at a golf tournament in Hawaii that I hope MC for Patrick Mahomes Foundation. He made it abundantly clear we don't lose in Vegas, JP, and we saw Sunday they sure as hell do.
They do not, Steve. We have a slam Pak show today.
We have Nate Taylor from the Athletic for the chief side of things. We have Matt Moyoko from NBC Bay Area on the forty nine ers thing. Ian Rappaport's gonna break down what it might take to move up to number one and get that spot from the Chicago Bears. But we're gonna start with bigger news and the guy
of the hour, Patrick Mahomes. I had to ask Brett Veach, the general manager on the field in Las Vegas, you thought he was the best player on the planet when you evaluated and moved up to trade for him.
Now what's your evaluation, Prett? No different?
I've got you know, I kind of thought, if you just tell him a field goal, how we'll find a way. And I am not surprised at all. In fact, there was an air of confidence, you know, in our in our stands, we were sitting, you know, once I hit the field gold, all kind.
Of all center.
So we're gonna win the same we're gonna win the state.
Because that's how good Pat is, and that's how much your faith and trust we have in him. So you know he's the best. And you know when you play a teacher about score touchdowns, man, you can't be fall in fifteen ten. It's came over.
He did not live, He did not tell a lot right there. Absolutely r JP.
Let's get to bigger news, man, because it is absolutely that time.
So the bigger news.
Patrick Mahomes doing it again, winning his third Super Bowl and third Super Bowl MVP or that great chief defense limiting Niners receivers George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel to a total of zero touchdowns, eighty six yards and eight catches.
This is tough, and I want to talk to defense, and I hope you give me the opportunity to, but I have to say it's Patrick Mahomes. I mean we are entering rarefied air now. As at twenty eight years old, he already has the third most postseason wins of all time, only behind Tom Brady and Joe Montana. And what he was able to do late in this game, and I want to specifically talk about what he did with his legs.
I had a conversation with David Gardi, their quarterback coach, on the field after the game, and he told me we were very calm heading into that overtime. Our conversation on the sideline was this, if they keep sinking back, Steve, take the underneath stuff and use your legs. And you're seeing him do it again right here. Their faith in him as a runner is much more than probably people think.
And when I've talked to his personal people around him that worked with him, they believe that The Chiefs think he can take hits like a running back. He can move just as well as anybody else in the field. They put in work so he knows who and where he can go on the field, who we can run around.
It's just every added element he has to make him the best player on the field when things aren't even going right, just makes him all the more unstoppable and adding that element in the fourth quarter, just you knew once he took the field, just like Brett Veach told us, they kicked a field goal, Mahomes is going to go down there and get a touchdown and in a Super Bowl against a team as.
Good as a Niner. Steve.
To have that thought while we're sitting next to each other in the press box is remarkable.
Yeah, just like, Okay, he's got this. They're really going to do this for us.
We were talking to Matt Mayoko of NBC Bay Areas Sports a little bit more about that, but it's obviously Patrick Mahomes.
Like you said, we're watching history right now.
We're seeing Tom Brady and Peyton Manning with the ability to run, and we saw some of these quarterbacks, especially in crunch time, think they've got to make the spectacle played to win the ball game. He's like, no, I'm seeing Travis Kelcey getting manned up against Fred Warner, one of the best linebackers in the NFL. We're gonna hit him on a crossing route because Kelsey has his body towards him and he's got the speed on him. So
let's just go ahead and make that work. We're seeing highlights here of rashe Rice, but he's just taking it. We don't need to we don't need to win it right away, right We're just gonna do what we have to do because that's how we've had to win for the past three years when defenses started to change when they played it so JP, I hope everybody you know. A big question all week, and I hate it because
it's kind of lazy commentary. Is what if a lady say to people who are getting tired of the chief success. I'm like, well, you better enjoy it because number fifteen is that dude, and he is not going anywhere. And to add, he's got to be one of the most likable people in the NFL.
He really is holy respect everything about Patrick.
Mahomes it is remarkable.
And I mentioned I want to mention the defense because Trent McDuffie told me on the field Steve after the game, I said, what'd you guys change? He goes Spags came to us in the secondary and said, we're going, man, I'm going to lean on you.
Our front's going to take care of the run.
We need you guys to take care of business, and I saw these stats and they blew me away. They went cover zero Steve twenty one percent of the time, the average against the forty nine ers six cover one forty percent of the time, the average for the year twenty three percent. He went man sixty four percent of the time. Teams only did that about thirty percent of time against the Niners. And this group was able to
go out and handle that entire group. Lugarius Need told me, I want to take the hearts out of their chest. That's a talented, talented group back there that did things against the Niners formationally that nobody had the guts to do. And Steve Spagnola went out and did it. What's our next bigger news, Steve, We're going bigger news.
The Niners players saying that they weren't aware of the playoff overtime rules or jp the boxed punt return the final moments of the third quarter that's guarded four consecutive scores by the Chiefs, allowing them to tie the game and to go into overtime.
I'm gonna say the botch punt because what the Chiefs do is they hang around, they wait for a mistake, and then bam.
They pounced.
Because I want to take you back to what happened before this punt. Remember, Steve, they come out of halftime, the snap goes bad, the pitch goes bad. Do they lose twelve yards trying to get to Isaiah Pacheco?
Third and one? They have to call time out. I don't know why, but then they still don't get it.
In third and one, they punt and then they get you know, they get down back in you know, their own territory.
Once again.
They had nothing.
Going offensively until this mishap and then one play touchdown, and they scored on every drive.
After it was you know that play and first off, that was not a Ray Ray McLeod the punt returner. He was trying to get on that great point. Well hit a teammate, so you know, people need to stop, you know, giving him grief. But that changed everything. The Niners, as ineffective as they were in terms of capitalizing on opportunities, that opened the door. You know, the Chiefs get the ball, they score on the next play on the touchdown pass mvs I.
Believe, and that's that thing's in motion.
That's when everybody in that stadium felt Okay, here we go, right and then don't forget the Niners went down and scored a couple times after that, but they kicked field goals, and that was the huge thing going on right here. The chief was scoring touchdowns, the Niners were scoring field goals. You know, we're going to talk to Matt Mayoko about all of the discussion about the overtime rules. But frankly, had that mistake on the punt return not happened, I
don't think we're going here. Let's also not forget the Niners had a pat blocked. That's not getting enough discussion when it talks about them not capitalizing, because if they convert that pat, that game could have been over in regulation.
That's a great point, Steve. We don't talk about special teams enough. We probably don't talk about Harrison Bucker enough of what he's done this entire postseason. And then oh yeah, he bangs a fifty seven yarder on the next drive. After you mentioned when the forty nine ers went down, answered you had a brilliant, brilliant postseason for the Kansas
City Chiefs. And speaking of the Chiefs, we're going to have Nate Taylor of the Athletic join the NFL Report next to talk about Andy Reid and how much longer is he going to be coaching in Kansas City. It could be years to come. All that more on the NFL Report Next.
You're listening to the NFL Report podcast, but you can watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern time on Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL App and free streaming platforms on the NFL Channel on Roku, two b, Peacock, Pluto TV.
And other free streaming apps.
It's time for the lead Block, presented by T Mobile for Business. A sport as fast as football deserves America's fastest five G network. Businesses go further with T Mobile for Business.
A touchdown wins the game, play action fake.
Right, touch the head, Dudexas City A Cole Hartman hook, Cole Hartman What the Catch?
Kansas City wins.
The game twenty five, twenty two, and the Chiefs Kingdom has started its own history class for the first time in six thousand, nine hundred and forty four days. There is a back to back Super Bowl champion and it is the Kansas City Chiefs.
If you're only listening to this as a podcast, you missed some brilliant pictures of the fish and the celebration after that Super Bowl. It was like a who's who of people and one picture that's standing out to be the most. As Nate Taylor joins us from the Athletic Steve is Mahomes on the ground with his hands up and if you've seen the ZAC, same pick sure of Michael Jordan with the ball laying on the ground in almost the exact same pose. That's the comp we're starting
to have Nate for Patrick Mahomes. But I want to go to the man before we start this chat that runs this entire thing, and that's Big Red Andy Reid. Where there was speculation about him potentially retiring before this game. So that was the very first question I wanted to ask owner Clark Hunt when I had a chance to speak with him right after the game.
Roll the tape, Elsie, what.
Is your pitch as owner Clark to just make sure Andy stays as long as humanly possible in Kansas City.
My pitch to him is Patrick's under contract for another eight years. I know Andy loves what he's doing. We certainly appreciate him as a family. Our organization is what it is because of Andy, and he's got a special relationship with everybody in it. I'm expecting him to be back next year and we'll be going for the three.
P Absolutely great stuff right there, from Clark Hunt to Nate. Let me bring you into this now, because James and I we know Andy well, we know people around him well, and without coaching, it seems like Andy would.
Be almost lost.
Was there ever any real thought from the people you've spoken with to him not coming back next season?
No?
No, Steve.
You know, it's been one of the more I guess, fascinating subplots of this past season, the fact that Indy Reed could potentially retire. I know, as it stands right now, he's the oldest coach in the NFL, but he's still got multiple years on his contract. I actually think, you know, one of the things we can discuss maybe at the Combine in a few weeks, is will Clark give Andy Reid an extension another one or two years onto his deal just because I Andy Ree could coach probably until
he's about seventy. You know, we saw his wife Tammy on the field after the game. She clearly wants him to continue coaching. There's no rush from the family standpoint for him to stop working. So given where he is right now, given where the franchise is, I expect Andrey not only the coach in twenty twenty four, but likely twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six, and even twenty twenty eight as it currently stands right.
Now, based on everyone I've talked to in the organization. There we go, There we know right, Nay.
I had a really interesting nugget told to me on the sideline pregame, speaking to one of the coaches who's been tight with Andy he for a long time now, and I said, is there any chance Andy retires? He was like, hell no, and this was the reason why. And I found this fascinating. He said, Back when I started with Andy, it was about Andy sleeping on the couch till about week seven every year, where he felt like he had to spend all of his time at the facility finding a way to call the perfect game.
And that's the way he felt about it.
He said.
You fast forward to now, in the last couple of years, Andy is leaving the facility.
Earlier and earlier and earlier.
Because there is an added comfort level of working with Patrick that he hasn't added. Feel that it is worked out probably faster. Mahomes keeps carrying more himself. The communication continues to grow, and if Andy's days aren't like what I described years ago, I'm not sure if that holds him back by any stretch and going years to come.
If it's starting.
I don't want to say the NFL is easy, but if it just the process of it during the week is less time consuming to some extent, right.
And you have to realize too that Andy Reed has never had it better, He's never had it this good, even though we all know he's a future Hall of Famer. But not only does he have the best quarterback in the league, but he has one of the best defenses in the league, which was the youngest unit this season on that side of the all. So with everything going on, he still has the Spagnolo, he still has Matt n Aggie. Even Eric you and Me obviously is sort of out
there as a free agent coach. I wonder if he will have some conversations with Andy about potentially joining the staff again. Obviously, he's got a collection of players the most. You know, the probably the two biggest free agents for the Chiefs are Lagarious Need and Chris Jones. So if they're able to, you know, retain those guys, then obviously a three pet is in real it's a real possibility, even despite the fact that the league is very hard
obviously to win, even back to back. So because of the way everything nd Reed has structured right now, I do get the sense that there would be no reason for him to burn the midnight oil the way he used to. But at the same time, he's got a lot of trust with Brett Veach, the front office and obviously his coaching staff that he's really maintained and cultivated over the last decade since he's been in Kansas City.
Nay, since you just mentioned Lagarious Need and Chris Joes, who you know are going to be free agents coming up, what is the focus on retaining them? Because the one thing we've seen out of the Chiefs the past couple of years, they've gotten rid of big ticket players and continued to win.
Yes, and just to name a few, one of the bigger surprises with Tyron Matthew a couple of years ago, they obviously place him to Justin Reid. Frank Clark is no longer on the team right Orlando Brown was a Pro Bowl left tackle. They let him walk in free agency. So there's obviously a chance that one of these guys may not be on the team next year, whether word
it's Lagarious Need or Chris Jones. The easier way for the Chiefs right now is it is in my perspective, and what I've been told is it's probably easier for the Chiefs to maintain Lagarious Need. They can obviously use the franchise tag if they want to have more time to negotiate with him on a potential two to three year deal to keep him, you know, over the course
of the prime of his career. He's twenty seven. It's going to be a lot harder potentially for Chris Jones, just because one of the reasons his holdout was so interesting last year, Steve is because he wanted the possibility to be a free agent, and now he's going to get that opportunity as an unrestricted free agent in basically a couple of weeks. So the Chiefs are going to try their best to retain Chris Jones. They still want
to get him under contract to some extent. But you know, right now, I understand why Pro Football focused and why other services have him as the number one free agent in this year's draft, or excuse me, in this year's pre agency class. And so for all that to be said, Chris Jones wants to stay with the Chiefs, but he also wants to be paid, you know, near the thirty million dollar mark. That's something I reported last year. I don't think that's necessarily gonna change because he helped the
Chiefs win another Super Bowl. So if there's a free agent team that wants to add, you know, some championship pedigree, some immediate pass rush help, Chris Jones is going to be very coveted come March. And for you know, Andy Reid and Brett Veach, they're gonna have to be very creative in terms of trying to structure a contract that makes Chris Jones feel like he's prioritized, like he's one
of the highest paid defensive players in the league. But also you still have to have that path flexibility considering Patrick Mahomes' contract obviously will continue to rise as he goes through his career. Considering that he still has you know, as Clark contat hat another eight years guaranteed on the deal as of right now.
Yeah, and this is not just an outside edge rusher. This is a guy that can line up anywhere on the defensive line. Stuff to run. The entire run onceptis based off of Chris Jones. Everything he does is phenomenal. What you're saying, Nay, you know you're able to let these guys go if you keep drafting players the way Brett Veach is. And he's gonna have to pay some of those too. Remember Tray Smith, Creed Humphord right around the corner. The keys to that offensive line are set
to be paid coming off their rookie contracts. So all of that, we're looking at how that Brett Viach manages this. And we have to talk about the man, the myth, and really the legend. Now, Patrick Mahomes, you've been with him through all of this, and you've seen the numbers he's put up over some of these other years.
But it was very interesting.
On the last day availability I was having a private conversation with Matt Nague where he told me this year actually might mean more to his career moving forward because of how he had to play and adjust than we're thinking. This might be a huge year in the growth of Patrick Mahomes. And to me that's terrifying for the other thirty one teams.
It is because I think mentally he's just gotten so good that you know, Steve will so you could kind of see it on the broadcast, particularly late in the fourth quarter and obviously overtime. What do I call right now to get my defense to put any pressure, to put any sort of advantage on that side of the ball. And obviously Patrick Mahomes, once he saw pretty much forty nine ers had to offer, he had the correct answer. He used his legs, He used a collection of playmakers right.
He somehow got Mark Wes Valdez Scalen to be a viable option, even though Mark Wes had his worst season of his career.
And I think from a leadership standpoint, kind of to add.
To what Matt Naggy told you, James is he's become the ultimate leader now. His voice not only carries well, but he's able to use his actions to sort of fortify his own words. And most notably what is fascinating to me is you know where she Rice is wide open for the game potential winning touchdown at the end of regulation. But because Creed Humphrey has a low snap you know where she Rice doesn't know that. So Patrick has to inform him in a very creative expletive manner
that hey, I still have control overall this. Okay, I'm still gonna use you, I'm still gonna find you. Get ready for the next series. We just tied the game up.
Keep your mind focused on what is necessary, not what is behind us now, because I couldn't get you the ball based on the scenario that was played out, So Rashid Rice as a rookie, he obviously wants to make a play, and then Patrick Mahomes obviously targets him on a big third down conversion against the Blitz on a drag route, and it just sort of proves to me that, yeah,
he's the ultimate leader. Now he's become Manning, Tom Brady, whoever you want to add to the list in terms of I have understood everything around me.
I know exactly what I need to say to get out of.
The guys, and I still have the most talent of anybody playing the hardest position in sports.
And when you combine all those things, all those ingredients.
Yeah, a three pet, as I've said before, is very likely because the forty nine ers played so well for about three quarters and it didn't matter. Guys, I have to remind myself getting on the plane the Chiefs only scored three points at half time. They won the game. They won the game scoring twenty five points. So yes, he's reached a very very rare level.
Can imagine Patrick or Rashi Rice like chill out Sun, remember where your bread is puttered? Any Taylor, thank you so much for joining us giving that perspective. We come back on the NFL Report. We're gonna hearty losers of the Super Bowl? What about that overtime? How come the players didn't know? We'll be joined by Matt Mayoko of NBC Sports Bay Area next on the NFL Report. That's a wrap for the lead block presented by Team Mobile for Business, a sport as fast as football deserves America's
fastest five G network. Businesses go further with Team Mobile for Business.
Seven second six.
They aren't gonna snap it and Mahome's gonna roll to his right.
Crows touchdown the change. I have won the Super Ball.
Nicole Hardman as they roll Mahomes ride, McColl hardman is ride Open, and the Chiks run the super Ball back to back years.
Another heartbreaking loss for Kyle.
Shana am Turgot.
Okay, that was the game called That's Greg, Poppa and JP. You could hear the pain in almost disgust in Greg's voice. And so now let's bring in Matt Mayoko of NBC Sports Bay Area. Matth this is not the first time you've had to chronicle a Niners shortcoming. But the storyline right now is the fact that some players said they did not know the overtime playoff rules. Walk us through what's going on, and frankly, is it that big of an issue with the way things played out?
Yeah, I guess you want your guys to know the rules. I don't know how that changes anything from a player's perspective though, but yeah, it does seem body. And you know, it wasn't like, you know, this was their first playoff game. You know, they they had a bye week and then they faced Green Bay, then they played Detroit in the in the NFC Championship Game, and then of course a bye week and then the Super Bowl. So it's not like this was the first game that they played under
those new rules. It seems to me that over the course of the playoffs, everybody would be a maid made aware of the rules. So, yeah, that is that's kind of odd to say the least, and especially when you're talking about you know, some of the smartest guys on
the team didn't even know those rules. So we're going to speak with with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch in a little bit here in a couple hours, and so I'll definitely ask about that, just to see if that's something that they h that it was an oversight or did they feel like maybe they're just giving the players too much information At that point, they just run the play that's called and we'll handle everything else. Maybe they just didn't want to cloud the players thought in their
head with more information than they needed. I don't know. It seems odd to me, but we'll we'll see what he has to say about that.
Now with that real quick because I'm kind of on the same thinking as you, like, the players execute what is called. So I'm looking at it from why is this steered more towards right now? And maybe I'm missing something? Tell me if I am honestly more towards we're hearing the players not knowing what the overtime rules were, and
less about why did they take the ball first? Because you're putting Patrick Mahomes in a position where he can go four down territory the entire drive essentially, and that almost seems a little bit more difficult and with him knowing what he has to accomplish.
Yeah, James, I didn't have any issue with it, and I'll tell you whyse was absolutely gassed. You know they were. Remember that defense was on the field for a ten play drive that lasted one fifty so we're talking rapid fire succession and you could tell by the end of that drive that in it regulation with the short field goal that the forty Aers defense needed a breather the other So to put the defense right back out there on the field I don't think was the right call
at all. But I think Kyle Sheenihan's decision making, or at least his explanation was a little bit flawed because he didn't even bring that part of it up. He said the main reason because of they wanted the third possession, and you know, on face value, I don't necessarily disagree with that but it seemed to me that the forty ers had predetermined this is what we're going to do, this is what the analytics say is best without taking
the game circumstances into account. And so I had no issue with them deciding to take the ball first because of the standpoint of it would have been putting the defense in a really bad position. So I didn't have
any with that. The other part of it is, and I know it's Patrick Mahomes on the other side, and you just kind of throw out everything you've seen up to that point, but the Kansas City Chiefs had really not gotten into the end zone at all up to that point, other other than a one play, sixteen yard drive that was set up on a quick turnaround where the defense had to get back out there after the month pun So, you know, settling for the field goal,
I have no issue with that. You know, fourth and four, take the points because your defense up to that point had been doing the job of keeping Kansas City out of the out of the end zone. So you know what, when you lose the Super Bowl and one hundred and twenty three million people are watching, of course there's going to be second guessing. And the reason they're second guessing is because it didn't turn out the way the forty
nine ers wanted it to. So everything, overtime, play calling, everything is open to second guessing.
Yeah, you lose, you have to find a goat, and not the positive goat, but the old the old definition of goat of someone to dumping off. And I'm a hundred percent with you in terms of I'm taking the ball. People forget they had two opportunities right down there, wide open to get into the end zone. They just did
not capitalize. In overtime. Inflation of saying we wanted to have third possession, the chiefs were like, if we're going to go seventy five on these guys, we'll go for two because that means we got them where they want it.
But I want to I want to get to this now.
When we talk about scapegoats, we'll make it that way in case we don't confuse the goat analysis.
Is anything coming.
Brock Perty's way, because I thought Brock played fine against one of the best defenses in the NFL.
Yeah, I don't think so. No, I think brock Purdy played well enough to win this game. In fact, you know who's your game MVP. If the forty nine ers make that stop on fourth and one in overtime, it's probably a Rock Purty, isn't it. I Mean some people might say Juwan jen but you know Juwan Jennings, the boasted did have a good game. A few mistackles there, but yeah, you know who's who's going to be the the m v P. Rock Purty was was solid. You know, he he didn't have a great game. He didn't give
the ball to the other team at all. I think he basically did you know what he was supposed to do, you know, and again like the fred Anders, didn't make the plays that were necessary, and that goes down to you know, a blown pass protection, a blown assignment on the third and four play overtime. You know, they weren't good on third downs throughout the game on offense. They weren't good on third downs when they had to be good on defense. So you know, there were a lot
of pactors. I mean, you know who's the goat of this game? You know, probably history will we'll tell you that it's Kyle Shanahan. Again, you know, because of all the history there too. I mean we're talking about a very star crossed postseason and and a Super Bowl. Uh, you know all the history of the Super Bowl with him, So I mean, he will probably be the guy that
takes the run of this. But you know, you're talking about a coach that in what four postseasons with the forty nine ers, they have eight victories and four defeats. So you know, his six sixty seven win percentage in the postseason is pretty darn good. But nobody cares about that unless you win the final game of the season.
And you know, at this stage in his career, you know, now you're starting to wonder, Wow, if not Sunday in Super Bowl fifty eight, then when will it ever happen for Kyle Shanahan and the forty nine Ers.
That's wild to think.
I want to touch on this game one more time before we look back Matt in this game so much about matchups, about adjustments and what you do, and Steve Wilkes and his unit and what they had in place for Travis Kelsey in the first half what one catch for one yard? Obviously in the second half you try
to find different ways to free him up. What was being said in the locker room and the people you spoke with about maybe Wilkes's playing for Kelsey and specifically for the receivers, maybe playing off at times was what was the discussion there in your opinion on the way the defense played specifically in the second half, well, just like.
In the NFC Championship Ship game a year ago, and injury played a significant role in this. Dray green Lot and Fred Warner are in my mind the best two inside linebackers in the game with their ability to go sideline to sideline, their athleticism, their coverage ability, and so when dra Greenlaw was on the field, Travis Kelce had one catch one yard. When Dray Greenlaw left the lineup left the field on a cart. They actually left the sideline on a cart in that very in That was
a game changing, you know. So that was something that you know, when you replace him with a player who's not nearly as good as him, and then that means the third linebacker coming in isn't as good as you know, the I should say, the fourth linebacker coming in isn't as good as the third linebacker. That just has a cumulative effect. Now I'm not saying trust me, I'm not saying that if Drake Greenlaw we're out there. He would have been Travis Kelsey would have been held to one
catch for one yard in the second half. But you can't tell me that that did not play some kind of role.
True, it absolutely did, because you can scheme things differently, real quick, Matt. Moving forward, we know Brandon Aiyuk, he can be hitting free agency Chase Young. How out of the Niners keep this nucleus together or do they want to keep this nucleus together?
Oh, They're going to keep the nucleus together, there's no question. And I would say Brandon Ayuk is priority number one. In the off season, he turned into a really good route runner, wide receiver, just all around, you know, blockers, everything, he's everything in the fourty yards a lot out of the wide receiver position. And so how do they keep it together? I'll tell you they keep it together by having one of the top quarterbacks in the league making
them million dollars. You know, he's basically he's making forty five to fifty times or under what he should be making. So they're able to keep that roster together. But no, I mean there's issues. I mean there's areas where they need to shore up. I think they need to look at the interior of their offensive line. They probably need more depth of cornerback. They probably need another wide receiver. So there are areas that whether they will look at.
I don't Chase. I don't think Chase Young is coming back. I mean that was kind of seen as a half the season rental when they got him in that trade from Washington. You know, they got Randy Gregory. It would hard. It's hard for me to believe that that he's coming back as well. No, I don't think they're going to keep pay a big sum of money to keep any
of their their free agents. The good thing for them is there's not a whole lot of free agents, so the nucleus of the team is you know, Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo, Samuel rock Purdy, all those Arias Ward, all those guys are coming back because you know they can afford it because of the quarterback situation. It's when they have to pay rock Purty, which will be a year from now, and even then the first year of his contract is going to have a very
low cap number. But when they have to start paying brock Purty, like in relation to what the production they get out of Rock Party, that's when they're going to have to start having some salary cap issues and start making some difficult decisions. But by then there might be some obvious decisions to make. As far as veteran guys, that's time to kind of move aside. But I mean, it's so tough to get back here in the for Airs.
You know, they've been in the final four of the NFL for for the past five years that now they've lost in the Super Bowl two of those five years. It's really difficult to get back here, and just being around the team and seeing that long, long road and then the heartbreak after they fall short. But there's no reason to think that the forty Ares cannot be a competitive team again next season and give it another run for a championship.
I'll just say this, Matt.
I'm not saying anything that you don't know, but maybe the rest of America should pay more attention. When I was talking with Jerrusneaed on the field after the game, he was talking about Brandon Nuyuk like he was trying to guard Jerry Rice. The amount of respect that Sneed had for Brandon Uyuk was through the Roof for what he had to handle throughout the course of that game. Matt appreciate it even I always love talking the ball
with you. Thank you for stopping by the NFL Report. Appreciated, Elsie. Roll this tape right here. We're moving forward to Ian rap Report and his report over Super Bowl week about what it would take to get up to number one.
Woo.
Where would Justin Fields be heading? We'll look at that too with rap Sheet next on the NFL Report.
You're listening to the NFL Report podcast. You could watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern Time on Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL App and free streaming platforms on the NFL Channel on Roku, twov, Peacock, Pluto TV, and
other free streaming apps. All right, we're back at the NFL Report and JP who We are now joined by our guy, Ian Rappaport, real quick j Like like we worked our tails off in Vegas, but like this dude has us lapped because I don't think Ian sleeps being height holding up after the week in Vegas.
You're wrong.
I did sleep on the Red Eye back from Las Vegas about four solid hours. Had a nice dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen before that at the airport. Got a lot going on here, guys, But I'm doing well.
Strong, strong, Okay.
So Ian, We're coming off the Super Bowl, which means we are now into draft season, and over the weekend you were reported that the Chicago Bears are saying it would take basically historic type of compensation for them to come off the number one pick. Is this part of the pre draft game that they're playing, saying, Hey, if you want to come up, you're gonna have to give us a lot or are they serious about that?
Yeah?
My feel is that they're very serious about it.
And you're right.
I mean this has wide ranging ramifications about draft season. It also affects free agency. Well, let's go into the draft part of it first. I believe it to be very true that the Bears would need historic, crazy compensation to come off one. That goes to show you how special they think Cale Williams is.
Now.
I know they're not there yet. They're still trying to get to know him as a person. A lot that goes into this evaluation, but that is where it stands right now with the Bears and with Caleb Williams. If they're going to make a move, if they're going to give up on a quarterback that they believe can be a franchise quarterback, then it would take something special. And look, you never get the chance to draft umber one. The fact that they got the chance to draft number one
twice is just wild. And certainly they've made it count with the kind of draft picks that they have acquired and that they have used and all of that. That seems to be where they stand now planning to pick at number one. Unless something dramatically changes and they gets offered something crazy. That would be an indication that they would trade Justin Fields for the right price. They should be able to get premium draft pick compensation for Justin Fields.
Really came on late in the season, looked excellent. It is a very very quarterback needy league. They're going to be able to get something really good for Fields.
I want to circle back to Fields in a minute, but I want to stick with this picky and like, if a team like Washington wants to come up from two, if what you're saying obviously Chicago wants, what would they have to give up because that's only going one spot. They're probably going to say, we can't give up this much. We're only going from two to one. Does it almost make it harder for a team that's closer to Chicago to try to get up to that one spot?
Well, I think it's you're going to pay premium anyway if it's a quarterback. If it's a quarterback trade, you're gonna pay a lot. I mean, I remember when the Bears came up over the forty nine ers for Trubisky and it was I believe it was a two and change if I remember. I could be wrong, but I think that's what it was. You guys can look it up while I'm talking, and you know that was for
That was for a quarterback. That's what it costs one spot, from three to two, at least to two, I would imagine to go from two to one, it would be at least a one and probably more. Because we could talk about the picks all we want. We could say from five to three, from nine to three, from three to one, use the numbers all you want. But this is about players. It is about franchise quarterbacks. So the question is that what it costs to get from two
to one. The question is what does it cost for the Bears to give up on the opportunity to draft Caleb Williams, who most people believe is a franchise quarterback. That's the value you're talking about. Whether it's from you know, one to two or one to nine, it is going to be incredibly expensive because it would have to be worth it for the Bears to say we are okay not drafting this guy. Now, if you're the forty nine ers, you have Cliff Kingsbury coach kil Williams exploring it absolutely
makes sense. I just don't know that it's actually going to happen.
Right, I mean, the commander is right there. But Ian, here's here's an interesting thing and humor me on this. Let's say Washington and Chicago make that move. Chicago could now say who wants to come to two and possibly get that.
Pick and dangle.
So they could really that to me when you when you reported the historic Hall, to me, that is the potential chess game that Ryan Poles could be playing here.
I mean you could go from one to two with the Commanders for let's say a first round pick and more probably just to move from one to two, and you could go from two to five, th to nine. There's a lot of different places, or six where the Giants that Giants are at six. Right, you know, you could move back, you could collect first rounders, you could have endless first rounders. It could be the greatest draft
trade in the history of the world. I would compare that to what if Justin Fields is not the franchise quarterback you think, or what if whoever else do you take is not Cale Williams. Draft picks are awesome. You want draft picks, you want everything you possibly can get. But all that is against the back job of if you have ca Let's say Kle Williams is Mahomes, Let's say he's Josh Allen, let's say he's Joe Burrow. Is
anything worth it? Honestly, is any draft pick compensation worth it to say we're okay not having him for ten years?
Yep?
And I listened to that, And what clicks in my head is when you have that player and you didn't have to give up picks to get him is even more important. Because we're looking at a team in Denver that thought they were getting a franchise pick, gave up a number of picks to get him, and then you look at the situation that you find yoursel helf in. If that's not the guy, it's different if it's not the guy and he didn't give up the hall for him.
Look at Denver. Now, where do we go with Russell Wilson? You mentioned it's a quarterback needy kind of off season. What could maybe be some potential landing spots if he leaves, and legitimately, because you talked about this on Sunday, legitimately the chance he stays.
Well, let me start first, it's more likely than not that he goes as opposed to stay, like the kind of season he had, he got benched, he threatened all sorts of stuff through his people with the NFLPA to the issue with the way that Denver Broncos handled his contract situation despite the fact that it was fully within the rules, and eventually all this got sort of dropped and handled. Could stay. And the reason I could say I'd say he theoretically could stay is the boke might
go out there and go. You know what, we got to put a differences behind because it is better to be together than it is apart. If you're together, Russell Wilson doesn't have to find a landing spot, and the Broncos don't need to a quarterback who can compete with what they have already on the roster and Jared Stidham,
So coming together at least sort of makes sense. As far as the landing spot, I think what Russell Wilson will be looking at, or probably should be looking at, is a place where he can go in and be a bridge guy for a young quarterback. Maybe he starts all year and actually teaches. Maybe he starts for the
first couple of games and that guy takes over. That's where Russell Wilson is in his career, and if he's realistic, then I think he could end up having a really good couple of years to finish this thing out.
Well, the contract is what's going to be a huge driver of this because no team is really going to want to take on that salary.
And there could be teams you say, you know what, but.
They wouldn't, but they wouldn't have to because suit let's say the Broncos cut him or trade him and take on the whole salary, then it's gonna be minimum. So if you're signing Russell Wilson. You're signing him for a million dollars and that's it.
Thank you for that clarity. That's hugely important and I'm glad you brought that up. Let's move on though, you know we earlier, you know we spoke about the Chiefs and Niners. Brandon Ayuk, Chase young guys like that for the Niners, Chris Jones, luxurious Need, superstars like that for both teams. Is there any realistic chance like any of these guys could be back with their respect to teams.
Yeah, let's start with the Chiefs first, right, So you got Lagarius Sneed, who's in the final year of his deal, just finished the final year of his deal. Absolutely a franchise tag candidate. He is a great player. We can talk all we want about roster building from Brett Veach and all this, like this is how you do it right, You find mid round picks and then become superstars. This is literally how you do it. Forty nine Ers have a few two, don't get me wrong, But for the
Chiefs this is how you do it. So I would expect him probably to be back. Chris Jones is hard. He basically can't be franchise tagers the number would be too high. There's a lot of good feelings between him and the Chiefs. There's also a lot of discussions that they've had. James knows it's gotten tough. Contract wise, it's been tough. The fact that he's back this year, I'm dawled out, means his price tag is going to be very high. Could be back, but I don't feel like
that's a guarantee at all. And you know, third contract for veterans is not generally the way that championship teams build, James, I mean that is that what do you think you know the Chiefs as well as knowing am I on building on that?
That's no, You're You're completely accurate on that.
And there's been a sense in Chris's camp that watch us ball out this year and watch the number continue to rise. And I think the last game he played, maybe the last game he plays in the Chiefs uniform, was just as good as we've seen him play. I mean, he was as disruptive to that Super Bowl as we saw anybody else on the field and played a huge
part in it. That only helps Chris Jones, and that only helps where it's at when he mentioned the negotiations, I think you do have to put into account and you remember the first time he was going to get paid and how he handled that. Chris, it doesn't matter whether there's money or not. He will handle this a little bit differently than some of the other players around the league, because Chris is.
Wired a little bit differently. Real quickly.
In the other side of things, Niners Auk and Chase Young thoughts thoughts there.
Because Brandon I Yuk is a number one wide receiver.
Yes, right now, he has another year in his deal. He's got the fifth year option that was picked up, so he's got twenty twenty four under contract. My understanding extension candidates, So when the forty nine ers want to keep home now, I mean I saw his Instagram post. I think he wanted more targets in the Super Bowl. Definitely get it. Seemed more like social media frustration than anything else.
You know.
I look, I guess anybody could be traded, right, I mean, he's a really good player. Somebody would absolutely like him. Just seems to me that allowing homegrown talent to move on for no reason, you know, probably is not the way to do it. Well, we'll see, but you know that would be my sense there. And then Chase Young came over in the trade, absolutely had some up and downs,
did have a sack on the Super Bowl. You know, I don't get the sensus is so when they're going to be rushing and resigned, feels more like go out test the market, see what's there. See if you liked it in San Francisco to come in and my guess it ends up being a one year deal, prove it deal, which would be a good circumstance for him, no doubt.
In talking about going out and testing the market.
Hassan Reddick, this was kind of late news that we all are hearing of him going out and being granted permission to seek a trade. I'm curious how he ties in to what's.
Going on in Philadelphia.
This is a guy that played at Temple from Philly, obviously loved playing at home. Is there any talk about the building and or is this just Hassan specific because he's still a really, really good player, has somehow flown under the radar in a lot of people around the league's mind.
Yeah, I see what you're saying. You're wondering if it's more like him or is he like trying to get out of Philly. I don't get the sense he's trying to get out of Philly, you know, I don't get the sense he's like this place is not for me. It's more business. It's he has played under a contract. At the time it was a very very good contact track and he had sixteen sacks or whatever it was. I think that was about sixteen sacks last year. I
think ten or eleven more this year. He is a great player, and my understanding leaves he deserves a new contract. Absolutely understand that everyone should get as much money as humanly possible. That is what started this conversation with a son Reddick is can if the Eagles are not gonna, you know, ante up and give him what he wants? Will some team I know there's interest. I know that there is interest. In my sense is somebody absolutely will
pay him what he wants. So you know him being like I know he likes Philly and lights the fans all of that. There's the business side of it, and everyone should do as much as humidly possible to make as much much money as they can.
He's such a good player and I don't see why they wouldn't work something out, but like you said, there will be a market for Hassan Reddick. I appreciates you taking out some time, great stuff shedding some light on some of those things. And when we come back on the NFL Report, could it be a Chief three p Could the Niners get back? Who is the biggest threat to be super teams? We'll pay you next on the NFL Report.
Pull the tape, Elsie.
This is Trent McDuffie, all Pro Corner with the Kansas City Chiefs, and this is the NFL Report.
Welcome back to the NFL port.
As we closed this up, it was funny I saw a tweet Steve during the Super Bowl as somebody put out, every you know, our team could really use a Trent McDuffie, and I've responded, every team could really use a.
Trent mcduffee exactly. He's that good of a player.
And speaking of Trent McDuffie and the Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs Niners, Steve in the Super Bowl this season, who could we potentially see knock one of these two teams out and find themselves in the Super Bowl next year.
I'll have you go first.
Whoa I mean this is tough because this was supposed to be the year where you got Kansas City right where their tackles weren't great, they were getting penalized, the receivers aren't great. Well, let's look at you've gotta go. You gotta look at the Cincinnati Bengals because they have been a thorn with the Chiefs. If Joey Burrow comes back healthy, now, if they they've got to keep T Higgins to possibly be a part of that. We know he set the hit free agency and within the division. JP,
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. Jim Harball, I don't have faith in them going to the Super Bowl, but they're gonna be a thorn for the Chiefs. They're gonna make it hard within the division.
Okay, Okay, I will say one. I mean this is this is an easy one. This is not a far stretch. The Baltimore Ravens played essentially one bad half, uh, and they didn't get to the super Bowl. The Ravens are still right there. We saw Lamar play an unbelievably high level. We saw the defense play like the best defense in
all of football. They're definitely still in the conversation if we're gonna go outside, like you said, with the Chargers making a big run in their first year with Jim Harbaugh as their head coach, I'm gonna go with a team that had a run with their first year head coach this season, and that's the Houston Texans. For a few you are now a destination down there in Houston. You have Damiko Ryans, you have CJ. Stroud and Will Anderson, they.
Swept NFL Honors, Steve.
They had the offensive and defensive rookies of the Year, and now you have a boatload of salary cap space to go out and build around this young nucleus that we saw play so well. That is a team that won a playoff game when they lost more games than any team in football over the previous three They could be the team that sneaks maybe I don't know.
Into the Super Bowl. That would be wild.
I still think the Bills are right there with the back half of the season the way they played as well. If they can do that for the duration of a season, that would be something that obviously we'd like to see out of Buffalo. There's a couple of show things you got to update us on here, Steve.
Yeah.
Absolutely, we are now going to be going to seven pm Eastern time, no longer seven fifteen as you're seeing here on the promo. We will be back next Thursday, coming up with Falcons general manager Terry Funt. No how aggressive are they going to be to get a quarterback JP. And next Tuesday, not Monday, next Tuesday. We'll be back because of the holiday. Please do not forget that this is a podcast, JP. Enjoy the parade in Kansas City and don't believe something out for our guy LC.
That's right, buddy, that's right. We had a wonderful time in Vegas.
Got a chance to see Steve quite a bit in person, not virtually. It's much preferred to see Steve Wytch in person as opposed to over this camera. All right, guys, see you all on Thursday with Terry Fana